Never mind the bollocks, here’s the designer punk pumps and handbag. Huh? We’ve seen this before. The commodification of punk rock happened a long time ago, back when it all began in the 1970s. This almost always happens with zeitgeist moments. So, nothing should surprise me and my seen-it-all punk rock soul at this point. … Continue reading Punk is Freedom
Category: Art
Possession
The legend of Lou Reed's Berlin (1973), the brutal concept album about the disintegration of a marriage, goes something like this: coming off his first big solo success with Transformer (1972), Reed and producer Bob Ezrin inexplicably set out to make "the most depressing album of all time." And if you know (and love) Berlin … Continue reading Possession
From the Vault: Eyes of Laura Mars
This essay first appeared, in slightly different form, at my old site, four years ago. Eyes of Laura Mars is a favorite slasher/American giallo-style horror film of mine, so Halloween season feels like the perfect time to revisit it. As its title indicates, Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) is especially concerned with eyes, and specifically … Continue reading From the Vault: Eyes of Laura Mars
The Writing is the Juice
“Why can't I write something that would awake the dead? That pursuit is what burns most deeply.”Patti Smith, Just Kids The writers who've inspired me the most over the years share a knack for expressing complex, often-conflicting feelings in potent, artful prose that captures my own complex, often-conflicting feelings. Writers like Joan Didion, Lester Bangs, … Continue reading The Writing is the Juice
“She Dies in Life, I Live in Death”: Zoë Tamerlis Lund
Zoë Tamerlis Lund was born in New York City on this day in 1962. She was a musician, model, actress, political activist, producer, and screenwriter, among other things. She was already a gifted pianist when she made her acting debut as the Avenging Angel Thana in Abel Ferrara's 1981 cult classic Ms. 45, long considered … Continue reading “She Dies in Life, I Live in Death”: Zoë Tamerlis Lund