A Favorite Scene in Basquiat
Cindy asked me to post this. We watched the film again tonight and, again, this scene struck us as great wisdom presented in an unusual way. Isn’t that the way it often arrives?
from the spam
intense expected 1979 android
For Cindy
The Sweet Science
Big Think on pugilism:
When legendary sports aficionado Bert Sugar watches boxing he sees skill and intellect. “Boxing,” he says, “is one of the most beautiful sports in the world” because the best boxers not only have superior skill—whether it be fast hands or a shattering knockout punch—but also the intelligence to exploit their relative advantages in the ring.
Disney has closed Miramax
Founded by producers Bob and Harvey Weinstein back in 1979, Miramax flourished as an independent distribution and production outfit, before becoming part of the Disney empire in 1993…. During its heyday, Miramax was regarded as arguably the industry’s most respected and influential production company. But in recent years its output has been downscaled by Disney, and its demise was predicted long before today’s closure of its offices in LA.The six Miramax pictures that are currently awaiting distribution – including John Madden’s The Debt and Last Night, starring Keira Knightley – now face an uncertain future.
Well that’s a pity.
Good Thing it Wasn’t Bobby Goldsboro
A man has been ticketed for rocking out to John Denver.
Avatar for the Atari 2600
[via Boing Boing]
Arrest thine gaze
Sleeping in mah pimp coat.
Cooper and Sheila
Forgive me for taking the low road.
We Have A Winner
Daryl and Renner know that, for over 25 years, I have obsessively compared performances of Voodoo Child (Slight Return) by Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. I’ll listen to one performance, then another. I’ll listen to a different Vaughan performance (there are more live recordings of Vaughn than Hendrix), then go back to one of Hendrix’s. Just when I’d determine one’s delivery superior, I’d hear something new in a performance and change my mind.
But last week, I reached a decision.
Tragedy
Tragedy is the No. 1 Heavy Metal Tribute to the Bee Gees in the Tri-State Area, New England, the United Kingdom, and eastern Pennsylvania.
Help. I want a taco
Anybody remember a movie, probably from around the 70s or early 80s where the final scene is in an ambulance and the protagonist (some sort of renegade cop I think) is about to die, and everyone is sad, and then he peels off the life support mask and hoses and says, “I want a taco”. And that’s how it ends.
Google has been of no help. It may be some other food item, but I’m pretty sure it’s Mexican food, and I think it was Al Pacino, or someone like that that, in the vein of Serpico or French Connection, a misunderstood cop.
My obsession with tacos is flaring up, to the point where I think I need a TACO tattoo. And this line keeps popping me in my head.
Of course I could’ve dreamt this, or could be making it all up. In which case, anybody else that dreamt the same scene will come across this page and rest assured they are not alone.
iPod versus the Walkman
13-year-old Scott Campbell swaps an iPod with a Walkman for a week:
It took me three days to figure out that there was another side to the tape. That was not the only naive mistake that I made; I mistook the metal/normal switch on the Walkman for a genre-specific equaliser, but later I discovered that it was in fact used to switch between two different types of cassette.
Another notable feature that the iPod has and the Walkman doesn’t is “shuffle”, where the player selects random tracks to play. Its a function that, on the face of it, the Walkman lacks. But I managed to create an impromptu shuffle feature simply by holding down “rewind” and releasing it randomly – effective, if a little laboured.
I remember the first time I had to use a rotary phone, I was clueless.
Handbags from Old Car Interior Fabrics
Kim White makes handbags out of old stock of automobile fabrics from the 60′s and 70′s. Not only are they attractive, but I would imagine that they would be quite durable as well. You can check out more of her line on her website.
Farrah’s gone
Calling Steve McKelvey of Texas
Some of you might remember this photo from a while back. But, especially after speaking of him many times at clusterflockstock, I really, really need to find my old pal, Steve. So Steve, if you find this, leave a comment. I have a lot of interesting people here who want to meet you!
In lieu of (or in addition to)
Gram Parsons, I’d like to offer you Graham Parker.
Fish Feeding
Other monkey business and musings on the meaning of “vacation”…
it’s official
We now have a 1979 category.
1979: The Year We Met
…and Cindy and I have been together ever since. Our long lost friend Steve is on the left.
1979: annus nautilus
those were happy days, remember Rod Stewart ‘i am sailing’ well maybe it came later… cringe, thats me in the middle, o and good heavens i just remembered Melanie’s ‘i got a brand new pair of roller skates’ and me mother’s knitted jumpers
1979: Annus Mirabilis
That does it. This is it. 1979 marked some kind of something, the likes of which we may never again witness.
Published in 1979: India’s brilliant How to Care for a Guinea Pig.
another something from 1979
Patti Smith sings “You Light Up My Life” on Kids Are People Too.
Seriously.
(via coudal)
Public Illumination Magazine
Public Illumination Magazine was the first magazine to publish my writing in New York City back in 1982. I remember standing in front of the Gotham Book Mart and seeing that issue in the store window and thinking what a thrill it was. Writers were required to use “an obligatory pseudonym”; I chose “Mike Topp.” I’m still a frequent contributor (though the magazine has since forced me to use various pseudonyms, including “Fitty Sense”) and PIM remains my favorite magazine. PIM’s website: http://www.mondorondo.com/pim/.
Below is from the LA Times:
Public Illumination Magazine (a.k.a. PIM) is entering its 28th year of publication. PIM is a little magazine (2 3/4 by 4 1/4 inches on slick paper) devoted to art and writing (never more than 250 words per contribution). Each issue has a theme. The first issue in December 1979 was devoted to telephones, followed by others on virulence, mass transit, little girls and on to hair, climate, and miracles.
Contributors are being sought for the forthcoming issue on space.
February 14, 1979
Doesn’t “coming out” often endanger those around us? If nothing more than damaging the vision they have of us that we’d rather not damage? The danger? The havoc one can wreak on another when revealing the deepest inside us. This is something I’m working through. (I’m watching for a piece of fiction to reveal itself to me long enough for me to get it on paper.) The impetus for my question? Our pastor last Sunday, posed the question, albeit phrased a little differently. “When were you born again?” Now I was “born again,” first when I was 13 years old in a revival meeting, succumbing to peer pressure to be as those around me. Pastor Scott spoke of when he was younger, when folks would ask him, “Are you born again?” His reply? “Yes.” He said inevitably the next question was, “When?” He had no answer. After several times being questioned with lack of answer, he decided he would answer, “February 14, 1979.” With that answer, most times, no further questions came. Later in his message, he shared that the date didn’t necessarily mark the moment of his salvation, but it marked the first time he kissed another man. He knew forever after he’d been born again.
