Blog Archives
R.I.P., P.K.D.
This week, I’m remembering Philip K. Dick who died after a series of strokes on March 2, 1982. I first read A Scanner Darkly in the early 1990′s. The book was written in 1977, but it takes place in the early 1990′s and I was dumbfounded at how Dick had predicted slacker culture nearly two [...]
Soviet Era Hobbit Film
While the second installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy has brought the J.R.R. Tolkien universe back into the pop culture spotlight, this treasure I just discovered is a crazy/beautiful Arkenstone of its own. Made with no license from the Tolkien estate, this 1985, Soviet era, Russian language film of The Hobbit is as bizarre [...]
Hollywood Babylon
Kenneth Anger’s book Hollywood Babylon made its first appearance in 1965. After less than a week, the book was banned and pulled from the shelves. A decade would pass before the book would be released again. Anger’s underground classic trolls the back alleys and bedrooms of Hollywood during the first half of the 20th Century [...]
Happy Thanksgiving from William S. Burroughs
Thanksgiving is an important day: It marks the beginning of the traditional holiday season for most white, Christian Americans and it reminds all citizens of when we first began to call this land our home. These events have importance in and of themselves and should not be dismissed. However, the world is a more complicated [...]
Mishima: A Life to Extremes
While America marks the anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, right wing politicos and lovers of literature in Japan mourn the loss of their most famous — and infamous — post-war writer every November 25. But who was Yukio Mishima and how did he die? The Guardian provides a [...]
True Shepard
Playwright, actor, songwriter, poet, musician, sex symbol — Sam Shepard has worn many masks over his five-decade career. While his mercurial creative output has acted as a kind of camouflage against any too-intense celebrity spotlights, Shepard’s relative obscurity — for a Pulitzer Prize winner and Academy Award nominee — can also be chalked-up to his [...]
Banned Books and Burroughs
While we all get tired of the endless holidays that have been squeezed into the calendar by charities, special interest groups and greeting card manufacturers, I’m happily celebrating Banned Books Week, which is happening now – from September 22 – 28. BBW was started in 1982 when the dawn of Reagan’s America saw a rise [...]
