Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story via a first-person narrative. The word “gonzo” is believed to have been first used in 1970 to describe an article by Hunter S. Thompson, who later popularized the style.
So last weekend I was about a hundred feet from Donald Trump.
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Filed under Bad Influences, Don't Know Don't Care, Idiot's Delight, Worst Of All
A harsh truth of reality: not every movie gets a sequel, and this isn’t a bad thing. Only one thing grants a movie a sequel; money.
Money and passion are often confused by consumers. They feel the same, in many ways, and they produce similar results. But for creative people, money and passion are completely different creatures. The latter is fuel, and the former is a means to an end. You can possess a passion; money, you can only hold. Continue reading
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Filed under Bad Influences, Faint Signals, Late To The Party, Movies You Missed, Nostalgic Obsessions, Saturday Movie Matinee
Only partially autobiographical.
From BIUL #1.
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Filed under Bad Influences, Comix Classic & Current, Magazine Rack
For an all-too-brief twelve episodes, there existed a program called Exit 57, from 1995 to 1996. If you enjoy sketch comedy, you already know about it. It was the first place most people saw this guy:
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Filed under Bad Influences, Faint Signals, Girls of BIUL, Nostalgic Obsessions
You probably won’t believe this, but when I was a stage actor in the late 90s, I hung around with an actual carny. A guy who really did run off to join the circus as a kid, name of D.C.; a character so colorful, the memories seem like legends. We used to cruise the streets of Savannah in his gigantic box truck and pick up chicks. It was every bit as great as it sounds. Who amongst you can say you’ve been a carny’s wingman?
I have no idea where D.C. went after the century’s turn. Probably somewhere fun and awesome, relatively close to a beach or a circus. Backstage when we were castmates in a production of Brendan Behan’s The Hostage, he would signal an impending night of debauchery by singing “pound note, pound note.”
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Filed under Bad Influences, Faint Signals, Nostalgic Obsessions, Thousand Listen Club
Tears For Fears was a “Second British Invasion” band, meaning they rode stateside on the coattails of MTV’s early-80s saturation. Around 1985, they were ubiquitous. Their single “Shout” is considered one of the most successful and recognizable songs of the 1980s. I swear to god, it played on the goddamn radio every single ride to school. I don’t know if I can claim to like it or hate it; it’s been looping in the back of my head since fifth grade. Actually, yeah. I hate it.
Roland Orzabal was the guy who looked like Jon Cryer’s older brother, and Curt Smith was the other, moodier bloke. Orzabal’s voice is fine, but it’s bass player Smith’s voice that completed the harmonies on their biggest chart-toppers. After Smith departed in 1991, Tears For Fears never recaptured the delirious heights of “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”.
Continue readingComments Off on Hate Proof: Tears For Fears’ “Head Over Heels”
Filed under Bad Influences, Faint Signals, Late To The Party, Nostalgic Obsessions, Thousand Listen Club
In 1991, I used to hang out with these chicks. They were, shall we say, really into a band called Jane’s Addiction. Coincidentally, there is a band I violently detest called Jane’s Addiction. I actually spoke the words “if Perry Farrell comes over here, let’s sucker-punch him” to a friend, during set-up for Lollapalooza 2003 (Farrell luckily didn’t approach.) If you are listening to Jane’s Addiction, and the recording is distorted by a throaty, otherworldly moan, it’s a sure indication that I am within earshot.
Thus, in the spirit of diplomacy, I would engender discussion of music other than Jane’s Addiction that the girls liked. Agent Orange was an easy sell, but then of course they focused on the mushy late-80s stuff, like “Fire In The Rain”. The best album they introduced me to was undoubtedly Primus’ Sailing The Seas Of Cheese.
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Filed under Bad Influences, Faint Signals, Thousand Listen Club
2009 was a tense year for BIUL; I was still decompressing post-movie production, and dealing with myriad life-changing bullshit. At some point I drew a comic strip about Living Colour.
No idea who the woman with the awful hair is supposed to be.
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Filed under Bad Influences, Comix Classic & Current, Faint Signals
Fruit is a humorous word, as is fruity; “fruitiness” is inherently funny. I’ve never been called a fruit, but I don’t think this affects my judgment of it; I’ve been called a “faggot”, and I still laugh at that word. How can you not crack up at words that rhyme with “agate” and “toot”, particularly when they’re barked in anger? “Agate” is funny-sounding. “Faggot” is just “agate” with a funny hat. See what I mean?
Okay, I know it’s a fine line. What isn’t these days, when it comes to sharing dialogue? My point is, “fruity” used to be a thing. One needn’t necessarily be gay to be fruity, or even queer. Fruity is a sort of indefinable mien, typically the product of societal constraints, resulting in a general state of fruitiness. Like weirdos, fruits don’t refer to themselves as such, but are so named by the more ignorant of the species. To the unknowing, it’s like calling someone a “chair”, or a “table”.
As entertainment continues to move away from “hurting feelings”, a load-bearing pillar of basic comedy, another flavor of humor has been lost.
Fruit flavor.
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Filed under Bad Influences, Faint Signals, Nostalgic Obsessions, Saturday Movie Matinee
From BIUL II
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Filed under Bad Influences, Comix Classic & Current, Idiot's Delight, Magazine Rack, Nostalgic Obsessions
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