—-
‘You keep dwelling on my arrogance. I can act arrogant if you want, but I believe I’m only arrogant when it’s time to get paid. I’m arrogant when people don’t want to pay me my share, or when I have a musical project that I believe in and others don’t get it. I’m actually a nice guy who likes to make music, but there’s always someone who wants to say no. When you say no to me, I use atomic bombs. I’ll beat the shit out of you. I’ve been in the Army. I’ll fight you over a guitar solo. I have an IQ of 164. Everyone’s slower than me. I was a freshman at UCLA when I was 14. I first retired at 24, and I’m 72 years old now and dating a 20-year-old. To paraphrase the Queen of France in ‘Cyrano de Bergerac,’ Act One, Scene One, after the Queen of France tells Cyrano that he’s a wonderful man: ‘No, your Majesty, I do wonderful things.’ — Kim Fowley
‘One of the most colorful characters in the annals of rock & roll, Kim Fowley has been, over the course of his decades-long career, a true jack-of-all-trades: singer, songwriter, producer, manager, disc jockey, and published poet. He was also the catalyst behind much of the music to emerge from the Los Angeles area during the 1960s and ’70s, guiding his associates and protégés to fame and fortune while remaining himself a shadowy cult figure well outside the margins of the mainstream. As a recording artist, songwriter, and producer, he has sold over 102 million records in a career that covers five decades.
‘Fowley’s scattergun career in the music industry has been as varied and eccentric as it has been eternal. He has generally remained on the fringes of the mainstream industry, free to immerse himself in obscure and offbeat projects while occasionally stumbling on (and then happily milking) commercial success. Of all his ventures, he is perhaps best known for being behind a string of novelty and/or cult rock 45s during the 1960s and for conceiving and managing girl punk group The Runaways in the 1970s.
‘The son of actor Douglas Fowley (Singin’ in the Rain), he was born July 27, 1942, in L.A., and made his first recordings with drummer Sandy Nelson during the late ’50s. After working with a number of short-lived groups including the Paradons and the Innocents, Fowley found his first taste of success by producing the Top 20 hit “Cherry Pie” for schoolmates Gary S. Paxton and Skip Battin, who performed under the name Skip & Flip. With Battin, Fowley next created the group the Hollywood Argyles, who topped the charts in 1960 with the novelty smash “Alley Oop.” The duo subsequently masterminded Paul Revere & the Raiders’ first hit, “Long Hair,” and in 1962 launched the Rivingtons, scoring with the classic “Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow.” Another novelty hit, B. Bumble & the Stingers’ “Nut Rocker,” reached number one in the U.K., and in 1964 Fowley even began handling promotion chores for singer P.J. Proby.
‘In the mid-’60s, Fowley became immersed in the Los Angeles counterculture, befriending Frank Zappa and his band the Mothers of Invention, and later appearing on their Freak Out! LP. A prolific songwriter, he also composed material for the Byrds, the Beach Boys, Soft Machine, Cat Stevens, and Them, and produced the likes of Gene Vincent, Warren Zevon, and Helen Reddy. Finally, in 1967 Fowley issued his own solo debut, Love Is Alive and Well, a record that found him closely aligned with the flower power movement. A series of solo records followed, including 1968’s Born to Be Wild, 1970’s The Day the Earth Stood Still, and 1973’s International Heroes, but none garnered the commercial success of so many of his other projects.
‘In 1975, after completing the LP Animal God of the Streets, Fowley returned to his Svengali role by assembling the notorious Runaways, a teenage hard rock girl group featuring a young Joan Jett, Lita Ford, and Cherie Currie. Designed as a manufactured novelty, the scheme was entirely successful, and after the original group splintered, Fowley even launched another Runaways in the ’80s. (Another girl group, the Orchids, was his idea as well.) Still, his standing within the upper echelon of the musical community has greatly diminished over the course of the following decades; although he has continued recording, most notably with 1980’s Hollywood Confidential, 1993’s Hotel Insomnia, and 1995’s Kings of Saturday Night (a collaboration with Ben Vaughn), his music remained primarily of interest to his die-hard cult following.’ — collaged
_______________________
The Hollywood Argyles Alley Oop (1960)
‘Kim Fowley and I were living in a $15-a-week room in Hollywood…. Since I was still under contract (to Brent Records) as Flip, I couldn’t put my name on “Alley Oop.” Seeing that the studio was on the corner of Hollywood Blvd. And Argyle Street, I decided on Hollywood Argyles… Richard Podolor’s studio American Recording Company in the Hollywood Palladium building is where the song was recorded… Other than myself, there were no actual Hollywood Argyles. Everyone else on the track was either a friend or a studio musician who I paid $25 apiece for the session. When ‘Alley Oop’ suddenly took off and people wanted to book us for concerts, there was no such group.’ — Gary Paxton
_________________________
B. Bumble & the Stingers Nut Rocker (1962)
‘In 1959, Earl Palmer, René Hall and Plas Johnson, all African American musicians from Louisiana, were the house band at Rendezvous Records. Hall came up with the idea for B. Bumble and the Stingers. Record producer Kim Fowley secured the copyright to an arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s “March of the Wooden Soldiers” from the Nutcracker Suite. Released as “Nut Rocker” in February 1962, with Fowley credited as producer and songwriter, the record went to # 23 in the US and # 1 in the UK. Such was “Nut Rocker”‘s popularity in Britain that a touring group, with Hazan and R. C. Gamble, was flown over in October 1962 to promote the follow-up, “Apple Knocker”, based on Rossini’s William Tell Overture. However, neither that record nor the next release, “Dawn Cracker”, based on a piece by Grieg, were successful, and no more B. Bumble and the Stingers records were issued after 1963.’— rockabilly.nl
_________________________
The Murmaids Popcicles and Icicles (1964)
‘The Murmaids were a one-hit wonder all-female vocal trio composed of sisters Carol and Terry Fischer; and Sally Gordon. Terry Fischer would recall that from the time the Murmaids met producer Kim Fowley “within…three months we had recorded the single, recorded an album and … had risen to #3 … the downside is it lasted about 6 months and then it was finished. When “Popsicles and Icicles” was a hit, we had calls from every major record company and mother said “No, Chattahoochee Records owner Ruth Conti took a chance on us and we’re gonna stick with her. I guess we did about two television shows and a local concert here. And that’s all we did. At that time, we got a statement from the record company charging us an exorbitant amount of money against royalties. Everyone else got paid. Kim Fowley got paid. The musicians got paid. We were paid nothing”.’ — oldies.com
_______________
Kim Fowley The Trip (1966)
‘“Summertime’s here, kiddies…” begins Kim’s adlib vocal installment, issued forth at a lazy pace against equally camel-paced measures. His narrative winds through a back catalogue of deadpan, brainpan imagery that predates not only The Deep’s “Color Dreams” but with the song’s arrangement and organ eventually lifted for The Doors’ “Soul Kitchen,” the title procured by Donovan for the B-side of his 1966 psychedelic single, “Sunshine Superman” and Hapshash & The Coloured Coat chant of “H-O-P-P-Y” mirroring Kim’s own hoarsely barked initialisations, it’s apparent what we have here is a substantial wellspring of psychedelic Rock. Thanks to the burning need in his mind, Fowley delivers a missive supreme in all his improvisational glory of hoarseness, taunts, coaxes, hoaxes and soon enough we’re in “a world somewhere else” he unhesitatingly describes as “A world of frogs / and green fountains / and flying dogs / and silver cats / and emerald rats / and purple clouds / and faceless crowds / and walls of glass / that never pass / and pictures hanging upside down / won’t ask / where you are…”.’ — Julian Cope
_____________________________
The Mothers of Invention Help I’m a Rock (1966)
‘Kim Fowley’s bizarre tenure in the music industry in unparalleled. Often, it’s not even clear why his name has made the credits for a particular recording. According to Fowley’s own website, he added his voice to The Mothers of Invention’s legendary stoned, mind-fucking track “Help, I’m a Rock.” Confirmed years later by Frank Zappa, it seems his voice is the one speaking in tongues most prominently amidst the many weird human utterances running the course of that track. He is credited on the album (Freak Out!) itself as playing ‘hype phone”.’ — MadeLoud
_________________
Kim Fowley Animal Man (1968)
‘“Power, violence, noise, numbers, animalism, vulgarity and pure madness” are the solutions to today’s (well, 1968’s) problems, states Kim Fowley in the liner notes of his first album Outrageous, along with: “Let’s get out of our minds to get back in.” And within mere seconds of side one, he’s already scared off 99% of everyone who ever heard this record. The mayhem begins with “Animal Man,” musically akin to Steppenwolf covering The Music Machine’s “Talk Talk.” Which figures: as Mars Bonfire guests on the album along with (unbelievably enough) three members of Three Dog Night. And over the whole bubblegum/garage whack out is Kim Fowley’s barking vocals, changing tempo and inflection as he raps, flaps his arms, moans, pants, laughs and generally cavorts in front of the microphone like a lunatic.’ — Unsung: The Book of Seth
________________________________
The Byrds America’s Great National Pastimes (1971)
‘Of all the names that appear in the credits of the Byrds’ albums, none is more out-of-place or more reviled than the name Kim Fowley. Musician, producer, writer, impresario, and master manipulator, Fowley is one part Malcolm McLaren, one part Phil Spector, and one part the diabolic protagonist of “Sympathy for the Devil,” turning up time and again at important moments in musical history across several decades. Fowley collaborated with his friend Skip Battin, during Battin’s membership as bassist with The Byrds on a number of songs. Several appeared on the group’s 1970 album, Untitled; and one each from the albums Byrdmaniax, and Farther Along, the latter of which was released as a single: “America’s Great National Pastime”.’ — Byrd Watcher
________________________
Kim Fowley Gotta Get Close to You (1972)
‘“Kim Fowley will scare you to death and you’re going to love it, because Kim Fowley carries juke vibes.” At least that what it says here among the copious back cover liner notes on Kim Fowley’s 1972 album I’m Bad, liner notes which describe Kim Fowley’s lengthy career, his personal life and how, “with the release of this LP, another page in rock history has been written.” Pretty strong words there,
considering here in 2011 the effect on rock music caused by the release of I’m Bad has been…well, I guess it just hasn’t been written about or discussed yet. But it all makes more sense when you see who wrote those laudatory liner notes. On I’m Bad, it appears that Kim Fowley’s body has been invaded by the spirit of Captain Beefheart. Kim Fowley was able to round up some fine musicians: Mars Bonfire, late of Steppenwolf, plays guitar. Pete Sears, late of Hot Tuna and not yet part of Jefferson Starship, plays bass.’ — Collectors Frenzy
__________________
Jimmy Jukebox Motorboat (1973)
‘A couple months ago I took a photo of Kim Fowley and posted it on Facebook with the caption “Kim Fowley Being Evil,” and then Cathy left a comment saying: “I think that’s redundant since he just IS.” Which is so true; Kim Fowley is so evil. But “Motorboat” is a daffy little gem. It’s a single issued in 1973 under the silly pseudo of Jimmy Jukebox, surely because he was under contract with Capitol at the time and that the label would not agree to release such unconventional songs. Recorded and released between the I’m Bad LP and the International Heroes one, it is Kim at his best.’ — Forgotten Songs
________________
Kim Fowley I Hate You (1973)
‘Those who’ve worn out their copies of Roxy Music/Eno/Bowie albums will be thrilled to exhume Kim Fowley’s album International Heroes, a forgotten (or never really even known) specimen of oddball glam. Judging from the cover, he didn’t want to leave anyone guessing about the sound he was shooting for. This platter plays like an instant classic, falling into some no man’s land somewhere between Roxy Music and the New York Dolls. Like Eno, he’s often playing post-punk years before it existed, but Fowley’s songs are looser and more accessible, sure to get you hooked on the first spin. “I Hate You” is a gloomy slice of contempt that’ll leave you feeling good about your shitty mood.’ — Sundazed
_________________________
Kiss King of the Night Time World (1976)
‘Did you know that “King of the Night Time World” was not originally recorded by KISS? The original version was written by Kim Fowley and Mark C. Anthony. When KISS recorded their version with Bob Ezrin, they enlisted Fowley to help change some of the lyrics to better fit the KISS formula. I remember in later years, telling Greg Shaw from Bomp Records about the time I was in dire straits and Fowley had his business manager hand me a check for $500. When I asked how long I had to pay him back, he simply said that KISS had just re-released a best-of box set on CD and Fowley had received a generous advance for his songwriting on three tracks. Shaw was in shock. He said that in all of the years that he had known Fowley, he had never heard of him making such a gesture when it came to money!’ — Aime Joseph
_______________________
The Runaways Dead End Justice (1976)
‘The Runaways were… a conceptual rock project that failed. I created, managed, and produced them, and I wrote or co-wrote seven of the ten songs on their first album. Do I regret that they turned on me? No, I’m glad they turned on me. It shows spirit. If I’m training a wild dog, and it bites my hand, I know I’ve trained it well… My hand is made of iron… That’s all it took, that’s all it took. 16 years old and she’s already a creep. Am I worried about them? No, they’ll be fine. In a few years they’ll all be living in a trailer park in the valley. Fat, pregnant, and happy as fleas on a dog. But me, poor me, I’m on my way to becoming Rock and Roll Legend.’ — Kim Fowley
_____________________
The Quick My Purgatory Years (1977)
‘The Quick put out exactly one album, Mondo Deco on Mercury, which was produced by Kim Fowley and Earle Mankey, a couple of rock veterans who were on the prowl for a marketable new wrinkle. The Quick featured a lead vocalist, Danny Wilde, who went on to front Great Buildings and then the Rembrandts, whose Friends theme song, “I’ll Be There For You,” has been a tremendous success. The Quick wrote most of their own infectious, glucose-rich material, and did a masterful job turning the Beatles’ “It Won’t Be Long” and the 4 Seasons’ “Rag Doll” into peppy pop confections that out-cute the originals by far. Though couched in youthful angst, their tunes, “No No Girl,” “Hillary” and “Hi Lo,” are ooey gooey, good time fun.’ — Bubblegum University
___________________
Van Halen Young and Wild (1977)
‘Venus and the Razorblades were a short-lived New Wave rock band from Los Angeles, put together by Kim Fowley after he severed professional relations with The Runaways. Fowley sought to put together a band with a teenaged male singer and teenaged female musicians backing him up. A cover of the band’s Fowley-penned song “Young and Wild” was a staple of live performances by Van Halen, and they recorded the song in 1977. It was eventually released on the widely circulated bootleg album Blueprint that collects the demos VH recorded for Warner Bros. Records. Fowley was a fervent supporter of Van Halen in the band’s early years, booking many of their initial shows and acting as their unofficial manager.’ — collaged
__________________
Kim Fowley Physical Lies (1979)
‘The Antilles imprint was issuing some unique music in the late ’70s, but the emphasis was on self-indulgence, and Kim Fowley’s Snake Document Masquerade is a prime example of why that formula was not conducive to selling records. The theme to Snake Document Masquerade seems to be Fowley’s look into the future; this 1979 album addresses the years 1980-1989. Snake Document Masquerade (does that sound like a Captain Beefheart title or what?) Fowley’s his twisted idea of a new wave concept album, a vision of ’80s pop apocalypse that gets by on sheer audacity. Musically, it’s a limp mélange of disco, reggae, punk-funk and electronic meditations distinguished by the spacey rap “1985: Physical Lies” (modeled on his ow
n 1966 acid-rap hit, “The Trip”) and robot sex fantasy “1988: Searchin’ for a Human in Tight Blue Jeans.”‘ — Trouser Press
______________________________
Steel Breeze You Don’t Want Me Anymore (1983)
‘Kim Fowley discovered Steel Breeze while going through approximately 1200 demo tapes that were about to be discarded by a local Hollywood night club, Madam Wongs. Chatfield and Fowley flew up to Sacramento and signed the band after Chrysalis Record executive Tom Trumbo told Chatfield he was looking for a band like Journey. Chatfield left Trumbo’s office and went to Fowley’s home where Fowley pulled out the Steel Breeze demo of “You Don’t Want Me Anymore” which they both knew was a hit. It was the first single from the band’s Fowley produced self-titled album and quickly jumped into the Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 supported by a video that was a favorite of early MTV, and peaked at #16. The next single, “Dreamin’ Is Easy,” also made it into the Top 40.’ — Wikipedia
_________________
Sonic Youth Bubblegum (1985)
‘”Bubblegum” was the A-side of the single from Kim Fowley’s 1968 album Outrageous. It should have been a hit since it had all the qualities of a standard. But the times were not ready for it. All they could tolerate was provocation from poets like Jim Morrison, not from someone so “sulfurous” than Kim Fowley. In 1985, Sonic Youth covered this song on the B-side of their “Starpower” single and recorded a great version of it featuring The Minutemen’s Mike Watt on bass. Sonic Youth have made some good cover choices over the years (often displaying their punk influences, such as “Hot Wire My Heart” by Crime, “Nic Fit” by The Untouchables, and some Ramones and The Fall covers), but “Bubblegum” is probably the most fun SY cover I’ve heard.’ — collaged
______________________________
Kim Fowley Back on the Road to Nowhere (1992)
‘Released by the L.A.-based Marilyn label, Kim Fowley’s 1992 self-produced album Hotel Insomnia served as my introduction to Fowley the artist. Responsible for all of the material, judging by these 14 tracks Fowley wasn’t a particularly gifted writer and his singing voice was best deemed an acquired taste – better than Leon Redbone, but not by much. Complete with Al Kooper styled organ, the album’s bluesy ballad ‘Back On the Road To Nowhere’ found Fowley seemingly trying out his best Dylan impersonation. Not exactly the easiest song to sit through. The violin accompaniment sounded like fingernails scratching on a chalkboard. This is one of those albums I’ve listened to at least a dozen times trying to figure out what I’ve missed. I still don’t know.’ — Scott Blackerby
_______________________________
Kim Fowley We’re Not Having a Good Time (1997)
‘Kim Fowley spent some time in Detroit in 1997 recording a record, Michigan Babylon, as the city’s music scene was set to blow up once again. The album features members of such pre-White Stripes era Detroit underground entities as Outrageous Cherry, The Witches, Detroit Cobras, Volebeats, Ghost World, and Robert McCreedy. The sessions were recorded and engineered by Jim Diamond, who later engineered the first albums by The White Stripes. Michigan Babylon sold out it’s initial pressings on the Detroit Electric label. The CD has become a sought after item by members of Sonic Youth, Sound Track Of Our Lives, Sound Garden, and others.’ — collaged
__________________
Kim Fowley School Girl X (2003)
‘Even if some of Kim Fowley’s albums are really nonsense bullshit, a few in the last 20 years have been jewels. The 2003 album Fantasy World is one of them. It consists of what is essentially a collaboration between Fowley and Francis MacDonald, the drummer of Teenage Fan Club and member of BMX Bandits. McDonald plays, arranges, and writes the music for every song on the album, and KF is responsible for the lyrics and the voice. The result is a wonderful album full of songs that would deserve to be standards. KF is very severe with himself in the album’s booklet, saying he’s not the good one to sing these songs and wishing they would be covered by real singers. I disagree. Everything is better when KF sings it. We don’t need good singers. We need real men. And Kim Fowley is real. Few are.’ — Forgotten Songs
—-
*
p.s. Hey. ** David Ehrenstein, Hey. OW and NPH, now that’s a kooky couple. Very nice FB/ Stavisky/ Gaddis mash up there, sir. The word on the Leos Carax has made me extremely excited to see it, I must say. And the basically positive word on the Resnais is great to hear too, but I would see that film no matter what. ** Bill, I was surprised and pleased to discover while making the post that there are still magic shops everywhere and every which way. A majority of them have had to also become costume shops or Halloween supply outlets to survive, but still. Well, I’ll bet your limping is like other artists’ acing, buddy, but, yeah, I understand. I’m guessing you’re post-conference and into the hanging with pals and blood relatives phase now, so dig the time away or the realer time, however you see it. ** Postitbreakup, Hey, J. Cool if it made sense. There’s a Wii ‘Silent Hill’ game finally? Ooh, I think I’ll go check out any trailers and footage that I can find right away. That could so totally be my next system’s destination. I’ve been kind of at a loss. Thanks, man! ** Katalyze, Hey, Kat! Thanks for intersecting the moving’s stress and dustiness to say hey. Wow, so making those are a serious commitment. Interesting. Looking at them, you can’t tell, and I love that there’s all this invisible tinkering behind the careful smeariness. Yeah, count me in the camp that says make more of them, pal. Aw, thanks for adding ‘TMS’ to your luggage. You so nice, duh! Best of the best luck with the rest of your schlepping. ** Alan, Oh, hm, yeah, maybe. I guess I was thinking that the cancer causing agents were the caf equivalent? Weird. ** L@rstonovich, You’re taking me back too, man, sigh. Except, in my case, the airport was Disneyland which used to have the greatest magic shop ever, and except that it was my parents who used to ride in the driver’s seat along with me when we went there. ** xTx, Hey! How so very nice to see you! And I’m so glad you liked it! You good? How’s t
hat novel coming along? ** Natch, Yes, the bad spell between you and the blog seems to have been broken! My blog is censored even in French libraries?! Even in the enlightened land of Sade and Tony Duvert and … ! Well, I certainly appreciate all the trials you’ve gone through to grace my humble home here. And the trials that have and will come along with my stupid inability to speak even rudimentary French. I’ll do my best to make it worth the trouble. ** Cobaltfram, Hey Cf! Oh, no, you didn’t trouble Yury, no worries. I have the DVD of the Burroughs documentary here, but I still haven’t watched it for no good reason. I would imagine that it will be a while before there’s a doc on Burroughs that looks at him and his legacy critically. He remains such an outsider as far as the mainstream and the literary establishment goes, and his work isn’t trending these days like it used to, so the impetus among those who care is still to make a case for him. Anyway, I can’t speak to the effect of the film, but the guy was a mixed bag. The biggest problem I have with him was his willingness to be the ’90s alternative rock world’s poster boy for heroin and for the junkie-as-visionary crap, and, as I think I wrote about in ‘SiH’, I had friends who got into heroin and wound up suffering a lot largely because of Burroughs’ romanticizing of it and soft-pedaling of the destructive aspects. His gun thing doesn’t really bother me, even though the relationship between his gun thing and his wife’s death is definitely weird, because it was part of Burroughs’ Old West outlaw meets uptight gentleman image/schtick, and it was generally framed as a comedy, and I guess I’ve grown more fond of the ‘experimental writer as rock star’ thing that Burroughs and Kathy Acker and a few others practiced now that it’s no longer happening or maybe even possible. (Also, it might be too that I’m living in France where people don’t have guns and where gun crime is incredibly rare.) The equivalents of writer icons like Burroughs and Acker nowadays are artists like Tao Lin and Steve Roggenbuck who become stars through their inventive negotiations of social media, and they’re both great, but it’s a very different kind of stardom. And I do think his work from ‘Naked Lunch’ up through ‘The Wild Boys’ is really great. Anyway, I didn’t know Burroughs well personally, but, long story short, one of my boyfriends was also seeing Burroughs at the same time — he’s in the doc — and my impression was that Burroughs was a decent and kind if eccentric guy. I think I wasn’t in the doc because Burroughs’ manager/ executor James Grauerholz really, really doesn’t like me due in part to that obit in ‘SiH’, actually. That’s really nice to hear that Chad has found a place in his heart for my stuff. I hope I’ll get to meet him not to mention you sometime before too long. Thanks much about ‘God Jr.’ And, sure, we can talk. That’d be great. Just tell me when you want to, and we will figure out a time. Have a splendid day! ** 5STRINGS, Ha ha, no, ‘TMS’ was actually about 400 pages at one point. Shocked the hell out of me. Chubby? My characters? What?! Ha ha, trust me, they’re not. I can’t even think of a not skinny character of mine. Hm, Cricket? I don’t know if I would know a non-cultural world if it shot me in the head. I’m absorbed. ‘Silent Hill’ again. Man, I need to know what you guys are talking about. Gotta get that Wii game. All I imagine now is ‘Resident Evil’ knock-off game, which I know is an illusion. Rock some words, man. ** Bernard Welt, Hey, B. I wrote you back. You have to like ‘Providence’, right? I need to watch ‘Hiroshima’ again. It’s one of the rare Resnais films I never got into or loved or something, I don’t know why. ‘Cabin in the Woods’ was completely delicious. It seemed to reawaken Whedon’s — well, and Goddard’s — ‘Buffy’ era genius and abilities. Of course I have no idea what ‘The Killing’ is, but I’ll endeavor. Things with school phasing down? ** Steevee, Right, ha ha. If I remember the thing I read and was talking about in that intro, I think he was talking about one of the suspects? I guess I’m going to get or try that El-P album. It’s weird ‘cos The Wire was really down on it, and I was surprised that Pitchfork said the opposite. Oh, I see, about the lyrics. Well, yeah, it sounds homophobic, but it also just sounds like some tossed-off frat guy joke, so it seems like a minor infraction to me, but I guess that, unless the lyric is incendiary, I tend to see that kind of thing as just something to take into account about the artist’s music, and whether it works as a repellant or as just a weakness depends on how much I like what balances it out or doesn’t. ** Sypha, Ha ha, oh, I don’t know if I believe that you need Misa’s evil influence to get you to buy a album of mainstream pop sung by cute guys, Mr. James. ** Paul Curran, Thanks, P. Magic shops have outlived video stores, so there’s still time! ** Killer Luka, Well, you should be, maestro. Happy with it, I mean. Back to the soldiers, suave! I want that collected wounded soldiers Kiddiepunk Press book, so keep it going. But spare some of your endless, bleeding hours for Mr. Kartheiser, of course. Oh my gosh, I will love it. How did you know?! ** Bollo, Magic and gifs are like crustaceans and fossils. Yeah, exactly, on the Ikeda thing. Especially once I explain to you the set we’ll be using better. No, I really was terrible at guitar. There’s an old reel to reel tape of my high school band rehearsing that I may be drunk or reckless or senile enough to share someday. ** _Black_Acrylic, Have you got it yet? Are you reading this on it? Is the post sparkling? Am I sparkling? I’m going to be watching your next comment for sparkliness like a hawk. ** Derek McCormack, Derek! Wow, my buddy, my pal, how amazing to see you! I miss you, I love you! How are you? Did you get the package I sent you a while back? I hope so, but I never trust the French mail system totally. You’re so lucky to have gone to Tannen’s. Of all of the shops in the post, that was the one I spent by far the most time exploring through every internet channel available, not to mention wondering why I never knew of it when I lived or even visited NYC. I forget: did you ever go to the Magic Castle? I remember you went to that magic shop on Hollywood Blvd. that I strangely forgot to include in the post. Man, I hope you’re doing as well as possible. Are you writing? It’s so good to see you Derek, I can’t tell you. So much love you can’t imagine! ** Emily, Hi, Emily! Wow, it’s nice to see you! You sound like you were so much like me when you were in kid form. Not that we don’t still have a lot in common, no doubt. How are you? What’s going on? You doing great? This is very cool, having you here. Thank you! ** Frank Jaffe, Hey Frank! Hm, yeah, from my experience, it really is as simple as saying you have someone who can photograph the person, and then either you can set that up, or, usually, editors put the artist and photographer directly in touch via email or phone so they can work out a good time together. No, there’s no money exchanging, no. I’ve never heard of that happening, although maybe it does when it’s a massive movie star or something. Being interviewed and then having a related photo shoot is completely normal. It should be pretty easy, but, of course, it depends on the famous person’s general coolness as a person. Anyway, I say just suggest that the local photographer/friend can shoot the famous person to the famous person, and I would think that won’t be a problem. Awesome about the tattoos and stickers. I’m definitely gonna go for a ltd. ed. if other fans don’t beat me. Is Dan good? I haven’t talked to him in ages. I hope his film is developing well. Oh, hm, on the Skylight thing … give it time. Word of mouth is kind of circuitous in LA due to LA’s shape. Plus, maybe they don’t have it prominently displayed. Maybe I’ll ask Joel to pop down there and slip the copies into the best possible viewing spot. ** Rewritedept, Thanks,
man. No, I just looked for quotes about magic, and the Robbins one was out there somewhere, so I grabbed it. Robbins’ books are still awaiting me. Thanks for reading ‘Closer’ again. Glad your bout of sickness was a mere flash. Otherwise, your days sound like they were pretty good, all in all. Re: my new maybe novel, well, hm, … Long story short, I want to use the novel to write about something that’s very profound and difficult for me, and which I find it very hard to write about or even talk about. I’m trying to find a way to do that. I have a general idea of how I might, and I now have a specific idea of how I can start to do that, i.e. a first section or chapter that will create a physical opening between my intense desire to write about this thing and my inability to do that and between a reader’s willingness or not to go there with me. That section is planned out, and now I’m writing it, and if I can make it work, that will make it more possible to do what I’m thinking, although how I will write directly about it remains a question, and I’m hoping that if this first section works, it will help me figure out how to give voice to what I want. That might make no sense, but that’s where I am at the moment. Thanks for asking, my friend. ** Misanthrope, Hey, G. Oh, cool, thanks for explaining that. I see. Man, I guess writers actually do succeed by using that ‘Writers Marketplace’ thing, but it seems like it would be rarely. And now with the explosion of new presses and micro-presses and the internet as a way to expose your work and make connections, it’s an entirely different world, so I think you shouldn’t hold that failure via the old fashioned route up as any kind of indicator of what could happen. Not that it’s easy, obviously, but it’s much easier, at least. Onwards and upwards in other words for absolutely sure. ** Joakim Almroth, Morning, Mr. A! Thanks! Love and creepiness, creepy love … does it get any better? Well, yes, it does, but it seemed like a thing to say. What’s up, man? Let’s talk very soon! Love, me. ** So, … that’s that. Kim Fowley is onstage at DC’s today, and anything can happen when Kim Fowley has the floor. So, … what happened? I’ll find out tomorrow.
Now available in North America 
This keyboard is still of the non-sparkling variety. I only just missed the cutoff for today's comments, but was about to post this… @ DC and fans of courtroom drama, you might just be able to access the official Leveson site here. Today's hearing of Frederic Michel has the potential to be political dynamite!
Kim Fowley, wow. Don't know why I never got obsessive about him. That could change. Very interesting post. And that's gotta be the first time in this blog's run that you've had the need to include a Kiss video, right? Hmm.
As to the magic shoppes, we have Zakoor's novelty store just a little south down Woodward from me. It's packed floor to ceiling with great stuff, but only some of that is magic, and not very sophisticated. I know I was in a real one when I was a kid, but I don't remember where that could have been.
The installation environments post was totally up my alley; as were Louis Wain's freaked out cats in last weekend's Varioso.
Dennis: Yo. Yeah, I guess I am stuck on this medication for the time being. I'm definitely not gonna get into the whole nightmare of trying different medications. Most of the other ones I already tried made me wobblier than this sometimes does. I really like my main doctor, but I want him to refer me to a better neurologist. The neurological shit has been the main shit for the last few years. I need a better doctor. Then again, I've done a lot of dense reading about neurology, and the grey area about what's ever going on is huge. Sure, it's nice that my eeg is clean and that my mri doesn't show anything wrong with my brain (I'm kinda surprised, ha ha). But, then, what's the root of the epilepsy? Ugh. Sorry to vent too much.
On a lighter note, I guess there's a Leonard Cohen show here in Nov. I haven't looked up the venue or the ticket prices yet… sort of afraid to. The last time I saw him was in 1993, and the feeling was that it was probably the last chance ever to see him. So, I remember decking out what was then big $ to get great seats. He was charming, but creaky even then. I must go to this concert. It would have to be a trip. The only other good shows this year – aside from local bands – are Radiohead and some sort of thing in the DIA with Patti Smith. Who do I have to sleep with to get Leonard Cohen tickets? DEMF is this weekend, but I can't justify paying for that, or sleeping with someone to get in, though that could happen. Ha ha.
Wow, ramble on why don't you, Nick.
Take care, everyone.
Njr
Fascinated by the prospect of a new Leos Carax. Love his work. Totally bonkers and gorgeous, Especially Les Amants du Pont-Neuf. That film took years, cost zillions and brought down three different film production companies before it was completed. It was his love letter to its star, Juliette Binoche. I first met him when Binoche was doing publicity for The Unbearable Lightness of Being. No one in the press corps knew who he was but me. He was trailing behind her like a small whipped dog. Les Amants still hadn't been finished. I next saw him years later in the lobby of the Chateau Marmont. I'd gone to interview Gus. He invited me to a screening of Les Amants in the Big Room at Universal. Overwhelming. Tis was abotu a year before its U.S. release. I've run into him sicne in L.A. almost invariably in front of Book Soup. He speaks perfect english. Do not pass up an opportunity to chat with him him, Dennis. You won't be disappointed.
As for Hiroshima Mon Amour — VOILA!
Hey yourself! I am doing okay, I guess. Novel is slow going but at least it is going. Thanks for asking. PLEASE SEND ME SUCCESSFUL WRITING VIBES! xo
Gee, this guy is Zelig. Wow.
Yeah, of course Providence is one of my favorite things ever–and just for sheer fun, the moment when you're watching it when it kicks in what's happening . . . And I'm a big fan of mon oncle d'amerique, too. And Stavisky. Etc etc etc. This is reminding me that I'm going to reread Calvino's If on a Winter's Night a Traveler . . . soon, one of my favorite works of fiction. (Right now I'm rereading Dombey and Son, cause for relaxation I often go to Dickens, Tolstoy . . . that's the kind of hairpin I am.)
So: Thank you soooo much for your positive (and fast!) response to my proposal. I'll put that together real soon and send it to you. I'm doing some unpleasant mop-up work at the job now, but much of the time focusing on planning the fiction workshop for the fall, and two sections of Dreaming, and even after twenty years I am still finding new areas to go to in proposing dreaming as an object of study, so that is good, and fun. I'm going to the dream conference in Berkeley in June so I'm putting together my presentation on dreaming and education (general humanities and film studies), and another on dreaming and early film, especially Melies, kind of nakedly cashing in on whatever interest people have in "Hugo," which kind of alerted the public to Melies' existence and legacy. But it's a great topic; I really really love working on early film, I think, I hope, for the same reasons why Guy Maddin and Brakhage and other folks have gotten so into it.
Art and I are going on to Sonoma and to Yosemite after the conference and I'm pretty happy cause I've want to see Yosemite since I was a kid. And I love researching trips.
So that's what I'm spending time on. + writing poems. Idea of a poetry MS is not dead yet, really.
Hey DC!
Glad to hear I didn't bother Yury. I do think it's a shame that Burroughs enjoys such a cult status, when, like you said, he gave such a one-sided view of heroin. And yes, I think living in France would give me a much more chill view of guns; just in Waco alone, there's three or four gun accidents killing kids a year that I hear about, not to mention random shootings, etc. It's just a far too easy way to take somebody out, to my mind.
That's strange about Burroughs' manager not liking you; your obit didn't seem vindictive or anything, just honest. And interesting that you two would share a boyfriend; was it something where you two knew it was happening and were quite literally sharing him, or was it something where he was seeing each of you on the side, and then one or the other found out, and it got weird.
As far as Skyping goes, what does Saturday look like for you? I have the day off, and I think I could be done with TMS and have some questions lined up by then, if that's cool. If you're busy, no sweat; Saturdays are always busy it seems, and I don't know how I got the day off. But if you had some time, it'd be great to at least get a conversation started on there. The piece RE your work is growing ever more deep in my head, which is exciting, but it may mean I hit you up for a 2nd or 3rd interview down the line, just as a disclaimer. But yeah, Saturday would be neat, if you're down, and if not, no sweat.
Hope is all going well; I saw where you to rewritedept I think about the new novel, and I hope it's forming for you still. I'm at the point I didn't think I would ever get back to: where I would rather work on my novel, which may never get published, rather than work on the non-fiction, which is almost guaranteed to, at least for now. I love this novel, I think, maybe. It's tricky, because this first 100 pages is just unbearably superficial, with (hopefully) enough surrealism and red flags circling to maintain the reader's interest, but I still think lots of people are just going to give up on it, and I just don't know how to fix that yet, plot-wise, and I think I have things as tight as I can while still establishing the necessary foundation for the rest of the book's structures to rest on and this is a really long sentence. But anyway, I'm glad you're chasing something down, and I hope you continue to get it pinned down — let me know how it goes.
Much love, all the best, send my new unintentional Skype-buddy Yury my regards, etc
JF
Dennis,
TMS is epic! Lucky us, we got some French Hole with TMS. 400 pages Jesus! Ok Larry seemed fat, but I always imagined him a hard little blond. Funny story, my parent's raise my nephew, my parents farm is a kitten-factory, so there's a new litter of kittens. There's one little fat one, my nephew named it "Little Larry" after my dad. I don't know, I thought it was a side effect of the language. There's still bunches of Fletch's about out there. I thought Calhoun looked like Kevin Bacon in Sleepers. Cricket? Got an instant hard-on to Gilman raping Tran the other night. Since the last days of MTV/VH1 I've been very selective about my input. You're one of those guys that would survive a shot to the head. I don't know, I don't think anyone can realize from your pics how "hot" a mess you are %). LOL I cut-up some poor kid to death with a sled at the Pompidou show. Silent Hill, Resident Evil, I don't really know that stuff. The setting takes place in WV, before we had Wrong Turn etc. fame. The setting is loosely based on Centralia, PA. I quit video games at Sega Genesis. It seems to be one of the main obsessions of the 20-something generation. Kim Fowley can write! I generally trace my Rock roots to Kiss and the NY Dolls. You cannot imagine my shock seeing the taxi driver from Scrooched ie. David Johansen as the lead singer of the NY Dolls. I don't know if anyone remembers Pink Floyd or Led Zep. I recently went back through a Kiss boxed-set, my first hard rock song was God of Thunder, I was holding the Alive cover when it came on. My friend was typing on his green/black computer screen etc. I knew it was God. If you listen to their early stuff on through, they had an idea and went with it, built it up, and "You wanted the best. You got the best." Here's a little Silent Hill. Have a kill day
hey D. The magic post was cool. I just got the Taschen book Magic. I've always an interest in ephemera associated magic. The aforementioned book is treasure of reproduced handbills and posters. Plus I've been reading most Jim Steinmeyer's books. Still have the one on Thurston waiting bedside. My fave so far though is one of Dai Vernon hunting down a cardsharp to learn the center deal…Vernon was a very interesting guy.
Anyway, you may or may not recall that in my youth I took lessons at Hollywood Magic. Two years of strange fun. The best part about that was being in the upstairs room after closing…just felt so splendid. Although I remember making fun of how lame Blackstone Jr. was when he came to talk to us…really cheesy. So your post overlaps tremendously w/ where my mind has been for the last couple of months.
Fowley…he was everywhere wasn't he. I remember meeting him a number of times. Sometimes he was very solicitous, and other times totally aloof. I do remember him being at this weird Moby Grape reunion at the dreaded Coconut Teaser. That was the same night I got to remind David LaFlamme that he was the gent who shared an apple with me in Sonoma and I ended up w/ strep throat shortly thereafter…Fowley was very interested in that story at the time.
And…well The Runaways at that party up by Highland Oaks in Arcadia. Ha! Fowley is a good friend of Chris Darrow as well. Which circles this message nicely…Bob Mosley and Darrow collaborated in a short lived band after Mosley played w/ The Ducks. So Cal musical history eh?
We're doing pretty good. Broke but happy. Still reeling from that wedding we went to a couple of weeks ago. In a mansion designed by the same architect who built the Huntington mansion in San Marino. Amazing gardens…acres of 'em! Repleat w/ a classic San Simeonesque pool, a purple '65 Bentley, and great music…fun for sure.
Thinking about what to get Kirk for his Bday…tough one. Probably a gift certificate. Saw your brother a few weeks ago at Arcadia Park. It was a memorial for Bob Norton. Bunch of people I didn't know…and a handful I did. Namely George Davis, Dennis Pocino, John Wood, and McGarvin. It was nice…weird to be in the park after all these years.
Right…I just wrote too much, but I haven't in ages. You'll forgive me I should think. Love you Dennis,
M
Making your way in the world today takes everything you've got.
Taking a break to escape reality sure would help a lot.
Wouldn't you like to get away?
Sometimes you want to go
Where you can learn about French lit,
and which artists should be hits,
You wanna be where you can read about slaves who like to take shits,
There's always something new to see & it's always legit
You wanna go where people know,
they'll always be glad they came,
You wanna read the greatest blog, then DC's is the nameeeeeeeee
xoxo
Hey Dennis and folks,
Sorry, it's been a week from hell. Presented on my research on Tuesday, finished teaching my first ever course this morning (yikes), and had to make a conference paper deadline last night. And then I come back to check out what happened in my absence, and it's like Christmas morning. Love you guys.
Kim is awe-inspiring. What a chancer, what a fighter. Always makes me think of Hunter Thompson's line about "too weird to live, and too rare to die".
Dennis, thank you for talking about my music question. I'll try to experiment with that. I need to play with structures rather than running from them, I think. Two pages into something I turn soggy and deflated like a cornflake, when the state I'm after is melting into it instead, perhaps? There was a whole cereal-based thing planned when I began that sentence. See? Structure.
I think eMusic have a recording of the Concord Sonata, but I don't know how good it is. It's Hamelin, though, so it ought to be pretty good. I've been listening to Patto's "Hold Your Fire" and a posthumous thing called "Ducks In Flight", which is dour jazz fusion, for want of a better word. Something in the tenor of Mike Patto's voice does something special for me.
I'm heading home to the UK on Saturday. Slightly divided for now between excitement (at seeing friends, at knuckling down to my project) and regret / dread at being apart from my better half for the best part of two months. It's a funny one.
Are there writers you think have been more responsible in their depiction of heroin use? What about Irvine Welsh? If one reads Burroughs' novels, especially NAKED LUNCH, carefully, I don't think he actually glorified drug use. At the same time, his drug use did seem to serve as an inspiration to him, and he was all too willing to be an elder statesman in service of heroin chic. By that point, alt-culture was already swimming in smack thanks to grunge, and a backlash to the "just say no" mentality of the '80s was probably inevitable. Burroughs didn't strike me as temperamentally suited to give anti-heroin lectures.
I agree with you that heroin is evil, and I'd throw in coke, meth and (sorry) tobacco. Yet I find most art that starts out from that viewpoint worthless, like CHRISTIANE F. and Darren Aronofksy's film of REQUIEM FOR A DREAM. It plays like one-dimensional Partnership For A Drug-Free America propaganda.
The Killer Mike quote sounds a little better when the threat of violence implicit in "you might get crushed" is taken out, but it still bothers me that no critics seem to have picked up on it in the midst of celebrating this album for its progressive politics. I'm not condemning the album as a whole, but were I reviewing it, I would at least mention those lines. Imagine a riot grrrl album that threw in a line like "don't jew me." Would Pitchfork et al. ignore it?
steevee,
If I may put in my 2 cents. I don't think artists have to be responsible for anything. Burroughs is the only reason I have never shot heroin. I feel he was always highly responsible concerning heroin. He constantly dismissed it as evil. An evil that probably destroyed his career into a sorry mythos. I admit I was furious when I first read Dennis' obit, however, I was still completely obsessed with Burroughs. I think all he cared about in his late career was being old and his methadone shots. I do feel that Dennis was a little hard on him, but hey, fair's fair. Was his art crap? Yes. Was everything after the Wild Boys trilogy shit? Yes. Was he a genius? Yes. Was he evil? Yes. Could he write? He's fucking Burroughs, he wrote Naked Lunch! Is heroin gonna do anything other than get you high, addicted, maybe dead, it's certainly not gonna make you a better writer. As Leary said concerning drugs, "Whatever you do, do it intelligently."
This is the only blog where I've ever seen people intelligently discuss the use of heroin, and I love it.
Also, DC, you asked about Silent Hill. If you have or obtain a PS2, you MUST play Silent Hill 2; it's kind of clunky game-play wise now, but it's a work of art. I mean really, one of the few video games to qualify that label. I'm still furious that the HD remaster of SH 2&3 was such shit; I put down $40 on a game that looked *worse* than the original.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LCl2_DK6QU
Fuck…now I want to go replace my busted PS2 and play this game again. Really, it's one of the best things the medium has seen. As far as the comparisons go to Resident Evil, the story is that, seeing Capcom's success with RE, Konami wanted to try their hand in this new market of horror games and get some of that dough. However, instead of doing the dumb thing most people do these days (completely ape it), they went with a very different approach, one geared toward psychological suspense, a focus on slow-burning scares, an eerie understanding of the ways sexual imagery, child abuse, etc, touch major nerves in the collective unconscious, and created a series of four games that mastered the art of pure, uncontrolled dread. I could talk for hours about the SH games, but the general consensus is that 1 is scariest, 2 is best, 3 is prettiest, and 4 is very divisive (I loved it, lots hated it; formally, it's very experimental, which is what I thought made it great). All the games (except maybe 3) offered surprisingly mature stories, and all four are worth your money and time. After that, Konami started farming the games out to Western developers (the company, I think, started falling on dire financial straits and went through a big shift in management, none of whom gave much of a shit about the games themselves), and they've gotten sucessively worst. The one on the Wii is OK, but the controls are so bad they make sections of it almost unplayable; there's a port of that game, Shattered Memories, on the PS2, and I imagine it would be almost better to just use a joystick. The game had this neat mechanic, and a cool identity-twisty story, but no real scares, and none of the dread. SH: Homecoming was just a wreck, a game that could never make up its mind on what its story should be and so decided to just get over the top and gross and dumb. SH: Downpour is the newest, on the 360 and PS3, and I'm waiting for it to come down in price before I try it — I've heard it's good but, again, not scary or groundbreaking like the originals. Seriously, you want to know how cool SH 2 is? About midway through the game, there's a portrait of David Lynch hung on a wall, almost obscured by shadow but with the definitive hair-do. The developers were huge fans of his work, and it shows, but not in a rip-off way at all.
Love, me
This is the first comment written on the sparkly new keyboard. My fingers look like Michael Jackson dancing the moonwalk in the Billie Jean video.
I just watched that Burroughs doc. Thought it was okay. Would have benefited from fewer narcissistic rock stars and more John Waters.
Here's my review of MOONRISE KINGDOMfor GAY CITY NEWS. I feel like I could've gone on at double the length.
Hi Dennis
if you do then i will find my demo form my band when i was 16, we thought we were sooo edgy, but now sounded like pop. influences on our sleeves type tracks : )
id love to hear about the set if yr willing to divulge.
will i send you an address for the catalogue? my mind has been all over the place the last while.
I think reading the first few pages of "Naked Lunch" at an impressionable age was enough to scare me off from drugs for life! Far more effective than any generic "don't do drugs" lecture IMO. Oh, something else I like about Burroughs I forgot to mention yesterday: he adored cats. I can't really dislike anyone who loves cats.
Dennis, well, Misa probably likes the 1D album more than I do. I've been listening to the new Adam Lambert CD a lot as of recent. It actually hit #1 in Billboard.
I liked how the Kim Fowley rock n’roll clips changed throughout the decades…I was looking up more stuff about his life, and as the anecdotes in your post suggest, he seems like a very interesting person to write a novel about, and a horrible person to be managed by, he keeps ripping people off… I’m going to have that Kiss song stuck in my head for the rest of the night though… “My Purgatory Years” is such a fucking awesome song…
Things are hella humid in Houston, always, like hot breath from an open mouth…which can be really terrible or awesome, depending on whose breath it is…
I’m so fucking happy that Memorial Day is coming up and I get a three day weekend, I'm so sick of work right now…
Also, have you ever seen Network Awesome?
If you haven't you might like it, it's got a lot of cool stuff
i'll just sAAY THE CONECTIOn with you and (whoops) burroughs is annoying.. the obvious connection with gysin then somerville but really you? i find burroughs a proper cunt.. a liar.. i do love some of his books but watch that clip for his camp squeal about wanting to shoot something.. fuck that it if wasn't gysin we wouldnd't know him
super cool post coop.. have you been watching Awake? there's this thing where a character talks to himself in 'colours'.. it's pretty cool and reminds me of the alfonse character if he existed (i don't think he did) and how he exists.
the whole idea of existenz here/oother/avatar i think you're dealing with th at in tms i mean identity is a big thing with you right?
anyway check out the show.. i'm not sure if you're the same but chuck me into the middle of a series and i'll be fine (e13)
shhhushhh1!{[eztv.it]]
I have heard of this guy here and there, but never got the whole picture: wow.
I'm tempted to get an electric cigarette myself. My life has not been the same since it became nicotine-free.
Sypha, I lurve that CD. Let me just say that it fulfills its purpose. It makes me happy. Pure, unfettered, mindless joy. Because most of the time I'm thinking about the stuff that we've emailed about in the (recent) past and something like this fluff is a good balance/distraction. Btw, did you know that Harry is actually singing to ME on that disc?
Dennis, Is it weird that I thought it was you in the first pic at first glance? Like it was from some long ago debauchery like that drag night you fellas had so long ago or something that you posted about on here a couple years ago. Sorry. Totally just popped onto the page and started scrolling and was like, "What?!" Scrolled back up. Whew, what an idiot, Jorge!
Yeah, like I said, that was all pre-internet, so "Writer's Marketplace" and the writing mags were my only resources. Especially out here in bumfuck.
Maybe WM does work for some. It does have just about every agent and publisher in there and the specifics about submitting to each. I'm sure it's all different now with the net. Hell, I know it's different. I keep my eye on shit, hahaha.
It seems there's a lot to be said for networking too. As well as being very aggressive. Well, aggressive without being too much of an asshole. Though there are certainly a lot of assholes in print. ;D
And really, if I get off my ass -something I tell myself every fucking minute of every fucking day- I'll have this current novel done in no time. It's really almost finished. Maybe a couple months' work to finish the first draft? Easily.
Hey.
Thanks. Yeah, I guess I'd consider a place like this a "home" more than any other place I've ever been to.
Nothing to say, really. I'm unemployed and I really need to get a job. That'd be about it, I guess.
Steevee, don't forget the closed quotation mark! I just finished my evil home-rolled American Spirit and it wasn't so evil, it actually was good! (or Beyond Good and Evil at least). I've read that the e-cigs have nicotine in them, but I've never been tempted to try one. Hey Dennis. Finally got the DVD of American Psycho, will prob watch it tonight. I've heard it's good. (Or evil?)
Kim Fowley sounds like an interesting character/performer. He definitely doesn't have the most beautiful pop voice but there's something honest about the off keyedness of his singing that adds a quality to the music. If he had the perfect pop voice i'm not sure the songs would be as affecting.
Been following Cannes through the Guardian. Holy Motors definitely sounds like an interesting films. The couple of clips I've seen look outlandish, intriguing, serious and fun all at once. Hope it manages to come to Perth, Western Australia and I can go up and see it. Looks like you've got a few movie viewing sessions coming up. Anderson, Hanneke, Renais, Carax enjoy the autuers.
Your starting work on the novel sounds intriguing. Good luck with it. sounds like the plan is holding you well and presenting plenty of avenues of exploration.
Back to Mule Variations and my last assignment for the semester.
Hope you had a good day.
Scott
Hello!
Sorry, I feel like it's taken me forever to respond to you.I always keep meaning to, reading your blog a lot but get weird and feel blank.
Think it's partly that I just graduated a month ago and kind of depressed now living with my parents… isn't really awful but I'm in Gainesville and feel sort of shut-in. I think it's all the 'News' or w/e, my parents watch it all the fucking time… it's a really strange thing, like I can't help laughing at it, it makes me sort of… musical? I feel spit up for a moment, but then it just keeps feeding through and ahhhh. and then I am mute sick everywhere
Anyways… I spend most of my time reading. yeah, Blanchot I don't know what to say, endless and shit. But so… like swarm? but pinpricky like… have you read the Animal Man/Swamp Thing comics? I've gotten sort of messed up on those. Looking into many things.
Does your reading just bleed into writing or do you have distinct periods marked off for each? After I read one thing I feel like just sitting and sort of disappearing in the thought of it, something.
So Frank came to visit! Did you guys have a fun time? We met for lunch when he was driving back to Tallahassee and seemed excited with it all/content/but so charmingly Frankish.
Hope all is well!
This comment has been removed by the author.
not quite sure what to make of some of this. i've always loved kim fowley, erstwhile leader of the canyon people. i've never met him but suppose i will sometime because i'm regularly involved with so many people who know him. andrew oldham particularly seems to think they're of a brotherhood of some kind. i can see that comparison in a way. hustlers. i used to hustle too. times square. early '80s. less than a year and then got legit work with the nyc beats that were still alive which branched out into more and more work.
that thing at the end about burroughs and james grauerholz, i'm not sure about. john giorno told me he was distressed about how james came out looking in the docu at the time and then they later seemed to shrug it off after howard brookner died. i can understand that. james seemed to me to be a real stand-up guy and we went out on a couple of dates and he kept bumming cigs because he said he was quiting which i thought was cute but i think he was using me to go around town and be seen with me (cute 19 yr old, didn't think so then) to try to fend off ira silverberg who he was trying to break up with at the time. ira might be a great guy and all but he was pretty coked up back then. but then again i drank too much back then. it all came to a head in a taxi ride with me and ira arguing and james going home to the bunker with us both. james cooked me breakfast in the morning. he's a decent guy. thoughtful. i'm sure ira is now too. that's a long time ago now.
i loved being brought step-by-step thru kim fowley's career. i've got so much of his stuff.
i admire kim very much. yes i do.