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p.s. Hey. ** Keatred, I like that name. Indeed. Flying’s for the birds. You qualify. Me too sometimes. Never seen hide nor hare of any mile high stuff. ‘Lief’! I haven’t seen that word in ages. It’s weird/sweet to see it again. No, you didn’t tell me that about your hearing, but, yeah, it’s understandable. No wonder you like it. That’s why Ween exists? Eternal mystery solved. I don’t think anyone has ever simultaneously hugged and bitten my leg. Separately and for wildly diverging reasons, yes, I believe so. Thank you! A first! ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Thank you for the Kinski poop. Yes, Lagerfeld. Well, if his wishes are granted, there will be no public memorial and his ashes will be scattered near his mother’s grave in Germany, but we will see. ** Corey Heiferman, Hi, Corey. Your Wenders story is so much better let’s just agree it’s true. Wait, tickets to the Eurovision finals? Like the televised shebang itself? Oh, dude, you should so do that. I would so do that if I could. Hold up a sign that says, “Hi Dennis” or something better. ** _Black_Acrylic, Glad you enjoyed having her blank filled in. Man Parrish! Man Parrish Stories! Whoa, I’ll check that out. I haven’t thought about MP in ages. Huh. Thanks, Ben. ** Aaron Nielsen, Hi, A! Here’s hoping that nasty cold wraps up suddenly. That’s really great news that you’re working on stories, much less that you’re eyeing a collection of them! Well, I think you know I’m super obsessed about editing too, so I big-up the value of that approach and simultaneously hope it’s much more pleasurable than painful. Great, really happy to hear you’re writing! And hot for the results! I was sad about MRnR’s print death, like everyone, I guess. That was such a Bible for me for a long time. I would love to read your KK review, yes! Do you have my email? I’m forgetting in my jet lag. [email protected]. Really nice to get to talk with you. ** Bill, Thanks, man. I am, perhaps, slightly less lagged today if this morning isn’t lying to me. Isabella Eklofâs ‘Holiday’: curious, I’ll see if I can find something of it to test out. Wait, how was your gig? ** Steve Erickson, Hey. Oh, okay, I bet I can find that remix somewhere using the Arthur Baker info. Thanks. And do link me up to that site, yes, if you don’t mind. ‘ David Faustinoâs hip-hop album, produced by members of the Pharcyde’: what?! Okay, I’m pulled. I just read something extraordinary about ‘An Elephant Sitting Still’ the other day. Wow, that really sounds like something. Surely one of Paris’s many adventurous film venues will show it. I have not seen that Wertmuller film, no, but I must say I’ve never seen a Wertmuller film that I didn’t think was terrible. Have you? ** Right. Today you get a random, kind of whim-y post that may or may not charm, I’m not entirely sure. See you tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
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Karl Lagerfeld has left his entire fortune to his cat.
A queen after my own heart!
Has anyone in here gone “backstage” with a pass? What happened when you did? Was it worth it?
I love flying, sorta. Mile High Club, yeah right, Im lucky to make the can crawl out of bed club haha. The airport near my house almost looks as bad as Charles DeGaulle nowadays. “You have landed in the year 3000.” The ears thing is weird its probably going to make me deaf someday in some GodForsaken place. When it pops its often times a hard rip through my throat and head. I like the name changes. Im exploring that Phobia is the Fredian concept par-excellence. Your legs are probably atheletic, not sure, legs make me dizzy. Cos we all know Maury aint gotta firm it, that Dennis you are my babies daddy, stole me from my Grandpappys lap like Billy Idol, but Steve Roggenbuck, you know he get these titties hard. In all non-seriousness though, “Lief”! So my neighbor used to own a production company and I used to run when I was a wee teen. I would always be placed in the middle of the hallway for the Love In An Elevator effect. Some would just walk by. Some would stand in front of me. Some would have me run them around town. And sometimes wed just fucking kick it! I worked for Country, I worked for Rock, I worked for Theatre. Sad about Lagerfeld just heard. Every morning I eat the same thing, a chocolate covered yellow cake donut, reminds me of his chocolate boyfriend sculpture. MTV was style, House of Style was the greatest painting of a vagina since Georgia O’Kieffe, are you kidding me, Cindy Crawford, Kate Moss, Naomi hit me! Fashion was out of control in the 90’s. Todd Time. I seem to always arrive in Paris for fashion week. Fun convincing (using a little Barthes)the fashionistas that I was a bigwig with the Gap. Lagerfelds motorcycle dress is the reason I fap to this day! RIP
Heres some of my blog stuff… keatons blog/a>
Kind of find it funny that Heart embarked on something called the “Cleavage Tour.”
Almost half done Tosh Berman’s book, greatly enjoying it. Especially like reminisces of the childhood comic books he read… I was a Zorro/Batman fan myself…
Dennis, To follow up on DavidE’s question: you ever go backstage? If so, was it what you expected?
I would’ve liked to have had a backstage pass to a One Direction concert. đ
I was watching a Suede video recently, and a commenter said that he got to meet Brett Anderson at an early show. Small gig. Brett was out amongst the people during the opening act. He said it was interesting because at the time Brett was in his very androgynous, effeminate stage but when he was offstage he was very masculine with none of the femininity you’d expect. Just a “regular ol’ guy.” I don’t know how I feel about that.
How you feeling? Lagged and all?
I’m in the middle of my 4-week course of antibiotics. My voice is almost back to normal. The coughing has pretty much stopped. I’ve been getting a good deal of writing done. Federal offices in DC are closed today due to snow/sleet/ice. It’ll be in the 50s here tomorrow. More writing to do today. I’m rounding into the homestretch.
I’m going to see Mark D. Saturday at Politics and Prose. Bernard is supposed to be there. It’ll be a good time, I’m sure. My friends DR and Antifa might make it too. Might.
LPS sprained his ankle really badly Monday. We thought it was broken, big ol’ knot sticking out the side of his ankle. The swelling and bruising were crazy. But no break, no fracture; however, they suspect a torn ligament. He has to see a specialist this week. Kayla was funny: “Oh, no, he’s gonna miss school.” Fucker hasn’t been to school but about 4 days in the last 40. Walks in one door and out the other.
Then his girlfriend broke up with him yesterday. I was at work and came home to craziness. He’d destroyed her phone and a lot of his room. My mom burst in his room and the girlfriend was on top of him wailing away, with him saying, “Hit me in the face.” Fucking guy is kerazy. I don’t know what’s going on there. I’ve got info that he’s been doing pills too. Ugh.
Otherwise, things are fine. Hahaha.
The Jay Leno pass looks really easy to forge. As in stoner who doesn’t know shit about desktop publishing easy to forge.
I worked as a runner at a big benefit concert in Central Park a few years ago. I had a memorable lunch with one of Rihanna’s bodyguards in the Craft Services tent. I say the experience was memorable yet I haven’t the slightest recollection of what we actually said to each other.
When I was in a bizarre romance with an internationally acclaimed organist I found myself backstage at Carnegie Hall after his recital. It was a pretty boring room except for a pair of daddy types in leather who caught my attention and piqued my imagination about social circles I knew existed but previously had no access to, but I was too sheepish to really engage and was smitten with the organist anyhow. He’s a textbook closet case so his sheepishness was like a million times meeker than mine. I sometimes wonder what might’ve happened if that night had gone differently.
My boyfriend started saying today that the Eurovision tickets aren’t really worth it unless we get the VIP tickets and those are extremely expensive why not just watch it on TV yadda yadda and I just smiled and nodded and saw an opportunity to turn them into a surprise birthday present.
Do you remember the LA punk band Backstage Pass? Did they record anything?
When that blog goes live, I’ll post the link. He also sent me a hip-hop remix of Andrew Dice Clay’s “Mother Goose’ routine that set it to a James Brown sample. I shut it off after a minute!
AN ELEPHANT SITTING STILL opens for a week-long run at Lincoln Center on March 8th, with KimStim distributing it in the US. I’d assume it has a French distributor too.
I like Wertmuller’s first film, which is an uncharacteristically relaxed story of male slackers hanging around a small Italian town in the mid ’60s. It feels a lot like Fellini’s mellower early work. I haven’t seen that much of her work, but I’ve disliked all the rest. However, I have a DVD of SWEPT AWAY lying around, and I think I should give it a chance at some point this year.
I got an offer to stream CULTURE SHOCK on a new TV/web channel. I’m not sure if it’s worth taking seriously; I would need to pay a lawyer to go over the contract they would send me, and I really doubt I could make enough money from them to even earn back that money. The owner says he will split the profits he makes from showing it with me, but I doubt there will be any from a 9-minute short, and since it’s a start-up, he can’t give me any viewership figures or tell me how much other filmmakers have made. In the meantime, I would have to take it off Youtube, but I think I benefit from the fact that anyone can see it there now with no strings attached and I have control over that (unless YT suddenly goes under or decides it violates their terms of service, of course, but I’m leery of giving up control over my film to a startup even though I’d retain the copyright.)
it sure was great seeing you…too short…but I’m begrudgingly used to that. We talked about “Clear Light”, right? I think I mentioned that “way back when” I was acquainted w/ Bob Seal (the lead guitarist). He was in pretty bad shape but was really really nice…funny guy. He was playing bass in a sort of Pogues-ish band…weird right? Anyway…I looked him up and discovered that he died this last January. I wrote to the guy who was in that last band w/ him…and he hadn’t heard that Bob had died. I felt bad. I took it for granted that he would have known because they were really close. But…maybe not so weird…Seal had been in a coma for a couple of years. Still it made me feel bad to be the purveyor of reality. So…we talk about “Clear Light” and that brought me back into contact with an old friend…that’s good. Anyway…I love you…thanks for being. xxoo M
These are so great, Dennis. I am charmed. I especially covet the Slayer Reign in Pain one. And love that Napalm Death is so appropriately crust punky. And bonus to whomever decided that Willie Nelson’s is a sheriff’s star. Hope you are back to being un-lagged. Where you able to get some Kraft Mac N Cheese while you were in LA? -B
Never had a backstage pass in my life, but as a schoolboy I’d go see a lot of 90s Britpop bands and would sometimes pathetically hang around the venue before gigs hoping to score a few autographs. Blur sadly never came out to meet their waiting fans but I did get a signed Shed Seven poster one time. All of that era was forgotten about once I discovered nightclubbing a few years later.
I just received an email from the Bret Easton Ellis Podcast saying that some guy named Dennis Cooper is this week’s guest on the show. It’s kind of late so I’ll wait til tomorrow morning before I discover what you think of the Eagles haha.
Hey Dennis, Holiday is interesting, but if you haven’t seen Borders, I’d say that’s higher on my list.
Very nice pass collection! I’ve never had one either. I suppose these days it’s all boring barcodes? Zzzz.
The gig went well. And the timing was lovely: no rain when we were loading up or tearing down, but a shower in the middle of our set. You could really hear it on the roof of the space! The performers in the other sets were so envious (it’s that kind of crowd).
Saw the Chinese art after 1989 show at SF MOMA yesterday. Some nice pieces, and good to see documentation of the 90s performance art which was all the rage back in the day. It’s co-organized by the Guggenheim, so it should travel; not sure if it’ll get to Paris. And I had to pop in to the small Paul Klee/Prinzhorn collection room again. It’s mostly Klee, DuBuffet and Ernst, no surprises, but nice.
Bill
Hi Dennis! Good to have you back at the regular time, whether it wakes me up or not! I think my best (and only) backstage pass of my life was when Nureyev invited me backstage at the Met to watch his Romeo and Juliet from the wings (when I chauffeured him). It was pretty thrilling and I always think of him when I hear Prokofiev’s score and his bawdy choreography (giving the middle finger) to the famous opening. I may have mentioned this here before, don’t remember, but my mistake was trying to talk to him after Act I, which he was not happy with. But at the end of the ballet (with his huge ovations) – he was glad to talk to me. One of my many chauffeuring treats, when I was a young, cute chauffeur, back in the day.
And just remembered – when I was in 5th grade, my family got an actual backstage pass to meet Mary Martin in her dressing room on the last day of her show Jennie, which was a flop, but I loved it. My mother was friends with someone who was friends with Mary Martin, so we got to meet her – right after JFK’s assassination, and I remember Mary saying how sad it was. I was so in love with her – she touched my face, and I never wanted to wash it again.