I’m sorry if I offend anyone by saying this, but this movie is one of the most hilarious things I have seen in probably my whole life. My father is a quadriplegic- I come from a family in which life-altering health issues are something one has to deal with, and even learn to laugh about.

I had heard about ‘The Boy in the Plastic Bubble’ a few years ago, and was really interested in tracking down a copy. One night in my then-boyfriend’s living room, I found a VHS copy lying around, and I couldn’t resist.

As it was a TV movie, the film is very much in the style of the ABC After School Specials of the time – highly melodramatic, ridiculously over the top, and heavily sprinkled with saccharine, and that’s what makes it so great. This has the stamp of Randal Kleiser- the man behind ‘Grease’ and the so-bad-it’s-good ‘The Blue Lagoon’- all over it. The casting of a baby-faced John Travolta in the lead role, and its inspiration for a classic ‘Seinfeld’ episode nearly 20 years later only serve to further enhance the hilarity. In my opinion, this film is a camp classic. If you’re into the weird, the kitschy, and the unintentionally humorous side of film, I highly recommend this.

This was the most mindless, buoyant fun I’ve enjoyed on celluloid in a long time. This movie works, because it knows what it wants to be, and doesn’t try to be anything otherwise. Contrary to what I had previously assumed, you don’t have to be a fan of the Ramones to enjoy this. Joey Ramone, for most of the film, sports what I am pretty positive is a wicked crotch stain Fergie would be proud of. Oh, and P.J. Soles is the fucking coolest.

I’m not at all dismissing her work, or her validity or influence as an artist, but this is just not for me. I knew prior to going into this that it was definitely going to be a “challenging” record, but I had no idea it would be so.. completely atonal, void of melody. It also sounds completely different from what I had expected, based solely on articles/reviews I had been reading. There were certain parts of the record that finally began to grab me, but just as quickly as they began to emerge from the dark void, they were struck down by jarring, unnerving, immense blocks of noise, and I don’t mean the kind I enjoy, sheets of heavy white noise.

I wanted to like this, but simply couldn’t. I may return to it, for further evaluation. I respect her utterly uncompromising musical stance, but I guess my response to this record only provides further evidence as to why Laura Nyro and Vashti Bunyan are my 60s chanteuse’s of choice.

I’m listening to this right now, and I forgot just how good it was. I think all their subsequent releases pale in comparison. Just simple pop confectionary. When I was 16, I started picking up this cool-looking, new electronic magazine (though they did have the fatal flaw of having Madonna on their first cover) at the grocery store, the now defunct Revolution. Every issue came with a really good sampler CD, usually with tracks all from one indie label. One issue had an Emperor Norton sampler, and I heard “Playgirl.” Fell in love, and the rest is history. I would take my discman to school everyday, and listen to it during my History class. The best track, in my opinion, is “Skool’s Out.”
Light and Magic seemed like it was trying too hard to be something it was not.. too detached, too cold, too minimalist. It has its moments, but eh. The Witching Hour, the same critique applies, but it just bores me to tears. I can’t even get through it.

I used to love gathering these up in bulk from my local Sweet Factory (remember those?) when I was a kid. I think I just reveled in the sheer novelty of consuming candy that looked like miniature cola bottles. Now I find it all rather repulsive. I no longer eat gelatin now, as I am a strict vegetarian, but to me, the consistency of gelatin is just gross. Kind of like trying to gnaw on the bone cartilage of decaying, dismembered body parts. Ever tried that gummi ‘Happy Meal’ set, complete with gelatin “burger,” “fries,” and “cola?” Yeah. It’s kind of like that. Very strange and surreal. “Soylent green is PEOPLE!!”

9 times out of 10, when I flip onto my local PBS affiliate, it’s yet another rerun of Nova, but once in a great while, they conjure up something great, like this latest installment in the American Masters series, narrated by Laurie Anderson (whom I will be seeing in concert in October!), no less. This is the kind of high-quality, extensive documentary one would find on the Sundance Channel or IFC. I myself, as a poor college student, cannot afford digital cable, which is the only way here one can acquire those channels, so when little gems like this turn up on basic cable, well, I relish it. I just can’t get enough of the Warhol mid-1960s, Exploding Plastic Inevitable-Factory-Edie Sedgwick period. Speaking of which, I cannot wait for Factory Girl in December. I’ve been on a kick for all things Warhol. Kudos to PBS for airing this.

Quite possibly the only show on television having the unique power to make me projectile vomit at will.

Eh. I had to watch this today in my Creative Writing class. Some of it was charming (LOVED the score), but I found myself suspiciously unamused during each scene in which the entire class burst into laughter. Did I mention I also hate romantic comedies? The female lead’s employment of plastic ball-in-cleavage trickery, as well as the oft-perpetuated myth of “seduce beautiful woman in no time with poetry and sensitivity” made me nauseous. If you too are single and bitter, avoid it.

Such raunchy little fun! Take Bjork or Miho Hatori, put them in a blender with Ladytron, Peaches, and even a little Atari Teenage Riot and Shonen Knife, and you have CSS. When I read they are Portuguese-speaking band from Brazil, I was hoping the album would be entirely sung in Portuguese, but alas, it is not. Lots of tongue-in-cheek hipster potshots (“Lick my arthole” is particularly memorable), and obscenities for the sake of being obscene, but it is all in good fun. Look out for these guys.

Indescribably awesome. Great combination of flavors.