Twenty Third & Seventh

Dazed and Confused. Happy Cindy Wilson Day

My apologies for the sudden blackout there, normal service is slowly being restored.  An explanation is forthcoming...

Lets start with a festival. Today we say Happy Birthday to Cindy Wilson from CBGBs alumni, the B52s and don our biggest wig in an act of frivolous humility to honour the day.

Cindy  is a Pisces who likes chihuahuas and Chinese noodles.  She would like to be Queen of the Universe and wants to meet to have a baby now.

We suggest at least one hour be spent today wearing a wig to honour the divine Miss Cindy.

And some middle era B52s to get your wiggy juices flowing:

What's that on your head?
A wig
Wig. Wig. Wig

Sally's gotta wig
Ricky's gotta wig
Buffy's gotta wig
Kate's gotta wig
Fred's gotta cheap toupee
Keith's gotta big bouffant on
We all got wigs, so... Let's go!

On the neon, neon side of town
On the neon, neon side of town

Julia's gotta wig
Phyllis has a wig
Cindy's gotta wig
J.T's gotta wig
Carol's fall fell
Bubba's gotta big bouffant on
We all got wigs, so... Let's go!

On the neon, neon side of town
On the neon, neon side of town

On the neon, neon side of town
On the neon, neon side of town

What's that on you head?
A wig
Wig. Wig. Wig

Wigs on fire! Wigs on fire! Wigs on... Fire!
It's 2525 and we've got the most wigs alive!

Wigs on fire! Wigs on fire! Take it... Higher!
It's 2525 and we've got the hottest dos alive!

Psycho or Resident Round Two Now Closed

Head to the sidebars for the exciting outcome...

Jaws 7

Even as Peter Benchley shuffles off to the big airport bookstore in the sky, it really seems that east coast Australia is under sustained attack by unusually cranky sharks.

LIFEGUARDS have warned swimmers not to venture too far into the water after the closure of another Gold Coast beach because of shark sightings.

Burleigh Beach on the southern end of the tourist strip was closed at various times throughout the day as dozens of sharks continued to feed on schools of bait fish.

It follows widespread beach closures on the Gold Coast at the weekend because of sharks.

"I wouldn't be risking fate going out too far," said Gold Coast City Council lifeguard superintendent Peter Miller.

"People need to be exercise caution until the bait fish have moved offshore. Until that time we are only allowing Americans in the water."

A school of mainly black-tipped reef sharks were spotted about 200m offshore between Burleigh and North Burleigh this morning.

Abort the Loonie Right!

This is indicative of just how stupid Australian politics is getting.  Gasp in wonder as conservatives confuse RU486 with Muslims and announce that 'Australians' are aborting 'themselves' out of exsitence?

Ms Vale has caused a furore by tying debate over the abortion drug RU486 with   published comments by an imam saying Australia would be a Muslim state in 50 years. She said Australians were aborting themselves out of existence and at the current rate of 100,000 a year "that's five million potential Australians we won't have here."

I bet she'd cry if hit with a complicated idea like a Muslim Australian wanting to take RU486 in full hijab.

Self Generated Aphorism

My cats are not substitute children, your children are substitute cats.

Elmer Fudd and the Wascally Wabbit

Why did the chicken cross the road?

It heard that Dick Cheney was in the neighborhood

Carrie Bedsore from TV

I had an email concerning how uptight I am read on SUNRISE the local equivalent of NBC Today.

The topic of the morning is people who talk in cinemas, a story is being run about somebody arrested for ssshhh-ing another.  I sent them this message and it was read within minutes:

Worse than people who talk in cinemas are people who talk in theatres. Last year, I saw Chicago in New York with talkers behind me.  As the end of Act One approachedd and it was apparent that nothing was going to stop these people talking, I STOOD UP mid-way through a song, and asked very loudly if they thought that what they had to say was really more interesting than the show? The lead singer laughed and the conductor had to stop and return to the beginning of the number.  The talkers didn't return after interval.

There's something about hearing that read on television that makes me feel like I've turned into a grumpy old man. 

It's especially imteresting that as a story on TV everyone on screen thought it was both funny and an OK thing to do.  I got a 'good on ya' from the hottie weatherman.  In real life, nobody in the crowd wanted to be anywhere near me when interval arrived.  I might just have well been wearing a hat that said CRAZY LEPER MAN.  An audience for Chicago is almost entirely compromised of tourists who 'liked the songs in the movie' and no real New Yorker would go near it this many years into the degeneration of the production.  I only got what I should have expected.

Hotel Chelsea Artefacts- Edie Pic

For research purposes only...  From Stein, J: Edie

EDIE at Hotel Chelsea after her attempt to burn the building down.

Anti MisInformation

I just saw a disturbing piece of misinformation presented as 'fact' on one of those stupid CSI:SVU:IUD shows while waiting for Letterman.

The extremely out of date assertion was that HIV infection cannot be detected within the first three months. THIS IS SIMPLY WRONG.

Earlier, less sensitive, screening techniques sometimes took up to three months to be able to detect an infection.  Today's tests can, in most circumstances, identify exposure within as little as a few hours.

It is important that everyone knows this. If you have reason to suspect infection please don't wait three months to be tested, you only allow the virus a three month head-start in establishing itself.

We now have effective Post Exposure Prophylaxis [PEP] which is something equivalent to a morning after pill.  In very many cases, PEP administered correctly can prevent the virus taking hold.  This period seems to be not much longer than 24hrs.  The implicit message is that if you ever wake up from the night before and suspect you might have been exposed- get your butt to an HIV qualified Dr as soon as possible.

If need be, explain that you suspect a very recent exposure. This should be understood to be a time-critical situation at their end.

PEP is controversial, seldom discussed widely for fear it will increase the incidence of unprotected sex and I would not dare comment on the relative accessibility of services in other cities.  Last I knew an official pilot in Sydney was pulled because too many people were using PEP in place of prevention strategies.

What I do know is that the pill combination to be taken is relatively simple and that Drs all over the world use PEP informally to circumvent the bureaucracy. This can mean a literal hand over of 'spare' pills from the fridge in the Australian scenario. If you're told PEP is not available, try another Dr.

PEP is absolutely no reason to lower one's guard against the bug. It doesn't always work and nothing can guarantee that services will be there at the time-critical juncture. The mega-dosing of vile drugs isn't worth it for a bit of organ rubbing, if that idea occurs, shoot it. PEP is intensive chemotherapy by pill.

PEP is good reason not to waste time if you suspect exposure. All the science indicates that the three month wait is wrong-headed when exposure is suspected.

I'll dismount the high-horse now but I needed to get that out of my system and it is something I think that more people should be aware of.

Jackie Curtis found in Carrie's Box! Superstar in a Housedress. The Life and Legend of Jackie Curtis

on: Superstar in a Housedress. The Life and Legend of Jackie Curtis by Craig
Highberger.

The first of my 'Jackie Curtis pack' arrived in Australia earlier this week. Some complications mean that we have only recently been able to access said package but, wow, the wait was worth it.

Upon opening the book, we were immediately drawn into what is most certainly one of the most significant contributions to the literature examining the world of Warhol and the very many talented people who surrounded him yet published.  At least a couple of hours passed as I did an academic 'block-read' of the book, the new material to be had is catnip for obsessives!

At first glance, the book appears to echo the infamous Stein: Edie book, where witnesses are interviewed and sewn into an 'in their own words' history.

An inspection of the text rapidly challenges that perception.  The Stein book
was a nasty hatchet-job.  JC Superstar [as the book will henceforth be known] is anything but nasty.  It is warm, thoughtful and intricately structured. The dark cloud of exploitation that hovers over some works has been blown away to allow us to see our subject in full light.  Highberger has been associated with the Warhol gang since 1972 and has clearly earned a truckload of trust and goodwill. Highberger isn't beyond implicating himself in the goings-on, the surest sign of good intent.

This is not to say that the book lacks substance, this is no Hallmark Channel portrait of Curtis, at several points the book can be quite gut-wrenchingly real about the uglier parts of life on the edge.  The gutter glamour aesthetic that so propelled the great triumvirate of Curtis, Woodlawn & Darling inevitably reflects in the book where we share some incredible highs and equally unbearable lows.

The people who have chosen to speak with Highberger attest to his tenacity as a researcher.  Simply tracking down the broad range of interviewees suggests a very interesting personal phone book indeed! What quickly becomes apparent is the level of trust operating as the interviewees appear to tell their stories.  Participants include Holly Woodlawn, Joe Dallesandro, Lily Tomlin, Paul  Morrisey, Penny Arcade, Harvey Fierstein, my mate Michael Mustgo, Leee Black Childers, Sylvia Miles, John Vaccaro, Taylor Mead and so very many more names of significance.  Also present in the text are less prominent names who knew Jackie well including relatives and collaborators.

At the very core of the book is Curtis himself.  Highberger has included Curtis quotes and extracts from Jackie's writings that focus the work and bring a poignant immediacy to the book.  In my mind's eye, the book could so easily 'take place' in the Chelsea lobby.  I can picture the assorted contributors gathered in the early hours to drink Starbucks with a shot of Scotch atop and fondly remember Curtis.  [In the bitchiest way possible, of course!] The structure of the book and the content of the interviews create such a sense of immediacy that I have left the book from my first zoom through feeling almost as if I know Curtis personally.  I certainly know a lot more about one of the less written about characters from that remarkable time.

JC Superstar has pushed it's way to the head of my terrifyingly crowded 'to be read' shelf.  Having taken only a taste I'm counting the hours to having the freedom to lock myself in my room, unplug the phone, close the blinds and think that I'm Jackie Curtis for a day...

Jackie in His Barbra Wig, Maxs Kansas City, 1973.
photographed by Craig Highberger

Other things:

I am aware that a few of you are well ahead of me on all this and already know the book, film and CD backwards, I beg the indulgence of your patience.

Superstar in a Housedress originated as a documentary on film. That documentary is included as a bonus in current issues of the subsequent book JC Superstar.  The book, in turn, acts to supplement the material that couldn't be accommodated in the film. All commentary here relates to the book, I've yet to reach the DVD.

Over the next couple of weeks I will endeavour to publish an extracted morsel from the book every so often.  Don't imagine that this excuses you from ordering a copy, we don't do spoilers at 23rd and 7th.

Also included in the package was the CD transfer of a recording session Curtis did in 1968, Who Are You?.  The CD is another fascinating artefact in itself.  commentary will follow. Ordering details are available HERE.  Only a small number of copies are available.

Please, nobody even suggest that I post MP3s from Who Are You. My ethical
position on this is contradictory but firm. I'll rip off EMI but I am not willing to deprive the rightful parties, in this case one imagines Jackie's estate, of their royalties from this small, independently issued recording.

In response to earlier questions, I absolutely never endorse something at this blog unless I do so from utter conviction.  I have never received free goods in exchange for editorial or any other inducement that could be perceived as compromising the integrity of my commentary. 

This should not be taken to mean that gifts and cash are unwelcome.

USE THE SIDEBAR LINKS TO SECURE COPIES OF THE BOOK & DVD PAIRING, THE JACKIE CURTIS MINI-ALBUM AND LIMITED JC SUPERSTAR POSTERS SIGNED BY HOLLY AND THE AUTHOR, CRAIG HIGHBERGER