“I think of it as a book about family.”   The rise of Kindles and iPads have seen a corollary rise in promotional book trailers.  Many of them star the author themselves.  Hell, even my man Thomas Pynchon (his voice, anyway) did one for his last novel, Inherent Vice.  That trailer was cool.  Some, though, aren’t, and book blog Mobylives has just picked this year’s Most Annoying Performance By An Author.

The nod went to Park Slope’s Jonathan Safran Foer in recognition for his anti-eating animals book, Eating Animals.  For a variety of reasons, I’ve pretty much stricken animal protein from my diet, but watching Foer, who’s from Park Slope (wait, did I mention that already?  I hope so, ‘cause he really wants you to know that!), truck out his dog, kid and granny in the below video makes me want to head to KFC and, like, double down on these.

 
Book Blog Picks Best and Worst Promotional Videos

(via Daily What)

 
Dangerous Minds pal Jesse Merlin says,  “It’s a cooler you can drive! Makes you wonder why the terrorists hate us…”
 
Cruzin Cooler

 
Following up from Brad’s post a while back about BM, Filipina horse impersonator extraordinaire, here we have a freaky lip sync performance of Whitney Houston’s cover of Dolly Parton’s I Will Always Love You.

 
(via Das Kraftfuttermischwerk)

 
Following on from Brad’s post about the event honoring Kenneth Anger in New York, it reminded me that I wanted to do another post of one of my favorite Marc Almond songs. As frequent readers of the blog know, I’m a huge Marc Almond fan, and I try to post a song by him from time to time. Today’s selection is Ruby Red from his Mother Fist & Her Five Daughters (that’s a euphemism for masturbation if it’s not obvious) collection from 1985. Mother Fist is a masterpiece. It’s moody and exotic, it’s got amazing arrangements (courtesy of his greatest collaborator Annie Hogan) and the lyrics are pure poetry. telling tales of visits to places most of us would not want to go to. I love every single song on the album, but this is my favorite track. Well, top two…

The Ruby Red video was directed by Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson, of Throbbbing Girstle and Coil infamy. It appears to be inspired by Kenneth Anger’s films and by Pink Narcissus (also inspired by Anger). I think this video is as amazing as the song. I’ll bet MTV didn’t touch it!
 

 
Below a dramatic performance of Saint Judy, Almond’s paean to Judy Garland, at the Palladium in London during the Soho Jazz Fest, October 6, 1986.
 

Rich Fulcher (Snuff Box, The Mighty Boosh) previews his gaggle of upcoming shows in Los Angeles, discusses the life and loves of his Eleanor the Tour Whore character and tells viewers about a few of the devilish insurrections of his new book, Tiny Acts of Rebellion: 97 Almost-Legal Ways to Stick It to the Man.

 
If like me (and Richard and Tara) you’re still coming to terms with last night’s losing of Lost, here’s another metaphysical jungle tale to your possible rescue (it will also suck up about 120 less hours of your life).  It’s this year’s winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes, Apichatpong Weerasethakul‘s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives.

Here’s this year’s jury head, Tim Burton, on the film: “I liked it because it is a movie that you normally don’t see, not Western, with fantasy elements done in a way I have never seen before.  It is a beautiful strange dream.  It has a quiet reflective nature, full of surprises.”

Surprises, indeed!  One of those past lives of Uncle Boonmee apparently features him as a catfish who makes love to a princess in a blue lagoon by wiggling his tale.  Let’s see ya try that one, Man In Black…I mean, Samuel!  The Lost-evocative trailer for Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives follows below:

 
Tim Burton Announces Palme d’Or Winner at Cannes: Thai Film Uncle Boonmee

 
Last week’s Anthology Film Archives 40th Anniversary Blowout, Return to the Pleasure Dome, honored, naturally, the works of filmmaker Kenneth Anger.  Technicolor Skull—Anger on theremin (!), Dangerous Minds pal, Brian Butler, on guitar—performed that night (see below), as did Sonic Youth and Lou Reed.  Vice is carrying a stream of Reed’s 13-minute noodling performance.  Fans of Metal Machine Music Lou can check it out here.

 
In honor of his birthday, here’s some truly wonderful Robert Zimmerman esoterica!  On his Sirus XM show, Theme Time Radio Hour, Bob Dylan sometimes (infrequently, I’m guessing) features the often hilarious musings of his pal and fellow troubadour, Tom Waits.  Now, thanks to Aquarium Drunkard, you can catch up with five of those segments here.

Dig if you will Dylan’s nasally intro to the Body Parts segment, “I don’t tell a lot of people this, but Tom Waits and I have been sending cassettes back and forth to each other for quite some time.”  Wow, how do I get taped dispatches from Tom Waits sent to me?!  And to demonstrate how even the most familiar of Dylan compositions can be stretched like silly putty, here’s PJ Harvey‘s take on Highway 61 Revisited:

 
Tom Waits: Bob Dylan’s Theme Time Radio Hour