He refers to his cats as "the girls." I like that.
11.11.2003
Feral House Weekend
I just got back from a four-day trip to LA where I was submerged in Feral House's weekend of Weimar culture events. It was my obsessive-nostalgic dream come true.
Thursday was an invitation only (good thing I'm friends with Paul) salon at the Feral House house in honor of their two newest books on the era, Mel Gordon's Hanussen: Hitler's Jewish Clairvoyant and a naughty, female-empowered coffee table book called The Hot Girls of Weimar Berlin.
The Feral House house was exactly how I had always dreamed and hoped it would look, from the framed portrait of Aimee McPherson to the Hansel and Gretel architecture of the house itself. It was just like that Simpson's episode when Bart looks into the office of Mad magazine and sees Alfred E. Newman riding around on a unicycle. It blew my mind.
As anyone who would actually be reading my BLARG already knows, I've been pushing Mel Gordon's books on everyone for the past three years. It was quite the experience to hear him talk on the subjects that are near and dear to me...fast girls, narcotics, the occult. He even handed out some sort of elaborately packaged Chinese aphrodisiac (once used in Magnus Hirschfeld's "Sexual Institute") that he claimed contained the ground penises of three different animals. If that doesn't work, I don't know what would. Unfortunately, the supply ran out before I got one so there will be no first-person DeQuincey orientalist drug experience rant from me...but I'll look into it.
Friday night Mr. Gordon spoke on Erik Jan Hanussen, whom I've been looking for info on since I tried to write a paper on Istvan Szabos 1988 film "Hanussen" for a German Cinema class at CSU Fresno (go dogs!). Even though it's a Hungarian film (but German language), I insisted on writing on it because my father had mentioned something once about Hitler having a Jewish psychic and I was just amazed to have found something on the topic. The libraries in Fresno eight years ago yielded no information on the actual man and the film is pretty lacking, so I think I must have written a pretty shitty paper. Now I'm reading Mr. Gordon's book and it's just amazing that history seems to have forgotten or misinterpreted this important political and cultural player.
Saturday night was the final night of Feral House's events...further delving into Berlin's girl culture. There were some amazing slides projected...Weimar domms, clown sex, opium parties.
Here are some memorable quotes from my time in LA:
"Those buttwads at Starbucks and their T-Mobil!"
"I'm bi...centennial."
"I'm here with my friend."
"You mean the guy with the tits?"
"No, the other one."
"Have you met Torture King?"
AIRLINE BILLBOARD: "Non-Stop from Leno to Letterman"
That just says it all about LA, doesn't it?
I just got back from a four-day trip to LA where I was submerged in Feral House's weekend of Weimar culture events. It was my obsessive-nostalgic dream come true.
Thursday was an invitation only (good thing I'm friends with Paul) salon at the Feral House house in honor of their two newest books on the era, Mel Gordon's Hanussen: Hitler's Jewish Clairvoyant and a naughty, female-empowered coffee table book called The Hot Girls of Weimar Berlin.
The Feral House house was exactly how I had always dreamed and hoped it would look, from the framed portrait of Aimee McPherson to the Hansel and Gretel architecture of the house itself. It was just like that Simpson's episode when Bart looks into the office of Mad magazine and sees Alfred E. Newman riding around on a unicycle. It blew my mind.
As anyone who would actually be reading my BLARG already knows, I've been pushing Mel Gordon's books on everyone for the past three years. It was quite the experience to hear him talk on the subjects that are near and dear to me...fast girls, narcotics, the occult. He even handed out some sort of elaborately packaged Chinese aphrodisiac (once used in Magnus Hirschfeld's "Sexual Institute") that he claimed contained the ground penises of three different animals. If that doesn't work, I don't know what would. Unfortunately, the supply ran out before I got one so there will be no first-person DeQuincey orientalist drug experience rant from me...but I'll look into it.
Friday night Mr. Gordon spoke on Erik Jan Hanussen, whom I've been looking for info on since I tried to write a paper on Istvan Szabos 1988 film "Hanussen" for a German Cinema class at CSU Fresno (go dogs!). Even though it's a Hungarian film (but German language), I insisted on writing on it because my father had mentioned something once about Hitler having a Jewish psychic and I was just amazed to have found something on the topic. The libraries in Fresno eight years ago yielded no information on the actual man and the film is pretty lacking, so I think I must have written a pretty shitty paper. Now I'm reading Mr. Gordon's book and it's just amazing that history seems to have forgotten or misinterpreted this important political and cultural player.
Saturday night was the final night of Feral House's events...further delving into Berlin's girl culture. There were some amazing slides projected...Weimar domms, clown sex, opium parties.
Here are some memorable quotes from my time in LA:
"Those buttwads at Starbucks and their T-Mobil!"
"I'm bi...centennial."
"I'm here with my friend."
"You mean the guy with the tits?"
"No, the other one."
"Have you met Torture King?"
AIRLINE BILLBOARD: "Non-Stop from Leno to Letterman"
That just says it all about LA, doesn't it?
11.09.2003
THE FUN THAT WAS HAD AT HALLOWEEN: The Pictures.
SEE how adorable Lisa is as a Brownie! BE AMAZED by my "date" with Jane, the Mongolian Princess! DON'T MISS David looking like a 6'4 Phoebe from Friends!
SEE how adorable Lisa is as a Brownie! BE AMAZED by my "date" with Jane, the Mongolian Princess! DON'T MISS David looking like a 6'4 Phoebe from Friends!
11.04.2003
"This song is about taking a look inside yourself and then quickly turning away."
-- John Flansburgh tonight at A Clean Well-Lighted Place For Books promoting TMBG's new book BED BED BED.
-- John Flansburgh tonight at A Clean Well-Lighted Place For Books promoting TMBG's new book BED BED BED.
Monday night was Beijing Street Punk night.
Well, it finally happened; David and I went to a punk show last night at UC Berkeley’s Bear’s Lair (whatever.com) and I felt OLD. But that’s kool. I knew it would happen someday. There comes a time in everyone’s life when they realize that they would rather be sitting down in a chair than be in the pit. We showed up a little late and only caught the last song of an all-girl outfit from Beijing called Hang On The Box (bad translation?), who were as musically together and competent as they were maddeningly adorable. But the headliner was Brain Failure, the first punk band to ever self-release an album in China. The lead singer Xiao Rong seemed to be really excited to be in Berkeley and (I think) was trying to explain how cheap beer would be for Americans in China. He had so much to say and wasn’t about to let a language barrier get in the way. I think old school Chinese punk might be the wave of the future.
Well, it finally happened; David and I went to a punk show last night at UC Berkeley’s Bear’s Lair (whatever.com) and I felt OLD. But that’s kool. I knew it would happen someday. There comes a time in everyone’s life when they realize that they would rather be sitting down in a chair than be in the pit. We showed up a little late and only caught the last song of an all-girl outfit from Beijing called Hang On The Box (bad translation?), who were as musically together and competent as they were maddeningly adorable. But the headliner was Brain Failure, the first punk band to ever self-release an album in China. The lead singer Xiao Rong seemed to be really excited to be in Berkeley and (I think) was trying to explain how cheap beer would be for Americans in China. He had so much to say and wasn’t about to let a language barrier get in the way. I think old school Chinese punk might be the wave of the future.
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