==pla|\|ing lakes==

Saturday, February 26, 2005

FBI vendetta spirals out of control

Following up on the ridiculous and criminal persecution of Steven Kurtz of the Critical Art Ensemble

Visit the Critical Art Ensemble Defense Fund for more info.

10:03 PM - [Link] - Comments ()

"Backers of front-running films such as Martin Scorsese's The Aviator and Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby have spent an estimated $15 million (£8m) on lobbying for votes - more than the entire production budget for some of their rivals"

What else can I say? [link]

9:53 PM - [Link] - Comments ()

I keep forgetting to post about this -- it goes back to last summer -- then I saw Ricci on The Daily Show last night which reminded me

Pondering why the movie version of Prozac Nation -- with Christina Ricci, Jessica Lange and Anne Heche and directed by promising Norwegian director Erik Skjoldbjaerg (the original Insomnia) -- has yet to be released (except in Norway) after 2 years in limbo

"It's a truthful depiction of depression," says Frank Deasy. "And I think the reason Miramax has struggled is the fact that it doesn't have a traditional dramatic structure, in terms of a clear, unqualified ending. Look at the book: Elizabeth is very clear that Prozac has helped her, but you're left with a dilemma, because perhaps she no longer knows who she is. We didn't want to come down heavily on one side or the other. People who've experienced depression like that aspect of the film, but a lot of people don't like it. Miramax certainly don't seem to like it."

Larry Gross, meanwhile, has a fascinating explanation of the endless hold-ups. The 9/11 comment, he says, is of only trifling importance; far more crucial is a recipe for paralysis based on the book's reputation, Wurtzel's pre-eminence in certain New York circles, and Miramax chief Harvey Weinstein's keen awareness of the possibility of failure.

"Harvey might buy an obscure Japanese film and release it, knowing there's a chance it won't work, because no one will pay it the kind of attention that will rebound against him," says Gross. "Prozac Nation is in the backyard of the people who look at what he does for a living. So any failure to put it over will be looked at very carefully. And that's a reason not to distribute it."

"What you have to realise about New York," he continues, "is that people there think Woody Allen's movies are popular, because they all talk about them. With Wurtzel, it's, 'We talk about her stuff all the time, therefore it must be huge'. So if Harvey didn't deliver a commercially successful film on a nationwide level, they'd be like, 'How did you drop this ball?'"

Stupid Hollywood.

Enjoy the Oscars.

1:40 PM - [Link] - Comments ()

Last post on HST: tributes from Steve Gilliard and gonzography [both via James Wolcott]

Gilliard's thoughts on the connection between blogs and Thompson's ethos -- and how writing courses have turned writers away from the world -- are particularly good.

1:28 PM - [Link] - Comments ()

Thursday, February 24, 2005

Ghostbusting fair in India

7:37 PM - [Link] - Comments ()

Wednesday, February 23, 2005

Cannon fodder, "Whoops!", and where were you when the fun stopped?

The Denver Post's collection of articles on Thompson

Douglas Brinkley, a historian and author who edited some of Thompson's work, said the founder of "gonzo" journalism shot himself Sunday night after weeks of pain from a host of physical problems that included a broken leg and a hip replacement.

"I think he made a conscious decision that he had an incredible run of 67 years, lived the way he wanted to, and wasn't going to suffer the indignities of old age," Brinkley said in a telephone interview from Aspen. "He was not going to let anybody dictate how he was going to die."

6:24 PM - [Link] - Comments ()

Monday, February 21, 2005

R.I.P. Hunter S Thompson

There can be a world of difference between encouraging amateurs and inspiring brilliant craftsmanship, and perhaps it is Thompson's achievement that, like Hemingway, his example has always done both. "What I learned from Hemingway mainly," Thompson told Charlie Rose in 1997, "was that you can want to be a writer and get away with it. ... And, uh, that was very important at the time." [link]

I remember him talking somewhere about how his legend had taken over and it would be better if he wasn't around to get in the way, something like this.

You were wrong Hunter.

You will be missed.

*********************************

Christine Othitis has a good site on him, The Great Thompson Hunt.

For a good sample of his writing, here's the Nixon obit, a highlighted page I link because the Atlantic link requires subscription to the magazine.

12:12 AM - [Link] - Comments ()

Sunday, February 20, 2005

Lots of good stuff -- particularly for Burroughs fans -- at archive.org's Naropa Audio Archive

More on Burroughs at Reality Studio (don't think I've linked here yet...).

8:22 PM - [Link] - Comments ()

More evidence fish are disappearing off the face of the earth

8:02 PM - [Link] - Comments ()

Writers' Guild winners are the 2 movies I can see giving awards to (I mean any awards), out of the Oscar bunch: Sideways & Eternal Sunshine

OK, now that I check the nominees, I can see Jamie Foxx, Vera Drake, Hotel Rwanda, Finding Neverland and Maria Full of Grace being of merit. And the only ones I've seen are Ray & Eternal Sunshine, as I'm limited to DVDs for a couple reasons.

Guess I'm just disappointed as usual with the emphasis on commerce and accumulated merit trumping creative accomplishment.

8:00 PM - [Link] - Comments ()

This looks like a fine Canadian blog on deep politics/conspiracy theories, and critiquing same: Rigorous Intuition, the latest post on the number of therapists seeing victims of US government Mind Control experiments [bloggerly grandfather robot wisdom]

You might want to switch your browser to "no graphics" though (if you have a dial-up) -- I was up to 15 minutes when I finally stopped the photos from downloading.

On the subject of mind control, you might check out Judith Moore's Song of Freedom, a first hand account that is more a rite of passage than a book. Caveat emptor.

12:39 AM - [Link] - Comments ()

"Anti-terror" police in the Philippines can confiscate your CD-Rs on trains and the like if they have any suspicion they contain pirated files [null device, a good place to visit anyway]

12:13 AM - [Link] - Comments ()