Re: (TV) now this is really dreadful.

["edi, redux." <the_postmodern_closet@adelphia.net>]

> What was this about?

	ah, in my tired but knowledgeable opinion, it was about 
drxgs. thats okay, just as long as one makes sure to edit ones 
writing so the feds dont dig into ones personal head. what a tiresome 
& ghastly government we have!

	i had *no* idea i would stir up such a hurricane. it's kind 
of fun, actually, although i didnt mean it. getting people excited 
about something is generally a *good* thing.

	okay, i do indeed have all the tom verlaine records-- note 
species-- but i havent heard them all in a while-- my weltron-like 
stereo lacks a cartridge. i hadnt realized this was old, theres the 
rub. i was undecided on whether or not it was actually Him; never saw 
him so, um, -chunky- before. i knew the photo in the fire was the man 
himself [very recognizable as himself, even now, at fifty seven 
{which we shall all eventually be, sadly, unless we spin from the 
coil at an eariler age}] --but here i was undecided.

	i also didnt know this predated "blair witch." i =hated= 
"blair witch." sound & fury signifying nothing.

	i do not believe i mentioned kurt russsell, as an aside, 
because the only thing i know about kurt russell is that he was once 
married to goldie hawn. i dont know if his daughter is the one in 
"almost famous," another movie i detested, this one even more, 
because i played both sides of -that- game [skipping grades, having a 
fake birthdate *&* being one of the Quintessential L.A, Rock Chicks] 
--the whole bloody exercise felt false to me. i dont like things 
which feel false. which, redux, brings me back to the tom verlaine 
music video.

	did i mention that i *loathe* music video? somewhere i must 
have said that. all us old punkrockers-- & i certainly include tom 
verlaine here, bien sur --liked things clean & pure. or dirty & pure. 
the purity remains. think of the three-chord ramones & you will get 
one side; think of the glory of the seamless perfection of tom 
verlaine's guitar playing & you will get the other.

	my favorite thing, probably, posted on this list was the 
review from some travel paper, i think, re the festival in england 
where tom verlaine was chastised for, largely, not pandering to the 
audience, not doing the hip-shake, not "performing." this is, to me, 
perfect, redux-- retains the genius & retains the purity. making 
videotapes for ANY of the music channels --i noticed the letters V & 
H & the numeral 1 on that clip-- does not.

	i am sorry if it is forced upon him in his contract.

	he is so brilliant that, in a way, to lessen his talents by 
insisting upon what can only dilute their impact-- oh that's bad.

	i do not know if anyone at all remembers the punkrocker 
attitude towards  mtv in the first place-- that it should never have 
been, & being, should be abolished-- at any rate, i concur, & 
heartily, & evermore. i do not think forcing an image upon a piece of 
music enhances the music; what i think is that, not necessarily in 
this case, but in so many-- it brainwashes a person to see the 
advertisement that was presented in pictures along w/ the song. i do 
not think this is good. i think people should conjure their own 
pictures.

	as a video artist from something of the same era as tom 
verlaine, i was also not thrilled w/ this particular tape. *too* 
solidly commercial --the images, i mean, not the music-- & the man, 
of course, comes from as INTENSE an artistic background as ever 
existed-- why the movie- {as opposed to experimental film} type 
pandering? but that was probably imposed upon him by his record 
company as well.

	had he been allowed to make something utterly amazing [cf 
maya deren, kenneth anger, jack smith, jonas mekas, certainly "the 
act of seeing w/ ones own eyes,:" by stan brackhage], i would have 
been a lot happier. in the realm of the genius of tom verlaine, this 
tape was, i dare say, -banal-. it breaks my heart, you know. if a 
person -can-, a person -should-. being able to is so rare these 
days.....

	yr tired friend,
--
"i'm disappearing," he says, "avoiding most things."
R I P syd barrett
yr friend,
proserpine, guardianette of the dead
the last slum goddess,
+edi+
--------------
To post: Mail tv@obbard.com
To unsubscribe: Mail majordomo@obbard.com with message "unsubscribe tv"