Dangerous Minds pal Steve Silberman says, “A goofy and touching video of the late poet Allen Ginsberg, author of “Howl” and “Kaddish,” doing t’ai chi in his pajamas in his small kitchen on the Lower East Side. The voiceover is a poem he wrote for Bataan Faigao (http://atlas.csd.net/~bfaigao/teachers/bataan.html), t’ai chi instructor at Naropa University.”
(via BB Submitterator)
Joe Strummer painted Christmas cards each year for his close family and friends. Who knew? His last hand painted Christmas card comes in a pack of 8 and sells for £10.00. You can purchase them here. The proceeds go to the Strummerville Charity.
Below is another Christmas card I found by Joe Strummer. I don’t believe this one is for sale.
(via Everlasting Blort via Cherry Bombed)
“Miss Pamela” AKA Pamela Des Barres
Tonight’s gourmet fare at Cinefamily (and temperatures in the mid-70s!) once again sees me in my “Los Angeles civic booster” mode. Where else would you be able to watch a new documentary about the great groupies of the Sixties and Seventies, featuring Miss Pamela (Des Barres) of the GTOs and then hang out for a reception afterwards to meet several of the film’s subjects, the director and the still very divine Miss Pamela, too?
Take an emotional journey back to the early Seventies, the Golden Age of Groupies! Some were in it for love, some for the music, and some for their art—and four decades later, these passionate women share their stories of sexual conquest and bitter heartbreak, and finally reveal whether it was all worth it. Told through the eyes of rock and roll historian and super groupie Pamela Des Barres (author of the famous 1987 tell-all “I’m with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie
” and the brand-new book “Let’s Spend the Night Together
”) this ninety-minute documentary offers memories of her sexual exploits and longtime escapades with such notorious rockers as Mick Jagger, Jim Morrison and Jimmy Page—and chronicles her cross-country journey to reconnect with the iconic women who loved and inspired the great rock stars of our time. Join moderator Michael Des Barres as he Q&As (schedule permitting) with Pamela Des Barres, Lori Mattix, Michele Overman, Catherine James and the film’s director Jenna Rosher on the Cinefamily stage after the film—and stick around for a reception on our Spanish patio after the show! Plus, DJ Andrew Sandoval will be spinning tunes both before and after the show!
The Cinefamily / 611 N Fairfax Avenue, Los Angeles, 90036, 8pm, $10
Let’s Spend The Night Together: Confessions of Rock’s Greatest Groupies premieres Wednesday December 15 on Vh1.
Lest anyone dismiss the late, great Marcel Marceau and the art of mime as some kind of frivolous, god forbid French phenomenon I’d like to take this opportunity to graphically point out that no less a cutting-edge psychedelic warrior artist than Alejandro Jodorowsky was once a touring member of Marceau’s troupe and composed a few well known pieces for the great man including The Cage and The Mask Maker (shown below). So there, enjoy.
Like most of you, I hate mimes. But this guy has a certain je ne sais quo Je ne sais quoi that takes the hammy art to the next level. Marcel Marceau meets the electric boogaloo.
Is this an outtake from Paris Is Burning?
His name is Stevie Riks. He’s a comedian from England and he’s very funny. This impression of Bryan Ferry doing a medley of the theme from The Beverly Hillbillies, Benny Hill’s ‘Ernie’, ‘Pop Musik’, The Wurzels’ ‘I Am A Cider Drinker’ and ‘Two Little Boys’ by Rolf Harris is absolutely inspired.
Riks has a Youtube channel where he does spot on impressions of dozens of rock and rollers and some of them are gutbustingly funny. Check em out here.
This is bound to come in useful.
Via Buzzfeed
It’s that time of year when stories once were told around a roaring open-fire, as snow flakes left their prints upon the windows. Now, continuing in that spirit, here is a tale of redemption and hope to enjoy around the flickering laptops and computer screens of our winter time.
Francis Ford Coppola produced this short Claymation film based on William S. Burroughs excellent story The Junky’s Christmas. Directed by Nick Donkin and Melodie McDaniel, it opens with live action footage of Burroughs as he begins his tale:
It was Christmas Day and Danny the Car Wiper hit the street junksick and broke after seventy-two hours in the precinct jail. It was a clear bright day, but there was warmth in the sun. Danny shivered with an inner cold. He turned up the collar of his worn, greasy black overcoat.
This beat benny wouldn’t pawn for a deuce, he thought.
Artist Nick Gentry uses obsolete floppy discs to construct canvases, on which he paints large portraits. Gentry has exhibited in the UK, USA and Europe and describes himself as “part of a generation that grew up surrounded by floppy disks, VHS tapes, polaroids and cassettes,” the media he uses to create his art.
“The floppy disk stands firm and lives on as a metaphor for the increasing pace of the modern life cycle, mass production and the throwaway culture of today.”
His book Obsolete is available here.
With thanks to Henri Podin
Looking for a last minute Christmas stocking stuffer for the middle-aged headbanger in your life. Well here it is, ‘Henry And Glenn Forever: The Boxset.’
Moshing through the snow with America’s most beloved washed-up punk rockers.