Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0005998, Tue, 29 May 2001 16:45:21 -0700

Subject
[Fwd: Hip-Hop and Nabokov]
Date
Body
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My name is Jason. I am 19 years of age and thoroughly in love with
Nabokov's work (ever since age 16 when at random I pulled a copy
of "Invitation to a Beheading" off of a bookstore shelf and began
reading). I currently play the world's only electrical trombone (a
complicated and loud instrument of my own design) in a musical ensemble
named "Diatribe" which specializes in "hip-hop" music. We play
primarily
for thugs and ruffians in bars which I am too young to be inside
legally.

I thought that perhaps this scholarly circle might be interested to know
that I have been infusing my music with encrypted references to Nabokov
(and Proust, among other things) via a complicated system of
music-making
forumlas and algorithms I produced in class when I should have been
paying
attention to all sorts of boring nonsense. I am able to convert any
word
or name into a scale, a melody in any key, or a series of rhythms of
various lengths with these techniques which I keep completely secret. I
have injected Nabokov into my tri-weekly performances in front of
unsuspecting maudlin masses. Know that in the
Delaware/Pennsylvania/Maryland/New York area, there is a teenager
"taking
Nabokov to the streets".

-Jason Custer
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EDITOR's NOTE. NABOKOV moves in mysterious ways. Mr. Custer is alone on
the list in his endeavor. Longtime subscriber Ryan Asmussen is a member
of the Boston area groupe FATHOUSE which did a CD with the Nabokovian
quote as title ("a pin, a cork, and a card") and a cover photo of a
collection of VN's catches. Nick Cave is also a well-known VN admirer.