WELCOME TO THE GAZA MALL

From the New York Times:

But the broader point many of these advocates are making — that the poverty of Gaza is often misconstrued, willfully or inadvertently — is correct. The despair here is not that of Haiti or Somalia. It is a misery of dependence, immobility and hopelessness, not of grinding want. The flotilla movement is not about material aid; it is about Palestinian freedom and defiance of Israeli power.

AUTRE FOIS

FROM WITHIN THE PYRAMID. IMPRESIONANTE.

LAST DAYS OF [DISCO SUCKS]

HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU FEEL LIKE THIS IN THE CLUB?
I'm an avid movie watcher (mostly of the foreign type, but I definitely dabble heavily in the Criterion and Janus collections). I'm not one to actually go to the movies (because I love in Manhattan and the exorbitant price usually isn't warranted because I'm a tough critic, and I'm Jewish, so I spend wisely). So, as you can imagine, Netflix and I get along quite well.

So, I recently watched Last Days of Disco, directed by Whit Stillman (1998). Actually, I had to watch the damn thing three times, because each time at the end, I kept feeling like I was missing something. Apart from the fact that I think the entire plot is contrived, the movie is supposed to take place in the '80s and the wardrobe, the dialogue and the acting do nothing to convey that it's the late '80s, but rather feels like a mid-to-late '90s piece. The acting was AWFUL (and that's understated!). The people who played the characters did them no justice whatsoever - where emptiness was needed, the actors responded with empty, unimpressive acting. The intellectual attempt at banter was lost, and seemed completely forced. The characters are intentionally unsympathetic, which I enjoy (I love Bret Easton Ellis, king of writing about empty, vapid American culture), but in The Last Days of Disco, it just didn't perform. Everything seems completely displaced, especially a telling monologue about the everlasting effects disco will have on society. My question is - who gives a fuck about disco? Certainly no one in this film, that's for sure.

Don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of narrative cinema focused around character development and dialogue. However, Last Days of Disco fell incredibly short for me on all fronts. I would much rather see Chloe Sevigny giving blow jobs or being raped while passed out than cringe at this attempt of intellectualism in film.

At least some of the clothes the girls in the film wore were fun (and are, duh, fashionable again). Otherwise, there really would be nothing going for this film.

And this has been real film talk, with Mel F.

PRIME TIME

THE PRIME TIME OF YOUR LIFE.
NOW. LIVE IT.

THINGS I WOULD NOT MIND RECEIVING FOR MY BIRTHDAY

DONATIONS ACCEPTED.

END OF SUMMER RESOLUTION

I LOVE cursing. I LOVE it. Truly, genuinely, from the bottom of my heart. But I'm going to try and curse less, I've been told it's not very becoming.

SANS LES MASQUES

ILS SONT DAFT PUNK

BRET EASTON ELLIS SHORTS

Bret Easton Ellis Does Baby-Sitters' Club, Chapter 1

A Bret Easton Ellis short from Nowness.com

There's nothing like a good short story or two from my favorite writer to get me through the day.

CLASSIQUE

daft punk- around the world from Victor Carvalho on Vimeo.

THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES

A liberal is a conservative who has been arrested.
-Tom Wolfe, 1987

ED TEMPLETON AND FRIENDS

I went to the International Center of Photography yesterday to peep the Perspectives 2010 show, namely because of Ed Templeton's work. There were two walls covered with his photographs, lots of familiar faces and photos - definitely worth checking out. The other artists had great stuff up as well. I was especially feeling Matthew Porter's extremely hi-resolution photographs and Hong-An Truong's piece regarding collective memory.

The exhibit downstairs, For All the World to See, was INCREDIBLE. There are a lot of great photos from the civil movement through the 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s to be seen.

Both exhibits are open until September 12th. Like Tribe said, checka checka check it out.

T.R.O.Y.

Sal and I were really close friends in college. We still keep in touch from time to time, but don't really see each other that often. I will always love the kid and fondly remember those times, as they are now becoming the what we refer to as the 'good old days.'

I ONLY ROLL ONE DEEP

photo credit/jacked from: creamy dirty talk talk

DEAR LANDLORD

An open letter to my landlord:

The Landlord's here to visit
They're blasting disco down below
Says, "I'm doubling up the rent
'Cuz the building's condemned
You're gonna help me buy City Hall"
But we can, you know we can
But we can, you know we can
Let's lynch the landlord man
I tell them 'turn on the water'
I tell 'em 'turn on the heat'
Tells me 'All you ever do is complain'
Then they search the place when I'm not here
But we can, you know we can
Let's lynch the landlord
Let's lynch the landlord
Let's lynch the landlord man
There's rats chewin' up the kitchen
Roaches up to my knees
Turn the oven on, it smells like Dachau, yeah
Til the rain pours thru the ceiling
But we can, you know we can
Let's lynch the landlord man

Love,
Melissa & the Dead Kennedys

OH, JULIAN.

NICE SHIRT!

BEST FRIENDS FOREVER

MY BEST FRIEND PAT AND I. SOHO.