'Luther Price is an anomaly on many levels. He’s gay but unwelcome by the gay community, which reviled him for the alleged homophobic excesses of Sodom. He invents alter-egos including the short-lived "Fag" and the more enduring "Tom Rhoads." He’s worked as a waiter, played in bands (and started a country band), and "committed suicide" in one of his performance pieces via a candy overdose. Much of his personal history is mysterious, in spite of his frequent use of himself and his family and their history via photos and home movies in his films. He was nearly killed (and was heavily scarred) in a shooting accident in Nicaragua in the mid-1980s. He works in a disreputable format, appears in various guises in his own work from stylized, frozen-faced drag queen to naked performance artist to clown. And he occupies the same contested cultural space as artists like Karen Finley in being so controversial that his work has occasioned the immediate firing of programmers who have dared to show it. Increasingly revered as a filmmaker, he’s also made a strong impact in his sculpture, photography, and performance art.
'Emotionally stark, and at times sexually extreme, the elegant Super-8 films Price produced in the 1980s and ’90s brought him underground renown. Whether creating pummeling juxtapositions from repurposed porn images or with Price decked up in drag or dressed as a clown, his pieces came bounding at you in full heat. They were formally rigorous, relentlessly psychodramatic attempts to work through familial bonds, dark fantasies, and tortured realities. His magisterial use of sound (few make better soundtracks) underscored the beautifully dilapidated images. There are many small masterpieces from this potent era awaiting rediscovery.
'For example, there's his hardcore "Biblical epic"-cum s&m porn flick Sodom (1989), which like all of Price’s films, exists in many versions. His refusal to let the work alone after it’s made, his insistence on the "aliveness" of the film-object, is one of the most exhilarating aspects of his work. In spite of the oppressive, claustrophobic imagery, the films have a strong sense of life. In Sodom, which will be double-projected, this sense comes partly from Price’s consummate interventions, which here take the form of a literal film-within-a-film. He punched holes in the Super-8 frames and meticulously inserted the porn footage, which moves with jackhammer rhythm against the rapid-cut "Sodom" footage and a distorted medieval liturgy score. The conflation of what look like screaming souls in hell with images of edgy queer sex was enough to get the film banned even from the allegedly sophisticated New York and San Francisco gay festivals, but Price’s Boschian vision deserves a wide audience.
'Price’s film work has an oppressive intensity, envisioning an alienated world of often mindlessly repeated rituals and poses that entrap and suffocate his subjects. He sets up a constant dialogue between his compromised victim-subjects (often himself or his own family) and the equally compromised film stock itself. Images of ruptured flesh and ghostly birthday parties are further ruptured and drained of life by Price’s torturous manipulations of the film, which can include chemical processing, filters, optical printing, re-photography, and even holes punched in the frame. What emerges is Price’s great subject — the breaches, breakdowns, and collapse of body, family, and society, and by extension all of life, in the face of unstoppable philosophical forces. What makes it work is the nonstop flow of extraordinary, unforgettable imagery.'-- collaged
Watch SODOM (1989) here. Watch JELLY FISH SANDWICH (1994) here. Watch RUN (1994) here. Watch SODOM (1989) here. Watch GREEN (1988) here. Watch WARM BROTHER (1988-1989) here.
Age/Occupation/City:
born 1962........january 26th......in Mass......the night my aunt sally took an overdose of sleeping pills..........37 sominex........and red wine........she was my mother’s younger sister...........she died at 23.........the day i was born.......my death mother..........she was very beautiful..........i have the powder blue suit she died in...........it has a wine stain down the front of it .........i don’t think she meant to kill herself........she crawled from her apartment in cambridge , mass,............died at the hospital.........while at the same time,.....i was being born into this world..............i died when i was 23 too..........i was shot in nicaragua in 1985............while on an artist cultural brigade..............it wasn’t just my guts that spilled out that day on the warm ceramic tiles .....on that balcony of the bombed out mansion we were staying at............the morning we were due to fly back to boston .........june 29th 1985...........i died that day........and as they say .......you see your life flash by..........well it did.........and i saw my aunt sally...........and then i knew what i had always known............she was always with me.....................but that was 28 years ago..............i still don’t know how i survived ..............if i had been shot anywhere else ,....i wouldn’t have.............but my guts are all screwed up.........i was shot through my hip and stomach.......my right leg is paralyzed ......and i live with constant pain.......but to top that off ,...the US...GOVERNMENT TOOK MY PASSPORT AWAY FOR REPATRIATION .....BACK TO BOSTON , MASS.............WERE I SPENT TWO MONTHS IN THE HOSPITAL.......I RETURNED BACK TO MASS ART....THAT FALL ON CRUTCHES........WITH A HOLE IN MY SIDE , STUFFED WITH GAUZE.........THE DRESSING HAD TO BE CHANGED THREE TIMES A DAY, SO I USED THE NURSE’S OFFICE FOR THAT ,....THE ONLY STERILE PLACE........FOR THAT..............AS THE SEMESTER WENT ON ,I BECAME VERY SICK....THE WOUND WAS NOT HEALING................SO DURING XMAS BREAK I ADMITTED MYSELF BACK INTO THE HOSPITAL........THEY FOUND THE BULLET......AND REMOVED IT ...........IT WAS LODGED IN THE DARKNESS OF MY HIP ........NEVER CAME UP ON THE X-RAYS..........THE US OFFICIALS CONFISCATED MY MEDICAL RECORDS FROM NICARAGUA FROM THE DOCTOR WHO TRAVELED WITH ME BACK TO THE STATES.............SO , I NEVER HAD A CHANCE........THE DOCTORS NEVER KNEW THE BULLET WAS STILL INSIDE ME.......ROTTING AWAY MY BONE AND GUTS ........KILLING ME SLOWLY..........BY THIS TIME,....MUCH OF MY HIP HAD TURNED TO A PUSSY MUSH...........AND A LARGE PART OF MY LOWER INTESTINE HAD TO BE REMOVE AS WELL...........MY RIGHT LEG HAD GONE INTO COMPLETE ATROPHY...........AND THE NERVE DAMAGE WAS BEYOND REPAIR...................BUT THE GOOD THING WAS,.......AFTER THEY TOOK THE BULLET OUT ........MY WOUND COMPLETELY HEALED IN 9 DAYS.................I WENT BACK TO SCHOOL IN THE SPRING SEMESTER.....STILL ON CRUTCHES............AND COMPLETED MY LAST LARGE SCULPTURE PIECE............‘EAT FUCK LIVE SHIT WANT NEED’........1986........11 OVER LIFE-SIZED.......HUMAN AND ANIMAL FIGURES .......MADE OF PLASTIC WITH A SKIN OF NEWSPAPER.........WALL WORK...........4 FT X 8 FT PANELS ..........AFTER THAT .......I BEGAN TO WORK IN VIDEO............I CREATED A CHARACTER THAT I BECAME CALLED ‘THE CUNT’..............THIS WAS A PERIOD OF TIME WHERE I BEGAN TO INVESTIGATE MY DOMESTIC PAST..............AND HOW MY MOTHER LIVED HER LIFE AS A SLAVE...............SHE WASHED CLOTHES BY HAND................TO THE POINT THAT HER HANDS LOOKED LIKE THEY BELONGED TO A 108-YEAR-OLD WOMAN.............WE FINALLY GOT A WASHING MACHINE......AND I THINK OUR FIRST COLOR TV .................BEFORE THAT ,.....EVERYTHING WAS BLACK AND WHITE...................
We’re conducting this questionnaire over email, and have been told that you use a stream-of-consciousness style in writing, not dissimilar to the way your films, through their mix of found footage and your own stagings, can be like stray thoughts gathered together. Is there an underlying structure to your art? Many of your around 200 films exist as only one copy. Because you scratch, burn, and dye them, they can even change from one screening to the next. Film itself is something of a dying art. Do you believe your art and the medium are ephemeral? You got your start with Super-8 film and then shifted to 16mm, but you’ve recently begun to experiment with slides, exhibited for the first time in the Whitney Biennial. You build them up with dirt and detritus like ants, sprinkles, tape, and hair. Sometimes, you even bury them in the ground to rot. What creative power do you see in this kind of decay? Has one of your films ever totally wrecked a projector or melted during a screening?
................WELL,...........I THINK I GET A BAD RAP..........IT’S BECAUSE OF THE INKBLOTS AND THE GARDEN FILMS............ALL MY FILM WORK IS ORIGINAL.......I HAVEN’T MADE A COPY OR PRINT SINCE 1995...........THAT CAME ABOUT BECAUSE MOST OF THE GREAT MOM AND POP LABS WERE FORCED TO SHUT DOWN.......AND MOST OF THE BIG LABS WERE FREAKED OUT BY ANYTHING THAT WAS NOT COMMERCIAL...........THIS ,........BOTH PHYSICAL...........WORKING OF THE FILM AS WELL THEY WOULD HAVE A SAY IN WHAT AND WHAT WAS NOT APPROPRIATE AS FAR AS CONTENT ........ MY FILMS WERE RENDERED .......TOO COMPLICATED TO DO A STRAIGHTFORWARD PRINT OR THE SUBJECT MATTER WAS AT ISSUE .............MUCH OF MY WORK WAS DEEMED PORNO...............SO ,....THESE LABS WOULDN’T EVEN DEAL WITH ME..........GONE WERE THE DAYS WHEN A GREAT TECH GUY WOULD TAKE YOUR FILM AND UNDERSTAND THE ART OF IT ........AND IN THE END BECOME A COLLABORATOR WITH IT IN THE PROCESS.........AND A WONDERFUL PRINT WOULD COME OUT OF IT .........I MISS THOSE DAYS................BUT , LEFT IN THE DUST .............I MOVED ON ..........AND TRIED TO MAKE MORE PROJECTION-READY FILMS.........FILMS THAT WOULD BE ABLE TO RUN THROUGH A PROJECTOR..............MULTIPLE TIMES .......AND STAND THE TEST OF TIME...............I’VE ALWAYS HAD GOOD CRAFT IN MY WORK ...., SO THAT WAS NO PROBLEM...........I JUST NEEDED TO STAY AWAY FROM MAKING ‘A FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER’................WORK THE FILM ........BUT , STILL AT THE POINT WHERE IT COULD RIDE THROUGH THE PROJECTOR AS A PROJECTION-READY FILM..................WITH THIS ,....I JUST NEEDED TO MAINTAIN GOOD CRAFT IN SPLICING ........BUT WITH THE INK BLOTS,.......THE ELEMENT OF MATERIAL IS NOW PAINT AND INK..................IT’S A GIVEN THAT BECAUSE THEY ARE ORIGINAL FILMS, THEY WILL LEAVE SOME RESIDUAL MATTER IN THE PROJECTOR.............THAT’S WHAT Q-TIPS ARE FOR..................BUT I USED THIS WONDERFUL INK THAT DRIES REALLY QUICK......SO YOU CAN ROLL IT OUT AND WORK AS YOU GO..........THE THING IS,........ONCE IT DRIED , IT LEFT A POWDERY DUST ON THE SURFACE...................SO ,......I BEGAN HEARING THAT THESE FILMS WERE PROBLEMATIC..............PROJECTORS............WERE NOT HAPPY AND PROJECTIONISTS ..........WERE VERY UNHAPPY.................I READ SOMETHING ONLINE ....SAYING ........‘THE UNPROJECTABLE FILMS OF LUTHER PRICE’...............I RAN FILMS THROUGH MY PROJECTOR AND MY PROJECTOR DIED ................AFTER RUNNING SEVERAL FILMS THROUGH IT..............I REALIZED THIS INK DUST POWDER FORMED.................AT THIS POINT , I KNEW WHAT THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT............IT TOOK MANY Q-TIPS TO CLEAN MY PROJECTOR BEFORE IT COULD RUN AGAIN.............BUT THAT DIDN’T SOLVE THE PROBLEM.....................I HAD ALMOST 50 INKBLOT FILMS SITTING ON MY SHELF..............THAT WERE NOW UNPROJECTABLE............................AS WELL , MY GARDEN FILMS.............FILM FOOTAGE , THAT WENT INTO THE GROUND............IN FALL AND DUG UP IN THE SPRING..................ROTTED FILMS , WITH BEAUTIFUL DISTORTION AND COLOR....................I WOULD OF COURSE TAKE THEM IN AND WASH THEM OFF IN MY KITCHEN SINK............THEN DRY THEM IN THE SUN .......BUT STILL ............A SLUDGE OF GRIT WOULD REMAIN ON THE SURFACE AND THEN THROUGH PROJECTION,...............WOULD BUILD UP IN THE SPROCKET WHEELS OF THE PROJECTOR .............AND LEAVE A TAR-LIKE SUBSTANCE.................NOT GOOD ....NOT GOOD AT ALL..................ALL THIS NEW WORK.......AND IT WOULD REMAIN ON MY SHELF....................BUT I HAVE GOOD FRIENDS ..............THEY DIDN’T GIVE UP ON THE FILMS AND WOULD SCREEN THEM EVEN SO.................ED .....PATRICK AND MARK..............IT WASN’T UNTIL LAST YEAR.............I FELT I HAD TO TRY SOMETHING ................I FOUND THAT WITH THE INKBLOTS ................, I COULD WASH THEM WITH COLD WATER , TO GET RID OF THAT RESIDUAL DUST...............I FOUND THAT HOT WATER REMOVED THE ARTWORK............AFTER THIS PROCESS,....MY FILMS WERE CLEAN AS A WHISTLE......................AND AFTER THEY WERE DRY AND REELED UP................., I CHECKED ALL THE SPLICES..................CLEANED THEM UP .........AND THEY WERE READY TO GO OUT INTO THE WORLD....................I DID THE SAME WITH MY GARDEN FILMS .........I DON’T THINK THE PROJECTIONISTS HATE ME ANYMORE............... ‘SALLY FIELDS’
Describe a typical day in your life as an artist.
.....................WELL......A DAY IN LUTHER’S LIFE................IT DEPENDS ON WHAT I DID THE NIGHT BEFORE..........MOST TIMES ............YOU WRAP IT UP ...............AND YOU TAKE THOSE UNANSWERED .........UNRESOLVED QUESTIONS WITH YOU..................YOU THINK ABOUT FOOD BUT IT’S TOO LATE.............AND IF YOU TRY TO EAT, YOU CAN’T ANYWAY................KAREN CARPENTER AND I WOULD HAVE BEEN FRIENDS................ONLY , I LIKE FOOD AND WANT TO EAT................I LOVE TO COOK...........FOR MY FRIENDS ...............BUT I MOSTLY LIKE TO WATCH GUYS EAT.............. SEXY.............BUT I HARDLY EAT.................BUT I STILL HAVE A FAT STOMACH , AFTER MY GUN SHOT.................LOST THE WALL OF MUSCLE THAT HOLDS IT ALL TOGETHER.............SO I HAVE A BULGE ..............I WORK MOSTLY ALL DAY....................THINKING ABOUT THINGS AND STINKING IT UP................I LIKE TO HAVE THE TV ON ..............I ONLY WATCH INVESTIGATIVE TV.....................THEN I SIT AND WORK ALL DAY ..................BECAUSE CUTTING FILM .............AND..........FILM MANIPULATION IS NOT A STAND UP JOB.................PERFECT FOR ME................BECAUSE I MOAN AND GROAN WITH PAIN..............BUT MY THREE STRAY CATS,.........GURLY................MR. GREY AND CARTOON............KEEP ME IN LINE...................THEY ALWAYS WANT SOMETHING...............SO I HEAR A SCRATCH AT THE DOOR ......AND IT’S ONE OF THEM....SOMETIMES , ALL THREE ..................THE KIDS ARE GOOD ..............‘DORIS WISHMAN’’’’’’’’’’’’’’,............I’M JUST TRYING TO FIND MYSELF THROUGH MY WORK ....................EACH DAY , BRINGS A NEW DESTINATION..................AND I’M UP FOR IT ............, IF I GET UP..................SOME DAYS , I CAN’T GET OUT OF BED THESE DAYS ..............TOO MUCH PAIN...............I MADE A NICE BED NEST.................WITH A PRINCESS AND THE PEA IDEA ............., I WENT OUT AND GOT LAYERS OF FOAM ...............TO LINE MY BED ...................OVER MY SAGGY FUTON...............I NEED A NEW NICE BED AND A TV....................AND THEN I’LL BE HAPPY .............I MAY EVEN ORDER OUT FOR KENTUCKY FRIED CHICKEN ......AND DO IT UP BY GETTING THE WHIPPED MASHED POTATOS AND EXTRA GRAVY,...................EAT .............AT ...........MY TV DINNER TABLE ...............AND WATCH ‘LOCKED UP ABROAD’ .................OR ‘ANCIENT ALIENS’...................THEN VOMIT IT ALL UP IN MY KITCHEN SINK AND TOILET....................UNTIL THERE IS NOTHING LEFT BUT AN EMPTY PIT IN MY STOMACH................................SO I DON’T THINK I’LL DO THAT...........ALTHOUGH I DO HAVE A CRAVING FOR CALAMARI................BUT THEY NEVER HAVE IT ANYWAY ................VERY TOP SECRET ...........PERHAPS ONE ORDER ...............SOMETIMES NO ORDER ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
.................that got me thinking ,....so i called ‘tings’......and they actually had fried squid.........so , i put in three orders.................mr, grey is saying things ...................he wants to go outside but it’s raining...............the cartoon is content in ..............my studio back room ...........have not seen Gurly yet though.....................IT’S A GOOD NIGHT FOR ALL THE KIDS TO STAY IN..............CAUSE...........IT’S RAINING OUTSIDE ........AND CATS HATE RAIN......................’GURLY JUST CAME IN ......DRIED HIM OFF WITH A TOWEL..............HIS BROTHER, MR. GREY DID ALLEY CAT SONGS WITH HIM...........ANYWAY , MY DELIVERY OF FRIED SQUID SHOULD BE HERE SOON.......I’M NOT WORKING TONIGHT BECAUSE THE ELECTRIC IN MY HOUSE IS SCREWED UP AND THE ELECTRICIAN IS COMING OVER AT 8 AM...........TO FIX THE PROBLEM...............SO TONIGHT , I’M JUST HAVING A BOY’S NIGHT IN .................MY GOODNESS ,..................HOW CUTE WAS THAT GUY................FRIED SQUID IN THE RAIN WITH A YUMMY CUT ASIAN GUY ,....HANDING YOU A BROWN PAPER BAG FULL OF DELICIOSO...........TOO BAD HE HAD TO GO BACK TO WORK......................I LIKED HIS TAN BROWN WOOL HAT............SO ......................I WAKE UP.................EITHER ....ONE OF THE CATS WANTS TO GO OUT OR GET IN................HAVE COFFEE........THINK ABOUT FOOD BUT DON’T EAT ..............I MAKE GOOD EGGS TOO.............LOOK IN THE MIRROR IN DISGUST...............AS I TAKE MY MORNING PISS...............BRUSH MY TEETH AND GAG AT THE THOUGHT OF ANOTHER DAY...............THE ROOMS GET SMALLER................THE TIME BECOMES SHORTER..................THE DUST IS THICKER................THE OCEAN ,...OUTSIDE MY DOOR IS CHURNING FOR SOMETHING,.................JUST WAITING..............TO CONSUME................I TAKE A PEEK , OUTSIDE MY FENCE................JUST TO SEE WHAT IT IS LIKE OUTSIDE...........BUT ONLY FOR A MINUTE.....................SOMETIMES THE TIDE IS LOW AND I CAN SMELL THE RESTITUTION OF THE SEA LEFTOVER ...............OR THE ROARING OF THE WAVES THAT WILL EVENTUALLY BRAVE THE EARTH AND TAKE MY HOME...................I LOOK AT THE SEA AND THE SHORE................AND FIND ROCKS WITH FACES IN THEM......................AND I THINK ...............PERHAPS THIS IS ALL BIGGER THAN WE THINK................PERHAPS WE SHOULD JUST LIVE.............AFTER ALL THAT WAS WHAT WE WERE BORN TO DO.................AND WITH THAT...............A VISION..................A SIGHT...........NO SKIN OFF MY BACK..................I JUST WANT TO SEE...............FEEL AND BE REAL..................AND IF SOMETHING MATERIAL COMES FROM THAT ,.......................AN OBJECT OF SOME KIND,....................FROM THE THOUGHTS OF THE DAY.......................IT WILL HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF THIS AND A LITTLE BIT OF THAT IN IT.................AND THEN THE DAY STARTS OVER AGAIN................................
What’s the first artwork you ever sold?
..................I DON’T KNOW ,ME ..........I HAVEN’T REALLY SOLD ANYTHING ..............WE SHOULD HAVE A YARD SALE................BUT ,LET ME THINK................LIA SOLD SOMETHING OF MINE ,................I THINK IT WAS A BLOW-UP STILL FROM THE ‘GAR HAR CLOWN’....................THE DR. WHO INVENTED BOTOX...............IT WAS INSTALLED IN HIS WAITING ROOM.................PERFECT ...............I THINK...............
What’s the weirdest thing you ever saw happen in a museum or gallery?
....................I JUST COULD NOT BELIEVE HOW ALL THESE MUSEUM LADIES COULD HAVE NOT ONLY THE SAME HAIRCUTS BUT THE SAME FACES TOO........THEY ALL LOOK LIKE THEIR FACE WAS MOVED TO THE LEFT..............AND ONE EYE ,....LOOKING THIS WAY AND THE OTHER EYE LOOKING THAT WAY.............LIKE GOOGLE EYES AT THE 99 CENT STORE......................BUT I HAVE TO ADMIT,.............THEY SMELLED NICE.............
What’s your art-world pet peeve?
................PET PEEVE..............I’VE ALWAYS BEEN TREATED WELL AND I LIKE WORKING WITH CURATORS.......IF I COULD PUT MYSELF IN THEIR WORLD,........I MIGHT UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH WORK THEY MUST HAVE TO DEAL WITH AND LOOK AT...............BUT THERE ARE HIDDEN GEMS.................RIGHT UNDER THEIR NOSES..................I WOULD LOOK FOR THE UNDERDOG......TAKE A RISK AND GO BEYOND WHAT IS IN YOUR FACE ...............ARCHIVE AND DISCOVER .............THAT’S WHAT A TRUE CURATOR SHOULD DO ....I THINK .....................FIND THE WORK ............GET SOME DUST ON YOU.......................
What’s the last great book you read?
..............CHARIOTS OF THE GODS ..............BY ERICH VON DANIKEN..................SHOULD HAVE READ IT YEARS AGO.......BUT I DIDN’T................
"Meat" by Luther Price, Screening at LOUIS V. E.S.P.
p.s. Hey. ** Kyler, Hi, K. Well, gosh, it's nice to have put a positive spin on your having greeted yesterday, and it was no brainer choice on my part, so coolness all around. ** Keaton, You're already gone or going? That was quick. Okay, well, a face to face was not meant to be, I guess, and there'll be other times, and I just hope you had an awesome time here. Bon voyage. ** Jonathan, Hey! You're back? For how long? We should share some Xmas confections while you're about. Really, about that Aoki branch? That sounds heavenly. Yeah, let's do it. Sweet lists. I noted the things I don't know and will investigate thoroughly. Awesome! See you soon, I hope! ** David Ehrenstein, Thank you, sir! That's a fine list you put together too. I really need to see 'Snowpiercer'. I was really hot to see it, and then people told me it wasn't so hot, but then here it is on a bunch of 'best of' lists by people I respect, so I'll chase it down belatedly. ** Schlix, Hi, Uli. I like the James Hoff. The experiment by which it was made is interesting and fun, and the results are surprising. Lovely lists. Nice that you read all that Danilo Kis. He's so great. And, yeah, again, I'll writing down the things I don't know, so thank you for the upcoming windfall of discoveries. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, T. Oh, the honor is entirely and exclusively the blog's and, by virtue of my position as its overseer, mine. Cool, alert me/us when your list is up, if you don't mind. Do try to see the Godard if it gets screened there again. I think it was my favorite thing in any category last year. ** Mark Gluth, Hi, Mark! Well, dude, 'No Other' is an insanely great thing, so, I mean, yeah, for sure. I don't know Shocking Pinks. Huh. I'll check them/it. Thank you! ** Steevee, Hi, Steve. Yeah, when your film list is up, please give a shout. That is so not a conservative music list, sir. I still haven't heard the Leonard Cohen, I don't know why. I'll get that pronto. Well, I agree with you about the response to 'Exodus'. I guess to me the only interesting aspect to the whole thing is that the film could have been thought-out, cast, directed, produced, etc., etc. with no one seeming to have foreseen that making a Biblical epic as though it were the 1940s and '50s when casting caucasians as non-caucasians was de rigeur would be a significant problem. The naivety and lack of connection with the current state of culture, thinking, attitudes, etc. is completely mind-boggling. If Scott, et. al. had done that as some kind of, I don't know, provocation or misguided statement on racism or even as some kind of aesthetic love letter to the movie-practices of a time when the opinions and feelings of non-whites was the least of Hollywood's concerns, it would be interesting in some bizarre way, but there's certainly no evidence that the decision was thought out at all, much less in those ways. ** Etc etc etc, Thanks, I'll go hear/see the Disclosure thing. Yeah, yeah, that makes total and awful sense about the academe prioritizing bleah. It's really interesting about the mix of big and smaller presses. What's cool was realizing only when I made the lists that some of those books I loved were put out by the publishing giants. When I was reading them, I didn't pay attention to their sources so much, so ending up having a big publisher presence in my list was a big surprise. 'Birdman' hasn't opened in France yet. Neither has 'Foxcatcher'. ** Sypha, Hi. Oh, my pleasure on the compliment, gosh. Your music lists are always so eclectic, and I think that's really exciting. It makes me actually want to listen to Kylie, Minaj, etc., for instance. ** Marilyn Roxie, Hi, Marilyn! So nice to see you! I'm glad you liked the lists. And thank you for the compliment of imagining my 'TMS' is in Blake Butler's mix. Nice music list. I don't know anything about that Peter Christopherson, weird. I'll go find that pretty damned quick. Oh, yeah, the Liars album was real good. I spaced out on that one when I was list-making. I'm very happy you're reading 'Discontents'. I'm very proud of that book. There were a couple of offers to reprint it a few years ago, which would have been really great, but both publishers wanted to reprint it without the comix, and that was an absolute no. ** _Black_Acrylic, Thanks, Ben. I still haven't scored the Consumer Electronics. Will do that fast. Ah, okay, about Dan Davies. That sounds pretty interesting. ** Toniok, Hi, man! So great to get to lay my eyes and mind on you. I loved seeing your old things, and such top notch, impeccable old things. You had a really quality cultural intake year, man. ** Kier, Hi, hi! Oh, wow, really, that's hot! I mean that you'll do a LH post. I'm in heaven already. Thank you, thank you! That's cool about the 3rd 'Jeepers Creepers', but it looks like that weird Salvo isn't directing it, which makes me suspicious since one of the things I like about those films is the weird, repressed pervy stuff that he couldn't seem to help slipping into them. You got a strike! Congrats! Yeah, bowling fun, right? And it's good exercise for the right arm too, if you're right handed. Yes, come to Paris and go bowling with Zac and me! Yesterday was very good. We edited all day, of course, and we didn't finish the rough edit of Scene 1 because it's a very intricate editing job, but I think we will today, and I still think it's amazing. Then we went to a little art opening of photos by Camille, who was our lighting person on our film. Then I came home to discover that my eBook-like novel-like novel project is completely made and borderline ready to go. So that was really exciting, and I think it'll see the world quite soon. Then the composer/musician whom Zac and I had really want to score Scene 3 of our film got back to us and said he loves the scene, and he wants to score it. So that was great! It was quite a fine day, albeit not so interesting to read about. More editing at great length for me today. How was being a vegetable? How did you interpret the role of vegetable? How was today? ** Randomwater, Wow, randomwater! Holy crap, it's seriously awesome to see you! Whoa! How have you been? What's going on? Lucky you on the gaming. I haven't had any time to game in fucking forever, and it's a serious absence. That is a really mesmerizing cl post. It's super beautiful. What an interesting form and way of handling it. Huh. Fascinating, yeah, Thank you a lot, pal, and, yeah, fill me in even further on how you are and what's happening in your world, if you don't mind. ** Paul Curran, Thank you, Paul! I was trying to think of a way to respond to your 'at long last' re: being on my list and, quite horrifyingly, as I was searching for a clever and yet sincere way to say what a long awaited pleasure it is for me, a fucking Beatles lyric popped into my head, and I will share the horror: 'You were always waiting for this moment to arrive'. But, of course, if I were Paul McCartney at this moment, I would be the blackbird, not you. Every time you mention your j-novel, my blood-pressure skyrockets, but in a very good, healthy way. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. Thanks, bud. I'm so going to investigate Theo Angelopoulos. And, yeah, Frans Zwartjes = awesome. I'll find the Steve Lehman album, huh, sounds intriguing. The new New Pornographers seemed great, actually, and probably the only reason it wasn't there is because I have hardly listened to it only because my taste for pop/rock songs has been very low this year. I recommend all three of those. I guess, if I have to choose two, I'd say get the Gately and the Puce Mary. ** Ken Baumann, KKKKKEEEEENNNNN! Hi, man! I've missed you so incredibly big time! I've been great. Insanely busy working on four projects at once, but it's all really great. I'm sorry to hear you had difficulty in your past month, but, obviously, you being in the clear gets an audible (it was, really) sigh out of me. What are you going to do on your break? Yay, about the WiiU! I need to get one. At least before they release that new Zelda next year. I've been slobbering ever since I saw the preview footage. What you playing on the WiiU, pray tell? Yes, Ken, so great to get to blab even briefly with you. I miss you! Give my big love to Aviva! ** Trees, Wow, cool, my love of your book, or, rather, my public statement of my love for your book, occasioned your return! Your year sounds really intense. Intense is good, right? At least after it's over? Thank you for the lists. There are a number of things I don't know at all, and my left hand is writing them down in a hopefully readable scrawl as I type these words with my right hand. I only ever type with one finger. But it's a speedy finger. I send you bundles upon bundles of love from Paris, France! ** Misanthrope, No, seriously, every time I have to type the word Bieber, I always have to google him to make sure I'm spelling it right. It seems like during the last, I don't know, six months, longer, people's secret, latent racism and anti-semitism has been exploding out, and it's at once very interesting and very depressing. I don't understand people's need to weigh in publicly with their two-cents about every tiny little news item and celebrity mishap on Facebook, but, Jesus, is it a popular thing to do. ** Gregoryedwin, Hi. Thank you. Oh, you read and loved 'Karate Chop'. I was sort of feeling like I was the only person who was lucky enough to discover that book, cool. Great lists. Yes, I saw your email, and I'll get to it today. I literally have barely been home in the past few days. ** Rewritedept, Hi. Uh, I think 'The Punk Singer' was 2014, now that you mention it. I'm sorry that music is off your agenda, but you sound fine with that, so I guess it's okay, right? Oh, man, while I would love to help out with your fiction thing, I literally have no time. I'm co-editing our film for 10+ hours every day, and it's possible I'll be doing that every day until the 22nd, when I should get a short break. Sorry, I would like to. You could put it in the blog's workshop, if you like? ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, Thomas. Well, yes, of course, man! ** Bill, Hi, B. Oh, you've got some books on your faves list that I've been longing and meaning to read: Brian Allen Carr, Kitchell, Richard Thomas, etc. I'm going to do that at last. And there's a shit-ton of music on your list I don't know in the slightest. Thanks! 'The Weaklings XL' is hard to find anywhere. That press just barely even published it, it seems like. Thanks a bunch again. Have a sweet day. ** Right. Do you guys know the work of Luther Price? If not, it's very worth knowing. See you tomorrow.
'People on forums are talking about it. There are articles about it, some of which analyze Link's figure and facial features and use it as "evidence" of Link's gender change. Some people swear they see breasts. Fan-art of the new Zelda contemplates the idea. Heck, some people are even doing FRAME BY FRAME ANALYSIS of the reveal trailer, in an attempt to look for clues:
'Truthfully, even though this video by Irockman1 seems like a joke that pokes fun at people who are acting like Zelda truthers, it really does seem like the sort of thing an obsessive video game fan would do. People are actually doing this weird thing where they're trying to find "tells" of Link's gender—even though previous Links have always been a tad androgynous:
'Of course, it doesn't help that there's a quote floating around by Eiji Aonuma about the character shown in the reveal trailer. "No one explicitly said that that was Link,"Aonuma vaguely teased in an interview with Venture Beat. It's given rise to another theory: perhaps the person we see in the trailer isn't Link, but rather Zelda. Who knows!
'Right now, the way people are picking apart features makes me feel weird and slightly uncomfortable. It shows that people have a hard time dealing with male characters with feminine traits, and it's really telling of how strictly we classify things in accordance to gender norms. That's a shame. Who says ponytails and earrings are a thing only girls can wear? It's especially baffling when previous male links have things like earrings before.
'But on some level I think the discussions are happening because people would genuinely love to play as a female character. There's a definite tinge of "wouldn't this be cool for Nintendo to do?" that trails most of the discussions I've seen, and it's often followed by a slightly defeatist "naw, Nintendo wouldn't actually do that...right?"
'If Link turns out to be a girl, that would be rad and novel. And if not, hey. That's fine too, because I'm totally into the new Link. He's kiiiind of hot.'-- Patricia Hernandez
Bonus
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time speedrun in 18:10 by Cosmo Wright
live
commentated
*
p.s. Hey. ** Hyemin kim, Hi. Oh, as someone swamped and very busy myself, I understand about the delay. No problem. My broken ribs are virtually if not completely healed, and, otherwise, I feel great, actually. Hope your feelings are in the greatness realm too. ** Gregoryedwin, Hi. Exactly, about that book and her mysterious abilities. Thanks! ** Mark Gluth, Hi, Mark! Good, I've got The Shocking Pinks penned in for a scheduled new music hunt post-editing tonight. Oh, yeah, the eBook-like novel is kind of really exciting, on my end at least, and it should be out before too long. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, Tosh, Did you end up indulging in his films? If so, how did they sit? ** David Ehrenstein, He kind of is, right? ** Steevee, Hi. I figured he was clueless in addition to being a giant budget addict with boring ideas. That's really too bad about 'Inherent Vice'. I've been kind of really interested by it. For the obvious reasons. I'm not one of those who think PTA is a god who can do no wrong by any means, but his films have always been very smart and curious and very worth seeing in my opinion. Is this a rare total misstep on his part? ** Dan, Hi, Dan. Oh, sorry about the domain issue, and, obviously, I'm glad it has been righted. I'll watch the Goldfrapp vid, cool, thank you! Take care! ** ASH, Hi, man! Never too late for a list, at least to list-addicted moi. I've only seen one of the films on your list. Really cool music list with stuff I liked a lot too (Grumbling Fur, Dean Blunt, Vessel, Flying Lotus) and that I basically just spaced on when I was making my list. The fineness of your track made my kindness a Pavlov Dog thing, man. Kudos. ** Sypha, With Nicki Minaj, I just stick with the videos. No, I haven't read the Cronenberg novel. I think I have that kneejerk, probably unfair reaction to novels written by masters of other mediums. But there are some people out there, yourself included, who not only like it but describe his writing intriguingly, and I'll flip through it at the very least the next I'm in an English language bookshop. Yay about getting the proofs! Exciting! ** Kier, Hi. Yeah, I think I remember not being able to find an interview with LH, or a decent one. All the more reason to get mine transcribed though god knows when. Very excited for the post whatever it has in it! Yum! I am really, really enjoying the editing. It's very exciting at a very, very slow pace, but the combination is interesting. It is, weirdly or not, not completely unlike editing a novel. I find myself making suggestions that I make to myself when editing fiction, and a lot of time they work filmically too. That's one very cool, enlightening thing about it. 'The Faculty' is awesome. Oh, shit, I need to do a Piper Laurie Day. Why didn't I think of that before? Cool, I'm going be on that as soon as I get the time. Yesterday was another day spent at Zac's in front of his computer editing. We finished a very solid cut of the 1st scene, and, yeah, I think it's incredible. It's quite long, 37 minutes at the moment, which is a surprise to us, but it can't be any shorter, I don't think. We're both really happy. That took all day into the darkness. Then I left, and Zac went on alone doing stuff I can't really help with like trying to fix the sound in the scene, which is all over the place. Today we start on Scene 2. We're going to try to finish it by our very fast approaching first deadline, but I would be surprised if we can. We'll see. After that, uh, ... boring stuff, I think. More of the same today, I'm afraid, but you never know. And you? And yours? ** Ken Baumann, K-K-K-K-EEEEEEE-N-NN-NNN-NNNN, Hi! Oh, no, I knew that your school was an eater of all sorts of stuff, hopefully a positive eater, whatever that would mean, so, no, I'm just happy to see you when I can. I'm sure it's too ambitious for your brief break, and I'm locked in an editing room 10-12/7, but come to Paris anyway, ha ha. LA Xmas ... that sounds so nice. I'm doing Paris, buches, pretty lights, the whole shebang. Your WiiU games-in-progress list is very impressive, and I'm all twingey. Def: Mario Maker, Starfox, yep. I don't know that other one. I'll look it up. I'm hoping the 'Eternal Darkness' sequel got funded and that, if it was, it won't be shit. I'm suspicious. Hugs all around, to you, to Aviva, even to all the cacti! Love, me. ** Flit, Flit! Flitster! Dudester! Etc-ster! Oh, right, you know him. I remember that vaguely now. Wow, cool. I like your wordage and your tone. You sound up. I'm good, really good! ** _Black_Acrylic, That 'Question Time' does sound like the talk-TV equivalent of a lit fuse. I wish I liked Russell Brand more. He spouts a lot of things I like and agree with. But ... I don't know, I'm suspicious. Don't know why exactly. My gut instincts aren't into him. ** Damien Ark, Hi, Damien. It's weird when the rug/post gets pulled out from under a comment-in-progress, but since it takes me a while to do the p.s. and I don't always remember to refresh the page when I finish, I guess it makes sense. You will alert us when your list is complete in January, won't you? In the meantime, the slice is cool. Quite a few music things I don't know at all, and that I will grab based on their inherent, obvious necessity and your high marks. Is your move a positive thing? I would think that exiting a dorm would be positive in most cases, and I like basements. How was it? ** Schlix, Hi, U. Me too re: the Cronenberg book. I'm going to find a way to read some Kis. You've put the taste in my mouth. ** Misanthrope, Hi. That doesn't make you a wuss in my book. I never ever chime in about politics on FB. I can't think of a single reason why I should. I just nod in agreement or boil with fury behind the scenes. I've only deleted one person so far due my not being able to take another one of his hateful opinions. There are a couple of FB friends like that who are on the border with me, and I'm still able to go, 'Okay, interesting to observe the spilling verbiage of someone with whom I so completely disagree', and I'm kind of just waiting for them to go a little further whereupon I might well have had my fill. Granted, I don't spend very much time on FB, but I can't get into the idea that it's the parameters of the new world or something. It remains an often useful, often irritating thing that marks a point in the development of social media, and I'm still mostly just interested that social media in general is this relatively new thing that will now forever be there in some form or another at the center of people's lives, and that's trippy not unlike the arrival of cell phones and the internet in general and blah blah. ** Rewritedept, Hi. Well, that form of making music sounds like the ideal way to make music anyway, and it won't stop further ambitions from happening if they so arise. You can send me Brian's tracks 'cos I'd be interested to hear them, but you can go ahead and make a launch post irregardless. I trust you. Editing is going swimmingly, in fact, thank you. Paris is nice, pretty, getting its Xmas look on, which is kind of when Paris is the most beautiful. Well, it's good that people ask if you're okay, right? I mean if they didn't, it would be sad, no? Awesome about the best man gig. Sounds like your bachelor party will beat the band or whatever they say. ** MANCY, Mance! Such a good list. Oh, the Copeland, yes, I totally spaced on that at list-making time. That was great. How's stuff? What are you up to? ** Kyler, Hi. Wow, that's quite a mega-gay party. And it was fun anyway, ha ha? Never been to one of those. Been to a few Lammy Awards things wherein I think I've never felt more out of place and, ha ha, never been made to feel more out of place too. Anyway, you had fun, and fun rules. Cool about the output from the new health insurance. Yeah, my therapist back when I was in therapy tried very hard to stay mysterious, although it didn't long to figure her out. ** Bill, Hi, Bill. Yeah, Luther Price is pretty interesting. Strange that he isn't more well known, cultishly loved and reviled. Strange. Yes, the Felix Kubin was great, and I haven't heard the latest David Grubbs. I will. He almost ended up being a collaborator with us on Gisele's work. When we started working with Stephen O'Malley, he wanted to bring in Grubbs and for them to do music for Gisele's work as a team, but Gisele wasn't into Grubbs's stuff that much, and, obviously, pairing Stephen and Peter Rehberg ended up being a brilliant stroke on her part. Have a splendid beyond splendid day, my friend. ** Okay. I guess the design of Link in the upcoming Zelda game has triggered off this debate about gender issues. I thought that was interesting. And I also thought it was interesting that no one thought to raise the possibility that Link is transgendered. Anyway, maybe you'll be interested too. Bye until tomorrow.
'This bushy-browed Hollywood progeny of producer Jack Schwartzman (Lion Heart, 007: Never Say Never Again) and actress Talia Shire is no stranger to the LA beat. On his latest Coconut Records album, he croons, “I miss you; I’m going back home to the west coast.” Home indeed. Nephew to Francis Ford Coppola, cousin of Nicolas Cage—Jason Schwartzman was practically bred for the multiplex. Fortunately, he chose not to stretch his creative muscle in the oily blood-and-guts melodramas of Cage and Coppola. Instead he wielded drumsticks for the rock band Phantom Planet and spent his formative teenage years championing a subtler, more sensitive brand of cinema a la Sofia Coppola and her inconspicuous brother, Roman (a serial Second Unit director, writer/director of the underappreciated CQ, and, um, uncredited Senate Guard in The Phantom Menace).
'For the past decade, Jason Schwartzman’s M.O. has been offbeat, quirky, personal films. Kudos to Wes Anderson, who’s spent the last decade casting Schwartzman as his tenured darling. Schwartzman charms the screen as actor and co-writer of the acclaimed Darjeeling Limited as much as he did in his unforgettable breakout role as Max Fischer in Rushmore. The iconic high school dissident and melancholy lover turns twenty-eight years old today, June 26. On this, the eve of his premiere role as a television lead in Bored to Death (in which Schwartzman plays a writer-turned-private-eye alongside latent funnyman Zach Galifianakis) we take a retrospective look at one of his most unrecognized accomplishments—Hotel Chevalier—the short film prologue to the Darjeeling Limited.
'A.O. Scott calls the thirteen-minute prolegomenon “an almost perfect distillation of Mr. Anderson’s vexing and intriguing talents, enigmatic, affecting and wry.” Without Schwartzman’s guileless melancholy, barefooted calm, and steadiness, Hotel Chevalier would be nothing more than an obsessive-compulsive exercise in symmetry. As vital to the jigsaw Andersonian mise-en-scène is the presence of the actor inhabiting the space. Gene Hackman hits the target in The Royal Tenenbaums with his comedic gloom. Bill Murray does the same in The Life Aquatic. Schwartzman masters the look in Hotel Chevalier. It’s not ambiguous so much as it is withholding. It forces the viewer to wait and guess at his inner turmoil. The way Schwartzman wears his face reminds one of Kuleshov’s famous experiment. In the 1920s, Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov photographed “a close-up shot of an actor with a neutral expression on his face; when the same footage of the actor’s face was edited with shots of a bowl of soup, or a dead body, or a baby…ordinary filmgoers praised the actor’s performance, believing that his face had registered an appropriate response to what they had just seen.” Some think this is the result of psychology. Take Alfred Hitchcock, for instance. Inferring from Kuleshov’s experiment that actors are nearly inconsequential to a film so long as the montage is effective, Hitchcock treated his actors with notable contempt. In 1938, he made the infamous observation, “Actors are cattle.” No one knows whether the Kuleshov phenomenon is a result of camera trickery or talent, but a sober, committed actor like Schwartzman gets the benefit of the doubt.
'In Hotel Chevalier, Schwartzman plays Jack Whitman, a reclusive expatriate who has been hiding in one of the ritziest hotel rooms in Paris for more than a month after a messy breakup with his girlfriend—the beautiful but jejune Natalie Portman. She shoves a fat toothbrush in her mouth as he waits patiently at the door and answers her banal questions. “What the fuck is going on?” she inquires. He doesn’t answer. Later, they make hurried love, and as he undresses her, garment by garment, each fallen article reveals a dark blotch on her skin. “You’ve got bruises on your body,” Jack remarks. She hesitates for an instant before shutting his mouth with kisses.
'In a way, this moment communicates one of Schwartzman’s most finely tuned sensibilities. He has a pitch-perfect temper. Two butterflies stand pinned to a white taxidermy card at the desk. Isolated, beautiful, nostalgic, dead—that is their tone. It’s Schwartzman’s as well. The unfinished painting by the mirror—he eyes it with neither pride nor disgust. Schwartzman delivers his lines from the same frequency of his environment. He asks not who made the bruises or how they got there, he only brings them to light—freezes the moment before us spectators. He becomes one with the room—observant and quiet. He shows no feelings—yet the viewer feels compelled with emotion. Effectively, Schwartzman gets out of the way of the film. He removes himself from the role. Cezanne writes that the artist must discard “interpretive bias even of vague emotional memories, prejudices, and predilections transmitted as part of one’s heritage.” A blank slate. In a way, one must discard oneself. That is the sign of a true artist. Jason Schwartzman is well on his way.'-- J. M. Harper
______ His music Three years after his departure from the band Phantom Planet, musician/actor Jason Schwartzman returned to the L.A.'s music scene with the solo project Coconut Records. Schwartzman had launched Phantom Planet in 1994 and served as the band's drummer for nearly a decade, simultaneously furthering his acting career with roles in Rushmore, CQ, Slackers, S1m0ne, and Spun. The offers increased once he left Phantom Planet's lineup in 2003, but Schwartzman nevertheless had trouble shaking music from his system. With Incubus guitarist Mike Einziger serving as producer, he decamped to Malibu during the summer of 2006 to record Nighttiming, handling most of the vocal and instrumental duties himself while granting cameos to a slew of fellow actors and musicians (including Kirsten Dunst, Zooey Deschanel, Brandon Boyd, Ben Kenney, and brother Robert Carmine). The album was released early the following year on Young Baby Records, with the initial copies containing Polaroid photos taken by Schwartzman himself. Coconut Records' sophomore release, Davy, was released in January, 2009.'-- collaged
Coconut Records 'Microphone'
Coconut Records 'West Coast'
Coconut Records 'Any Fun'
Coconut Records 'Wires'
____ Misc
Don't Talk - Jason Schwartzman
Jason Schwartzman - What's In My Bag?
WES ANDERSON and JASON SCHWARTZMAN Shop for CDs and DVDs
Jason Schwartzman - In Character: Actors Acting
Ghost Stories: Jason Schwartzman
_____ Interview from Paper Magazine
What kind of teenager were you?
Jason Schwartzman: I started playing drums when I was ten. I was into sports too, I feel like that sort of gave me a focus. I was angry but in a more internal way. I had a rebellious feeling in me but I was afraid to get in trouble. I don't think I was into hardcore music, I was never that kind of angry...
What were the big bands in LA like when you were growing up? Was it like Guns N' Roses or...
JS: Nirvana, Weezer.
What about LA bands?
JS: LA bands? There were a lot of great LA bands. Weezer is an LA band. I like melodic music.
Even then.
JS: I had lots of friends, my school was very small, but I was always feeling a little ... girls didn't talk to me, you know? I mean, I wasn't on a rock by myself -- there were those people at my high school, you know, sitting alone. Within that I had a hard time with girls. Specifically, I think of romance. I related to things like "In My Room," by The Beach Boys, that type of music, and to people who liked being alone. I feel like I did not have an abnormal teenage experience.
You felt alienated.
JS: Yes, I had that. I wasn't necessarily angry, but moody, extremely moody. Quintessentially moody. Like. "What do you know?" and, like, "Mom get off my back!" And it's funny because, when you read the book and you watch the movie, it was interesting because at the time I remember my mom saying something like, "Oh you teenagers, trust me, you think what's happening is new, but this is not new and you'll get over this" and I remember thinking that's the last thing you want to hear, that what you're feeling isn't unique.
So you'd be in your room listening to music. You didn't try to sneak out or go into clubs or that kind of stuff?
JS: Well, my band, we played a lot of clubs. Some of them were 21 and over, but we'd have to wait outside and then go in.
And you didn't drink or act out that way?
JS: Maybe at 16 or 17 a little bit. But not really. There would be parties but I didn't really have a lot of fun in that type of situation. I had a problem with the group...
Being in social in groups can be tough at that age. JS: It's still tough. And I respect it, like my wife loves the idea of a game night with friends, and to me a game night is not fun. That's not my idea of a good thing but to each his own.
Even music itself, was that a kind of rebellion -- to do music in the Hollywood world that you were from.
JS: Not at all. I think I was on a set maybe three or four times as a kid that I can legitimately remember and for not very long. My mom loves acting, but she has a very kind of apprehensive attitude towards the Hollywood mechanism in general.
So she didn't buy into the whole thing.
JS: No. The '80s, that was blockbuster central. We would go see movies with Mel Gibson in it. I've read interviews with actors who describe watching a movie and saying, "Oh I'm going to be up there one day." I never really thought that.
You started with music before acting.
JS: I got into music because that seemed like you could do that, in your house. I got into music and I loved movies. As a kid, we had cable so I saw a lot of really bad movies a lot. And I had a friend who now is one of the key guys at the Cinefamily movie theaters in Los Angeles. We would just watch movies, like Human Highway -- do you remember that movie, Human Highway, a Neil Young movie. I didn't really like "movie" movies. Of course I saw '80s movies that are now classics, I guess, like Ghostbusters, but my mom would aldo rent stuff like The Graduate, Harold and Maude, and Dog Day Afternoon. And I remember seeing those and thinking, "Where were these the last few years? I could've used these." I just know that when I would listen to music, I would get a rush and a feeling of like "Oh my god, I want to rip off my skin."
So when you finally did start acting, was it weird?
JS: I think that in the very beginning I was like "Me? You want me for this audition?" What the hell's happening?
So someone just approached you, you didn't seek it out.
JS: I was at my uncle's house in San Francisco at a hybrid party/ family occasion in honor of a piece of music that my grandfather had written, a score for [Abel Gance's] Napoleon. And there was a casting director, a friend of the family there, talking to my cousin Sofia. And Sofia said "What are you working on?" and she said, "Oh I'm casting a movie for the director Wes Anderson but we're trying to find a person to play the character and we've been auditioning lots of people." She described the character and Sofia said, "Oh, that sounds like Jason." And I remember saying "No... I'm in a band, you should meet the other guys they're great." She said, "No, no take my number" and I gave her my address and she sent the script. It was the first script for a movie I had ever read. And I went in and auditioned for Wes and I got a callback and another callback and I got the part.
And it turned out to be this wonderful relationship.
JS: Yes. Beyond wonderful. He's my mentor and best friend.
It seems to me like you're the reluctant actor.
JS: Reluctant in a good way or in a bad way?
No, not in a bad way. It seems like you're not someone who's really out there trying to get the part, auditioning, working hard to be a star.
JS: I'm surprised that I've been in as many now that I've been in. It's very improbable. I went to the Critics' Choice Awards and I was looking around and I was like "All these actors, they all seem pretty comfortable here" and I'm wondering like, how do you get to that point, where this is not unusual?
Bored to Death is one of my favorite shows. There's talk of a film version, right?
JS: We pitched a movie idea to HBO which they bought. But at the same time, I don't want to say that it's happening because sometimes they just don't happen. It's a combination of not wanting to get my hopes up too high and, in my mind, preparing for it because it was really heartbreaking [when the show was cancelled]... It would've been, in a weird way, less heartbreaking if I didn't know what the fourth season was going to be. Because Jonathan Ames told me the whole thing. I know what I missed.
And now you're also in Wes Anderson's new movie, The Grand Budapest Hotel.
JS: I haven't seen it. I'm only in it for a few seconds. I'm probably in it longer in the trailer than I am in the movie.
They're just using you for bait in the trailer.
JS: When you make a short trailer and you keep me in it for the same exact amount of time, it's great. It's like double spacing. I'm doubled spaced. I'm a longer essay.
_____________________ 19 of Jason Schwartzman's 50 roles
_________________ Wes Anderson Rushmore (1998) 'It was the best. It was so much fun. It's funny, of the top five most amazing experiences of my life, Wes Anderson is in, like, three of them. That was amazing, because it was just him and me and a guy from Disney making sure we didn't get into too much trouble, in this bus that's made for 12 to 14 people. We just kind of drove around and took ourselves around the country, rather than having people have to fly to us. We took ourselves to the masses, just basically visiting every college and big city in America. We met tons of really great people and saw the country. It was one of the few times I've lived in the lap of luxury and felt totally comfortable. It was really nice. It was one of those times where every day, you're excited. But by the end, I was a little burnt out. Looking back on it, it was really nice, but at all crazy times, you don't realize they're happening until they're over. I was nervous. It was my first movie and everything, and it all just seemed to happen so fast. The next thing I know, I'm being interviewed, and people are like, "What do you think about this and that?" And I'm like, "I think a couple things, but don't you want to ask somebody who counts?" I was like, "Why do you want to know anything about me?" I don't think the human body is designed to talk about itself for three weeks, or even two hours in a day. It kind of threw me out of touch, but overall it was really good. I have no complaints.'-- Jason Schwartzman
Excerpt
Excerpt
Jason Schwartzman auditions for the film Rushmore
_______________ Roman Coppola CQ (2001) 'CQ is set in 1969 Paris. A young American film student (Jeremy Davies) is the editor on a sci-fi/secret agent/revolution type of picture called ‘Codename: Dragonfly’. If that sounds discombobulated, it is, and so is its director (Gerard Depardieu) who can’t seem to find an ending for his film. The producers fire him and bring on a flashy young American director (Jason Schwartzman) to snazz it up and finally finish the movie. Along the way, Davies falls in love with the production’s beautiful star, who plays the sexy secret agent that must save the Earth from the moon base’s rebel revolution! The cast on this one is worth the price of admission alone. The previously mentioned Davies, Depardieu and Schwartzman are all fantastic in their parts. Billy Zane has a small but wonderful role as the leader of the moon base revolution. Giancarlo Giannini, Academy Award nominee and recently of James Bond fame (he plays Bond’s friend Rene), is the Roger Corman-esque producer. The late, great John Phillip Law (‘Barbarella’, ‘Danger: Diabolik’) shows up, as does Dean Stockwell. The unknown female lead, model-turned-actress Angela Lindvall, plays Dragonfly. She’s beautiful and perfect in this role. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like much has come from her transition to the silver screen.'-- The Bonus View
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_________________ Dewey Hicks Slackers (2002) 'Slackers is an odd little movie. And not in a good way. A teen comedy with a stalker at its center - and it plays this guy for laughs - this film wants to carve out a niche for itself. It concentrates on deviousness rather than foolishness (there's a dash of Dangerous Liaisons/Cruel Intentions in its lineage), and it includes big-name cameos. But giving a few moments of screen time to Gina Gershon and Cameron Diaz does not a cool film make. Slackers starts off promisingly enough, with an ethereal version of the Who's "Baba O'Reilly" playing over the opening credits. Turning this anthem of teen rebellion into something like church music is an intriguing conceit, but the film never builds on that promise. Schwartzman, so good in Rushmore, is nothing if not game; he's a force of energy who'll do anything for a laugh. But in a world with too many real and dangerous idiots, a vindictive stalker is just not a funny guy.'-- Baltimore Sun
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__________________ Jonas Åkerlund Spun (2002) 'Edward Havens: When I was watching the film, I kept thinking to how many of today’s actors look for something in a character where he grows as a human being from the start to the finish, and this character just seems to crank on throughout the entire film. At one point, he says “The great thing is that I’m not an addict” as he’s taking his eighth snort in a span of a few minutes. It just didn’t seem that he was any better off at the end. Jason Schwartzman: That’s the life of a crystal meth addict. It’s all about the next five minutes. That’s all they care about. That’s their world. These characters are otherwise just normal people with boring lives. My character’s job here is as the narrator. The movie is seen through Ross’s eyes, and since it only takes place during the course of three days, he almost has to be neutral and unchanging in order to see the changes in the others, to see them really self-destruct. I think it’s a good thing he doesn’t change that drastically in the course of three days, because it’s an honest and very real portrayal of what it’s like to be a crystal meth user. I think that drugs keep people from changing.'-- filmjerk
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_______________ David O. Russell I Heart Huckabees (2004) 'If you're pissed off by that precious little heart in the title meant to be pronounced I Heart Huckabees, then this ad-spinning fourth film from the prodding, risk-insensitive David O. Russell (Spanking the Monkey, Flirting With Disaster, Three Kings) may drive you up the wall. Trying to balance mirth and metaphysics, Russell walks a tightrope and tips recariously into incoherence. But how do you not heart a movie that breaks ranks with tight-assed formula and gets dissed by The New Yorker as an "authentic disaster" What's it all about? Don't ask. It sounds silly to say that Jason Schwartzman, in his richest role since Rushmore, plays Albert, an environmentalist et tormented with questions about the meaning of existence, especially his own.' -- Rolling Stone
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_______________ Nora Ephron Bewitched (2005) 'The funniest thing in BEWITCHED is an oddly touching attachment Will Ferrell's character, Jack Wyatt, develops for a bottle of ketchup he picked up during an off-screen interlude in New Mexico. It's barely mentioned, but there it is in a couple of scenes, clutched tenaciously the way a kid clutches his blankie in times of trouble. It's classic Ferrell, silly and yet moving in a way that is at once Dada-esque and childlike. The second funniest thing is Jason Schwartzman as Jack's agent who, whether by chance or design, is doing a surprisingly credible impression of Tom Cruise. Apparently it is all about the hair and the jawline. Beyond that, what wants to be an affable homage to the spirit, if not the exact storyline of the original television series of the same name, is, instead, an effort that appears to be held together by baling wire and chewing gum. That would be an off-brand of both items.'-- Killer Movie Reviews
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_______________ Anand Tucker Shopgirl (2005) 'Shopgirl is a 2005 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Anand Tucker and starring Steve Martin, Claire Danes, and Jason Schwartzman. The screenplay by Steve Martin is based on his 2000 novella of the same name. The film is about a complex love triangle between a bored salesgirl, a wealthy businessman, and an aimless young man. Produced by Ashok Amritraj, Jon Jashni, and Steve Martin for Touchstone Pictures and Hyde Park Entertainment, and distributed in the United States by Buena Vista Pictures, Shopgirl was released on October 21, 2005 and received generally positive reviews from film critics. The film went on to earn $11,112,077 and was nominated for four Satellite Awards, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay.'-- collaged
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_______________ Sofia Coppola Marie Antoinette (2006) 'Marie Antoinette the movie is a lot like the real Marie-Antoinette must have been. It's pretty to look at, but ultimately pretty meaningless. The real Marie-Antoinette was only 14 years old when she married Louis XVI of France. Kirsten Dunst is 24. Louis XVI was 15 when he married and Jason Schwartzman is 26. This wouldn't be so much of a problem if one of the few actual plot points in the movie wasn't the fact that Louis won't have sex with Marie when they first marry. At 15 you could excuse this behavior by saying he was too nervous or inexperienced to make a move, but at 26 you start looking for other reasons. I was waiting for it to be revealed that he was either gay or mentally challenged. The movie also covers 20-plus years and neither character seems to age or mature a day.'-- Three Movie Buffs
Behind the scenes
Behind the scenes on MTV's 'Cribs'
________________ Wes Anderson The Darjeeling Limited (2007) 'Three stooges antics mingle with subtler silliness, painful life-wisdom, bittersweet vicissitude and his trademark whimsy in this unmistakable Wes Anderson special. Anderson again explores the sad peculiarity of a dysfunctional family, in what could be viewed as a companion-piece to The Royal Tenenbaums. But he enters new territory by removing the quirky siblings to colourful Rajasthan, where heady exoticism and atmospheric alien culture (plus the local, opium-rich cough mixture) all have their effect on the damaged Whitman brothers and their tragi-comic personal journeys.'-- Empire
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Wes Anderson - Jason Schwartzman Talk Darjeeling Limited
________________ Wes Anderson Hotel Chevalier (2007) 'As an extra treat, The Darjeeling Limited is preceded by a Wes Anderson short film in which Schwartzman’s heartbroken Jack is holed up in a Paris hotel when his ex-lover (Natalie Portman) turns up. It’s a more apt prologue than it initially appears, the incident paying off dividends aboard The Darjeeling Express. Watch for a stunning last shot that goes straight to the heart.'-- collaged
the entire film
________________ Todd Louiso The Marc Pease Experience (2009) 'In a squandered lead performance, the adorable, winning Schwartzman plays the non-adorable, non-winning title character, a myopic dreamer who never recovered from freaking out and humiliating himself during a high-school performance of The Wiz. Eight years later, Schwartzman still hasn’t moved on. He hangs out at the high school, where he’s dating senior Anna Kendrick and badgering would-be mentor Ben Stiller, a musical-theater phony who’s fucking Schwartzman’s girlfriend when not ducking his calls. Schwartzman has finally raised the money to record a demo for his a cappella group, but would-be producer Stiller has no interest in further encouraging Schwartzman’s fantasies of a music career. Stiller and Schwartzman look like long-lost brothers. Even more disconcertingly, they seem to be playing variations on the same character, both smiling cheeseballs who’ve internalized the smarmy artificiality of the musical-theater world to the point where even their true selves are phony. The difference is that Schwartzman is a sweetheart/true believer and Stiller is an oily cad, though neither character is developed enough for the pathos of having pathetic dreams crushed to have any resonance.'-- The A.V. Club
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________________ Wes Anderson Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009) 'What Wes wanted to do, which was incredible, was … typically, an animated film is made over a long period of time and the actors all record their lines separately over the course of many years, with very little interaction. The voices are recorded cleanly, and there’s a sheen to it. What Wes wanted to do was make it a little more rough, with more interaction, and make it feel more like a movie. So he had actors overlapping, cutting each other off, really giving us a sense of the people who were in the room together. He got all the actors at one point — although Meryl Streep couldn’t come — but most of the actors, myself, Bill Murray, George Clooney and many others together. We all spent a week living together in a house, and the days were spent acting out the movie like a play. There was one guy running around with a boom microphone — none of us were mic’d — getting the sound in a crude, realistic, field-recording way. And that’s how we did the majority of the film.'-- Jason Schwartzman
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Jason Schwartzman Becomes Fantastic in Mr. Fox
__________________ Edgar Wright Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) 'Part video game, part teen romance, part postmodern collage experiment, Edgar Wright’s sui generis adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel is so visually ADD, I was expecting the Universal reps to be handing out Adderall after the screening. Install a camera in a pinball and you won’t approximate the whip-pan visual acrobatics at work here. Contemplative cinema this is not (duh), but it’s hardly worth picking on the pace and narrative. Let’s face it: it’s not the film that has an attention-span problem, but the new generation. Scott Pilgrim is just one in a string of recent pictures geared toward pixilated youth, which want to conflate the moviegoing experience with the synesthetic dispersion of the video arcade. Not my idea of a good time at the cinema per se; but then again, the inherent non-linearity of this movie may find the new kids getting experimental despite themselves.'-- Film Comment
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Michael Cera & Jason Schwartzman Interview for SCOTT PILGRIM VS THE WORLD
_________________ Wes Anderson Moonrise Kingdom (2011) 'Cousin Ben is a very fine man with a moral centre. Otherwise, I would have obviously refused to play him. No, but to me he was like the Han Solo of the scout world, a man with a sense of humour who could be tough and bend the rules. Everyone needs a cousin Ben. I gave Moonrise Kingdom, er, three days. Which doesn't sound very much, but I didn't want to go home after. Wes is got so good at establishing this vibe on set. It's much more efficient than when we started, very nimble and agile. There are no trailers for actors to hide in, no nonsense. Most movies are like coffee, herky-jerky, spike and drop, action then nothing for hours. This was more like afternoon tea, but from first thing in the morning.'-- Jason Schwartzman
Cousin Ben Troop Screening with Jason Schwartzman
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Wes Anderson, Jason Schwartzman 'Moonrise Kingdom' Cannes 2012
_______________ Roman Coppola A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III (2012) 'A film is a terrible thing to waste. For Roman Coppola to waste one on A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III is a sad sight to behold. I'll go further. For Charlie Sheen to waste a role in it is also a great pity. I stop not: For Bill Murray to occupy his time in this dreck sandwich is a calamity. Of Charlie Sheen, we've seen more than enough, at least until he gets his act together. But there's a sad shortage of Bill Murray performances, and his work here is telephoned in as if Thomas Alva Edison had never been born. Every detail has been pushed to 11 on the Spinal Tap scale.'-- Roger Ebert
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________________ John Lee Hancock Saving Mr. Banks (2013) 'In the Disney movie, Saving Mr. Banks, Jason Schwartzman plays one of the songwriting brothers tasked with charming P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) into giving up the rights to Mary Poppins to Walt Disney. Schwartzman got the chance to meet his real-life counterpart, Richard M. Sherman, whose sunny optimism (along with Walt Disney's) persevered over Travers's fierce negativity. (His brother, Robert Sherman, played in the film by B.J. Novak, passed away in 2012.) "I got home that night from the [Moonrise Kingdom] premiere and there was an email from him: 'Hey, bro. I'm doing a movie with John Lee Hancock called Saving Mr. Banks. He's going to contact you soon. It's a great script, you're going to love it. It would be really fun if we could maybe work together.' But then it was another week before John Lee Hancock got in touch with me. I describe it as "you will be visited by three ghosts..." I was like, "When is it gonna happen?" But when I read it, I was so interested in it because I love Mary Poppins and I love anything that's the "making of" in the creative process. And I loved [Hancock's previous film] The Rookie, which my brother had shot and told me John Lee Hancock was so nice. So when I went to meet him, I felt comfortable with him."'-- moviefone.com
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__________________ Alex Ross Perry Listen Up Philip (2014) 'Written and directed by Alex Ross Perry, Listen Up Philip looks like the kind of movie film classes would study in the 1970s. Perry swings his hand-held camera so close to the faces of the actors it feels like he might clip one of them in the nose. Narrator Eric Bogosian has a wonderful, offbeat and almost cheerful delivery as he details the latest horrible behavior by Philip or Zimmerman, to the point where we’re rooting for the women in their lives to pack up their dignity and run. Run! Philip is one of the most unlikable but also one of the most fascinating characters of the year. Schwartzman is an expert at playing whip-smart, socially awkward misfits who seem incapable of being in the moment. Even when he’s saying “that’s great” to his girlfriend, he feels compelled to tell her she doesn’t understand him and how he feels right then and there. Another time, when a student shyly asks him for a letter of recommendation for an internship, he tells her why he won’t do it while he staples a blank piece of paper, and he concludes the conversation by saying, “Here’s a piece of paper with staples in it.” OK.'-- Chicago Sun Times
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_______________ Wes Anderson The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) 'If you've ever watched a precocious niece play with a dollhouse, you know what it's like to sit through a Wes Anderson movie. It’s soothing to see a world so organized, where even the problems are curated by its god. Wes Anderson has taken the appeal of orderly minutiae and fetishized it into a cinematic aesthetic, if not a genre: His dollhouses are inhabited by melancholy adults who are stymied by their inability to escape established patterns and energetic children who don't understand why their elders are such assholes. The Grand Budapest Hotel offers yet another character who never changes, this time Ralph Fiennes as the gay manager of the titular hotel who sleeps with rich older women for the twin purposes of making them happy and getting presents. He peppers his Queen's English with fucks and goddamns and, like Anderson, is particular about his surroundings. The hotel and the boxes that house bonbons and prison escape tools baked into cookies are the same cool, chalky pink, and the baker is a lovely young woman with a port-wine stain shaped like Mexico on her right cheek. Bill Murray is a member of a secret upscale concierge syndicate. Willem Dafoe is a Eurotrash fixer. Tilda Swinton is an old-ass lady who is serviced by Ralph Fiennes.'-- Esquire
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Jason Schwartzman explains the plot of Grand Budapest Hotel
__________________ Tim Burton Big Eyes (2014) 'Jason Schwartzman will get artsy in Tim Burton's upcoming film, Big Eyes. Schwartzman, who starred in Rushmore, Spun, I Heart Huckabees and The Darjeeling Limited, will play a San Francisco art gallery owner named Ruben.'-- The Hollywood Reporter
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p.s. Hey. A forewarning to those of you who care about such things that, due to the time I usually have to make posts being extremely curtailed right now and there being no guest-posts to help me out, there'll be a scatter of rerun posts coming in the next week, starting tomorrow. I'll try to keep them to as few as I can. ** Paul Curran, Hi, Paul. Oh, no, that's a total shock! But, wait, as I ... think ... more ... about it, well, of course! Sense has come to something that never has made any sense. The only question I have is, dude, how is it that you can write both such extraordinary fiction and such non-extraordinary songs? That's the only wrench in the works in my mind in what is otherwise a scam-slash-performance art masterwork that leaves the JT Leroy thing beached. I'm very happy to wave my arms around and get all glittery-eyed about your J-Novel anytime you need. Like right now. If you could see my eyes and arms. ** Kyler, My therapist always berated me whenever I used the word crazy about myself or about anyone. Her usual plan to pep me up about myself went right out the window, and she became hell-bent on making me feel like a dumb-ass. ** Damien Ark, That's the spirit. I will beeline to your #1 first and foremost. Thanks! I wish I could see Link as 'real' enough to have a sexuality. He's always just a rendering or drawing or whatever to me. Same way I am about characters in fiction. Same way I am about haunted house attractions. I wish I could go the extra mile and believe. Believing sounds like fun. ** Sypha, Wow, you really are behind. 'Ocarina'! Great game though. I think 'Windwaker' is my favorite if you ever want to dip into the later games. Yeah, I think I find it interesting theoretically when artists try mediums other than the one they're good at in an established way, but the times when an artist does that in a way that satisfies me is so rare that I can't think of an example. I've only read two Stephen Kings. 'Cujo' and ... another one, I forget. I couldn't take the writing. ** Etc etc etc, Hi. I'm not really very into contemporary rap and hip hop in general. It's a genre I don't pay attention to on my own, and I only really do when someone recommends something to me, or if I hear something I like somewhere. Rightly or probably wrongly, the great majority of what I hear just seems really formulaic to me. And when I do like something, it's usually on the level of thinking, 'That's a clever variation on the formula'. No doubt I'm completely off on that, but it's just not a genre that does much for me, and, most importantly, gives me ideas about making fiction and other art. When it comes down to it, the stuff I get excited about almost always has things in it that I want to learn how to try to do in my own work. ** Tosh, Hi. The Sontag and Mailer films were quite interesting, actually. And then of course there's Robbe-Grillet, an especially sterling example of a successful crossover from fiction writing to filmmaking. I'm sure there are many more. ** Zach, Hey! Really nice to see you! Oh, that's sad about you fucking up and not getting Epona. That made me very melancholy. You finished your masters degree! Holy shit, congrats, man! That's a big mountain climbed, for sure. Let me pass along your thing. I wish I could submit something, but I've got zip that's close to being finished, drat. Everyone, here's Zach with something that at least some of you should pay attention to 'cos it's an awesome opportunity: 'I am working with the American Chordata journal, reading lots of submissions. we have gotten a few from commenters here which has been very cool. thank you guys! just wanted to drop a reminder that our deadline is Dec. 15, all the info you need for submission is at www.americanchordata.org if anyone wants to email me personally with questions about the magazine (or anything really) just let me know and I can make that happen. zach.fruit@gmail.com'. I did break my ribs. Three of them. In Iceland. It sucked big time for a while, but they're pretty close to being normal again now. ** Steevee, Okay, cool, thanks for the further thoughts. I will definitely see it. 'Jack Webb gone to seed' is very alluring. I love Jack Webb. I think 'Dragnet' is one of the great auteur TV shows of all time. ** Magick mike, Hi, Mike! Oh, my total pleasure about the Luther Price post. I wish there had been more stuff online to make the post deeper and wider. I read about that CCA thing he did while I was doing the post. There might even be a video of it out there? Really lucky you. Did you interact with him? I could imagine him being really interested in your work. I would obviously really love to see your lists wherever you put them. Entropy would be a good home. That place is getting more and more interesting all the time. It's times like this when I wish HTMLG was still around, but oh well. Take care, man! ** Kier, Hi ... oh, shit, I almost called you the 'K' word (er, Kiki) without even thinking. And I am now slapping myself in the face for that near transgression. Done. I feel better now. Cool you loved that Day. Me too, ha ha. Your indoors day was nice. Those felt covering things are probably really simple looking but I can't picture them, or maybe I have already and I just don't trust my imagination. Every time you talk about the Xmas market I get excited. Paris has a giant one that runs along a big stretch of the park part of the Champs-Elysee every year that's kind of magical. It might be up and running by now even. Ooh. Another Lukas collage, yes! My day was an off one in the sense that we didn't edit. It took Zac longer than expected to sync the sound on Scene 1, and he was still going at it in the early afternoon so we decided to take the day off, editing-wise, and I'm going over there in a minute to start again. But I didn't do too much with my free-time. I made two blog posts. I conferred with the guy who's doing the score for the scene in the film. I tried to work on my novel, but I didn't get very far. I investigated when the Xmas confections go on sale at the local patisseries, which is today! I wrote some emails. And other stuff I can't remember. Sucks, it was a rare day to do something exciting to tell you about, and I didn't. Dang. Today might be something. First we edit, and then we go pick up a Xmas buche we preordered, and then we have to figure out how to get it all the way to CDG airport in one piece, and then we go to CDG to meet up with Kiddiepunk and Oscar B who are doing a Paris stopover on their way to Australia, and then we'll eat the buche and go over the edits of the two finished scenes with Kiddiepunk, our cinematographer/ cameraman. So that'll be a lot of something. What was your something relative to today? ** Randomwater, Hi. I have good feeling about that new Zelda. I agree the last one wasn't the best one by far. I didn't like flying around for some reason for one thing. Oh, fantastic, I would really love to see Celadon when you're ready to share it. Cool, that's very exciting! I wish I could see your room. Yeah, I'm doing almost nothing right now except helping edit Zac's and my film. It's getting close. Should be finished in January if all goes well. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. I'll go read the Savage thing as soon as I can, thanks! No big whoop in the QT thing, eh? Yeah, exactly, about the good Brand is doing in his new phase, and that's why I'm a bit confused about why he bugs me. ** Misanthrope, I don't think I'm participatory enough on FB to feel that pressure about liking or not liking. I just scroll down, 'like' what I like, and then I go home. I think Link is whomsoever you wish. He's a drawing. ** Gary gray, Hey, buddy! Welcome back! I'm really good. I'm finishing Zac's and my film with Zac. That's all I'm doing. Thanks about my ribs. They've finally gone almost mute again. Nice faves list. That Robert Wyatt is the 'best of' album, isn't it? Cool about your move back to LA, at least in my LA-loving mind. And that you're doing good. Cool! Don't be a stranger unless being a stranger suits you. ** Hyemin kim, I really like that your thesis has become 'very simple and lovely'. A teenage love song! What a beautiful idea: thesis as a teenage love song. Thank you so, so much! ** Rewritedept, Early GbV sort thing exactly! I think irregardless is a word. Blogger didn't underline it with red when I typed it. I have done two or three 'Paris at Xmas' slideshow posts in years past. I'll see if I can find enough photos of this year's version to be interesting. Yes, I thought Jeff's new story is fantastic! The eBook-like novel-like novel will be digital only. Download only. It could not exist in print form. I don't think I'm crazy, but, wow, would I know? ** Okay. I'm giving Mr. Jason Schwartzman the blog today. Worthy. See you tomorrow.
11 june 2008 i'm at this bar next to envoy gallery with alex rose, who i met the day before, and whose 'deathrow workshop' at envoy has changed what i think about everything forever etc. i'm really really drunk, which i hardly ever do. i wear a bright orange polo shirt and dance alone to some smiths song. seated later, alex is on my left and there's this buff dude to my right. he smells like cum and shows me these insane, beautiful, oversaturated pictures of torsos, messes, and money. all i can think to say is 'jesus. you're major'. he pulls on my hair and i lean away smirking. i show him my sketchbook. he wants to know if i'm a boy or a girl. he wants to know if i like boys or girls. to both answers he says 'you can tell.' he tells me i must get a lot of attention from gay men. alex and i exchange something. the night progresses to kitchen, a rooftop, a basement, a street, and an ex-factory in east bushwick. alex and this dude aren't involved in most of it but inevitably inform much of it. by the end it's turning to 14 june. at 00:22 on 14 june i google this person. he is slava mogutin.
______________ The Dreadful Flying Glove
This isn't the first time I've written about this, but when I was either twenty-five or twenty-six I met Bill Drummond. Not in any particularly dramatic capacity. I was at the Foundry at around one o'clock in the afternoon, and he served me at the bar. I bought two or three bottles of the bottled organic beer they sold and a couple of bags of peanuts. I absolutely failed to recognise him, having never heard of the Foundry even before setting foot in the place. The name of the brewery was also my maternal grandfather's name, and I made some sort of under-prepared joke about this, which he, Bill, had the decency to appear visibly amused by.
---I stayed there all afternoon, listening to the something-something Sound System ('lie down and be counted', I think was the line on their poster), and that night at home I took myself off to the bathroom and endured the worst episode of the screaming shits I have ever known. This was at least as bad as the evening four years previous where I had drunk this big Jaguar-badge-sized aspirin in a pint of water to get rid of a headache and then followed that up by absent-mindedly drinking a pint of real ale about an hour later. My internal organs were driven through configurations that would have made Pinhead whimper. Gastric discomfort operating at the level of Gnostic revelation.
---Five hours, gentle reader, in the absolute dead of night, limping to bed to lie down in the fervent and consistently mistaken hope that this time, no, this time, I might be able to lie still for long enough to get some sleep.
---It was something like six months to a year later, when I was lazily saying that "if I ever did" meet Bill I'd be sure to hand him a copy of The Chronicles of the White Horse by Peter Please, one of the most magically strange of many magically strange books I read at a young age and something I've always felt certain he'd enjoy, that someone else who had been there said "er, right, yes, except you already have."
---"Have I?"
---"You have."
---"Well, fuck."
--- Just as well, really.
Bill Drummond is and always will be one of my personal heroes: the way he doubts, the way he strives, the way he fucks up, the way he confesses, the way he pokes stuff around. Brave man.
---Ken Campbell, who to my eternal shame I never did meet, introduces him in this video.
________ _Black_Acrylic
That's me on the left of the photo, aged 7. I had my first shot at art glory when I was awarded a prize at Leeds City Art Gallery by the game show host Bob Holness. It was for my drawing of a Barry Flanagan sculpture (see below). At the time Holness presented a quiz called Blockbusters and he is also the subject of a classic urban myth: that he played the saxophone solo on Gerry Rafferty's Baker Street.
_______ Max Vernon
It has come to my attention that a recent sexual conquest of mine may in fact be what you would consider famous. It all started on a typical saturday night...the evening was spread out against the sky like a patient etherised upon a table, and I found myself at an underground S&M leather club notorious for a level of sadism not seen since the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.
I was feeling a bit more glum than usual as I took in my surroundings, absorbing scenes of classical torture. I locked eyes for a brief moment with a man across the room who looked positively beatific. He slowly glided over to me and rested his hand on my shoulder. When he told me he wanted to be my savior I had to suppress the desire to roll my eyes. After all, I get quite a bit of undesired attention from those wanting to "save me."
The sex itself was pretty gratifying. He was hung with a dick so large it could part the red sea, and after we were finished he fed me heavenly manna. I guess I should admit I was mostly turned on by the blood dripping down his forehead.
Below I've attached a photo of myself and my favorite sadist.
Yours truly,
Max.
__________ Mark Pariselli
I was lucky to meet one of my favorite filmmakers, Gregg Araki, when he brought 'Smiley Face' to the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival. He was kind, funny and down to earth. We chatted about our mutual affection for Ladytron and his use of "destroy everything you touch" in the film.
_________ Mark Gluth
One time I followed Lily Tomlin around Chicago O' Hare because I wanted to see if it was her. It was.
___ Alan
Few people know that the actor Daniel Day-Lewis, star of the very popular recent film “Nine,” is the son of the noted British poet C. Day-Lewis.
As a neighbor of the Day-Lewises when I was staying in London in the early 60s, I was occasionally asked to tea with Jack (as C. Day-Lewis was known, quite arbitrarily, to his friends) and his charming second wife, the actress Jill Balcon. His children were usually not at home, but Jack would sometimes speak darkly about Daniel’s emotional difficulties, which had already come to light.
I’ll never forget my first sight of the boy. It must have been November of 1964. He was only about seven, as I recall, though tall for his age. He was standing in the parlor dressed in a sort of long coarsely woven tunic and sandals and leaning on a wooden crook. But I was struck less by this outfit than by the boy’s manner, starting with his look of astonishment as I walked in. “God bless me!” he cried. “But who comes here? Welcome, good gentleman! Welcome to Bethlehem!” Taken a little aback, I turned to his father, who muttered something about Daniel’s getting a part in the local church’s nativity play. I understood.
The last time I saw Daniel it was on the sad occasion of his father’s memorial service. Once again his appearance was unconventional. His head was shaven clean, he had a gold ring in one ear, and instead of a jacket he had on a silk pajama top, worn open in front to expose his chest and abdomen. I couldn’t help feeling this was in poor taste under the circumstances, but as everyone present appeared to have agreed to let it go, I decided to follow suit and offer him my condolences. “Hah!” he replied. I mentioned that although I had seen little of his father over the last few years, my acquaintance with him had always meant a good deal to me. “When my father was a king,” Daniel agreed, “he was a king who knew exactly what he knew. Et cetera, et cetera, and so forth!” At this point his mother took me aside to explain that they were doing “The King and I” at Bedales that spring and Daniel had got the lead.
_________ Davey Houle
Here are my two cents: In the early 90's, I was at a live sex show on 42nd Street in NYC. In the row behind me, Allan Ginsberg was masturbating.
______ Tigersare
First photo is me a few years back during my Jesse McCartney obsession, backstage at a meet'n'greet before one of his concerts (I'd also interviewed him face to face the year before for the newspaper I write for). He had his arm around me! Jesse has gone to seed a bit these days, but haven't we all...
Second photo is me in 1995 with Lou Barlow (Sebadoh, Dinosaur Jr etc). Sebadoh came to my home town of Perth in Western Australia and played on my 21st birthday. My friend's band supported and we hung out a bit after! Have always liked this photo even though it's shot from underneath which is never the most flattering angle. Just last weekend, I saw Lou wandering around at a rock festival that Dinosaur Jr were playing, and felt none of that 90s idol worship, just a mild and very detached nostalgia.
__________ Dan Callahan
"During a melancholy summer, I was finishing a halfhearted college degree by interning at a talent agency on 57th street and 7th avenue in Manhattan. There wasn't much to do. I would take nearly two-hour lunches in Central Park and read Graham Greene's The End of the Affair, then go behind a tree somewhere to cry. It was that kind of summer.
One day, mid-summer, feeling more alone than usual, I got into the elevator at work and pressed the ground floor button; it was time for lunch and more Greene. The doors opened a floor below mine. A blond woman, a silver-haired man and a woman with big dark eyes got on with me. In a few seconds, I realized that the blond woman was Candice Bergen, the silver-haired man was Mike Nichols, and the dark-eyed woman, who was wearing an eccentric, floppy hat, was Elaine May.
I tensed up, happily. Bergen was standing next to me, Nichols and May were in front of me. I turned to Bergen and quietly said that I loved the long close-up of her laughing in Carnal Knowledge. Bergen smiled at me, in that tight way of hers. I said that her laughter in that scene looked really natural. Nichols turned around; his face lit up as he looked at me. "You know, there's a very funny story about that." Bergen piped in: "The stuff Nicholson said to get me to laugh like that! The stories that were told!" Nichols looked at Bergen and said, "That was a fun day, wasn't it?" May stared back at us under her hat, poker-faced. The doors opened and they all got off at a lower floor.
It was a perfect little encounter, in its way. If only Bergen had got on, I wouldn't have said anything. And if it had been Nichols and May only, I would have been scared to death, and silent. But Nichols and Bergen together inspired me to mention something specific, and that seems to have brought them a bit of pleasure in remembrance. It worked, as these things seldom do. And it definitely made my day."
__________ L@rstonovich
famous two for one.
first cat i met in portland (still a best bud) has a dad who was pals with ravi shankar (and george harrison, but i never got to meet him. buddy's dad and george produced a shankar box set together.)
we travelled to eureka, ca. to see ravi perform at humboldt state. buddy's dad played the traditional drone instrument on stage, one string. he had snuck outside before the show and smoked a doobie. ravi wasn't to high on instant highs. there he was (buddy's dad) on stage, the only white guy, stoned and plucking that string. it being humboldt we were in the right mindset for raga as well.
afterwards we stayed at the bed and breakfast with india's legendary musician and his entourage. i felt guilty about my leather jacket. the conversation I remember around the buffet table involved ravi educating the folks on the fat content of avocados. don't get me wrong, i love and respect the raga master but there was much hollywood style shmooze surrounding the whole deal that left me with a bad taste.
cue a month or two later.
when i moved to portland pavement was at the top of my list. favorite band at the time. then every show i went i started seeing malkmus who had just moved here too. i was drunk at satyricon and said "are you who i think you are?" he said "yeah" he bummed a smoke, i gave it to him, it was my last and i felt like a slut. later at a trans am show i was leaving with another friend and next thing i know it's me, my friend kirk, his girl, and malk. i was wasted. we went to some russian disco that was open after hours, blurry. i stole a bottle of wine. i wanted some weight with malk so i said "hey i can get you a ticket to the ravi shankar show." he seemed impressed. we exchanged numbers. turned out he was gonna be on tour. months go by and suddenly i get a message on my answering machine "hey this is stephen, i need to record vocals for some b-sides, do you still have that set up in your basement?"
what??? how did he know i had a rad 4-track rig? what? boner inducing, life-changing shit! but wait. can't be real. "hey stephen this is larry, you left a message, but uh, this is larry kirk's friend...." stephen pauses... "oh ravi's buddy! yeah i meant to call larry c. from jackpot studios, how's it going?" every time i saw him he mentioned ravi, and i liked that, it was more of a "yeah i totally remember you" as opposed to a "yeah ravi, you dick." i never saw him much after that, i have a weird band allegiance thing and have a hard time when front dudes go solo and i never saw the jicks. so that's that. if i do see him, i'll say "ravi's friend" and i'm sure we'll have a laugh.
_ NB
You detestable little shit.
___ Bollo
I met Prinzhorn Dance School back in the summer of 07. I went to see them play, then got to hang out with them backstage after, chatting and drinking their beer. Both Tobin and Suzi very really lovely. Their drummer was their roadie and played so hard he bust a few sets of drum sticks. I got given the top of one, Suzi dubbed it the ‘Tip of the Horn’. They found me a bit hungover the next day in a guitar shop. They live footage above is from the show I was at. Two months later I met James Murphy in the same venue and hung out with him backstage. He played an amazing disco set. About 5 people liked it. He wouldn’t play any LCD Soundsystem stuff. A lot of people didn’t like that. He played “I want more” by Can. 3 people danced.
________________ Put The Lotion In The Basket
Sometimes I Just Love Too Much.
Me and Alexander Rybak
A Love Unrequited.
First I start my SPD day with a confession you see I have not always been Nick. It’s confusing you see, I was in fact born Nick and am Nick now but for a while last year I was a pre-op transexual called Nicoretta, Nicoretta Du Boar.
As Nicoretta I was a care free girl about town working as assistant-under-assistant manager assistant at The Body Shop, Wood Green, (Sensemena Shopping Mall, Right Up The Front Isle, Ground Floor), North London, very nice it was too with a food court with foods from all over the world, Japan, Sydney, Croydon, handy hand wipes available with all finger food. Classy.
That was all until The Eurovision Song Contest and my meeting with the winner the gorgeous ALEXANDER RYBAK. Never heard of him after his big win, well here’s why, below is an entry from my diary which is now buried just past junction 14 of the M21 along with Alexander’s left hand pinky. Ahhhhh…treasured moments captured in buried body parts, ‘sweet dreams are made of this, who am I too‘…
Fuck off Lennox, get out my head! Anyhoo onwards......
17th April 2009.
Well I never. I wake this morning to find blood and fecal matter all over the sheets and walls of my Moscow Hotel. There are vodka bottles, syringes and pills all over the floor and a trail of oranges leads to a dead body, you see last night was the annual Eurovision Song Contest, where the most naff acts from across Europe compete. Well as Miss Body Shop 2009 part of my prize was to attend and now I am beginning to wonder just where it all went wrong for the Norwegian winner, who incidentally you won't ever be seeing again on account of the fact that he lies dead, slumped against the shower wall, his head bent at a most unattractive and hideous angle. Believe me there's no pulse, I gave kiss of life and my blow job of death to that sucker an hour ago and nothing, not a twitch, yup he's dead. It started out just fine for Mr Norway, a sparkle in his eye, a spring in his step, a cheeky chappy grin, that just said 'my Mom loves me sooo much and I love her too, a violin tucked under his arm and a closet so deep you could really believe that he might just be capable of loving girls. Here's his performance...go ahead watch, you will be captivated. I was.
He won by a mile, all of Europe loved him, I loved him for Christ Sake. I loved him more when he came over to me at the winners backstage party, his twinkling eyes and smile even brighter and wider than before. We chatted. He complemented me on my Westwood dress, my Asprey pearls, and my cock which he could see was interested in him as it was causing a stir in my dress line. We drank champagne. Ate caviar. Snorted coke off a most attractive blond dancers thigh. We laughed. Then he held my hand and said 'lets get away from this, I just wanna be with you tonight'. My heart melted. I imagined a life of bliss with him, meeting his Mother, her loving me, me and his Mother knitting things together as Mr Norway went off to entertain the Crown Heads of Europe. Where did it all go wrong? I guess I just love too much. I just have too much love to give. My love just overwhelms me. Somehow I gotta get out of Russia without being arrested. There's lotions that need to be put in baskets tomorrow and a small white dog that needs feeding tonight.
Poor Alexander, so talented, so dead.
So that’s it, me and someone famous, anyone want to meet up for cocktails later I still have a delicious Dior somewhere at the back of my wardrobe? and Oh Lastly- Kier- I am so sorry for this tale, I know you were a big fan back then.
________ Frank Jaffe
_____ Stephen
While living in Los Angeles for 6 months I had the pleasure to live on the same street as one of my favorite actors, James Duval. I grew up in the LA area so I never really considered myself a sucka for famous people until one night I came home really drunk, ended up in James Duval's apartment - they were wrapping up a movie and I ended up doing blow with the director. I didn't know I was in James Duval's apartment and I left with the director to my apartment to do more blow. Time toppled all over itself and the next thing I knew there were a lot of people in my apartment, one of which was James Duval. I was flabbergasted. He was sitting on my bed. My favorite scenes of my favorite Gregg Araki movies flashed through my head. I walked up to him and caressed his face and told him he is a wonderful person then made my way back to the drugs. In the morning I felt like a fucking sentimental idiot.
_________ Alyssa Nolan
Living in Boston for three years has given me a lot of opportunities to meet celebrities, but none so famous that I'd expect the majority of people who read this blog to know who they are. No amusing stories either. Still, just getting the opportunity to chat with a celebrity for five minutes can be kind of exciting on its own, and it has a very surreal quality to it, especially if they're nothing in real life like they are on the screen. That's how it was when my brother and I met the cast of It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia after seeing their The Nightman Cometh show in Boston. They were funny, like I expected, but also really cool and down-to-earth, nothing like their clueless and arrogant TV personas. Included in the pictures are Kaitlin Olson, Rob McElhenney, and Glenn Howerton (the other guy in the middle picture is my brother Andrew).
______ Statictick
The Obvious: For some time in the late 80s and early 90s I favored wearing a vintage (50s) orange / pink hat that was given to me by my late friend DJ. DJ and I had a lot in common. She was my boyfriend's age, but liked several of the sorts of music that I liked. Patti Smith was always a favorite of mine. Someone left a copy of Horses in my grab when I was around eight years old. I sat in front of my grandparents' hi-fi and played it over and over. (I play it over and over to this day.) DJ showed me some photos she'd taken of Patti (including the ones above).
DJ lived in St. Clair Shores, a suburb to the northeast of Detroit. So did Patti, in those years she was considered "retired." For a short time, I lived in a neighboring suburb, Roseville. Roseville and St. Clair Shores shared libraries. DJ said that she'd run into Patti at the library, and at a few eateries that sprinkle that part of the river.
I didn't really hunt Patti down, but I did see her at the library and at some restaurants with her kids, who were obnoxious and petulant and funny. I don't know exactly when the moment occurred, but suddenly she recognized me because I was always wearing that fucking hat. She'd do a little wave at me at the library. I never had a conversation with her, but it felt oddly intimate.
When she finally put out a couple of books and did signings and eased her way back into recording and performing, I attended everything she did wearing that silly orange hat. I have this habit of writing my name in the top right corner of the first page of books. I don't know why. I think she got my name from that, because when I went to a book signing in Ann Arbor around 1992, hat in place while walking up to her, she said, "May I help, you Nicholas?" and everyone around started laughing. Woolgathering remains my favorite book of hers.
Ever since then, whenever she graces Detroit with a performance, I try to fit that thing on my head.
*
The One That Got Away: For my 25th birthday, I got to go see Nirvana with Dynomoose. The concert date was a few days after, but the ticket was the birthday present I bought for myself. The buying of it involved a car full of screaming cheerleaders smashing into the back of my truck while I stopped to let an elderly lady pass by on the sidewalk on my way into the record store. I loved it when their parents showed up to tell the crying driver that she was the one getting the ticket.
Nirvana played a suitably wasted shack in the middle of the usually unused Michigan State Fairgrounds at the Southeast corner of 8 Mile and Woodward. An old friend of mine who was living with me at the time worked at a Kinko's copy joint. The store he worked at somehow ended up with the contract to do the backstage passes for the Nirvana show. He cranked out a couple for me and Dynomoose. We'd become "Medical Staff." Indeed.
After talking this over with the Moose, we've agreed that telling more of this story would be inappropriate. Suffice to say, I don't think my feet touched the ground once Nirvana started with Radio Friendly Unit Shifter until maybe three days later. It was hard to wake Moose up.
__________ Paul Buccholz
One morning in February 2007, hazy before brewing coffee and ingesting carbohydrates, I checked my text-based webmail account and discovered an e-mail in my inbox from the Hungarian novelist Lászlo Krasznahorkai. The following few seconds, in which I clicked the blue subject heading to open the message, I felt my own view transposed into the vivid clastrophobic space of a Krasznahorkai narrative, I noticed the low ceiling and the unstable wooden floor of the brittle second-floor apartment, I noticed everything that one of this author's frenzied narrators would themselves notice. It was a time, I suppose, before I had fully accepted a belief in the banality of the figure of the writer, back when I still felt that something of the best writers must transfer directly from the fingers onto the keyboard and could somehow make its way then into the room you are reading in. The contents of the e-mail were small, polite, a cordial turn-down of an invitation to give a reading at the school where I was working… but the terse yet sincere diction of his greeting, the carry-over of his best works' morbid rhetoric, helped to melt for a second the computer, decompose and transpose it into the space of K's perverted 19th century realism and his no-future lost travel narratives, his miniature sketches of concrete objects floating in void landscapes. It is the same computer I am writing on now, apparently, the one that I will junk and forget within the next two years. Please, somebody, send an e-mail like that again. Note the photo, which is not current and which does not feature me, but is cluttered. Please read this writer's cluttered and wonderful works.
_________ JW Veldhoen
I'm afraid of this. What? When I turned to the left, I thought of a ghost story for next year. Saying hi there. Wormholes and wormwood and worms, looking in your rectum like some stray dog, a benefactor of the kiss of time. A whale of a whale.
Tennis anyone? Who popped the scholar?/Dammit Janet!
ɟnɔʞıuƃ ******//*********ИuʞʞLЭFuʞʞ3R*********\\****** TØUCH MY SKIИ PSE GRЭЭKKK $300
PAM ENTERS They talk about Max, Jamie Brokentoe looks hapless, then furious, his terminology for expressions being what it is, he alternates from scowl to frown and back. This is your city, the ad says. Google mapping his housing, taking screenshots. 29 countries. He hates that. He hates it everywhere.
A woman asked me to take her order for a book of art photos, slav asses. She told me her name was Mrs. Shit. Her email: Mrs.Shit@___.___. I met her son Mr. Hole some weeks earlier. His titanium Amex reading clearly. I saw him kissing a black professor from Parsons whom I liked at Dante's, so I hated him, naturally.
I wish I was writing fiction. When did she leave? Yesterday? ----
____________ Joel Westendorf
I'm guessing it was around 2000-2001... I was out @ the club Spaceland with a friend, and we ran into some other friends, and those friends had a friend who had brought along Vincent Kartheiser. We all drank and half-watched the band that was playing. I knew who Vincent was because my roomate Dennis was totally "fascinated" by him @ the time so I'd seen some of his movies. In person I found him to be brash and juvenille, but hey.. he was like.. 22. So, whatever. I can see how some people might've been charmed by his antics. Anyway, as the night was winding down and people were leaving, we gathered on the sidewalk, wrapping up conversations and saying goodnight. Vincent was loudly talking to anyone and everyone, asking aloud "Who's gonna gimme a blowjob so I can go ta sleep?" a few times, and in different ways. People couldn't tell if he was serious or not. I wasn't interested in helping him out, so I said goodnight to everyone and went and got my car from the lot next to the building. I took an immediate right and stopped in front of the club to roll down the passenger side window and tell my friend something I'd forgotten. My friend came over and Vincent followed. He poked his head beside hers as I told her whatever it was that I'd forgotten, and then we said goodnight. She pulled back from the window and Vincent put his head further IN to the window, and then both hands and arms, and then his whole torso. He said "Goodnight, Joel", lightly grabbed my face with both his hands, kissed me on the lips and then withdrew from the window to bounce back to his pals. I was like - Huh? Weird. and I drove off chuckling about how jealous Dennis was going to be when I told him. The End.
___ Chris
It was somewhere between the summers of 1978-82. I was bicycle messenger in NYC. Which means I was all over Manhattan on any given day, often in elevators either crowded or alone with someone. One day I happened to be in an elevator with David Mccallum, the sexy one from Man from U.N.C.L.E., the "great" TV show of my youth. Sometimes I used to start up conversations by saying, "would you like to switch jobs?" So nervous, I thought I'd try it out again. His response went something like, " how dare you ask me...I've been out of work for years." True or not. That shut me up.
Those summers as a messenger were when I got to know NYC in more detail. The two other "famous" people I saw on the street several times were Tiny Tim and Andy Warhol. Then there was club 57 after work.
____________ Daniel Portland
_________ Kevin Killian
Here I am surrounded by two legendary ladies, Dodie Bellamy on my right and Valerie Harper on my left. Very eighties! Very LA! We were staying at the Hotel Bonaventure, then itself an iconic place by virtue of having been written up by Fredric Jameson and by Baudrillard. It was ground zero in the society of the spectacle. We were meeting Valerie Harper (once Rhoda on the Mary Tyler Moore show) because I had won a contest involving murder mysteries and soap operas. It was back when I was a devoted fan of the NBC soap Santa Barbara. The event we were at was the only one I've ever been to that was covered by "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," and in the months that followed I got a few phone calls for disbelieving relatives asking if they had indeed seen me for a split second on Lifestyles.
_________ Misanthrope
I’d never heard really heard of Matt Marcure (otherwise known as Panda? throughout the blogosphere – who knew, right?). Even from the countless photos of him I’d downloaded from the net during hours, days, weeks, and years of stalk- um, perusing the internet; from the thousands of daily visits to his blogs and to his myspace and facebook pages; from the hundreds of thousands of hours of listening to his music; from the millions of hours looking at the posters I’d made from his online pics and hung on my walls; even from all of this, I had noidea who this guy was.
I mean, really, how was I supposed to know I was in the presence of the world wide web’s, nay, the world’s!, biggest, most talented, revolutionary, hottest celebrity when I accidentally stumbled upon him in his backyard:
Or when I inadvertently ran into him while he was at an awards ceremony in Hawaii:
Or when I mistakenly bumped into him as he put into effect his plans for world Panda? domination:
Seriously, how was I to know?
Well, now that I have an inkling of how big a star this dude is, when I get out of prison, I’ll be sure to run into him again. In the meantime, I’ll just share with you the few pics I have smugg- um, have left of my chance encounters with this mysterious fella about whom, I swear, I knew absolutely nothing…
___ Trees
During an encore performance of "Fuck the Pain Away," I fed Peaches grapes on stage and she frenched me and spit beer on my face.
__________ Bernard Welt
Teeny-weeny Brush with Greatness (inspired by Dennis' March 13 post)
I think I've already told all my stories about meeting famous people here: Gore Vidal smiled at me, Roseanne hugged me, Patricia Clarkson flirted with me, and hugely, when I was 15, I shook hands with Sammy Davis Jr. This is a really tiny one, but like many a subpar American film comedy, it does feature a sudden and unexpected celebrity guest appearance:
Last year we saw Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit, on Broadway, with a friend who knew someone in the cast, so we went backstage to see him. Christine Ebersole said hi, Angela Lansbury herself offered our pal in the cast a ride but he said he was going out with us and she sort of said, suit yourself, and gave us an over-the-shoulder ta-ta wave. Rupert Everett was in the play, too, and we'd been remarking how his face was now an absolutely featureless plane surface, with not a line in it--eerie, we said, in something of the manner of Jocelyn Wildenstein. Backstage, he kind of coasted by us, oozing charm, followed by about 5 middle-ages women. And the first among them was Jocelyn Wildenstein. From which we more or less assumed that there's some kind of weird club for people who actually think that their horrifying experiments in plastic surgery look good.
_____ Oscar B
Now, I don't want to look like I'm obsessed, but the truth is that the last celebrity I met was indeed Michael Jackson.
It happened three years ago. I was living and London, and one day I read on a newspaper that he was in town. The article included the name of the hotel he was staying in.
I decided not to go at first, he was part of my past after all, and it felt too melancholic and kind of pathetic to do so.
But I went anyway.
After a few hours waiting outside, and I didn't even know for sure what I was waiting for, me and a bunch of other mad people decided to go in the hotel and sit at the bar. We had to order a £ 20 cup of coffee just to be able to stay there.
At some point, everything went silent. The businessmen in the lounge stopped talking, the waiters stopped serving, an elderly, rich looking lady sitting on a sofa with a dog on her lap suddenly stood up. The dog fell with a cry.
Some disembodied voice whispered: "HE is coming!"
People, me included, moved to the center of the room and formed a living corridor that crossed the hall, curved and ended where the door was.
Finally, I spotted a tall, skinny figure wearing a red shirt and a fedora hat walking towards me.
He was wearing sunglasses, but no mask. His face looked kind of bored and tense.
I felt sorry to be standing there looking at him as if he were some kind of rare animal. I started thinking of when I was thirteen or so and I was convinced that between me and him there was some special connection that nobody else could understand. They were mad thoughts, but they felt good.
That wasn't the real Michael Jackson of course, it was like a projection of myself on him. And standing there in front of him ten years later, it was really odd to have to accept that I was looking at the person who had embodied feelings that seemed so strong as a young teenager. It might seem stupid, but I think that deep inside I really was expecting something to happen.
I remembered I was carrying one of my notebooks in my back pack. I quickly took it out to give it to him, who was at this point literally being swallowed by a sea of screaming fans.
He saw the notebook at the end of my stretched arm, and took it.
Then, the crowd took over and I couldn't see him anymore.
______ Pisycaca
1.AV Festival, Málaga, Spain, 2003 Stephen Malkmus, there, in front of me and no one seemed to notice him. Being Pavement my favorite band and SM the embodiment of cool, I was all shaky but I got to say hi to him and the picture done.
2. Apolo, Barcelona, Spain 2008 Xiu Xiu has probably been the most important band for me in the last decade. Once I got to interview Jamie Stewart for a music website and he was adorable. A few years later I saw him before playing his gig and ask for a picture. Didn't manage to say much more.
3. Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona, Spain, 2009 When I first started listening to Deerhunter, my world changed a little bit, as it had happened with Pavement and Xiu Xiu before. Getting to meet Bradford Cox last year and hanging out with him at the festival was one of the best things of 2009 (meeting you, Dennis, was on the top of the list too of course!).”
_____ Dorna
This is a picture of me, or at least of me as Rita Verlaine, my Second Life avatar. I’m relaxing on a boat that belongs to Guillaume-en-Egypte, my celebrity of choice for the purposes of this exercise.
The boat is in the Ouvroir. The picture of the orange cat is a portrait of Guillaume created by Chris Marker. Guillaume is a constant presence in Chris’ work and in fact Chris channels him. Ouvroir is the name of the territory Chris has constructed on Second Life. Here, as your avatar floats, flies, walks, runs or hovers, you travel through three-dimensional space that is densely crafted with treasures and surprises aplenty. As you advance, you uncover this world’s topography—a group of islands set in shimmering blue waters. The proprietor offers his visitors thrilling glimpses of the things he has cherished. Constraints of time and place do not apply here, nor does the distinction between interiority and exterior reality. All holds are off. The notion of identity itself gets muddy as you explore this space and discover scraps of its maker’s past and present. Unsurprisingly film references abound. At times, if like me, you are inept at flying, you might fall in the water. But then you’ll simply float down to the bottom. You may discover a wreck down there, or a strange submarine that you might ill-advisedly enter, only to find yourself trapped.
When I came across Guillaume-en-Egypte’s boat, the large sprawled black cat offered an option to hang out and relax. I lay leaning against him and listened to water lapping and bird sounds. There’s also a whale somewhere nearby who floats around and you can hear the splash of his giant spray every so often. Earlier, before I had found the boat, not understanding how exactly these virtual spaces work, I’d managed to lose my hair as well as my polka dot dress that had somehow ended up turning into this long-john outfit. Chris is so meticulous and everything in this space is so mesmerizing that today, looking at this image, I have to fight a rising feeling of shame and inadequacy at my casual adoption of one of the generic avatar appearances on offer by Second Life. Chris is never generic. Just the other night, I came across an avatar that may have been him, an elephant-headed sphinx sitting on a director’s chair. I asked if I could take a picture with him, and he said, “No, not now. Maybe later.”
Endnote: I sent the entry to Chris and asked if it was ok with him if I submitted it for the celebrity and I photo blog post day. He wrote back, "No problem,” he wrote back, “but a few precisions: the cat on the armchair is not my habitual recreation of Guillaume in 2-d, it’s a portrait of the real Guillaume by my friend Remo Forlani, who died just a few months ago. And the character with the elephant head is one of the numerous avatar-robots belonging to Max Moswitzer, who is the conceiver and architect of the Ouvroir. It would be good to name them both."
_________ Changeling
____________ Christopher/Mark
George Harris III, AKA Hibiscus, (1949-1982) and M.L. Hollywood, 1966
ML and Nicky Haslam two days ago on March 12th 2010 Miami Beach Florida.
"Time Passes" - (Virginia Woolf - To The Lighthouse)
_____ Steevee
THE O WORD
“I’ve been waiting for a guide to come and take me by the hand.” -- Joy Division
“Did you exchange a walk-on part in a war for a lead role in a cage?” -- Pink Floyd
________
After receiving a mailbox full of rejection notices for this story, which was written in January, I've decided to put it up on this site. (No, I don't have any screenplays in the works.) Before you read this, there are 2 things I should point out:
1) I'm not the narrator of this story, even if his voice sounds like mine. Let's just say that this story is personal without being autobiographical and that I'm not pathologically obsessed with any movie stars - or anyone else, for that matter.
2) All the film titles in the opening paragraph, QUEERATIONAL & VIDEO CONFESSIONAL are products of my imagination. Thomas Bernhard really exist(ed), as do Slavoj Zizek, IMAGINARY LIGHT and Cannibal Ox.
________
I’ve been obsessed with Todd Bates as long as I can remember having any sexual feelings, ever since I saw DREAMS OF A VIRGIN. We were both 12 years old at the time. He’s the first man I recall ever being attracted to, and his "films" - mostly the kind of teen sex comedies that now show up on Comedy Central at 3 AM - accompanied me through my adolescent years. Even then, I was aware how bad they were, but that didn’t prevent them from inspiring wet dreams and hours of masturbation. In college, about 7 years after I saw DREAMS OF A VIRGIN, his rare appearance in an art film, STRANGE COMFORT, finally convinced me that I was gay after years of denial. (A vaguely bi-curious friend told me that Todd’s performance in STRANGE COMFORT made him question his sexuality.) As the years rolled by and Todd blossomed into a star and relatively talented actor, his films stuck with me like fetishes. I got my first full-time job around the time one of his characters did. My first real relationship too, although his lasted longer and looked infinitely more glamorous. I remained a geek with a massive hard-on and/or schoolgirl crush for him. He became an icon of American manhood. Titillating rumors abounded about Todd. I followed them intently; like Fox Mulder, I wanted to believe.
I’m an artist - or rather, I work at a record store while attending grad school part-time. My latest project was pretty easy to put together. Coming up with a title took longer. After admiring the collages I’d put up at the store and receiving a year’s worth of discounts in gratitude, Vanessa, the director of a small, student-run art gallery, suggested that I work on a new exhibition. She shared my affection for Todd, albeit not to the same extreme. Accidentally, she kickstarted my ideas by asking “Did you know that Todd and Thomas Bernhard were born on the same day?” The two had nothing in common: Todd wanted everyone to like him (and everyone did, more or less); Thomas wrote nihilistic novels about spiritual emptiness and included a clause in his will preventing his work from being published or performed in his homeland posthumously. A perfect match for a new project! The man whose purpose in life was to be looked at and the one whose purpose was to see uncomfortably clearly! So I thought at the time.
I often worried that my obsessions bordered on the pathological. To be honest, 90% of my sex life seemed to happen in my mind, even when I was with another man. My ideal seemed to be a Todd lookalike. While there were plenty of suitable men, most of them were annoying Chelsea queens who wouldn’t give a second look to anyone who disliked Cher, didn’t take Ecstasy and didn’t spend 2 and 1/2 hours a day at the gym. (That exact figure came from one particularly irritating date.) The art project was a way to test whether or not I was crazy. I also wanted to see whether anything productive could come out of all that wasted hand cream and Kleenex. By putting all this out into the world, would anyone else respond? Would they think it was pathetic? All too ordinary? Buried in the back of my mind, another thought lurked: I wondered if there was the slightest chance Todd would respond.
I decided that Bernhard represented darkness, Todd light. Taking photos of Todd from magazines like GQ, VOGUE and INTERVIEW, I wrote his name in glitter on them, faked his autograph and attached smaller photos and shreds of used Kleenex to them with paper clips. For the Bernhard collage, I tore out pages from his books and covered them with excremental smears of chocolate, images of Germany and Austria from travel magazines, and photos of concentration camp victims. My original title was IMAGINARY LIGHT, taken from an avant-garde film composed entirely of time-lapse footage of shifting light patterns in a house and its backyard. (I thought of the light from a TV or movie screen as “imaginary”.) However, Vanessa suggested TWO DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD as a better choice.
Opening night was OK, I suppose. Not very many people turned up: most of my friends, my teachers and the kind of people who turn up at every art opening in town for the free wine and cheese. Although I could probably give you Slavoj Zizek’s analysis of the meaning of TWO DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD, I wasn’t sure what it meant to me, except as an expression of two things: an overactive fantasy life and a nagging, vague feeling of identification with Bernhard’s misanthropy. Could the two be reconciled? Was this even a worthwhile goal? I had no idea, and making an exhibit out of it - hell, making a mess out of it, as long as it expressed *something* - was the best way I could think of to figure it all out.
I didn’t bother making an artist’s statement for the show. Instead, I made another collage out of quotes about Todd, including a few from sleazy tabloids printing rumors about his sexuality. He had sued one for running an interview with a former porn star who claimed to be his boyfriend: a funny move, I thought, since it wound up giving the rag plenty of free publicity. Since I wanted to get reactions from my audience, I included my phone number and E-mail address in the collage.
Then, David, an acquaintance whom I had met at the record store during the brief heyday of queercore, called me up with another hot rumor. He told me “you’re not going to believe this, but Dennis is dating Todd’s psychiatrist!” I was excited, but I had trouble even remembering who he was talking about. I replied “Is that the same Dennis who use to call himself Viva Rine and put out the zine QUEERATIONAL?” David said yes. Even better, he confirmed that Todd had coughed up thoughts on the couch that lived up to my fantasies. He felt terrible that the pressures of stardom included having to stay in the closet and yearned for a long-term relationship. Instead, he jerked off to an ever-expanding collection of porn mags and videos. (Ah, fame is a bitch!) When he got too lonely, he called an escort service but refrained from doing so too often, as he was afraid of getting busted.
Of course, I had no idea whether to believe this story. Besides being a major breach of psychiatric ethics, it played too close to my gut hopes: not so much in that Todd was really gay and depressed about being in the closet, but that he was really gay and as lonely as I was. In my schoolboy fantasies, together we would discover that we were soulmates, he would come out of the closet to take me on his arm to premieres...or we would at least have some hot sex while he remained in the closet to keep those lucrative acting gigs coming so I could quit the record store and work full-time on my art. Had someone given me his phone number that night, I would’ve felt no hesitation in calling him, stalking or not.
TWO DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD did not shake the world, or even *my* world. No one bought my collages, offered insight or shared their love for Todd with me. No one called or even E-mailed, unless hornyteens@blowme.com got my address from the show. I was still left wondering if I was one step away from becoming a stalker.
Flipping channels one night, I caught the beginnings of a public access show. Over the years, Manhattan public access had steadily gone downhill. Still, delights like a stripper/ comedian/ singer with no talent at any of her trades and Nation of Islam rejects who hated Louis Farrakhan even more than the White Devil were more entertaining than any network offering, so I continued perusing it. I came across a show called VIDEO CONFESSIONAL. There were plenty of religious programs on the air: one channel even aired a Mass each morning. The title intrigued me enough to keep my hand off the remote. All of a sudden, it reminded me of Dennis’ story: given Catholic doctrine, the concept of a video confessional seemed as oxymoronic as psychiatric gossip. Yet the latter existed, so why not the former?
The show consisted of homemade videotapes - and at the end, about 5 minutes worth of voice-mail messages - made by viewers confessing their “sins”. Each definition of sin was individual. Some were psychopath wanna-bes - I hoped - owning up to impossible crime sprees. Some were women relating depressing stories of one- or two-night stands. Others were teenagers jokingly bragging about stealing candy bars or smoking pot. For the first ten minutes, I watched the show out of morbid fascination, as if it were a DIY version of tabloid TV. Then my protective shield of irony melted away, and I was moved by the tales of bad sex and fantastic murders. Hell, I wanted in. TWO DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD hadn’t done much to make me feel better about my sanity. Maybe my own “confession” would help, especially if I left some contact information along with it.
Setting a video camera on my kitchen table, I sat in a chair about 5 feet away and did my best not to look *too* nervous. I still don’t know if I succeeded. I had jotted down a few ideas for my confession but couldn’t read them from where I sat. I started talking. I began, “I don’t know if I should talk to a psychiatrist or priest. I don’t think the way I feel is a sin, exactly, but I’m not sure what it really is. I do know that it’s led to a lot of misdirected energy and maybe prevented me from connecting with people outside my fantasies.”
I reprised the story of my ongoing obsession with Todd. Then I went further: “I wonder what he’d think if he had the chance to see all this. Would I look like a stalker? I think so. Would I be a stalker? I’d like to think not. After all, he’s the one promoting himself as a sex symbol. If he’s Mr. 100% Straight, why does he take his shirt off so often? Does he think that only women appreciate those abs? After all this talking, I’m still not sure I’ve really confessed anything beyond an ordinary fantasy life. But I’m genuinely curious what it’s like to be him. If we ever met, would he be my soulmate? Would we have yet another in a long series of unsatisfying one night stands? A friendship, maybe? Call me at {number omitted} if you’d like to share your thoughts.”
I knew that I was taking a risk by giving out my phone number to all of Manhattan, so I had leased a voice-mail number just for this purpose after mailing the tape to the PO box for VIDEO CONFESSIONAL. The response was not encouraging. Several kids yelled “fuck you, faggot” or demonstrated their rap skills; a few called solely to plug their own shows. After a second, failed try at connecting with the outside world, I felt as though my heart was sending signals to a broken modem.
A few days later, David called me with some refreshing news. Dennis’ boyfriend had seen VIDEO CONFESSIONAL and wanted to talk to me. He had taken a big risk by taping the show and lending it to Todd (as much to check out Todd’s attitudes towards his gay fans as for any other reason, I suspect.) Todd turned out to be fascinated by it, and wanted to get in touch with me. One day when I checked my voice-mail, I was startled to get a call from him. His message was refreshingly blunt: “You’re lonely. I’m lonely too. Why don’t we meet somewhere and see what happens?” It ended with his number.
Listening to the message, I suddenly felt like the room was spinning. I didn’t have a panic attack, but I felt like I was having the upbeat equivalent of one: an overload of excitement. Trying to make my voice sound relatively normal, grasping onto my kitchen table to stop the dizziness and praying that he would be home, I called him. (Maybe, like me, he only gave out a voice-mail number.) Our bizarre conversation ran around in circles for at least half an hour. The words “um,” “like” and “y’know” dominated it. I was reluctant to talk about TWO DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD for fear of making myself sound even weirder. (Besides, I doubted that he’d even heard of Thomas Bernhard.) We talked vaguely about politics, trying very hard not to offend each other. Frankly, I’ve rarely felt more self-absorbed. Even so, I felt an odd twinge of vicarious intimacy - yet another oxymoron - talking to him. His image had accompanied my life, so I felt like I knew him through the media. To him, I was a mystery, but I was delighted that he cared enough to investigate further. I must not have been the kind of fan he dealt with a dozen times a day: that counted for *something*.
After going back and forth, we agreed to meet the next day for dinner at Moni, a trendy Japanese restaurant. Under ordinary circumstances, I couldn’t afford anything more than a $10 plate of sushi, but Todd chivalrously said that he would foot the bill. I showed up around 8:00. He was fashionably late, dressed in a blazer with a pair of blue khakis that almost matched and Nike sneakers: the kind of “casual” look that exuded money. I wore a Cannibal Ox T-shirt that I got for free at work and ratty black jeans. My sneakers came from Nike via Goodwill. The atmosphere at Moni was familiar from downtown Manhattan restaurants: in order to get the waiter’s attention, your eyes practically had to shoot laser beams at him. I stared at him for a few minutes, but once he noticed my companion, he came over immediately.
I got the first word in: “Um...I’m really glad to meet you.” “Yeah, I got the impression you were waiting a long time for this.” “So is this...sort of your version of that thing where celebrities go visit kids with leukemia and spend the day with them?” At this point, I realized that I was scratching my nose compulsively. Somewhere, I remembered that cops consider this a sign that a suspect is lying. I made a mental note to stop scratching, although I’m not sure if I did. “Is your self-esteem that low?” “Yeah.” “No, I thought you were cute.” The hustler stories suddenly popped back into my mind, but I forced them down.
Not sure how to pick up my end of the conversation - after all, he knew that I found him attractive and there wouldn’t be much point in my saying “I think you’re a hottie” - I decided to describe TWO DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD. “Well, I did this art show, combining photos of you on one wall, with collages of pages from the Austrian writer Thomas Bernhard’s books on the other one.”
“Who’s he?” “Uh, he was really negative...I mean, he wrote a lot of books that are these endless but really articulate rants. He hated Austria but he was completely obsessed about it too. You should check out WOODCUTTERS. It’s set at a dinner party that might remind you of Hollywood.” “Every day I spend there, I feel like my soul is being drained away. I feel too good there, if you know what I mean.” “I don’t know. I think I’d kinda like feeling too good.” “Well, it’s depressing to be sitting at a restaurant and suddenly realize that I’ve become Celebrity X. Some aspiring actor or screenwriter comes up to you and starts kissing your ass, and you realize that if you weren’t famous, they wouldn’t give you the time of day. Sometimes I feel like I should ask them if they can tell me what happened in a single scene from one of my movies.” This world was so far from my life that I couldn’t think of a single suitable reply. Instead I blurted out: “So why did you call me?” “You’re blunt about what you want, yet you seem so incredibly confused about it at the same time. It seems so weird that all your fantasies would center on me.” “Not...well, hardly anyone except my friends came to see TWO DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD. You can say ‘it didn’t shake the world.’ For now, working at a record store and pursuing art as a hobby is OK. When I’m 35, I don’t know how I’ll feel.” “Hey, I just played a guy who turns 35 and starts having sort of a midlife crisis. It’ll be out next Christmas. It’s like AMERICAN BEAUTY for Generation X.” “Uh...that sounds interesting. I feel really weird asking you this, but again, why did you bother calling me after you saw my video?” “I didn’t want to feel too good,” he laughed. Continuing, he said “I was in a mood where...well, sometimes I just feel like I want to go teach English at Bennington or some place where I could be myself. I never asked for the responsibility of being a star, although I always knew it could happen. It scared me.” “You want to meet me in order to get scared? Why didn’t you just buy a Clive Barker book?” “Hardly anyone has the guts to say that their whole life was shaped by my image. Still, they’re out there. Do I owe them something in return?”
The conversation went on like this for another hour or so. It seemed like an elaborate game, and I wondered if Todd really was attracted to me at all or if he’d decided to meet me out of intellectual curiosity. He kept a poker face the whole time. I just hoped I became less nervous - less visibly so, at least - as the evening went on. As our dinner proceeded, my impression that Todd was viewing me like an ant under glass steadily increased. Still, how could I know what “normal” behavior for a movie star on a half-date was? After checking his watch, he told me he had to attend a party held by Harvey Weinstein at 10:00. Feeling more than a little dizzy, I stumbled my way into a cab and headed back home.
I fell asleep with the TV on, not knowing what to make of all this. I called Todd the next day. Surprisingly, he picked up on the first ring. “Hi, it’s me again...the guy from last night,” I said. He replied “Oh yeah.” I decided to be blunt: “Are you at all attracted to me? Because you know how I feel about you, and I’d like to, uh...cut to the chase and have sex and see how things go from there. Besides, you’re in no position to date and take it slowly.” Todd sounded flustered and mumbled something vague for about 30 seconds. His final reply wasn’t too coherent: “No...well, I was more curious and I wanted to see if any chemistry was there...it just wasn’t, it could’ve been...I would’ve liked this to work out but...” I pushed him: “How can you know from one date that this wouldn’t work out?” He said firmly, “I know. Look, I’ve got to go now.”
That conversation delivered a beatdown to my hopes. For weeks afterward, I could barely get out of bed, troubled by the thought that I took things way too quickly . Yet I eventually recovered, maybe because I realized that even if Todd didn’t seem to think I was crazy, but his life and mine were worlds apart. Now that I’d had this fact slammed in my face, I wondered why I had ever thought a long-term relationship with a world-famous closet case was an option. He got his ass kissed at expensive restaurants; I got recognized in the East Village and Williamsburg by fans of Japanese neo-psychedelia and minimalist techno. Some difference. Some wish fulfillment too: it’s left me even more confused. If the fantasy icon had faded, my lust hadn’t dissipated. Now that I had some sense of him as a real person, my hard-on felt even more pressing. The reality principle kicked in: the image had faded, but his body hadn’t. In the right mood, I can now deliver lengthy rants about the evils of America’s culture of celebrity, but even firsthand demystification hasn’t diminished its power or the depressing force of my brush with it. If I’d tried, maybe I could have become friends with him, but I agreed with Cannibal Ox that friendship with someone you’d rather love is “the F word.” I don’t know. Yes, I do: I should take out a personal ad or something and lower my expectations. Or maybe it’s time for another confession.
_________ Steven Trull
Kathy Acker was my girlfriend.
She left messages on my mom’s answering machine.
Kathy Acker bought three pairs of panties from Vivienne Westwood’s shop in Los Angeles, then we bought a wooden crab that walked on a string from La Luz de Jesus.
I drove Kathy Acker to her friends’ apartment.
Kathy Acker didn’t know how to drive.
When we got there, Bob Flanagan and Sheree Rose were very nice.
We sat around a small table, watched TV.
Bob Flanagan and I ate bagels and drank orange juice.
Bob Flanagan asked me if I wanted to watch some movies.
Bob Flanagan and I watched that one movie where Bob Flanagan hammers a nail into his penis.
Kathy Acker and Sheree Rose left the room, went upstairs.
Bob Flanagan and I laughed a lot.
We got ready to go to Dennis Cooper’s birthday party.
________ Killer Luka
Audrey Lou Tortingtion is my tortoise. She may seem like any other hatchling but quite the contrary, her reputation precedes her. Not only is her kind over 100 million years old and survived the asteroid that wiped out half the earth's species 65 million years ago, but at three years old, she has accomplished more than most of us only dream about.
By the age of 1 and 1/2, she became a number-one selling pop artist with her debut album "Live Harmless Reptile" burning up the charts and staying at #1 for a record 665 weeks. Her hit singles, "Do I have Sugar on My Beak?" and "Put Your Beak (On Me)" won seven Grammys...each. She has been cited as one of the most influential pop artists of the early 21st century.
By age 2, she was an accomplished ballerina, touring Europe and Asia with the Mariinsky Theater Ballet and appearing in her most acclaimed role written for her in "Turtle Lake".
Soon she fell into a life of crime, and became a notorious criminal sought by the FBI, the CIA and Interpol. She was #1 on "America's Most Wanted" for a record 665 weeks.
By age 3, she turned her attention to The Winter Olympics and representing Russia, she became the first Olympian to win a record 15 individual gold medals in her sport of choice, Luge. Soon after, she was awarded "The Greatest Russian Who Ever Lived" medal of honor by prime minister Vladimir Putin.
She is currently working on her autobiography, pursuing a PhD in horticulture and is considering running for public office.
_________ Chris Goode
In the summer of 2004 I was making a solo theatre show called Nine Days Crazy. One strand in the narrative involved my central character falling in love with a singer he sees performing in a bar. I wanted to find someone to write and record the singer’s songs, which the audience hear on the soundtrack to the show: and so I drew up a shortlist, starting, for the sake of it, with artists who were way out of my league but nonetheless perfect for the kind of songs I wanted to create.
One name in that region of the list was Mark Owen, who had been part of the stratospherically successful and pioneering boyband Take That until their split in 1996. Mark, the semi-official “cute one” of the band, had pursued a solo career without overmuch success, though a flame-rekindling winning stint on Celebrity Big Brother in 2002 preceded the release of a second solo album, In Your Own Time, which earned some well-deserved critical praise: both his singing and songwriting had improved massively, and I was a big fan of the direction he was going in. So I wrote to Mark and told him about Nine Days Crazy, by no means expecting a reply: it was more about having an excuse to write a fan letter. Some weeks passed before eventually,incredibly, he called me, and we ended up having lunch to talk about the piece. As a consequence of that meeting he wrote and performed two breathtaking songs for the show. Those recordings are I guess the only documentary evidence of that lunch – which was the only time I met him face-to-face – ever having happened. I thought about posting them here but in a way they feel like his property rather than mine. I guess also, despite the fact that I used them in the show, they feel a bit too special, too fragile even, to stick up on the web for just-whoever to access.
In a way perhaps the high point of my brief connection with Mark was not lunch (though, entirely in line with his reputation, he was extremely kind, thoughtful, and great company; only his chain-smoking surprised me), but a couple of weeks after, when he sent me an advance copy of his third solo album, How The Mighty Fall, and asked me to let him know what I thought. Well, I thought then, and think still, that it’s one of the best, and most grievously overlooked, albums of the last decade. It is extraordinarily smart, sophisticated and exploratory, and several songs from it are etched on my memories of many of the most intense times in the last few years of my life.
I wrote Mark an extremely long and hyperventilating letter about the album, trying to express my genuine pleasure in and admiration for it, though I’m sure I must have come across as a psycho, a fanatic rather than a fan. We haven’t been in touch since. He’s got married and had a family and, to my somewhat mixed feelings, Take That have reformed and seem to be, in a grown-up way, as successful as they ever were, creating radio-friendly adult pop that I don’t love but don’t at all mind. It’s nice to hear Mark more to the fore this time around, and contributing as a writer. I think he’s an extraordinarily accomplished musician, and Take That remain basically impeccable, quite movingly so, as an entity, though I’m sorry not to know where Mark’s solo career would have taken him next.
I’ve been fortunate enough to have met some genuinely fascinating ‘famous people’ over the years and I wasn’t going to write about my brief crossing of paths with Mark Owen, as it’s a story I probably tell too much as it is. But two things changed my mind, and then a third. The first was that he’s still the only person I’ve met whose picture I had on my wall as a teenager, which feels like a very special category of existence. The second was that he’s the only person I’ve ever spent enough time with to be able to watch them deal with a steady stream of people seeking autographs, which also feels categorically distinct. He was incredibly gracious and generous with everyone.
The third reason for writing about Mark is that he’s been at the centre of a tabloid shit-storm over the last couple of days. The front page headlines of The Sun yesterday and today were, respectively: TAKE THAT MARK: MY 10 AFFAIRS and TAKE THAT MARK: MY BOOZE REHAB HELL. So, he’s the first person I’ve personally known, even a little, who’s been subjected to that kind of treatment, and I feel desperately sorry for him and his family. Clearly he’s having a hard time – though anyone listening to the lyrics on the last two solo albums would have known he’s a complex and troubled individual (and why not?, he’s a singer, not a cartoon). I doubt he’d remember me now but I wish I still had his number. I’d like to send him a message to say thanks and best wishes.
The song in the video, ‘Alone Without You’, is from that second album and I guess it was Mark’s last significant solo chart hit. I think it’s a great video and a terrific song, in a nice little niche somewhere between Natalie Imbruglia and Sugar. Every time I hear it, I think I’ve squeaked past the kind of emotional impact that some of his other songs have on me; and then, in the dying seconds of the fade, he sings a line that makes me crumple into tears every time: “I sit in the car without driving.” I’ve never owned a car but I know just what he means.
____________ David Ehrenstein
Here I am with Todd Haynes. As you can see this was shortly before the election of President Low-Normal. He’s living in Portland now. With both Todd and Gus in Portland the city has become The Capitol of The New Queer Cinema. Needless to say, they know one another and get together for dinner and whatnot. But they’re very different dudes with very different choices in boyfriends. Love ‘em to teeny little bits!
I hope my next Brush With Greatness will be with Bernard
Adam Dutkiewicz & Mike D’Antonio of Killswitch Engage, Phil Labonte of All That Remains, & Former bassist Aaron "Bubble" Patrick of the band Bury Your Dead. I met these guys in Nashville back in 2007 at Rocketown.
Bowling for Soup and The Dollyrots I met in Atlanta a few weeks ago at the Loft. I was there doing some work for the band I work for and they were chilling backstage before the gig. Jaret of BFS was hanging in his dressing room filming a bit for youtube or something and the other members were mingling around with the other bands and crew and such. Kelly, the lead singer of The Dollyrots just randomly walked up to me and had me hold her bag.
TNA’s Jeff Hardy I met once in Evansville, IN before a WWE live event. We chatted some about his band Peroxwhygen and I gave him a t-shirt I had made for him.
__________ Chris (British)
When people ask me if I'm religious, I usually tell them "No, I'm Catholic." It's a wry reflection on the attitude of Catholics who've dropped out of the religion. The damn cult has a genetic feel to it - you don't feel like you'll ever stop being Catholic, and if you've been Catholic, the only sensible way out is atheism. It's a bit like being human, in that the only way out of being human is to stop living altogether. So it was with much excitement that my girlfriend and I eagerly booked tickets to see Richard Dawkins lecture on evolutionary biology in Wellington, New Zealand.
By pure coincidence, this SPD came along at around the same time as Richard Dawkins' visit to New Zealand to publicise his new book, The Greatest Show On Earth, during the annual New Zealand International Arts Festival. He couldn't have picked a better country to come to - in the last census, 1/3 of the population of New Zealand identified as having no religion. His original venue sold out very quickly, and demand was so great they moved his lecture and interview to a venue twice the capacity. Wellington, where I live and breathe, was his second stop on the tour.
No-one ever comes to New Zealand to speak, and if they do they're either hideously expensive to get to see or sold out really fast. Richard Dawkins' lecture was the latter, and after an amusing lecture in which he read brief extracts from his book, covered the core principles of defending evolutionary biology and took a few questions in which he called morality with a religious impetus "ignoble" and the Catholic church a bunch of criminals, he signed books. I didn't think I'd get to meet him, but I did, because I'd brought along The Blind Watchmaker, just in case.
After half an hour's queuing, we got to the front. The queue was moving fairly quickly, so I assumed that he was just signing and saying hello and moving on. However, when he got to the front, and I thanked him for coming to Wellington - because no one ever bothers with the world's southernmost capital city - he noticed my accent and started asking me questions. How long had I been here? What was I doing in New Zealand? It's a beautiful place.
A remarkably soft-spoken man in person, and very slight, he caught me off-guard with his sudden intrigue, and I stumbled and stuttered my way through the answers before thanking him again and wandering off with my signed book in hand. Before I turned away, I noticed the slight dismay on his face as he caught sight of the man behind me who'd brought five books with him.
I thought that remarkably rude, to bring so many books when there's that many people queuing to sign. If I were to relate that in terms that Richard Dawkins created, and completely bastardise them in the process, I'd say that some people in the queue were stuffed with selfish genes.
But then again, like Richard Dawkins, I'm British. We have to be polite; we have to be reserved; we don't take kindly to those that take liberties with generosity. And that small spark of recognition in our common ground led by our Britishness, he didn't feel so strange. I'd like to think that out of all those books he signed that night, and all the brief question and answer sessions he held as person after person wandered past with their books, mine would be one of the ones he'd remember - for the right reasons.
I'm probably wrong, but I don't get giddy and excited about meeting people very often. I think with someone I've read and admired as much as Richard Dawkins, I'm a little entitled to feel a connection.
________ Paul Curran
I saw the worst minds of my generation liberated by . . . . mediocrity, bloated sedated overdressed, driving themselves through the suburban streets at lunchtime . . . . sniffing out a happy meal, fuckheaded wankers chilling for the modern earthy . . . . detachment from the blurry fuzz on the anim- . . . . als of day, who richness and unity and sleepy-eyed and depressed fell . . . . down breathing in the natural light of . . . . holiday apartments crawling around the bottoms of towns . . . . contemplating jizz . . .
----
_________ Sean Cassidy
I went to the University of Virginia's 2nd annual Arts Assembly and film festival to see John Waters give his inspirational standup titled "This Filthy World". After his talk I nervously got in line for a meet and greet with my old Crackpot paperback and my digital camera. When it was my turn I nervously mumbled that I was a big fan. He couldn't hear me at first so I had to repeat myself. I then crouched down awkwardly to be at his sitting level for my picture. He said it would probably be blurry but that it would be arty. The picture came out clear, I got an autograph, and I was shaking with nerves as I walked away. John Waters loves libraries and encourages people to read. In part of his show he said something along the lines of 'if a 10 year old boy knows who Dennis Cooper is he should be allowed to check out the book'. Maybe someday I can join his imaginary freakshow as the man with no tattooes.
*
p.s. Hey. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. 'Tons of headway': I like the sound of that 'tons'. That would be a very cool Xmas present indeed! ** Dom Lyne, Hi, Dom! Really good to see you! Very cool news about THoD sequel! Wow. And you're already editing. You're so productive, man, that's great! Wow, another Xmas present (see: my comment to _B_A), and this one already unwrapped! Thank you! Everyone, masterful writer and d.l. Dom Lyne has ... well, here he is: 'Also as a little christmas present, I've released my first novel The Mushroom Diaries as a free ebook available here on Smashwords.' Go get your gifts, you lucky ones! Thank you again, D! Have a great Xmas if I don't get to interact with you beforehand. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Nice to see the mutual Schwartzman fandom. I haven't seen 'Listen Up Philip' yet but it intrigues me, story-wise, in theory. ** Keaton, Wow, that was a lightning flash of a overseas trip. Cool that it all went so well. The Bellmers in the Sade show were great, yeah. Man, you did a lot of Paris in your short stint. Yeah, next time we'll figure out a meeting further in advance, and hopefully I won't be editing semi-24/7. Fix your ears, and welcome home! ** Tosh Berman, Cool! ** Sypha, Glad that the post and your experiences crossed paths. I'm of the opinion that Tarantino is an extremely good writer, so, in that case, yes, I would be very interested to read a novel by him as well. Certainly can't blame you for taking a break from 'Les Miserables'. I've taken a break before I even read it, ha ha. ** Kier, Hi. Oh, Kaykay, okay, I'll keep that one revving in my storage bank. You doing the Xmas market today! Awesome! And I actually know of gløgg, I don't know why, and I've never drank it. Yes, I saw your email with the LH Day in my mailbox this morning! That's so exciting! I'm going to open it and set to building it during whatever non-editing time I have today. Thank you so much! No, I haven't gotten the witch zine yet. I'll peel my eyes into an even more peeled state. My day started with editing. We began Scene 2, which takes place in a club at a strange gig, and it looks really good, and we're even going to try to finish it this weekend so we can send it along to the producers, but I'm not sure if we'll be able get it finished by then. So, we did that, and then we took a long, crowded metro trip over to pick up the Buche that we were going to take out to CDG to feast on during the stopover by Kiddiepunk and Oscar B. On our way, Kp texted us. I don't know if you saw in the news yesterday that the air control system for almost the entirety of the UK went out for a while, but he and OB were sitting on their about-to-depart plane when that happened, and he let us know that he didn't know or if they were going to make it to Paris. So Zac and I ended up wandering around in the 15th arr. to kill time, had coffee, ate olive bread and pain chocolate, and then we picked up the Buche, which was big and very heavy. Soon after that, Kp and OB's plane was miraculously cleared for take-off, so we taxied with the Buche in heavy rain and 'the worst traffic of the year' to CDG and eventually met up with them in their room in the Sheraton Hotel, which is this kind of cool, ship-shaped hotel that's right inside the airport. We ate Buche, yum, and we showed them Scene 1, which thankfully they loved, and we went over editing details in it and in Scene 3 with Michael, and we just hung out until about 11 pm and then taxied back to Paris. It was all big fun. Back to editing room today and tomorrow for me. And you? What did the weekend do for and with you? ** Statictick, Hey! Wow, funny you come back on a day when you're in the post itself. Great to see you, duh! Yeah, I'm very glad you're recovering as much as one can after Dusty's passing. That's so sad. Very cool about the vid. Yeah, I mean, if and when on the post, anytime, most gratefully on my end. Cool about the cool and cool sounding new roommate. Love to you too! I hope I'll get you again very, very soon! ** Steevee, Curious what you'll think of the Dumont. ** Right. There's an oldie up there featuring many of the d.l.s who were hanging out here back in those days, some of whom are still here in high standing. Maybe it'll be fun to read that thing. In any case, it's your entertainment until further notice, 'further' being Monday. Have excellent weekends, one and all. See you on Monday.
hey common... let's explore... i will explore yours and u xplore mine too. but let's be friend first and see what next. kidding hahaha
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MODEL-ADAM, 19 Berlin
Hi all, I have a sexual dream, and you have the opportunity to implement it in reality with me! My dream is I can suck you off with condom 20EUR, without 50EUR.
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Time_is_fatal, 19 Miskolc, Hungary
Enjoy your turn.
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xoxoboy, 24 Berlin
Guys before u going start ur day...why cant u guys ping me...so i m here to give happines in ur lyf...i m so fab check it out...i m blonde, i m skinny, a pussy :))...and i m a little bit of a slut ;) :D :P...looking for anything makes me happy....but be care full for that i need money...keep it on ur mind
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CuMsHoT_oN_mY_fAcE, 19 Leipzig
☻/° /▌ / \ __Hallo und willkommen !
Here seeking only (customers) who enjoy an active fuck in the mouth for little money and a splatter on my face(VB)! (my face is 19 blond hair and blue eyes most of time).
If you are looking for a perennial and hot mouth to date, you are right with mine. Sexually, it can do everything. It can open, close, lick, get hammered, cuddle, massage, wash, strangle, bathe, ride, welcome, battle, celebrate and always surprise your rod just so long as you end with the cumshot on my face. You can push the cum into my mouth after but it has to land all over my face.
Apart from this exceptional good service, obviously you are also after outstanding good looks. With this package you get both. I guess I'm not egomaniac but since I made my self available in Leipzig some weeks ago the majority of my clients have become insane.
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RoughandTumble, 19 Birmingham
I ride motorcycles, drive a pick up, and shoot guns.
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Justheguy, 23 London
Born in Cheshire, I moved to London to pursue a career in business and became attracted to the world of escorting for the freedom it would give me to invest in projects and to meet interesting people. The appreciation from clients who enjoy their time with me and benefit from the service I provide make this the most fun career I can imagine. I realized quickly that this was the perfect occupation for me and how much I enjoyed meeting a diverse variety of people and providing a service that is valued.
My professional and friendly attitude has helped me to become popular and in-demand quickly. However I always have time for my favourite activity which is meeting my clients and providing the highest quality service. With me you will meet an escort who genuinely enjoys meeting you, appreciates and respects his clients, is service orientated with the sole goal of providing the best service to each individual client. Whether high profile, Jack the lad or whoever. Gay, straight, curious or just adventurous for new experiences, I like people. All races. ages. sizes and disabilities are welcome to spend time with me.
Dicksize XL, Uncut Position Versatile Kissing Consent Fucking Versatile Oral Versatile Dirty WS only Fisting No S&M Soft SM only Client age No restrictions Rate hour 140 Pounds Rate night 600 Pounds
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LegendaryAss, 23 Lille
Name: Sam Age: 23 Fem stop Stop here for fem You must work out
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18andneverbeen, 18 Brussels
Hello, Please help me! i would like work escort. I'm not in Brussels yet!! But have sans for me finding place for work and live I'M GOING TO!!! Please help me!! I'm beginner please help me. I prefer guys with small DICK. I need very soon, good sans the family will be forced to move out of the apartment. Please help me!!! I'm sure you very like me in the sex!! When you looking in my eyes I will be sure you want me! I LOVE SMALL DICK!!
until equal, Patrik
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NolaanGuesh, 19 Paris
hi, im a cool guy when were together and i promise to you dude you really can't be satisfied at all.
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JamestheBUTT-ler, 20 Amsterdam
The two most important day of your life is when you are born, and when you will know why.
Hello, I'm a gregarious guy who's ass works as a BUTT-ler, get it? It's open minded and I'm supportive. May it take your order? Wanna taste it? It's not averse to downing a nice cock-tail on the job. It only has one hors d'oeuvre on its platter but it's very filling. If you think its not working hard enough, feel free to lend it a hand ;).
Dicksize M, Uncut Position Versatile Kissing Yes Fucking More bottom Oral Versatile Dirty WS only Fisting Passive S&M Soft SM only Fetish Leather, Sportsgear, Rubber, Underwear, Boots, Lycra, Uniform, Sneakers & Socks, Jeans, Worker Client age No restrictions Rate hour 125 Euros Rate night 500 Euros
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SexyMilk, 22 Oradea, Romania
I'm a cute 22 years old guy, studying here in Oradea. I'm sorry because I have to do this, but the faculty schedule doesn't allow me to work full time, only part-time. And, unfortunatley, in Oradea you won't find a part time job with flexible program in order to be in concordance with the schedule. If this is ok for you, we can go to the next step which is the meeting. If you like me, we go forward, and I undergo your wishes, if you don't, we say "good-bye" to eachother and move on, like nothing happend.
Dicksize L, Cut Position Top only Kissing Consent Fucking Top only Oral Versatile Dirty WS only Fisting Active S&M Soft SM only Fetish Sportsgear, Skater, Skins & Punks, Boots, Uniform, Formal dress, Sneakers & Socks, Jeans, Worker Client age No restrictions Rate hour 15 Euros Rate night 85 Euros
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bottompassif, 24 Paris
I am married, yuck, and will take extra charge if you want my wife for group sex. I love drugs.
Guestbook of bottompassif elr78 - 31.Oct.2014 In the name of all that is holy, I implore you to fuck this boy. And when I say fuck, I mean a gusher, cannon fire, think of your dick as a firehose and blast his hole with everything you got, I did .... wahouuu
actif_cho - 3.Nov.2014 I COME TO HIM AND HE LET ME EXPLORE HIS HOLE! NOW I HAVE HIS PICS/VIDEOS IN MY HALL OF ""FF""AME! GO GET SOME OF IT! Anonymous - 29.Nov.2014 No one else has mentioned this, but there's something very strange about him. When you're doing his hole, he never takes his eyes off you. No matter what position you put him in, no matter how extremely you use his hole, he always has his head turned to look at you, and the look in his eyes ... I don't know how to describe it. It scared the fuck out of me. There's something very wrong with him. If anyone else has the same experience, please comment. OKCrawl - 3.Dec.2014 I'm so glad Anonymous mentioned that. Same thing happened on my date with him! It scared the living shit out of me too! WTF IS GOING ON WITH HIS EYES?!?!?!?!
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PainDrain, 20 Budapest
Do you wanna a escort to let you pressure out, I am very honest and forever in darkness .... alone ... tormented ... in ... pain ... wholesome looking but rotten inside .... and i want to be honest with me, try this life, don't be mad, i put the hot in psychotic, the sky is the only limit i never reached, bealive in you
Dicksize M, Uncut Position More bottom Kissing Consent Fucking Bottom only Oral Bottom Dirty No Fisting Passive S&M Yes Fetish Leather, Rubber, Drag Client age No restrictions Rate hour 100 Euros Rate night 300 Euros
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Doorbell, 19 Clifton
Hello, Im Paul, im emo just joined looking for people to sleep with who are also emo but have money cuz i don't. I'm a possitive person and i try to be abit less weird then i really am (very black humor), and i try to find time to try new things. i try to care about the people who think I'm attracttive pretty hard with feelings. if you whisper me try write something we can talk about..i'm a boring person myself who just wants to lie down while things done to me, thats why i say this i guess. however im good in bed. i love being my size and lazy because i could be fuck so hard with the smallest amount of force. i live alone in new jersey clifton, was not born with english so yeah. i just started trying to sleep with other emos for money a week ago and i should be clearer i guess. if yourre 50 and comb yor hair in yor face for yor selfie yourre not emo, ok? Going to make dinner then i be back.
Dicksize XL, Cut Position Versatile Kissing Yes Fucking Versatile Oral Versatile Dirty WS only Fisting No S&M Soft SM only Fetish Emo Client age Users between 18 and 25 Rate hour 150 Dollars Rate night 450 Dollars
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thenumberseven, 18 Kortrijk, Belgium
hey horny men I'm very happy you did when you or on very slender departure always dreamed to dispose of it.
as I'm unhealthy I would want to change your träüme also dreaming together with you and I'm curious what you think so.
much possible only no answer to the question "in what you stand" because I am on recurring guest who left me happy.
and now I would therefore like to know your ideas get rid of the keys to.
Dicksize L, Uncut Position More bottom Kissing Yes Fucking Versatile Oral Versatile Dirty WS only Fisting No S&M Soft SM only Fetish Leather, Skater, Techno & Raver, Jeans Client age No restrictions Rate hour 90 Euros Rate night 450 Euros
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teentwink4dads2, 19 Kent
I want to be a writer when I grow up. I'm currently working on a sex diary that I post on my tumblr. The combination of that and I guess the fact that I'm cute to gay men, which surprised the hell out of me, got me into doing sex work and amateur porn. In my writing, I develop theories on relationships and sex and I consider intercourse to be the coolest tool of communication between two people. So let's talk!
I firmly believe that anything worth having is worth working for. This means that we have to agree that there may be some difficult or even explosive times for each other when we have intercourse. This means that we must make sex work, providing that we agree that we want successful intercourse, agree to disagree, and not run away from the relationship. This means that we should never go to bed upset with each other.
By the way, my picture is kind of old. I'm not an Emo anymore and I'm even more skinny and my hair is short and I have a 6 1/2 inch cock.
Dicksize L, Uncut Position No entry Kissing Yes Fucking Mostly Bottom Oral Versatile Dirty No entry Fisting No entry S&M No entry Fetish Formal dress Client age No restrictions Rate hour 100 Pounds Rate night 500 Pounds
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Wurthless, 24 Tallaght, Ireland
Please its xmas n i aint got no money i live with me slave boy in me mum's house looking to rent him out please he do as u wish please come and collect him drug him get him pisd and he will do anything for fair offer total no limits he slave but he want be escort wanted it since he was 12 years old when he learnd about money
Dicksize XL, Uncut Position Bottom Kissing No Fucking Bottom Oral Active Dirty Yes Fisting Passive S&M Yes Fetish Jeans, Drag Client age No restrictions Rate hour 100 Pounds Rate night 600 Pounds
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costel&ionut, 19 Athens
Hi my name is costel i have 20 years old,and i have one friend with me and go together for fuck him, he name is ionut 19 years old and spastic persson,but grate ass, juxt call just call, 2boys verry good fuchers ,i am top and other boy bottom ,i am from romania ,nice person and smart boy, and he is czech with a small tail and small eggs without hair like that is not found anywhere, this whole thing is great, call me
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ONLYsexWHITOUTcondom, 19 Amsterdam
Blow my dick ,leck my balls and i explode in your mouth. Sit on me ....take oil and ride me until i cum in your ass and fuck your sperm hole.
or
Give me your dick .I will blow you tief in mouth and leck your ass an balls and dick and your sooup. Give you my ass and you can fuck it and sperm it how many time you can .
Or
Lets smoke joint ,show porno movie and make handjob whit own self . You'll be whatching me and i will whatching you.I will cum in my hand and you too.
Dicksize XL, Uncut Position Versatile Kissing Yes Fucking Versatile Oral Versatile Dirty Yes Fisting No entry S&M No entry Client age No restrictions Rate hour 120 Euros Rate night 500 Euros
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Thatprick, 23 Portland
My name is Larissa and I have a straight boyfriend. That's him with me in the photo. I have been told by one of my lifestyle friends that this is the location to find gay men into fucking cute straight boys. That is precisely what I need.
Recently my dumb-ass boyfriend disappointed me in a way that cannot be allowed to continue without the most severe form of punishment. He worships me and will do precisely as I demand or I will drop him so fast his head will spin. Now he is straight (or has always claimed to be) and has even spoken negatively about gay men calling them faggots and what not. In the past when I have threatened to have him used by men he has always panicked and begged me not to, but we are well beyond begging at this point. Now it is time for him to receive his punishment and I am looking to you wonderful men.
I want him used sexually. I want him brutally fucked. I want him to suck your cocks and rim your asses and be totally humiliated. I basically want him to wish that he never disobeyed me and will never do so again. The only limits I place on his use is scat. Also he is not allowed to cum or feel any pleasure. He WILL obey anything and everything you demand of him. He will be given 3 months worth of this punishment (December, January, and February) so we should be able to schedule something that works for you.
Once we agree on how to proceed, I will give you his email address and phone number. I would be glad to discuss any ideas you have for his sexual use. I want his being used sexually to be wild and merciless and absolute. Please feel free to correct the fact that he as a negative attitude about gay people and needs to stop using terms like faggot or queer. I will let you determine the best way to correct that behavior. As long as you want to use him for sex, anything is fine with me. I thank everyone for any help you have to offer.
I will consider trading him to you permanently for comparable property if you find him to be particularly great sex. It thrills me to no end thinking about him being permanently used as a fuck toy by gay men. Perhaps someone way more horny than me is needed to make him as useful as possible.
Dicksize M, Uncut Position Bottom only Kissing Consent Fucking Bottom only Oral Top Dirty Yes Fisting Passive S&M Yes Fetish Leather, Sportsgear, Rubber, Underwear, Boots, Lycra Client age No restrictions Rate hour ask Rate night ask
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Hey. I'm starting this p.s. today while it's still dark outside and before I'm fully awake because I have an earlyish morning meeting I have to do, and I'll have to be brief with everyone, and I apologize for that and for any incoherence. ** David Ehrenstein, You all were, and you all are! ** Sypha, Hi. Well, I can only imagine about the literary wanderings in 'LM'. Yeah, those Stephen King cornball bits that he littered in the couple of things I read by him made my teeth clench permanently, perhaps, in his work's regard. ** Keaton, Computer geek and novelist, dude, welcome to the club! Jerry Cantrell, nice, sordid, ha ha! ** Steevee, Hi. Really, really interested to read you on the Dumont as soon as I can. Everyone, here are Steevee's thoughts on the new/upcoming film ('LI’L QUINQUIN') by the almost always great French filmmaker Bruno Dumont. And thanks for your top ten! Interesting. I don't know quite a few of them. Everyone, before we leave Steevee for today, here's his top ten best films of 2014 list: 1. BOYHOOD, 2. WHAT NOW? REMIND ME, 3. NIGHT MOVES, 4. ACTRESS, 5. STRAY DOGS, 6. THE KING OF ESCAPE, 7. GOODBYE TO LANGUAGE, 8. THE IMMIGRANT, 9. NIGHTCRAWLER, 10. SELMA. ** Bernard Welt, You know me so well. I do think I remember your Davy Jones story. I followed Mickey Dolenz around in an airport once when I was young enough to find him exciting. The only celeb I ever accidentally knocked over was Frank Zappa. At a drinking fountain at a concert venue. He was behind me in line. I didn't know. I drank, whipped around, bumped 'someone', and Frank Zappa fell flat on his ass. I ran. Surely you already know this, but Rudolf Nureyev cruised me very heavily in London in the mid-70s. Aw, so nice about the fiction class and its wisdom. ** _Black_Acrylic, Thank you a lot for that link. You know I love that kind of stuff, and I'm going to use it as a starting point for a Magical Winterland post. Yum. ** Bill, Hi. Someone I know just saw Gilbert & George walking down the street in Paris. Wet here too, but not as wet as you, I think, since your wet has been international news. ** Etc etc etc, Hi. Oh, I know and love early Wu Tang. When something in the genre is really innovative or startlingly good or something, I usually end up finding it one way or another. But, I don't know, contemporary hip hop is kind of like contemporary country music to me. I like the exceptions to the rules mostly usually. Kenneth Anger's eternal preservation is externally implemented. No real holiday plans. Look at stuff, eat stuff. Never do very much on the day itself. You? ** Paul Curran, Hi, Paul. Thanks, yeah, that SPD has a nice something or other. You could learn Japanese to write your J-novel, or you could be like me who wrote my French novel not knowing French. Actually, given the outcome, perhaps your first instinct is the right one. Yay about your nice Xmas. Me too, actually, in a way. ** Cobaltfram, Hey, Fram! Good to see you! I think perhaps and even probably that the more solitarily one writes the better the writer one is. I know there are exceptions. Things are good with me, very good, just very busy. Remind me when you'll be in Paris when we get closer in time, and hopefully between my planning and fate's machinations, our times here will align! ** Kyler, Hi. Oh, man, dentistry ... what a lovely art form, but from a great distance only. Best of luck. ** Kier, Hi with a capitol 'H'. Or is that with a 'capital''H'. I always get that confused. The LH Day is amazing! Wow, thank you infinitely. It's going to launch on this coming Saturday. It's so great! I"m blown away! Sad about the Xmas market's lack of complete success. What happened to all that gløgg? Your all-night fest sounds like big fun except for those two little conversations. Ugh, that's kind of scary about that guy's racism. Jesus. Not even kind of. I didn't see the Oslo photos yet. I'll find them. My weekend, very briefly, sorry ... Well, tons of editing and not much else. Christophe Honore, who's the film's associate producer, wanted to see the two "finished" scenes before we sent them off, so we showed them to him nervously, and, happily, he really likes them. He had three suggestions about changes, and we agreed with two and made them. Now they're in the hands of the producers and ... gulp. We think we can finish a third scene for the producers today. Hope so. It all went really well, and that was my weekend. Did you go to work today or not? ** Statictick, Hi, man. Sweet to have made your weekend! An art in Detroit circa 2014 post would be most and incredibly welcome, if you don't mind. Thank you! Hope you're doing great! ** Misanthrope, It didn't or maybe didn't? My world is maybe shattered or maybe not. Film work goes very well, I think, and definitely relentlessly. LPS at the gym! Good move, man. ** Okay. Again my apologies for being so speedy today. I should have my normal semi-leisurely p.s. time tomorrow. Until then, do what you wish and must with the escorts whom I have hand-selected for you today. See you tomorrow.
Amoeba Records is the place of my dreams. If I ever get to one, I’ll probably never leave. It is my dream to be one day asked, what’s in my bag? Until then I’ll settle for watching these.
Here are some of my favs
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p.s. Hey. Today the master of visual arts and d.l. and my current crosstown neighbor here in Paris i.e. Mr. Jonathan Mayhew goes record bag hunting via the greatest record store in the world, and you will have fun, guaranteed, and more fun the more you click, so have at it. Thank you, Jonathan! ** Hyemin kim, Hi. Oh, wow, that's a complicated question. Um, I don't think I can answer you with sufficient breadth here in the p.s., especially when I'm having to slightly hurry the p.s. in order to get back to my editing duties. I know I talk about Robert Piest in the interview in the book 'Gone'. Do you have that book, I forget? If not, I can try to find the doc of the interview and send it to you by email? Let me know. My apologies, but it's an important question, I guess, and too large a one for me to answer sufficiently right here. Thank you for asking. ** Etc etc etc, Hi. A trip to Orange County almost qualifies as nuclear Xmas plans? Ha ha, no, I wish I could be in So. Cal. for the event. Well, semi-wish. To see the, yes, Marjorie Cameron show among other things. No, I'm sorry, I haven't had any chance to look at what you sent, and, honestly, I'm pretty positive I won't be able to for the next while. I am literally co-editing our film 10 to 11 hours every day with extremely rare exceptions, and I'm barely even able to keep up with the blog and basic other things in my life at the moment. I just have no time and very little brain availability. I can try to read your stuff over the few days at Xmas when I won't be editing, if I can. I apologize. Paris makes really sure you know it's Xmas every time you're out walking anywhere, and they do a very good job it, so it's def. very seasonal here. Nice. ** David Ehrenstein, Maybe because ... huh, you're right, I can't think if a rational reason why he would have done that. Thanks for your excitement about our movie. Me too! It's pretty damned great, at least so far, maybe. We'll find out if our producers agree with that assessment very quickly now. It certainly not the film they've been expecting, but we're hoping the surprise works in our favor because, trust me, it's a whole lot better than what they've been expecting. ** Kier, Hello, Mr, Dullea! I know, that was such a good line, right? I'm envious. Wow, those are completely stunning Oslo photos! Everyone, put your finger/cursor on this word, which was actually two words, and go look at some very beautiful, very not postcard-like -- well, I mean they're like the postcards of one's dreams only -- b&w photos of Oslo by the majestic Kier! Stunning, pal! Yeah, very sweet drinks, yuck. Especially very sweet alcoholic drinks. Yuck. Is that just me? I do like egg nog, though. Oh, well. I'm glad you got a day off. You keep finding these Lukas movies that I've never heard of before. I'm turning into bad fan of his, which is inadvertent and sad. He jerks off in it? Like ... for real? Your 2012 obsession drawings are great, and gosh, thanks for doing one re: me (blush). Are you still fascinated by Lindsay Lohan? My day, like every day of mine recently, was editing-impacted and went very well. This one maybe especially well. We finished Scene 2! Well, a rough cut. There's still a bunch of work to do on it, but we made a version good enough to show our producers. That was exciting! And also in the morning we received the finished score for Scene 3 and laid it out under the current edit of the scene, and it's perfect and everything we had hoped for. So that was very exciting too. So today we're FedExing our producers rough cuts of the first three scenes on DVD, and, giant gulp re: what they'll think because, obviously, if they don't like the scenes, the future will be messy, but at least we're super happy. That was most of the day, but I squeezed in a meeting with Gisele in the morning to talk about and work on the new theater piece. She gave me corrections to make in the script, and I have to find time to do the corrections today because the translator -- it needs to be translated into German for the next rehearsal period because the performers are German and they'll be learning it in German first and then eventually in English -- so today will be a packed one. I managed to do a little conferring/organizing about the eBook-like novel-like novel, and we have a release date, and I'll announce it soon. That was my day in a nutshell. How, pray tell, was Tuesday, Kierster? ** Steevee, Hi. As an inconsequential side note, when I typed Steevee a moment ago it was the first in our history together on this blog that Blogger didn't automatically spell-correct it to Steve. The first time. It finally learned. Awkward/funny story. of yours I like Kendrick Lamar, of course, yes. I heard a little Danny Brown, but it didn't grab me. You recommend that I investigate him? Oh, actually, in one of my few free periods of minutes yesterday, I looked up the films on your list, so now I have a better sense. It was only a couple that I didn't know of or remember: 'What Now? Remind Me' and 'The King of Escape'. ** Bill, Hi. Oh, well, then I guess I'll go ahead and admit that I am actif_cho, so, yes, been there, done that. His eyes looked perfectly okay to me, but then I only glimpsed them for a second as the leather hood was descending. Do I need to say I'm kidding? If so, kidding. ** Marilyn Roxie, Hi, Marilyn! I hope you're doing really great! He sounds fascinating and complicated and ultimately like way too much. I'm an idealist, and I can only take so much misanthropy and jadedness before I get really bored and irritated. But I can totally see how that stuff in combo with great beauty would very compelling and fascinating. Huh. Very interesting. Thank you about the film. Me too! Love, me. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben! ** Keaton, I've spent the great majority of my life avoiding having work that I would have to go to, so I'm big upping your idea to stay seated. I'm sure you can write a great novel too. I mean, duh. Glad you liked the escorts. Yeah, I managed to find a couple of emos with good profile text this month. Score. ** Sypha, Are there people who really love King's bumpkin talk? There must be, right? Or does every single reader he has grit their teeth and merely tolerate that. I wonder. No problem on the shout-out. I'll go check it out too. Everyone, here's Sypha with something it would be really great of you to check out and contribute to if you can. Listen up: 'Oh, Dennis, if you could do me a favor and give a shout-out for my friend Brendan? He's this really talented younger guy I'm friends with who's trying to raise money on indiegogo to buy a computer to help him jumpstart his art career. Anyway, here's the link. If anyone could help him out even a little bit, I'm sure he'd be very grateful. Thanks!' ** Misanthrope, It happened. My decree has been issued. The case is closed. Sweet that LPS is into exercising in a formal context. Who's LeBron? Wait, I know that name. Sports. Nice of you to get him those shoes with that presumably sports guy's endorsement on them. Can you hook me up with some bottompassif shoes? ** Kyler, What a strange dentist. I like him. Unless what he now has planned for you is even worse. I hope Florida isn't hellish. Well, I understand it is inherently hellish, but I hope its hellishness will be busy elsewhere while you're ensconced. ** Rewritedept, Cool about the acid, sucks about the aftermath. My weekend was work-filled and very good. I heard that 'The Lego Movie' is good. Definitely a plane selection thing for me. That is definitely some old stuff you're listening to. Glad the mothballs aren't creating a sonic problem. Next time stateside? Good question. After the first of the year sometime. Likely in the first couple of months. When will depends on a few undecided things including if our film gets in the Berlinnale 'cos we'll have to go there for that in February. Oh, man, so sorry about your friends' break-up. International second-hand hugs for Jake from me. ** Right. Go shopping in what Jonathan has in store for you until further notice meaning tomorrow at the earliest, thank you. See you then.
'The first thing I think of when I think of Piper Laurie is ‘Movie Star’. This label is perhaps a bit inaccurate when considering her expansive body of work over seven decades, that stretches across nearly as many artistic mediums – acting in film, television, theater; sculpting, painting and now, with the release of her memoir, Learning to Live Out Loud, writing. When it comes to contemporary acting, however, distinct flashes of Laurie’s style can be glimpsed, albeit fleetingly, in the performance styles of starlets such as Carey Mulligan and Michelle Williams—women who are striking, intellectual, maybe a bit bruised, maybe a bit tough – tremulous gamines with hearts of steel. Piper Laurie began doing that in the 1950s as a contract player working with stalwarts like Douglas Sirk, and continued refining this type into the1960s with her iconic turn as Sarah in The Hustler (1961).
'Known largely now for its stinging treatment of pool shark culture and the cool, The Hustler shined a spotlight on the hunky king of that world, Fast Eddie Felson (played of course by a never-hotter Paul Newman). Upon closer inspection, there is such an edgy nastiness to the film that makes its purposeful nihilism still feel shocking. Shocking not because of the frank dissection of its characters’ narcissistic, deliberately hurtful behavior and desperation (though those are incredible moments), but instead for how shockingly tough, scrappy and new the punched-in-the-guts emotional impact feels every time Laurie appears on screen to temper the overall machismo with her patented brand of tough cookie feminine energy. There’s real danger in this film, a thrilling sense of risk-taking.
'The Hustler still feels that way more than fifty years later. Fresh. Exciting. Deadly. The film works largely thanks to Laurie’s contribution to the incredible ensemble that includes not only Newman but also towering greats George C. Scott and Jackie Gleason. The doomed, tragic romance between Laurie’s Sarah and Fast Eddie grounded The Hustler in a stark and bitter reality that hadn’t been depicted for the screen previously. After being nominated for the Best Actress Academy Award for her work in the film, Laurie soon found that Hollywood was an inhospitable place for women who didn’t necessarily fit into just one mold as an artist.
'Rather than take work that wasn’t up to snuff, Laurie did something that might have been considered, again, a little shocking: she stopped playing the leading lady (or, in her words “perky starlet”) and promptly left movies for work on her own terms. The result was a daring collection of female characters who were not only close to the edge, but some who, in fact, went over that edge a long time ago. Colorful, memorable roles in films like Carrie (1976, for which she makes our Essential Performances list), Children of a Lesser God (1986) and Twin Peaks (1990) solidified her reputation as a singular talent. When one digs a bit deeper into her body of work, into films like the 1979 Australian drama Tim opposite Mel Gibson or the Truman Capote-inspired realms of deeply-Southern magical realism in The Grass Harp (1995), the breadth of her characterizations is impressive, there is always a deliberateness to her portrayals, and each is impeccably constructed and thoughtful.
'Female movie stars of today may possess the basic, bare minimum tenets of Piper Laurie’s blazingly original screen persona, but very few can claim the kind of honed, strong chops she can. They just don’t make them like this anymore, as the saying goes. However, as her revealing biography points out, a thirst for learning and a constant search for new ways of creatively expressing oneself can take a performer to spectacular heights, and she done both opposite some of the greatest artists ever to work, counting Maureen Stapleton, Jean Simmons, Kim Stanley, David Lynch, Douglas Sirk , Paul Newman, George C. Scott, Sissy Spacek and Brian De Palma amongst her closest collaborators. She no doubt also taught them a thing or two as well, which means the future is indeed bright for the Carey Mulligans and Michelle Williamses of the world after all.'-- Matt Mazur
Golden Globes 1991 Piper Laurie Wins the Award for Best Supporting Actress
_____ Interview from Pop Matters
Your career began at a pivotal time in cinema history when the way movies were being made was quickly changing. What were your initial ambitions?
Piper Laurie: Well, I wanted to be a really good actress and I had planned on going to New York to work in the theater. I screen-tested before, several times, and they failed them. So I was sort of surprised when Universal decided to exercise the test option contract after the screen test that I made with Rock Hudson. It was so flattering, that they wanted me, and that they were going to pay me for doing what I loved to do. I got trapped into something that I wasn’t expecting. I knew nothing about the kind of movies that Universal made at that time. I was forced to lower my standards. I didn’t really lower my standards, it was just agony I must say, to have to play the parts in the movies that they gave me. On one hand I was grateful that I was getting a name, which I later had to live down, but it was certainly not what I had aspired to.
Do you ever revisit those movies, like the ones you did with Douglas Sirk?
PL: No, I haven’t seen them for years. I don’t think I ever saw any of them more than once. You know, modern people enjoyed them…
The Hustler is such a favorite of mine and I’ve recently revisited it. Talk about a movie that stands the test of time… when you were constructing your character for this film, what about playing Sarah was most intriguing to you?
PL: Well, I think not necessarily playing her, but the whole project: the meticulous, vibrant script and the opportunity to work with Robert Rossen and to play opposite the actors that were starring in it. The overall project was really the appeal, not necessarily her part. Those sad creatures require almost to dredge up a lot of sadness in one’s life and that’s never fun.
Speaking of great ensembles, I wish I could have seen you do The Glass Menagerie with Pat Hingle and Maureen Stapleton, I’m such a fan of that play and of Tennessee Williams.
PL: It was really a lovely production! That’s what I’ve been told by enough people so I believe it! (laughing)
What were the challenges of performing this demanding role for the stage? Did you for example take to the language naturally?
PL: You put it very well. I think most actors respond to his language. That’s why so many of us like to work on his material. I’d worked on a lot of things, plays, in my acting classes before I even went to Universal and became a professional actor. Tennessee Williams was a very important person to me. I got to meet him and know him a little bit while we were rehearsing and during the play and he came to many of the performances. The Tennessee Williams one-act play, This Property Is Condemned, was made into a movie that had nothing to do with the play, it was a completely different story. It was basically a two-character play, the main character was mainly a monologue, a 14-year-old girl. I played the main character, I worked on that in my acting class, and used it as an audition piece when I went to Universal.
They were going to give me three minutes, they were going to start the play, and I expected them to stop me, but they didn’t and I ended up doing the whole 25-minute play. And they signed me, and I made a screen test, and they put me into junk. Anyway…. Tennessee Williams is a fabulous part of my life and actually I just came back from the Tennessee Williams Literary Festival in New Orleans where I was on a number of the panels and did a reading, the Katharine Hepburn role [from Suddenly, Last Summer] from when she first appears in the movie. There was a whole afternoon devoted to Williams.
I’m so interested the women you mention in your book. Maureen, Kim Stanley, Jean Simmons, and Estelle Parsons. How did your associations with these talented women impact you?
PL: Greatly (laughing). Maureen was just… so human and tortured and dear and intelligent. Brilliant. As gifted as she was, that’s how intelligent she was as well. We spent a lot of time together while doing the play and then afterwards as well. She was a generous human person, who had a hard time with life and made a lot of bad choices like a lot of actors do. But I loved her very much, she was a wonderful person.
It is striking just how prescient Carrie is in its depiction of bullying and teenage horror. I have to ask – what are your thoughts on the planned remake and Julianne Moore tackling Margaret White?
PL: Oh, you know, I hope that they have fun like we did! Or like I did anyway. I wish them well and I know that they did another version of it on stage recently, and I did get to see the first of the previews. They had a different take on the story, and they had every right to. I loved our movie, our version of it, because I think that Brian De Palma brought a joyful sensibility to it, there was all that freshness. Even though it was about a lot of misery, there was still joy in all of those young people, in all the characters. There was flamboyance about Brian De Palma’s work, I think. I know he certainly made me feel comfortable. I think the people involved with the new version will do their own take on it and I wish them well.
I had a chance to research some of your filmography that I hadn’t seen previously and was so impressed with some of the more underrated titles. Particularly I loved watching Tim, with Mel Gibson, which had so many great observations about gender, age and atypical relationships. In the book you touch on working with Mel, but I was so fascinated with your character, she seemed so much different from anything else you had done until that point. What did you hope to express through Mary, your character in Tim?
PL: You know, I don’t really approach a part with what I want to express, I think my ambition during filming is to respect the material, to fulfill the nature of the character as written. I don’t feel I can take charge and be the playwright. I just saw her as a very decent woman, and a generous one. I don’t really think I had a motive to be a certain kind of person, I just wanted to fulfill the story.
What was the personal significance to you of being a woman of Jewish descent playing a Nazi like Magda Goebbels with Anthony Hopkins as Hitler in The Bunker?
PL: It was very interesting to do the research on Hitler, Goebbels and his beautiful wife, who I was playing. I had a knot in my stomach the whole time I was reading. I had, even as a child, a violent response to Hitler as, I suppose you can call him a ‘human being’, though I really don’t think he deserved that title. He was alive at one point, he was a person, but I just had nightmares about him when I was a little girl. It was kind of treacherous getting into this material and trying to empathize with people who were very close to him. Magda Goebbels was very close. He trusted her. She was the only person who could cook something for him and he wouldn’t demand a taster to see if it was safe to eat. So I approached it from another’s point of view and tried to imagine her as being a mother, a human and the feelings that she probably had about her children and being in that underground place that they had at the end.
I wanted to ask you about film criticism since you were married to one of the great film critics, Joe Morgenstern, and also knew Pauline Kael. What changes have you observed in film criticism throughout your career?
PL: For a long time, for many years, there were very few critics, most people who wrote about movies were called ‘reviewers.’ I suppose they still exist, they were the people who would spoil the movie by telling the story. It had no values at all [talking] about performance. It was just all very superficial. I think there are a lot of real critics now, I guess that’s good (laughing). I don’t like reading reviews myself about a movie I’m going to be seeing. I like reading the ones I respect after I see the movie, that’s really fun to do.
What did playing Catherine on Twin Peaks, and her Japanese businessman disguise Mr Tojamura, allow you to do as a performer that you’d never done before?
PL: I didn’t expect it. When I was little girl, I used to get into elaborate disguises. I remember there was an old folks home across the street, in this huge Victorian house, and the people would always sit out on the porch and rock or spend the afternoon. With the help of my sister, I got into the disguise of an old lady, powdered my hair, bent my body over, and put on some old clothes and clunky shoes. I actually had a following there! (laughing) My sister and some of the kids in the neighborhood thought ‘this is pretty bizarre and interesting!’ (laughing) I pretended to be an old lady and of course all of the old folks knew that it was a kid doing this and they went along with it, but I remember there was one man who tied my shoelace for me! I found such joy in being able to change who I was. It was fun, it’s why I loved Halloween, because we could wear costumes. So, to be handed the opportunity by David Lynch, to do that in the show, was pure heaven!
You’ve been awarded three career Oscar nominations – what did these Oscar nominations mean to you when you were first nominated and how did your perception change as you collected other awards and nominations?
PL: Well, the first Oscar nomination for The Hustler was meaningless to me. Because I didn’t have the perspective of the movie, I was too subjective when I viewed it. It wasn’t what I had expected. When I’d see a scene, I’d remember that my shoe was too tight or that we were having difficulty or had to shoot it a lot of times. You know, I just remembered all of the things we’d experienced on the set, rather than looking at it objectively as the story was going. I thought it was bullshit, frankly, that I had been nominated and I just didn’t believe in it. I didn’t even go out to California for the ceremony. I watched it on a little set with my mother-in-law and my husband. Then, later as I started getting nominations, I was a little more relaxed about myself, I was able to enjoy the fun and that my peers thought I had done a good job. I never really enjoyed going. I pretended I was enjoying going to the ceremonies, but it’s always difficult.
What about when you win and you have to give speeches?
PL: I’ve won things a few times. Once I won my Emmy, when I wasn’t there, not because I didn’t want to go but because I was doing a play somewhere. James Woods accepted for me and that was fun. The only other time I was present and actually won was the Golden Globe for Twin Peaks and that was hell, I’ll be honest with you! (laughing) When I heard my name, I really didn’t expect to hear it. I didn’t even bother to tidy up before the broadcast started. It took forever before I got to the podium, I don’t even know what I said. It was stupid, I’m sure! (laughing)
________________ 18 of Piper Laurie's 112 roles
______________ Douglas Sirk Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952) 'The reason why Has Anybody Seen My Gal is enjoyable, even now over 60 years after it was made is because of Charles Coburn. Coburn was such a great comedic actor that even when he was playing a grouch he was likeable and so from the minute we meet Samuel Fulton, berating his staff as he dictates his Will you just smile because Coburn simply makes him fun. And it is the same throughout, be it a knowing look, his attempts to make soda-pops or the way he treats the Blaisdell's home like his own without a care in the world he just makes you smile. As such whilst there are entertaining performances from Larry Gates, Lynn Bari as well as Piper Laurie and Rock Hudson it is Coburn who is the star and who makes it worth watching. Although for sheer cuteness Gigi Perreau as young Roberta deserves a mention because she maybe a childhood cliche but she is fun especially as she befriends Fulton.'-- The Movie Scene
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Excerpt with commentary by Piper Laurie
_______________ Rudolph Maté The Mississippi Gambler (1953) '1953's The Mississippi Gambler was the third Universal Studios film to bear this title--though with a different plot each time. Tyrone Power plays an all-around adventurer who cuts quite a swath through antebellum New Orleans. In between scenes of gambling, fist-fighting and swordplay, Power woos Piper Laurie, who chooses to marry wealthy Ron Randell; in turn, Power is wooed by Julie Adams, whose ardor is not reciprocated. The climax finds Power in a card table showdown with Ms. Laurie's ill-tempered brother John Baer. Mississippi Gambler is consistently good to look at, even when the storyline threatens to snap under the pressure.'-- collaged
the entire film
_______________ Edward Buzzell Ain't Misbehavin' (1955) 'Up and coming hopefuls in the film arts have to cut their milk teeth somewhere, and Ain't Misbehavin' is the type of zwieback on which they chew. Yesterday at the Palace Piper Laurie and Rory Calhoun could be seen industriously learning their trade in the Universal-International color musical. The story line of rich young man and poor chorus line hoofer, set atop San Francisco's Nob Hill, flits frantically about the place and never really goes anywhere. Miss Laurie sings and dances four alleged "production" numbers, and she's in there batting every minute. It's a forced, joyless thing that director Edward Buzzell has wrought. All surface and no distinction. The music is tired and the dances are flaccid repetitions of hundreds of other movie dances. But when the summer nights afflict you like wet wool, and the theatres beckon with their super-cooled zephyrs, Ain't Misbehavin' will fill the double bill. At worst it's a soporific.'-- NY Times
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_______________ Robert Rossen The Hustler (1961) 'I wanted to do The Hustler before I had even gotten to the part in the script where my character came in. The words painted a picture that was so vivid in my imagination. It drew me in so quickly and completely, as the movie does. I didn’t have that in my mind while I was acting. I was very subjective in my relationship with Paul [Newman], so I had no idea where the camera was or what was going on. When I saw the finished movie, it was so different from what I imagined the first time I read the script that I was shocked and I hated the movie. It took me years before I could see it and realize how really wonderful it was.'-- Piper Laurie
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________________ Brian De Palma Carrie (1976) 'For anyone unfortunate enough to have caught Carrie as a child, you might remember Piper Laurie from every fucking nightmare you’ve ever had. In a film crowded with macabre images—a blood-soaked Sissy Spacek and a young John Travolta among them—Laurie manages to be the most singularly terrifying thing on the screen. One moment she’s seemingly calm and collected, and the next she’s grinning maniacally as she stalks her daughter with a kitchen knife. And she does it all in the name of God. Laurie’s performance just might be the scariest thing to come out of Christianity since Mormon underwear. But what’s even more startling about Laurie’s performance is how surprisingly well it has aged. Despite its revered status, Carrie as a whole doesn’t hold up very well. Its split-screen climax is about as dated as “Disco Duck.” But Laurie’s looney-tunes Margaret White remains terrifying, a diabolical mix of high camp and classic horror. Look at those crazy eyes and the way she seems to float down the hallway, her nightgown blowing ethereally as if by being sent aflutter by the breath of demons. She isn’t just the epitome of the warped righteousness of fundamentalism. She’s one of the best monsters ever committed to film.'-- Willamette Week
Compilation of PL's scenes in 'Carrie'
the entire film
_________________ Curtis Harrington Ruby (1977) 'RUBY (1977) is not one Curtis Harrington’s better films, but it was his biggest moneymaker. In fact, it was the most successful American indie ever until the following year’s HALLOWEEN. The presence of veteran actress Piper Laurie, on the comeback trail after playing the demented mother of CARRIE, was a definite factor in its success. Curtis Harrington’s films were characterized by darkly atmospheric settings and dreamlike horror. Those things are in scant evidence on RUBY, which tends to rely on cheap shocks to achieve its effects--blood emitting from a vending machine, a seeping bullet wound appearing in Ruby’s daughter’s forehead--along with a seriously tacky PSYCHO-inspired score. Plus it cribs shamelessly from THE EXORCIST in its later scenes, as Ruby’s child becomes possessed and exhibits a full spectrum of Linda Blair-isms. The film is, however, trashily enjoyable. Gorehounds will get a kick out of all the exploitive bloodletting, and Piper Laurie gives a memorably histrionic performance as the title character. As for the loony ending, it would be better if it weren’t so abrupt; apparently Harrington’s original cut had a more elaborate fade-out that was jettisoned by producers.'-- fright.com
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the entire film
________________ Glenn Jordan In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan (1977) 'This is a true story. In April 1975, Karen Ann Quinlan suddenly lapsed into a coma, baffling hospital doctors. Her foster-parents realise that it is only a matter of time before she dies, because the brain damage is so severe that Karen could never recover. They have to make a terrible life or death decision. And then they have to face some bitter complications. Co-stars Brian Keith and Piper Laurie splendidly portray the tormented couple.'-- sky.com
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________________ Michael Pate Tim (1979) 'The opening scenes of Tim are so indifferently shot and so sitcom-bright that I realized with a start that I'd never really seen Australia or Australian cinema look this way. I didn't know Tim's premise, just that the film debuted Down Under about three months after the first Mad Max did in 1979, rocketing Mel Gibson to superfame, and earning him the AFI award for this performance. Based on the Disney Channel palette and the juvenile scoring, all pan flutes and comic slide-whistles for no particular reason, I got ready to Learn Something About Life, the way you do in those movies where some girl called Christy or Rebecca or Anne stands around in tall-grass or in front of church-shaped schoolhouses, sporting a lot of long-sleeved gingham and wearing her goodness like sunblock, right there on the outside. Piper Laurie is Mary Horton, the single, middle-aged, school-marmish woman who sees Tim finishing up some home-repair project for her next-door neighbor and hires him to do some odd jobs for her. With everything in place, including a totally de-sexed teacher-confidant, we settle in for a less pastoral Mel of Avonlea, or some life-affirming combination of Charly and Gibson's own directorial debut, The Man without a Face. Laurie plays Mary is a self-aware chicken-hawk who thinks she needs to play the innocent-mentor angle and ride it out patiently in order to get what she wants.'-- Nick's Flick Picks
the entire film
_______________ Lee Philips Mae West (1982) 'The viewer is advised at the outset that the script, written by E. Arthur Kean, is ''based on events in the life of the legendary Mae West.'' Legend, of course, doesn't necessarily have anything to do with truth. In this case, certain autobiographical facts are embellished with several of Miss West's more famous comments about life and sex (''When I'm good, I'm very good; when I'm bad, I'm better''), some of them taken out of their original performance context and delivered as passing conversation. In the process, the woman behind the public image emerges as a trailblazing feminist and a brave denouncer of censorship. Her detractors, however, are offered a measure of comfort in the depiction of her private love life as a mess. The wicked, presumably, will still be punished. Her Mama is played with saintly reserve by Piper Laurie.'-- NY Times
Compilation of PL's scenes in 'Mae West'
______________ Walter Murch Return to Oz (1985) 'A tween-aged Fairuza Balk plays Dorothy, whose insistence on recounting her adventures following her return from Oz has Aunt Em (Piper Laurie) and Uncle Henry (Matt Clark) convinced that she must be experiencing delusional depression. They nearly bankrupt themselves (in a town already so broke that it can’t afford a flagpole, no less) in order for Dorothy to see a psychiatrist. Dr. Worley (Nicol Williamson) is less interested in her mental health than in ensuring that Dorothy’s perceived problems stop bothering the adults around her, though. He is obsessed with what he perceives to be progress, declaring that the 20th century (the film is set in 1900) will be “a century of electricity.” During a storm, this relentless push for modernity quite literally backfires: The lights go out, and Dorothy is finally able to hear the screams of discarded patients in the absence of the ominously cheerful hum of electricity. With the help of a mysterious young girl, she escapes down a stream and miraculously wakes up in Oz.'-- City Paper
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Deleted scenes
______________ Randa Haines Children of a Lesser God (1986) 'Children of a Lesser God is a 1986 romantic drama film that tells the story of a speech teacher at a school for deaf students who falls in love with a deaf woman who also works there. It stars William Hurt, Marlee Matlin, Piper Laurie, and Philip Bosco. In her debut role as Sarah Norman, Matlin won the 1986 Academy Award for Best Actress. The film also garnered Academy Award nominations for Best Actor for William Hurt, Best Supporting Actress for Piper Laurie, Best Picture, and Best Writing for an Adapted Screenplay.'-- collaged
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________________ David Lynch Twin Peaks (1990-1991) 'After we wrapped up the first season, David called me at home and said, in his Jimmy Stewart drawl, “Rosie, I want you to give some thought to the next season. Your character was last seen at the fire in the sawmill. We don’t know whether Catherine escaped or not. When we come back, I want the audience to think you died in the fire. Your husband, Jack Nance, will think you’re dead. Everyone will think you’re dead, and we’ll take your name off the credits of the show.” It crossed my mind for a millisecond that this was David’s original way of telling me I was being fired. But he continued, “Now, Rosie, this is the part I want you to think about. You will return in some sort of disguise, as a man, and you’ll spy on the town and create trouble for everyone -your husband, your lover, everyone. You should probably be a businessman. I want you to decide what kind of businessman you would like to be. Maybe a Frenchman or a Mexican. Think about it for a while and let me know.” I was so enchanted with the open possibilities and the power of being able to choose my part. (…) I decided I’d be a Japanese businessman because I thought it would be less predictable. I was so filled with excitement and laughter: this was joyful children’s play. There was no argument from David when I told him my choice, no attempt to influence me. He simply accepted it. Then came the hard part. David wished me to keep it a secret from the entire cast and crew. Not even my agent or my family was to know. That was important to him. I wasn’t to tell a soul. There was so much preparation involved in pulling off the subterfuge. There were secret makeup and wardrobe tests at a laboratory in the Valley. Paula Shimatsu-u, who was Mark Frost’s assistant and one of the few people who knew, was helpful in making tape recordings of Japanese friends reciting my lines. I practicec imitating them while driving to and from work. I had assumed that, of course, the placement of my voice would be electronically altered, but they had given it no thought and were not prepared on the morning of my first scene. I am trained to keep going no matter what, and when I realized I was on my own, I ended up going to a place in my chest and throat to get that appropriate guttural sound. It turned out to be painful to sustainm, and I sipped liquids constantly between takes. I shall never do that again for fear of injuring my voice permanently.'-- Piper Laurie
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Piper Laurie talks Twin Peaks
_______________ Dario Argento Trauma (1993) 'You know, I haven’t seen that since I made it. I had a lot of fun on that film when we shot it because it was so silly. [laughs] I felt silly acting in my black wig and I had some sort of funny accent. It was over the top and I just had fun laughing in between takes.'-- Piper Laurie
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______________ Charles Matthau The Grass Harp (1995) 'Helmer Charles Matthau combines a sensitive screenplay adaptation of Truman Capote’s autobiographical novel The Grass Harp with a wonderful ensemble cast to create a jewel of a film. Collin Fenwick, Capote’s alter ego, loses both his parents at an early age. The young Collin (Grayson Frick) is forced to move in with two of his father’s cousins, the Talbo sisters. In an inspired bit of casting, they’re played by Piper Laurie and Sissy Spacek (who portrayed mother and daughter in Carrie). All the performers do superior work but Piper Laurie stands above them all with a performance that is exquisite, touching and real.'-- Variety
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_______________ Yves Simoneau Intensity (1997) 'A young woman staying as a guest in a Napa Valley farmhouse becomes trapped in a fight for survival with a self-proclaimed homicidal adventurer, and races to save his next intended victim. Teleplay by Stephen Tolkin based on the novel by Dean Koontz. Directed by Yves Simoneau. Starring Molly Parker, John C. McGinley and Piper Laurie. TV so quality isn't great, but it's decent and I don't think this was ever released on video or dvd. Pretty intense at times with fine acting, in particular by John C. McGinley. I haven't read the book so I can't vouch for how close this is to the Dean Koontz's original story.'-- IMDb
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_______________ Robert Rodriguez The Faculty (1998) 'Robert Rodriguez is a vastly fun director. He is always very kinetic and edits his own films. There is no such thing as a slow-paced Rodriguez film. He knows how to make the most out of a shoestring budget and has a good eye for gore effects. Rodriguez gets fun (not good but fun) performances from everyone including Bebe Neuwirth and Piper Laurie as other faculty members. While Rodriguez normally writes, edits, and directs, here he wisely turns the writing chores over to Kevin Williamson. Rodriguez writes efficiently but Williamson really knows how to write young people. He throws in the usual pop culture references including a hilarious one about Invasion of the Body Snatchers ripping off Heinlein’s The Puppet Masters (which it did). The Faculty is essentially the same story.'-- collaged
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_______________ Conrad Janis Bad Blood (2006) 'Summer vacation will never be the same for nine College students on their way to Lake Tahoe when they are derailed from their plans and land at 'Millie's Cherry Pie Inn and Diner' and the very 'normalcy' of both 'Lawrence' the Charming Patriarch of this group of "Outlanders" and his wife "Millie", and their grandson "Jim" prove to be chillingly threatening in their simplicity and rejection of all that is 'Modern'...Our nine enthusiastic young travelers are lulled into a false sense of security until they are forced to face the fact that the Devil sometimes wears a gray suit and smile, and that their only hope of survival is to stick together and escape the cloyingly sweet tentacles of terror and death woven by the seemingly benign inhabitants of this secret Clan.'-- IMDb
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______________ Spencer Susser Hesher (2010) 'Hesher is a violent, uncontrollable wild man who might easily hail from Borneo, but in time the script is hell-bent on revealing a sensitivity to the plight of others that is as bracing as electro-shock therapy. Natalie Portman makes an unlucky cameo appearance as a penniless supermarket cashier named Nicole who becomes T.J.’s only friend when she rescues him from a sadistic bully. Hesher wrecks everyone’s trust by throwing Nicole into bed (she likes tattoos) but redeems himself by showing up at a funeral stoned and dragging the corpse away on a motorbike. Don’t ask. The whole thing seems to have been directed by long-distance cell phone and edited with a rotary jigsaw. Mr. Gordon-Levitt, in the title role, never makes the lobotomized Hesher a coherent character. The only thing he doesn’t set fire to is the negative. The kid who plays T.J. looks like a miniature version of the already miniature Justin Bieber. Only the great Piper Laurie delivers dollar value. Otherwise, Hesher is to movies what graffiti is to a rotting fence.'-- New York Observer
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Behind the scenes
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p.s. Hey. ** David Ehrenstein, Amoeba is a considerable slice of heaven. Luckily, it's not the last record store, but it's certainly in the top tier of the ones in the running for the best one standing. I forgot about 'What's My Shoe Size', ha ha. Ha ha about the show, not about my forgetting. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. I saw that about the Magical Journey. If I had time, I'd add it into my imminent Magic Winterland post. My favorite quote from the MJ stuff I found: 'It turns out the ‘journey’ is not an extensive train ride through acres of wooded wonderland but, in fact, a couple of weak elf sketches, a lot of hanging around in the cold, and a two-minute wet-bottomed rumble through a very pretty wood with cars roaring past on a nearby road. There is no music on the train, so the elf at the back sings a couple of verses of Jingle Bells and then peters out when the driver elf refuses to join in. But small mercies — the train works and Freddy loves it. Last week it had to be pushed up a hill by a group of elves after one reckless elf drove into a tree, then a trailer and then, apparently, ran out of petrol.' But, yes, the employees got fucked. The quiet heroes. ** Tosh Berman, Me too. I've spent many an hour with 'What's in My Bag' while daydreaming about what records I'd put in mine were I aware that I was about to get my bag searched on camera. I'm really looking forward to taking a record store tour the next time I hit LA. There's a good one, name escaping me, just a few blocks from my LA pad on Hillhurst. I'm sure you know it. ** Sypha, Those King homilies are just intolerable. That assessment of his writing seems pretty spot on from my limit experience, but the guy is at least a minor genius when it comes to thinking up and ladling out horror tropes. ** Kier, Hi, buddy boy! Yeah, I don't even really like sweet drinks that aren't alcoholic. I've hated Coke, Pepsi, 7-Up, Mountain Dew, Orangina, etc., etc. since I was about five years old. I like water. I'm old fashioned. I'll skip that movie, yes. I am curious about 'Meth Head' from the trailer. I saw 'Solarbabies', yikes, yeah, kind of sort of really fun. I guess it's good that your psych wants you to be prepared for the very worst, unlikely case scenario, and hopefully that's all that's going on there. 'Point Break', right. Keanu. My day ended up being an off-day re: the editing. My last for a while. Which isn't to say I wasn't doing film stuff a lot, like crossing town to FedEx to send the DVD of the three rough/finished scenes to our producers, who will have them in hand in the next couple of hours whereupon we'll see what they think. Stressful. As I may have mentioned already, I don't think the film we're making is the film they have been expecting. Not that we've misled them at all. It's just that, knowing their tastes and what they usually produce, our film is a lot more artful and serious. Hopefully, they'll like that about it, but you never know. Anyway, nervous. So, I did that. Then I tried to catch up on stuff I have to do and am way behind on. I did the revisions on the theater piece script. I made 1 1/2 blog posts. I creased my huge backlog of unanswered emails. I went out at one point to hang with yesterday's guest-host Jonathan Mayhew because he's about to head off to Norway for the holidays. We had coffee, book shopped, blabbed, strolled. It was nice. Then I came back and did some work and work-ish stuff, ate pasta, uh, ... slept. Back to the editing room today. What was the shape and character of your today? ** Keaton, Man, The North Pole has never seem more real or more enticing as a tourist destination than it is in your hands. I haven't been over to Grand Boulevard this Xmas yet. I got close yesterday 'cos Fed Ex is on Blvd. Haussmann. I need to get over there. It's a short walk, and I'm definitely in sore need of some Hard Rock nachos. ** Misanthrope, Hi, G. Ha ha, no I was kidding about Le Bron. I knew he plays basketball. I knew he's a huge deal in the sport. I even knew that he touched princess ... sorry, Duchess What's-her-butt. I've just never seen him play and would never recognize him in a million years if he was in my face. Who's the one of the four that he's not better than? Not that the answer will mean much to me. I know who all those guys are, and I've actually seen Kobe play with my naked eyes a few times. They're shoes that are designed such that they can be neatly and easily buried to the heel in bottompassif's ass. ** Steevee, Cool, I'll try that Danny Brown next chance I get. I saw giant posters in the metro for 'Eastern Boys' maybe a month ago, so I suspect it has come and gone. Very striking posters. Even though I've been over quite a while, it still amazes me to see a movie like that one advertised everywhere with the same populist outreach and giant-sized posters as blockbusters 'The Hobbit', etc. But that's Paris. Very good question about what France will do re: 'The Interview' now. I guess we'll know before it opens here, whenever that is. My guess is that they'll release it as usual, but who knows. ** Rewritedept, Hi. It must be interesting and cool to have that '60s radio music available to absorb without all the context that saddles it for those of us who grew up with it as the contemporaneous soundtrack. Well, your goal for a partner seems doable. I mean it doesn't have anything too far fetched about it. It's all luck, accident, fate, etc, that stuff. Cool that you get to see Sleater-Kinney. I wonder if they'll tour here. I wonder if they're beloved over here. I have no idea. The Berlinale is the Berlin Film Festival. My week's good. I'm glad you're getting used to the unipolar depression if that's your only option. ** Hyemin kim, Hi. I saw your email. I'll try to send you the interview today. I have to track it down. Honestly, I don't know why I was compelled by Robert Piest. I think in the interview I try to figure that out slightly, but, with virtually everything that fascinates me and that I end up writing about, I don't know why, and that's why I write about those things so I can try to figure out why in the process. And I usually never do. ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, T. Get through your last three days. Are you doing Xmas-y things for the kids in these last days? I would guess? It will be great to see you more! ** Jonathan, Hey! Awesomeness to get to see you yesterday, and thank you so much again for the Xmas treats, edible and audible! Yay that you have an idea for the thing! If you can, you-know-who will be very happy, as will I, duh! I haven't pulled the CD out of its shrink-wrap yet, but I'll make sure my ears are prepared and careful when I spin it, just in case. Have the jolliest holidays ever, and I mean ever! ** Okay. For some reason, the blog has been on a cult character actor worshipping kick of late, and here's a new extension of that phase starring the glorious Piper Laurie. Enjoy, I would think? See you tomorrow.
'It promised a ‘fully immersive’ Christmas experience, with reindeer, a festive market and, of course, Santa’s grotto. But visitors to Yorkshire’s Magical Winterland found it to be far from magical and barely wintry. Children were left in tears as they entered a desolate warehouse with cardboard boxes and random material strewn all over the ground. Magical Winterland only opened its doors on Wednesday, but was forced to pack up just 24 hours later due to its "appalling" quality.
'The Yorkshire Magical Winterland, set up at the Great Yorkshire Showground, advertised the event as having "fantastic features" and offered visitors the chance to "focus on losing yourself in our Magical Winterland". But the grim reality of the Christmas-themed event was that of rubbish-strewn hallways, poorly-constructed exhibitions and sombre-looking reindeer surrounded by a sprinkling of straw.
'Hundreds of messages were posted on the Magical Winterland's Facebook page after it opened. All complained about the price of admission - the top price for a child is £22.50 - and accused the management of misleading the public. Matt Freeman wrote: "I could have cobbled something together better than this in my own back garden for half the cost."
'"Something didn't feel right," wrote Beryl Mansfield. "Perhaps it was the thick white paint that rubbed off the festive polar bear fountain and all over our clothes. Or the rictus-like grins of the shivering elves in their cheap velour outfits. It was a spectacular disaster of smoking elves, sweary Santas, smelly mud, piles of rubbish and sacks of fake snow dumped on wooden pallets by the main entrance."
Families were left stumped by many of the exhibitions in the winter walk, saying it was unclear what the scenes were supposed to represent
'Kat Manson, from Skipton, West Yorks, who booked to take her niece Evie to the event, said: "We've had a family ticket booked for a long time for this special event. The journey there was full of excitement and wonder, Evie was going meet Santa! We checked the website this morning to see what we were going to be doing but there was no mention of any closure. We were all excited. We arrived at a near empty car park and a lonely car park attendant ushered us into a car parking space without saying a word. We were met at the desk by two female staff who said sorry we are closed. They explained that our tickets were valid for the other days but so many people had complained that it was a waste of money that they were closed. How were we supposed to explain to a four year old girl that she couldn't see Santa after all. She was devastated. She thinks Santa didn't want to see her."
Parents complained about the creepy-looked mannequins and statues of an ice queen and one which looked like an attempt at the Grinch
'Mother-of-one Suzie Smith, of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, who brought her daughter Heidi, two, to the attraction, said: “I had a vision in my head of a really magical place for kids to come before Christmas but to be honest it’s just a bit depressing. The area is too big and they haven’t been able to fill it. It’s been advertised as a magical place to come and it just isn’t."
'There were multiple reports that the attraction's multiple Father Christmases (five were spotted by some confused children) were alternately too gruff, too skinny or smelt of booze. One elf reportedly told a guest to ‘have a s*** Christmas’. The presents they gave out were cheap, plastic and unwrapped. And then there was the "snow".
'"Mummy, this isn’t snow. It’s strange," said one child within earshot of this reporter. He was pointing at what looked like dirty papier-mache spread greyly across the mud outside the front entrance. "It looks like paper. I think it’s litter. It looks like litter. It’s stuck to my boot. Mummy, get it off!"
There was a three-hour wait to visit Santa, who was guarded by another pair of elves who were reportedly Incapable of answering basic questions about the event
'Mother-of-one Laura Bamforth, who is also 30-weeks pregnant, from Pontefract, West Yorkshire, said: "We spent a total of 20 minutes in the building and we were totally appalled with the entire event. The event itself was nothing more than a fairground. The rides was overpriced and the so-called Christmas market was a total of four stalls. When leaving the event feeling very let down we told the staff on reception who also was very rude and never tried to apologise. I would like a refund for all the money I have spent."
'One family from Solihull spent £85 on tickets for three adults and two toddlers. "It was even worse than I had read in the newspaper," said the mother of the family Karen Brosius, 32. "The elves’ smiles were so fixed it was scary. It was as if they had never seen a child before — they didn’t have a clue."
The festive nine hole golf course promised 'twinkling Christmas lights, fantastic gifts to overcome and even Santa Claus himself'
'After nearly three hours — a good half of it spent waiting about and looking vainly in the stalls for something decent to buy — this reporter had had enough. As had a young boy near me. "Can we go home now?" he asked his father. "I thought there was going to be snow. But there isn’t — it’s just that strange grey stuff." And when his father asked him what had been his favorite part of the Magical Winterland, perhaps Father Christmas, or the merry-go-round or the Fairy Queen, or even the two live reindeer? "Splashing in puddles in the car park," he said.'-- collaged
It is with great regret that we have decided to close Yorkshire’s Magical Winterland at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate permanently from tonight. We worked very hard to create a family event and have received some positive feedback but also some adverse publicity. We plan to refund anyone who bought tickets in advance and can be contacted at info@yorkshiresmagicalwinterland.co.uk
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p.s. Hey. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. Thanks re: the post. No, as far as I can remember this morning, I don't know that Saul Bass film at all. Wow, cool, I'll see if I can track it down. Thank you a lot for alerting me. I just saw that there's a new Stewart Home novel yesterday. And you're the news anchor about the new English language Guyotat. Wow! I know, both are total musts. Of course I'd really, really like to read your new novel stuff. A wait is okay, though, because I'm going to be out of commission regarding almost everything for the next month at least, I fear. The editing goes well, very intensively. Whatever happens, I think we'll be pretty headfirst continually into the editing for quite a while. I'll have a several day break around Xmas when Zac goes off for family holiday thing. If the Berlin Film Festival wants the film, it'll be intense because that means the film would need to be completely finished by late January including at least two weeks of post-production work in Berlin. If they don't want it, we're going to try to finish in January anyway. A lot of work to do, a lot. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, sir. So nice that you knows Ms. Laurie, and that she's as great a person as she would seem to be. She's wonderful in her interviews. ** Kier, Hi! Yes, well, you were yet again the trigger and inspiration re: the Piper Laurie post due to your mention of her in 'The Faculty', so that post owes you a ton. Bardufoss photos! And film? Link(s) would be awesome. Yesterday was our longest editing work day yet. We started on Scene 4. We always knew it would be a tough one because we shot 24 hours of footage for that scene, and it took us all day and into the later night yesterday just to go through all of that and begin to pick out shots and moments and things that we liked a lot and that could work. It's going to be the toughest scene to get right. Its narrative is quite complex, and we made so many changes to the scene just before shooting and during the shooting that the scene has become a big mess, or I mean a mess relative to what we had originally planned for it to be. So we need to kind of reinvent the scene in the editing, and we're not sure about the best way to do that yet. It took so long to go through the footage that we only barely began to lay out an extremely rough cut at about 9 pm last night. Hopefully, we'll have a solid draft by this afternoon, and a plan in motion by tonight. The good thing, or one of the good things, is that the scene, which was mostly shot outdoors in a small town and a forest in Northern France, looks amazing and beautiful visually. Anyway, that was complete entirety of my day, and today will be more of the exact same, but hopefully we'll have figured out a clear route forward by tonight. Oh, and the only other thing that happened yesterday is that my eBook-like, non-novel-like new novel got officially announced, here and elsewhere, if anyone cares. Okay, I'll be stepping onto the metro very shortly on my way to the editing room, and what will you be doing very shortly, or, rather, what did you do very shortly and what was the end result of that come the fall of night? ** Damien Ark, Hi, Damien! I love when something that seems like it'll be short reveals itself as the basis and piece of a possible novel, don't you? That's exciting, man. I don't ... think I know Sion Sono. Hm. If you want to do a post about him and his stuff, I would fall to my knees or something, or I could try to do one from my total ignoramus pov. ** Steevee, Hi. I think some counter-hacker group would have to offer a million dollars or, I don't know, immortality, to anyone who actually goes to see 'The Interview' to get me to see it. It just seems like the epitome of what I have no interest in seeing. But if you see it, let me know if I'm just being a hard-ass. Really, you think film journals/mags would be too squeamish or something re: that piece you were interested in writing? It sounds pretty interesting in theory. ** Robert-nyc, Hi, Robert. She kind of really rules. PL, I think. Thanks about my lists. If you do yours, do tell us where. I'm glad you said hello, man. Hello! ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Well, this post today would never have been a thing of any thingness without you. I fear you've probably already read and seen the all the stuff in the post. I scoured, and I think I found everything lurking in the corners. I hope. Ooh, 'the break out' area sounds very exciting. What is it, and how it get that kind of explosive name? ** Keaton, Hard Rock nachos are peculiarly amazing. Most of the time. Sometimes they have a rushed quality about them. But I think they would die before they could be delivered. Just a guess. I think their lifespan is maybe 15 minutes. We got the Pierre Herme buche. But it will not be my final buche. I'm studying the candidates and making my decision on #2 as we speak. Ha ha, startling and awesome: your Xmas narrative, and weird too 'cos Santa is a character in the novel I'm writing. Although he behaves slightly differently in mine, ha ha. Thank you for the glory, buddy! ** Sypha, Hi. Yeah, I'll take your word for it on the Minaj album. Cool about the review! Everyone, Sypha gives his no doubt masterful opinion on the David Cronenberg novel 'Consumed' on goodreads, and you can read it. Best of luck on the long Xmas shifts. Man oh man. ** Bill, Inscrutable, me? Cool. ** Misanthrope, You forgot to put in the link, ha ha. Okay, see, while your enthusiastic writing about this basketball stuff is quite a joy to read in and of itself, you've entered territory whose foreignness glazes my eyes. Interesting mixed experience, in other words. Ultimately a very positive one. ** Okay. Today you get to see how one attempt to create a simulacrum of Xmas at its best on earth went horribly wrong. I love this kind of stuff, and I'm gambling that some of you might too. Basically. See you tomorrow.
____________ Vår In Your Arms 'It's incredible what a name change can do. For most band's it's mostly due to avoid confusion or legal problems, but other's use it to completely 180 your previous perception of them. Case in point with VÅR, formally WAR, the evil and dark synth project friends Loke and Elias (both leaders of the Polish Danish hardcore/post-hardcore scene), except now I don't know how evil they are anymore. Sure "In Your Arms (Final Fantasy)" still has the same dark and murky synths and melodic static that shaped their previous tunes, but now Elias' vocals have been ramped up in the mix, no longer just another instrument but a force within the song. There's something very beautiful in his very simplistic lyrics of just wanting to be with someone he loves, repeating the song title over and over again.'-- The Creative Intersection
____________ Marching Church Throughout the Borders 'Elias Bender Ronnenfelt already has the electronic-leaning Var, and now he’s formed the new protopunk and calamitous side-project Marching Church. The band’s new release, “Throughout The Borders,” is spooky minimal goth a la Death In June. It's a 7″ on Danish punk label Posh Isolation, which is run by Loke Rahbek who coincidentally is also in VAR. “Throughout the Borders” is a bleak and pounding neofolk tale, where fires can’t even be lit because it’s too damn cold.'-- collaged
_____________ Iceage You're Blessed live in Amsterdam 'Someone brought this noisy piece of magic to my attention yesterday, which seems to be pretty overlooked. I missed it myself on its January release this year on Dais Recs. The band is Iceage, and they’re a Danish quartet, embracing the sounds of post-punk, new wave, and noise all at once. Their latest album is New Brigade. “You’re Blessed” is easily one one of this album’s more accessible tracks. It’s fast, to the point, and it’s got a great hook as well. The band’s sloppy aesthetic catches up with them after the first hook, but it’s in a really endearing way, I promise. I love the sharp guitar tone here, too, and the vocals have just the right amount of reverb on ‘em–a little splashy, hell yeah.'-- The Needle Drop
_____________ Elias Bender Ronnenfelt dancing and singing 1 'RETARDED BOY EXPRESSING HIS FEELINGS'-- hundemad58
______________ Vår live, 22.12.12 'VÅR performing live at Human Resources in Los Angeles for the Sound & Vision Festival presented by Chondritic Sound, Sacred Bones and Ascetic House.'-- dash o
________________ Amen Dunes Lonely Richard '“Lonely Richard” feels like an ocean wave washing over you. The swirling guitars engulf you and a calculated repetition of snare-taps motion with an ebb and flow as Ice Age’s Elias Bender Ronnenfelt echoes from the distance. Ronnenfelt’s voice is a trick at times to even discern from the fuzz surrounding it, but he has a talent for molding himself to dissonance pristinely. It helps that Amen Dunes, or Damon McMahon, give him a truly serene vehicle by which to transport his lovely vocals. There is an underlying sadness to “Lonely Richard”, though. Elias illustrates a realm of half-assed friendships on the horizon and a loss of faith in love. Yet the song is at its deepest doldrums as he wails its deceptive chorus. “Have yourself a good time”, is repeated with such jarring passion it’s tough to imagine tears aren’t streaming from his eyes as this dejection is vocalized. “Lonely Richard” fades out to rumbling bass, wiry guitars and a hushed choir of “doo doo doo’s” as if to infer that even after all that previous strain: maybe a tune on your lips will allow enjoyment as this undertow sweeps you into the deep.'-- by-volume.com
___________ Iceage Morals 'Iceage have posted a new video for their song, "Morals." For the video, the band performed a new version of the song in the studio in Copenhagen. The original version of the song appears on their Matador Records debut, You're Nothing.'-- collaged
______________ Elias Bender Ronnenfelt on CHIC-A-GO-GO 'Chic-a-Go-Go is a public-access television cable television children's dance show that airs on Chicago Access Network Television (CAN-TV). The show bills itself as "Chicago's Dance Show for Kids of All Ages".'-- Wiki
______________ Pagan Youth live at Lades 'In addition to his duties and frontman of Iceage, Marching Church, and Var, Elias Ronnefelt plays drums in the abrasive hardcore Danish punk band Pagan Youth.'-- collaged
___________ Vår Pictures of Today / Victorial 'The textural disparity between Iceage and Vår — the two bands with which Elias Rønnenfelt is most immediately associated (he’s also in Marching Church) — is pretty vast: Iceage are all sharp angles and cold, hard surfaces; Vår are pillowy, cloudlike, warm, shapeless sounds contained by thin beats. Yet the two bands manage to convey similar feelings: isolation, discomfort, tension.'-- Stereogum
____________ Iceage How Many 'Only a few years removed from their air-tight post-punk debut, Iceage are now breathing deeper. After "The Lord's Favorite" and "Forever", this latest Plowing Into the Field of Love cut is the most extreme expression of Elias Bender Rønnenfelt's imagination yet. Darkness has pervaded the Iceage songbook, but when "How Many" gloriously pries itself open—ominous, lopsided instrumentals and all—one can't help but wonder what drama and desperation have been eclipsed all along. A band that was once thought to be dangerous is now more about daydreaming. "An alliance in body and mind/ Such a perfect lover I could become," Rønnenfelt sings on this could-be ballad, straining his voice over the most common of desires.'-- Jenn Pelly
______________ Cult of Youth Man and Man's Ruin 'In celebration of their tour, the band Cult of Youth is sharing the brand new video from KONKRET FILM for “Man and Man’s Ruin”. It was directed by Kristian Emdal, Loke Rahbek and Elias Bender-Rønnenfelt, and shot while the band was visiting Copenhagen in a town called Dronningmølle. The area used to be known as “The Hills of Russia” due to its bleak and hilly landscape, but over the last hundred years the area has changed in to something much more vigorous. The beautiful shots of the countryside, and ominous statues provide the perfect visual companion to this song.'-- wegetpress.com
_____________ Marching Church We Lose Them Through Our Hands 'When we described the first Marching Church tape, that came out about 2 years ago, we called it ”very strange music” - and now with his first 7” it is clear, that it is a label that still applies. The artist behind should need little introduction at this point. Elias Bender Rønnenfelt has over the last couple of years made heads turn. Marching Church is another proof why the young man has rightfully earned his reputation. He makes music that sounds like nothing else and with such a pop sensibility that it makes you feel as if you have met it somewhere before.'-- collaged
___________ Iceage Forever 'Iceage used to sound like a band unloading a dump truck’s worth of sonic sludge, with Elias Bender Rønnenfelt’s sulky moan presaging the apocalypse. But their newest album, Plowing Into the Field of Love, features something completely different: They’ve traded vodka for whiskey and embraced the joy of country twang, a better backdrop for Rønnenfelt to channel his inner Nick Cave against. "I always had the sense that I was split in two" is the Cave-ian opening lyric of "Forever", which begin with a slow, swaggering progression that quickly perorates toward a barroom brawl, Rønnenfelt’s voice growling in tortured ecstasy. "If I could dive into the other, I would lose myself forever" goes the chorus, and the tension as the band starts and stops and starts again before exploding into cacophony reminds you they’re still oh-so close to the edge.'-- Jeremy Gordon
_______________ Elias Bender Ronnenfelt dancing and singing 2 'elias bender going nuts'-- allanmallan
_______________ Marching Church The River live at Insula Records 'bruce springsteen cover wahahahaha.'-- Jasdko Sasjlas
________________ Lust for Youth Epoetin Alfa 'Minds typically go to dark, severe places when describing Lust for Youth: the blackest winters of Hannes Norrvide’s native Sweden, mental and physical prisons, Joy Division songs. It’s enough of a surprise that a guest spot from Iceage’s Elias Bender Rønnenfelt on “Epoetin Alfa” results in plangent, pinging guitars more reminiscent of Studio than his own band and ensures a sense of restraint that the ill-fated Casio just can't replicate.'-- collaged
______________ Vår First Purchase 'Vår's final, post-humous release is a moody electronic instrumental with Mssr.s Ronnefelt and Loke Rahbek wring fragile, pulsing melancholy from their synths and laptops. A sad but fitting farewell from the great, doomed musical experiment.'-- collaged
_______________ Elias Bender Ronnenfelt mah 'elias gør ting på østerbro fordi der er rart at være.'-- Alberte karrebæk
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p.s. Hey. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. They certainly don't come much sadder. It's weird, every year there's at least one of those, and usually a couple, and they're always in the UK, I wonder why. ** Susie Bright, Whoa, Susie! It's amazing of you to come in here! Hi, great one! How are you? Big respect and the merriest Xmas to you if you're into merry Xmases! Love, me. ** Dooflow, Hi, dooflow. Been too long a while. This is nice. You're collaborated with Richard! Wow, that's really, really something. He's a great artist, as you probably know that I know. That's really exciting! I'll go over and scour what you're linking us up to in just a bit. Everyone, Dooflow, an amazing word-maker, has hooked up with the extraordinary visual artist Richard Hawkins to make an incredible looking collaborative work. Dooflow says, 'Richard is calling it "Wild Boys" and they are a reaction to how tame a lot of WSB's word & Image collaborations are.' You can find it in two places, so either choose here, which is dooflow's site, or here, which is Richard Hawkins's site, or choose both, but definitely choose. Monumental. Thank you a lot, man, and, yeah, that is an extremely cool meeting of extremely cool talents right there. ** Cobaltfram, Hi. Oh, well, since the text I put together was collaged from numerous sources, it could well be me who inadvertently took liberties into the realm of the implausible. Well, it is weird, that dichotomy, although there are those who would say and do say that you don't actually need to be out in the world to have material. Being out there definitely helps though? The research thing, yeah. Obviously, it depends on what you're writing about. I like semi-informed imaginative leaping myself with some fact-checking later in the process. As a recipient of many, many a rejection slip back when I used to submit stuff to places, yeah, I agree that that little note means something very good. Things go well here. Tons and tons of constant work, but the pay-off seems to be happening. Keep me up on your Paris plans as the time approaches. ** Kier, I know. There's something so, I don't know, complicated about the appeal of that Xmas disaster and ones like it, at least if you like theme park-ish kind of things maybe. Thanks about the gif novel. I've been working in it for a while. The horror gif novellas that I was posting here for a while were an early draft of it. I don't know why, but that image of a huge vegetable order is so nice. Maybe it's all that color, or the possibility of all that color depending on the veggies, I don't know. Yesterday was another very long editing day, morning to late evening. Continuing work on Scene 4. Usually, we lay out a rough draft of a scene by laying it down in FCP according to the script and then working/ chopping/ rearranging from there, but Zac thought that because this scene is so strange and was so strangely made, we should just pull out the stuff we think is great whether it was scripted or something that happened spontaneously or even accidentally while we shooting, and build the scene from those high points . He was right, I think, because what we've pulled together so far is pretty special even if it changes everything that we intended originally. How we'll make that stuff into something whole is to be figured out, starting today. So, yeah, that was my whole day. The only other stuff that happened was little things, phone calls, emails. Oh, and Kiddiepunk's public announcement of 'ZHH'. I guess that was pretty big. How was today, and why was it how it was? ** Damien Ark, Hi. Thanks a lot, man, about my 'Sluts'. Cool, that's awesome, thank you! My favorite Elliott Smith album is one that most of the hardcore ES fans I know seem to think isn't one of his best. 'Figure 8'. I don't know why, but that gets to me the most. What's your fave? ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Whew. I was a little worried it would be old hat to you. Ah, I see about the 'break out spot'. I like imagining it, and so I am, right now. ** Steevee, Hi. Oh, right, yeah, I see. I would imagine there are leaks/ downloads of it out there somewhere though, no? I guess no surprise about the Sony security. How did you like 'Leviathan'? ** Keaton, That would make one cold, yeah, I can see that. I can't deal with convenience store nachos. That 'cheese' ... no way, even though it does kind of remotely taste like vegan cheese, which I do kind of like. Fruit cake can be fabulous? Wow. Trippy. Cool, you sorted out Emo Xmas pix. I was half-thinking of sorting them out for the blog, but you have them sorted and arranged definitely, so I'm crossing that prospect out. Everyone, be one with Xmas in the company of a bunch of boys who know what Xmas is all about. What in the world does that mean, you ask? Find out. Here's Keaton's 'A Very Hep C Christmas'! ** Statictick, Would it fail as a Halloween attraction? That's an interesting question to contemplate. Cool, thanks, about the guest-post progress and effort. You rule, duh. ** Misanthrope, There are footing videos, yes. They pop up. They're more commonly found than triple penetration videos, at least. In fact, I think I've only come across one triple-penetration video. Perhaps you've seen it. Staxus. Awkward position central, but with a certain appeal. I think basketball is a great sport. I've only ever gotten into it when the Lakers got in the semifinals. Then I start switching the TV channel to it. And I've been to a few games. I'm just not a spectator sports guy other than baseball. And a bit of soccer/football. I had an excellent coffee just yesterday at a cafe by Zac's place when we were taking an editing break/breather. It was quite delicious. But we had just eaten delicious falafels, and perhaps it was the taste combination/ sensation that I was tasting. Any great coffee in your recent history? And I mean great, not better than average. ** Sypha, Congrats on your gauntlet containing one less day. Sorry about your headache. You count your headaches? Ha ha, definitely load my gif novel up on the nooks. It won't get you arrested or anything, I think. Oh, wait, maybe you'd better not. ** MANCY, Hi, man! Thanks, glad it spread some Xmas cheer into you. I was going to say that was its intention, but, obviously, I don't know how one could imagine cheer being its intention. Sweet about you trying to get the collab. together. Breath is bated. Oh, man, that sucks about your back even if your lustrous little description of you did that made your back rebel against you had this really nice earthy, sad quality. Take care, M. ** Right. Today I'm giving a gig over to the very awesome Mr. Elias Bender Ronnenfelt, a fine artist to be very sure, and also just a heck of a great guy personally too. Please dig into his multi-talent. Thank you.
'Lukas was born on April 16, 1976 in West Hollywood, California. His Texas-born mother, Emily Tracy, is a writer, and his German-born father, Berthold Haas, is an artist. He has twin brothers, Simon and Nikolai. It's widely noted that Lukas was discovered at the age of 5 by casting director Margery Simkin while he was in kindergarten.
While his first screen role was in the 1983 nuclear holocaust film Testament (1983), it was his second appearance, in Witness (1985) opposite Harrison Ford and Kelly McGillis, that earned attention and acclaim. In Peter Weir's 1985 film, Lukas portrayed an Amish child who was the sole witness to an undercover cop's murder, and his work earned him starring roles in such films as Lady in White (1988), The Wizard of Loneliness (1988), and Alan & Naomi (1992) - the latter film co-written by his mother.
Lukas was subsequently nominated for an Emmy for his portrayal of AIDS victim, Ryan White, in the controversial TV movie, The Ryan White Story (1989). He continued to distinguish himself in film in starring roles including: Music Box (1989) with Jessica Lange and director Costa-Gavras; Convicts (1991) and Rambling Rose (1991) (both with Robert Duvall); and Boys (1996) with John C. Reilly and Winona Ryder.
On stage, in 1988, Lukas performed alongside Steve Martin and Robin Williams in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot at Lincoln Center in New York City for director Mike Nichols.
Lukas went on to work with directors Woody Allen in Everyone Says I Love You (1996), Tim Burton in Mars Attacks! (1996), and Alan Rudolph in Breakfast of Champions (1999). He had a pivotal role in Brick (2005), Rian Johnson's directorial debut with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. He next appeared in the Kurt Cobain-inspired Last Days (2005), directed by Gus Van Sant, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Roles in Material Girls (2006), slasher movie send-up The Tripper (2006), Who Loves the Sun (2006), Gardener of Eden (2007), While She Was Out (2008), and Death in Love (2008) followed.
Recently, Lukas had a supporting role in Christopher Nolan's Inception (2010) opposite Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine and Marion Cotillard. He then appeared in Red Riding Hood (2011) for director Catherine Hardwicke, and Contraband (2012), director Baltasar Kormákur's English-language remake of the movie he starred in, Reykjavik-Rotterdam (2008).
Lukas was most recently seen in Crazy Eyes (2012). He has several projects in production, including Meth Head (2013) written and directed by Jane Clark.
Also a talented musician, Lukas plays drums and piano in the band The Rogues.'--imdb
____________ Peter Weir Witness (1985) 'Samuel Lap is a young Amish boy who witnesses a murder in Philadelphia while traveling with his mother Rachel. A good cop named John Book must go with them into hiding when the killers come after them. All three retreat to Amish country and Book has to adjust to the new life style, and his feelings for the boy's mother. Of course the killers are still on their trail.'--imdb
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____________ Alan Johnson Solarbabies (1986) 'Aimed at adolescent audiences, this futuristic sci-fi actioner is set in a nearly waterless world where teens and kids live in special compounds. They amuse themselves by playing fiercely competitive games of roller hockey. The Solarbabies are one of the teams and one day they are visited by a mysterious entity that promises to help them escape and heal their desiccated world.'--Rotten Tomatoes
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______________ Frank LaLoggia Lady in White (1988) 'Locked in a school closet during Halloween 1962, young Frank witnesses the ghost of a young girl and the man who murdered her years ago. Shortly afterward he finds himself stalked by the killer and is soon drawn to an old house where a mysterious Lady In White lives. As he discovers the secret of the woman he soon finds that the killer may be someone close to him.'--imdb
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______________ John Herzfeld The Ryan White Story (1989) 'The story of Ryan White, a 13-year-old haemophiliac who contracted AIDS from factor VIII, which was used to control this disorder.'--imdb
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______________ Martha Coolidge Rambling Rose (1991) 'Rose, is taken in by the Hillyer family to serve as a 1930s housemaid so that she can avoid falling into a life of prostitution. Rose's appearence and personality is such that all men fall for her, and Rose knows it. She can't help herself from getting into trouble with men. "Daddy" Hillier soon grows tired of Rose's rambling ways.'--imdb
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________________ Stacy Cochran Boys (1996) 'Patty Vare falls off a horse and is found unconscious by prep school student John Baker. He takes her to his dorm. As he quickly discovers, she is hiding from something. For John this becomes a road to maturity and for Patty it's a way back to love and tenderness.'--imdb
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________________ Scott Silver Johns (1996) 'Johns (styled as johns) is a 1996 American drama film starring David Arquette and Lukas Haas, who portray hustlers who work Santa Monica Boulevard.'--wiki
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________________ Lloyd Kramer David and Lisa (1998) 'Lukas Haas portays David, a withdrawn but apparent near genius, who fears being touched. Brittney Murphy plays Lisa, a young woman seemingly suffering from split personalities who speaks only in rhymes and withdraws from anyone who doesn't speak to her likewise. Meeting in the psychiatric ward, the two's eyes lock and an obvious attraction is indicated.'--imdb
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________________ Marcus Adams Long Time Dead (2002) 'A young Londoner and his friends use a Ouija board to hold a seance, triggering a chain of mysterious deaths that may be caused by an otherworldly force.'--imdb
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_______________ Rian Johnson Brick (2005) 'A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.'--imdb
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_________________ Gus Van Sant Last Days (2005) 'A Seattle-set rock & roll drama about a musician whose life and career is reminiscent of Kurt Cobain's.'--imdb
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_________________ Matt Bissonnette Who Loves the Sun (2006) 'A troubled young man's sudden return after a mysterious five-year disappearance reunites him with his wife and his best friend.'--imdb
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________________ Kevin Connolly Gardener of Eden (2007) 'Young man on the wrong track suddenly finds purpose and love when he captures a serial rapist.'
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________________ Susan Montford While She Was Out (2008) 'Della Myers is an overwhelmed upper-middle-class housewife who lives in a large house in the suburbs with her twin children and her abusive husband, Kenneth.'--imdb
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________________ Christopher Nolan Inception (2010) 'A thief who steals corporate secrets through use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a CEO.'--imdb
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______________ Adam Sherman Crazy Eyes (2012) 'Zach is guy for whom the party never ends. But when he meets the girl he nicknames "Crazy Eyes," the inability to have her, combined with family matters, are signs that his idle life might be due for a change.'--imdb
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_______________ Jane Clark Meth Head (2013) 'Kyle Peoples never wanted to be the man he has become in his 30s, an accountant stuck in a dead end job, with a lover who is more successful than he and a family that doesn't get him at all. So when a night of partying leads to a new family of friends and fun, Kyle sees an opportunity for escape from reality. But Kyle's new friendship with Maia and Dusty and the trio's love of crystal meth eventually cost Kyle his job, his companion, his home and his family. Kyle's escape becomes his trap, the party is an illusion and the crystal is slowly killing him, physically and psychologically. When he finally bottoms out and is no longer the young man his father once boasted about with pride, Kyle must choose: life or meth.'--imdb
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p.s. Hey. This weekend your attention to the blog will be rewarded, crowned, funded, and you name it by the heavy loveliness of artist and d.l. supreme Kier's coverage of the divine, forever insufficiently respected young actor Lukas Haas, who's also a longterm god in my book. Should be a happy couple of days here. Please explore and luxuriate and, somewhere along the way, speak to Kier, if you will please. Thank you, and thank you eternally, Kier! ** Scunnard, Hi, J! Thanks about my yule-tide. It needed that. I've been great and working my ass off, not a dichotomous couple of things. Wow, Thrill Kill Kult. I've dared not revisit them for fear of going urgh, but, hey, I'm in a mood to have my post-conceptions overturned and my memory returned to its pre-memory glory. The film goes very well. The writing has been mostly on hold for way too long, and that's way not good, but the cause is good. Oh, sure, whenever you're ready and into it re: the manifesto thing. Sure. I'm eaten alive right now anyway. Hey, bud, yule-tide upgrade! ** Cobaltfram, Hi, John. Sure, all of that makes sense and rings bells all over the place. I don't ... think you'll need an eReader to read the gif novel. I'm not totally sure about that, but I don't think so? ** Chilly Jay Chill, Thanks, Jeff. I really like what Elias does in general, and my love for Vår is I guess well known, partly given that the title of Zac's and my film is swiped from their lyrics. Yeah, sure, awesome, about your friend wanting to pitch a gif novel story. I would be very happy and grateful, and I'm pretty sure Michael would be into it too. Yes, I read your story and adored it and propped it here, link-wise, a while back, but I'm overjoyed to try to catch any stragglers. Everyone, Jeff Jackson who slips in and out of here and other places under the code name Chilly Jay Chill, is, as you probably know, the author of one of last year's best novels, 'Mira Corpora', and a piece of that novel that he removed at some point along the way of writing it, has been set free as a short story called 'The Dying of the Deads: A Story in Three Parts', and it's really great, and I think you really want to read it if you haven't yet. Simply click this. Thank you a lot about the guest-post. I'm sorely in need these days, and, even if I weren't, that's very exciting. Thank you, thank you! ** David Ehrenstein, Glad you liked that song. I agree, it's a goodie. ** Kier, Hi, K. Yes, it's your and Lukas's weekend! The best weekend even possible, I reckon. Thank you so deeply. The place is in heaven. And your collages are here to supplement it, yes!!!! Let me go look. Hold on. Oh, wow, they're so sublime! I'll look at them and dream in a few minutes. Everyone, IMPORTANT, you simply must click this link because it'll take you to a magical place where Kier's Lukas Haas Day will become even twice or ten times greater than it already is because his Lukas Haas collages and artworks are there. Go be enhanced and amazed and everything else. Glad you liked my Elias selection. Did you watch the last one with younger Elias being a monster? I love that. My day was spent in the editing room, and we kind of really surprisingly finished the rough cut of Scene 4. It is one very strange scene, but we really like it. We ended up really reinventing it and taking out a ton of stuff we had originated scripted, and it's ended up being much simpler, in a way, and much, much weirder. I can't really detail all of that because it would take many paragraphs to explain the scene's origins and unexpected destination, but we kind of love it, but we'll see what a bit of distance and the opinions of a couple of trusted viewers will add or subtract. So, we thought we would need today to finish it, but instead we have a day off. Well, there's stuff to do, but not actual editing. That was great. Then I came home and tried catching up on the million other things I'm behind on, and I will continue to do that today while trying to sneak in some Xmas shopping I need to do. It was very good day. We're getting there. What's up with your weekend, pal? Work, off-work, fun, art, ... what? Tell me, and have an amazing two days! ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. I'm not sure if you were asking me or Scunnard, but I don't Yorkshire First. I'll use the heighten blue word to find out. I do know about the 'Westminster paedo thing'. Stewart Home has been posting a bunch of links and things about that on Facebook, so I've been following it via him. Man, if that's real and gets proven, that is really huge, no? Jesus. ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, T. Cool, enjoy Xmas time. That sounds very intense with the kids. Fuck, adults can be so insanely horrible and selfish. You're great. Yeah, enjoy your first couple of days of work-free holidaying, my friend. ** Cal Graves, Hi, Cal. Thanks, yeah, we're trying to make the film something that people's anticipation will not be let down by. All I can say is that, at least in my experience, novels-in-progress always fuck heavily with your plans and expectations numerous times along the way, so don't sweat the 'not as well' thing too much. Listen to every bit of music, like ever? Like ever written and recorded? That's a very good reason to be immortal, yeah. Wow, your question. Well, it has to be answered based on the whims built within me by this particular morning and its circumstances, so ... hm. Do I be practical, or do I indulge some personal addition or fetish? Big question there. I mean, okay, I'm going to be practical because it's that kind of morning, which means the answer is boring. Youtube. Sorry, but the option of having all those choices won out. And you? What would you choose? ** Steevee, Hm, okay, yeah. I mean, since I already hate Putin majorly and don't need further convincing, and if the film is meh other than than that, I don't see any reason to see it. ** Joshua nilles, Hi, Joshua! Wow this is cool. I haven't had the privilege in ages. Yeah, I love that album too. High five. Man, I'm obviously sorry to hear about the exhaustion and the being broke. Not a thrilling combination. Shit. But you're writing, so all is most definitely not lost. Very, very cool that I can hear you on the radio! I'll stream that thing in just the shortest of whiles. Everyone, Joshua Nilles is a super terrific writer among other terrific things, and he comes in here happily sometimes, and he came in yesterday to say hi, and before he left, he alerted me and you guys to the fact that he was just on a Portland radio program, and I think it would be cool and wise of you to listen 'cos he's awesome. Anyway, click this. His parts are at 27:00. 47:00. 58:00. I've been great and incredibly busy. I'm simultaneously co-editing a feature film I co-shot last summer and working on a new theater piece and writing and other stuff. It's all good though. Lovely to see you, man. ** Rewritedept, Hi. Well, The Berlin Film Festival has to like the film enough to accept it, and that's a future decision. First we have to finish the film.Would be awesome if they did. You can be whiny, it's fine. That shit happens to us all, and a zipped pair of lips not the cure. Sorry about Nick. He's probably just in some kid mood that has zero to do with you. I guess try to see the weird Xmas Eve gathering as a surreal performance art work in which you are a volunteer audience member? That can help. I hope your weekend surprises you and is awesome. Can totally happen, man. ** Randomwater, Hey! Good to see you! You get to have Xmas in LA. Well, actually, maybe you're not in LA. Sorry for the assumption. The gif novel comes out of the gif novellas I was posting here, They were a draft of it. It's been edited and refined and stuff since. Okay, I've got to see 'Phase IV', obviously. I'm going to get on that. Have a great Saturday, Sunday! ** Misanthrope, A footing video shouldn't be too hard to find. I don't think it's called 'footing' though. I don't think that search term will help. When I've seen it, it's always in the context of a fisting video. Maybe 'extreme fisting' video? I don't know. I like baseball enough that I can do TV, radio, in-person, updating blog news, etc. I didn't know that about them talking about enlarging the basketball court. That's very interesting. Huh. You've never had a falafel? That's crazy. Make sure it's a really good one before you try it. Ask around. Oh, man, a good falafel is fucking genius. No, never had a ... are they called cronuts? They don't think they have them here. I think 'the French' consider them intensely crass or something. I'd try one. You bet. ** gucciCODYprada, Hey! Yeah of course you can put me on resume in any way you want. My honor. No reading at all so far. I have literally been co-editing our film for 10 or 11 hours every day. But I do get some days off very soon for Xmas. That might do the trick. Big, big love to you. What are you doing for Xmas? Are still over here, or are you going back to LA? ** Done. Lukas Haas + Kier = a match made in the uppermost reaches of heaven, wherever and whatever heaven is. See you on Monday.
'Ivy Compton-Burnett is an acquired taste. A friend lent me The Present and The Past a year ago saying I had to read it. For the first couple of chapters I didn't who was who or understand what was going on. Was this even a novel? It just seemed to be a lot of dialogue in artificial archaic speech. Somewhere in the third chapter I suddenly, in a flash of revelation, 'got it'. I understood the tragi-comic 'tone' and understood that by concentrating on the subtle nuances of dialogue all the usual content/interest of a novel would become evident. There are distinct characters interacting and there is definitely plot - quite elaborate convoluted, even melodramatic, plot. But all the usual narrative devices of commentary, scene setting and transitions between scenes have been reduced, almost eliminated.
'The storytelling occurs through the dialogue. All the characters speak in a stylised formal way, even children. This dialogue has a sophisticated ironic tone that is blackly comic (it frequently makes me laugh out loud), yet explicitly expresses a tragic sense of the hopelessness and tragedy of life. The main distinction between characters is where they stand in the hierarchy of the Victorian household in which all Ivy novels seem to be set. In other words these novels are about power, guilt and complicity: the mind games and power games into which we are all locked - the Victorian household and its characters becoming universal archetypes. (It may be a far-fetched comparison but I think that in both the settings and the rigorously `minimalist' style Ivy is to literature what Japanese director Ozu is to cinema, with a similar emotional punch.)
'Because of the concentrated nature of the dialogue, reading Ivy is very intense and she is probably best read in small doses, one chapter at a sitting. But, apart from that, once you `get it' then reading Ivy becomes easy and addictive. It's not like reading Finnegans Wake. I've now read several more Ivy novels and they are all similar, though Present and Past remains my favourite. It's quite short, focused, funny and poignant. We have Cassius, a typical Ivy father/husband: part tyrant part baby. His previous wife suddenly reappears. This appeals to Cassius's narcissism. He thinks he has formed a kind of harem in which he wields absolute power. But then (a little like the infamous harem scene in Fellini's Eight and a Half) the previous wife and the present wife start to bond with each other and power begins to ebb from Cassius: his ego, his sense of self and then his very existence begin to crumble. Even the children start to deride him. And then a series of extraordinary plot twists... which you'll have to read the book to find out!'-- hj
Margaret Jourdain: We are both what our country landladies call “great readers,” and have often talked over other people’s books during this long quarter of a century between two wars, but never your books.
Ivy Compton-Burnett: It seems an omission, as I am sure we have talked of yours. So let us remedy it.
M. J.: I see that yours are a novel thing in fiction, and unlike the work of other novelists. I see that they are conversation pieces, stepping into the bounds of drama, that narrative and exposition in them are drastically reduced, that there is less scenery than in the early days of the English drama, when a placard informed the audience that the scene was “a wood near Athens,” and less description than in many stage directions. There is nothing to catch the eye, in this “country of the blind.” All your books, from Pastors and Masters, to the present-day Elders and Betters are quite unlike what Virginia Woolf called the “heavy upholstered novel.”
I. C. B.: I do not see why exposition and description are a necessary part of a novel. They are not of a play, and both deal with imaginary human beings and their lives. I have been told that I ought to write plays, but cannot see myself making the transition. I read plays with especial pleasure, and in reading novels I am disappointed if a scene is carried through in the voice of the author rather than the voices of the characters. I think that I simply follow my natural bent. But I hardly think that “country of the blind” is quite the right description of my scene.
M. J.: I should like to ask you one or two questions; partly my own and partly what several friends have asked. There is time enough and to spare in Lyme Regis, which is a town well-known to novelists. Jane Austen was here, and Miss Mitford.
I. C. B.: And now we are here, though our presence does not seem to be equally felt. No notice marks our lodging. And we also differ from Jane Austen and Miss Mitford in being birds of passage, fleeing from bombs. I have a feeling that they would both have fled, and felt it proper to do so, and wish that we could really feel it equally proper.
M. J.: I have heard your dialogue criticised as “highly artificial” or stylised. One reviewer, I remember, said that it was impossible to “conceive of any human being giving tongue to every emotion, foible and reason with the precision, clarity and wit possessed by all Miss Compton-Burnett’s characters, be they parlourmaids, children, parents or spinster aunts.” It seems odd to object to precision, clarity and wit, and the same objection would lie against the dialogue of Congreve and Sheridan.
I. C. B.: I think that my writing does not seem to me as “stylised” as it apparently is, though I do not attempt to make my characters use the words of actual life. I cannot tell you why I write as I do, as I do not know. I have even tried not to do it, but find myself falling back into my own way. It seems to me that the servants in my books talk quite differently from the educated people, and the children from the adults, but the difference may remain in my own mind and not be conveyed to the reader. I think people’s style, like the way they speak and move, comes from themselves and cannot be explained. I am not saying that they necessarily admire it, though naturally they turn on it a lenient eye.
M. J.: The word “stylised,” which according to the New English Dictionary means “conforming to the rules of a conventional style” has been used in reviewing your books, but the dialogue is often very close to real speech, and not “artificial” or “stylised.” It is, however, sometimes interrupted by formal speech. Take Lucia Sullivan’s explanation of her grandfather’s reluctance to enter his son’s sitting room without an invitation. “It is the intangibility of the distinction (she says) that gives it its point.” Lucia Sullivan is a girl of twenty-four, not especially formal at other times.
I. C. B.: I cannot tell why my people talk sometimes according to conventional style, and sometimes in the manner of real speech, if this is the case. It is simply the result of an effort to give the impression I want to give.
I should not have thought that Lucia Sullivan’s speech was particularly formal. The long word near the beginning is the word that gives her meaning; and surely a girl of twenty-four is enough of a woman to have a normal command of words.
M. J.: Reviewers lean to comparisons. Some have suggested a likeness between your work and Jane Austen’s. Mr. Edwin Muir, however, thinks it is “much nearer the Elizabethan drama of horror”—I can’t think why.
I. C. B.: I should not have thought that authors often recognised influences. They tend to think, and to like to think, that they are not unduly indebted to their predecessors. But I have read Jane Austen so much, and with such enjoyment and admiration, that I may have absorbed things from her unconsciously. I do not think myself that my books have any real likeness to hers. I think that there is possibly some likeness between our minds.
The same might apply in a measure to the Elizabethan dramatists, though I don’t think I have read these more than most people have.
M. J:. Mr. Muir in an earlier review says that you remind him of Congreve—a formidable list, Congreve, Jane Austen, Henry James and the Elizabethan dramatists—and the odd thing is that they are all disparate.
I. C. B.: The only explanation I can give, is that people who practise the same art are likely to have some characteristics in common. I have noticed such resemblance between writers the most widely separated, in merit, kind and time.
M. J.: I see one point of contact between your novels and Jane Austen’s. She keeps her eye fixed upon the small circuit of country gentlefolk who seem to have little to do but pay calls, take walks, talk, and dine, in fact—the comfortable classes; she does not include people in what Austen Leigh calls “a position of poverty and obscurity, as this, though not necessarily connected with vulgarity, has a sad tendency to degenerate into it.”
I. C. B.: I feel that I do not know the people outside my own world well enough to deal with them. I had no idea that my characters did nothing but call, walk, talk and dine, though I am glad you do not say that they only talk. Their professions and occupations are indicated, but I am concerned with their personal lives; and following them into their professional world would lead to the alternations between two spheres, that I think is a mistake in books. I always regret it in the great Victorian novelists, though it would be hard to avoid it in books on a large scale. And my characters have their own poverty and obscurity, though of course it is only their own.
I feel I have a knowledge of servants in so far as they take a part in the world they serve. This may mean that the knowledge is superficial, as I have often thought it in other people’s books.
The people in between seem to me unrelated to anything I know. When I talk to tradespeople, their thoughts and reactions seem to have their background in a dark world, though their material lives may not differ greatly from my own.
M. J.: I don’t see any influence of the “Elizabethan drama of horror,” nor much of Jane Austen. I think there is something of Henry James. What about the suggestion that the Russian novelists affected you—not Tolstoy of course, but Tchekov or Dostoievsky. Dostoievsky’s method, “a mad jumble that flings things down in a heap,” isn’t yours. And how about the Greek dramatists?
I. C. B.: I am not a great reader of Henry James, though I have seen it suggested that I am his disciple. I don’t mean that I have any objection to the character, except in so far as it is a human instinct to object to being a disciple, but I hardly think I have read him enough to show his influence. I enjoy him less than many other writers. He does not reveal as much as I should like of the relations of his characters with each other. And I am surprised if my style is as intricate as his. I should have thought it was only rather condensed. If it is, I sympathise with the people who cannot read my books. The Russian novels I read with a sense of being in a daze, of seeing their action take place in a sort of half-light, as though there was an obscurity between my mind and theirs, and only part of the meaning conveyed to a Russian came through to me. I always wonder if people, who think they see the whole meaning, have any conception of it. So I am probably hardly influenced by the Russians. But, as I have said before, I think that people who follow the same art, however different their levels, are likely to have some of the same attributes, and that it is possibly these that lead them to a similar end. The Greek dramatists I read as a girl, as I was classically educated, and read them with the attention to each line necessitated by the state of my scholarship; and it is difficult to say how much soaked in, but I should think very likely something. I have not read them for many years—another result of the state of my scholarship.
M. J.: There is little attention given to external things and almost no descriptive writing in your novels, and that is a breach with tradition. Even Jane Austen has an aside about the “worth” of Lyme, Charmouth and Pinhay, “with its green chasms between romantic rocks.” And there is much more description in later novels, such as Thomas Hardy’s. In The Return of the Native, the great Egdon Heath has to be reckoned with as a protagonist. Now you cut out all of this. The Gavestons’ house in A Family and a Fortune is spoken of as old and beautiful, but its date and style are not mentioned.
I. C. B.: I should have thought that my actual characters were described enough to help people to imagine them. However detailed such description is, I am sure that everyone forms his own conceptions, that are different from everyone else’s, including the author’s. As regards such things as landscape and scenery, I never feel inclined to describe them; indeed I tend to miss such writing out, when I am reading, which may be a sign that I am not fitted for it. I make an exception of Thomas Hardy, but surely his presentation of natural features almost as characters puts him on a plane of his own, and almost carries the thing described into the human world. In the case of Jane Austen, I hurry through her words about Lyme and its surroundings, in order to return to her people.
It might be better to give more account of people’s homes and intimate background, but I hardly see why the date and style of the Gavestons’ house should be given, as I did not think of them as giving their attention to it, and as a house of a different date and style would have done for them equally well. It would be something to them that it was old and beautiful, but it would be enough.
M. J.: I see a reviewer says that Elders and Betters—which has the destruction of a will by one character (Anna Donne) who afterwards drives another to suicide—has “a milder and less criminal flavour than most of its predecessors.” There is a high incidence of murder in some of your novels, which is really not common among the “comfortable classes.” I remember, however, talking of the rarity of murders with a lawyer’s daughter, who said that her father asserted that murders within their class were not so rare. He used to call them “Mayfair murders.”
I. C. B.: I never see why murder and perversion of justice are not normal subjects for a plot, or why they are particularly Elizabethan or Victorian, as some reviewers seem to think. But I think it is better for a novel to have a plot. Otherwise it has no shape, and incidents that have no part in a formal whole seem to have less significance. I always wish that Katherine Mansfield’s At the Bay was cast in a formal mould. And a plot gives rise to secondary scenes, that bring out personality and give scope for revealing character. If the plot were taken out of a book, a good deal of what may seem unconnected with it, would have to go. A plot is like the bones of a person, not interesting like expression or signs of experience, but the support of the whole.
M. J.: At the Bay breaks off rather than comes to its full stop. A novel without a plot sags like a tent with a broken pole. Your last book had a very generous amount of review space; and most of the reviews were intelligent. Elizabeth Bowen found a phrase for one of your characteristics; “a sinister cosiness,” but the Queen tells one that “if one perseveres with the conversations (evidently an obstacle), a domestic chronicle of the quieter sort emerges.” How do you think reviews have affected you and your work?
I. C. B.: It is said that writers never read reviews, but in this case it is hard to see how the press-cutting agencies can flourish and increase their charge. I think that writers not only read reviews, but are subject to an urge to do so. George Henry Lewes is supposed to have hidden George Eliot’s disparaging reviews, in case she should see them; and if he wished to prevent her doing so, I think it was a wise precaution. I think that reviews have a considerable effect upon writers. Of course I am talking of reviews that count, by people whose words have a meaning. I remember my first encouraging notices with gratitude to their authors. Much of the pleasure of making a book would go, if it held nothing to be shared by other people. I would write for a few dozen people; and it sometimes seems that I do so; but I would not write for no one.
I think the effect of reviews upon a writer’s actual work is less. A writer is too happy in praise to do anything but accept it. Blame he would reject, if he could; but if he cannot, I think he generally knew of his guilt, and could not remedy matters. I have nearly always found this the case myself.
Letters from readers must come under the head of reviews, and have the advantage that their writers are under no compulsion to mention what they do not admire. I have only had one correspondent who broke this rule, and what he did not admire was the whole book. He stated that he could see nothing in it, and had moreover found it too concentrated to read. Someone said that I must have liked this letter the most of all I had had, but I believe I liked it the least.
Some writers have so many letters that they find them a burden. They make me feel ashamed of having so few, and inclined to think that people should write to me more.
___ Book
Ivy Compton-Burnett The Present and the Past University of California Press
'Cassius Clare is the father of five children; two by his first wife from whom he is divorced, and three by his second wife who conscientiously tries to be a mother to all five. The first Ms. Clare implores Cassius to let her visit her children. At first flattered by the suggestion of a harem implicit in the situation, then maliciously foreseeing the predicament which is likely to arise, he consents. To his dismay, the tactless return of the first Mrs. Clare results in an intimate friendship between the two women who have shared this singularly unlovable husband; neither pays any heed to him.'-- copy
_____ Excerpt
“Oh, dear, oh, dear!” said Henry Clare.
His sister glanced in his direction.
“They are pecking the sick one. They are angry because it is ill.”
“Perhaps it is because they are anxious,” said Megan, looking at the hens in the hope of discerning this feeling.
“It will soon be dead,” said Henry, sitting on a log with his hands on his knees. “It must be having death-pangs now.”
Another member of the family was giving his attention to the fowls. He was earnestly thrusting cake through the wire for their entertainment. When he dropped a piece he picked it up and put it into his own mouth, as though it had been rendered unfit for poultry’s consumption. His elders appeared to view his attitude either in indifference or sympathy.
“What are death-pangs like?” said Henry, in another tone.
“I don’t know,” said his sister, keeping her eyes from the sufferer of them. “And I don’t think the hen is having them. It seems not to know anything.”
Henry was a tall, solid boy of eight, with rough, dark hair, pale, wide eyes, formless, infantine features, and something vulnerable about him that seemed inconsistent with himself. His sister, a year younger and smaller for her age, had narrower, deeper eyes, a regular, oval face, sudden, nervous movements, and something resistant in her that was again at variance with what was beneath.
Tobias at three had small, dark, busy eyes, a fluffy, colourless head, a face that changed with the weeks and evinced an uncertain charm, and a withdrawn expression consistent with his absorption in his own interests. He was still pushing crumbs through the wire when his shoulder was grasped by a hand above him.
“Wasting your cake on the hens! You know you were to eat it yourself.”
Toby continued his task as though unaware of interruption.
“Couldn’t one of you others have stopped him?”
The latter also seemed unaware of any break.
“Don’t do that,” said the nursemaid, seizing Toby’s arm so that he dropped the cake. “Didn’t you hear me speak?”
Toby still seemed not to do so. He retrieved the cake, took a bite himself and resumed his work.
“Don’t eat it now,” said Eliza. “Give it all to the hens.”
Toby followed the injunction, and she waited until the cake was gone.
“Now if I give you another piece, will you eat it?”
“Can we have another piece too?” said the other children, appearing to notice her for the first time.
She distributed the cake, and Toby turned to the wire, but when she pulled him away, stood eating contentedly.
“Soon be better now,” he said, with reference to the hen and his dealings with it.
“It didn’t get any cake,” said Henry. “The others had it all. They took it and then pecked the sick one. Oh, dear, oh, dear!”
“He did get some,” said Toby, looking from face to face for reassurance. “Toby gave it to him.”
He turned to inspect the position, which was now that the hens, no longer competing for crumbs, had transferred their activity to their disabled companion.
“Pecking him!” said Toby, moving from foot to foot. “Pecking him when he is ill! Fetch William. Fetch him.”
A pleasant, middle-aged man, known as the head gardener by virtue of his once having had subordinates, entered the run and transferred the hen to a separate coop.
“That is better, sir.”
“Call Toby ‘sir’,” said the latter, smiling to himself.
“She will be by herself now.”
“Sir,” supplied Toby.
“Will it get well?” said Henry. “I can’t say, sir.”
“Henry and Toby both ‘sir’,” said Toby. “Megan too.”
“No, I am not,” said his sister.
“Poor Megan, not ‘sir’!” said Toby, sadly.
“The last hen that was ill was put in a coop to die,” said Henry, resuming his seat and the mood it seemed to engender in him.
“Well, it died after it was there,” said Megan.
“That is better, miss,” said William.
“Miss,” said Toby, in a quiet, complex tone.
“They go away alone to die,” said Henry. “All birds do that, and a hen is a bird. But it can’t when it is shut in a coop. It can’t act according to its nature.”
“Perhaps it ought not to do a thing that ends in dying,” said Megan.
“Something in that, miss,” said William.
“Why do you stay by the fowls,” said Eliza, “when there is the garden for you to play in?”
“We are only allowed to play in part of it,” said Henry, as though giving an explanation.
“Oh, dear, oh, dear!” said Eliza, in perfunctory mimicry.
“William forgot to let out the hens,” said Megan, “and Toby would not leave them.”
Toby tried to propel some cake to the hen in the coop, failed and stood absorbed in the scramble of the others for it.
“All want one little crumb. Poor hens!”
“What did I tell you?” said Eliza, again grasping his arm.
He pulled it away and openly applied himself to inserting cake between the wires.
“Toby not eat it now,” he said in a dutiful tone.
“A good thing he does not have all his meals here,” said William.
“There is trouble wherever he has them,” said Eliza. “And the end is waste.”
The sick hen roused to life and flung itself against the coop in a frenzy to join the feast.
“It will kill itself,” said Henry. “No one will let it out.”
William did so and the hen rushed forth, cast itself into the fray, staggered and fell.
“It is dead,” said Henry, almost before this was the case.
“Poor hen fall down,” said Toby, in the tone of one who knew the experience. “But soon be well again.”
“Not in this world,” said William.
“Sir,” said Toby, to himself. “No, miss.”
“It won’t go to another world,” said Henry. “It was ill and pecked in this one, and it won’t have any other.”
“It was only pecked on its last day,” said Megan. “And everything is ill before it dies.”
“The last thing it felt was hunger, and that was not satisfied.”
“It did not know it would not be. It thought it would.”
“It did that, miss,” said William. “And it was dead before it knew.”
“There was no water in the coop,” said Henry, “and sick things are parched with thirst.”
“Walking on him,” said Toby, in a dubious tone.
“Eliza, the hens are walking on the dead one!” said Megan, in a voice that betrayed her.
“It is in their way, miss,” said William, giving a full account of the position.
Megan looked away from the hens, and Henry stood with his eyes on them. Toby let the matter leave his mind, or found that it did so.
“Now what is all this?” said another voice, as the head nurse appeared on the scene, and was led by some instinct to turn her eyes at once on Megan. “What is the matter with you all?”
“One of the hens has died,” said Eliza, in rapid summary. “Toby has given them his cake and hardly taken a mouthful. The other hens walked on the dead one and upset Miss Megan. Master Henry has one of his moods.”
Megan turned aside with a covert glance at William.
“Seeing the truth about things isn’t a mood,” said Henry.
*
p.s. Hey. ** L@rstonovich, Hey, Larsty! Lots of love back to you, my pal! ** Kier, Hi! Anything other than the coveted slot would have been like ... I don't know, like when people build huge Mcmansions on tiny little lots. The neighborhood where I grew up has been crammed with them. That was a bad comparison. My brain is not very awake today even after 3 cups of strong coffee, it's weird. I remember you talking about Iggy! That's very cool. Xmas is good for something. Chevy's! Yeah, very weird not weird place. I'm sorry about the invasive, weird questions from your friend's brother. Ugh. It's so very strange how hard it is for some people to get their heads around trans. Or I guess I mean around the idea that it could be a deep and fundamental thing. So much so sometimes that they'll talk out loud as though they're taking silently to themselves. So strange. Just remember, and I imagine you do, that it was almost for sure just a weakness and failure within his ability to conceptualize others without his concepts being infected and derailed by his own naivety and biases, and, as importantly, by his fear of examining himself. Uh, ... I told you I wasn't quite awake yet. But, yeah, something like that? It's strange that something that's personal and essential to you, something that's yours and not anyone else's, would make you a pioneer, an unknown, an example, a threat, etc. to other people, but humans can be so spooked about the unknown. Sorry, pal. My weekend ... Uh, hm, Saturday I began to try to catch up on non-film things, but there are so many of those things, and I got kind of intimidated, but I did do some stuff. Mostly at home. I went out a bought some Xmas pastries. On Sunday, Gisele, Zac, and I went to see the year-end presentations by the students of the Paris Opera Ballet School, which I think is maybe supposed to be the best or one of the best ballet schools in the world? There were two sessions, one in the morning featuring the older, soon to graduate students, and one in the afternoon featuring the really young students. That one was the coolest of the two, of course. Basically, the students show off their skills in groups according to the grade/class they're in onstage while their teachers direct and correct them in front a big audience. Then they all gather together and do a show -- dancing, singing, miming, etc. We went for fun but mostly because the feature film that Zac and I are writing for Gisele to direct next year has a character in it who was in the Paris Opera Ballet School and got kicked out and who is deeply traumatized by his time at the school. After the show, I went with Zac to pick up a Buche that he was going to eat with his family later that night. This one. Then he headed off, and, since he left for the States this morning for his Xmas holidays, we said our temporary goodbyes, which was sad, of course. Then I came home and ate and did not much. Now it's today. What did you do? Love, me. ** Scunnard, Hi. I did, and now I am overflowing. It feels good, and I'm forever indebted. Yeah, ever since you suggested TTK as a viable revisit, my mind has been spiked by a seemingly plausible memory of what that tasted like. That being before that got wussied out by 'Sex on Wheels'. I think I'm ready to whirl around them again, iow. Wish me luck. My schedule might level out in January at some point. I'll remember to convey that. Thanks, man. ** David Ehrenstein, LH in 'Mars Attacks!' is sublime. Ever since Charlotte Rampling became a vocal, very public supporter of Sarkozy in the last two elections here, I try to overcome the sourness that that reveal invested in her work, but I haven't made the transition yet. ** Dom Lyne, Hi, Dom. It's weird how soon Xmas is. So far so good. I hope your mum does Xmas 'with all the fixins', as my mum used to say. ** gucciCODYprada, Hi, C-ster! So you're staying over here. Well, not here. I don't know why I automatically think of where you are and where I am as being the same relative place. Must be some horrible, lingering, unconcious America-centrism shit. Cool possible traveling plans, obviously! Nepal, wow. Well, Thailand, wow too. That job thing is really interesting, obviously as well. So, if you get an 'in' at one of those levels, you could and would be able to do it from outside the US? If I hear of any writing gigs, I'll let you know. I'm kind out of the writing gigs loop, though. I'm all about film and animated gifs now. Not really. Superb about your new novel's progress! I'm really envious. Mine has been backburnered for fucking forever, although I hope to get drowned in it again next month. Have a great, great Xmas! ** Joshua nilles, Oh, that's good. You were talking with Bleach Sloth, cool. Man, talk about a fucking saint of supportiveness. That guy is just amazing and invaluable. Is vegetarianism sitting well with you this time? I swear by it, as you know. I like that title 'Mercantile North'. It sounds really, I don't know, solid and big or something. Cool, man, thank you a lot for filling me in. You sound really, really good. ** James, Hi, J. I am both staying busy and staying out of trouble. Trouble may find me, but I'm not chasing it. Much love back. ** Steevee, Great, I've been looking forward that review. I'll check it today. Everyone, eminent Steevee has weighed in critically on PTA's film adaptation of Pynchon's 'Inherent Vice' for the world's (including your) delectation @ Indiewire right here. ** Cal Graves, Aw, thanks, for choosing my blog. Does that I mean I get to be immortal by default? Immortality is one of my dreams. Wow, what a question. You mean a new body part permanently as opposed to only for the length of time I would need it there to accomplish some wish I could otherwise not? I think you mean permanent, right? That's hard. I think I wouldn't want anything permanently. Everything my imagination tries out makes me feel like I would feel and look like a freak. Wow, you stumped me with that one, but maybe my imagination is locked into the wrong way of thinking about it? Tell me what you would choose. Maybe that will help. ** Bill, Mystically good luck with the grading. ** _Black_Acrylic, Wow, that's tremendous news, Ben! Cool! ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. I saw the email, thanks. I should be able to get to it today. Thank you so much! We finished the edit of Scene 4 on Friday, and Zac will be away on holiday starting today, so this weekend was editing-free. The producers say they are happy with what they've seen thus far. Scene 4 is a very weird one, and they'll see it for the first time today, so that'll be a test. I didn't know about the Henson book. Henson books are few and far between. I'll look for it, for sure. ** Misanthrope, Hi. Oh, okay. Taller baskets. Yeah, makes sense. I'll see if there's some place in Paris that has cronuts. Some American-owned place maybe. Yum. Wow, change your FB password to something psychotic. ** Rewritedept, Hi. See, re: Nick, makes sense. Fingers crossed on the Berlin Festival, yeah. My weekend was pretty good, yeah, thanks. Glad yours was too. I got the link. I haven't had a chance to listen yet. I will, of course, and I'll be hoardy with the link, of course. Well, all the scenes in our film are rough cuts, so they all need to be completed. We have one last scene that isn't even edited at all yet, so that'll be the next task when Zac gets back from the US. My favorite cheese is a boring one: Swiss. Can't help it. It's the cheese that most excites me. What's yours? ** Right. Today I get to give one of my very, very, very favorite novels of all time its very first spotlight on my very own blog, so I'm very happy. Are you happy? IC-B is very great writer, and this novel is my pick her for very best. See you tomorrow.
'The opposition between hearing and staring finds its strange union with the diamond stylus, a diamond above all that writes out sound as well as reflects light.'-- Duncan Smith, The Age of Oil
'Paul DeMarinis, a pioneer of early electronic, interactive art, teaches in Stanford’s art department. He recently received the prestigious Ars Electronica Golden Nica award for his piece The Messenger. An elaborate visualization of incoming e-mail, The Messenger is based on 18th century physician Francesc Silva’s telegraph system in which 26 servants, each assigned a letter of the alphabet, would reconstruct messages from afar by announcing their letter when they received an electric shock.
'DeMarinis’s art studio sits on the western edge of Stanford’s campus, where the trees aren’t manicured. Just up the road, Eadweard Muybridge created one of the first motion-picture capture systems at the turn of the 20th century while helping Leland Stanford settle a bet on whether horses, when galloping, ever lift all four hooves simultaneously (they do).
'Following the example Muybridge set a century ago, DeMarinis constructs machines that reveal normally unseen physical forces at play. In his pieces, flames become loudspeakers resonating with the voices of dictators (Firebirds, 2004); gum wrappers act as capacitors for radio tuners (Four Foxhole Radios, 2000); and music is encoded into streams of water, playing when the water hits an umbrella (RainDance/Music Acuatica, 1998). Calling a flame a loudspeaker isn’t to speak metaphorically, by the way. The flames really do emit sound, achieved via jets of flaming propane that are electromagnetically modulated by relative fluctuations between charged diodes.
'So much for the magic act; how did he make the leap from flame to sound in the first place? “In the case of Firebirds...it was really a happenstance occurrence. I was sitting around [a fire with friends] in 1975...and there was a pause in the conversation and we heard, coming out of a jet of gas in the log, the end of a pop song and the beginning of an announcer’s voice. It was AM radio coming out of this little gas jet. It was just one of the strangest things. We looked at each other...and we said, ‘wow, that’s a treasure,’” he recalls, laughing.
'One of the first artists to incorporate computers into his works, he is keen also to exhume abandoned technologies of the past. DeMarinis’s clever reinterpretation of lost technologies adds an air of magic to physical phenomena.
'“There’s the famous dictum of Arthur C. Clarke that if we encountered a civilization only moderately advanced beyond our own technologically, that everything they did would seem like magic .... I think you can work that in reverse too; if you encounter one of these technologies that’s old by only a few decades, people often perceive those things as magical: ‘How can sound come out of a fire?’ Because it’s never been marketed.”'-- Ambidextrous Magazine
_____ 5 works
______ Dust (2009) 'Images of the faces of missing children are projected piecemeal onto a surface covered with phosphorescent pigment powder. The image accumulates and the trace of faces is left behind as a green glow. Low frequency sounds vibrate the powder, transforming the image into abstract patterns of sound waves.
'Everybody collects something. In 1987 I started collecting missing children flyers.
'I don’t know whether it is just a local phenomenon, but in San Francisco there are mail advertisements featuring local automobile brake and clutch repair joints on one side, and on the other, images, usually a pair of images, of a child who has gone missing. The image on the left is a picture of the child at the time of disappearance, the image on the right is either an age-progression by an artist of what the child might look like now (often decades later) or a picture of the abductor, most frequently one of the child’s parents. Sometimes there is no picture on the right — probably the most worrisome case.
'These cards are usually the first item of junk mail to throw out, but it was not contrariness that made me start collecting them. Rather, a project beckoned: I was immediately struck by the likeness between the two images — the child and the age-progressed child, or the child and the parent. The project would have been kinetic, media-archaeological, probably inspired by Christian Boltanski’s work from that period. Suffice it to say, some inner editor nixed the realization of that one. But I continue, to this day, to collect these most worthless items of junk mail, even as my own horizon of what constitutes surplus information has expanded.
'Dust presents a fragment of this collection of likeness-pairs, scanned sequentially into the light-memory of phosphorescent powder. After a few minutes of exposure to the projected image, the powder retains a faint green image of the two faces on its surface, something akin to the »latent image« of photographic film or the veil of memory. Unlike photographic film, though, the image starts to distort. Propelled by low frequency sound vibrations, the powder starts to flow and dance, first distorting the faces and erasing their likeness, then distorting them into patterns* of abstract light in motion, with form and beauty all its own.
'*These abstract patterns are known as »Chladni« patterns after the late 18th c. German physicist of that name. They were the first observed and studied images of sound, and their discovery attracted much attention, promising insight into the nature of vibration. Napoleon, the emperor of France, offered a prize to anyone who could rigorously explain the relationship between the visual patterns and the sound. The prize was claimed in the end, by the mathematician Sophie Germain, who determined that the patterns are in fact a consequence of the shape and material of the vibrating surface, rather than the frequency or spectral characteristics of the sound.'-- Paul DeMarinis
_________ RainDance (2010) 'In 1837 the physicist Félix Savart observed that sound vibrations can affect the visual appearance of a jet of water. Subsequent studies determined that the patterns of fluctuations caused by the sound actually reproduce certain aspects of the sound if they fall on a drum.
'RainDance builds on this phenomenon of physics to create an interactive and literally immersive sound environment where people can explore “musical” streams of water with umbrellas.
'Water is passed through specially designed “modulation nozzles” that impose the vibrations of audio frequencies onto the stream of droplets. For example, 440 vibrations per second results in a stream of 440 water droplets emitted from the nozzle per second. When these droplets fall on a resonant surface such as an umbrella, the tone of A above middle C is reproduced.
'In this way various familiar melodies can be reproduced. With different streams, multiple-part harmonies or mixtures of disparate materials can be generated.'-- Soundart.zkm.de
_________ pneuma (2010) 'Paul DeMarinis'pneuma featured speakers whose cones would rise and fall in sync while playing the sound of an individual (different for each speaker) sleeping and dust would project images onto phosphorescent powder (in a darkened room) that would then remain when the light source was removed...then subjected to low frequency tones causing them to distort, eventually becoming changed like a shaken etch-a-sketch, but actually forming patterns of "abstract light in motion"...a thoughtful meditation on impermanence, even in a way, mortality.'-- Jeff Kaiser
___________ The Messenger (1998) 'In The Messenger, email messages received over the internet are displayed letter by letter on three alphabetic telegraph receivers: a large array of 26 talking washbasins, each intoning a letter of the alphabet in Spanish; a chorus line of 26 dancing skeletons and a series of 26 electrolytic jars with metal electrodes in the form of the letters A to Z that oscillate and bubble when electricity is passed through them.'-- turbulence.org
'The Messenger is an internet-driven installation based on early proposals for the electrical telegraph, in particular those made by the Catalan scientist Francisco Salvo. As in many of my works I examine the metaphors encoded within technology, especially lost or orphaned technologies and try to trace their origins, speculating on the way that mechanisms are the repositories of larger unspoken conceptions and dreams. In The Messenger I take the telegraph as a point of departure from which to examine the relationship between electricity and democracy, and how electrical telecommunication technologies have participated in our solidarity and in our isolation, in our equality and our oppression, in the richness of our experience and the uncertainty of our lives.'-- Paul DeMarinis
______________ The Edison Effect 'A series of interactive sculptures that play ancient phonograph records with laser beams. The reflections of light from the walls of the groove carry the audio information to photoelectric devices where it is translated first into an electrical signal, then into sound by a loudspeaker. The resultant sounds range from recognizable to distorted, something like a distant shortwave radio or a haunting bit of a melody just barely remembered. The arrangment of optics, motors and light allow random access to the grooves of the records, permitting distortion, dis-arrangement and de-composition of the musical material.
'Each Edison Effect player is a meditation on some aspect of the relations among music, memory and the passage of time. Our sense of time, memory, and belonging have all been changed by the exact repetition implicit in mechanical recording. The needle in the groove, no less than the needle in the vein, is one symbolic emblem on our quixotic quest for the perfect moment of fulfillment. Re-played here, without needles, the record becomes what it really is: a holographic object, a simultaneous smorgasbord to be consumed in the order and taste we see fit. The raw and raucous noises of the record surface commingle with the sounds inscribed in the groove, creating a havoc of misinterpreted intentions and benign accidents.
'The phonograph and the photograph have a coeval history of influence and development. The Edison Effect players demonstrate the photographic nature of acoustic recordings. These pinhole ( or needlepoint ? ) pictures of sounds long vanished project the shadows of sounds. Holograms, gamma rays, goldfish and cunieform serve to emphasize the parallel narrative of the mechanization of image and sonic inscription.'-- Paul DeMarinis
________________ The Edison Effect: Individual works ____________ 'Al & Mary Do the Waltz' 'A turn-of-the-century Edison wax cylinder of Strauss'"Blue Danube Waltz" is turned on a paint roller rotated by a motor and rubber band. A laser beam is focused on the groove of the cylinder and its reflections are translated into sound. The laser beam passes through a bowl of goldfish who occasionally interrupt the beam to produce uncomposed musical pauses.'-- PDM
____________ 'Dinner at Ernies'
____________ 'Ich auch Berlin(er)' 'A tribute to the Berlin(er) brothers, Emil, Irving, and John Fitzgerald. A gelatin dichromate hologram of a 78 rpm record of the "Beer Barrel Polka" is rotated on a transparent turntable and played by a green laser. Once I realized that only light reflections were needed to make the recorded grooves audible, it became apparent that a hologram (the memory of light reflecting from a surface) would suffice to play music. Here, sans needle, sans groove, the band plays on.'-- PDM
_____________ 'Lecture of Comrade Stalin'
_____________ 'Fragments from Jericho' 'An authentic recreation of what is probably the world's most ancient audio recording. A clay cylinder inscribed (by intention or accident?) with voices from the past. By gently turning a large black knob, you can direct the laser beam across the surface of the turning clay vessel to eavesdrop on vibrations from another age.'-- PDM
______________ 'Fireflies Alight on the Abacus of Al-Farabi'
_____________ 'Un-raveled Melody' 'Mechanical recording exerted its effects upon music composition by coercing preexisting rondo forms into ever tighter spirals. A hologram of Ravel's ""Bolero" cycles forever, as the laser beam weaves its path along the dance floor.'-- PDM
_____________ 'Murder by Television'
_____________ 'Rhondo in Blew a la Cold Turkey' 'A 78 of "Rhapsody in Blue" is erratically scanned by a laser beam emitting from a hypodermic syringe. We may contemplate the addictive act of record listening as Oscar Levant plays himself playing Gershwin in another tired remake of "An American [Junkie] in Paris".'-- PDM
____ Lecture
Essay in lieu of a Sonata Paul DeMarinis
My title "The Edison Effect" has multiple references. It refers first to the profound and irreversible effect the invention of sound recording has had upon music, the soundscape, upon the time and place of our memory and sense of belonging. It should also call to mind Thomas Alva Edison's illicit claim to the invention of the light bulb, and his general propensity for copying and appropriation as an emblem of the inherently uncertain authorship of all recorded works. Finally, it invokes a metaphorical allusion to the physical phenomenon known as the "Edison Effect" wherein atoms from a glowing filament are deposited on the inner surface of light bulbs causing them to darken. It was this phenomenon of thermionic emission that, when understood, made possible the invention of the "audion" or vacuum tube. This, in turn, led to the development of sound amplification as well as radio, television and the earliest digital computers. The metaphorical image of the darkening of the light is an ancient one, recurring in the I-Ching, in Mazdaism, and in Shakespeare's oxymoronic "when night's candles have burnt out". Enantiodromic reversal at the atomic level can be used to symbolize opposing primal forces and may serve to mythicize otherwise commonplace occurrences.
Edison's name and face are synonymous with invention, brilliance and technological innovation. As the modern Prometheus, he lured millions toward the light. The light bulb, commonly believed to be his consummate invention, still stands as an iconic exclamation of ideas, innovation - the stroke of genius.1 The discovery of a potentially fatal flaw inherent in the invention - that the light-producing bulbs would themselves darken, causing them to cast shadows rather than light - was perceived by Edison to be a potential bug, a stain upon his brilliant reputation. To compound the paradox with irony, this is the only bona fide scientific phenomenon which bears the inventor's name. Whereas other nineteenth century colossi, such as Tesla, Ampere or Volta had basic units of measure or even third world nations named after them, Edison, universally resented by the scientific community and deemed by them a charlatan and promoter, was grudgingly awarded only this obscure and obscuring "effect" to immortalize his name.
It is often the case that a new medium's first major flaw or contradiction is destined to become its dominant metaphor. The disembodying upside-downness of Della Porta's camera obscura, the shadows created by light falling on Niepce's photographic emulsion producing a "negative" image, the montage necessitated by the frailty and shortness of early celluloid film - these have become the mechanophors which convey the richness and complexity of our experience. No less with the whole of Edison's oeuvre. Like the lightbulb, the phonograph casts its own unearthly shadows upon listening, upon our memory and our sense of time. It is the false and deceptive quality of the voice which emanates from the phonograph or gramophone, compounded by the mindless soliloquy of the of the broken record, which lends its root to our word "phony". The exact repetition of this falsehood ingrains itself in our memories, creating a sequence of recognition, anticipation and fulfillment which is in itself addictive and predictive. Prior to the invention of mechanical recording, references to the now commonplace phenomenon of a tune-running-thru-the-head appear absent from literature.
A dream of early phonographers was to read with their eyes the wiggly line inscribed by the needle as a lasting trace upon the wax - allowing the illiterate to write, the uncouth to compose, even the spirits of the dead to speak. Such efforts soon proved futile.4 The scopic impulse relentlessly afoot in western civilization appears to have been delayed by almost an epoch. If the nineteenth century had invoked sight alone to comprehend the infinity of space, ( superseding the eighteenth century's insistence that space is known by the sense of touch,) a more ancient tactile paradigm persisted in matters of memory, perhaps due to their traditional codings in the form of renaissance spatial-mnemonic systems. Until very recently - the 1980's, - the memorative act of audition still consisted of dragging a diamond stylus, fingernail-like, across a vinyl blackboard. As the needle played, it eroded the memory it touched. Ever so slightly, as the needle touched, the sounds present in the room in which it played were minutely engraved and added to the record.
Edison's earliest efforts were feeble impressions on tinfoil, easily erased by the act of playing them. Indeed, the first recording was so frail it only could reproduce once and then die. Later efforts in wax proved durable enough to be played dozens of times before the effects of the mechanism combined with the sounds in the environment would modify and erase them forever. And still each record was a unique object. The Edison laboratory's earliest cylinders of mass production were created by capturing the sound of an orchestra on twenty or more phonographs - the orchestra's output of a two minute waltz might thus amount to many hundred cylinders per day 5 . By the turn of the century, with the advent of electroplating and gold-molding, many thousands of records could be manufactured, sold, played, enjoyed and worn out before the orchestra would need to reconvene and intone the waltz anew. The escalation of this economic exercise culminates in the digital compact disc - a consumer item whose durability is adamantine and whose relation to the original soundwaves - thus its use-value - is determined wholly by the ruling taste. The laser touches but fleetingly upon the groove, the impact of its photons abrading no material whatsoever. The rupture is complete. The emancipation of memory from touch has been fulfilled. The age of the palimpsest is over.
p.s. Hey. In a first for the blog, silent reader KD has gone back five years and taken the basics of an old post I made then enlarged, expanded, and reinvented it into a guest-post to call his own. Cool and interesting modus operandi for me, and I'm happy to see DeMarinis's work spotlit in a larger way here. I think that's all you need to know, so go forth or, rather, back up a ways and check everything out. Thank you a lot, KD! ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, David. I don't have any links to the Rampling/ Sarkozy thing on hand, but, during the election, she was well known here as one of the "famous French" who were publicly and passionately supporting him along with people like Depardieu, Johnny Hallyday, and others. I don't think IC-B's work is camp at all. I think that's an imposition. It's true that she's beloved among a lot of literary types who happen to be gay, and a number of that type whom I know, but they never speak of her work as campy. Sublime, yes. I don't know of Zemmour or if she's dating him. I can try to ask around. ** Mark Gluth, Hi, Mark! Yeah, it's hard for me to read more than, say, a dozen pages of ICB's prose before I'm overloaded and too swoony to continue. That density and richness, and how that heavily organizes how one reads her novels, is one of things that make me so in awe of her. How are you man? ** Joshua nilles, Hi. Beach Sloth is pretty much the only reviewer of a bunch of extremely good newer writers, which is very strange. Some day his pioneering, adventurous efforts will be recognized outside the scene, I'm sure. Cool, yeah, the price of being vegetarian is there. But then there are a lot of cuisines friendly to vegetarians that can be not that pricey at decent quality like Italian, Mexican, Indian, Chinese, Thai, etc., etc. But, yeah, there's that. I just balance out buying my veggie stuff at health food stores by cutting back a bit on the buying of books, music, clothes, etc., I guess. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, She is utterly unique, and I highly recommend trying her work because there is nothing else like it. You'll know pretty quickly whether her prose is crush worthy or not. I know all about the lengthy time involved in rendering, for sure. Awesome! Tick, tick, ... ** Keaton, Everyone, celebrate Xmas two days early by reading what looks for all the world to be a Xmas story unlike any other in the most positive respect by, yes, Keaton (!), and, yes, right here (!)'. It's beautifully titled 'Lepreclaus', a title of which I personally am extremely envious. Hi. Oh, man, 'Adieu au Langage' was the best thing I saw, read, listened to, ate, etc. this year, I think. Super inspiring. My head has been swarming with things I want to try in my writing ever since. I haven't read Jane Austen since my brief year at university. And Henry James, yeah, good stuff, but not my thing. It is almost Xmas. It's freaky. I have to go look at all the Paris Xmas makeover stuff really fast. Bon holidays to you! ** Steevee, Hi. Well, I know about that TLC Mormon show because about a third of the people in FB feed posted about it two days ago, yeah. If I were Stateside and sans something else to do, I would watch at least 15 minutes of it, I guess, just to know. You gonna try it? ** Misanthrope, Cool, she rules. I got hacked or something, I forget, a few years ago and devised the most complicated password humanly possible for my mail, blog, etc., and I've been safe ever since, but it's too complicated a password to be memorize-able, at least by me, so it gets me into all kinds of trouble when I forget to bring a slip of paper scribbled with the password wherever I go. There must be a happy medium. ** Cal Graves, Hi, Cal. Really, you want all those eyes? Why? Do you mind explaining why? When I imagine that, my whole body starts itching and my pores feel like they're going to vomit. Obviously, I'm thinking way too practically about the question. I know of 'The Innocents', but, weirdly, I don't think I've ever seen it. Huh. Yeah, I really should. Might make a nice Xmas movie. Oh, your question today is extremely easy. 'Father Sgt. Christmas Card' by Guided by Voices. One of very favorite songs in any season. What's your choice? ** Rewritedept, Hi. Ha ha, IC-B is so incredibly not FH-B, ha ha. It's like Antarctica versus Hawaii or something. Sounds like avoiding your brother is a smart move. I have one brother whom I hope to avoid for the rest of his or my life. Finches do seem like they would be rad. I'm getting as much non-film work done as I can, but there's film work to do that isn't editing, so my headway is not a headwind. On Xmas day, me? Probably squat. Nobody's around. Eat a Buche, go enjoy the extreme quiet of Paris on that day, I don't know. Xmas over here is usually just like a post-nuclear Sunday or something. Which is fine. Good day to you, man. ** Okay. If you will, investigate what Paul DeMarinis does under the the guidance of KD because both aspects are very cool. See you tomorrow.
p.s. Hey. If you haven't yet gotten your animated Xmas tree gif this year, feel free to grab one off my lot. You're welcome. I'm going to take Xmas Day off, so I'll see you again on Friday, and have excellent Xmases, okay? ** Scunnard, Howdy. I'm pretty sure my Xmas will be such a non-entity-like thing that the gaskets in my head will remain in whatever their normal working conditions are. I mean, I wish something would blow. Do yours up, though. ** David Ehrenstein, The law of averages says that I will probably if not surely give Henry James a try again someday. It'll just take some mood as yet to be determined. Bonnest of Xmases! ** Tosh Berman, He did, didn't he? KD, I mean. Glad you liked it. Have a really sweet, productive tomorrow! ** Bill, The airport? Where are you off to now? All the way across the world again? Oh, I've wanted the new Stephen Graham Jones myself. Congrats. I hope your Xmas has a very pleasant amount of bells ringing in its background. ** Steevee, If you check it out, let me know. It's too complicated to try to watch it from over here. Sucks about Earthlink. I honestly didn't know they were still in business for some reason. ** Sypha, Hi, James. That's okay, I figured you were work-swamped. Hugs re: the toll that's taking on your health. I guess tonight must be the last of the heavy stint? Oh, yeah, you said it is. '700 pages to get the plot in motion', ha ha. Between '700 pages' and 'plot', I'm never, ever going to contemplate reading that. Wow, about the Norman Mailer. In theory, that is a truly horrible combination: Mailer snd 'La Bas', but hey. And in the 70s, Mailer still sort of had it going on creatively, so ... Curious. New Nick Land, cool. Thanks. I'll look into it. Merry Xmas! ** Magick mike, Hi, Mike! ** Keaton, Jeez, you must have figured out an amazing google search term to be able to compile that particular Xmas array on your thing. Pore over it, you know I will. Okay. Everyone, if you like your Xmases ... what would be term ... not transgressive, but ... well, definitely transgressive, but that term so ... something, tired, spend an unforgettable few minutes of your Xmas being visually and psychologically in league with Keaton's 'Shaking Your Presents'. NSFW, etc. Wow, who needs a Buche? The Paul McCarthy thing was wild, I guess. I'm telling Kier about it below. I think it's more fun to make up the conversations I hear around me here, or that's my defense. A pear! I don't like fruit that much, but I love pears! Sweet! You get out there too! Warmest Xmas tidings! ** _Black_Acrylic, Merry Xmas, Ben. Oh, the Paul McCarthy was interesting, intense. I guess I should say what I'll say about in the Kier slot. Fine tuning, yes. There's always that. Still, it's so close I can feel it knocking on my brain's door. Cool. ** Kier, Hi, hi! Gorgeous, gorgeous photos! Everyone, go look at some stunning photos Kier took in mystically gorgeous Bardufoss, Norway. Here and here.'The animals bit': I like that. The words, the thing that springs to mind due to that choice of words. Your day(s) were cooly busy and great sounding. I don't remember about 'Three Nuts for Cinderella'. What a strange title. So, it's like the Norwegian way of spending Xmas watching TV like the 'Wizard of Oz' is in the States? I'll see if I can see something of it. Oh, yesterday. I did some work, okay. The rough cut of Scene 4 is proving to be kind of controversial among those couple of people who've seen it, loved a lot and then really not loved a lot. So there was some contemplation about that. I walked around. I talked on the phone. Then I did the Paul McCarthy talk thing. It was intense, really intense. I thought it would be kind of just be me talking about the LA art scene and about my experiences with Paul and stuff like that, but the interview was 90% about me and my work, and the guy was super into trying to pry me wide open about what I do and why I do it, so it felt like I was being aggressively psychoanalyzed in front of an audience. It was very, very weird and disconcerting, but interesting too, and people seemed to like it a lot, but, wow, I was not expecting that at all. All the talk events re: the Paul McCarthy show are being transcribed and published as a book, so I guess I and whoever else who wants to see what it was like can someday. It felt like a total blur at the time, and it still does. Then there was a small 'power dinner' afterwards. Gisele came, thank god. And it was, like, the head curator at the Pompidou, a curator from the Musee de l'Art Moderne, some philosopher I didn't know, some big wig from Canal Plus, and other people, most of them really nice. Italian. I got out of there as early as I could, though. It was late then, and I slept. The End. Tell me how Xmas Eve and Xmas were for you, okay? I'll try to do something interesting. Big love, me. ** Schlix, Hi, Uli. Cool, glad you liked it! I'm, like, the only person in Paris who hasn't gotten a bad Xmas cold, it seems like, knock on wood. Enjoy Berlin! No doubt! Really, that's weird about the new blog entrance. I'll go see if I can find out what that's like. ** Cal Graves, Hi. Oh, cool, Mike Patton, nice. Everyone, yesterday's post brought this to Cal Graves's mind. I'll make a concerted effort to find a stream or torrent or something of 'The Innocents' by tomorrow morning. Whoa, that question is weirdly huge, gosh. So many ways to go. I want Terrence Malick to call me up or email me or something and say, 'I want to make a film of your novel "My Loose Thread". The financing is in place. The deal is set. It's all ready to go. All you have to do is say, "yes".' What do you want for Xmas? ** Misanthrope, G-ster. I do not, I repeat, do not want to be fisted by Zuckerberg or by anyone else for that matter. So keep your password to yourself please. You need sleep, I need coffee. What a world! Merry Xmas, George! ** Hyrule Dungeon, Hey, man! Really great to see you, pal! Everything's up with me, and it's cool mostly. Yeah, excited about the gif novel. I'm very cool with it. You did tell me about your press, and I've been excited ever since. 'Game fiction', very nice. I've read so little. Hardly anything, it's weird. Some porny 'Link' stuff. I can't remember what else. I didn't see that headline, but I followed that Slenderman thing back when the girls were arrested. Very fascinating, even though I have no idea what Slenderman is. well, I know a little, the barest basics. I do know about Creepy Pasta. I've been wanting to spend a lot more time there. God, I hope I never stop feeling like every book teaches me how to write a much better book. That's for sure. That would be the end. Having fun outside of the fun of fiction writing is good. And missing writing is nice and very useful to the writing too, to a point. You know I recommend living in LA. LA's vastness allows for that singular phenomenon of which you speak. No, it's true. Amazing place. I don't know that band, thank you. I'll let it accompany whatever it is I do after I do this. Hey, man, really, have a great Xmas! ** Rewritedept, Oh, right, tail wind. Duh. I'm not the pet type at all, but I get it completely, I think. I'm incredibly not ready for the move, no. I'm hoping I can make them give me some more time. I haven't even thought about it, I've been so busy. No, there are not cool neighborhoods in Paris where rent is cheap. Definitely not. I'm staying here in Paris, though, whatever it takes. Uh, ouch. I mean, about your, you know, balls. Happy Xmas and Eve! ** Mark Gluth, Hi, Mark! Xmas joy to you! I know about the collab., and I know Michael is psyched and excited, and, from what he's told me, it sounds way amazing. Ooh, your stories in that collection also sound incredibly exciting! The way you described IC-B's prose not only makes sense, it's kind of revelatory. Absolutely yes, I agree! Beautiful! I love Steven Milhauser. He's one of my very favorite American fiction writers. What are you reading? Yeah, I love his work a lot. ** So, yes, I hope your Xmases do everything you want them to do. Truly, sincerely, hopefully. I'll figure out what mine is going to be and then do that, and I will see you in, what, 48 hours, roughly? On Friday.
'Dina Kelberman’s original website features an ever-growing grid of gifs (at the time of launch, there are seven hundred total)—each one an image of smoke or fire excerpted from an iconic cartoon (the list now includes The Smurfs, The Simpsons, Tom & Jerry, Darkwing Duck, Rocky & Bullwinkle, and many more). The project is hatched out of the artist’s obsessive online surfing—for this project, she located and sampled hundreds of cartoons out of the thousands that she chose—as well as out of a desire to order and rearrange the seemingly endless amount of information available to her. The gif images are linked not strictly by subject matter but also through more free-form visual associations, like form, color, and shape. The resulting work is a psychic tour of disasters as they are pictured to children (and/or other cartoon enthusiasts). Here, the successive images of smoke and fire pose no threat.
'Much has been written about the withering aspects of the web’s surfeit of information. But for Kelberman, like so many other artists, this visual excess and the process of surfing through it is an inspiration. On [Kelberman's work], Quaranta has written: “Mass media has now been replaced by a mass of mediators. Art is not responding to what they [the mediators] do with a more professional and technically advanced use of the same tools, but is instead refining its own languages and codes.” His point is key to contextualizing Kelberman in a history of appropriation and within contemporary practice. Where earlier artists unveiled the inherent politics or ideologies in TV or advertising, often artists today engage amateur (i.e., consumer) engagements with pop culture by amplifying the impulses to collect and re-represent aspects of it.
'Smoke & Fire, and previous works by Kelberman, manifest the feeling of drifting or surfing online by compiling images along lines that reflect the way we wander through information online, which can either follow or work against the way images are indexed by search engines. For instance, I’m Google (2011–ongoing) is a tumblr blog in which Kelberman compiles batches of images and videos into a stream-of-consciousness grid that moves seamlessly from one subject to the next, from uniformed workers standing in formation, to sand castles, to craters, to mountains. For Blue Clouds (2012), Kelberman blurred screenshots of the Star Trek the Next Generation credits, turning each one into what looks like a blue-tinted, erased line in the sky. In Kelberman’s practice, surfing, searching, saving, and reordering merge into a broader artistic practice that distills shared preoccupations or ways of seeing the world.'-- The New Museum
GHS-CIRCLE, Animated GIF made of consequtive screen caps
Simpsons Gifs, 2009
Spin
Storm
Splash
Blinds 1
Island
Flash
Snow Falling
Finger
Ghost
Log
Breathe
The Boys
Train
Treehouse
Water
House
Shorts
Sparkle
Night
Door
*
p.s. Hey. As always in these situations, apologies for the slow page loading time, perhaps quite slow in this case, and thank you for your patience. ** Thomas Moronic, T, sir, maestro. My couple of days have been as quiet as a mouse. Until someone explained it to me the other night, I had always thought that Boxing Day referred to, you know, boxing, Muhammad Ali, etc., and not boxing as in boxes. I'm so much more interested in it now. Do you box or de-box something? Is that what you do on Boxing Day? See, that's one of my ideas of a good time. Seriously. ** Jonathan, Hi, J. Man, your photos of Xmas in Norway on FB are so intensely Xmas-y. They made Paris Xmas, which is pretty Xmas-y, seem like mere Thanksgiving. No, the guy who interviewed me probably wanted to give me his autograph. Oh, thanks a lot for sending you-know-what. You-know-who has it now and I'm sure you-know-who is really happy about you-know-what. When do you get back? ** Kier, Hi, K-word! Ha ha, Denzoid is good. I'm going to make everyone call me that from now on. Yeah, I find it really, really difficult to talk about what I do and how I do it and especially why because I do it precisely because I don't know why, but when you tell people that, they're never satisfied. 'Why' has to be the most overrated concept. I mean, do you know why you do what you do? No, right? Hooray about the digital camera! I love the mental image of your parents being introduced to the animals. Awwww. My Xmas was almost nothing at all. I got no presents, not a one. That's okay. Uh, what did I do? Oh, I got a fucking virus on my computer. A malware thing. I really wanted a particular song, and it's rare, so I decided I would need to go steal it from some torrent mp3 site, and so I tried, and I couldn't get the song, but apparently I got malware instead, and suddenly there were pop up ads appearing everywhere, really, everywhere. On my emails, all over the blog, all over Facebook, ... It was like a swarm of angry bee-like pop up ads chasing me everywhere. So I spent a couple of hours trying to figure out how to get rid of it, and, thankfully, I did. Phew. It was horrible. What else ... I listened to lots and lots of Guided by Voices as a gift to myself, and it made me very happy, and I sang and kind of danced around my room. I went for a walk, and Paris was like a tomb in the good way. Incredibly empty and quiet. I worked a little. I had hoped to get a really cool Buche, but I waited too long, and every single remotely fun or crazy-looking but was sold out, so I ended up having to get one of the blah looking normal ones, but it tasted quite good. I ate a piece of that. Yury slept all day until about 7 pm, and then he ate some Buche, and I tried to talk him into giving me a haircut because my hair has gotten to the 'mad scientist' stage, but he wouldn't do it. Grr. I made a couple of blog posts, including the one day because the blog's storage tank was literally completely empty. I think that was the entirety of my Xmas. Voila. How did the post-Xmas world begin for you? Love, me. ** Derek McCormack, Derek! Great Derek! Mighty Derek! Happy just-post Xmas to you! I bet you had one that was really done all up. Am I right? Oh, I bought your ltd. ed. little book, and it's genius, and it's so beautiful! ** David Ehrenstein, Hi, D. I hope Xmas is fading away lustrously in your neck of the world. 'Champagne" was blocked in my country. The Jessye Norman song is very beautiful. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, Tosh. Ooh, a books list. You read a lot, and the ones I know are ones I fave also, and the ones I don't know intrigue me. Donald Fagan wrote a book? What in the world is that? Anyway, I've noted the unknowns. Thank you! Oh, wait, music too. Yum from top to bottom. I haven't listened to those Momus Bowie covers. I've meaning to. I will pronto. Thank you, big T. ** Steevee, So, did actually watch 'The Interview'? If so, and .... ? It sure seems like some place will be interested in your piece. I mean, that film is the viral topic du jour. Or at least du yesterday. See, having scrolled down, I was right, and Cineaste is an excellent context, obviously. ** Tender prey, Marc! Wow, I've missed you a whole fucking lot, man! It's incredibly good to see you! Wow, this is very cool! I hope you'll consider an ongoing reentry so we can catch up properly. The novel coming out on the 15th is not the novel I've working on so for long. That novel is still in progress. It's novel made up animated gifs that I've been working on for months. It is part of the new novel cycle that I'm working on that will include the other, text-based novel too. We finished the shooting of the movie and now we're madly editing it hoping to get it finished in time for the Berlin Film Festival where there is a chance it might premiere. At the moment, I think we might not get it finished in time, but it's still possible. I'm still at the Recollets but not for much longer. Maybe for another couple of months. Anyway, man, it is greatness to see you! Any plans to come to Paris? Major love, Dennis. ** Chilly Jay Chill, Hi, Jeff. Was it the quiet Xmas you anticipated? Mine couldn't have been quieter. I don't know the Bruce Morrisette book unless I know the book and have forgotten the author's name. I'll check. Cool. ** Sypha, I saw your Xmas loot on FB. Nice. I'm kind of scared of horses 'cos a few of them threw me off their backs when I was much younger, but they're cool things. Very nice 2014 reading list. Characteristically and admirably eclectic. Thanks, James. ** Bill, You're aways in Hong Kong, or else my imagination is playing tricks with my memory, which happens. God, those huge, long flights. Congrats on the audiovisual anthology inclusion and birth. Do send out an alert when it gets freed up. What's Ho Chi Minh City like? It's so legendary. ** Misanthrope, Hi, G. Someone told me his Facebook password. Does that mean he gets fisted by Zuckerberg or does that mean I do? I hope it's him for various reasons, ha ha. I got coffee. It doesn't fair that your part of the bargain wasn't upheld. I would go find a vomitorium and equalize our situations, but I don't think that coffee is in my stomach anymore. That wasn't boring. You're not a slag. Are you enjoying the four days? ** Mark Gluth, Hi, Mark. There are so many wonderful Milhauser books. I mean 'Edwin Mulhouse' is god. I love 'In The Penny Arcade', 'The Barnum Museum', 'Little Kingdoms', ... really all of them. He's singularly amazing. Favorite sentences of my own? Wow. I think I would have to dig into either my deepest memories or the books themselves to remember. But I do, yes. Or I have, at times, thought of sentences I've written, and gone, Whoa. Do you have favorite sentences of yours? I'm warm, are you? Hope so. ** Hyemin kim, Hi. Oh, shit, I spaced out due to the effect of all the film editing. I promise I will send you the interview before the clocks in France strike 12 today. Sorry. ** Keaton, Man, Xmas proven to be quite a muse for you. Cool, I'll go get the latest. Loved the one the other day. Masterful. Everyone, Keaton wished everyone here and, by proxy, on earth, a Merry Christmas in his inimitable fashion, and it's not too late to be granted that wish, and you deserve it. Here. Thanks about my trees. My Xmas was nothing, but it was good. Do you have all of our fruits? Do we have all of your fruits? I have no idea. ** Cal Graves, Hi, Cal. My Xmas was not much of anything in particular. I told Kier about it up north. Certain people under the tree, right, ooh ... I didn't even think about that possibility. A small pile of certain people. Wow, that would be sweet. You're disappearing for Xmas-related stuff? Seems like a decent guess? Have fun. Come back soon. ** _Black_Acrylic, Thank you for the good Xmas wish. Yours sounds to have been quite nice, relaxing, a little spicy, a little political, filling, and basically everything a Xmas should have been. ** Kyler, Howdy, K. Bernstein ... ? Oh, Leonard. Yeah, he was famous for jumping around a lot, right? Ah, shit, about the arising of the negative aspect of a family Xmas that you were hoping to avoid. I'm sorry. But, yeah, make it into a masterpiece. Perfecto. ** Okay. I'm sure it doesn't take a particle physicist to figure out why Dina Kelberman's work interests me. But the question is, am I alone? See you tomorrow.
I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie (Chicago Review Press)
'The stylish, exuberant, and remarkably sweet confession of one of the most famous groupies of the 1960s and 70s is back in print in this new edition that includes an afterword on the author's last 15 years of adventures. As soon as she graduated from high school, Pamela Des Barres headed for the Sunset Strip, where she knocked on rock stars' backstage doors and immersed herself in the drugs, danger, and ecstasy of the freewheeling 1960s. Over the next 10 years she had affairs with Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, Keith Moon, Waylon Jennings, Chris Hillman, Noel Redding, and Jim Morrison, among others. She traveled with Led Zeppelin; lived in sin with Don Johnson; turned down a date with Elvis Presley; and was close friends with Robert Plant, Gram Parsons, Ray Davies, and Frank Zappa. As a member of the GTO's, a girl group masterminded by Frank Zappa, she was in the thick of the most revolutionary renaissance in the history of modern popular music. Warm, witty, and sexy, this kiss-and-tell–all stands out as the perfect chronicle of one of rock 'n' roll's most thrilling eras.'-- collaged
Two brief excerpts:
'The Landmark Motel was in the throbbing heart of Hollyweird on Fountain Avenue, very close to where Jim Morrison threw away the bottle of Trimar. Burgeoning rock celebs always stayed there; in fact, Janis Joplin was about to poke holes in her veins for the last time within its seedy walls. Christine was aflutter over Alice Cooper, a skinny, caved-in guy from Arizona whose real name was Vince. I had never seen her so perfectly put together-- her new outfit of one-half pant leg and one-half skirt was pressed to a stiff sheen; her clown eye makeup was nearing Emmett Kelley status; and she plucked imaginary lint from her lapels, expounding nonstop about the virtues of Alice Cooper. He was virtuous indeed; their blossoming romance was right out of a twenties movie, all innocence and flushed cheeks. They held hands and gazed at each other sideways, this tall, skinny girl we called the Dr. Seuss character of the group, and Vince/Alice, soon-to-become idol of millions. I don't know if they ever had sex, but they were clearly in love and made for each other at that precise moment in time. She gave him an outrageous makeup job and threw some of his clothes together into an outfit that defies description, enhancing his scrawny rib cage immensely. I met the rest of his group and took a shine to the drummer, Neal, and we sipped sodas by the pool while Alice effused over Christine and his new record deal on Frank Zappa's Bizarre label.'
'We went around to Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band's house and smoked a lot of pot and Don (van Vliet) put on a record [Reich's "Come Out"]. We lounged around the living room while a guy with a really deep voice repeated the phrase overandoverandover until it turned into many different ideas. When the record was over, the needle skipped and skipped, so we listened to that for a while too. I, personally, could find no meaning in it, but I tried. We went outside and stood around in a circle, in a semblance of meditation. I rolled my eyeballs in one direction and then the other, trying to stop them in midspin. It was almost impossible.'
Pamela Des Barres reading 'I'm With the Band', part 1
Pamela Des Barres reading 'I'm With the Band', part 2
Pamela Des Barres reading 'I'm With the Band', part 3
TAKE ANOTHER LITTLE PIECE OF MY HEART: A Groupie Grows Up (William Morrow)
PAMELA DES BARRES'S second book is a memoir, but it reads like a novel, "I am the world's most famous groupie" - there are plenty of contemporary fiction writers who would envy a first sentence like that. Ms. Des Barres provided a full and lively explanation of her groupie status in her first book, "I'm With the Band." In "'Take Another Little Piece of My Heart," she moves on to a chatty, entertaining account of what came next: a messy rock-and-roll marriage, problematic child rearing, serious turmoil within the substance-abuse set and a long string of comical career mishaps. Part Kerouac and part Cosmo Girl, Ms. Des Barres recounts all this in a funny and fearless conversational style. -- Janet Maslin, NYTBR
Rock Bottom: Dark Moments in Music Babylon (St. Martins Press)
'Pamela Des Barres recounts the classic tales of rock star overindulgence, and the book's own press material honestly bills it as a compendium of "horror stories."Rock Bottom contains something to offend just about anyone, but, strange to say, the book is actually quite readable as an appropriately skewed history of rock. Des Barres seems to have diligently done her research, talking to the principles of the mayhem, or, in many cases, to their survivors, and does deliver a series of pieces documenting some very dark corners of pop culture.'-- collaged
Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies (Chicago Review Press)
'Pamela Des Barres, most famous for her 1987 tell-all I’m With The Band, parlayed her sexual exploits with such notorious rockers as Keith Moon, Jim Morrison and Jimmy Page into a career as the world’s most-quoted groupie. “Miss Pamela” as she was christened during her ‘60s heyday as a member of all-girl band the GTOs/Moon Zappa’s nanny/Hollywood super-groupie, has spent the last few decades extolling the merits of the rock concubine lifestyle. Her latest book, Let's Spend the Night Together: Backstage Secrets of Rock Muses and Supergroupies, focuses on her successors and some of her contemporaries. Among the interviewees are muses like Catherine James, Tura Satana, Cassandra Peterson (Elvira), and Patti D'Arbanville. These women were models, actresses, and entertainment personalities in their own right before, during or after their stints as groupies. Sex with rock stars was part of the package, not their sole reason for being. (Though Pamela’s breathless prose sometimes makes you think so.) Des Barres is a wonderful writer. Spend the Night, in its own ways, tracks the history, backstage and otherwise, of popular music from the 1960s to present day. In the ‘50s, Tura Satana coached Elvis on how to shake his hips, in the '70s, Lori Lightning had a threesome with Mickey Finn of T-Rex and Angie Bowie. In the end chapters, we hear tales of rock stars into cross-dressing and some really icky stuff. Whatever happened to the old-fashioned activities involving genitalia? Of course, these variations may be just another way to engage in safe sex. Time marches on, even in the world of rock stars and groupies.'-- Blog Critics
Pamela Des Barres & friends read from her book 'Let's Spend the Night Together'
Pamela Des Barres & friends answer questions about her book 'Let's Spend the Night Together'
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Like to have Pamela officiate your marriage or show up at your function or hometown?
Pamela is an ordained minister officially licensed to perform your wedding. Just email her at pamela@electricgypsy.com for more details.
Why not fly Pamela to your hometown to hang out with you and your friends for an entire weekend? For $2500 plus expenses you can have the best-selling author hang out, meet your friends, answer questions, tell stories of her rock-n-roll exploits, etc. Just email her at pamela@electricgypsy.com if you are interested. And guys - this is a purely Platonic offer.
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GTO
Rolling Stone - February 15, 1969: 'The GTOS are a sociological creation of Frank Zappa's. He didn't create the GTOs; he merely made a "group" of them...and now is presenting them. According to Frank, G.T.O. stands for Girls Together Occasionally, Girls Together Only, or Girls Together Often. Girls Together Only are lesbians. But the GTOs (the group) are not lesbians; they are merely girls who happen to like other girls' company.
'The GTOs in all their freaky splendor are...outasite. Each has a personality all her own, and together they are not to be believed -- tummeling, chattering, laughing, telling stories, leaping about. The visceral reaction is full freak, but once you get into it, you don't even notice.
'"Girls don't show the emotions like they should," one of the girls said. "When I say: 'Sandra, you have the most beautiful breasts in the whole world,' that's not homosexual, it's just what I feel. You know how it is when you don't have a boyfriend and there's a girl there to hold your hand, to kiss you, to say nice things to you. It's so important."'
What does his mother say when we kiss on the doorstep? (He has to be home by ten) I wait around 'til three o'clock 'til he comes out of school He flirts with all the ten year olds And I'm so jealous I could die (He just screams Brian Jones!) Brian Jones! Do you realize this eleven year old kid looks like Brian Jones? (He just screams Brian Jones!) A kiss on the cheek would be enough But when he does more . . . wah! wah! He has captured my heart . . . Bart I'm ready to settle down Do you think your parents would let you quit school at 16? It's only five years. I can wait. He is the ladies man How could you doubt him, even when he lies? When he says he's out playing ball He's being a two-timing man He has captured my heart . . . Bart Oh, how he wrinkles my dress and tangles my hair! (Get in there, Bart!) Sneak out your window and I'll meet you tonight And you'll be back in time for school When we're together, am I eleven or are you nineteen? He has captured my heart . . . Bart You're a heartbreaker, Bart Baker.
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October Music/Entertainment Memorabilia Signature Auction #634 Pamela Des Barres Guitar and Memorabilia Lot.
This vintage 1922 Gibson acoustic guitar was purchased from a Kentucky pawnshop by Des Barres' aunt Mabel in the '30s and, after being secretly coveted by her for years, was passed along to Des Barres in 1969. Pamela would often show off the heirloom to her friends and boyfriends, many of whom would strum it, including such lauded musicians as Gram Parsons, Frank Zappa, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, and Waylon Jennings -- even actor Brandon de Wilde. Page offered her $2,500 for it, and Steve Jones of the Sex Pistols gave her son music lessons on it.
This guitar is in Very Fine to Excellent condition with appreciable wear, and has Aunt Mabel's initials stenciled on it. Included with it are signed copies of Des Barres' memoirs, I'm With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie and Take Another Piece of My Heart: A Groupie Grows Up, as well as her non-fiction book Rock Bottom: Dark Moments in Music Babylon; a feather boa from Des Barres' personal wardrobe; a copy of the GTOs' 1969 LP Permanent Damage, signed by her; and a vintage Mothers of Invention concert poster (for a show that also featured the GTOs and Alice Cooper) -- all in overall Excellent condition with very light to mild wear.
For more information, visit Pamela Des Barres at myspace
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Love Letters from a Groupie: Pamela des Barres from The Weeklings How did your first book come to light? Pamela des Barres: Stephen Davis had interviewed me for Hammer of the Gods, and at the same time, I was taking one of my many, many creative writing classes. I had always kept that up because I knew I was going to write someday. After he interviewed me about Zeppelin, he said, “You know, you should write your own book because you have some amazing stories.” Meanwhile one of my writing teachers had just suggested the same thing to me because I had written about my early Stones experiences. She said, “Oh my God… you’ve got to write this.” So it was a double whammy. I just started writing—on a typewriter, because this was 1985—and I sent it all over the place. I found an agent to help me, and everybody turned it down. Eventually though, a publisher grabbed it. PdB: Right. After Hammer of the Gods came out, which was a huge success, one of the companies who had turned my book down the first time—William Morrow—signed it. It came out in 1987 and it became a bestseller, which was a shock. When you write a book, you never know. You never know if anyone’s going to buy it at all! When you were writing it, who did you see as your audience? PdB: Peers, mainly. At least at that time, although I had no idea that it went across all ages. I just saw music lovers, peers and people interested in the 60s, because they always seem to be around. It’s going to get even bigger, I think. The longer the time passes, the mythologies become more and more unbelievable. But I just wanted to write. I just wanted to get the story out, for whomever might be interested, because it was a very special time—a special city, special age group that I was in, everything. Everything was perfect and I just wanted to share that. The expression “Sex, drugs and rock and roll,” has become somewhat ubiquitous now. You were one of the people who tapped into all three of those. Was there ever any concern on how much or how little you wanted to disclose? PdB: I was worried about my dad reading it, and one of the reasons that I didn’t start writing it until he passed away was because he would not be able to handle it. (laughing) I was worried enough about my mom, but she and I were so close and she knew a lot of it already. But as far as the people I was writing about, no. No, because I was telling my story and my truth and I’d never busted anyone on anything. No one got upset. No, I just told the story from my truthful point of view. And I had a lot of diaries so I remembered things in pretty good detail, and I used a lot of diary entries, which I think brought a lot of people into the moment. And it did become very successful. Were you surprised? PdB: Yes, I was very surprised, because you have no idea if anything’s going to sell. And in those days, luckily they put me on the road. Most authors don’t get to go on the road anymore, but they put me on the road first-class all the way. It was the first groupie book, and I didn’t realize it was any kind of big deal, but I got on the Today show, and Larry King, and the Tonight Show, so it was pretty fabulous. Exhausting, but fabulous. Before your book the word “groupie” conjured an opportunistic… PdB: It still does. I’m still trying to retrieve that word. My most recent book, Let’s Spend the Night Together, was about a bunch of other groupies. I’m still trying to set that word straight, because all it means is just a music lover who wants to be near the band. Period. That’s all it means, in whatever capacity. Sexual? Sometimes yes, but also friends, helpers, assistants, guides… we wanted to uplift and enhance these people who moved us so much. That’s all that a groupie is. They are music-loving muses. That’s an interesting turn of phrase, because it puts the groupie on both sides of the creative process- they enjoy the music, and they also inspire it. PdB: You love the music so much, and the men know that you love it. All men want to be revered and admired for what they do. Women do too, but men even moreso, OK? So with men, if you love and admire what they’re doing, if you understand what they’re doing and you comment on it, ask questions about it…if you’re beholden to them for what they create, then they want you around. They want to share it with you, they want you as part of their world, and that always made me feel good, because I could bring some joy into the lives of these people that brought me so much joy. You’ve met on a very personal, and occasionally intimate level, the biggest of the big in modern music. How did you do that? PdB: I was in the right place at the right time with the right look and the right taste. Mick Jagger came up to Miss Mercy at a Burritos gig and said, “Please introduce me to your pretty friend.” That’s how I met Mick. Jimmy Page’s road manager came up to me at a Bo Diddley gig and handed me his phone number and said, “He’s waiting for you in room 605.” I didn’t have to go after these people. I was in the GTOs, I had an all-girl group, I was hanging out with Zappa, and I was in the thick of everything in Hollywood. People wanted to meet us. Early on, of course, I chased the Beatles, I tried to meet the Stones—and I did meet a couple of them when I was with Captain Beefheart—but I was just in the right place at the right time, but with the right attitude and the right love of the music, and my appreciation of what these people were doing was completely sincere. Out of all of the well-known musicians that got to know, with whom did you have the deepest connection? PdB: There’s so many… Well, Jimmy Page and I had an amazing affair that went on, and on, and on and it was deep and wild, and crazy, and tempestuous and fantastic, there was that romantic level. On other levels, Zappa was my mentor; he brought out in me all sorts of creativity I didn’t know I had. That was his main gift, I think. He insisted on it. He wanted you to be more of yourself than you’d ever really been, and he wanted to find out who you really were. He wanted everyone to be themselves, to a huge degree, and then he wanted to encapsulate that and share it with the world. So the fact that he wanted that out of me, was such an incredible gift. It made me want to express myself. The other person whom I still feel soulfully connected to is Gram Parsons, even though it was Chris Hillman who I was in love with, but Gram and I were soul mates. We just had an incredible connection. Do you think that history has given Gram a fair shake? PdB: Yeah, I think it’s going to get better and better. It’s gradual. But he’s not going anywhere, and his music’s not going anywhere. He’s heavily-featured in my new screenplay, and he would have liked that. I had always promised him, before death and after death, that I would carry his music to the world in any way that I could. His eventual drug dependencies and some of the behavioral fallout of that habit have left him with somewhat of a complicated legacy. Where does the truth lie? PdB: He was a gentle Southern boy—funny, brilliant… He knew what he wanted to do and he had a mission. That was mainly all he cared about, and unfortunately he got sidetracked by drugs, like so many others did. But his mission was to prove to the world that there was no separation in any type of music. The cosmic American music thing was real for him—he was connecting all the dots and he didn’t want there to be any separation between types of music and music lovers. He wanted to bring everyone together. Is it safe to be a groupie anymore? PdB: It’s never been safe to be a groupie. Anyone who lives out of the box and who’s living their lives in a way that will inspire others to judge and point fingers and be envious of…that’s never safe. How do you think it’s different today from when you were in the mix? PdB: It’s more difficult to meet your dream man. I used to be able to just walk into the Whisky and sit on Ray Davies’ lap and wave to Pete Townshend. These were very special days. Somebody just put up for a auction some pictures of me, Miss Mercy and Gram Parsons all sitting in a booth at the Whisky, and I can’t afford to buy them and I’m very upset. Things like that come up and I’m like, “My God, there I am with Gram…” These are pictures I’d never seen before. People didn’t carry cameras around in those days. I certainly didn’t but if I did, I’d be rich right now. But you didn’t think of it back then, because you were so busy living that you didn’t want to stop to capture the moment. Now, people at gigs have their phones up and everything. It makes me sick! You’re missing the moment! Yeah, you may be capturing it to look at it later, but I don’t get it.
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Media
Pamela des Barres narrates VH1's 'Let's Spend The Night Together'
Pamela Des Barres on oral sex in the 1960s
Jimmy Page, the truth behind this photo...
Bratmobile, The Bellrays, Pamela Des Barres on Chic-A-Go-Go
Groupie Couture, Vintage inspired Groupie-Wear by Pamela des Barres
Pamela Des Barres on a game show w/Karen Campbell...
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Journalist
The Lizard of Aaaahs: Pamela Des Barres Remembers Jim Morrison
The first time I witnessed Jim Morrison slither onto a stage, I was bombed out of my mind on a very early version of PCP called Trimar. My friend Jerry, the bass player for the Iron Butterfly, smuggled it out of the hospital where he worked during the day. He got it in quart jars and gave it right to me. Wasn't I just the lucky one? An itsy-bitsy vial sold for for ten dollars on the street, so I was very popular that balmy night in Hollywood.
The club (a tiny underground cavern called Bido Lidos) was packed. I held onto sopping lace hankies of this incredibly dangerous drug - inhaling, giggling, waiting. The news was out all over town that this new band, the Doors, had a gorgeous, hot, divine singer. All of us wild and loony girls couldn't wait to get a load of him. The anticipation was high, and so were we. The band played for a few minutes without this divine singer. They were pretty cool - lots of organ, kind of moody and steamy. JIm Morrison didn't really walk onto the stage that evening. I know I was struggling with reality, but somehow he was just THERE. (Read the rest)
A Cup of Coffee with Jon Spencer
I really adore stunning, dramatic, enigmatic, tense, moody, brooding rock guys. Especially with tousled pitch black hair and blazing blue eyes, fine porcelain skin, chiseled cheekbones and a massive truckload of raw, inbridled, smart, cheeky talent. Therefore, I am enthusiastic as I wait on the round velveteen couch in the would-be classy, yet divinely cheesy Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel for Jon Spencer to show up. Though he's a steamy, manic, whirling, Elvis-y hunk of stuff on-stage, I know Jon is supposed to be a difficult, reticent interview, so I have my Deep questions ready just in case. The Higher Power stuff usually creates a passionate exchange between interviewer and interviewee. I figure I'll have to pull it out for Mr. Spencer. We shall see.(To read the rest, use this link then click on 'Interviews on PDB.com')
Eleganza: Pamela Des Barres on SXSW
I often complain that the pomp and visual majesty petered out with big hair bands like Mötley Crüe, but at least they're dolling up on stage these days. Speaking of dolling, I eagerly looked forward to seeing the New York Dolls' gig at Stubbs, certain that David Johannsen wouldn't disappoint. Although his sublime face is carved and ravaged, Johannsen somehow still retains an aura of youthful belligerence with his feathery bangs and long fluffy do. And I was dead chuffed that a sheer double layered chiffon skirt emblazoned with the image of an Indian god floated around his black leather trousers. He did sport a flowery girlie blouse over the dreaded t-shirt, but at least it was blazing orange and clung ferociously to his fat-free frame. Up and down his ropy arms bangles chimed and jangled, along with the requisite glistening layers of chains and crosses. Sylvain Sylvain modeled a smushy street urchin cap and the new guitarist did a spot on dyed-black ratty-hair version of the late Johnny Thunders, complete with lip-glossed sneer. At least they were Dressed Up. (Read the rest) ----
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Gallery
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p.s. Hey. ** Thomas Moronic, Hey! Oh, man, thank you infinitely for the poem. It's super intriguing/ great, and I am bowing if not even permanently stooped over. So you are supposed to box something on boxing day? I was hoping so. That seems like a holiday that should spread internationally. But I'm a nerd. The quiet of my days was quiet with a more positive than negative inflection. Not bad. How was the boyfriend-accompanied Xmas, eh? ** David Ehrenstein, HI, D. Thank you a billion for the email/post! It'll appear here on this coming Tuesday! I remember that C & C' sequence. Yeah, nice. ** Tosh Berman, Hi. You might try the earlier Steely Dan albums if you don't like the jazz thing. That entered later. 'Pretzel Logic', especially. I'm a big fan of Steely Dan, all of it up to/through the first reunion album. If I'm in the right mood, which comes along once in a long while, I'll listen to nothing but them until I'm burnt. I'm like that with The Fall too. The Kellerman gifs use very few frames, unlike the ones I tend to use normally on here, so they load more more like still images. ** Sypha, Hi. I have a promise that my mad scientist hair will be shorn on Sunday. I would wear a hoodie until then if hoodies on guys my age weren't sad to see. Joy Division were great, for sure. They're so revered now that it's hard for me to listen them anymore though. I don't know why, but that reverence sort of depersonalized them for me. Same thing with Nick Drake, although I do really want to read that new Nick Drake bio written by his sister. ** _Black_Acrylic, Cool, glad you dug. Yorkshire Sculpture Park looks really nice, yeah. Someone on Facebook said it snowed so heavily in Yorkshire yesterday that he or she got stuck and couldn't go home. True? NYE, cool launch date, obvs. ** Steevee, I'm gonna go glance at your top ten right now. And while I do, ... Everyone, here's Steevee's top ten films of 2014 list. And, wait, it's a Steevee feast today because, after you click that and read it, you can then go read his review of the new Russian film 'Leviathan'here and his review of 'Two Days, One Night'here. Wowzer! Fine list. You liked 'Nightcrawler' that much? I was seduced by the first maybe hour, but then 'the message' set in, and I thought the message was both vague and easy and too heavy, but lots of people with great taste really rate that film, so I don't know. ** Kier, Oh, my god, my name is so conducive to cool mutations. I wonder why. Uh, here's one I'm sure you've gotten a billion times: Hi, Kier-kegarrd! Sorry. I would swim against traffic in the streets of Paris to a store that sold a gif camera. Jesus. Yeah, like Lynch said. The song isn't on youtube, but that way to rip the music off youtube will be very helpful to me, thank you. The song is a Dwight Twilley song. 'White Crust'. It was only on a B-side of a single. I've never found it anywhere online. I have the vinyl in LA, and I may have to ask my roomie Joel to burn it on a CD for me. Yury has very reluctantly agreed to cut my hair on his day off on Sunday. You have more than one boss? That's interesting and complicated sounding. What kind of chocolate? Nice day. I liked the horse story a lot. Yesterday was very uneventful for me. I think I need uneventfulness right now for some reason. Also, it was quite cold and rainy all day. What happened ... uh, oh, someone I really admire wrote to say he's going to interview me about the gif novel for this cool place, so that was nice. I found out that we might not be able to finish our film in time for the Berlin Film Festival. It's up in the air. They like the rough cut of the first three scenes, but they won't program it based on that, and I don't think we'll be able to finish more than a rough cut of the whole film by their deadline, so we'll have to work even harder when Zac gets back and try to not only finish the rough cut but also polish it as much as we can. Yikes. Big Skype meeting with our producers on January 1st, and I guess we'll know more then. So that wasn't good. Yeah, I just kind of bleah-ed around mostly. Today I have a bunch of errands to do that I could have partly done yesterday, but I didn't, so today will be scrambly. How was your weekend, buddy? ** Tender prey, Hi, Marc! Cool, awesome thoughts on the post and the work. Thank you so much! Yeah, I don't know if you saw the gif novellas I was posting here for a while. They were a draft of the gif novel. The novel will be in five chapters with a gif preface and gif afterword, and each chapter is one long page that you scroll down a la the blog. It seems like the best way to do it for this project. I might try to do it another way, if I do another one. Yeah, Zac used to edit video footage as his job when he lived in Chicago, so he's very adept at using the software. So he's doing all the hands-on editing, and I'm sitting there beside him throwing out suggestions and stuff. We'll have to use a professional to do the post- stuff: color and sound correction, credits, etc. We'll do that in Berlin for about two weeks as soon as we're finished with a final cut of the film. There is music in a few scenes. Assuming we get permission, which we haven't yet, there are two Bee Mask tracks in part of one scene. Another scene has a great original score that runs all the way through it by James Rushford and his ensemble Golden Fur. Another scene uses a track by Pita/Peter Rehberg. That's it so far, but we might add a little more music, can't tell yet. Would be so great if you can get to Paris! Keep it in mind. That would be awesome, and I really want you guys to meet Zac and vice versa. Love, me. ** Kyler, Thanks for turning Steevee's link blue. Guilt is pure evil. Avoiding feeling and inspiring it is one of the cardinal rules of life, if you ask me. ** Hyemin kim, Hi. I ... think that's the only place 'Seance' appears. I'm not absolutely sure, but I'm pretty sure. I think I decided it wasn't good enough to put in a book. Or something. I can't remember. But I do think it only appears in 'Gone'. ** Schlix, Good, good, good about your health returning to a glorious normality. Aw, sweet, about your niece. That's so sweet. Thanks a lot for the alert about the Pierre Huyghe online screening. I'll watch that today. Very cool! Thank you a lot! ** Etc etc etc, Hi, Casey. It's only right and fair and good for the soul or whatever to have Xmas eat the non-real world or something. No, there's a lot of editing left to do on the film. Really quite a lot. We're just on a Xmas break and only because Zac's away with his relatives. My gif novel comes out on January 15th. Stories is really great store. I miss it. Paris, of course, has nothing even extremely remotely like it, re: English books, I mean. If you hiked to the Observatory, then you were really close to my LA apartment. It's down at the foot of that little mountain. Did not know that about astronauts. That is ... wow. No, I've hardly read anything much since my last '4 books I loved' post. I have a stack, and I might try to get in some reading today. I really appreciate the So Cal vibes. Vibes do not get any better than that. Awesome continuing holidays! ** Misanthrope, Phew, thank you for the good fistfucking news. I'll go air out my shirt collar. Maybe doing nothing is just what you need. Or maybe it's not nothing at all. One man's nothing is another man's highlight. No, I stole the gifs. No credits. I don't know the credits. The novel will be free of charge. That's my way around getting in trouble, or my attempt at least. ** Derek McCormack, Derek! It's so fucking amazing, Derek! Come on, even in your so humble heart, you must know that. It's a dream. It's dream I'm dreaming. Right now even. Humongous love, me. ** Mark Gluth, Hi, Mark. Whenever I finish a novel, and I know that the publisher is going to seek out blurbs, I almost always have one dream blurber for that particular book. With 'The Marbled Swarm', it was Steven Millhauser. I thought, if he was ever going to like what I do, it would be that novel. So I had my publisher send him a pdf of the novel and ask him. And he didn't respond. I even asked them to bug him a little bit. And they did. But he never responded. I'll never know whether he read the novel and didn't like it or just looked at the email and thought, 'I don't feel like writing a blurb'. I guess I wish I knew which one it was. But then I got Gary Lutz to blurb the novel, and that was pretty amazing compensation at least. Me too, on the way endless, intricate amount of work on a novel will burn sentences of mine into my head. But every time I finish a novel, I make this very deliberate attempt to forget how I wrote it and to get that style/voice I was using as far away from my brain as possible, and I think that causes me to forget. You take care too! ** Rewritedept, My Xmas was mellow for sure, and not exactly excellent but sufficient. I'm glad yours was a whole more than that. Thanks for spending your thing on 'The Weaklings (XL)'. The idea of 'meaningful' in relationships evolves a lot over time, so just 'cos what you consider meaningful right now isn't happening doesn't mean your goal won't be completely different and more have-able in time. Escorting is one way to go. You've got to have a recognizable niche type that you're marketing yourself as. That's all. No, I haven't cracked King Gorilla yet. Thanks for reminding me. Asap. ** Okay. I took a page from KP's modus operandi last week, i.e. I went back and found an old post of mine and enlarged and updated and upgraded it to create a post that is neither new nor old. Pamela Des Barres is a god in my book. If you've never read her book 'I'm With the Band', then you possibly really, really should. See you on Monday.
_________ InurnBetween 'Inurn is a two piece black metal band, with one member residing in New Mexico, and the other in Arizona. Despite this, Inurn have overcome the problems you'd expect to have when band members live in separate states to deliver three tracks of mournful, depressing blackened dirges. Each piece on Inurn I builds on a repetitive riff, in the usual DSBM/atmospheric black metal fashion, and adds additional layers on to them as the song progresses. As well as the standard bass/drum/guitar affair, Inurn incorporate a synthesizer to great effect, using it to thicken their overall sound, and add even more haunting atmospheres to their compositions (thankfully there's no boring 'dungeon synth' excursions a la Burzurm, so worry not). Inurn's vocalist, Luke, goes between a throatier, almost hardcore tinged black metal shriek and a low end bello, which both carry the emotional heft you'd hope to hear in a DSBM release. Inurn I is built around minimal, repetitive song structures, but they never feel boring or stagnant. Instead it's a slow, steady build up of emotional catharsis and depressing atmospheres, that perfectly encapsulate what this genre is about.'-- FBN
_________ MutterDry Cum 'Black metal is no stranger to synthesizers and guitar-less tracks - but to extend that beyond a single ambient track on an album and to foreground the synth as the main instrument in the band is something else. Enter Mutter, a Western Massachusetts project that does just this. On Trashed Body, the synthesizer is used to created lush drones and harsh oscillating burst of sound layered on top of each other to create an all encompassing wall of sound. Utilizing a drum machine as the means of percussion, Mutter switches between a more traditional black metal drum sound and a heavily distorted, electronic drum sound that borders on EBM or industrial. Combined with the washed out vocals, this thing just pummels you with this constant barrage of stark, experimental black metal and frost ambiance.'-- FBN
_______________ Make A Change ... Kill YourselfLivets Gave 'Make A Change...Kill Yourself are a two piece black metal band from Copenhagen, Denmark who are all about doom, gloom and depression. A decidedly more epic and atmospheric take on depressive suicidal black metal, Make A Change... still pack the emotional punch of their fellow DSBM peers, with repetitive, mournful riffs that slowly progress throughout the course of the song. One of the main hang ups people have the genre is the reliance on melodramatic, shrieked vocals that can often backfire (looking at you Shining) - thankfully Make A Change... have taken a more traditional, raspy approach, which still convey the intended emotions without sounding like a seagull in distress. Fri is an excellent addition to the DSBM genre, and would more than likely appeal to fans of traditional and atmospheric black metal as well.' -- FBN
______________ Lost Inside I Hate Myself 'FrostBiteNinja13: I hate myself... Every little detail of me. Everyone should go fucking die. So I only have to deal with myself. (Your response) Well fuck you too! I hope you die. Angel R.: Another day, another way to hate me. Darkness Shadow: So beautiful when i start listening this song i wanna my death by hate to myself. Marcus Fossa: Everyone would be better off if I was dead... I am nothing, I hate myself and shouldn't have been born. Archnn Darknessror: Eons have passed but the hate for myself still remains fresh. Edward Kenway: Cursed on this earth. richi hahh: This song is for me im gonna die alone in darkness :c. MrDastosh: I don't see the light at the end of the tunnel.. :-((. ob fartburger: if you knew me you would want me to die. L. Amoeba: Ok... I have no idea how I got here, but guys... Goddamn it, your comments are creepy.'-- youtube comments
______________ GravekeeperEx(ac)cept Death 'I'm pleasantly surprised to see such a great release to come from right here in my home of Ottawa, Canada in the form of Gravekeeper- a deliciously doomy and ethereal dsbm band. With all the instruments being played by one person titled "Gravekeeper" on their bandcamp page I'm wondering whether or not I can look forward to any live performances around the city by Gravekeeper this year- I certainly hope so. Gravekeeper cranks out some melancholy, lo-fi tunes with vocals that sound like a more muffled, slowed down version of Wrest's vocals in Leviathan, along with segments of haunting dark-souls-opening-theme-esque keyboard on tracks such as "Ex(ac)cept Death". I enjoyed the fact that Gravekeeper's songs are usually pretty short as well, I love the sprawling ten to twenty minute tracks that dsbm musicians like Xasthur create, but its nice to see musicians break away from the formula of a given genre- Gravekeeper did so wonderfully here as there's still plenty of range and flow in each song rather than just long, flat, overly drawn-out tracks with no real sense of motion to them.'-- FBN
___________ Trist Depression 'This album is insane, that's just all I have to say. It's insane. It borderlines the realness of music and passion without being too overwhelmed into assisting upon itself like it's some divine entity in heavy metal either. Trist is a black metal artist from Czech Republic. His visions on the world are entirely fucked up, his music completely reflects that. Trist generates some of the most blackest and atmospheric songs I think I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing. His self-inflicted scars that he has on his arms comes as no surprise either. Going as far to his self-harm even being displayed on the very album cover I'm writing this review for is really all the least you can expect from tortured musician such as himself.'-- GuardAwakening
________________ GGUWGegen Gravitation und Willensfreiheit 'Well it wouldn't be a black metal project if it wasn't shrouded in mystery and/or death, and in the case of GGUW they've got both. With their guitarist and founding member dead by his own hand, and the rest of the band choosing to remain anonymous (either based in Brazil or Germany), it's pretty tricky to get more information on this band. Ah well. Onto the music though. GGUW are bit hard to put my finger on. On the first (untitled) track of this release, they play a pretty repetitious style of atmospheric black metal, that winds it's way in between inhumane, animalistic howls and depressing ambience. Yet, on the second track they go for a more straightforward, almost bestial style with slightly more sinister, less melodramtic vocals. The EP's closer however sees them merge the two styles in a mournful yet aggressive track.'-- FBN
_________ Thy light666 'Every single DSBM band on earth knows the Brazilian group Thy Light, though the band has released only one demo album Suici.De.pression, but the quality of the compositions and the technicality of the performance have made this demo one of the most highlighted depressive/suicidal black metal releases of all time. Thy Light has proved that there is no single band in the world can create depressive\suicidal black metal music better than them. These tracks will be worshiped and respected as masterpieces in the DSBM world throughout the years, just like their first demo album. If you're a fan of this type of music and the other alike genres (black doom and funeral doom metal), then you have to get your copy of this record immediately and start discovering the perfect art of suicidal black metal.'-- JorZine
_____________ GrisIl Était une Forêt 'Their name alone, "Gris", meaning "grey" in French, pretty much gives you a solid idea of what you're in for musically speaking, which understandably goes along with where they're from: Montreal. I don't know about Montreal in particular, but if its anything like it is where I live in Ottawa (about two hours away) then it's long, beyond cold, and absolutely dead- which is exactly how Il était une forêt sounds. Gris is pretty much the musical equivalent of standing naked in the middle of nowhere during a snowstorm, using insanely heavy pieces where the guitars, bass, and drums work in complete harmony with one another, none standing out more than the other as they drag you through the aforementioned snowstorm whether you like it or not. This is mirrored however the albums use of classical instruments such as cellos, violins, and even piano which work extremely well to bring an end to the album on it's final track "La dryad"- not completely breaking away from the black metal aspect of the rest of album but still bringing you back into reality a bit from the abyss of ear-splitting, melancholy that you've been sitting through.'-- FBN
________________ Happy DaysDrowning In Razorblades 'Happy Days is a black metal duo that originally began in Sarasota, Florida as a solo project consisting of guitarist/bassist/vocalist A. Morbid who started the group by himself at 14 years old in the year 2004. But music wasn’t released until he recorded three demos under the Happy Days name in 2007. In 2008, Karmageddon (Managarm, Wedard, Griefthorn) joined the band as the permanent drummer and has contributed to every release since. Happy Days’s lyrical themes include suicide, negativity, depression, extreme emotional pain, betrayal, failed relationships and misanthropy. With both members living in separate states, most music is created and recorded separately by each musician then mixed by A. Morbid to get the final outcome. A. Morbid currently resides in San Antonio, Texas and Karmageddon currently resides in Carlsbad, California. Despite them living in different states, they have eventually met each other in person.'-- collaged
_____________ SkagosColossal Spell 'When I first heard the opening track to Ást I was immediately stricken by how well Skagos is reflective of their home, Vancouver Island, as it's filled with massive and and ancient trees straight out of a fantasy novel cover which Skagos' sound emulates extremely well with their use of slow, ambient drone mixed with a touch of feedback that uneasily leads into the rest of the album- masterfully transitioning through anti-melodic strings, blast beats, and screeching black metal vocals, beautiful choir-like chants, and medieval feeling acoustic pieces.'-- FBN
_____________ Black Autumn Shades 'German one man band Black Autumn is an excellent mixing of elements of harsh noise, dark ambient, and black metal. Largely disorganized and engendering a feeling of hopelessness, “End” makes great use of the signature aspects of black metal's distorted bass and guitars while also reaching peaks of ridiculously fast segments and then masterfully transitioning back into a somewhat relaxed valleys of dark ambient- before throwing you back into it's chaotic mess of synths, strings, and blast beats that you just can't seem to get enough of.'-- FBN
________ NorttDøden... 'You'll be hard pressed to find a more bleak, depressing and pulverizing black metal album than this one. Nortt play slow and heavy on this, with little regard for your mental wellbeing. With a guitar tone that sounds like ten billion angry wasps trapped in an amp, and guttural raspy vocals that are barely there, this is the sort of listen that just encompasses you entirely with it's sorrowful dirges and oppressively slow tempo. There's a wonderfully melancholic symphonic intro, and strings and pianos feature in most of the songs adding an even more sombre element to an already bleak and downtrodden album.'-- FBN
______________ Psychonaut 4Nackskott 'Psychonaut 4 is a Georgian black metal band from Tbilisi, Georgia, formed in July 2010 by Graf von Baphomet (vocals) and André (bass). The lyrics are written by Graf von Baphomet and are about drugs, sex, drinking, depression, lies and suicide. A psychonaut is a human being who deeply explores his or her own mind (usually with the aid of recreational drug use). The "4" in the band's name refers to the number of plateaus in the drug dextromethorphan. Lyrics by the band fluctuate from being written in Georgian, Russian, Ukrainian and English.' -- collaged
*
p.s. Hey. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. She's also a really wonderful writer. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, Tosh. I was sort of immersed in or surrounded by the groupie thing during the Glam era as a denizen/ regular at Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco, which I only now see you knew and have written about; wow, I wonder if we bumped into each other without knowing -- where practically every kid there was or wanted to be a groupie, as you know, and which I think was kind of the peak and beginning of the end of the golden age of the groupie in the classic sense. Everyone, apropos the PDB post this weekend, the great Tosh has written on the subject of groupiedom, and you maybe oughta check it out. If you haven't read Des Barres's 'I'm With the Band', I very highly recommend it. ** Sypha, Hi. Nick Drake's work meant the world to me, and it still does, even if it's hard for me to listen to now, as I said. He was the great favorite of George Miles, and in fact George's last known words were a voice mail on the night he killed himself to a friend telling the friend to please call him because he couldn't stop thinking about Nick Drake and needed to talk about that, which is another reason that it's very hard for me to listen to him. It's cool that Ligotti actually wrote back to you. ** Kier, Hi! Strange that 'Dennis' would be so agreeable with nicknames and mutations. You wouldn't think so looking at the word, or I wouldn't. You should get 'I'm With the Band'. It's deliriously great. Is there a reason for those names Silje and Pernille? I mean, is there something about the animals that made those names perfect for them? Yeah, it's so awkward to be with people when they look at your work. Writers never really have to do that, except at readings where the event's formalities kind of protect you. I guess poets who say, 'Here, read my poem', have to deal with that and seemingly want to deal with that. Scary. Nice. Nice weekend too, obviously. Oh, more photos, superb! Everyone, Go look at the final two sets of photos by the supreme Kier taken in/of Bardufoss/Senja. They're amazing, and they're here and here. You don't need to hear me tell you what an awesome mixtape that is. Nonstop giddifiers. My weekend isn't too exciting, and wasn't, I have to say. I worked fitfully on some stuff. As I think you know 'cos I think I said so, I always give Zac edible 'treats' when he goes away on a trip or comes back from somewhere, so I went out and gathered them, mostly at Paris's few-ish Japanese grocery stores and patisseries, and I'll go put a bag of them on his doorstep shortly 'cos he gets back later today. I finally coerced Yury into giving me a desperately needed haircut, so now I look normal-ish again. It got really, really cold here. I had to wear my Antarctica coat when I went out. When I was out, I ran into this boy on the metro whom Zac and I really, really wanted to have in our film. He did an amazing audition. He's an escort, and he seemed to be incredibly insecure about his non-sexual abilities, and he kind of freaked out that we were so into him being in our film and flaked out on the scheduled second round audition and then stopped answering our emails and phone calls. Anyway, I saw him, and he was extremely apologetic and said our enthusiasm about his 'acting' abilities, etc., had scared him to death, and that he'd really regretted not doing it ever since. It was sad. He's very complicated. Really, I feel like I really didn't do much of anything this weekend, and my memory mostly has a blank space where the last two day were. Today or probably tomorrow we'll go back to hard work on the film editing, and I'm excited/ anxious to restart. Monday was ... ? ** Misanthrope, My mom and dad used to say much the same thing about free stuff. Different time, I guess. Yikes, I hope you got the FB thing sorted. You have any idea who it might be, not to stoke your paranoia. Expect a 'DeathEaters' post any day now. If it's real and not just you pranking me, no, I don't know it, and, yeah, I kind of really want to know it. ** Steevee, Hi. Yeah, I thought it was interesting as a character study, and I do think that what's-his-name ... Glyllenhaal, will never be better than that. Sorry to hear that about 'Big Eyes'. Like so many others, I hoped it would be Burton's comeback. Well, actually, the 'Frankenweenie' remake was his comeback in my opinion, but I hoped 'BE' would prove the comeback to be more than a random blip. ** Thomas Moronic, She is! Nice, very nice about your Xmas with the b'friend. I did not know about the Xiu Xiu Christmas sound track gift! I'll will get over there pronto. Thank you! ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. Great you got 'I'm With the Band'. It's so great. I wish I could write like her. Sweet about the Dundee return plus Art101 countdown plus the Vines stuff! Safe trip home! ** Mark Gluth, Oh, aren't you sweet, thank you, Mark! Dude, when I got a Gary Lutz blurb, I read it a million times in disbelief just like I do with everything he writes. That was heaven. ** Derek McCormack, Hi, Derek! I know, I'm so happy and excited that Semiotext(e) is going to put out your novel! It doesn't get any better than that press. Yay for ... Hedi? I'm guessing Hedi is the super wise person there who leapt at this opportunity. I wish you guys had surprised Millhauser. I've thought about sneaking into one of his classes or something and counting on him not knowing me from Adam and just seeing what he's like. Love, Dennis. ** Kyler, Hi. Elaborate? Oh, was it the 'cardinal rule' thing? Yeah, I don't know the derivation of that term. It was something my mom used to say that got stuck in my vocabulary. It's just important, I think, never to use guilt as a weapon or to allow oneself to be susceptible when guilt is used as weapon against you because it's a creepy, chickenshit device. That's all, really. ** Rewritedept, Fuck blogspot, shit. Sorry on its behalf. Zac gets back in the late morning today. We won't do a rush job on our film. We'll undoubtedly get big pressure to do a rush job from our producers, but we won't and never would. If we can nail it in time, we will. Otherwise, there are other film festivals to try for. I saw the 'third nipple' photo. I don't know, it didn't look weird to me at all. I feel like I've seen nipples like that a bunch of times. I don't know. Hope your Monday is even radder than mine. ** Okay. Go get suicidally depressed via music today or else go lock your analytical side onto why it is that the music up there has been categorized as DSBM. Or not, or neither. See you tomorrow.
Few films are as redolent with zeitgeist as Guns of the Trees. Jonas Mekas’ only dramatic feature, it concerns Greenwich Village bohemians embodied by his brother Adolfas,
(Adolfas Mekas )
the young couple Ben Carruthers and Argus Speare Jullard,
(Ben and Argus)
and writer Frances Stillman.
(Frances Stillman)
While Ben and Argus are quite happy, Adolfas is unsettled by the prospect of nuclear war – a threat that pushes Frances to suicide.
It’s hard for the kids today to imagine how terrifying the nuclear threat was back then, and how important the “Ban the Bomb” movement was. The film has footage of anti-war demonstrators being physically attacked by the NYPD. Plus ca change. . . The year Guns debuted also saw the release of John Cassavetes Shadows, bringing Ben Carruthers considerable fame. Jonas called him the American Belmondo. And in many ways he was.
(Guns of the Trees)
Every bit as loose-limbed as Guns of the Tress, but in a far more cheerful mode, Jacques Rozier’s Adieu Phillipine was in its home country one of the most celebrated films of the nouvelle vague. The “for the first time on screen” stars were Stefania Sabatini, Yvonne Cery as a pair of inseparable friends
(Sabatini and Cerry)
who meet a young man working as an assistant on a television program played by another novice Jean-Claude Amini.
(the trio)
Showing no jealousy or rivalry whatsoever, both girls pursue the boy simultaneously. Their frequent, semi-conspiratorial, giggles were clearly a major influence on Rivette’s Celine and Julie Go Boating. The film was also a copiously acknowledged inspiration by Alfonso Cuaron for his breakthrough film Y Tu Mama Tambien which, in his case, involved two boys instead of two girls. In Adieu Phillipine, the Algerian War hangs over the trio’s heads. He’s been called up, and the summer they spend together may be his last. Cuaron took this a step further in Y Tu Mama as the heroine is dying of cancer. But in both films, Death can’t stave off youthful free spirits. And that’s as it should be.
(Adieu Phillipine)
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p.s. Hey. David Ehrenstein's venerable institution Le Petit-Mach Mahon has been reinstalled here today in order that you guys and I might discover and cozy up with two films that I, at least, was not aware of pre-this, and, as ever with Mr. E's tip-offs, they look pretty great, so please dim your surrounding ambience and have a watch, if you have time. Thanks, and, thank you very much, David! ** Rigby, Hi, man! So, suicidal depression in sonic form managed to lure you back in here, did it? That must be the very definition of the opposite of collateral damage. Cheers, mate! You liked 'Nightcrawler'a lot too, huh. I watched it in Iceland. Maybe it was the wrong place. I'm dying to see 'Babadook' and 'Mr. Turner', which is a weird combination of wants. No, I don't know 'We Are the Best' in the slightest. I'll find out what it is post-haste. Lovely to see you, my sir! What's the haps? ** Thomas Moronic, Hi, T. Did it help your writing? Fucked By Noise rules, yeah, totally. Gracias for the direct link to the Xiu Xiu! ** David Ehrenstein, Thank you, man to man, for the movie theater, man. Those films look super interesting, and I don't know why I don't know 'Adieu Phillipine' given its status in the NV. I knew Les Petit Bon Bons a little. Especially Bobby, a la Tosh. I wonder whatever happened to them? They were so gung-ho. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, Tosh. Good question about indie rock groupies. I would imagine the configuration of that phenom must be very different, if so. Undercover-ish? But I have no idea. Cool you knew the PBBs too. Like you, when I talked to them, it was usually to Bobby. Interesting guys. In the RBED context, they were kind of like culture tutors. I'm glad to hear some positive about 'Big Eyes'. I'll see it when it gets here in any case. My big 70s periodicals were, if I'm remembering right, NME, Creem, Slash, Who Put the Bomp, Punk. ** Steevee, Hi. I think I read some interview or something wherein the gay member of Interpol talked about having groupies. My friend Juan who was the gay member of Abe Vigoda said he never ever had groupies. That's all I know. ** Kier, I think I shot my name mutation wad for the moment with Kier-kegaard. I'll try to restock. Oh, okay, thank you about the names. Very sensible. I'd wondered if maybe the names/words meant something that might have applied to their personalities or something. I like Britney. She's the only one of that kind of pop star who I actually make a point of listening to and often sort of unreservedly enjoy. I would totally go see her live. I would even pay. Yeah, Gisele and Jonathan C. saw her play here a few years ago. All I remember is that they said she had an obvious body double who came out whenever she had to dance and who was onstage a lot more than she was. Zac is veggie, yes. That's so sweet about Lucifer finding a dear chum. My day was perhaps the most uninteresting in months, I fear. I dropped off Zac's treats. I bought some food. I walked around a little. It wasn't that cold early on, but then the temp dropped a lot over the course of about 3 minutes, it was weird. Mostly, I just worked randomly and haphazardly on the stuff I need to work on without a lot of progress or things accomplished that would be interesting to tell you about. I thought Zac might call and that we might get back to the film editing at some point yesterday, but he didn't. The washing machines here at the R. continue to be broken as they have been for months, so I washed some clothes in a plastic bucket, and I hope they're dry by now. You see how unexciting the day was. Maybe just maybe today will be a vast improvement. Meanwhile, what did you do? ** _Black_Acrylic, Welcome home to your home. Is that a button? It looks like a button? ** Sypha, Hi. Yeah, it's hard. ** Misanthrope, Hi. I just entered #OpDeathEaters in google and realized it's about that UK pedophile ring thing that's been in the process of becoming breaking news for months. So, yeah, I'm sort of following that. As big as the scandal will likely be, I don't think it's going to live up to the promising tag DeathEaters and its creators' doomy graphic design sense. I probably will do a post about their style at least. It's probably an FB-directed bot or something/ someone just fucking around randomly, right? Seems like it. ** Alan, Hi, Alan! Of course it's a joyful thing to see you! I hope you're doing really great! And, obviously, my great pleasure on the IC-B interview. Take care, man! ** Right. Shut Netflix, disable youtube and the like, and stay here in the Le Petit Mach-Mahon until further notice. And talk to David. Thank you! See you tomorrow.
twink4bbff, 18 I'm 16. I'm looking for a local man to use my boy hole for a cump dump and maybe a nice lil strech. I'm based on ass play. I live in Philly near 12th and Spruce. Not intrested in looks, just how u use me. I love to be fucked dry with my shredded boy hole blood as lube. Enjoy slerping cum. I'm into everyone But I dislike my own cock.
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Jinx, 20 20, Professional, Educated & want that all taken away.
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UmbertoEcho, 20 My name is Tony, I am 20 years old of Turkish mix.
A display of natural masculine exotic beauty which I always treat as a selfless gift to the world. I raised it, but, once I reached puberty, I decided it is no more mine than the Mona Lisa is Da Vinci's.
I take pride in my impeccably groomed appearance and hygiene. Immerse yourself in my blank beauty and trustworthy blanket acceptance. Whether you choose to own me for a few days, weeks, or the length of your life, my time with you is always personalized and customized to ensure an unforgettable experience.
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humiliatethisurinal, 22 I love what cock has inside it if I gain in interested proper slut here I love my hard cocks I'm a girl in boys body
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2cute2kill, 19 I keep getting these messages from guys who want to kill a boy telling me my profile name is an oxymoron because, for guys who like to kill, the cuter a boy is the more they want to kill him. Do you think I don't know that? Ever heard of irony? You not so good know English? Apparently fucking not.
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TurnOutTheLights, 24 Because (1) I’m really attractive, (2) I prefer older guys and (3) I cannot find a decent job despite my university degree, I’m posting on here.
I’ve always dated men much older than me. Guys look so much more masculine and attractive once they’re out of their 40s. The conversations are always far more interesting. And I think the sex is incredible.
I’m looking for someone who wants the abused boyfriend experience. I prefer angry, belittling sex. Because I’m younger than you I prefer to be bottom, but I am fully versatile and can be active or passive. But I am only available for the abused boyfriend experience.
Out of respect to myself and my "boyfriends" I do not post public pics of my face, but I can guarantee you that no matter how cute you hope I am, I am cuter.
I'm really excited about this and I can't wait to meet you!
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DreamsPainter, 22 Usually a lot of people wonder why I would want to meet an aggressive person but the reason I want that is because I need that to puush me to achieve something you want because that's what I want and I'm too passive in my very nature to do what I want which is what you want. What do you want? Whatever it is I want to do it. If you want me to suggest something I suggest mutilating me.
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birdsandthebeekeeper,21 Hey you,
Yes, you. I see you there, your eyes so curious, your breath hastening, your fists tightening at the sight of me. Let me tell you about me, to soothe that wildly beating heart.
I'm in love with love. I grew up straight and learned how to love women. And then I realized I loved men. So I learned how to love them too. And then I learned I love all of it: groups, bondage, role playing, torture, bdsm, etc.
I'm a model, photographer, actor, writer: I love to impress :)
I don't do hourly surrender; I start surrendering by the 2 hour mark. I'm a full-fledged slut by 4. By the time the hour hand strikes 8, I'm a no limits meat puppet. See, the longer you possess me, the better ... for you ;p.
Why? Because while I love to have sex, sex is just fucking (snore) if you don't get to really know me. And with beauty and pride as great as mine, sex needs to get heavy before I contort and sweat and stink enough for anyone to see me.
I also like for sex to attract a certain audience, people crowded around who understand what they are seeing, know how rare it is to really know someone truly beautiful, are serious, and will do what is necessary to accomplish that goal.
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XxXDEATHXxX, 18 Young subhuman worthless brainless low animal in search for VERY!!!!! VERY!!!!! PERVERT!!!!! masters with no limits to figure out my shit. Someone message me before I blow my brains out. Wait I was gonna do that anyway.
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SoulEater14, 18 It's me Elizabeth :3 I'm here hacking my baby's page! David I love you soooooooooo much and your never ever leaving me again idc if I have to lock you in my basement your mine! And just a note to any of you Old Faggots out dare me and David have a good relationship and tell each other everything so um if you flirt with him yeah your dead I will hunt you down and kill you cause David is mineeeee I love you soo much baby I can't wait to marry you and have like annoying kids lol I love you baby :) If any fag flirts with my man.. Oh fuck the whole world will come to a end you gay perverted piece of shit. So just say STAY AWAY FROM MY MAN!!!!! Yeah I'm a CRAZY BITCH so don't fuck with David..
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oral-anal-most, 22 Tight Russian twink boi with entirely too much time on his hands
I want to be raped with XL dick no limits at tool
I love cock semen, the hardness of a huge, thick cock, it hurts all Time
Want me write because Im no fuss and want everyone in my ass
Im doing this only for my birthday on December 26 so please RESPECT....
I’d wager a heavy fuck that my thirst for knowledge has sucked up enough useless
It's time to sing the "doom song"
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SexiestSuccubus, 22 You want me ? Im flawless ! Im wake up , fawless Post up , flawless Ridin' rond in it , flawless Flossin'on that , flawless This damond , flawless My daimond ist yu !!! How intercepts Man (n) for there best to ?!
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Vince, 20 Your passion for life has brought you here, for a number of reasons, but one I find is to meet a hot, passive white twink who looks like his pictures.
I hate sports. Very non-athletic and inactive, but I walk around the block once daily to keep my body slim and foxy, non-masculine boy here.
I have the whole world under my spell, and I can influence almost everyone I know. I don't resist my urges to be crushed by the strong cause I know they don't have as much going for them as I do.
I have an unfocused personality. I love to listen. I often get carried away with other people's thoughts. You will never have a more pliable, generous boy in your arms.
I have a job, and I don't consider being a sex slave as a long term career plan. Given the high demand I do not accept men over 40 years old.
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Willhavesexwithanyone, 18 I get fucked the way U want it is just money which makes me act the way U want Play games with me and make me know I cant win anyway and then U destroy me Im a good guy Im not bad just jaded make sure U can make me happy with money
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EasyComeEasyGo, 24 PUNKSLAVE to you, All round party animal n torturemeat to troublemakers, Ive ben into badly behaved meets n rough as fukk stuff, muggings or house takeover, derelict buildings, woods, night time, but I've ben there done that now and I WANT WORSE, savages n monsters, n ultimately a kill fuck, clubbed on the head, driven to a forest, destroy my dick and balls with punches n kicks n tire irons, slam fuck n fist n kicks to the rear till my asshole is sludge, use breath control till my brain cells genocide, smear my body with stuff bears like to eat, jack off watching the bears eat n swallow me n film it with your phone, send it to my piece of shit father, I'll give you his number before.
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christmasinhell, 19 im looking to have me mind brainwashed and turned into mince meat and me whole life changed i aint bothered what happens to me now or after im looking to become some one who dont have a place on normall earht
can it be done
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StepRightUp, 21 Hii this is Rishabh , I am high profile Slave coordinator, I HAVE ClASSY , SUPER HOT , SEXY HUNK, TEEN AGE , TRASH, FEM, BODY BUILDERS N MORE. Thanks all of u Masters for the love and support u have given me and I have been in this feild for the past 9 yrs ,
SOME CLIENTS WITH ME LAST 7-8 YEARS BCZ I RESPECT UR PRIVACY N SATISFACTION .
All my slaves come guarantee with no unfinished past , no trail of paper, no arrest warrant, or no online history for tracing. They are from orphanage, street life, survivors of catastrophe, dead or alienated families, no worry of searching by relative,lover,friends or problem with the police.
CHRISTMAS SPECIAL SALE (write for prices) Symmbols : T-temporarry 3hr - 3day , 365 - permanent , D - disappaer , DO - only disappaer , L - some limits (ask) , NL - no limits
Teenagedemon, 22 I can't stand to be alone. I'm a young man who feels trapped in a place he doesn't belong. I'm a paranoid, delusional, sick and fucked up idiot. It takes a lot to get on my bedside. If you know what's good for you you'll stay away from me and never get close to me cause to quote someone, “Jake does nothing but bring you down”.
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lovemeorhatememen, 18 i m cute slave ..woth given stats...naturally smooth... and i repeat -i m veryy cute, and i look even younger than 18. believe it or not i never had a master in real life. i hv practised putting knife under my skin, eating my own shit and piss(so that i have no problem in eating shit or piss of my master), putting heavy clips on my nipples and weight on my small cock. but i hv not used dildo yet....bcoz i want my master get this slave as a virgin-ass one. i hv received many complements online that - i hv an extraordinary piece of ass. anyone?...who does not care about slave's pain and can be extremely dangerous for other slaves(who are just not as good as me...:D :D)??
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2TEENS2TORTURE, 18 GREETINGS SIRS AND MASTERS WE ARE TO HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS IN KANSAS WHO HAPPEN TO BE LOVERS AND WE ARE LOOKING FOR A MASTER TO TORTURE US AND TO RELOCATE TO.WE HAVE HAD NO EXPERIENCE BUT ARE VERY SUBMISSIVE AND KNOW THIS IS THE LIFE WE WANT FOR THE REST OF OURS.ARE ONLY LIMITS ARE SCAT,AMPUTATION,&BEING BLINDED, EVERYTHING ELSE GOES. WE ARE LOOKING FOR A SICK SADISTIC MASTER TO TORTURE US. WE BOTH SKATEBOARD SO WE HAVE GOOD STAMINA.WE ARE BOTH PAIN AND RAPE PIGS LOOKING FOR SOMEONE WHO WILL LOCK (OR ACTUALLY DESTROY OUR COCKS.) SORRY TO BE HARSH BUT WE CAN'T HELP IT.
SLAVEBOY TIM 18 6'1" BLOND,BLUE PUBES(CAN BE SHAVED CLEAN)
SLAVEBOY MICHAEL 18 6'0" BROWN,GREEN(BODY SHAVED CLEAN OF HAIR)
BOTH SLAVES ARE SLIM BUILT AND WE ALWAYS WEAR SWEAT PANTS WITH JOCKS UNDERNEATH
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Thepiehole, 20 White green hair Extreme fuck/dildo/plugs/fist/whip/brand/burn bareback bottom In London for the week end I can pick up you on the airport with my car
Guestbook of Thepiehole Rene_zh_59 - 10.Dec.2014 i'm shocked and at the same time not shocked at all to see this boy here. we were boyfriends this past summer.. well, he was an escort i hired a few times until i confused heavy lust for love. i have such mixed feelings. ok if you're up for doing what he wants he is exactly what he says. his ass is beautiful and always starving, and you can't use or trash it enough for him. i consider the 4 months i was addicted to his ass a period of temporary insanity on my part. on the negative side, depending if you care, he's a terrible alcoholic. i never saw him not drunk. he never doesn't stink of alcohol. he even drinks when he's taking a shower. it's killing him but it keeps him docile. there's no drama with him. he wants to drink and have his ass used and nothing else. he said he has no other interests in life. i ultimately believed him. in the few months since i last saw him it looks like the drinking or something has added years to his looks. he was very, very cute as recently as august. do i recommend him as a slave? unfortunately yes with the mentioned qualifiers and only if you're very into using and abusing ass. his ass is extremely good. i used it hundreds of times and i never lost my insane need for it. i only broke up with him because my addiction to his ass was destroying the rest of my life. i still spend hours watching the videos i made of his him. there's a small part of me that wishes he had turned his life around but, as horrible as this sounds, if his ass wasn't such a cute, generous pig, he would be a nothing. even more now that his looks are starting to go. so if you're a 24/7/365 master into boy ass, or if you're looking for a way to be one, i recommend grabbing him for 24/7/365 enslavement and getting everything you want from one of the best asses ever for as long as he lasts. one thing i don't recommend however is having him pick you up at the airport in his car. as i'm sure you can imagine, he is a terrible driver.
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FinallyReady, 23 Bottom sub slave in an obsessive relationship with my face and very into thong undies.
No limits, just no blood except facial. Come on, keep me in a thong and I'll take all your shit, make you happy.
Most importantly, would LOVE to have a master completely destroy my face as he stomps on it aggressively!
Ownership = Purpose. Ready to relocate. It is all i want. I will be owned and my face destroyed before the end of January.
Thongs, G-Strings, Slings, hoods, blindfolds, satanic scenes, my face.
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Thecatch, 20 I'm Jay your cumslut positive with HIV and beautiful plus kinkier than fuck. Been on and off with the master and slave thing for a while.
Not many people like me in the area. I don't understand it because normal gay men are all over me. To a point. That's the problem and why I'm here again.
I have a thin smooth hot body and a very very very large cock. But all the same, I dont like getting my cock touched. My cock is just for the purpose of pissing.
My ass however is an insane wild hog. Even if you want to see me shit, or just want get my shit on you, or eat it, I dont have any problem.
In fact I've thought about it, and if I'm going to become a slave, my Master will have to love to eat my shit. Not just once, daily at least.
If you'll do that, I'll satisfy all your sexual illness. Basically, eat my shit, use the fuck out of my body, don't kill me, and we're good.
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moron4ever, 22 stupid slut slave. dont fake please. don't ask intilligent questions. i want fuck fuck fuck fuck and sex sex sex sex sex sex sex. one hour 250 pfund one night 1000 pfund one weekend 2000 pfund one week 5000pfund one month 15 000 pfund three month 50 000 pfund one year 150 000 pfund the whole life, how much? you tell me. BEST WISHES FOR A WONDERFUL CHRISTMAS AND VERY HAPPY NEW YEARS.
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p.s. Hey. I have a mid-morning start time on the film editing today, so the p.s. will have to be quick-ish, and I apologize in advance. ** Rigby, Hi, R! Dude, share the stunning writing thing. Wtf! Do you know rare it is to get quantifiably stunned? Use your weapon on us. Oh, wait, 'Pride', now I know what film you're talking about. Really? Truly? I saw a trailer for it in the theater when it was on release a few months ago, and the trailer was so feel-good, ingratiating, and other ugh that I almost literally tore my hair out. But misleading trailers are a dime a dozen. Wow, okay, that film? ** Schlix, Hi, Uli. Yeah, I was too quick on the p.s.'s trigger yesterday, I guess. You're so lucky to have snow. I'm watching the sky for flakes like Londoners watched the sky for bombs circa-Hitler, if they even did that, or, wait, no, not like bombs like pennies from heaven. I shouldn't try to think and rush at the same time. I hope you had fun! ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Apologies for the word mistakes. I thought I had caught all the typos, but I didn't, obviously, and might have added one myself. Anyway, I fixed things as soon as I saw your email. ** Tosh Berman, Hi, T. Ah, Anthology Film Archives. Not even Paris has a place as great as that. Oh, Search and Destroy, sure. That's interesting about your overriding non-interest in SF bands. I'm no SF itself fan, but I do like or even love the occasional band out of there. Not just Jefferson Airplane, who I do love, yes, along with a handful of the other SF psychedelic groups (Quicksilver Messenger Service, ...) , but like ... 60s-wise, Sly & the Family Stone, Flaming Groovies, Beau Brummels, ... Anyway, interesting. ** Steevee, 'Pride' did okay here. It was playing for a while and the metro posters had unusually long lives. Unless I'm totally misremembering, I'm pretty sure founding/ departed member Carlos D is gay. No surprise in the slightest and whatsoever about 'The Interview'. ** Oriol Rovira Grañen, Hi! Welcome to the inside and now outside of the blog! It's a real pleasure, and thank you a lot for that alert about Albert Serra. I don't know his work at all, and I will investigate his work at the first chance, starting with your link. Very kind of you. Please come back anytime. ** Sypha, Hi. I haven't watched the Dennis Potter things in a long time, but I really liked his work back when I did. 'Singing Detective', 'Pennies from Heaven', and pretty much everything of his that I saw. Time to get back into his work. Cool! ** Slatted light, Whoa, David, maestro among maestros! It's killer to see you, my friend! I've missed you a ton! I did see your email as I was waking up today, and, yes, of course for sure, I absolutely will do that. Just tell me how and when. It's great, inspired idea -- you going for that. Big love, and I really look forward to seeing a lot more of you, if you don't mind. ** Kier, Ha ha, that's a good one. Denn0))). I'll tell Steven you called me that. He'll freak out, in the good way. I wish the ground was as shiny as a mirror here, even though the last time I was on mirror-like ground, I slipped and broke my ribs. Really pleasant day you had, pal. I didn't do much of interest again during mine, but today starts the marathon days of editing, which ... well, isn't so interesting to hear about either, I guess, but at least I'll be doing something. I just diddled with work and correspondence and blog post-making and ran a couple of errands. It was fairly jam-packed with productive nothingness. Really, kind of a total zip, entertainment-wise. Shit. But I'll rally what happens to me today into a report of note tomorrow, if I can. How did Wednesday happen? Love, me. ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. We say badge and button over there. Interchangeably. Maybe button a little more often? Those Meaty Trumps - British Nonces cards look fun and evil enough to almost buy. Yay about the positive premiere among the cognesenti! Tick, tick ... ** Keaton, Hi. Happy almost NYE to you too. I had a feeling that 'Babadook' is overrated. Call it a gut thing. Will see it, though. My horror movies standards are always low. The 'Head Spa' is super ugly and ridiculous. You must have found some pretty cute heads to pull that off. ** Misanthrope, Oh, good, I'm glad to hear that OpDeathEaters's range is wider than that. It is firmly on my and my blog's agenda for whenevv', soon. Happy birthday to LPS! And tell him his joke made me guffaw, 'cos it did! ** Okay. Sorry again for rushing. It's for a good cause or a potentially good one. Slaves are yours today as could have been and probably was predicted on your parts. See you on New Years Day!
'Steven Millhauser has refused pure realism from the start, but he's not a formal gamesman like Donald Barthelme. His narrative structures are usually old-fashioned. It's what he does with them that's surprising. He uses comfortable story, novella, and novel forms to take us into the realms of the fantastic and the absurd. For many writers this would be—has been—enough. But Millhauser goes a further step. As strange as his characters' experiences may be—watching a friend fall in love with a giant frog; telling us what it's like to live as a ghost; flying around the backyard on a carpet—he always delivers us eventually to felt human experience. He uses these odd situations to try to get at subtle, hard to pin down, and very real human feelings.
'It's difficult to give an overview of Millhauser's work because it's so varied. But a close look reveals that within his wide horizon of subject matter, there are certain forms of storytelling he elects to revisit again and again. The first form is the purely absurd, which has fueled his short fiction in celebrated collections starting with In the Penny Arcade (1986) up through Dangerous Laughter, his euphorically reviewed collection from just a couple of years back.
'Millhauser also specializes in stories that try to get below the surface of ordinary life. He probes hard at tiny moments—such as a character's anticipatory approach to the first summer dip in the lake in the story "Getting Closer." At the opposite end of the spectrum, Millhauser is a master of the purely fantastical—stories that feel witty and contemporary but also make gemlike little fairy tales. His astounding novella collection, The King in the Tree, falls into this category. Millhauser shows in this work that he can write with a hard, glittering beauty.
'But he is probably most famous for his rarified and unusual historical fiction. He repeatedly explores the technologies and art forms that were new in the 19th century, wondering and worrying over the birth of the modern. This obsession—a word I think it is fair to use—informed his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Martin Dressler (1996).
'A surfeit of unusual circumstances does not in itself prove an abundance of imagination, or certify that the phantasms are meaningfully evoked. What makes fiction spellbinding is its ability to embody the language of lived experience with depth and range. The strongest stories of Millhauser’s oeuvre take time to unfold, even as they open with fantastic premises. This is true of the patient inventory of the labyrinthine, impossible exhibition rooms of “The Barnum Museum” and of the descriptions of the intricate craftsmanship of the title character in “August Eschenburg,” who creates lifelike figures in miniature that move with the mechanisms of a clock. “Eisenheim the Illusionist” and the “The Knife Thrower” are stories that traffic in smoke and mirrors and crystal balls, but are ultimately sophisticated explorations of the nature of perception and of fiction-making.'-- collaged
"Home Run" by Steven Millhauser - An Electric Literature Single Sentence Animation
Prospies, Steven Millhauser and Chocolate Milk
'Mise En Komix', loosely adapted from 'Klassik Komix #1' by Steven Millhauser
Steven Millhauser @ Story Prize Awards 2012 | THE NEW SCHOOL
______________ The Ambition of the Short Story by Steven Millhauser
The short story — how modest in bearing! How unassuming in manner! It sits there quietly, eyes lowered, almost as if trying not to be noticed. And if it should somehow attract your attention, it says quickly, in a brave little self-deprecating voice alive to all the possibilities of disappointment: “I’m not a novel, you know. Not even a short one. If that’s what you’re looking for, you don’t want me.” Rarely has one form so dominated another. And we understand, we nod our heads knowingly: here in America, size is power. The novel is the Wal-Mart, the Incredible Hulk, the jumbo jet of literature. The novel is insatiable — it wants to devour the world. What’s left for the poor short story to do? It can cultivate its garden, practice meditation, water the geraniums in the window box. It can take a course in creative nonfiction. It can do whatever it likes, so long as it doesn’t forget its place — so long as it keeps quiet and stays out of the way. “Hoo ha!” cries the novel. “Here ah come!” The short story is always ducking for cover. The novel buys up the land, cuts down the trees, puts up the condos. The short story scampers across a lawn, squeezes under a fence.
Of course there are virtues associated with smallness. Even the novel will grant as much. Large things tend to be unwieldy, clumsy, crude; smallness is the realm of elegance and grace. It’s also the realm of perfection. The novel is exhaustive by nature; but the world is inexhaustible; therefore the novel, that Faustian striver, can never attain its desire. The short story by contrast is inherently selective. By excluding almost everything, it can give perfect shape to what remains. And the short story can even lay claim to a kind of completeness that eludes the novel — after the initial act of radical exclusion, it can include all of the little that’s left. The novel, when it remembers the short story at all, is pleased to be generous. “I admire you,” it says, placing its big rough hand over its heart. “No kidding. You’re so — you’re so —” So pretty! So svelte! So high class! And smart, too. The novel can hardly contain itself. After all, what difference does it make? It’s nothing but talk. What the novel cares about is vastness, is power. Deep in its heart, it disdains the short story, which makes do with so little. It has no use for the short story’s austerity, its suppression of appetite, its refusals and renunciations. The novel wants things. It wants territory. It wants the whole world. Perfection is the consolation of those who have nothing else.
So much for the short story. Modest in its pretensions, shyly proud of its petite virtues, a trifle anxious in relation to its brash rival, it contents itself with sitting back and letting the novel take on the big world. And yet, and yet. That modest pose — am I mistaken, or is it a little overdone? Those glancing-away looks — do they contain a touch of slyness? Can it be that the little short story dares to have ambitions of its own? If so, it will never admit them openly, because of a sharp instinct for self-protection, a long habit of secrecy bred by oppression. In a world ruled by swaggering novels, smallness has learned to make its way cautiously. We will have to intuit its secret. I imagine the short story harboring a wish. I imagine the short story saying to the novel: You can have everything — everything — all I ask is a single grain of sand. The novel, with a careless shrug, a shrug both cheerful and contemptuous, grants the wish.
But that grain of sand is the story’s way out. That grain of sand is the story’s salvation. I take my cue from William Blake: “To see a world in a grain of sand.” Think of it: the world in a grain of sand; which is to say, every part of the world, however small, contains the world entirely. Or to put it another way: if you concentrate your attention on some apparently insignificant portion of the world, you will find, deep within it, nothing less than the world itself. In that single grain of sand lies the beach that contains the grain of sand. In that single grain of sand lies the ocean that dashes against the beach, the ship that sails the ocean, the sun that shines down on the ship, the interstellar winds, a teaspoon in Kansas, the structure of the universe. And there you have the ambition of the short story, the terrible ambition that lies behind its fraudulent modesty: to body forth the whole world. The short story believes in transformation. It believes in hidden powers. The novel prefers things in plain view. It has no patience with individual grains of sand, which glitter but are difficult to see. The novel wants to sweep everything into its mighty embrace — shores, mountains, continents. But it can never succeed, because the world is vaster than a novel, the world rushes away at every point. The novel leaps restlessly from place to place, always hungry, always dissatisfied, always fearful of coming to an end — because when it stops, exhausted but never at peace, the world will have escaped it. The short story concentrates on its grain of sand, in the fierce belief that there — right there, in the palm of its hand — lies the universe. It seeks to know that grain of sand the way a lover seeks to know the face of the beloved. It looks for the moment when the grain of sand reveals its true nature. In that moment of mystic expansion, when the macrocosmic flower bursts from the microcosmic seed, the short story feels its power. It becomes bigger than itself. It becomes bigger than the novel. It becomes as big as the universe. Therein lies the immodesty of the short story, its secret aggression. Its method is revelation. Its littleness is the agency of its power. The ponderous mass of the novel strikes it as the laughable image of weakness. The short story apologizes for nothing. It exults in its shortness. It wants to be shorter still. It wants to be a single word. If it could find that word, if it could utter that syllable, the entire universe would blaze up out of it with a roar. That is the outrageous ambition of the short story, that is its deepest faith, that is the greatness of its smallness.
______ Interview from BOMB: The Author Interviews
Jim ShepardPerhaps as much as any American writer I can think of, you’ve been drawn to the novella. Are there aesthetic advantages and disadvantages peculiar to the form? Does it even have a form?
Steven Millhauser Is it possible not to be drawn to the novella? Everything about it is immensely seductive. It demands the rigor of treatment associated with the short story, while at the same time it offers a liberating sense of expansiveness, of widening spaces. And it strikes me as having real advantages over its jealous rivals, the short story and the novel. The challenge and glory of the short story lie exactly there, in its shortness. But shortness encourages certain effects and not others. It encourages, for instance, the close-up view, the revelatory detail, the single significant moment. In the little world of the story, many kinds of desirable effect are inherently impossible—say, the gradual elaboration of a psychology, the demonstration of change over time. Think of the slowly unfolding drama of self-delusion and self-discovery in Death in Venice—a short story would have to proceed very differently. As for novels: in their dark hearts, don’t they long to be exhaustive? Novels are hungry, monstrous. Their apparent delicacy is deceptive—they want to devour the world.
The novella wants nothing to do with the immense, the encyclopedic, the all-conquering all-devouring prose epic, which strikes it as an army moving relentlessly across the land. Its desires are more intimate, more selective. And when it looks at the short story, to which it’s secretly akin, it says, with a certain cruelty, No, not for me this admirably exquisite, elegant, refined—perhaps overrefined?—delicately nuanced, perfect little world, whose perfection depends so much on artful exclusions. It says, Let me breathe! The attraction of the novella is that it lets the short story breathe. It invites the possibility of certain elaborations and complexities forbidden by a very short form, while at the same time it holds out the promise of formal perfection. It’s enough to make a writer dizzy with exhilaration.
JSAnd how do such characteristics impact the novella’s form? Is it worth trying to talk about the peculiar nature of that form, or does that simply head us into the land of “There are as many forms as there are…,” etc.?
SM The novella isn’t really a form at all. It’s a length, and a very rough length at that (sixty to a hundred pages? Seventy-five to a hundred and twenty-five pages?). In this it’s no different from the short story or the novel, which are frequently called “forms” but are in fact nothing but rough lengths. A true literary form exists only in the fixed poetic forms: the sonnet, the villanelle, the sestina, and so on. But having said that, I don’t mean to suggest that nothing more can be said about the novella. Length invites certain kinds of treatment rather than others. Just as a very short length is likely to concentrate on a very short span of time (say, a crucial afternoon), in a tightly restricted space, with a very small number of characters, and an extensive length is likely to cover a great stretch of time, in a wide variety of settings, with many characters, so the novella length seems to me peculiarly well suited to following the curve of an action over a carefully restricted period of time, but one wider than that suited to the short story, in a small number of sharply defined spaces, with two, three or perhaps four characters. To be more precise than that is to risk insisting on proper behavior. But the novella is much too alive to be asked to behave properly. Compared to the short story, it’s a length that hasn’t even begun to be explored.
JSPart of the revelation of Edwin Mullhouse for many readers was its ability to render the intensity of attention involved in childhood perception: how certain objects, especially for children, become luminous, if not numinous. Does what you’re doing—when it’s going well—feel like aesthetic problem solving, or more exalted than that?
SM Hmmm: aesthetic problem solving. That sounds like the sort of thing a sly critic might wish to say about a book he particularly dislikes. Of course, there’s no getting around it—one thing you relentlessly do when you write is solve aesthetic problems. But to leave it at that! No, when things are going well, the feeling I have is much more extravagant. It’s the feeling that I’m at the absolute center of things, instead of off to one side—the feeling that the entire universe is streaming in on me. It’s a feeling of strength, of terrifying health, of much-more-aliveness. It’s the kind of feeling that probably should never be talked about, as if one were confessing to a shameful deed.
JSAnd is that a feeling that seems important in terms of understanding childhood?
SM Yes, so long as it’s clear that, for me, childhood is above all a metaphor for a way of perceiving the world.
JSIn that we’re all, if we keep our eyes open, in the position of confronting barely apprehensible wonders?
SM Exactly.
JSMany of your works play off literary antecedents in affectionate and complicated ways. Does that mean you’ll reread The Romance of the Rose or “The Cask of Amontillado” half thinking it might engender a story of your own? Or do you continually tell yourself you’re just reading?
SM It may be that I’m deluding myself, but I never have the sense of looking for inspiration in my lustful, wildly irresponsible reading. What I’m looking for, I think, is pleasure so extreme that it ought to be forbidden by law. As for the engendering of stories: that, for me, is a mystery I don’t pretend to understand. I not only don’t know what gives me the idea for a story, I don’t even know whether it’s proper to say that what comes to me is something that might be described as an “idea.” It’s more like a feeling, vague at first, that becomes sharper over time and expresses itself after a while in images and then in oppositions that might develop into protodramas. A murky business, at best. But once a story starts taking shape in my mind, if that’s where it takes place—I think it takes place all over my body—then it’s fed by everything in my experience that can feed it. And part of my experience is a mile-high mass of books, which I sometimes draw on deliberately to create certain effects. I’m reluctant to talk directly about my work, for fear of harming it with deadly explanations that I’m bound to regret, but let me try just a little. When I wrote Edwin Mullhouse, I made use of a number of models, such as Leon Edel’s five-volume biography of Henry James, Nabokov’s Pale Fire and Mann’s Doctor Faustus. But to say that any of those books somehow engendered my own would be, I think, false. My book came from something deeper, more personal, more intimate, more ungraspable, more obscure than other people’s books, though at the same time it was pleased to make use of those books in order to become itself, in order to give birth to itself. Books as midwives—maybe that’s what I mean.
JSBooks as midwives makes sense. But when asking about how much your reading engendered in you, I didn’t so much mean ideas as feelings: so much of your fiction seems to come from deeply personal responses to already-created worlds, to previous stories: Tristan and Isolde’s, or Don Juan’s, to cite the most recent examples. Is that another way of maintaining what you called that discipline of distance?
SM It’s true that I sometimes make deliberate use of existing stories, though it’s also true that I very often don’t. Insofar as I do, it is, yes, one way of maintaining a necessary distance, for the paradoxical sake of closeness. But I think something else is also at work. When I make use of an existing story, I take pleasure in participating in something beyond myself that is much greater than myself, and equal pleasure in striking a variation. I take pleasure, you might say, in acknowledging the past and then sharply departing from it. And there is something to be said for releasing oneself from the obligations of relentless novelty; a certain kind of insistent originality is nothing but the attempt of mediocrity to appear interesting to itself.
___ Book
Steven Millhauser In the Penny Arcade Dalkey Archive Press
'This collection of works from the early 1980s by Millhauser starts off with August Eschenburg, a prototypical tale which serves as the template for several later Millhauser works, most notably Martin Dressler. The middle section is composed of three stylistically linked forays into the classic short story mode, each of which stages an elaborate wedding of location with season to produce an exquisite evocation of an exact yet unnameable emotion, and each of which manages to pull it off. The stories that will really having you reaching for the champagne to celebrate their success, however, are the three that close out the volume, and most especially the titular tale, In the Penny Arcade. This story reacheds the summit where so many others have fallen short in capturing that oh-so-elusive scene in which childhood ends. It distills this instant in an essence that is as momentous as it is bittersweet. This story is bracketed by a pair of equally successful distillations, first of childhood, and the other of tradition.'-- Copacetic Comics
____ Excerpt
Cathay
BIRDS
THE TWELVE SINGING BIRDS in the throne room of the Imperial Palace are made of beaten gold, except for the throats, which are of silver, and the eyes, which are of transparent emerald-green jade. The leaves of the great tree in which they sit are of copper, and the trunk and branches of opaque jade, the whole painted to imitate the natural colors of leaf, stem, and bark. When they sit on the branches, among the thick foliage, the birds are visible as only a glint of gold or flash of jade, although their sublime song is readily heard from every quarter of the throne room, and even in the outer hall. The birds do not always remain in the leaves, but now and then rise from their branches and fly about the tree. Sometimes one settles on the shoulder of the Emperor and pours into his ear the notes of its melodious and melancholy song. It is known that the tones are produced by an inner mechanism containing a minute crystalline pin, but the secret of its construction remains well guarded. The series of motions performed by the mechanical birds is of necessity repetitive, but the art is so skillful that one is never aware of recurrence, and indeed only by concentrating one’s attention ruthlessly upon the motions of a single bird is one able, after a time, to discover at what point the series begins again, for the motions of all twelve birds are different and have been cleverly devised to draw attention away from any one of them. The shape and motions of the birds are so lifelike that they might easily be mistaken for real birds were it not for their golden forms, and many believe that it was to avoid such a mistake, and to increase our wonder, that the birds were permitted in this manner alone to retain the appearance of artifice.
CLOUDS
The clouds of Cathay are of an unusual purity of whiteness, and distinguish themselves clearly against the rich lapis lazuli of our skies. Perhaps for this reason we have been able to classify our cloud-shapes with a precision and thoroughness unknown to other lands. It may safely be said that no cloud in our heavens can assume a shape which has not already been named. The name is always of an object, natural or artificial, that exists in our empire, which is so vast that it is said to contain all things. Thus a cloud may be Wave Number One, or Wave Number Six Hundred Sixty-two, or Dragon’s Tail Number Seven, or Wind-in-Wheat Number Forty-five, or Imperial Saddle Number Twenty-three. The result of our completeness is that our clouds lack the vagueness and indecision that sadden other skies, and are forbidden randomness except in the order of appearance of images. It is as if they are a fluid form of sculpture, arranging themselves at will into a succession of imitations. The artistry of our skies, for one well trained in the catalogues of shape, does not cause monotony by banishing the unknown; rather, it fills us with joyful surprise, as if, tossing into the air a handful of sand, one should see it assume, in quick succession, the shape of dragon, hourglass, stirrup, palace, swan.
THE CORRIDORS OF INSOMNIA
When the Emperor cannot sleep, he leaves his chamber and walks in either of two private corridors, which have been designed for this purpose and have become known as the Corridors of Insomnia. The corridors are so long that a man galloping on horseback would fail to reach the end of either in the space of a night. One corridor has walls of jade polished to the brightness of mirrors. The floor is covered with a scarlet carpet and the corridor is brightly lit by the fires of many chandeliers. In the jade mirrors, divided by vertical bands of gold, the Emperor can see himself endlessly reflected in depth after depth of dark green, while in the distance the perfectly straight walls appear to come to a point. The second corridor is dark, rough, and winding. The walls have been fashioned to resemble the walls of a cave, and the distance between them is highly irregular; sometimes they come so close together that the Emperor can barely force his way through, while at other times they are twice the distance apart of the jade walls of the straight corridor. This corridor is lit by sputtering torches that leave long spaces of blackness. The floor is earthen and littered with stones; an occasional dark puddle reflects a torch.
HOURGLASSES
The art of the hourglass is highly developed in Cathay. White sand and red sand are most common, but sands of all colors are widely used, although many prefer snow-water or quicksilver. The glass containers assume a lavish variety of forms; the monkey hourglasses of our northeast provinces are justly renowned. Exquisite erotic hourglasses, often draped in translucent silks, are seen in the home of every nobleman. Our Emperor has a passion for hourglasses; aside from his private collection there are innumerable hourglasses throughout the vast reaches of the Imperial Palace, including the gardens and parks, so that the Turner of Hourglasses and his many assistants are continually busy. It is said that the Emperor carries with him, sewn into his robe, a tiny golden hourglass, fashioned by one of the court miniaturists. It is said that if you stand in any of the myriad halls, chambers, and corridors of the Imperial Palace, and listen intently in the silence of the night, you can hear the faint and neverending sound of sand sifting through hourglasses.
CONCUBINES
The Emperor’s concubines live in secluded but splendid apartments in the northwest wing, where the mechanicians and miniaturists are also lodged. The proximity is not fanciful, for the concubines are honored as artificers. The walk of a concubine is a masterpiece of lubricity in comparison to which the tumultuous motions of an ordinary woman carried to rapture by the act of love are a formal expression of polite interest in a boring conversation. For an ordinary mortal to witness the walk of a concubine, even accidentally and through a distant lattice-window, is for him to experience a destructive ecstasy far in excess of the intensest pleasures he has known. These unfortunate courtiers, broken by a glance, pass the remainder of their lives in a feverish torment of unsatisfied longing. The concubines, some of whom are as young as fourteen, are said to wear four transparent silk robes, of scarlet, rose-yellow, white, and plum, respectively. What we know of their art comes to us by way of the eunuchs, who enjoy their privileged position and are not always to be trusted. That art appears to depend in large part upon the erotic paradoxes of transparent concealment and opaque revelation. Mirrors, silks, the dark velvet of rugs and coverlets, transparent blue pools in the concealed courtyard, scarves and sashes, veils, scarlet and jade light through colored glass, shadows, implications, illusions, duplicities of disclosure, a profound understanding of monotony and surprise—such are the tools of the concubines’ art. Although they live in the palace, they have about them an insubstantiality, an air of legend, for they are never seen except by the Emperor, who is divine, by the attendant eunuchs, who are not real men, and by such courtiers as are half mad with tormented longing and cannot explain what they have seen. It has been said that the concubines do not exist; the jest contains a deep truth, for like all artists they live so profoundly in illusion that gradually their lives grow illusory. It is not too much to say that these high representatives of the flesh, these lavish expressions of desire, live entirely in spirit; they are abstract as scholars; they are our only virgins.
BOREDOM
Our boredom, like our zest, can only be as great as our lives. How much greater and more terrible, then, must be the boredom of our Emperor, which flows into every corridor of the palace, spills into the parks and gardens, stretches to the utmost edges of our unimaginably vast empire, and, still not exhausted, but perhaps even strengthened by such exercise, rises to the height of heaven itself.
DWARFS
The Emperor has two dwarfs, both of whom are disliked by the court, although for different reasons. One dwarf is dark, humpbacked, and coarse-featured, with long unruly hair. This dwarf mocks the Emperor, imitates his gestures in a disrespectful way, contradicts his opinions, and in general plays the buffoon. Sometimes he runs among the Court Ladies, brushing against them as he passes, and even, to the horror of everyone, lifting their robes and concealing himself beneath them. Nothing is more disturbing than to see a beautiful Court Lady standing with this impudent lump beneath her robe. The ladies are nevertheless forced to endure such indignities, for the Emperor has given his dwarf freedoms which no one else receives. The other dwarf is neat, aloof, and severe in feature and dress. The Emperor often discusses with him questions of philosophy, art, and warfare. This dwarf detests the dark dwarf, whom he once wounded gravely in a duel; so far as possible they avoid each other. Far from approving of the dark dwarf’s rival, we are intensely jealous of his intimacy with the Emperor. If one were to ask us which dwarf is more pleasing, our unhesitating answer would be: We want them both dead.
EYELIDS
The art of illuminating the eyelid is old and honorable, and no Court Lady is without her miniaturist. These delicate and precise paintings, in black, white, red, green, and blue ink, are highly prized by our courtiers, and especially by lovers, who read in them profound and ambiguous messages. One can never be certain, when one sees a handsome courtier gazing passionately into the eyes of a beautiful lady, whether he is searching for the soul behind her eyes or whether he is striving to attain a glimpse of her elegant and dangerous eyelids. These paintings are never the same, and indeed are different for each eyelid, and one cannot know, gazing across the room at a beautiful lady with whom one has not yet become intimate, whether her lowered eyelids will reveal a tall willow with dripping branches; an arched bridge in snow; a pear blossom and hummingbird; a crane among cocks; rice leaves bending in the wind; a wall with open gate, through which can be seen a distant village on a hillside. When speaking, a Court Lady will lower her eyelids many times, offering tantalizing glimpses of little scenes that seem to express the elusive mystery of her soul. The lover well knows that these eyelid miniatures, at once public and intimate, half-exposed and always hiding, allude to the secret miniatures of the hidden eyes, or the eyes of the breast. These miniature masterpieces are inked upon the rosy areola surrounding the nipple and sometimes upon the sides and tip of the nipple itself. A lover disrobing his mistress in the first ecstasy of her consent is so eager for his sight of those secret miniatures that sometimes he lingers too long in rapturous contemplation and thereby incurs severe displeasure. Some Court Ladies delight in erotic miniatures of the most startling kind, and it is impossible to express the troubled excitement with which a lover, stirred to exaltation by the elegant turn of a cheekbone and the shy purity of a glance, discovers upon the breast of his beloved an exquisitely inked scene of riot and debauchery.
p.s. Hey. ** Thomas Moronic, T! Ah, the icing on the cake! Wait, the cake itself! Gorgeous, intuitive powers, great NYD gift, I liked his lyrics, forever in your debt, love, yours truly. ** Keaton, Happy morning of the beginning the next one! I'm only semi-broke, but I didn't do nothing. Did you? Oh, interesting, I think I like neuroticism in movies? Hm, have to ponder that. I never read horror literature. Not now. I mean horror fiction. I mean with a capitol H. I should? Life as a spa. There's another one. You're like the self-query generator today. I appreciate that. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. See, I'm such an ignoramus when it comes to religion that I never had any idea that Catholicism had anything to do with Potter's stuff. ** Sypha, HNY! I love that your favorite is the boy who insists that anyone who gets to have him has to eat his shit. And, to quote him, 'Not just once, daily at least.' A match made in heaven, ha ha. ** Etc etc etc, Hey! You're back in the Big Everything. I mean NYC, not here. Los Feliz rules, which is why I've hung onto my apartment there even though I only go 'home' maybe once a year at this point. Paris in the wintertime, sigh. It wears it so incredibly well. Uh I think the interviews are going okay. Slow on my end, given my schedule. One of them, which is about my gif novel, is going to be on VICE when the novel comes out. Exactly, sending out your stories, more than why not. My NYE was mellow if not even sub-mellow. Did you go out and roust people or get rousted and all that good stuff? ** Steevee, HNY, Steve! The slave posts are quite labor intensive. Generally, they take me, say, two to three weeks of pretty much daily searching and gathering to make. 95% percent of slave profiles are utterly matter of fact and just repeat a very samey list of fetishes, wants, limits, etc., and are not useful for my purposes at all. There definitely aren't a plethora of the type of slaves you see here, no. They are extreme exceptions and weirdos in the field, for sure. Say how you took to 'Interstellar' or not? I have so little interest. I'm virtually positive it'll end up being something I watch on a tiny screen on a long plane flight. ** _Black_Acrylic, Thanks for alerting your friend. Hopefully he's still speaking to you, ha ha. I stayed in too. The only NYE-like moment was when I went downstairs and outside to smoke, and some kids threw a firecracker through the Recollets's gate, and it was dud. I know your 2015 is going to rock everything, so you don't need any wishing, but I wish for a rocking 2015 for you anyway. ** Kier, Ha ha ha, how do you do that? Nobody's ever mutated my name in such a genius style before, not ever. People's imaginations stop dead at Dennis the Menace. Oh, it's Stephen. His name was just a victim of my rushing yesterday. I wonder if he gets upset when people call him 'Steven'. Or I guess I mean when they address him in writing as 'Steven'. I don't think I want to find out. Too much chocolate and coffee, yum! I think your NYE sounds perfectly respectable except for your feeling like shit at one point, obviously. Yesterday, mine, was, as predicted, all about being over at Zac's film editing. We started on Scene 5, and we worked for a long time, and we got pretty far for a single day's rough work. I always thought Scene 5 was going to totally amazing, even while we were shooting it, and I think it's really going to be. So we were both very excited while editing. Other than stopping to eat quesadillas, that's all we did from morning 'til evening. And we'll continue today as soon as Zac wakes up. He went to a NYE party, so I'm not sure when that'll be. We're under a new, tightened deadline to get a rough cut of Scene 5 done and up on Vimeo for our producers to look at tomorrow morning before we have a big, scary Skype meeting with them tomorrow afternoon, and getting that done in time going to be a severe toughie. It's very complicated scene to edit. Part of the scene is set in a room full of video monitors that are being controlled by someone who's watching/ monitoring someone else through a whole bunch of surveillance cameras and a flying drone camera, and we shot most of the scene with actual surveillance cameras and a helicopter-drone camera, and all of that footage needs to be selected from and then composited onto the video monitor screens, which were filmed blank. Anyway, I'm not sure if that makes sense, but it's a very labor intensive thing, and we're only going to be able to do a crude approximation for now. So, that was my day, and it was very good. I didn't do anything for NYE. Nothing, zero, other than what I usually do post-editing. I was asleep by 11 pm. Don't care. I've always hated NYE. I've never been much of an alcohol imbibing person, so I don't see the point. How did 2015 begin for you, my pal? ** Schlix, Same to you big time, Uli! ** Slatted light, Slatterific! Hi, David! You did come back! Awesome! I'm super optimistic about 2015 too, but I'm kind of always that way, I guess. Ah, shit, about the filled positions, damn. Anytime, man. Thanks about the drool re: my gif novel. I'm kind of really happy with it. And thanks a bunch for the link to Amy McDaniel's new project. It does look super-promising, and the bookmark is already in place. Oh, wow on that reading choice. Huh. I ... okay, if that choice was mine and if my eyes/brain were to be the winner in that contest, I think I would pick the Harryette Mullen because I like her stuff a lot and because I think that's where my mood is divining the best fuel? But you probably can't lose either way. Let me know what you chose and what it did to you, please. I've actually been checking this newfound, kind of great mostly used English language bookstore here in Paris called Berkeley Books for Rene Char's 'Hypnos' for the past bit. Yeah, excited for that. Love in its regard seems fateful. You sound great! Happy New Year, buddy boy! Love, me ** Misanthrope, I bet you guffaw really good. You seem like you could do the definitive guffaw. Thank you for representing my no doubt relatively pitiful guffaw so lustrously. HNY! ** Okay. Mark Gluth and I were talking about Steven Millhauser right here the other day, and it made me want to do a Millhauser post, and I chose the book up there because it had the most generous online excerpt, and it's great, as are all of his books that I've read anyway, and, yeah, enjoy. See you tomorrow.
__________ COHungear moi 'While most of the previous COH records openly shy away from accentuated beat structures and instead build up their rhythmical content by layering waves and pulses, every track on TO BEAT is padded with just that - beats. The music transition is illustrated in the album's artwork, displaying transformation of a sine-wave, a tone, into a waveform which is "beat". This mathematical progression is made audible in the album's opening track WAVE TO BEAT. The rest of the album, however, steers clear from dull math and presents the beats in their more traditional context of what could be referred to as "adventurous dance music", taking the listener through various examples of beat use with the sense of playfulness and joy.'-- Editions Mego
___________ ShiftedSecond Wash 'There's been a clear direction of development in Shifted since it started, but up until now calling any of it something other than purist techno would be stretching things; Brewer would no doubt wholeheartedly agree with this assessment. Certainly his 2013 Bed Of Nails album presented a tenuous step away from the harshly clipped, razor edge techno he initially become known for, with the duskier sound palette and feedback-laced soundscapes taking in elements of pure noise and industrial music. Over the nine pieces here, for the first time the overriding aspect of the works is not techno, but instead Brewer's increasingly adept sound designing, and much more than before, there's an organic element that indicates he's gone past mastery of production design and into performance flourishes. Turning up the volume on most of the tracks here yields a techno beat somewhere in the arrangement, but more often than not it's buried in the mix, awash in layers of static, droning synthesiser textures, and often missing essential elements that create a much more impressionistic outcome than he has attempted in the past.' -- collaged
______________ Hiss TractsHalo Getters 'Hiss Tracts is the long fermenting collaboration between David Bryant (Godspeed You Black Emperor!) and Kevin Doria (Growing) that began with Bryant engineering three Growing albums from 2006-8. The partnership evolved, and they began making instrumental music together for the films of Karl Lemieux (GY!BE’s current projectionist). The duo produce a singularly haunting sound on their debut under the name, combining vital pre-established elements - Set Fire to Flames’ mysteriousness, Growing’s gentle meander - yet quickly establishing a signature all their own. The album moves forward as a dreamlike patchwork, with flickering dulcimers melting into decayed cassette tape drones, cut up dictaphone whispers morphing into cinematic ambience, and the ever-present sprawl of the pair’s electric guitars droning, fluttering and yearning in equal measure throughout.'-- Drowned in Sound
_____________ Noveller No Dreams 'Noveller is the solo project of Brooklyn-based guitarist and filmmaker Sarah Lipstate. She has performed in Rhys Chatham’s Guitar Army, and as a member of Glenn Branca’s 100 guitar ensemble. In March 2008, Lipstate joined Brooklyn art-rock outfit Parts & Labor as their guitarist. Her sounds drift from moments that conjure vivid mental movies to something more amorphous and undefined—more visceral than visual. According to press materials for No Dreams, these songs explore “blurred perception of reality and hallucination in the twilight of sleep and awakening.” The result is intoxicatingly hazy music, more fit for a half-remembered nightmare than a movie, with images flickering in and out of focus inside Lipstate’s shadowy soundscape.'-- collaged
_______________ Rie NakajimaOn The Desperate and Long-Neglected Need for Small Events 'Rie Nakajima is an artist, originally from Yokohama, who lives and works in London. She studied art history and aesthetics at Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music, and sculpture at Chelsea School of Arts and Slade School of Fine Arts in London. Her activities are mainly concerned with creating sound-based installations and performances. In both fields, her work develops from observing physical responses to the context of spaces/places by using sound and visuals. For materials she combines found objects, toy instruments, kinetic devices, and audio equipment. She has exhibited at SoundFjord (London), Void+(Tokyo) , and has performed at Experimental Intermedia (NY), Milton Keynes Gallery (Milton Keynes), Hamburger Bahnhof (Berlin), Phonofemme (Vienna) and others.'-- monoskop.org
_______________ Jar MoffTziaitzomanasou 'As both a visual and musical artist, Jar Moff's approach to composition is not dissimilar to Burroughs' infamous cut up technique. With his latest audio product, a large archive (more than 220 samples) of musical fragments were collected, cut, colored, spliced and repurposed to manifest a multilayered montage, one whose source material becomes unrecognisable, masked to the point of camouflage. The sound-design is astonishingly dense as a result, an extricable weave of analog, digital, organic, and synthesised sounds whose effect has an unusual physicality to it, making Financial Glam both strongly visual and extraordinarily immediate.'-- The Quietus
______________ M.E.S.H. Imperial Sewers 'M.E.S.H.'s “Scythians” and “Imperial Sewers” both feature vocal cut-ups that wouldn’t feel out of place on Oneohtrix Point Never’s R Plus Seven, but their context feels much more grounded in the demands of club rhythm than an exploration of a hyperreal, futuristic VR simulation. Even so, the dense layering of audio on Scythians does create unusually spatial relationships for club music. Varying amounts of reverb and echo drench each stratum, the size and level of which determines the location of particular sounds in a simulated sonic space. Each layer seems to occupy a different area, as if Scythians itself is a massive club with different shows occurring in a variety of rooms, linking up with each other along a rhythmic axis. Whipple guides the listener through the complex’s liminal spaces, alternately swelling and burying sounds in the mix as we step through its thresholds.'-- Tiny Mix Tapes
______________ Olivia BlockOpening Night 'Ever since her 1999 debut album Pure Gaze, Olivia Block has been exploring the surprisingly ephemeral sonic differences between field recordings, chamber music, and electroacoustic improvisation. With each successive release, Block’s disparate sound sources have grown more and more synthesized into a coherent unified whole. Block’s music plays with idiomatic instrumental technique and an extreme integration of sound worlds to create totally new acoustic spaces. “Opening Night” begins with a near Ligeti-esque cloud of voluminous harmonies that eventually gives way to clicks and clacks that seem to come from within the ensemble itself, but gradually transform into something that sounds natural yet completely alien and warped.'-- Tiny Mix Tapes
_____________ Locust Sky Black Horses 'After the Rain is the latest offering from Mark Van Hoen and Louis Sherman's Locust project. Following up the 2013 release You'll Be Safe Together, this new album sees Locust stepping away from the abstracted forms of previous works, presenting a more melodic/harmonic proposition. Bathed in a warm nostalgic memory, After the Rain draws on Mark's formative influences, primarily '70s electronic music. With greater input by Louis Sherman (who, although being born when Mark was originally taking in this music, shares an equal enthusiasm for this particular period of European melancholic machine music). Unlike previous Locust and Mark Van Hoen releases which relied on programming and sequencing, much of this new record was played live, creating a space where innovation is secondary to the suggestive power of time, space, mood and melody. Rich in melancholia and a yearning for a world once suggested, After the Rain explores a crack in the historical framework, one embracing female identity and astute observations of melodic atmosphere. After the Rain is a melodic electronic mood record which presents itself as a triumph of historical revisionism.' -- Forced Exposure
_______ tētēmaTenz 'While many music lovers have spent fall buzzing about the first new Faith No More album in 18 years arriving in 2015, another noteworthy project of FNM’s Mike Patton has simmered below the radar of the mainstream music community. Tētēma, the joint project of the prolific, multitalented vocalist and Australian composer Anthony Pateras. With Geocidal, they dismantle common notions of “place” (both geographic and of social construct), and use its destruction as a springboard into an alternate universe where identities are rebuilt and seemingly anything can happen. Recorded across several continents with an ensemble of accomplished musicians, the duo sculpt industrial noise, electronic beats, jazz, neoclassical, field sounds, tribal rhythms and even some quasi-traditional pop into an amorphous beast that is unlike anything else.'-- Wondering Sound
______________ Monopoly Child Star SearchersBouganvillea's Shallow Lobe 'Monopoly Child Star Searchers is the creative audio project of Spencer Clark (a.k.a. Charles Berlitz, Black Joker, and Vodka soap, as well as 1/2 of Skaters), whose Romance Audio trilogy under the moniker has sought to explore a metaphysical relationship with an aviary sherpa. Clark has worked with an array of artists, including James Ferraro, Mark McGuire, Dolphins Into The Future, and Orphan Fairytale. His sounds as Monopoly Child examine esoteric and spiritual concepts through hypnotic layers of rhythm and melody, and might be exoticist if you find “the outerzone of infinite space” exotic.'-- Underwater Peoples
______________ Lee GambleMotor System 'The creative arc Lee Gamble’s music has taken is a strange and wonderful thing to behold. It began with a literal tearing apart of his influences, and then set off on a journey to see how much further away he could progressively move from them. His first full-length release, Diversions 1994-1996, tore passages from jungle mixtapes, stripped all the beats out, and reimagined them as dysfunctional bad dreams. The word “abstract” is never far away when people reach for descriptions of the London-based producer—and with good reason. Gamble’s music is staged in an unusual place, somewhere between the unreal and the all-too-real, where wretched drug experiences at past-peak club hours somehow end up in a form of metaphysical drift into the following morning.'-- Nick Neyland
*
p.s. Hey. ** Sypha, Hi. Ha ha, oh, I do know that by now, James. ** David Ehrenstein, An auspicious start! ** Steevee, Cool, I hope Millhauser's work pleases you. Looking forward to your film review. Everyone, Steevee has reviewed the 'newly controversial' film 'Foxcatcher'right here. ** Etc etc etc, Hi. The Barthelme comparison re: Millhauser is really lazy and unhelpful. It's like the endless Burroughs comparisons my stuff gets. That fiction burn-out you're going through sucks, but, I don't know, maybe it's good for the actual writing? I could see that. 'Masterful' is such a weird term. I mean the idea that there's this thing that writing can become that could be mastered by one writer such that other writers doing that thing in some way or other would be consequently lesser. I like to think that in writing everything is collectively owned and can never be perfected or finished. Or something. That steam organ thing sounds awesome. Joy Williams, so great, so distinct, I think. Definitely one of my very favorite American writer/stylists. Have a superb day, buddy. ** Kier, How do you keep doing that with my name? Wow. I'm shocked by my name's malleability in your mighty mind. It's so cool. I ate Mac & Cheese two days ago! Your non- or non-ish day is a good bed fellow with mine. No, circumstances beyond our control, or beyond my control at least, ha ha, caused yesterday to be a complete wash-out on the editing front, so Scene 5 won't be visible to the powers that be today. It's still where it was the last time I wrote here, but hopefully we'll have a long, productive editing session today so we can get it Vimeoed by tomorrow, which was our original deadline anyway, and hopefully that won't make the Skype session later today scarier still. So, yesterday I mostly waited to see if we were going to start editing and did other work on the blog, my text novel, correspondence, email interviews, etc. while I was doing that. It was fine, but to describe it would be to describe me sitting at my laptop with fingers moving and various expressions, most of them samey variations on 'concentrated', crossing my face, which isn't easy to do. I went out looking for food to buy at one point, but everything was closed. It seems like store owners here take New Years a lot more seriously than they did Xmas, which surprised me. So I ended up in the train station across the street buying and then eating muffins while watching people get on and off trains. It's the train station that handles trains going to and from Germany, so most of the people were German, I think. Uh, yeah, that's kind of the story of my yesterday. Blah. Today will hopefully matter more, and I'll let you know. What did ... shit, it's Friday already, weird ... Friday have in store for you? ** Misanthrope, Oh, my pleasure on the guffawing compliment. I hope I get to see you actually unleash one of those in person one of these days. I'll try to pre-plan doing something that will cause that to happen. HNY to you! I don't think I know Harold Jacobson. He doesn't ring a bell. Why is it called 'J'? ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi, Ben. Thank you. We need a wish of 'every success'. Much appreciated. That sofa time sounds really nice. It does. I got tingly and relaxed just imagining it. ** Chris Dankland, Hi, Chris! I've been wondering and wondering how you are! I've missed you! This is awesome: seeing you! Oh, so are you not handling ALG anymore? Man, concentrating on your writing is such the genius move in my humble opinion. Nice Austin Islam quote. That's a really good way to think about it, for absolutely sure. Real Pants seems really good. I just got alerted to it yesterday. And Enclave too, yeah. I had the same worry about the post-Alt Lit scandal effect, or I guess I wasn't sure how damaging that would be to people's reading and writing. But, from way outside the situation, it seems more like a decentralization has happened, or a new configuration has arisen or something mostly. I don't know. I was really happy to see the new 'Shabby Doll House'. I feel like that couldn't have come at a better time. Anyway, yeah. So good to see you, my friend! Please please hang out here as much as seems fruitful to you in your own great efforts. ** Keaton, Hi. Is that quarter in the cabbage thing one of those kooky New Years ritual things like eating black eyed peas? Over here they have Galette de Rois (sp?), these flat cakes that have a porcelain toy-ette baked into them, and if you get the slice with the porcelain thing inside, you not only get broken teeth, you also get good luck for the whole year. Oh, old Horror stuff, or stuff with classically spooky, anticipatory sounding titles. Okay. It is going to be great New Year! It really is! I really think so too! ** Bill, Hi, Bill! Happy 2015 to you too! Welcome back! Was Vietnam fun or interesting or did it have a quality that doesn't belong under the descriptive powers of those two adjectives? ** Mark Gluth, Yay. I'm so happy that you, of all people, liked the Millhauser post! Ultra-happy New Year, man! And, oh, I loved your Listi interview! ** James, Hi, James! 'Edwin Mulhouse' is one of my all-time favorite novels, yeah. Well, why not read another Millhauser instead of rereading 'EM'? He's almost always great. I think, as of this moment, that I will be visiting LA next at the beginning of March. I'm pretty sure that's going to happen, and, oh, am I looking forward to it. I haven't been to LA in over a year! Much love back. ** Slatted light, Hi, D! Cool about the Mullen. Yeah, seems completely logical that it would be great. The Carson too, I have no doubt. I.e., don't hate me, Anne, if I may call you Anne. I've actually heard of 'Lake Mungo'. I made a note to watch it at some point which got covered over in the gigantic pile of crap and non-crap on my desk. Cool, I'll make a new note and float it on the pile's top. Ha ha, good joke! And rimshot! I'm going to try to remember it because I only remember 3 jokes which I have now told everyone I know so often they are drones. The musical ones, not the flying ones. Good question about our film's future. Our producers are extremely cagey and vague with us about that stuff. I think there's some kind of deal in the US with some company who put a little money into the film's production in return for getting to do a really limited theater release and release the DVD. Otherwise, I don't know. I think the plan is to get the film into the best festivals possible, hopefully build buzz and then get swamped by distribution offers? Our producers seem to be into keeping us in the dark. But maybe I'll know more soon when we finish the film, hopefully sometime this month. Cheerio for now in return! ** Okay. You get another gig today, this one featuring new stuff I've been listening to, and please have at it. See you tomorrow.
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