The Sting
by More timeless than current’. But I recently finished a long and complicated novel about Hollywood in the 60s, 70s and 80s, and am just now buckling down to write a short nonfiction book about this film, part of a series for Soft Skull Press. A little peremptorily written off as a mere ‘entertainment’, and also overshadowed by the in-fact-not-quite-as-good Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid, this is a pretty dazzling effort: a coded Watergate-conspiracy narrative, a comment on the perils and pleasures of being fooled that’s also twice as much fun to watch as you remember. Which was pretty fun to begin with.
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Giving teenage pregnancy the Hollywood treatment could have easily resulted in sickly sweet, sentimental rubbish. Instead, a sharp script and excellent lead performances backed up by a stellar supporting cast have produced a film that manages to be both pro-life and liberal. With its honest, insightful and at times hilarious dialogue, along with a simple but compelling plot, Juno is the antidote we needed to Knocked Up. Read more
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Lisa Jane Persky takes beautiful, beautiful, photographs. To be fair, she also took my book jacket photo, but that doesn’t make her work less amazing. She covers a ton of ground: visit her site to look at vintage, CBGB’s era Debbie Harry, but stay for everything else.
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In a very serendipitous moment the other day, I walked into the cafe, Picnic, the latest arrival in my Fort Greene, Brooklyn neighborhood. Not only do they serve some of the best coffee I have ever tasted, but the store is a virtual paean to Brooklyn illustrator Claudia Pearson. I can’t wait to snap up her Tribal Alphabet book. A copy for a friend’s kid and, um, a copy for me. Read more
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Made from 100 percent organic cotton, pesticide free, and eco-friendly, this super soft tee featuring a unique, bold design celebrates a sinister world of kaleidoscopic colours and ripples of psychedelia, of serenading Queens, of dancing flamingos, of unimaginable euphoria. It’s all the work of Sydney label, Das Monk and it’s available through the Lost At E Minor online store for just US$40. Now, there’s one hell of a Christmas present, even if we do say so ourselves Read more
Skateboarding is fun. I know this because we have one in our apartment which we use to cruise across the polished floorboards to get from room to room. Though I should acknowledge at this point that I use the term ‘cruise’ liberally. Read more
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I ran a series of 80s nights in New York last year — showing cult 80s movies and playing classic cuts from that era of kitsch and spice — purely so I could spin After The Fire’s Der Kommissar over and over. Yessir, this was the future of music in 1983. Pity no one was listening.
At a gig last year Foals were forced to abandon their last song halfway through because the stage was stormed by too many crazed fans. The reason behind the hype they’re creating, both on stage and in the normally merciless media, isn’t immediately clear upon first listen: the sound is less than friendly on the ears, and they don’t employ the same catchy hooks and melodic chorus patterns that shoot your average band to fame in their early years. Read more
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Good thing Kris Kuksi channelled the trauma of growing up with an alcoholic stepfather, his disdain for ‘the typical American life and pop culture’, and his fascination with the macabre into obsessive, baroque assemblages, paintings, and drawings. Read more
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T-post: the world’s first wearable magazine
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Milk and honey, an indubitable pair. In this necklace by Stephanie Simek, a golden honeycomb beeswax pendant is encased in plastic and hangs from an oxidized sterling silver chain. The links are interwoven with a milk protein-based fiber. We have it for sale in our online store. Read more
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