In the final room of the exhibition are several large journals full of hand-written dedications to Jackson. Most entries are addressed directly to “Michael” and written much like high school yearbook entries. “You are the meaning of life,” wrote one fan. Most thank Jackson for helping them in some way. “You were a childhood hero and inspired a million things in me,” wrote another.
The full blog post, on London’s official Michael Jackson exhibit, is at the NEW YORK TIMES.
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Tagged: Music, culture, london, michael jackson, pop, this is it
On my way home from visiting the Raymond Pettibon exhibit at a gallery near Green Park in London tonight, I came across 100 or more protesters outside London’s Intercontinental Hotel.
In pouring rain, a hundred or so members of a Save Pakistan from America group were demonstrating against current Pakistani leadership and current American policy in Pakistan, during a scheduled dinner at the hotel at which Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani was allegedly supposed to attend.
More on Gilani’s London visit is here.
Some audio from the protest:
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Tagged: america, gilani, london, pakistan, protest
More entertaining than the film was watching the crowd listen to and engage with Grey afterwards. (One gushing audience member offered her band a gig at his London club. Another identified herself as a dominatrix and seemed to want to talk shop.)
After Grey admitted that she was shocked that Soderberg asked her to be in the film, and explained her preparations for the role (she interviewed a couple of call girls and read anonymous call-girl blogs), the conversation quickly turned to sex.
The full blog post, on the London screening of The Girlfriend Experience (and actress Q&A), is at INTELLIGENT LIFE.
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Tagged: culture, film, girlfriend experience, london, sasha grey, soderberg
Long before we debated what real punk-rock was, what true hip-hop was, or what made indie-rock authentic, jazz heads grappled with what is and isn’t jazz music. Now, the debate is whether jazz is dying off or not.
America’s jazz audience is not only shrinking, it’s aging. Attendance at jazz performances has dropped 30% since 2002. The median age of concert patrons in 2008 was 46; in 1982 it was 29.
But jazz is not dead, yet. Among other groups, Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet is proof:
The full blog post, on the status of Jazz in 2009, is at INTELLIGENT LIFE.
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Tagged: brass, culture, hip hop, indie rock, jazz, Music
Actually, Be Kind Rewind was in part the inspiration for starting the event, according to its creator, Harriet Knowles. “We hardly ever take a scene more than once no matter how rubbish it looks. We feel that adds to its charm,” she wrote in an e-mail. “Finding costumes that fit huge burly blokes and petite girls who play the same character in different scenes is also rather difficult.”
The full blog post, on finding the D.I.Y. spotlight in London, is at the NEW YORK TIMES.
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Tagged: arts, culture, karaoke, london, videopia
In July 1961, on London’s South Bank, Gustav Metzger put on a gas mask, rubber gloves and a hard hat and proceeded to spray hydrochloric acid in elaborate patterns all over three large screens of white, black and red nylon. Filmed up close, the quick melting and tearing away of fabric is beautiful, disturbing and captivating. Seen from 10 feet away, it looks like a hazmat worker messing around with tattered, ripped sheets.
The full blog post, on the Serpentine Gallery’s Gustav Metzger retrospective, is at the NEW YORK TIMES.
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Tagged: arts, culture, gustav metzger, london
I’ve seen “Do the Right Thing” many times, and have observed and participated in many debates about its value and meaning. But this particular London screening reminded me of just how well it captures the little things that not only set people off, but also calm them down and even make them laugh. There are incendiary and violent moments throughout the film (based on actual events), but there is also plenty of humour and humanity.
The full blog post, on the 20th anniversary screening of Do The Right Thing in London, is at INTELLIGENT LIFE.
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Tagged: arts, culture, film, hip hop, new york, spike lee
In London, about 1,100 people gathered in Leicester Square for the premiere. Video screens showed red carpet arrivals from Los Angeles, the dance troupe Diversity — winner of the television competition “Britain’s Got Talent” — performed a Jackson tribute, and enthusiastic fans wore Jackson-inspired fedoras, gloves and jackets.
The full story, reported by Ben Sisario with contributions from myself and two other reporters, is at the NEW YORK TIMES.
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Tagged: arts, london, michael jackson, Music
Savy wants Sci-Fi London to be more than just monsters, robots, and space battles. “Many people think sci-fi and instantly think Trekker,” he wrote. “Perhaps when reading the movie/TV guides you will just flick past something that says sci-fi without another thought, missing movies like ‘La Jetee,’ ‘Fahrenheit 451,’ ‘Stalker,’ even Soderbergh’s ‘Solaris’.”
The full blog post, on Sci-Fi London’s 2009 Oktoberfest, is at the NEW YORK TIMES.
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Tagged: culture, london, sci-fi, science fiction
Judging by the musky, sweaty smell wafting throughout the room at a recent Bicycle Film Festival screening, my guess is that many in attendance pedalled their way there. A crowd of 100 or so, often in click-in bike shoes and ripped shorts, with messenger bags slung over their shoulders, grabbed bottles of beer and filed into a screening room at London’s Barbican Centre for day two of the festival, which took place from September 23rd to 27th.
The full blog post, on London’s 2009 Bicycle Film Festival, is at INTELLIGENT LIFE.
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Tagged: barbican, bicycle film festival, bicycling, culture, film, london
