Some quick updates and a toast to balance my most recent caustic posting.

Art happenings for the start of the New Year….

One of my photographs will be featured as the cover of an upcoming issue of Breadcrumb Scabs magazine.

Some poetry will be published in a fantastically curated journal of surrealistic poetry.

The Blood Countess, Erzsebet Bathory will be showing up both in a series and in a small product line which I will be launching shortly. (stay tuned for more info)

Also, thanks to the curatorial team at Art Slant New York for featuring me as a notable emerging artist for the end of 2009!

And thank you to everyone who is keeping me highly voted in the international “Power Of Self” competition.

I am doing an exhibition of Resurrecting Ophelia beginning January 25th at the CCRI Flanagan Campus Gallery in Rhode Island. The draft of the press card is posted below.

Here’s to a fulfilling and productive year for all of my friends and kindred spirits. May we all maintain enough sanity to remain dedicated to our art, enough anger management to stay out of prison, and enough hope, coffee, or amphetamines to keep getting out of bed in the morning (or evening, for my nocturnal friends). I’ve wracked my brain trying to find a song to dedicate to my beloveds for the New Year, but since most of my favorite music is so dark and inappropriate for a cheerful toast, I will leave you with at least a laugh. It is perhaps one of the best scenes in Divine history.

Click image for the full-size card!

What happens when three traveling moms get together and let loose?

TheVacationGals.com is a fairly new blog by three outgoing women. They write about trips they take on their own, without their kids.

The Vacation Gals in San Juan, Puerto Rico

They also recommend the best travel gear, cover travel-industry news and share helpful travel tips.

The Gals tend to write about their own vacations — the destinations, cities, resorts and hotels that they’ve experienced firsthand. Typically that means they are writing about North America, Mexico and the Caribbean.

“We truly walk the walk when it comes to travel,” says Kara Williams. “Last year alone we took more than 40 trips for business and pleasure.”

One of their latest trips is a fascinating excursion to Ek Balam Maya Archaeological Site, a park recently opened to the public. It’s an easy day trip from Cancun and has one of the largest populations of pink flamingos in the world.

There’s also a bunch of travel news stories, including this round up of the top 10 wacky travel stories of 2009.

How I never Saw this Movie Until about A Week Ago, I’ll Never Know

Pink Flamingos

has officially caused me to consider giving John Waters a seat amongst my Top Five Favorite Directors

by Candace Young

Ice Skating in 74℉ Weather

Floridians need help skating on synthetic ice.

i doodled this partially during spanish class and partially while watching pink flamingos with my darling friends who were shooting peanut m&ms at each other out of their noses.

<3 j.bee

For the entire month of December:  YOU ARE SUPER FUN AND DON’T FORGET IT.  Just because you’ve got to run to Target every now and then to stock up on toilet paper doesn’t mean you aren’t THE BOMB.  Just because you don’t have a doorman to greet you when you get home at night doesn’t mean you aren’t the HOTTEST THING thing this side of Kiel, Wisconsin!   And just because you are number 27 at the deli counter when they’re only on number 2 doesn’t mean you aren’t the SEXIEST HOTTIE around.  Believe it.  Joyce knows.  This is the month to sparkle, and sparkle you must.  And sparkle, you will.  It comes naturally to you.  You flash your gorgeous smile and show a little shoulder to the bagger at Pick ’n Save . . . well, it can’t get any better than that.   

Will you join Joyce’s Pink Flamingo Club? 

When you drive through neighborhoods and you see one pink flamingo tastefully placed in a front yard or peeking out at you from a condo window, don’t you immediately think, “Now THAT’s where someone FUN lives?  I’d like to know her better.”  Well, of course you do.  Joining Joyce’s Pink Flamingo Club is easy—just place le flamingo somewhere on your property and watch the good times begin to roll your way.  Joyce guar-an-damn-tees it.  Boring types may find the pink flamingo lawn decoration to look a tad hmmmm, but not the fun girls.  Fun girls love pink and flamingo.  Plus, the flamingo really stands out in a snowstorm when friends are trying to find your party house. 

StellaJoyce has announced that the green tea and cucumber Huggies in her town are sold out.  She went to twelve stores.  It seems there’s been a run on Huggies ever since Joyce and The Broads advocated their use for the very ingenious ‘baby wipe clean.’  Apparently all the pretty ladies are now baby wipe showering instead of shower stall showering and that’s left nothing for the sixth month olds who are stinking to high heaven without their wipes.  Poor little stanky toddler Joyces!  StellaJoyce raves about the green tea and cucumber scent–and their antioxidant benefits.  And if you haven’t eaten your veggies in a while, the cucumber baby wipe action counts.  Yes, it does.

MarshaJoyce confesses that she’s carved out a sad niche for herself.  (Before we talk about said niche–we need to say–BTW–that Marsha thinks she is the REAL Marsha Brady.  We’re afraid to share the truth with her.  Marsha Brady was the most popular and fun Brady, after all.

So if our Marsha wants to think she’s the real Marsha Brady, we’ll play along.  And maybe, quite honestly, we like her a little bit more for pretending to be Marsha Brady.)  Anyway, here’s MarshaJoyce’s confession:  “It’s a sad niche you’ve carved out in life when you wake up, actually apply shampoo and put on real clothes lending all those who know you to be strangely intrigued and suspect of your appearance.  Marsha, you are teetering on a nomination to our Joyceland Hall of Fame for this precious disclosure. 

Think fun.  Be fun.  Sparkle.  Baby wipe shower the whole month away.  Be Marsha Brady if you want.  And when you’re out shopping, don’t forget to buy yourself a little ‘to me/from me/with love–but don’t take the cookie.’

South East of Bolivia is the location of the biggest Salt Flat in the world, “Uyuni Salt Flat” (Salar  de Uyuni). The crust of salt covers a surface of 10.582 Km2. of extension, at an altittude of 3.653 meters above sea level, like a static sea touched by southern winds. Surrounded by mountains and the sky like unique border, The Salar allows to observe images in suspension for the solar radiation, optic illusions and other amazing phenomenons. It’s conformed approximately by 11 layers, the first layer has a thickness of 10 meters and the experts consider that the lake has around 64 thousand million tons of salt.
This semidesertic region, of volcanic lands encloses in its interior natural resources of extraordinary beauty united by a surprising characteristic: the color. The Uyuni Salt Flat and the Heavenly, Yellow, Green, and Red lakes are its better exponents. These names are given because the different tones they exhibit due to the algae that contain each one, like the phitoplankton (dunaliella algae) as the movement of the wind and the specific time of the day.
Complementary there are geysers, rocky formations and volcanic peaks that makes you feel you are living in the earth formation era.
Like any other desert, the weather conditions in Uyuni Bolivia are extreme, from freezing night temperatures to fierce desert sun.

DAY 01: LA QUIACA/SAN PABLO DE LIPEZ.
You get to La Quiaca by bus from Jujuy or Salta in Northern Argentina.
La Quiaca in the imposing landscapes of the Puna, located to 3,442 m.a.s.l., in the Province of Jujuy, is demarcated by La Quiaca River that separates it from Bolivia. From La Quiaca, crossing the International Bridge (customs), it is possible to acced to the locality of Villazón, in the neighboring Republic of Bolivia. Tour goes to Mojo, Entre Rios, Tupiza. From Tupiza we ascend the beautiful Quebrada de Palala to El Sillar that has a fantastic moon landscape. Continuing to the mining areas of Nazarenito, Chilcobija, Cerrillos, Polulos, Rio San Pablo until we reach the village of San Pablo de Lipez. Lodging at Basic Refuge.DAY 02: SAN PABLO DE LIPEZ/LAGUNA COLORADA (RED LAGOON)
In the morning the tour departs to Quetena, where you can take a bath in the hot springs of Chalviri, Laguna Polques, Laguna Verde (Green Lagoon) is a beautiful green colored salt lake on the Chilean border at the foot of the volcano Licancabur. Its color is caused by sediments, containing copper minerals. It is elevated some 4.300m (14.000 ft) above sea level.  On the way we shall visit the volcanic zone ‘Sol de Mañana’ (Morning Sun). Here, at 4850 metres, lies a geyser basin with bubbling mud pots, hellish fumaroles and a thick aroma of sulphur fumes. This is a site of intense volcanic activity. Inside a small crater we shall observe boiling lava, reminding us of the age in which the earth was formed. Arrival to Laguna Colorada. Laguna Colorada is a red colored salt lake, these lagoon is the main flamingos nesting site (flamingos at that high and cold altitude!) creating a very unique scene of spectacular beauty!  . The red color of the lagoon and of the flamingos comes from the effect of the solar radiations and wind on the algae and plankton. We spend the night at another basic refuge. 

DAY 03: LAGUNA COLORADA/SAN JUAN
From Laguna Colorada, the tour crosses de Desert of Siloli where de famous ¨Arbol de Piedra¨or ¨Stone Tree¨ can be seen. These fantastic deserts gather all the colors from browns, reds, oranges, brass, coffee and beige which are successively shown at every curve of the trip. Then it continues  along the “Camino de las Joyas” (Jewels Road) with a chain of small lagoons: Ramaditas, Honda, Chiarkota, Hedionda, Cañapa, sanctuaries of 3 varieties of flamingos and other kinds of birds as andean seagulls and wild ducks. These birds live on the lagoons alongside of the volcanoes with their eternal snow on the top and their green sides mixed with other colors done by the borax and sulphur.
The tour passes by the foot of Volcano Ollague (always active), Tomasamil (5900 m.a.s.l.), and the Salar de Chiguana to conclude the day in San Juan or Chuvica Salt hotel.
The hotel is built completely of blocks of salt cut out of the lake; similar to how Eskimo’s cut snow to make their igloos, with a tin roof covered by straw. All the furniture (including beds) are also made of the salt blocks, with the toilets, lighting, and billiard table being the only things made of contemporary materials. Lodging at Salt Hotel 

DAY 04: SAN JUAN/CHUVICA/UYUNI/TUPIZA
Early departure to enjoy sunrise on the salt lake of Uyuni. It takes about an hour drive from San Juan to the Salar de Uyuni (3650 m.a.s.l.). On the way the tour visits: Incahuasi Island in the centre of the Salar, with its giant cacti covering all of its surface, the tallest specimen on the island is over 12 metres; Ojos de Sal, holes in the Salar where a subterranean stream bubbles up through the salt. The First Salt Hotel, and an Iodized Salt Processing Plant in Kolchani. And finally arrive to Uyuni Salt Lake.Uyuni’s vast and glorious salt lake is the undisputed jewel in Bolivia’s arid crown. The seemingly infinite lake dazzling. Take a lot of pictures, because when you arrive back home and try to describe these incredible landscapes with words will be extremely difficult, so let photos do most of the talking.
The journey and our services end here or in Tupiza.

From US 265 per person in DBL

Contact us to check conditions & availability
 info@m-rtours.com or    +54 1149515968                                  
“Communicating with the passion of artists”
www.m-rtours.com
We´re Social

South East of Bolivia is the location of the biggest Salt Flat in the world, “Uyuni Salt Flat” (Salar de Uyuni). The crust of salt covers a surface of 10.582 Km2. of extension, at an altittude of 3.653 meters above sea level, like a static sea touched by southern winds. Surrounded by mountains and the sky like unique border, The Salar allows to observe images in suspension for the solar radiation, optic illusions and other amazing phenomenons. It’s conformed approximately by 11 layers, the first layer has a thickness of 10 meters and the experts consider that the lake has around 64 thousand million tons of salt.

This semidesertic region, of volcanic lands encloses in its interior natural resources of extraordinary beauty united by a surprising characteristic: the color. The Uyuni Salt Flat and the Heavenly, Yellow, Green, and Red lakes are its better exponents. These names are given because the different tones they exhibit due to the algae that contain each one, like the phitoplankton (dunaliella algae) as the movement of the wind and the specific time of the day.
Complementary there are geysers, rocky formations and volcanic peaks that makes you feel you are living in the earth formation era.
Like any other desert, the weather conditions in Uyuni Bolivia are extreme, from freezing night temperatures to fierce desert sun.

DAY 01: LA QUIACA/SAN PABLO DE LIPEZ.
You get to La Quiaca by bus from Jujuy or Salta in Northern Argentina.
La Quiaca in the imposing landscapes of the Puna, located to 3,442 m.a.s.l., in the Province of Jujuy, is demarcated by La Quiaca River that separates it from Bolivia. From La Quiaca, crossing the International Bridge (customs), it is possible to acced to the locality of Villazón, in the neighboring Republic of Bolivia. Tour goes to Mojo, Entre Rios, Tupiza. From Tupiza we ascend the beautiful Quebrada de Palala to El Sillar that has a fantastic moon landscape. Continuing to the mining areas of Nazarenito, Chilcobija, Cerrillos, Polulos, Rio San Pablo until we reach the village of San Pablo de Lipez. Lodging at Basic Refuge.DAY 02: SAN PABLO DE LIPEZ/LAGUNA COLORADA (RED LAGOON)
In the morning the tour departs to Quetena, where you can take a bath in the hot springs of Chalviri, Laguna Polques, Laguna Verde (Green Lagoon) is a beautiful green colored salt lake on the Chilean border at the foot of the volcano Licancabur. Its color is caused by sediments, containing copper minerals. It is elevated some 4.300m (14.000 ft) above sea level.  On the way we shall visit the volcanic zone ‘Sol de Mañana’ (Morning Sun). Here, at 4850 metres, lies a geyser basin with bubbling mud pots, hellish fumaroles and a thick aroma of sulphur fumes. This is a site of intense volcanic activity. Inside a small crater we shall observe boiling lava, reminding us of the age in which the earth was formed. Arrival to Laguna Colorada. Laguna Colorada is a red colored salt lake, these lagoon is the main flamingos nesting site (flamingos at that high and cold altitude!) creating a very unique scene of spectacular beauty!  . The red color of the lagoon and of the flamingos comes from the effect of the solar radiations and wind on the algae and plankton. We spend the night at another basic refuge.

DAY 03: LAGUNA COLORADA/SAN JUAN
From Laguna Colorada, the tour crosses de Desert of Siloli where de famous ¨Arbol de Piedra¨or ¨Stone Tree¨ can be seen. These fantastic deserts gather all the colors from browns, reds, oranges, brass, coffee and beige which are successively shown at every curve of the trip. Then it continues  along the “Camino de las Joyas” (Jewels Road) with a chain of small lagoons: Ramaditas, Honda, Chiarkota, Hedionda, Cañapa, sanctuaries of 3 varieties of flamingos and other kinds of birds as andean seagulls and wild ducks. These birds live on the lagoons alongside of the volcanoes with their eternal snow on the top and their green sides mixed with other colors done by the borax and sulphur.
The tour passes by the foot of Volcano Ollague (always active), Tomasamil (5900 m.a.s.l.), and the Salar de Chiguana to conclude the day in San Juan or Chuvica Salt hotel.
The hotel is built completely of blocks of salt cut out of the lake; similar to how Eskimo’s cut snow to make their igloos, with a tin roof covered by straw. All the furniture (including beds) are also made of the salt blocks, with the toilets, lighting, and billiard table being the only things made of contemporary materials. Lodging at Salt Hotel 

DAY 04: SAN JUAN/CHUVICA/UYUNI/TUPIZA
Early departure to enjoy sunrise on the salt lake of Uyuni. It takes about an hour drive from San Juan to the Salar de Uyuni (3650 m.a.s.l.). On the way the tour visits: Incahuasi Island in the centre of the Salar, with its giant cacti covering all of its surface, the tallest specimen on the island is over 12 metres; Ojos de Sal, holes in the Salar where a subterranean stream bubbles up through the salt. The First Salt Hotel, and an Iodized Salt Processing Plant in Kolchani. And finally arrive to Uyuni Salt Lake.Uyuni’s vast and glorious salt lake is the undisputed jewel in Bolivia’s arid crown. The seemingly infinite lake dazzling. Take a lot of pictures, because when you arrive back home and try to describe these incredible landscapes with words will be extremely difficult, so let photos do most of the talking.
The journey and our services end here or in Tupiza.

From USD265 per person in DBL

Contact us to check availability

 info@m-rtours.com or        +54 1149515968                                  
“Communicating with the passion of artists”
www.m-rtours.com
We´re Social

Double-wattled Horned Cassowary

I spend a lot of time at the Zoo—it’s two blocks away, and I work there. It’s one of the best places to go for photography in D.C., especially early morning when the light is beautiful, the animals ar

The National Zoo's pandas Tai Shan and Mei Xiang

Red Panda at the National Zoo

Pink flamingos at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Pink flamingos stand on one foot at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

Cheetah at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C.

FILME: PINK FLAMINGOS

Título Original: Pink Flamingos
Gênero: Comédia
Duração: 93 minutos
Ano de Lançamento: (EUA) 1972
Estúdio: Dreamland
Distribuidora: Saliva Films
Direção: John Waters
Roteiro: John Waters
Produção: John Waters
Elenco
Divine (Divine / Babs Johnson)
David Lochary (Raymond Marble)
Mary Vivian Pearce (Cotton)
Mink Stole (Connie Marble)
Danny Mills (Crackers)
Edith Massey (Edie)
Channing Wilroy (Channing)
Cookie Mueller (Cookie)
Paul Swift (Homem do Ovo)
Sinopse: Divine, uma conhecida criminosa do submundo em Baltimore, procura vingar-se de Connie e Raymond Marble, um casal que tentou humilha-la nos tablóides com manchetes do tipo “A pessoa mais imunda ainda viva”.

Comentário: clássico dos clássicos do trash. Vale assistir, mas para quem tem estômago forte…

MÚSICA: TELEKINESIS – TOKYO

In the far North of Chile, the Atacama desert covers an area of about a fifth of the country. It is about 600 miles long but less than 100 miles wide. Among its many spectacular geological regions are the Valley of the Moon and the Salar de Atacama (a dried lake bed). You can also see llamas, sheep and goats, and three kinds of flamingoes, and visit oases, old mines and deserted mining towns. Temperatures are mostly comfortable year round. The Atacama desert is, according to NASA, National Geographic and many other publications, the driest desert in the world.

DAY 01
Arrival to Calama Airport and Transfer to San Pedro de Atacama
Afternoon Half Day Moon Valley Excursion.
Journey 43 kms/ 27 miles on a half day tour from San Pedro de Atacama through the Salt Mountain Range, visiting the Valley of Mars (also known as Death Valley). Admire  the Three Maria’s – natural rock formations in the desert, then top it all of by climbing a huge sand dune in the Moon Valley in time to see the sunset over the Andes from a wonderful viewpoint.
This is a once in a lifetime experience not to be missed!
Overnight at Selected hotel in San Pedro de Atacama

DAY 02
Full Day Excursion to Altiplanic Lagoons, Atacama Salt Flat & Toconao
Step back in time as you visit the historic town of Toconao. Located only a short scenic drive away from San Pedro, along the way, you’ll pass the breathtaking Atacama Salt Lake, which is over 600 miles (1,000 km) long. Toconao is famous because all of its houses were constructed out of the local liparite stone. Still today, Toconao remains a village where the inhabitants dedicate themselves to the working of the local liparite stone. Visit the old church and wander around the handicraft shops. Complete your day with a short visit to Jeri Valley an oasis in the center of the desert and the Chaxa Lagoon where you’ll have the opportunity to see three types of pink flamingos.

Overnight at Selected hotel in San Pedro de Atacama

DAY 03
Full Day Excursion to Tatio Geysers (hot springs)
Head for El Tatio Geysers and Puritama Hot Springs on a full day guided tour from San Pedro de Atacama. Here you will enjoy a picnic breakfast in the geothermal field before a guided walk through the fumaroles, which release steam columns into the cold early morning air.
Return towards San Pedro along a mountain road with stunning views of the Putana Volcano and the peaks of Torcopuri.
Visit the cascading pools of Puritama hot springs hidden in a mountain canyon surrounded by pampas grass. Bathe in the warm waters (changing rooms and bathrooms available) which will relax and rejuvinate you before returning to San Pedro.
Overnight at Selected hotel in San Pedro de Atacama

DAY 04
Transfer to Calama Airport.
END OF SERVICES

From USD667 per person net in DBL Room

Contact us to check availability  info@m-rtours.com or      +54 1149515968                        
“Communicating with the passion of artists”
www.m-rtours.com
We´re Social

“If someone vomits watching one of my films, it’s like getting a standing ovation.”

-John Waters

A few weeks ago I taught Herschell Gordon Lewis’ Blood Feast (1963) as part of a lesson on the advent of extreme gore in American cinema. In addition to providing context for why the film was made — Lewis only turned to gore because his stock in trade “nudie cuties” were now becoming standard fare in mainstream Hollywood films — I also went over the conventions of the gore film and the slasher film (Blood Feast is both) and screened clips from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974, Tobe Hooper) and The Evil Dead (1981, Sam Raimi). Given my blood-soaked lecture I suppose that my students were primed for an evening of non-stop blood and terror when they attended the Blood Feast screening.

But as the first example of gore, Blood Feast is far more restrained than its generic descendents. Therefore, during our class discussion of the film one disappointed student raised his hand and complained, “You wrote a check that film couldn’t cash.” His classmates nodded in agreement. This reaction surprised me a bit: Blood Feast may be tame, but it still contains scenes in which a woman’s tongue is ripped out and a leg is severed. I left the classroom shaking my head and wondering about the state of today’s youth.

The students found this scene to be only mildly disturbing

Theatrical poster for Blood Feast

But as it turns out, it is possible to shock Generation Y. All it takes is a little poop eating.

For our week on camp and its relationship with trash cinema, we discussed some of the basic characteristics of the camp aesthetic described by Susan Sontag in her famous essay, “Notes on Camp” (1964), such as artifice, exaggerated sexuality and theatricality. We then related these characteristics to the work of John Waters, especially as they applied to his star and muse, the incomparable Divine. I also described Waters’ interest in the abject and bodily fluids (saliva, vomit, shit) and warned them that the film contained (unstaged) acts of felatio and coprophagia. But truly, is there any way to prepare students for a screening of Pink Flamingos?

Waters once said of Divine "She was my Elizabeth Taylor."

Approximately 10 to 15 minutes into the film, not too long after Divine steals a piece of meat from a grocery store by shoving it under her tight lamé dress (all to the tune of Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers’ “I’m Not a Juvenile Delinquent”), the same student who had complained about Blood Feast turned to me and said, “Okay, you didn’t oversell this one.” “Just you wait,” I replied, “There’s a lot more to come.”

There is a voyeur character in Pink Flamingos named Cotton (Mary Vivian Pearce) who pleads with her beloved, Crackers (Danny Mills), to engage in ever kinkier sex for her viewing pleasure. “I’ve gotta see more than what I’ve already seen!” she whines. Crackers complies by incorporating two live chickens into his next “love making” session.

Crackers forces Cookie (Cookie Mueller) into chicken sex.

The viewing audience for Pink Flamingos is a lot like Cotton in that we too expect Waters to present ever more shocking images as the film goes on — every scene ups the ante. This goal is achieved by having the film’s narrative center on a group of scheming middle class poseurs, Connie and Raymond Marble (Mink Stole and David Lochary), attempting to wrest the title of “filthiest people alive” from Divine and her family. This leads to the breaking of all kinds of long-standing cultural taboos, including the big three: murder, cannibalism and incest. Of course, Divine does not engage in these acts to compete with the Marbles — she does these things because they are in her nature to do them. She is, indeed, the filthiest person alive.

Divine prepares to perform felatio on her son.

The movie concludes with a kangaroo court trial of Connie and Raymond Marble, who are convicted of “assholism.” Divine tars and feathers the convicts, executes them in front of a crowd of gossip reporters, and then flees to Boise, Idaho with Crackers and Cotton.

Divine holds a press conference before executing the Marbles

At this point in the film my students were pretty shell shocked. They had watched an extended scene of passionate toe-sucking. They witnessed a singing asshole (literally)  and a pre-operative transsexual flash her penis at the camera. But then came the film’s famous denoument. My students knew it was coming and yet, they were not prepared.

As the scene unfolded my students howled with disgust. But I was in the back of the room laughing so hard that tears were rolling down my face. “You’re enjoying this?” one incredulous student remarked, “What is wrong with you?” But this scene is funny. When Divine smiles at the camera with shit-covered teeth, the image is gag-inducing but it is also hilarious in its sheer defiance. It is the ultimate in juvenile high jinks. This image appeals to the 9-year-old in me.

The credits rolled and my students slowly filed out of the classroom, shaking their heads and muttering under their breath. Watching them go  I realized that it is still possible to shock today’s youth. My hat goes off to you, Mr. Waters.

Today, October 19, would have been Divine’s 64th birthday. Don’t know who Divine is? Leave.

Just kidding! I’m all about educating the ignorant!

See, for the past couple weeks my life has been kind of Divine-centric because I’m doing an informative speech on John Waters for Public Speaking. I love saying “300 pound drag queen” out loud in a classroom setting. I didn’t even realize that Divine’s birthday was coming up, so it’s kind of a nice coincidence. Anyways…

Divine was born Harris Glenn Milstead in a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland. Today he’s best known for eating dog shit at the end of Pink Flamingos.

Chubby and effeminate, he was beat up every day and eventually required a police escort to and from school. Which is where teenage John Waters would see him, standing on the corner every morning, and became fascinated by him.

Oh, I’m sorry. Do you not know who John Waters is? How retarded are you? Seriously, I can’t explain everything. You can just read his Wikipedia page. Jesus.

Anyways, so through the mutual friend of David Lochary, Divine and John met up. John was just starting to make movies, and at first, Divine was a mere back up player.

But noticing the star quality, he soon got all the main parts and was christened “Divine”.

He pretty much always played a woman who was the picture of trashy glamor. Van Smith, Dreamland’s make up artist, would even shave Divine’s hairline back to the center of his head to make enough room for the glamorous eye makeup and high arched eyebrows he imagined:

Divine went on to star in the infamous Pink Flamingos as well as Female Trouble. After taking a break from Waters’ movies to star in some plays in New York and London, he returned to play Tracy Turnblad’s mother in the “accidental family film” Hairspray. (A role recently and embarrassingly reprised by Mr. John Travolta.)

Unfortunately, this leads up to his death. Divine died in his sleep from an enlarged heart the day before he was going to start his part in Married…With Children.

In addition to John Waters movies, Divine made disco music, threw big parties and was an excellent shop lifter. (According to John Waters, he once walked out of a store holding a TV and a chainsaw, so questions asked.)

But anyways, I’m so glad that Divine existed and that he immortalized so many insane characters that will keep people laughing forever. And it’s always nice to have another role model for all the misfits and losers out there.

Happy Birthday, Divine! Wherever you are.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84903944@N00/sets/72157622343667309/

!!!!!!!!

I’ve been a fan of Harmony’s work for years — and it looks like he’s done it again, given this lo-fi freakfest of a trailer. And early reviews of the film are positive. Variety writes,  “Trash Humpers is a pre-fab underground manifesto to rank beside John Waters’ legendarily crass Pink Flamingos. … The result, riveting beyond all rationality, is something like Jackass, except that here the stunts are dangerous only to standards of good taste — which, of course, is precisely the point.”

Sounds awesome, albeit, a bit like Gummo: Part II.

Is the Pink Flamingo. Ald. Marsha Rummel, who describes herself as “old enough to remember” the era of the pink flamingo, sponsored an ordinance to make it the official plastic bird of the Mad-town.

Dusty Weis:

Late in the 1970’s, a group of students at the University of Wisconsin staged a virtual coup of the student government. The Pail and Shovel Party got their name from campaign promises that they would convert their budget into spare change that would fill a giant sandbox that students could then dig in with pails and shovels. As far as I know, they never got around to that one, but they did embark on some of the goofiest, most ambitious pranks the UW has ever known, and their exploits have become the stuff of legends.

One of their less ambitious projects, but among their most iconic, was a very visible display of 1,008 plastic pink flamingos on the lawn of Bascom Hill. Pictures of the occasion can be found in bars, on post cards and hanging on the walls of proud alumni. There’s little in the world more garish than a plastic pink flamingo, but to see a thousand of them flocked on the majestic central campus mall… words fail to do it justice…

Perhaps most hilarious of course was Ald. Thuy Pham-Remmele, who is known to bore other members to tears with long speeches about small details of policies, speaking in opposition to the plan, and predictably taking up more time railing against this “waste of time” than, as Weis writes, Rummel used to read the stupid thing.

Een goed bewaard publiek geheim, dat is het.  Voor de “scene-into-all-things-retro” al een vertrouwde hangout; voor de meeste Brusselaars nog volslagen onbekend. Een feit is dat Brussel sinds een jaartje een Italiaanse espressobar heeft. Een hele goede, zelfs. Met Duitse eigenaar, internationale klanten en obscure soulsingletjes op de platendraaier.

Moka is een pareltje. Tim – in een vroeger leven grafisch ontwerper – zorgde ervoor dat elk detail in het interieur juist zit. Hij heeft een passie voor oude Italiaanse espressomachines, die dikwijls dubbel zo oud zijn als hij, en maakt spinnenwebben in het schuim van je cappuccino. Alles wat er over de toog gaat is met de grootste zorgvuldigheid en liefde geselecteerd. Er zijn ook heerlijke panini, en kaas- en chocoladetaart (honger! nu!).

Een video van het etablissement vind je hier. Ik kan hem jammer genoeg niet embedden. Het logo is trouwens van dezelfde die ook de Pink Flamingo’s in Gent van logo voorzag (als ik niet mis ben).

Vandaag zijn ze terug uit vakantie. Dadelijk ren ik zo snel mijn hoge hakken me kunnen dragen naar de Rue des Riches Claires, richting Sprizz-nippende vrienden. Ik kijk nu al uit naar l’apéro…

Moka Classic Espresso Bar
Rijke Klarenstraat 5
1000 Brussel
http://www.barmoka.be/