At long last! An “Extra Frills” special edition of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert was released on DVD this week. It includes director commentary from Stephan Elliott, deleted scenes, bloopers, a making-of featurette, trailers, teasers and more. AfterElton.com waxes enthusiastic about it here. When the film premiered at Cannes, it was such a smash that […]
Entries Tagged as 'Culture'
DVD: Priscilla with “Extra Frills”!
June 10th, 2007 · Comments Off on DVD: Priscilla with “Extra Frills”! · Comedy, Culture, Film, LGBT, Music, News, Video
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“People Like Hillary”
June 10th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Blogs, Journalism, Media, Politics
A big part of the reason I dread the idea of Hillary becoming the Democratic nominee is that during her time in the White House, she never won a single battle with the right wing in the eyes of the media. Whether the subject was healthcare, how to raise children, baking cookies, Tammy Wynette, or […]
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I’m the Featured Poet at Molly Malone’s Next Week and Oh My God It’s in the Suburbs …
June 7th, 2007 · Comments Off on I’m the Featured Poet at Molly Malone’s Next Week and Oh My God It’s in the Suburbs … · Books, Chicago, Culture, Journal, Lit, News, Poetry
Those who know me know it takes a lot to get me to venture into the uncharted here-be-dragons-ness that is the “-land” part of Chicagoland. But this coming Monday night, June 11, Nina Corwin and Al DeGenova have done me the immense honor of booking me as the featured poet for their highly regarded poetry […]
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Russell Hoban, The Kraken, and the US Edition of Linger Awhile
June 5th, 2007 · 5 Comments · Books, Culture, Fantasy, Internet, Journal, Lit, Mythology, News, Online Communities, Russell Hoban, Science Fiction
A few days ago I got a package in the mail from the David R. Godine publishing house, who last year republished both of Russell Hoban’s hilarious Captain Najork children’s books in the US (and did a lovely job of it). Inside the package was an advance copy of the forthcoming US edition of Russ’s […]
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Music: “Free Money” for Rent Day from Patti Smith
June 5th, 2007 · 1 Comment · Chicago, Culture, Music, New Wave, Video
Today’s rent day,* here in Chicago anyway, so here’s some Patti Smith to soften the blow. This is Patti doing my favorite song from Horses, “Free Money,” at the final CBGB’s show on October 15, 2006. (Dodgy sound and video quality — looks like a phone video — but the historic nature of the occasion […]
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Roundup: Magnum Opus Edition
June 4th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Magnum Opus Edition · Apple, Books, Comics, Culture, Food, Heroes, iTunes, Language, LGBT, Lit, Media, Music, Nature, New Wave, News, Tech, TV, Vegetarian & Vegan
COMICS: For once I’m starting out with the comics section, in honor of the fact that Salon has added Opus by the mighty Berkeley Breathed (Bloom County, Outland) to their repertoire. Oh, happy day. Here’s the first installment. Along with my favorites This Modern World by Tom Tomorrow and Tom the Dancing Bug by Ruben […]
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Ocpot Presents … LOLHeroes
June 3rd, 2007 · 17 Comments · Blogs, Comedy, Comics, Culture, Heroes, Internet, Photos, Science Fiction, TV
OK, I’m a late bloomer on this, but having seen all of this insanity, via Jason at What Is This, 1999?, just sort of pushed me over the lolcats edge. I have put in my guilty share of time at I Can Has Cheezburger?, and I had previously seen the LOL Trek episode “We Has […]
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How a Certain Republican President Felt About US War Casualties
June 1st, 2007 · 1 Comment · History, Journalism, Media, Peace, Politics
Over at This Modern World, Jonathan Schwarz quotes a line from The Final Days by WoodwardandBernstein, taken from the phone calls with Nixon that Kissinger secretly taped and transcribed: During another call, Kissinger mentioned the number of American casualties in a major battle in Vietnam. “Oh, screw ‘em,†said Nixon. And as Schwarz observes: An […]
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Stop the Presses! Stop Everything! And Make Sure You’re Sitting Down
May 31st, 2007 · 2 Comments · Culture, Journalism, LGBT, Media, News, TV
David Hyde Pierce is finally out of the closet. OMG WTF!!! … maybe the ghost of Charles Nelson Reilly gave him a little nudge.
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Cooking with Kate Bush, or The Man with the Bean Sprouts in His Eyes
May 30th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Culture, Food, Health, Journal, Music, New Wave, TV, Vegetarian & Vegan, Video
I’m embroiled in some serious end-of-the-month deadline drama this week, so posting will probably be lighter than usual for the next few days. Fortunately for us all, Kate Bush is here to share vegetarian cooking tips! (From a 1980 TV interview.) Here’s to putting nuts in everything! I love the way Kate and the […]
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Copy Rights and Wrongs
May 29th, 2007 · 2 Comments · Books, Culture, Film, History, Law, Lit, Video
This way-clever video, which I found on YouTube, uses short snips from various animated Disney films to provide an entertaining education on the nature of copyright, fair use, and the public domain. The daunting reality is that copyright has way gotten out of control in recent years — where once upon a time copyright […]
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Moscow Is Burning: Russian Homophobes Attack Gay Pride Demonstrators
May 28th, 2007 · Comments Off on Moscow Is Burning: Russian Homophobes Attack Gay Pride Demonstrators · Activism, Chicago, Culture, Hate Crimes, Human Rights, LGBT, News, Politics
Yesterday Russian homophobes made good on their threat to physically attack gay pride demonstrators in Moscow this year, as they did last year. The haters, who included contingents of nationalists and Russian Orthodox extremists, punched and kicked gay participants, and some wore surgeon’s masks, which they claimed was an attempt to protect them from the […]
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Roundup: Fried Ice Edition
May 28th, 2007 · Comments Off on Roundup: Fried Ice Edition · Blogs, Books, Climate Change, Comedy, Comics, Culture, Film, Food, LGBT, Music, New Wave, News, Organic Food, Politics
Profile of Newtok, Alaska: One of the first victims of climate change, a town gradually sinking into the mud. As the hardest hit of the 180 Alaskan villages suffering from erosion, “studies say Newtok could be washed away within a decade.” Iceberg of Yuck: The Consumerist says, “Poison toothpaste, killer cough-syrup, and tainted pet food […]
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