Great Moments in Spam vol 8

Business must be brisk in the Ultimate Online Parmaceutical game, if both PEDAGOGUES H. OBLIVIOUS and NERUDA G. ALIEN are doin it!!

Boxing Day

Well punch our noses and call us Canadian, it's Boxing Day at pH!







Photos by the mover, shaker, Nicholas Weist

LA in NYC

There's a craft service truck outside our bookstore! At first we thought that VRAHOS had already geared up their catering biz, but upon further inquiry we learned it was just there for a movie being shot down the street. They better watch out for those rats.

PpPPPpPpPPPpppPpedal!

New week, new book:



Photo by Peter Sutherland. But really—who were you expecting?

Thank God It's Friday, Sucks It's Not Monday

We thought we would die before wishing the weekend was over before it had begun. But desperate times...

powerHouse will announce our new location toward the beginning of next week. We've crossed our fingers and kissed our elbows, and the rest is up to fate.

Great Moments in Spam vol 7

Would you buy the ultimate online pharmaceutical from NARK R. NARCOSIS?!

Choking Up, Not Throats As We'd Like To

Shame there haven't been any more Mystery Plumbers around—we kind of feel like throttling someone. We've begun to pack and look for temporary office space. Eight days left and still no new lease.

Plumbing the Depths

We've been turning The Mystery Plumber (see below) over and over in our minds, and we just can't find any other reason for VRAHOS to send their odious minions that what was suggested for The Mystery Photographer. Basically the story goes, "Nefarious development corporation [VRAHOS] fears upstart publisher will leave with the ceiling, floors, toilets, and walls they built and paid for." Hmm....toilets, huh? Anyone know a good plumber?

The Mystery Plumber!

At 8:30 this morning, a man named "Peter Stephens" sent a "plumber" to "check out" "air escaping" "somewhere." All those quotes, you'd think we were at a press junket. But no, it's just a day in the life of a soon-to-be-homeless art book publisher. Why all the mystery?

Spitting Distance

That's what we're within: from sorting out a gorgeous new space. Details TBA, we're not there yet, but we're still in the market for friends and neighbors that get jazzed about converting raw space. Oops! I guess we'll just call that a well-placed leak. If you're interested, drop us a line.

Living the Dream

Hot off the presses! Hot like the desert!



Salt Dreams.

VRAHOS Hates Baby Turtles

Just conjecture, really, but we think it makes sense.



Photo by Jeff Mermelstein, from No Title Here.

14 For Us, 5 For You

We have 14 days left in our bookstore, but you've only got 5 to come and ransack our shelves: our insane sale ends on Wednesday the 22nd. We've got books for 2 dollars. 2 dollars?! That's what you pay for a pack of gum in this town!

Getting Intimate with Perfect Intimacy

This morning we finally received copies of our new book Perfect Intimacy. Nun it up if you wanna.

Great Moments in Spam vol 6

Three precious gems, all in a row:



Terminus B. Assess, Jumbling A. Bedecking, and Galechka: we salute you!

We Live for this Sh*t!

From a former intern, near and dear to our hearts:

I LOVE IT ! I read every post .. and it is oh-so-fab. (I'm definitely a fan!) Thank you for keeping me in the loop when I'm out of town ..

xoxo, SC! —pH

Money Makes the World Go 'Round

VRAHOS and Dubai's wet dream:



Photo by Steven Katzman, from The Face of Forgiveness.

EWWW!!!

Paint us yellow and call us Nancy—one little rat and whole office empties out. Well it wasn't little, actually: it was HUGE! And it was INSIDE! You heard it here first....The rats have been spotted in the inner sanctum of powerHouse Books. Which will soon be Il Cantinori Jr. Good thing we'll never eat there.

Dubai+VRAHOS=Bad News for pH

An interesting theory just arrived via email: what if VRAHOS is in league with Dubai (see below)! Seems crazy, right? Well think about it—is it really out of the realm of possibility that a crazy development firm that is trying to remake New York in its own image would take up with a principality that is trying to terraform the entire world!?

Breaking—DUBAI HATES POWERHOUSE TOO!!

Just received this from Bryan Adams, who is in Dubai right now:



Apparently, our content is "inconsistant with the religious, cultural, political, and moral values of the United Arab Emirates." Sweet!

Almost There

We've got only eighteen more days in our handmade bookstore and gallery on Charlton Street, but we're closer and closer to finding the perfect new home. As previously mentioned, we're simultaneously trying to build a brain trust while we're at it—populated by artists, architects, and other creative types who are interested in helping us build out a mystery space. If you fit the bill—drop us a line.

Great Moments in Spam vol 5

Skinny cooks can't be trusted? Good news for Molto Mario.

Prisoners' Weekly

Check out the review of Thomas Roma's In Prison Air that just went live at our fave industry rag Publisher's Weekly.

pH Authors Revealed

Mark Cohen, author of Grim Street, and Isabelle Storey, author of the forthcoming Walker's Way, at the opening of Introductions by John Szarkowski. Photo by the sensational Nicholas Weist.

Blue Monday

Ever heard that New Order song? It pretty much captures how we feel right now: a little giddy and a little sordid, but mostly like we wanna dance. Things are heating up on the new space front.

Hot Like Fire 4

Photo from New York's Bravest.

Hot Like Fire 3

Photo from New York's Bravest.

Hot Like Fire 2

Photo from New York's Bravest.

Hot Like Fire 1

Photo from New York's Bravest.

Hot Hot Heat

Our little drama this morning got us thinking about firemen. What a neat job!



Photo from New York's Bravest.

Questions Without Answers

What happened this morning? The fire department dudes disappeared as quickly and mysteriously as they came. Well they didn't come mysteriously—we called them—but they sure did leave quick. Anyway the banging stopped, which is all we really cared about anyway.

Firemen Still Shafted

Those hot numbers with large hoses (yikes—spring must be here for real!) are still behind our wall. Behind our wall? Was that inneundo, too?

We Called the Fire Department

They're checking it out now. Nail biter!

Bang Bang

Clang. Wham. Boom. Either there's someone stuck in the elevator shaft that shares a wall with our gallery, or VRAHOS is trying to literally demolish us. This started about fifteen minutes ago—we've called the old super and the next step is the fire department. We'll keep you posted.

Pied Piper Nothing

One down but thousands to go. Good luck VRAHOS!



Photo by Boogie.

A VRAHOS Family Outing

Photo by Jeff Mermelstein, from No Title Here. Click for larger view.

Cease What?

We received this via email from a friendly lawyer this morning:

I read the blog and was curious about the threatening letter to Neil regarding "misstatements" made by a powerHouse representatives about the VRAHOS company and others apparently involved in the eviction and redevelopment of the property. I could not figure out from the blog or the letter to Neil what the alleged misstatements were. Did anybody tell you? Or is it a big secret in order to make the threatening correspondence more mysterious? It is too common for lawyers to gloss over the theory of wrongdoing and skip to the parade of horribles that will occur if the recipient of the lawyer's letter does not comply with his request.

Yup. VRAHOS and their minions are just rattling their (tiny, tiny) stick. Also today, many thanks to Gawker and their many stalkers for this post.

VRAHOS Hates(/Secretly Loves) pH

For all y'all newcomers, here's a round of catch-up. VRAHOS, a meglomanaical development corporation, evicted us last month—giving us almost no time at all to pack our bags and get the hell the out of the gorgeous gallery and bookstore that we built with nothing but our bare hands and some sweet-talking at the bank. Last week, they served us with a cease and desist, attempting to halt our publishing this, our blog, and violating our right to free speech in the process. Recently, we received another letter of interest, addressed to one "Charlton House." powerHouse. Charlton House. Too close for comfort, we think. They can take our name and our building, but they'll never lose the rats.



Photo by Slava Mogutin, from the forthcoming powerHouse Book Lost Boys.

Last Month's Party

We're terrible about loading party pictures: but here's one you should really see. Legendary curator and three-star general arbitor of taste John Szarkowski at our opening for Intoductions by John Szarkowski, a show of work by Helen Levitt and Thomas Roma (behind John and to the left).



Photo by the inimitable Mike Hartley.

Weekly Dig Digs Us (Weekly)

This came to us from a friend at Weekly Dig:

Maybe VRAHOS could cease sucking ass?

Excellent point, friend! In other news, we took a look at a stunning space yesterday, and we're still looking for conceptual partners to help develop whatever we end up doing. If you think you fit the bill (intellegent, interesting, and knowlegeable about, you know, build out and stuff) let us know.

Great Moments in Spam vol 4

Again we need a Ruskie. To talk to SKATER H. UVULA!

Postscript: The emails above and below—yeah, they're real.

This Is the Anthem

Best Song Ever. Best Mag Ever. Thanks for the post Anthem.

Sucking 'Em Dry

Scraps from a VRAHOS binge 'n' purge? Which leader of an NYC cultural institution haven't we heard from lately?...



Photo by Jeff Mermelstein, from No Title Here.

A-List LA

Ashlee Simpson outside The powerHouse Library at The House of Flaunt, Oscar weekend. More about our fabulousness to come, but snack on this for now:



Photo by Jim Jocoy.

We're Not Alone

Our friend Bill writes to inform us that we are not the only impressive but oppressed arts institution:

I read with chagrin your message about certain developers not only trying to evict you but also trying to muzzle your right to free speech on your blog. I'm an artist who lived and worked for over 15 years at the 111 First Street building (aka The Art Center) in Jersey City. During our last 4 years there, we spent a great deal of time organizing ourselves to fight eviction. Our landlord, a part owner of the WTC and a billionaire, threw the kitchen sink at us in order to make our lives as miserable as possible. His tactics included hiring Jersey City cops to patrol the building complex and arrest tenants whenever possible; an arson; vandalism to tenants' cars; mass demolition of empty studios engendering unhealthy conditions for all tenants still in the building; and an attempt to get us to cease and desist making ANY references to him on our website or we would be sued. Although we finally lost our fight to avoid eviction and were forced to leave the building on Febuary 28, 2005, we still managed to fight off his control-freak tendencies and have kept our website open with the help of our lawyers. With the demise of 111 First Street, Jersey City lost the largest concentration of artists in the State of New Jersey to high-end development, profiting only the developer. Despite all our efforts to convince city officials and others that people in the Arts are also developers, developers of culture, they ultimately turned a deaf ear and a blind eye. At its peak, the 111 building housed over 120 artists. When we went to court, there were barely 50 of us left. Unfortunately, our experience is not unique; it's shocking how ubiquitous this practice is now throughout the country, if not the world. It is said that "money talks and bullshit walks." Not anymore. "Money and bullshit walk and talk together." Good luck on fighting The Plague.
Regards,
Bill

Read more about it here. Solidarity!

Elemental So Hardcore It's Mental

Received this a few days ago from our friends at Elemental Magazine:

So it goes on and on! Hey, don’t worry, you guys are really in the club now. Elemental has been pseudo-served with more letters full of useless legal jargon than we care to remember. Luckily the top brass over here know their legal ins and outs like the rosy side of their hands, and we are never shook by any of these letters. Of course, when the Marshall shows up with that magical paperwork, it’s a different story. But until somebody serves you with a court date, SCREW EM!!

Thanks guys! We agree completely.

RAT FOUND DEAD AT 68 CHARLTON

We told you there were rats, and here's proof.



It's from our friend Amy, who writes: "I am attaching a picture I shot right outside your space during last years' portfolio review. Let me know if you want a print and you can leave it for the new tenants to hang in their kitchen." Great idea Amy—I'm sure they would love a copy of A PICTURE OF A DEAD RAT OUTSIDE THEIR FUTURE DINING HALL.

You Like Us, You Really, Really Like Us!

As you may have noticed, we love to talk about ourselves. That love is second only to when other people do the talking for us! Props, then, to the illest online anthology of emerging art, Beautiful/Decay, who sums it all up with "One of the best things that ever happened to photography was powerhouse Books." Ain't it the truth.

And who could claim true excellence without a mention from the world's best progressive culture monthly, BlackBook. Those tastemakers' tastemakers cited us twice in two weeks—many thanks and fierce admiration, BB!

The VRAHOS Family Tree

A few days ago, we showed you Son of VRAHOS. Today, we are pleased to present MOM OF VRAHOS!:



Photo from Casa Susanna.

Les Fleurs du Mal By Any Other Name...

It's confirmed....The New York Times reports VRAHOS will take our space and the better part of our name (scroll down for the item).

Funny how the Grey Lady keeps coming up.

VRAHOS Steals Space, Identity

Thank you all for the tremendous outpouring of support you have sent over the last three days. You can rest assured that while VRAHOS may be able to take our space, we will never let them touch our first amendment rights. We believe that free speech is all-important, so even though we think it's tremendously shady, we will only use our own right to say what's on our mind to fight the latest insult that's been added to our injury. Over the weekend, we received a letter addressed to, you guessed it: Charlton House.

powerHouse. Charlton House. Ain't nothin gonna help, VRAHOS—your tarnished soul will never be cleaned by appropriating our shiny name.

Gagged But Not Bound

Wait just a damn minute! You may have noticed that we've been out of touch for a few days—mostly because VRAHOS SERVED POWERHOUSE WITH A CEASE AND DESIST!! That's right folks: our little blog, a simple forum for us to keep you apprised of how our punk but prominent, bootstrapping but bullied publishing company has been savagely and heartlessly tormented by a predatory development corporation, finally got their attention. Over the past week we've had our lawyer pick through its contents, and he sees no reason why we can't keep posting. And we shall. Without further ado, the letter:

Dear Neil: I have been informed of, and I have personally seen, multiple misstatements by or on behalf of Powerhouse Books relating to Messrs. Pappas and Tzolis and Vrahos LLC. These misstatements are, in certain cases, targeted at their present and future customers. Accordingly, Messrs. Pappas and Tzolis, and Vrahos LLC, protest such misstatements, and reserve all rights against Powerhouse Books, Powerhouse Cultural Entertainment Inc., Daniel Power, and all others who have made or facilitated any such misstatements. Such rights may include, without limitation, the right to assert causes of action for defamation and intentional interference with prospective business advantage; and the remedies may include, without limitation, consequential damages for loss of business. Powerhouse Books, Powerhouse Cultural Entertainment Inc., Daniel Power, and such others are hereby directed to cease and desist immediately making any such misstatements. To the extent that Powerhouse Books, Powerhouse Cultural Entertainment Inc., Daniel Power, and such others have used Internet web sites, blogs, or other means of communication that are continuing to publish and/or republish such misstatements, they are hereby directed to remove such misstatements immediately from all such web sites, blogs, and other means of communication. Please call me on Monday, February 27th, to confirm that you have informed Powerhouse Books, Powerhouse Cultural Entertainment Inc., Daniel Power, and such others of this email and that they have complied with it.

Observe This!

We noticed this a little late, but The New York Observer Real Estate section was kind enough to mention us the other day. If you ever need to know anything about the goings-on of the cities' groundskeepers, the Observer is the first place you should turn.