Welcome, Why I'm Here, Etc.



Brutally Honest Confession: For years I've written for various publications and websites, and never steered my own damn ship, writing-wise. So that's partially what this site is about: exercising my slightly-atrophied writing muscles, on my own self-indulgent terms.
Mostly, though, it's about sharing the stuff that's wrapped itself around my noggin for way too many years.

That stuff--film, music, and various forms of popular culture and arcana--makes my world go 'round. And it's a blast to share.

Ubersnobby analysis has never been very appealing to me (Hell, I've seen Bruno Mattei's schlocky gutmunch zombie opus Hell of the Living Dead as many times as I've seen Lawrence of Arabia), but at the same time, even the junkiest pop culture detritus reveals pockets of truth 'neath it's cheesy exterior. So herein lies (I hope) some fun.

We'll try to keep things zesty and brief, like a sprinkle of Tabasco sauce in the flavorless gruel of the routine. One regular feature in these postings will be Pop Culture Petri Dish 101, in which a specific topic/genre/personality recieves the Cliffs Notes treatment--introductory history, basics, essentials from that topic/genre/personality, etc. That way, you'll be able to impress a new acquaintance with your knowledge of, say, Italian muscleman movies of the '60's without having to sit through some four-dozen of them like I have (yes, I need help). Moreover, you'll get a chance to peruse somethin' new. I strongly believe that every human being who says they love movies should see at least one Italian sword-and-sandal epic, in the same way they should at least one of every genre of film in existance before departing the confines of this earth. So let this be your Whitman's Sampler of Exotic Treats that you might not have thought to taste. As Sindbad the Sailor once said, "A man who fears the unknown will someday take fright at his own backside." So, drink deep, brave souls. And have fun.

And then, of course, there'll be the obligatory reviews and opinionated blatherings so dear to the hearts of Blog readers and net surfers everywhere. Plus lists. I don't know about you, but I'm a sucker for lists of anything: Ten Bests, Ten Worsts, etc. They're fun and always stimulate thought (or at least get your dander up).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Mining for Overlooked Pop Music Jewels: Jigsaw

Image
Venerable record chain Tower Records filed for bankruptcy late last year, and its demise bummed me out in a big way. I hadn't shopped with frequency at Tower in ages--put bluntly, their steep prices of late alienated me big-time--but back in the eighties the chain's size and diversity did a lot to open my ears. I remember every purchase I made at Tower Records' Tacoma store from my first at age 14 (for the record, a cassette of Led Zeppelin's Houses of the Holy and a vinyl copy of Sparks' Angst in My Pants ), all the way to just before I moved to Seattle at age 21 ( Invisible Lantern by the Screaming Trees --and yes, I AM a big ol' dork for remembering). Rampant sentimentality, however, did bupkis to keep me from picking at the chain's dying carcass late last year like any good bargain-hunter. Right before the Tower Records on 5th Avenue in Seattle breathed its last in December, it bestowed one last parting gift in its final week: a 90%-off sale that drew...
Read more

An Interview with Joe Dallesandro

Image
( I wrote this interview for Seattlest.com , and it is reprinted on the Petri Dish with their kind permission. ) For a minute, it looks like the perfect photo opportunity. Joe Dallesandro—former bodyguard at Andy Warhol’s fabled Factory, star of several key Warhol-sponsored cult films in the sixties and seventies, and accidental avatar of the Sexual Revolution—stands outside the W Hotel in downtown Seattle, his back to me. He cuts an almost dangerous-looking figure. Clad head to foot in black, his compact body sits atop slightly bowed legs in an almost pugilistic stance as he smokes his cigarette. A soul-patched, dark-haired kid stops to bum a smoke, and both figures huddle, almost silhouetted thanks to the overreaching shadow cast by the hotel building, as vaporous off-white ribbons of smoke curl above their heads. But then Dallesandro begins to turn, and I don’t want to come off like some stalker before a formal introduction, so I retreat back into the hotel lobby. The sublime noir ...
Read more

Character Actor Heaven: Hollywood Collectors Show, Feb 2005

Image
Hollywood Collectors' Show, February 18/19, 2005 Character actors are the building blocks of cinematic life. And like a lot of important foundations (architectural or otherwise), they get little credit from the outside world for their contributions. Fortunately, there's the bi-monthly Hollywood Collectors' Show , where fans of all stripes can show these hard-working but underappreciated fixtures of film and TV some serious love, and even get some love back. Expect to make a bit of an investment for that love. Daily admission is $15 ($25 for a two-day pass), and all of the celebrities in attendance charge for their autographs (more on that later). But for a real film (or TV) nut, a Hollywood Collector's Show is absolute manna from heaven, and totally worth the extra change. Imagine a Star Trek convention stripped to its absolute essentials--ample celebrity guests and heaps of cool merchandise--and you get the idea. My wife and I saved our pennies for several months and ...
Read more