ultracultural
Please visit the active Ultrasparky blog to browse the for the content that has accumulated since this all began in 1996.
Modern Prometheus
For lack of a paperback to read during a long bus ride, I turned to Project Gutenberg on my phone and started re-reading Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley's Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus. I had forgotten the set-up of the story, in...
All lifestyles
I don't know how I managed to miss this bit of type nerdery for so long, but I just noticed these lyrics in “All Lifestyles”, from the Beastie Boys' 2004 album To the 5 Boroughs: So what'cha want? So what'cha...
The Dap-Tone Super Soul Review!
Take a minute and picture that woman working as a corrections officer at Rikers. The fact that an incredible singer like Sharon Jones languished in obscurity for years doing jobs like that is part of the tragedy of her...
A Barbara Pym moment
“To say that a moment is 'very Barbara Pym' is to say that it is a moment of self-observed, poignant acceptance of the modesty of one's circumstances, of one's peripheral position. A Barbara Pym moment also occurs when one realises...
Ziggy played guitar here
After living out of suitcases for the past few months, I finally get to settle down again month. I was spared the horrors and aggravation of gambling on strangers when some friends of mine in Greenwich let me know that...
Street Life: India
Well, street traffic, at least. You could spend a lifetime trying to show all that happens as part of the rich, bustling, messy, magnificent life on the average city street in India, but here are a couple of quick videos...
Opulence! You own everything!
For a while now, I've been joining some pals for a monthly movie night and last night we had a selection of mine, the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning. Every time I come back to this film, I love...
It's Madison time. Hit it!
Although it's not the most thrilling clip, it's cool to see this version of the Madison Time from Baltimore's Buddy Deane Show, the inspiration for Hairspray's Corny Collins Show. (And it's worth looking for other Buddy Deane clips to...
Little Chrissy
A cautionary tale, from Pecker. "Little Chrissy, don't be frightened now. These are JUST vegetables. They won't hurt you."...
Playlist, Part 3
Updates to the master playlist of bands I've seen over the years, after catching a bunch at the Dot-to-Dot festival in Bristol this past weekend: The Chakras Colourmusic Dom Get People Hyetal Idles Niki and the Dove Trophy Wife Yaaks...
First things still first
While tidying up a few things in the archives, I came across this post from a little over a decade ago about the first and second First Things First manifestos. These made a huge impact on me at the time,...
10 things every role model needs
While I'm at it, here's a listicle that ran this past Friday: Hay Festival 2011: John Waters on 10 things every role model needs Words of wisdom from film director John Waters at the Hay Festival 1. History. You can’t...
My role model
Another stop on John's book tour for Role Models. This was at the Festival of Ideas in Bristol, a spur-of-the-moment ticket booked while my pal Jeremy from Bristol was visiting me in Brooklyn. Charming as ever, and an intimate...
The people are not free
pleasureunit: Red Women’s Workshop was a screen printing workshop run as a women’s collective between c1974 and the early 1990s. It was a radical campaigning and publicising organisation fully committed to the ideals of the second wave feminist movement....
Timeless
I hope these Youtube videos stay online for a while, so you can all see this British documentary about John Waters, made around the time Hairspray (the first, non-musical one) was released. It's a little annoying to listen to Jonathan...
Trouble Maker
jonnodotcom: Troublemaker Invades Walker Art Center: “Can artwork sexually attract each other? Does minimalism make pop horny? Does pornography elevated to high art lose its erotic power? Does size matter or can a tiny joke compete with a maximalist icon?Â...
A Room with Angels
It's a totally minor thing, but in the middle of a dull week it made me smile. After watching a really, really terrible made-for-TV version of A Room with a View (my exile from England has driven me to gorge...
Divination and finding Waters
I first watched all of John Waters' films on video or in the theater, so I totally missed the inclusion of deleted scenes in the more recent DVD releases. Bliss! It pains me that I’ve gotten this far without seeing...
Wise words on film
This sums up my gut reaction about a lot of movies I’ve seen — particularly of the rom-com and slice-of-gay-life genres — but manages to put the feeling into words far better than I’ve ever done: As I find myself...
The Lasagna Sandwich
Oh, for fuck's sake. I try to quietly accept that my aversion to most British food is just a matter of a cultural adjustment that I can't make. Regularly, though, I’m pushed to the brink and I have to lash...
Oh Coney, My Coney
The start of Summer always makes me long for Coney Island, especially now that it's so far away and I'll probably never see it again before it finally gives in to all the pressure and becomes something else. But there's...
Plate or platter?
Lucille: I'll have the "Ike and Tina tuna." Waitress at Klimpy's: Plate or platter? Lucille: I don't understand the question, and I won't respond to it. [Season 1, Episode 11] It doesn't have nearly the same magic without Jessica...
10 Commandments
I quite like, but I do not necessarily love, the work of Gilbert & George. It's cheeky, it often looks great, it's interesting, and all, but it can get a little heavy-handed now and again, and I really think they...
To the aerojets!
I usually like steampunk better in theory than in execution. I mean, it works well on paper: I love the mashup of historical and futuristic ideas and technology, and I’m certainly a ardent supporter or artisanal crafts and gadgetry. (Not...
We Americans Abroad
I’ve had this TImes article sitting in a tab in my browser for the last day because it rang true in so many ways and I wanted to write about that, but frankly I don't have the time or the...
Non-Latin domain names coming soon
Wow, this'll be a huge change. ICANN is getting ready to allow internationalized domain names — web-site domain names that use non-Latin character encodings instead of the regular western alphabet. Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs) are domain names represented by local...
Pernicious race of little odious vermin
A nice tidbit From Gulliver's Travels, circa 1726: His majesty, in another audience, was at the pains to recapitulate the sum of all I had spoken; compared the questions he made with the answers I had given; then taking me...
Legacy of a misspent youth
This one goes out to all of us who grew up in the New York City during a certain era before cable or movie rental when you had to make sure you were home in time to catch the annual...
Fringe Cuisine
On a lighter note, I’m strangely pleased to see the Times do a nice round-up of affordable, exotic dining options on Staten Island. Although I’m not likely to ever get a chance to explore any of these places, it's...
Be nice
I love everything about these Japanese posters encouraging good manners on the subway. I’m especially in awe of how easy they are to understand without words, and how they manage to be friendly and not primly critical. Also, I wish...
Photos officially OK in NYC
Finally, common sense prevails over security theatre and knee-jerk paranoia: Faced with complaints from photographers and tourists alike, the NYPD has issued a department order reminding cops that the right to take pictures in the Big Apple is as American...
Crap Rotation
I’ve had analog stuff on the brain lately. I may be someone who's been online for a long time, and who stays tethered to the internet throughout the average day in one way or another, but I’ve always been a...
Surprise shame
I’ve always known that my music collection is filled with a wide enough variety to both please and horrify just about anyone. (The surprisingly brilliant Don Ho cover of Shock the Monkey to which I’m currently listening, for example, does...
Food Porn
Since coming to England, I have often found myself complaining about how much I hate the sandwiches here. They're always pre-made and soggy, filled with too much mayonnaise (gross) and never enough meat or cheese or whatever you would actually...
Library data
Shamelessly, unoriginally ripped off from Norm: Number of Songs: 18,812 Most Recently Played Song: Peaches & Herb, "Shake Your Groove Thing" Most Played Song: Freeez, "I.O.U. (7" Version)" Most Recently Added Album: The Eurythmics, We Too Are One First Song...
Louche decadence
As far as cultural commentary goes. I realize that I’m really grabbing at the low-hanging fruit to point out that Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch auction is a long-awaited glimpse at the sheer, unadulterated crazy that is the King of Pop's...
Et tu, Kim's?
I was immediately fascinated by this unusual story of how the entire collection of over 55,000 rental titles from the deservedly famous Kim's Video store has been packed up and shipped to Salemi, a small town in Siciliy that is...
The Party's Over
We lost another treasure this weekend, when 82-year-old Blossom Dearie passed away in her sleep. Blossom's music was a wonderful mixture of sadness and sweetness and mischief, but I’m very surprised that her Times obituary didn't mention the work that...
Random wonderful things
I’ve been bedridden for days, so my already active trawling of the web has really gone off the charts. Here are a few gems that I feel compelled to share: The "I Can Read Movies" Series: these imaginary paperback novelizations...
Let's sing that plucking song
I’d forgotten about this, and am very grateful that I stumbled across it again to distract me from my housebound boredom: If you're dumbfounded, here's some background info....
To do: museums
File away for ongoing reference: London's 70 best unseen museums. Once in a while, Time Out does exactly what I want it to do. This could effectively become my itinerary for the next year. Of particular interest: The Cinema...
She was the best Catwoman
Oh no, not Eartha! She was always too glamorous for this world, right up until the end. Orson Welles once called her "the most exciting woman in the world," and I might agree. I could handle losing Pinter today, but...
Mad Men Melodies
As if my adoration for Mad Men wasn't already all-consuming, along comes this treasure. I sure as hell hope there's a DVD in the works....
Papa, can you hear me?
I’m sick as all get-out this week, with some sort of chesty, fever- thing going on. Hopefully, though, Thursday night's audience with the Pope of Trash will be the miracle cure for my ailment....
Judge not lest ye be judged
This is a snippet from a fascinating little documentary called Dressing for Pleasure by John Sampson. (Unfortunately the site that used to host the whole thing has shut down, and this is all I can find at the moment.)...
Kids those days
From the foreshortened perspective of the 21st century, this extraordinary clip just reads as a bunch of old or dead people doing stuff a long time ago that sure looks goofy now: But yet if we pick it apart, we...
Edwardian masher
While I’m on this Joe Orton kick, here's another great bit from the diaries: Saturday 15 April Watched Doctor Who on television. Rubbish, but there's a young boy in it who's worth looking at; like an Edwardian masher at a...
Singin' for your supper
Bette Davis pulled a neat trick when she took on the title role of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, managing to revive (and in some sense, reinvent) her career at an age when most leading ladies were left with no...
Badger
If you think you would enjoy an extremely cute but sad tale of a lonely badger living in a flat in South London (and really, how could you not enjoy it?), then you should buy a copy of Howard...
And people think I’m fussy?
I giggled at this passage that I just encountered in The Joe Orton Diaries: Peter Willes rang up. 'What do you mean by sending me such an atrocious script?' he said. 'What?' I said. 'All the "O's" are out of...
One more thing about Orton
You know, there are lots of other things that have been happening that might be better to write about (travel and work abroad! fetishwear spending sprees! the waxing and waning of various flirtations!) but all that stuff always takes so...
Prick up your what now?
I’ve just finished the original book, and am now finally watching the filmed version of Prick Up Your Ears, the biography of playwright Joe Orton. I had a nagging sensation while reading the book that there was a lot...
Dotty and Disease
The room I’ve had a couple of times in my favorite little hotel in Brighton is called "Dotty", and I basically picked it because it's fun and bright orange and filled with festive polka dots. Like it was made...
Sex and the Pity
I was too tired to face the drunken hordes of Brighton last night, so I decided to just chill out and catch a late show of Sex and the City at the cinema near my hotel. There's no point in...
Stop the madness
The trailers playing before Sex and the City make me weep for the state of our culture, especially the wholly unnecessary remake of The Women. It was perfect the first time! At least they decided not to include men in...
Words to Live By
We have to make books cool again. You know? If you go home with somebody and they don't have books, don't fuck 'em. And DVDs don't count, either. — John Waters, This Filthy World...
Cultural Miseducation
For ages, most of what I knew about the golden age of Hollywood came from figuring out the jokes on old sketches from The Carol Burnett Show, which I watched in reruns pretty regularly as a kid. Until about three...
Very Barbara Pym
It is these asides, I think, that make Excellent Women so beguiling. The plot itself is not without interest, but it is the narrator's comments on her world and on the scraps of pleasure it allows her that are so...
Stuff You Should See
For a while there I wasn't getting out of town and doing too much, just hanging around Reading and my room trying to watch my budget and get some work done. (I may have also been a bit gloomy for...
My Idol
For well over twenty years this man has been my hero. No lie. No exaggeration. It was John Waters and his affectionate fascination with with trash — and his own stylish, articulate, and eccentric way of blazing his own...
Up, Up, and Away
It's a tricky thing, this whole appreciation of superheroes and comic books and such. Part of what seems so nerdy and embarrassing about it is how often people — even others who love the capes and the four-color reality —...
Into the Woods
In general, I’m partial to wood. I prefer real wood for floors and furniture, and I’m particularly fond of slightly weathered old wood that looks like it's lived a little. That being said, I have a real thing for...
Golden Lights
I adore the Midas Project, a not-quite-graffiti project in Barcelona where mundane objects around town are spray-painted gold. It looks amazing! It reminds me of Commutable, a great project from 1996 where the decrepit steps on the Manhattan side of...
Eustace Tilley Subway
Eustace Tilley Subway by Alberto Forero (2008) Originally uploaded by pantufla. When I was glancing through all the submissions for the New Yorker's Eustace Tilley contest, I somehow neglected to realize that one of my favorite submissions — a...
Roar!
Just got back from a late showing of Cloverfield, which was lots of smash-em-up fun, if perhaps a little vivid for anyone who's actually experienced a New York crisis or two. It'll be interesting to see what tonight's Sustiva dreams...
Reading's Glorious Past
Random pop-culture trivia about Reading that I learned today (with audio references): Mod band Secret Affair played their first show at the University here in February 1979, opening for The Jam. (I would have loved to see either band.) Ten...
The Matter of Anti-Matter
Oh, and in my free time time this year I designed a book, too. It's also my first design project to get its own MySpace page, since it's about indy music stuff and the music folks apparently use the MySpace...
Sweet Tooth
I was no stranger to the allure of British candy before I moved here, but after a year exploring the full range of what's available over here I don't think I could live without it. So for once, one...
Ride in the Sky
A couple of months ago I spotted those awesome rooftop tube trains and figured there had to be a story behind them. Sure enough, there is. An organization called Village Underground snapped up some old tube cars and installed...
Semiotics
Believe it or not, this flyer is not reaching out to some vast army of homosexual commuters traveling between Reading and scenic downtown Bracknell each day. No, it just looks like some ad wizard didn't think long and hard...
Where Angels Go, Auntie Mame Follows
As a survivor of an all-boys Catholic school that threw the most hotly anticipated Catholic school dances on the Upper East Side, I completely adore and understand that clip from the sweet-n-sassy 1969 classic Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows....
Who Are You Wearing?
Are you getting ready for the Oscars tonight? I don't actually care about them this year (None of my friends got nominations, after all), but they're a good excuse as any to post some great images from Cinemonde that...
Tableaux Vivants
Wow, I will never be the gayest alumnus of my high school as long as Bill Condon walks the earth. Dreamgirls has a lot going for it, but it's hard to ignore the overpowering pinkness of a movie that signifies...
Christmas Stories
Now that my Christmas-killing cold has settled down into a manageable case of congestion, I’m lucid enough to string a few sentences together without needing a nap to recover. I was waiting for a touch of cold to hit me....
If It's Kiki It Must Be Christmas
Now that I’ve been lucky enough to catch Kiki & Herb, it finally feels like Christmas. It was a fantastic show, naturally, but it was interesting to see how the crowd reacted to it. In some ways, it felt...
Songs to Learn and Sing
How did I manage to forget how much I love Echo & the Bunnymen? I think it's because I never replaced all their stuff that I had on vinyl. Like many bands I love, they accidentally fell by the wayside...
Crossing Cultures
This week at school we've taken a brief detour from our alphabets and immersed ourselves in the world of North Indic scripts. (Apparently I have a flair for Bengali — who knew?!) Rather than bore you all with exposition about...
In Conjunction with Belarus Television
No surprise at all: Humorless artist (with sadly typical ugly web site) whines about being the butt of a joke, misses point altogether....
Pink Slips
One of my final farewells will be at this month's WYSIWYG Talent Show next Wednesday night at the Bowery Poetry Club. (Yes, they've moved to Wednesday nights — make a note!) This month the blog kids will be talking...
This Film Has Now Premiered
This Film Is Not Yet Rated finally premiered this past weekend, here and in Los Angeles but hopefully near the rest of you soon. I can be totally objective and talk about how this is a fascinating, occasionally startling,...
Fulton Fish Mawkish
I still need to write something substantial about seeing Absinthe at the Spiegeltent the other night (short version: Go! Buy tickets! Now! And check out the groovy summer season at the tent that Andy has organized. You'll thank me later.),...
His Skin Was Pale and His Eye Was Odd
I am deeply, deeply exhausted (and alarmingly impoverished) from a week of entertaining my friend Miki, making a rare guest visit from her native Dubuque. I’m certainly not grumpy: in fact, I’ve had one of the most lovely weeks I’ve...
What About Prom, Blaine?
It's exactly 24 hours to the start of WYSIWYG's Prom Trauma show at the Bowery Poetry Club. Can you throw together an oufit faster than Molly Ringwald? "This is a really volcanic ensemble you're wearing, it's really marvelous!"...
Prom Trauma!
We've been kinda pokey about getting out all the details (let's just say your favorite all-blogger reading series is run by people whose lives are generally busy and stressful), but next Tuesday night is the long-anticipated Prom Trauma edition...
The Colbert Retort
Mark Smith, ladies and gentlemen of the press corps, Madame First Lady, Mr. President, my name is Stephen Colbert and tonight it's my privilege to celebrate this president. We're not so different, he and I. We get it. We're not...
WSE3
Wow, before I even had a chance to do my own plug for the show, WYSIWYG's big, 2nd-anniversary, 3rd-annual, shit-hot extravaganza — Worst. Sex. Ever. III: When Bad Sex Happens to Good People — has almost completely sold out....
Devo 2.0
Ol' Man Dave has been my Devo hook-up this week. Not only did he arrange to have one of his many minions in the action-figure underground get a Devo action figure into my hot little hands, but he also told...
Manufactured Landscapes
You only have until January 15 to get yourself over to the Brooklyn Museum to catch an unbelievable retrospective of the photography of Edward Burtynsky. The show, Manufactured Landscapes, is a mind-blowing collection of images shot with a large-format camera...
100% Mod Pop Punk
Once again, a minor Google search has led me to an unsuspected treasure trove. I had been looking for any information on an 80s band called "The Pop," whose one album I found in a quarter bin when I was...
Sumthin' Jewy
'Tis the season when I start crabbing about how much I hate Christmas. It's True! I really hate Christmas. Actually, I tend to have a perfectly lovely time on the day itslef, being a big sap who appreciates the company...
More WYSIWYG Madness!
Instead of being slightly behind schedule, as I usually am with just about all my paying and non-paying projects, I’ve actually gotten a lot of advance work done for WYSIWYG lately. Namely, all the details for next month's show, "Sumthin'...
Thanks for the Music
Next Tuesday night I take my place in the spotlight again to perform in this month's WYSIWYG Talent Show -- "I’m with the Band": I'll be joined by fellow groupies Michelle Collins, Blaise K., Maegan "la Mala", Josh Reynolds, Giulia...
Dark Ages
I don't have a TV anymore, but don't think I’m taking some kind of odious stance about the disintegration of Western society or anything. Every few years I just like to use moving as an excuse to go cold turkey...
In Case You're New to This Place...
In case you've ended up here after reading James Withers' New York Blade article, "Blog Star Confidential" — WELCOME! I hope you enjoy the show. Speaking of enjoying the show, you really ought to read more about the WYSIWYG Talent...
Camp It Up
No more excuses! It's time you got yourselves down to the WYSIWYG Talent Show before we take a little break for the rest of the summer. So get down to P.S. 122 tonight and catch Greetings from Lake WYSIWYG: Summer...
In Defense of the Prime Directive
Take a moment, all, to consider this pledge: I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United Federation of Planets, and to the galaxy for which it stands, one universe, under everybody, with liberty and justice for all species. This...
Playlist, Part 2
I don't see as many bands play live as I once did, even though I tend to like music better that way. For one thing, it's a whole lot pricier and more of an ordeal here than it was back...
Attention, My Minions!
I have two big favors to ask of anyone who's in any position to assist: If you're in New York, please make an effort to go see Twist of Faith at the Quad sometime this weekend. If they get enough...
Twist of Faith
If you have access to HBO, then you owe it yourself to check out Twist of Faith tonight at 10:00 (or Thursday night on HBO2). This is the latest documentary produced by my friend Eddie and directed by his partner...
Rocking Out
Thanks to a tip from Bill Roundy, who met up with Andy and me at the Mermaid Parade, I also got myself over to CBGB's last night for the last-ever Homocorps show before the club closes down this summer. It...
Dance, Mermaid, Dance!
The Coney Island Mermaid Parade was, once again, a blast. I would expect no less, but the looming redevelopment of the boardwalk area makes me fear that this may be the last time the Mermaid Parade is still a wonderful,...
Sacrilege
Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse, I discover that they're making a TV miniseries based on one of my all-time favorite movies (for reasons both high and low), The Poseidon Adventure. That could've been a bad enough...
Fun With Google Maps
It's very easy to become obsessed with Google Maps, so I’m glad that the Google Sightseeing blog is picking out the most interesting finds so I don't have to go look for them when I should be doing something productive...
I Won't Shut Up, Either
You're totally lame if you haven't gotten yourself to a WYSIWYG Talent Show yet, because they've all been really great. I totally admit I’m a little subjective, but that also seems to be the concensus from other people who...
More of the Worst Sex
I’ve already gotten some great photos to help promote next month's WYSIWYG Talent Show (go here for a gallery of all the current images), but I want more! C'mon kids, I know you have it in you. Show me your...
Calling All Top Models!
Of course, you're all eagerly anticipating this week's latest WYSIWYG Talent Show because you know it's gonna be fantastic as always, right? Well, there's something else you can get excited about: being a glamorous model for next month's all-star,...
Kiki and Herb Died for Us
Did anybody else get their 2-CD set of the Kiki and Herb Carnegie Hall Show yet? I just ripped open the package and threw it on, and it's amazing! I’m quivering in delight. I’ve been anxiously awaiting it — especially...
Happy Goddamn Holidays.
Hey, kids, sick of the holiday craziness? Worn out from facing the horror of last-minute shopping when you're already burnt out from work? Dreading another get-together with that branch of the family you never liked? Allergic to egg nog?...
Unfaithful and Inaccurate
Uh oh. Another bit of screwy Hollywood geography. (This is in danger of becoming a new obsession.) In Unfaithful, Diane Lane drives into Soho to see her on-the-side lover (hot, hot, hot Olivier Martinez, whose character must secretly be as...
Wonder Bar
We're watching an old Al Jolson movie called Wonder Bar, a crazy, bawdy bit of post-code lunacy from 1934 that’s amazingly racy considering the code was already in effect. Murder! Sex jokes! Gays dancing as a couple! The very scandal...
Madness Non-Stop
OMG, is it Wednesday already? The 20th? This is normally the point where I would apologize for being lazy or depressed or listless or something, but for over a week now I have been a machine, folks. I’ve barely taken...
Tax Photographs
New York City has been so built up for so long that for all the development that goes on here, it's common to live in, work in, or visit buildings with a colorful history of use and reuse and reinvention...
A Dirty Raspberry
I curated my own double-feature this weekend, checking out two movies about sexual revolution (more or less): The Raspberry Reich, the latest rump romp from Bruce La Bruce, and then A Dirty Shame, the latest farce fest from John...
Give Us Your Lunch Money
Don't forget that tonight is Bullies and Mean Girls! Be at P.S. 122 by 7:30 or we're gonna kick your ass and then tell the whole school you're a slut....
Kiki and Herb Will Cover You
One last thing before my Kiki frenzy dissipates: I put together an iMix of songs performed at the show last night. If you're iTunes-enabled, get some of the originals from Kiki and Herb Will Die for You . (Sadly, the...
Kiki and Company
It was quite a show. Compared to the many I’ve experienced in smaller venues, a lot of the intimate feeling (which could sometimes leave you feeling gloriously trapped in a room with a raving madwoman) was lost in such...
Long Live Kiki and Herb
If the conservatives really wanted to eliminate the subversive homosexual menace, the best way to do it would be to blow up Carnegie Hall tonight, where a great throng of us (and a great many sympathizers, no doubt) will...
The Grahan Norton Alert
Alert! Alert! It looks like TONIGHT (10 p.m., 9 p.m. Central) is when they're planning to show the taping of The Graham Norton Effect that Chris and I went to two days ago. Don't miss it! If anyone has their...
The Graham Norton After Effects
There was flooding in the subway tunnels all over the place this morning, so the crowding on the few trains creeping their way through the mess was out of control. Everyone was wet, crabby, and pushy, and tempers were flaring...
This Month at WYSIWYG
This month's WYSIWYG hootenanny rings in September with a celebration of the perils of going to school: Bullies and Mean Girls. The line-up is almost confirmed, but so far it looks to be pretty snazzy. (Naturally, you'll be able...
I’d Rather Swish Than Fight
My dear friend Lubin Odana (who is definitely not a Republican) was a more welcome surprise guest in our fair(y) city this week. Although I was only able to have one audience with Lubin and his gentleman companion, it was...
IMHO, IMHO Rocked
Tonight's big WYSIWYG blog/politics panel was really fantabulistic — fascinating, lively, and swell all around. I wrote more about it here, if you're interested....
Hall of Douchebags
A sobering galley of cautionary tales for struggling bands everywhere: Rock and Roll Confidential's Hall of Douchebags. If you think your band photo looks hot and original, check here first....
IMHO
Those wretched "Peaceful Political Activist" buttons aren't the only alternative to making a ruckus in protest of the Really Nasty Convention next week. The first annual Imagine Festival, of Arts, Issues and Ideas is putting on a number of...
Oceania
If, like me, you wanted to strangle both Bob Costas and Katie Couric as they babbled endlessly and pointlessly during the opening ceremonies of the Olympics, you might enjoy seeing the magical Björk performance without it being drowned out by...
Gothamish
I’m stunned. Not only did a completely gorgeous contemporary typeface make its way onto the Freedom Tower cornerstone (Thank you once again, Pentagram), but the Times even did a decent story about Gotham and its inspirations. It's the little things...
Hang in There!
The best satire (or let's own up to the inherent subjectivity of this medium and say "The satire I love the best...") is so intoxicatingly delicious because it doesn't need to do anything more than state the obvious in a...
Mermaids on Parade
If you're not at the Coney Island Mermaid Parade today, than your life is not as magical as it ought to be. The parade is my favorite New York City event of all time. Sadly, I’m misisng it this year,...
Scenes from the Talent Show
OMG, we had so much fun! Everyone pulled off a dazzling performance, and the audience ate it up. I should apologize to Bob and Kythryne up front, because the pictures I got of them turned out so badly there...
The World's Gone Topsy-Turvy
French fries now classified as fresh vegetables. Soon they will be the major item for sale at farm stands, no doubt. Yes, I would like a healthy salad of fries and ketchup, please! It's a way to support American manufacturing,...
Disrespect
To: All Staff Re: The Passing of Former President Ronald Reagan The nation, and much of the world, has been saddened by the death of Ronald Reagan, our 40th President. A state funeral will be held on Friday, June 11th,...
Uncontrollable Urge to Weep
It breaks my heart whenever an old song I love is licensed for a commercial. Usually, the new use of the song completely ignores the original spirit of the song, using it as a sort of pop-culture shorthand for former...
Plugs
Be sure and drag yourself to Ladies First... tomorrow night. I'll be taking tickets at the door, so be sure to say "howdy" if we haven't met already. Like I mentioned before, The WYSIWYG Talent Shows have all been outstanding...
I Remember the Good Ol' Days
It was quite a scene at the NY Bloggers event last night, what with the blogging and blog-curious hordes filling up the back of the Apple Store. (You can see me here hanging with Jeff and Matt.) Overall it was...
Ladies First
If you haven't dragged yourself to P.S. 122 for one of the WYSIWYG Talent Shows, then you have totally been missing out a great thing. Lucky for you, there's another sass-tastic installment coming up soon: (Design of that image by...
Eternal Surprise
I think hell may have frozen over, because I just saw a Jim Carrey movie that I really loved. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind owes more of its brilliance, really, to Charlie Kaufman and Michel Gondry who, among...
WYSIWYGin'
If you loved Worst. Sex. Ever. or if you're just beside yourself because you missed it, rejoice! The fine folks that cooked up W.S.E. (with a teeny bit of help from me) are launching a brand new series of blogger...
Calling All Film Buffs!
OK everybody, here's your challenge: name me some movies that have interesting/funny/campy/beautiful title sequences that feature images of New York City. The whole movie doesn't need to be about New York, as long as it's in the title sequence. The...
Precious Executive Power
Salon has a piece today called "Is Arwen pro-Life?" about how different ideological factions keep claiming a connection to Tolkien's real motives. Toward the end, it mentions how Tolkien characters are always shown in terms of how much they seek...
A Little Highbrow Topic for Discussion
A little bit if what I’ve been writing lately discuss, if you're so inclined: Book design has always responded to changes in technology developments in printing, papermaking, typesetting, and aesthetics. With all of these, though, the book itself was the...
Best.Sex.Ever.
So Worst. Sex. Ever. was a total hit last night. Way more, I think, than anyone involved thought it would possibly be. Chris was worried that she might not scrape together enough in ticket sales to pay for the lighting...
Worst.Sex.Ever.
You know you want it. More importantly, you know how crappy it is when you don't get it. Wallow in the schadenfreude over at P.S. 122 before Valentine's Day comes crashing down on you. Hear some of your favorite...
Big Old Fart
Blog panic! We've barely gotten started over at my latest project and I’m already kicking myself for being such a slacker. Such is the curse, I suppose, of trying to write about culture and stuff when you've become a boring...
Junk Drawer
I’ve been menaing to write more about the many exciting or at least mildly amusing things going on lately, but it's been hard to gather the will to sit and concentrate on the blogging thing. Here are a bunch of...
Devolution
I saw one of the best show's I’ve caught in ages last Friday night: the Loser's Lounge tribute to Devo. Brilliant, on all levels. Not only did it really capture the flavor and the impact of the material performed, but...
The Bravest Combo
You trust me, right? You know I like to share a good thing when I really believe other people will appreciate, right? Well, here's your chance to finally take a leap of faith and go see Brave Combo, even though...
Live! Nude! Puppets!
Avenue Q is a lot of fun after all, what's not to love about puppets who fuck, drink, swear, and hang out with Gary Coleman but on the whole I’m glad I scored a free ticket. The show itself...
My Forgotten Laundrette
Last night I watched My Beautiful Laundrette for the first time in about fifteen years. What struck me most was how much I had completely forgotten about the movie, or at least how much I never processed the first time...
Linky Love
Other things for you to read: A Lego robot that can solve a Rubik's cube in less than 40 moves. The Pentagon is working on surveillance technology that can use radar and biometric analysis to identify people by the way...
Blogging Style
I’m sure this isn't a scoop or anything but the Times ran another one of those increasingly common "explaining blogs to people who have no idea what they are" articles this Sunday in the Style section, of all places. It...
Boomtown
Granted, I haven't even manged to drag my ass over to see Matisse Picasso yet, but I’ve already been wondering about the fate of Long Island City in the exhibit's wake. Now that I’ve got a studio just a frisbee...
Kiki and Herb at Large
Will I ever get tired of heaping praise upon Kiki & Herb? Lord, I hope not. I am all a-twitter, waiting to play usher this Saturday night so I can catch their new show running at the Cherry Lane Theater,...
Fuzzy Elf
And another news brief from the Department of Stupid Ways to Invalidate Stupid Plot Developements in Comic Books: Nightcrawler never went to the seminary and got ordained as a priest. He only THOUGHT he went to the seminary and got...
How to Get Things Done
Whenever I’m down on myself about the way I procrastinate, I like to think about this brilliant story by Robert Benchley. It's funny 'cuz it's true, and a perfect model for how one can rationalize a dodgy work ethic. "A...
Own a Piece of a Redbird
If there are any other subway enthusiasts out there (and I know there are), then you have got to check out what's available on the Memorabilia and Collectibles page of the MTA website: Pieces of the old "Redbird" subway fleet...
Top Ten Treats
I’m a sucker for work that slyly works in the pop culture heritage that I’ve absorbed throughout my life. There's a lot of heavy-handed, ironic name-dropping of old TV shows and such out there, but that shit's just weak. What...
I’m Mad as Hell
Once again, I’ve managed to see a time-honored classic to which I hadn't paid much attention, and I was thunderstruck to realize why it has been so highly regarded. As a bonus, I discovered that it perfectly articulated by wielding...
Qwe're Boys
I turned 32 yesterday, but instead of spending the day celebrating my birthday, I spent it celebrating New York City's expanded Human Rights Law at the Qwe're Music Fest with a couple hundred festive liberals from all over the gender...
Winding Up
A quote I stumbled across that talks about the leap of faith in my desires that I’ve been trying to make lately: Curiosity can bring guts out of hiding at times, maybe even get them going. But curiosity usually evaporates....
New Feature: The Alpha Room
One of my plans for this latest reboot of UltraSparky was to use the "Other" page as a place to dump random interesting bits, including old gems from the previous incarnations of the site. I finally got off my lazy...
Mermaids A-Poppin'
And finally, an assortment of pictures from Saturday's Coney Island Mermaid Parade, by far one of my favorite events of the year. It's a real honest mix of the city — young, old, gay, straight, hipster, square. No splashy corporate...
Bowie-Vision
You MUST get yourselves to the Museum of Television and Radio to catch their five-part Bowie retrospective, David Bowie, Sound + Vision. A-freakin'-mazing. The first part, which runs until July 7, includes TV clips and short promo movies (they weren't...
The Last Thursday Ever
Ah, another exhausting ride on the Kiki & Herb express train to madness. Brilliant as ever, last night's one-night show at Knitting Factory (also featuring the hot and fun and sassy Scissor Sisters) was a little more off-the-cuff than their...
Fancypants Literary Moment
Two quotes from Confessions of a Mask by Yukio Mishima. Both manage to nail down things I’ve been trying to properly articulate for years: I do not mean that I viewed those desires of mine that deviated from accepted standards...
All Tomorrow's Parties
Wait a sec, so by some twist of fate one of my all-time favorite political cartoonists seems to be reading my site (or at least stumbling across it)? I’m astounded. So now I’ve made the slightest blip on the mental...
More Naked Chicks
In other news, the life-drawing classes are still going well, and I really am getting back into the swing of things. It's less and less of a struggle to actually draw what I’m trying to draw. So yeah, good weekend....
Hot Naked Boys
This morning's drawing class was a total scene. I don't know why there were suddenly three times as many people there as usual, but I suspect that somehow word got out that we were gonna be having a hot, flirty...
Lame Bloggie Plea
I have nothing very gay to say today, which will surely destroy my chances to win that Bloggie for the best GLBT Weblog. Curses! Damn me and my broad range of interests and preoccupations. Wait! I know — Mike and...
Live! Nude! Girls!
At the urgings of my friend Vinny, I’ve been going to a weekly life-drawing class at the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center (ugh, I know). It's been the kick in the butt I’ve needed to get me drawing...
Type Freaks
Yes! Someone finally gets it! Someone understands. This is the best essay I have ever encountered about the peculiarities of the typesetting world, which doesn't quite exist anymore the way it used to. It's a strange world of marginalized freaks...
Artsy Craftsy
Things here in Sparky's Workshop are off to a good start. And here we see the first tangible result: that’s a close look at some of my schwanky homemade paper, the result of last night's labors. It's made of reconstituted...
Piss Off, Snobby London!
All week in London, I had to defend the North. Londoners act like the entire northern part of the country is one giant inbred cousin, inexplicable and dull, and slightly embarrassing. You know what, though? I loved my trip up...
Alpha Male
If you know me, than you probably know that I’m a big fan of science fiction. Why hide my spots, right? I make an effort, though, not to impose my enthusiasm on those who don't share it. It just invites...
Hot Sauna Action
Once I get back, remind me to tell you more about the Victorian-era Turkish bath Paul took me to today. It was in Carlisle, a little village just south of Scotland. Presumably some Americans have been to the area to...
Quick Notes
A few quick items before I forget: I’ve had my fill of squeezing into single beds for the time being. For the rest of the trip, I’m going to remind myself that I’m on vacation and my comfort and convenience...
Once More, With Singing
As I predicted last night, by the time I left for work this morning I was able to download MP3s of all the music from "Once More, With Feeling," the brilliant musical episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. (Ralph, if...
Things to Do in Denver When You're Bored
For all I know, Denver may be a very lovely city. I don't know — I never saw it. Instead, I saw a bunch of the Denver Tech Center, a monotonous sprawl of office parks, chain stores, and soulless housing...
Grrrrrrrrrr
My bad mood defies description. It also defies logic, considering I had a pretty fun weekend, and even found myself watching the two best movies I’ve seen in ages in the middle of my wandering around depressed and half-blind with...
The Great Debates
Prompted by the season premiere of The West Wing, we had a great debate in the Rumpus Room last night about the pros and cons of presidents relying on speechwriters instead of their own extemporaneous speaking abilities. (Ralph opposes the...
A Different Kind of NYC
One of the things that was readily apparent when I was in San Francisco the week before last was that this whole World Trade Center/Pentagon disaster may be a tremendous news item elsewhere, but it has not necessarily produced the...
Playlist
Over the last fifteen years, I’ve seen a huge number of bands from al over the map of musical genres. Here's as much of a list of people I’ve seen as I can reconstruct from memory and a handful of...
Glitter
I’m too tired to post anything myself, so I’m turning the reins over to my friend Jim, who has some thoughts to share about the Mariah Carey train wreck, Glitter. September 29th, 2001. The day I went to see "Glitter."...
Who's a Smart Boy?
Can I have a shout-out for my dear pal Paul Baker? Er, excuse me, that would be Doctor Paul Baker, as of this past Tuesday. Rock on! Paul finally snagged his Ph.D. for the linguistics research work he's been doing...
Una Noche Divertida
Sexy Mexicans are good for morale. At least that’s what I felt last night. My friend Josh and I decided that we've been feeling so fucked up about this whole past week that we could use a little cheery distraction....
Monuments
Bus shelters, light poles, and phone booths are slowly being covered with flyers showing the faces of people missing since Tuesday. It's a very moving tribute to the folks we assume are victims. Together, they form a widespread grassroots monument...
Again...
Pearl Harbor, Kennedy's assassination, the Challenger explosion, and now this. Another generation is going to have their first memory of exactly where they were and what they were doing when the shit hit the fan....
Consumers Should Be Seen and Not heard
I’ve been completely absorbed in Naomi Klein's No Logo : Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies lately, which is a fascinating read. Granted, it's preaching to the choir in my case, but she really does a wonderful job of articulating...
Christina!
After each of us gave up on watching some horrible, melodramatic bit of homo dreck, my roommate and I were watching the trailers on the DVD for other movies, and liked the looks of this one called Broadway Damage, a...
Art Chantry Saved My Life
As I mentioned, I got a piece of unsolicited e-mail yesterday from my idol, a Seattle-based designer named Art Chantry. He was doing a Google seach and ran across this old journal entry of mine where I mention that he...
An Angel with Big Ears
For the last couple of years, FringeNYC has bombarded the city with a bunch of really tiny, offbeat, often really great, theatrical productions during its dense summer schedule. Unfortunately, not all the ideas in all those plays are so original....
Scorecard
A quick review: Total bloggers met in person: 41 (as far as I know) During previous two weeks: 18 It's a festival! This weekend has seen yet another lightning round of Blogmeets, with guest appearances by Bill, Ron, and more...
Damn Dirty Apes
So where should I begin talking about how much the new Planet of the Apes sucks? I mean,there's plenty of material to work with here. After all, it was a phenomenal disappointment, even for someone like me who went in...
Warming Up for Summer
My official recommendation for the weekend is to get your ass over to P.S. 1 this saturday afternoon for the kickoff to their 2001 summer Warm Up series. Those funk-loving Venezuelan cuties Los Amigos Invisibles are gonna be playing, and...
As Featured in the New York Times
Go and see what the Rumpus Room actually looks like in this article, which containa lots of cool pics of the pad, as well as the most unflattering picture of me ever seen by human eyes. It's a very complimentery...
Death of a Soundtrack
To feed my ongoing obsession with (well, appreciation of) with Moulin Rouge (which was just as delicious after a second viewing, made posible by Mike's patient indulgence of my insistence that he see it with me), I picked up the...
This Story Is About Musicals
I was expecting to hate it, or at least think it was a pretty but unsatisfying bauble like Romeo + Juliet, but I totally loved Moulin Rouge. It was definitely the visual delight I expected, even turning out to be...
The Secret Shame of the Art Student
Vermeer seems to be making the rounds this week, which brought back a kooky memory of the time I had a painting of mine hang in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (I will forever have stuck in my head the...
When It Rains It Pours
I finally told my depression to go fuck itself and went back out into the world this weekend, and what did I find? New friends, friendly old flings, ex-quasi-boyfriends, former Regians turned fellow Brooklyn homos, new pals with blogs, sexy...
Paris Wrap-Up
I’d like to write some kind of insightful wrap-up of my first trip to Paris, but frankly there's no point. It was beautiful despite some grey weather, fascinating but occasionally cliche, elegant and base. It was really just a tourist...
Bon Jour!
Notes from France: French keyboards are absolutely maddening. This is my excuse for any subsequent typos. When I first got here, I had to wander through a planeload of French Marines also arriving at the airport. Deeeeeeeeee-licious. What may be...
Fancy Restaurants and Dank Basements
I also meant to mention a few things spotted during the trip to San Francisco that were actually about New York. First, I was thumbing through the in-flight rag on the American plane, and came across a gushing profile of...
A Little Plug
Eagle-eyed New Yorkers will be able to spot a picture of me on page 52 of the current issue of Time Out New York (the 1/25-2/1 issue, with the ski bunny on the cover). Nothing very glam, just an unflattering...
You Can't Go Back Again
For the most part, I don't react to pop culture with nostalgia or ironic distance. Either I like things or I don't. I may like them because they're goofy and endearing, but I truly enjoy trashiness and garishness and goofiness,...
They Went and Done It
In the midst of my incessant committee meetings about this aggravating eviction issue — which is becoming an endless, tedious pain in the butt — I’ve still managed to maintain some semblance of the whirlwind pace of my normal life....
East Side Ecstasy
If you watch any documentary before you die, you really ought to watch East Side Story, an incredible look at communist musicals in East Germany and the soviet Union. Man, it'll get your heart pumping to watch those men sing...
Dude, Where's Your Script?
TV is often so much more horrifying than regular life, especially weekend TV. so I turn on the set as I sit around bored today, and I see this guy wearing a tank-top and leather chaps, and he's on ice...
Star-Fucking
It's not everyday that you find yourself sitting around with a group of friends gabbing when you come in on a conversation midstream to hear a woman you know say, "so I said to Madonna, 'You gotta get out!'" True...
Ingenuity
The Golden Gate Bridge is a central character in William Gibson's All Tomorrow's Parties, a little something I picked up in the duty-free in Brussels for the plane ride home. The Bridge depicted in this and a couple of Gibson's...
Fear Is the Mind-Killer
"Fear is the mind-killer." Whenever I do big trips like this, I feel like I owe to myself to cram in as many new experiences as possible, even if that means facing up to things that make me uncomfortable. In...
Halloweentown
I may be a Halloween slacker, but apparently my unconscious manipulation of the cosmic luck plane appears to be doing better than the rest of me. Namely, the movies which arrived in my mailbox in the last few days, after...
Pleasures of the Big Screen
Damn, I just noticed how badly I’ve been neglecting this. Oh well, shit happens. Not that my media-/pop-culture consumption has trailed off at all. If anything, a brief burst of solvency found me treating myself to the occasional CD binge...
Not Just a Butt Pirate
God help me, but I’ve finally been sucked into Napster. Well, Macster to be more specific, because the iMac actually has decent speakers. (Mmmmm, right now I’m listeing to Pulp's This Is Hardcore, which brings back happy, freaky memories of...
Meat Market
Forget all that queer counter-culture posturing you keep encountering on the Internet. Every homo blog I’ve looked at today has confessed to watching The Sexiest Bachelor in America last night, just like I did. We're all ashamed. We were all...
Bizarro World
Even though I’m only two hours south of New York, it feels like I’m a universe away. After doing a quick matinee double feature at the Hoyt's over in Manahawkin (Bring It On and Space Cowboys, Miki and I were...
She's the One That I Want
OK, if you want to laugh your Ass off (and you're not the squeamish type) you owe to yourself to catch I’m the One That I Want, the film version of Margaret Cho's one-woman show. Like some of the best...
Work Ethic
Although I’ve heard some bad reviews of it, I finally watched Cradle Will Rock and thought it was fantastic. Like a lot of films that try to bea little epic in scope, it relied on developing some characters in broad...
Giving Me Strength
I’m listening to one of my birthday treats, Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach's Painted from Memory. Although I’m fond of them both, I never had much of an urge to get the album until I rented Grace of My Heart,...
Opiated
God help me, but I bought a new TV yesterday and invested in an antenna, so now I’m watching TV at home for the first time in over a year. It still sucks as much as ever, but it's still...
Soaking It In
I haven't been in a great mood lately, what with all the work I’ve had to do and the recent discovery that a misunderstanding between my friend Simon and I has screwed up his and his boyfriend's summer vacation, so...
Music and Movies
Ah, sweet rapture! I’m sad that my friend Heather is moving to San Francisco, but I am very pleased that she left her rickety old turntable with me, because I am finally able to listen to all my records again,...
Battle Below the Ground
Brainstorm! I was taking the subway into work this morning (on-site work, not the usual stay-at-home-in-my-underwear work) when I was reminded of a good idea I had a while back. This one-armed harmonica player carrying a paper coffee cup filled...
This, That, Other Things
Oh god, it's happening again. I'll warn you all right now — you won't be hearing much from me for a while. This is not a vacation from dealing with the website, this is just a hunch that I’m going...
The Midsummer Round-Up
Woo Hoo! 11 days into July and I finally post! Yes, it's true. I’m not dead. Hell, I haven't even been assuming that anyone would notice. If I were really desperate for attention, I might pull a stunt like this,...
Binge Surfing
I’m posting this from the library. Why? Because it's the 21st century and I can. I’m happy to report that the 1960's wrought-iron desk chair I use at home is much more comfortable than the plastic butt-torture (not the good...
Coquette
Because I like to give my pals a cheap thrill now and then: Jonno! Jonno! Jonno! Yes! Yes! Jonno! Unfortunately, though, Mike has apparently been getting hate mail because of me. This makes me sad, because he seems like a...
Chelsea's Future
In the future, according to Titan A.E., all that will remain of Earth's culture will be cargo pants, muscle shirts, and homo archetypes. I know this movie was manufactured specifically for 12-year-olds, so I wasn't expecting quality, but I was...
The Votes Are Pouring In
I’m happy to see that responses still come in for my Village People survey. There have been lots of great responses so far. Here are a few that I’m particularly fond of: The all-American boy He's called Kip or Jock...
Social Niceties
since I work at home by myself these days, I can go for long stretches of time without saying a word or making a peep. As a general rule of thumb, it's rare that I will sit at home by...
Film Buff
For such a film nut, there are huge, gaping holes in my classic-films checklist. I blame it on my youthful fascination with trash culture. (Which I still love, but I temper with appreciation of the finer things.) I always pooh-poohed...
I Was Never Punk
I have a new fan: Proven's mom! shout-out to Mrs. Rubin for making me blush! I never said I was a punk, so you can't call me a poseur. (sorry, John, but I’m a true believer in the pop-up link...
I Wear the Cheese
I wear the cheese. The cheese does not wear me. God, I miss television sometimes....
Self-Employment Limbo
The drawback to working at home is that it feels like I’m developing narcolepsy or something. OK, maybe it has something to do with the complete lack of structure to my day, and my recent tendency to stay out all...
Zine Life
I finally got my ass in gear and dropped a line to Chris Bickel, The King of Epinions, to tell him how much I dig his stuff. He's basically been using the Epinions site as a vehicle for publishing a...
They Give Us Ikea and Take Our Hipsters
Yes, it's true. My robot master Andy and I have a secret little project in the works. No weblogger will be safe. Or maybe they'll be a little bit safer now. Okay, I learned the craziest thing yesterday, which you...
The Women
Aw shucks, Anne told me that I was here favorite person ever. Which is weird, because it was in response to an e-mail I sent telling her how much I hated her. Maybe it's because I told her I hated...
The Most Homoerotic of All Wrestling
Mmmmmmm, oily Turks. A short while back, I read a couple of news articles (no, I’m not going to look for them to give you a link) about a minor uproar over this traditional Turkish event where all these guys...
Hobnobbin'
Squeezebox wasn't that much fun, yet again. I’ve had some of my most fun nightlife times ever there (watching huge bar brawls, Sherry Vine's Pat Benatar show, lots of cute punk rock boys) but it's often a bust, too. The...
Customer Service
Fucking Blogger once again has freaked out and lost a whole post I had just written. No, I’m not going to try and recreate it, but it had some fun links, so here are the highlights: Ginger is Groc's fun...
Our Heroines
The fun keeps on coming over at the Personalized Village People survey. Check out the results, and don't be shy about sending in your own response. I finally saw Valley of the Dolls this weekend, and it was more delicious...
Mayday! Mayday! (original)
Mayday! Mayday! One of the perks of going to high school on the upper east side of Manhattan was that our outdoor gym classes were held in Central Park. Now, gym class was not one of my all-time favorites (skinny,...
The Filthiest of Heroes
I was raised on filth. More specifically, I have been an ardent fan of the John Waters aesthetic ever since I was an impressionable young high-school sophomore. I was hooked even before I finally got to see my first films...
Movies for Gay Boys
That Gregg Araki, he sure does make a sexy movie. Not to mention pretty goofy and fun. His pop culture allegiances also strike right to the heart of the teenage New Waver that would later become Sparky. Unfortunately, most of...
First Things First
A few months ago, when I was knee-deep in my "should I or shouldn't I" grad school crisis, Adbusters and a few other magazines simultaneously published a reprint of First Things First, a manifesto first written by Ken Garland in...
Hipster Credentials
I had a perfectly lovely day walking around with Paul "Dreamboat" Baker (my nickname for him, not his). After presenting him with a three-volume set of knitting hints from the 70s, I escorted him down to Las Venus, and then...
Very Important Pointless Trivia
It's a new month and I suppose I should throw all my readers a bone and tell exciting stories or something. screw that. I got a bad cold again, which seems to have left me with the official onset of...
Let's Go to the Movies
Movies were the theme this weekend. And quite a contrast of them. Friday night, Stephen and I met up at the swanky little Chelsea gallery where our friend Abbey works, and then took off for another one of our "Teen...
Toy Frenzy
Toy Week continues, full throttle! My awesome pal Dave had one of his toy-collecting minions send me this incredible Space Ghost figure, complete with desk, coffee cup, index cards, and removable hands so he can play either hero or talk...
Kentucky Fried China
Memories of China: I’ve been rereading Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson's nanotechnology novel, set in the Shanghai area. One of the wackiest images that’s stayed with me from my trip to Shanghai was of a Kentucky Fried Chicken on a major...
Teeny Tiny Town
It's a big city, but also a tiny town. I haven't felt coincidence closing in on me like this since I lived in Boston. It's been quite a weekend for kookiness in that regard. At least one of those wacky...
Wordplay
This little gem is from Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash: Besides, interesting things happen along borders — transitions — not in the middle where everything's the same. The book also uses the word "loglo" once in a while, which I really...
All Hail Brazilian Cheesebread!
All hail Brazilian cheesebread! I had a couple of drinks at Double Happiness last night with Clémence (one of my fellow survivors of the whole Fragile experience), who spent the holidays with her boyfriend (actually, now he's her fiancée) in...
By Grabthar's Hammer
Galaxy Quest. Brilliant. Hilarious. Who knew? This was the shocker of the weekend for me. This movie was so good, and I had totally dismissed it beforehand because the trailer looked so bad, and because... Well, because Tim Allen is...
Yo Yo Yo
Music and movie stuff for today: I stumbled across an incredible deal the other day. If you love the Beastie Boys (and even if you don't love them like I love them), then go to their web site and check...
Beck, Beasties
Beck just can't stop rockin' my world. His new album, Midnight Vultures, is absolutely unbelieveable. I just got my copy yesterday, and I’ve had to listen to it a bunch of times already just to try and process everything that’s...
Life in the Future
The future is now. But I don't have a flying car, and I don't seem to be living in a pod-home on the moon with cool, minimalist, Eames-like furniture. I think I would be laughed at if I went out...
Back from the Tumult
Back at last after a tumultuous few days. I’m feeling a little exhausted, and my throat feels a little scratchy. If I have strep throat again, I may as well shoot myself, 'cuz I just don't have time to deal....
flatnessisgod
Well, my head is ready to explode now. stevie Wong, my supplier for all things modern, sent me a little package of goodies (Thank you, sweetie!) including a copy of flatnessisgod, by Ryan McGinness. Wow, I just couldn't believe it...
Twee Li'l Moby
That Moby — what a kooky, wee little pixie he is. He's the sweetest, littlest pop star on earth until he starts playing and singing, at which point he becomes this hyperactive, screaming animal with veins popping out of his...
Freebies
Have I mentioned how much I love Sessions at West 54th Street? It's great show to watch - one more reason to support public television, I say. It's much greater, though, to be able to live where they tape. Last...
The Minefield of Aggressive Language (Part 1)
Subject: Re: AN OPEN LETTER Date: Wed, 22 Apr 1998 09:44:32 -0400 From: Daniel Rhatigan <Sparky@inch.com> Newsgroups: alt.zines Shantia wrote: > and faggy is not an insult. Uh-oh, we're digging deeper into that thorny "use of language" issue again. I...
Checklist
Media junkie that I am, I naturally checked out a lot of stuff while I was in L.A. In the interest of passing on useful information, here are brief reviews of movies, music, and zines that came my way during...
An Entertainment Bonanza
I don't know if it's possible to really explain Marty and Elayne. At least, I don't think anyone could express exactly what it's like to see them, to hear them. Marty and Elayne are a husband-and-wife lounge act who perform...
alt.youth.media
Ooze bites the hand that feeds it! Ooze came one step closer to its formidable goal of total media domination this past fall when it was included in an exhibit called alt.youth.media at New York's New Museum of Contemporary...