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Greg Palast - Vultures’ Picnic

2012-01-31T09:45:00.001-08:00

“They lied to Congress, they perjured themselves, they concealed the fact they had a major blowout from offshore drilling.”
- Greg Palast

In his latest book, Vultures’ Picnic, investigative reporter Greg Palast jumps ass deep into the one percent’s favorite combustible lubricant. Armed with a miniature recording device, condoms, mosquito repellant, K-Y Jelly, a 3.4-ounce flask of Felipe II, and his trademark fedora hat, Palast travels from Alaska to the Amazon, and from Louisiana to Liberia to expose the dirty business of crude oil, and those who make indecent fortunes from it.

During the course of his investigations, Palast uncovers the incestuous relationships between the petroleum corporations and the governments they control, and how human and environmental carnage, corruption, coup d'états, and cover-ups are ultimately considered a cost of doing business by these toxic bedfellows.

[Caution: You may feel violated after reading this interview -- but at least you'll know a few of the names of the motherfuckers that are screwing you.]

Read my exclusive interview with Greg Palast on SuicideGirls.com.

Diablo Cody - Young Adult

2011-12-20T22:54:00.000-08:00

“I wanted to keep this movie grounded in reality.”
- Diablo Cody

Screenwriter Diablo Cody’s greatest achievement with her latest project, Young Adult, is to bring her audience to a point where they sympathize and empathize with the film’s in many ways distinctly unlikable central character. Mavis Gary (played by Charlize Theron) is the seemingly successful author of a series of young adult novels, who on the page has everything going for her. Yet, despite being blessed in both the looks and career department, happiness eludes her.

When an invitation arrives in her inbox to the christening of the daughter of her high school sweetheart, Buddy (Patrick Wilson), Mavis decides to return to her hometown to reclaim her former glory – and her former boyfriend. Blinded by her own narcissism, Mavis chooses to ignore the fact that Buddy is now happily married as she obsessively engages in the shameless pursuit of her unavailable ex.

A chance meeting with a former classmate she barely remembers, Matt Freehauf (Patton Oswalt), provides Mavis with a drinking buddy, and a voice of reason. However, despite forming an unlikely bond with Matt, who in the wake of a high school beating is left as physically challenged as she is mentally, Mavis is unwilling and unable to retreat from the comfort of her self-delusions to see her world as it really is.

As with Cody’s Academy Award-winning screenplay for Juno, Young Adult combines subtle storytelling with unconventional choices. An exercise in nuance and tone, which sees Cody reunited with her Juno cohort, director Jason Reitman (Up In The Air), the film features award-worthy performances from both Theron and Oswalt that – as with the script – are remarkable for their realness.

I sat down with Cody in New York to talk about the film.

Read my exclusive interview with Diablo Cody on SuicideGirls.com.

Why We're Re-Occupying Our Homes Today: A Story Of Foreclosure From OccupyLA

2011-12-06T12:54:00.000-08:00

Let me introduce you to a lovely lady I met on October 7th at #OccupyLA. She was there simply to tell her story. Like many people in this economy, she had been finding it difficult to make ends meet, so when Obama's Loan Modification program began it seemed like a godsend. Little did she know, it would be the start rather than the end of her problems.

She duly completed all the paperwork her bank, Wells Fargo, asked her to, and was told what her reduced payments would be. She continued to pay her mortgage, but at the adjusted rate, as she'd been instructed to by Wells Fargo. She never missed a payment, and was not in arrears.

However, months later, out of the blue, she found out her application, for whatever reason, had been rejected. At this point, Wells Fargo treated her like she had been in arrears, because she'd been paying reduced payments on a mortgage that had failed to be modified. To add insult to injury, Wells Fargo then slapped her with a slew of interest charges and fees, because they in effect retroactively considered her account to be in default because of the Loan Modification decision.

Her bank then suggested she reapply, which she did - twice. Two more times, exactly the same thing happened. Following the third failed application, Wells Fargo began proceedings to repossess her home, even though she had made all her mortgage payments in exactly the way the bank had prescribed.

Turns out, the Loan Modification process is notoriously flawed and has been accused numerous times of causing foreclosures, as was the case here. Richard Gaudreau, an attorney, explains in an essay for Huffington Post exactly why the Loan Modification process fails to help troubled homeowners while lining the pockets of banks (surprise, surprise!):

The government pays mortgage servicers $1,000 for each "loan mod" application. Studies have shown though that mortgage servicers stand to make far more in fees from a foreclosure than they ever will from a loan modification request.

Obviously this kind of behavior is unconscionable. It's hard to comprehend that a "trusted name" like Wells Fargo would want to force a loyal customer and her family out onto the street in order to make a quick buck on a few fees. But this is happening to untold numbers of people all across our nation at the hands of nearly all the major banks.

My #OccupyLA friend had done everything required of her to meet her obligations, but somehow that wasn't enough -- is that remotely fair? But these days we don't seem to require fairness, never mind empathy and understanding, from the financial institutions in which we entrust our wealth, our security, and our futures. Clearly this was not an institution worthy of the trust this lady had been placed in it. Is it worthy of yours?

Take the power away from the big banks and move your money to a community institution or credit union. To find a credit union in your area visit: moveyourmoneyproject.org

Freedom Of The Press Is The Biggest Casualty Of Last Night's #OccupyLA Raid

2011-12-05T22:12:00.000-08:00

[Above: The heroes of last night's raid - citizen journalists and Livestreamers Oakfosho and OccupyFreedomLA]

Though thankfully there's no reports of anyone being seriously hurt during last night's police action, perhaps the biggest casualty was the First Amendment and freedom of the press. The LAPD pre-selected a group of a dozen handpicked mainstream media representatives, and denied access to the City Hall grounds to all other journalists while the eviction was taking place. (During the actual raid, any media already present were warned that they may face arrest or serious injury if they ignored the dispersal order and remained on the South Lawn.) Predictably, no independent or alternative outlets - and no bloggers or Livestreamers - were among the LAPD's chosen few.

At one point in the evening, citizen-journalist-turned-Livestream-celebrity OakFoSho was threatened by an officer who pointed the business end of a weapon at him - with his finger on the trigger. This incident was witnessed by the surrounding crowd who chanted "guns down" repeatedly in response and the approximately 15,000 viewers who were watching OakFoSho's stream. The officer's name was duly noted and shared by numerous tweeters (including friend of SG Wil Wheaton).

Just as troubling was the fact that the pool of approved media had serious restrictions placed upon them. They were not allowed to tweet or call-in stories live from inside the park until after the eviction, and had to funnel all pool reports via a city news wire service. Additionally, KCAL9 revealed they had "made an agreement with the LAPD to not give away their tactics," and, according to BoingBoing's Xeni Jardin, "CBS LA blacked out shots so as to 'not interfere with integrity of police action.'" Many other bloggers and tweeters also noted their disappointment at the easy compliance of so-called journalists and traditional media outlets, whom they felt should have put up more resistance to the obvious attempt to restrict and suppress information.

The underlying serious First Amendment issue at play here is the principle that the police shouldn't be the ones to decide who is and who isn't deemed press - since the function of a free press in a democracy is to provide a check and balance for those in authority. Furthermore, even those members of the media granted pre-designated access can't cover any action freely if they're worried about having the credentials they need for such coverage rescinded (as was the case in New York during the Zuccotti Park eviction). Given the gravity of this issue, we expect this story to develop over the next few days and weeks, and understand the ACLU is already in the process of taking action.

Chris Paine - Revenge Of The Electric Car

2011-11-03T21:52:00.000-07:00

“It takes a lot of electricity to turn black crude oil into gasoline.”
- Chris Paine

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, General Motors’ EV1s were the Apple Macs of cars. Ahead of their time, they were only driven by an enlightened “different” thinking few, but those that did felt passionately about their high tech machines.

A fully electric plug-in vehicle with a range of between 70 and 140 miles depending on model, the EV1 was first introduced into the marketplace in 1996. Available in limited test markets on a closed lease-only basis (whereby no actual purchase was allowed), it was developed by General Motors partly in response to the California Air Resources Board’s requirement that the seven major auto companies in the US had to make at least 2% of their output zero-emission vehicles (ZEV) by 1998 in order to sell any cars within the state (with further graduated steps stipulated up to 10% in 2003).

Though grudgingly produced by General Motors, the vehicle was beloved by the few consumers lucky enough to rise to the top of the company’s reportedly vast waiting list. But it was likely a car that was never intended to succeed. General Motors seemingly put more effort into fighting the CARB mandate in court than meeting existing demand for vehicles or marketing the EV1 to create even more. It was therefore not uncoincidental that the demise of the EV1 occurred in tandem with the gutting of CARB’s ZEV rules. The EV1 program was officially cancelled in 2003, and a total recall was put in motion, with repossessed cars being not only compacted but shredded for good measure too.

A 2006 documentary, Who Killed The Electric Car, chronicled the crushing demise of this groundbreaking car. In it filmmaker Chris Paine highlighted the collusion of the auto industry, oil companies, and politicians, who all had a vested interest in seeing the electric vehicle die an untimely death alongside CARB’s environmentally prudent directives. Catching the zeitgeist, Who Killed The Electric was the third highest grossing documentary that year (Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth being the first).

However, a decade after General Motors presided over the funeral of the EV1, the killing of the vehicle has proven to be a costly mistake. With gas prices rising, Toyota filled the rapidly increasing fuel-efficient void with their hybrid Prius, which went on sale in Japan in 1997. Following its worldwide debut in 2001, Toyota have sold over a million Prius cars in the US alone, and the rest of the auto industry has been scrabbling to catch up.

With revenge being served on a platter less than a decade on, Paine and his documentary team were compelled to reexamine the fortunes of the electric vehicle in a follow up film. The first had centered on activists working from outside the industry, with this film Paine chose to follow a diverse group of instigators working from within. Revenge Of The Electric Car therefore features four EV evangelists (some of whom were more recently converted than others) who are attempting to drive the future of the automobile into the present: Bob Lutz (General Motors’ Vice Chairman up until May 2010), Elon Musk (Tesla Motors’s CEO), Carlos Ghosn (Nissan’s President and CEO), and Greg “Gadget” Abbot (a DIY electric engine retro-fitter).

SuicideGirls recently visited Paine at his ultra green home to talk about his cinematic “I told you so” and the electric awakening of a sluggish car industry that was in need of a shock. After checking out the 2008 Tesla Roadster parked in Paine’s garage, the irony was not lost that we were conversing about, and anticipating the dominance of, the gas-free vehicle in the heart of LA’s oil country amidst the pumpjack nodding donkeys of Baldwin Hills.

Read my exclusive interview with Chris Paine on SuicideGirls.com.

Jennifer Siebel Newsom - Miss Representation

2011-10-28T17:26:00.000-07:00

“It limits women…from aspiring to be great things.”
- Jennifer Siebel Newsom

As Americans, we like to think of ourselves as advanced and sophisticated as a society. Yet, when it comes to issues of gender equality the numbers don’t lie –– there’s no escaping the fact that we’re pretty damn backwards.

Women make up 51% of the US population, yet hold just 16.6% of the seats in Congress and 17% of those in the Senate. Indeed, we rank 90th in the world in terms of the proportion of women in national parliaments, below Afghanistan, Cuba, China, Ethiopia, Iraq, and the Sudan!

Furthermore, in America, just 3% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. Similarly only 3% of positions of clout in the telecommunications, entertainment, publishing, and advertising industries are held by the fairer sex (pun intended). And this may be part of the problem, since those that are ultimately responsible for the aspirational messages we receive on a daily basis are predominantly male.

That’s not to say that the innate sexism that’s partly responsible for this power imbalance is necessarily malevolent or even intentional; the root of much of it is simply a lack of consciousness on all our parts. And to an extent, the state of play appears to be self-perpetuating, since a mere 16% of those responsible for Hollywood’s mass market dream machine (writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, and editors) are women, which in turn perhaps explains a similar lack of female protagonists/role models in feature films.

A much talked about new documentary, Miss Representation, which recently debuted on the OWN Network, does a very comprehensive job of exploring the underlying reasons for this vast leadership gender gap. The film features many prominent leading ladies including Nancy Pelosi, Condoleezza Rice, Dianne Feinstein, Gloria Steinem, Jane Fonda, Geena Davis, Rachel Maddow, Lisa Ling, and Katie Couric, whose powerful voices add strength to the message –– which is that a woman’s value is more than just the sum of her youth and beauty (as the mainstream media might have you believe).

SuicideGirls spoke with the driving force behind Miss Representation, Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who wrote, directed, and produced the exceptional cinematic gender essay. As a Stanford graduate, environmental and gender activist, actress, and mother –– who also happens to be the wife of the former Mayor of San Francisco, and current Lieutenant Governor of California, Gavin Newsom –- she’s had a front row seat watching what happens to women in power and how the media treats them, so perhaps has a greater understanding of the issues they face than most.

Read my exclusive interview with Jennifer Siebel Newsom on SuicideGirls.com.

Chuck Palahniuk - Damned

2011-10-22T21:38:00.000-07:00

“I wanted to write a religious Left Behind series, but for secular liberals.”
- Chuck Palahniuk

During our previous conversation with Chuck Palahniuk, which occurred shortly before the publication of his Sunset Boulevard-inspired book, Tell All, he spoke about how the ultimate name to drop was God’s. For this interview, we reconvene to discuss the domain of the G-man’s nemesis –– Hell –– which serves as the setting for Palahniuk’s wickedly inspired new novel, Damned.

According to Damned’s canon, evolution is hokum and Charles Darwin is resigned to hellfire and damnation alongside Jimi Hendrix, Marilyn Monroe, and the entire Kennedy clan. Turns out you can end up there by committing all manner of trivial shit, such as dropping the f-bomb or honking your horn one too many times. Worshipping the wrong god will also land you in the hot spot, as will suffering the inconvenience of being a deposed one (thus the likes of Thor can also be found hanging out downstairs).

The topography of Palahniuk’s netherworld features a greasy Dandruff Desert, Great Plains of Discarded Razor Blades, a Swamp of Partial-birth Abortions, a Lake of Tepid Bile, and the Great Ocean of Wasted Sperm (where in Hell, “porn is creating an effect equivalent to that of global warming on earth”). Those that find themselves there have two main career options: pornography or telemarketing.

The narrative of Damned follows Madison Spencer, the somewhat chubby, eternally optimistic13-year old progeny of a self-obsessed Hollywood star and a billionaire businessman. As a reflection of her mother’s glamour, Madison is an abject failure, however, the upside of her troubled childhood is that after a lifetime (albeit a short one) of electrolysis and herbal high colonics, Hell holds little terror for her.

Having been resigned to Hell after inhaling marijuana, and eschewing an eternity being "ogled by millions of men with serious intimacy problems," Madison finds gainful employment in telemarketing, an occupation that she finds unexpectedly fulfilling. Ensconced in one of Hell’s endless call centers, which has banks of phones that are programmed to auto-dial the earthbound specifically at dinnertime, Madison finds redemption. The question is, ultimately, will she want it?

Being in the business of asking people questions for a living, I felt a certain affinity with Madison. For the start of my conversation with Palahniuk, it therefore seemed only appropriate to borrow a little something from her telemarketing script…

Read my exclusive interview with Chuck Palahniuk on SuicideGirls.com.

Amanda Palmer - Evelyn Evelyn

2011-10-16T00:51:00.000-07:00

By Nicole Powers

“Pity is my least favorite four-letter word.”
- Amanda Palmer

The fiercely individual Madonna once observed that “life is a mystery” and “everyone must stand alone.” But for some that is tragically not possible. Conjoined twins Evelyn and Evelyn Neville (a.k.a. Evelyn Evelyn) are two such people; their uninvited union – and the uniqueness of their in many ways non-individual state – being both a blessing and a curse.

To say Evelyn Evelyn have had a tough upbringing would be a gross understatement. The pair lost their mother 12 minutes after their traumatic birth, and their early life took a nosedive from there. The girls’ father fell victim to an unlikely chainsaw accident shortly after their mother’s untimely demise, and thus the orphaned twins were left with only each other to rely on as they made their way in this all too cruel world.

Extended stints trapped in a chicken coup and held hostage by a child pornography ring meant the girls were robbed of anything approaching a normal childhood –– if that was ever a possibility given their Siamese status. However, after joining a circus and meeting some similarly conjoined pachyderms, Evelyn Evelyn got an inkling that their bond –– far from being a burden –– was something truly beautiful and special.

Having experienced relentless teasing and taunts for much of their life, the Neville sisters’ world was changed radically by the advent of social media. While in a dead end job filling out sweepstakes applications on behalf of an unappreciative motel proprietor, the duo practiced the songs they once performed with the circus and set up a profile on MySpace to showcase them. Unburdened by physical limitations and prejudices online, their music caught the attention of many, including singer, songwriter, and all round entertainer extraordinaire Amanda Palmer.

Inspired by their songs and by their struggle, Amanda recruited renowned folk musician Jason Webley to help with the project. Produced by Palmer and Webley, Evelyn Evelyn released their debut EP, “Elephant Elephant,” in 2007. Their heartfelt rendition of Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart” –– which served as the B-side of the vinyl edition –– brought them initial success and critical acclaim. A self-titled album followed in 2010, as did numerous sold out live dates.

Having recently returned from a triumphant stint at the prestigious Edinburgh Festival –– and with respect having firmly replaced ridicule –– Evelyn Evelyn embark on the next chapter in their lives with the release of a graphic novel based on their story. Written by Palmer and Webley, and illustrated by Cynthia von Buhler, it’s naturally being released in two parts (via Dark Horse Comics Inc.). Having not only redefined beauty, but what it means to be an individual, SuicideGirls caught up with Palmer to talk about Evelyn Evelyn.

For this interview SG’s editor, Nicole Powers, recruited her own twin siblings, Brenda Day and Samantha May. Though not conjoined, Brenda and Samantha do everything together and feel as if emotionally they are. They are therefore especially excited that Palmer and Webley are unleashing the power of multiples though their production work, and are exploring what it means to be an individual when you’re also one half of a whole. The following is a transcript of their online conversation…

Read my exclusive interview with Amanda Palmer on SuicideGirls.com.

Scroobius Pip - Distraction Pieces

2011-10-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

“It can be its own creature.”
- Scroobius Pip

Scroobius Pip went out one day, and made a record for people to play. Then all the beasts in the world came round, thanks to his killer wit and rhymes so sound. The Nyan cat, the dog and the kangaroo, with “Thou Shalt Always Kill” the YouTube massive he did woo. Then the wolf he howled, the horse he neighed, “I’m releasing a second solo record” the Pip brayed. And when the Pip began to roar, there never was heard such a noise before. And every beast he stood on the tip, to peruse a video of the Scroobius Pip. At last they said to the Pip "By far,  you're the wisest beast! You know you are!” SG got close to Scroobius Pip to say, ‘Tell us all about yourself we pray. For as yet we can't make out in the least, if you're punk or hip-hop, or poet or beast.” The Scroobius Pip looked vaguely round, and hollered these words with a rumbling sound: “Chippetty flip, Flippetty chip, my only name is the Scroobius Pip.”

In truth, he may not have said “Chippetty flip” or “Flippetty chip” – but here’s what went down when SuicideGirls spoke to the Pip…

Read my exclusive interview with Scroobius Pip on SuicideGirls.com.

Harry Markopolos - From Chasing Madoff To Fixing Our Economy

2011-09-03T17:23:00.001-07:00

By Nicole Powers

“You can't have a AAA credit rating with a junk rated Congress.”
- Harry Markopolos

Harry Markopolos has a way with numbers. It's this innate ability that led him to uncover Bernie Madoff's epic Ponzi scheme almost a decade before market forces ultimately leveraged a confession out of the spectacularly crooked investment fund manager.

In 1999, while working as a portfolio manager at Rampart, a Boston based investment management company, Markopolos had been asked to reverse engineer a fund offered by Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC so his firm could compete by offering a similar product. After studying Madoff's marketing material for a mere 5 minutes, Markopolos realized that the results the fund claimed to achieve were highly improbable, a further 4 hours of mathematical modeling proved the stated returns were categorically impossible by legal means.

Smelling a rat, Markopolos assembled an informal investigative team to probe Madoff's operation further. In May 2000, when Madoff's scheme was only a $3 to $7 billion fraud, they submitted their first whistleblowing report to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It was summarily ignored. Frustrated but undeterred, Markopolos' tenacious group, dubbed The Foxhounds, submitted numerous subsequent memos (in 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008) offering even more evidence, to no avail. A 2005 missive had what one might consider to be an attention-grabbing title -"The World's Largest Hedge Fund Is A Fraud" - but even this failed to get an appropriate response from those charged with policing Wall Street.

It was only following the crash of 2008, when Madoff's investors were clamoring to liquidate their assets and he was unable to meet their demands, that the man responsible for the largest act of financial fraud in world history was forced to fess up. By then, Madoff's "fund" had grown on paper to a value of $65 billion. In the following days, the complete and utter failure of the SEC came to light, as press outlets - who had also been alerted by Markopolos, but by and large had declined to report his findings before Madoff's arrest - competed to interview the "Madoff whistleblower." With egg on their faces, the government also sought out Markopolos' knowledge and expertise, and on February 4, 2009 he delivered some riveting televised testimony in front of the House of Representatives' Financial Services Subcommittee.

In March 2010, Markopolos published a book chronicling his investigations into Madoff and the utter incompetence he bore witness to during his dealings with the SEC. Called No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller, it became a New York Times bestseller. A new film, Chasing Madoff, based on the book is currently in cinemas.

I caught up with Markopolos, who now works as a freelance investigative accountant exposing Fortune 500 wrongdoing, to talk about Madoff and the current state of play in our financial markets. We also asked him to focus his considerable financial acumen our nation's balance sheet and assess the future prospects of our economy. Given Markopolos' track record, his conclusions about America's should-be junk status are indeed cause for concern, if not outright alarm.

Read my exclusive interview with Harry Markopolos on SuicideGirls.com.

Multi-Agency Armed Rawesome Raid: Major Controlled Substance / Health Food Cartel Arrested

2011-08-07T17:13:00.000-07:00

[Above: FDA, FBI & LAPD agents raid Rawesome private food club in Venice, CA.]

The people of Venice, CA slept soundly last night after authorities broke up a major criminal cartel that had been operating in their midst. Raw milk and cheese lord, James “Rawesome” Stewart, and his accomplices, Sharon Ann Palmer and Eugenie Bloch of Healthy Family Farms LCC, were arrested yesterday following a raid on premises in the predominantly metro-hippy, hipster-hippy, genuinely hippy, and wannabe hippy beach district.

The multi-agency action –– a collaboration between the FDA, the FBI and the LAPD –– is part of a major government crackdown on healthy food. Agents had successfully scored illicit cheese and dairy products on several occasions during a year-long undercover sting operation centered around Rawesome, a members-only organic produce speakeasy operated by Stewart out of a location at 665 Rose Ave. After consuming the goods they obtained, the reduction in allergy and asthma symptoms in the operatives involved provided probable cause for the warrant required for Wednesday’s armed raid.

[Above: No Mango Left Behind]

The search warrant, which was issued by the appropriately name Ms. LeCavalier, called for a thorough search of all rooms, attics, and basements of the single story property, plus the surrounding grounds, garages, vehicles, storage areas, trash containers, freezers, refrigerators, and outbuildings. A Girl Scout who was just selling cookies in the wrong place at the wrong time was also asked to turn out her pockets, but only string and a compass was found.

The document also called for samples to be taken, and that the remainder of the controlled substances be seized and destroyed according to State of California "health" codes. Highly trained law enforcement agents therefore dilligently poured the exceedingly fresh milk down drains, and loaded organic produce and whole food onto a truck for off-site destruction as several members of the local homeless community looked on. However, Mrs Tovey, a sprightly pensioner from nearby Marina del Rey, escaped with several mangoes in her hemp handbag before all the fresh food could be removed from the site. She is wanted for questioning in relation to this matter.

Computers, receipts, phone records, a 2007 crumpled Baywatch calendar, and other documents were also seized, as were membership records and documents pertaining to The Right To Choose Healthy Food campaign. Authorities will be contacting members of the raw milk prohibition-busting club over the next few weeks to not-so-gently remind them that The Right To Choose Healthy Food doesn’t exist, and that the First Amendment right to make and distribute pamphlets about it is going the way of habeas corpus.

Talking of which…

Los Angeles prosecutors allege Stewart is guilty of conspiracy to supply fresh food, and is being held on $123,000 bail, with no possibility of using bonds. Furthermore, given Stewart’s Mr. Big status in the raw food underworld, authorities have taken the unusual step of requesting proof of the legitimacy of any funds posted to ensure proceeds from a secret stash of contraband unpasteurized Camembert are not used to spring the kingpin. Palmer has been charged with 9 counts of producing fresh food, and her part-time associate, Bloch, is charged with three counts of conspiracy to do so.

[Above: Eugenie Bloch’s husband, Thomas admits his wife if guilty of selling organic poultry and eggs.]

During the search of the Rawesome premises, authorities were hoping to find evidence that the illegal substances had been smuggled across state lines so they could pursue additional felony charges. However Westsiders know how hard it is to smuggle themselves East of the 405 at the best of times, so unfortunately for law enforcement officials the chances that the easily spoilable raw materials made it to La Brea, never mind the Arizona border are slim to none.

The three arrests had nothing to do with a massive recall of turkey produced by food giant Cargill, but since it happened in the same week The Los Angeles Times thought they’d mention it in their coverage of the raid just so they had a legitimate reason to use the word salmonella, since there was disappointingly no evidence that any goods produced or distributed by Stewart and Palmer had caused illness or were tainted by the pathogen (unlike that of the Minnesota-based food giant, whose dodgy meat is responsible for at least one death, and numerous cases of serious illness).

The manufacture and sale of unpasteurized dairy products is technically legal in California, however, thankfully a whole host of virtually unobtainable licenses and permits are required, which by and large puts a stop to the disgustingly healthy practice of consuming the stuff. But Stewart contends that since he wasn’t operating a public retail establishment, his members-only club wasn’t covered by the small print, which law enforcement officials are too understaffed and busy to read anyways. It’s therefore good to see that rather than taking the time to define the grey areas of the law, government officials are cutting to the chase and taking a firm stance on worryingly healthful consumables, which have the potential to seriously dent the much-maligned healthcare and pharmaceutical industry.

“Praise the lord that in these economically challenged times, the government is allocating significant resources to this issue,” said a Republican who asked not to be named before rushing off to check the value of his Big Ag and Pharma stocks.

***

The Consumer Wellness Center is collecting donations for a legal defense fund for James Stewart.

For more information on our government’s war on raw milk watch Farmageddon, and read our interview with the film’s maker, raw food and small farm advocate Kristin Canty.

**UPDATE**

At his arraignment at the Los Angeles County Courthouse on Thursday August 4, James Stewart's bail was reduced to $30,000. He was released on Friday on condition that he no longer engage in the sale of unpasteurized milk and cheese. (He's not even allowed to give away raw dairy and eggs, and Rawesome is subject to warrantless searches at any time.) Victoria Bloch was released without bail. Worryingly, both Stewart and Bloch were only allowed to leave police custody on condition that they sign a waiver agreeing to give up their First Amendment rights and refrain from talking to anyone about the case. (They can't email, Facebook or Tweet about it, never mind talk to the press!) Sharon Ann Palmer is expected to be arraigned on Monday, August 8 in Ventura County. The delay is apparently due to transportation issues. Rawesome is currently closed, and, Healthfreedoms.org reports that the case "is now going to be handled by an 'environmental crimes' prosecutor from the FDA." Meanwhile, despite being responsible for 76 salmonella-related illnesses and one death, the owners of the company responsible, Cargill, continue to enjoy their life and liberty.

Government agencies involved in the year-long action again Rawesome include the FDA, the California Franchise Tax Board, the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s Milk and Dairy Food Safety Branch and the department’s Division of Measurement Standards, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, the Ventura County Department of Public Health, the LAPD, and the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. In related news, having maxed out our nation's spending limit, America's credit rating has been downgraded, and when it comes to the issues surrounding raw dairy, Democrats and Republicans are uniting in favor of less government intervention.

There will be a series of special screenings of Farmageddon at the Electric Lodge cinema on Saturday, August 20 (see details). Proceeds will go to the Rawesome Community Fund.

Kristin Canty - Farmageddon

2011-07-30T16:44:00.000-07:00

“This is really a civil rights issue.”
- Kristin Canty

America devotes an inordinate amount of resources to its wars on controlled substances; namely its wars on drugs – and raw milk. Yep, you read that right. The prohibition of alcohol may have ended in the US in 1933 with the passage of the Twenty-First Amendment, but it’s still alive and kicking when it comes to unpasteurized milk.

The retail sale of raw milk for human consumption is illegal in the vast majority of states, and though some states do permit direct farm sales and/or herd shares, federal laws prohibit the sale and transport of raw milk across state lines. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers unpasteurized milk or cream –– and any uncooked products made from it, such as cheese, yogurt, and ice cream –– to be categorically unsafe. Their official line is that “raw milk can harbor dangerous microorganisms that can pose serious health risks to you and your family.”

However, by their own figures, a mere “800 people in the United States have gotten sick from drinking raw milk or eating cheese made from raw milk since 1998.” When you compare those numbers to the statistics on alcohol and cigarettes – which can be bought legally in all 50 states – the government’s position on the sale of raw milk appears to be inconsistent to say the very least. And the discrimination against raw dairy is even more profound when the health benefits are taken into consideration. But while the fight to decriminalize other controlled substances grabs headlines and galvanizes support, few are even aware of the prohibition against real milk. Kristin Canty, a small farm advocate from Massachusetts, hopes to change that with her compelling new documentary, Farmageddon: The Unseen War on American Family Farms.

Canty didn’t set out to make a film, merely to heal her son, who suffered from asthma and severe allergies. When traditional medicine failed to help, she embarked on a voyage of discovery that led her to raw milk. While fighting to heal her sick child, she also had to fight the seemingly unreasonable and intransigent attitude our government has towards healthy-minded boutique farmers who produce this hard to come by commodity in the face of much adversity. Frustrated and angered by reports of raids, and shocked at the increasing ferocity of the persecution of those who were doing nothing more than producing fresh food, Canty was compelled to expose the truth. For her, it wasn’t just about the disparity in treatment between big agriculture (whose factory methods have actually been responsible for the majority of serious food scares in recent years) and the mom & pop organic and sustainable operations, but an issue of a mother’s right to choose healthy food.

Read my exclusive interview with Kristin Canty on SuicideGirls.com.

Peter Murphy - Ninth

2011-07-15T23:12:00.000-07:00

By Nicole Powers

“I'm like a magician or mystic jester.”
- Peter Murphy

Despite being grounded by a seemingly paradoxical levity, which comes across in the form of wry humor throughout our interview, Peter Murphy, a leading light in the gothic underworld, has remained an enigma for over three decades.

He first came to prominence with the preeminent goth band Bauhaus - their seminal cut "Bela Lugosi's Dead" being forever imprinted in the minds of those who appreciate the dark side thanks to its inclusion, and Murphy's mood setting appearance, in Tony Scott's 1983 cult horror classic The Hunger (which starred Catherine Deneuve, David Bowie, and Susan Sarandon).

Comprised of Murphy, Daniel Ash, and brothers David J and Kevin Haskins, Bauhaus had an initial lifespan of four years from 1979 to 1983. Following the band's demise, Murphy went solo, while his three former-bandmates regrouped under the Love and Rockets moniker. Both camps went on to enjoy a level of commercial success in the US that surpassed anything their former band had achieved. Murphy's third solo album, Deep (1990), spawned the #1 modern rock hit "Cuts You Up," and his fourth, Holy Smoke (1992), a #2 on the same chart with "The Sweetest Drop." Cascade (1995), with its unabashed romanticism and melodic drive, and Dust (2002), an atmospheric recording steeped in the mysticism and tradition of Murphy's adopted Turkish homeland, are also more than worthy of note.

However fans refused to let the corpse of Bauhaus rest in peace, its legend having grown in the years it had been confined to the crypt. After much speculation and several false starts, Bauhaus reformed in 1998 for the Resurrection Tour. The band was revived again for an unforgettable 2005 Coachella appearance, which opened with Murphy singing "Bela Lugosi's Dead" while hanging upside down from the rafters. This time the quartet stayed together long enough to tour both the US and Europe (including some dates with Nine Inch Nails) and record an album, Go Away White (2008). But the bats left Bauhaus' bell tower, seemingly for good, shortly after the album's release, following an emotionally charged breakup that continues to have an aura of finality.

Appearances on stage (and descending from the rafters) during Nine Inch Nails' 2009 farewell tour, coupled with a cameo as "The Cold One" in the third Twilight film, Eclipse, in 2010, exposed a new generation to Murphy's mesmerizing vampiric presence. With a new album already complete (his first since 2004's ill-fated Unshattered, which was beleaguered by record label issues), he embarked on the Dirty Dirt Tour in the summer of 2010 while he looked for a suitable distribution channel. In March of this year, it was announced that Murphy had signed with the Nettwerk Music Group, and on June 7 the long awaited new full-length, Ninth, finally achieved its release.

Having attempted to catch up with the elusive minstrel numerous times over the past few years, I pinned Murphy down for some quality phone time the day the video for his new single "I Spit Roses" hit the web.

Read my exclusive interview with Peter Murphy on SuicideGirls.com.

David Hyde Pierce - The Perfect Host

2011-07-10T21:37:00.001-07:00

“Every once in a while I feel like I have to stir it up.”
- David Hyde Pierce

As Dr. Niles Crane on the popular NBC sitcom Frasier, which ran from 1993 to 2004, David Hyde Pierce was a paragon of gentility. However in his latest project, the independent movie The Perfect Host, he gets to embrace a far darker side of his psyche.

At first Warwick Wilson (played by Pierce) appears to be the epitome of civility and the consummate dinner party host. But when an unexpected guest arrives — John Taylor (played by Clayne Crawford), a bank robber in desperate need of a place to lay low — the evening’s events take a surprising course. Without giving too much away, by the time desert arrives, it’s impossible to tell who could — or should — die.

I caught up with Pierce by phone to chat about The Perfect Host and his other post-Frasier projects. The topic of dogs also rather unexpectedly, but nonetheless fortuitously, interrupted our conversation.

Read my exclusive interview with David Hyde Pierce on SuicideGirls.com.

A Charged Relationship

2011-05-08T18:09:00.000-07:00

As a loyal Mac lover, who would have Steve Jobs babies in a heartbeat on principle, I have to say I wasn’t predisposed to come over to the dark side, which is why it’s particularly shocking for me to type this next sentence: I really love my Droid Charge.

I know, I know, I feel like I’m publicly cuckolding Apple as I type this on my beloved MacBook Pro, but sometimes you just can’t help how you feel.

I was first introduced to the sleek and sexy looking Charge at a soiree thrown by Samsung for a select group of geeks and pro-tweeters. We took to each other almost immediately, and soon progressed beyond the basics, such as Gmail, Twitter, and Facebook set up. I even popped my Bump cherry that night (Mr. Ward you were awesome – I hope it made you shudder too!).

Unlike my ex, Nokia, I found Charge really easy to navigate, and we were doing some pretty advanced stuff within minutes. The camera has some cute quirks, such as the ability to put images through a cartoon filter, and an “add me” function, which allows you to create composite shots.

Me and Charge went home together that night, and he willfully submitted to a rigorous road-testing over the next three days.

One of the things the iPhone / AT&T cabal have been unwilling and slow to indulge in is tethering, so I was excited to try out a threesome with Charge and my MacBook Pro. We connected successfully first time, and it worked really well. After my AT&T-powered DSL forsook me, as it frequently and intermittently does, I downloaded a 28.9 MB video file for work using Charge’s very hot Mobile Hotspot, which was lightning fast thanks to the device's 4G LTE capabilities. When it comes to down and up-loading, it’s actually a plus to be a wham-bam-thank-you-man!

However, Charge and I did luxuriate in some unhurried time together. We spent a couple of long and pleasurable evenings in bed watching movies (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps and Case 39) via Media Hub’s direct-to-phone download service. Their download protocol was a little clunky, requiring several attempts, but Charge’s picture quality left me breathless and wanting more.

I was impressed not only with Charge’s prowess, but also his stamina. It might wane if we’d been active all day and all night, but his batteries were easily recharged thanks to a neat USB cable, which can either plug into your laptop (allowing simultaneous data back up) or the wall (via a socket converter).

Charge and I actually didn’t do much talking during our initial three days together, but then, ironically, analog conversation is almost redundant these days on a smart phone. However, when we did talk, we had no problems communicating on any level.

As things stand now, our three-day affair is likely to turn into something more permanent. The only hurdle is “The Conversation” that needs to be had with Verizon. Thanks to Samsung, who let me hang on to Charge, commitment isn’t really an issue. Here’s to a long and fruitful relationship (sorry AT&T and Mr. Jobs!).

XOX

Check out Charge's vital stats here.

Nikki Sixx - This Is Gonna Hurt

2011-04-25T15:40:00.000-07:00

“I'm looking for the mystery in the shadows.”
- Nikki Sixx

“My dream has always been the same since I was a kid, to somehow show people life through different colored lenses,” writes Nikki Sixx in the introduction to his new book, a collection of very personal words and images called This Is Gonna Hurt. “Now more than ever I feel it’s important to see that way. We need to be aware that the warped perspectives of television, Internet, and magazines are sometimes poisonous,” he continues. “I cannot walk down the street without feeling I am being subjected to some constant sales pitch on what we should look like, smell like, dress like, or even worse, what we should be like.”

A devout nonconformist, Sixx wears many hats in his life. SuicideGirls last caught up with Mötley Crüe’s co-founder and bass player shortly before the release of his bestselling book, The Heroin Diaries, a collection of journal entries that chronicled his self-destructive – but ultimately self-saving – journey to the other side of drugs. To accompany its release, Sixx put together a side project called Sixx:A.M. – a band which went on to have a life of its own. The musician, songwriter and author also has his own clothing line, and hosts two radio shows, Sixx Sense (which airs Monday to Friday) and The Side Show Countdown (which is broadcast on weekends).

But it’s Sixx’s work as a photographer that made a further conversation with the multi-talented man mandatory. His photography, as seen in this first bound collection, is shockingly beautiful. However, the beauty within the images is of a kind that complies with nothing except Sixx’s own very individual aesthetic. Reflecting the contradictions in life that have troubled him in the past, his often preconceived portraits are both ethereal and hyperreal at the same time.

Sixx spoke with SG by phone from the Funny Farm, his photography studio and creative sanctuary…

Read our exclusive interview with Nikki Sixx on SuicideGirls.com.

Benji Madden - Good Charlotte

2011-04-22T23:17:00.000-07:00

“The goal is the journey”
- Benji Madden

Though they may have joked about the trappings of fame in their 2002 breakout hit "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous," brothers Benji and Joel Madden of Good Charlotte appreciate everything their success has brought. Having come from a broken home - and suffered the financial and emotional hardship that resulted from it - they also know the value of family, a theme which lies at the heart of their latest release Cardiology.

SuicideGirls caught up with Benji to talk about the new album, his thoughts on family, and his work as a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador promoting UNICEF's Believe in Zero campaign, which aims to reduce preventable infant mortality, thereby ensuring that more families have a chance to enjoy the fundamental luxury of growing old together.

Read the exclusive interview with Benji Madden on SuicideGirls.com.

Interview: Jaimie D'Cruz and Chris King - Exit Through the Gift Shop

2011-02-25T11:37:00.000-08:00

“It's an absolutely fucking crazy story.”
- Jaimie D'Cruz

Exit Through the Gift Shop is a film that defies explanation, and one’s ability to suspend disbelief. Indeed the plot would be utterly ridiculous, if it weren’t for the fact that it’s true.

It started out life as a simple documentary about street art as seen through the lens of Thierry Guetta, a French national living in Los Angeles. Thanks to a family connection, and his infectious and perpetuity ebullient personality, Guetta gained unparalleled access to the major players in the scene, who are a notoriously secretive and hard to track down bunch by necessity due to the predominantly illicit nature of their work. Guetta’s extreme enthusiasm for the form, and his zealous pursuit of its practitioners, ultimately led him to the scene’s holy grail, Banksy, an elusive British street art superstar.

After Guetta proved his worth as a location scout in LA, Banksy - whose real identity is shrouded in mystery - inexplicably agreed to participate in his documentary film project (or more accurately didn't object when he started rolling tape). Guetta proceeded to shoot hundreds of hours of footage, over a period that spanned several years. With no sign of the finished product in sight however, Banksy eventually suggested Guetta work on a first cut. It was only at this point that a major stumbling block became apparent – the fact that Guetta actually had no clue how to make a film,

"I didn't know if I believed he was a filmmaker or a mental patient with a camera," said Banksy of Life Remote Control, the manic film Guetta subsequently produced. In an attempt to salvage the situation, Banksy decided to take control of the project - and of Guetta’s vast library of unlogged videotape. Banksy in turn, encouraged the cameraman turned friend to make some art of his own, as he exchanged roles and became the filmmaker.

It was at this point that events took an unlikely and unanticipated course. Banksy recruited producer Jaimie D'Cruz, who then brought editor Chris King onboard. Together they began the process of assessing Guetta’s raw material to see if it was even possible to assemble it into some kind of meaningful narrative. As they viewed it they began to realize that the effusive Frenchman was ultimately the star of his own footage. Guetta meanwhile had taken Banksy’s edict a little more seriously than had been intended, and started work on an art show of epic proportions.

A crew was dispatched to LA to film Guetta as he mounted his assault on the art world under the moniker Mr. Brainwash. Having rented the extremely spacious old CBS building, Columbia Square, on Sunset Blvd., Guetta set about filling it ahead of his June 18, 2008 debut. As with his filmmaking endeavor, Guetta didn’t let his lack of prior personal experience hold him back from jumping in with two feet (neither did a broken leg).

Much to the surprise of everyone – including Banksy – the event proved to be an undeniable success. Thousands flocked to the opening night (which featured Shepard Fairey on the decks), and by the end of the first week Guetta had sold close to $1 million worth of his Mr. Brainwash “art.”

Guetta was a bona fide overnight sensation, but was he a bona fide artist? As Mr. Brainwash’s career took flight, Banksy, D'Cruz and King shifted the focus of the street art documentary, turning the lens on its original documentarian. Though the resulting film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, can’t possibly provide a definitive conclusion regarding Guetta’s authenticity as an artist, it poses the underlying question, and many more with it, in an incredibly smart and entertaining way. However, following initial screenings at the Sundance and Berlin film festivals, and the documentary’s cinematic release in April of this year, this ambiguity and the unlikely events chronicled have led some to accuse the filmmakers of staging an elaborate hoax.

Banksy’s reputation as a prankster has also confounded the situation, but, with his blessing, filmmakers D'Cruz and King are keen to set the record straight. While in town for the International Documentary Awards, SuicideGirls caught up with the duo at a brunch spot on Robertson Blvd. Though Exit Through the Gift Shop was passed over (in favor of Waste Land) at that particular ceremony, the film has won a prestigious Grierson Award, and is nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and shortlisted for Oscar nomination.

Read my exclusive interview with Jaimie D'Cruz and Chris King on SuicideGirls.com/.

Tank Girl Artist Rufus Dayglo

2011-02-07T15:50:00.000-08:00

“She's a bit of a skank.”
- Rufus Dayglo

It's been a couple of years since Tank Girl made her dramatic comeback. Since then she's been kicking a lot of physical and metaphorical butt. After a hiatus of over a decade, the punk rock comic character is making up for lost time, with a slew of new adventures in book and comic form.

Created by anarchist wordsmith Alan Martin and artist Jamie Hewlett, Tankie (as she is affectionately known to those in the know) first made her debut in the pages of UK comic magazine Deadline in 1988. Her "fuck you" attitude instantly resonated with Britain's disenfranchised, Thatcher-abused youth, and it wasn’t long before Hollywood came calling. However MGM’s 1995 film, which captured the look but not the spirit of the comic strip, pretty much stopped Tank Girl in her tracks.

Having run out of steam, Tank Girl languished in the desert. Her fans moved on, as did Hewlett, who founded the virtual band Gorillaz with Blur’s Damon Albarn. With Hewlett entrenched in the music biz, when Martin decided to brush the dust off Tank Girl and recall her into action, another pen pal was needed.

Stepping into the Doc Martin’s of Hewlett was a daunting task, but London-based pencil master Rufus Dayglo has proved himself worthy. His authentic yet fresh vision of Tank Girl has won over old and new fans alike. With a veritable avalanche of new material hitting stores, I tracked Dayglo down by phone at his peanut factory-turned-art studio to talk out about the inspirations behind his Tank Girl.

Read my exclusive interview with Tank Girl artist Rufus Dayglo on SuicideGirls.com.

CSI’s Anthony E. Zuiker – Dark Prophecy

2010-11-11T00:12:00.000-08:00

In his first novel, Dark Origins, CSI creator Anthony E. Zuiker brought us a serial killer so extreme that he was the world’s first to be deemed worthy of Level 26 status. The spree of diabolical crimes perpetrated by the latex-attired – and therefore forensic-proof – Sqweegle, was ultimately halted by Steve Dark, a Special Circumstances investigator with demons of his own.

On October 14, Steve Dark returns in the second Level 26 installment, Dark Prophecy. Having left Special Circs at the end of the previous book, when Dark’s destiny crosses paths with that of the Tarot Card Killer, he’s forced to operate under the auspices of a far greyer area of the law.

In the same way that the psychopaths Dark hunts are no ordinary killers, the Level 26 books are no ordinary thrillers. Dubbed “digi-novels” by Zuiker, the multi-platform murder mysteries combine traditional text with web-based movie and community elements. We caught up with Zuiker ahead of Dark Prophecy’s release to talk about the progression of Dark, and how, with the introduction of the iPad, the digi-novel has finally come of age.

Read our exclusive interview with CSI’s Anthony E. Zuiker on SuicideGirls.com.

Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O: Jackass 3D

2010-10-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

The new Jackass feature film is spectacularly shitty - in an awesomely gross kind of way. And because it's shot in 3D, the excrement literally comes flying right at you, giving the MTV-rooted franchise the opportunity to connect with its audience in a whole new, and yet familiarly meaningless way.

I don't mean that disrespectfully - it's just that it's important not to overthink things when it comes to Jackass's intentionally lowbrow brand of entertainment. Creators Johnny Knoxville, Spike Jonze and Jeff Tremaine, and cast members Steve-O, Bam Margera, Chris Pontius and Dave England have been doing silly stunts for shits and giggles - and increasingly large amounts of cash - for a decade now, and the interplay between the beloved faces is as important as the feces and flying dildos. It's this timeless male bonding, which appears evident and genuine on screen, that's perhaps the key to Jackass's popularity, longevity and charm. As Steve-o succinctly puts it, "The chemistry definitely makes it work."

I spoke with professional pranksters Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O by phone this past weekend about the secrets of Jackass 3-D's undeniable allure.

Read my exclusive interview with Johnny Knoxville and Steve-O on SuicideGirls.com.

Janeane Garofalo: If You Will

2010-10-13T18:59:00.000-07:00

"I do try like hell to not be ashamed. But, sometimes I am, I have to admit," says New Jersey-born comedienne, actress and activist, Janeane Garofalo. We've been talking for close to 45 minutes - mostly about TV, politics, the media, and the toxicity of contemporary pop culture. As I switch the tape recorder off and the conversation winds down, we briefly discuss what Garofalo herself turns to in order to unwind, which is the source of her current state of angst.

"Sometimes I fall dreadfully short, behavior-wise, activity-wise. Sometimes I'll watch bad television, sometimes I'll read crappy magazines and I'm ashamed, because I've done it," she admits. The New York resident, who recently released a new stand up DVD entitled If You Will, is currently living outside of her comfort zone in a Los Angeles hotel while filming the Criminal Minds spin-off Suspect Behavior (which also stars Academy Award winning actor Forest Whitaker).

Like crack down a pipe, The Young and the Restless is coming down the cable into her hotel room, and Garofalo is unable to resist her nightly SOAPnet fix. "I discovered it when I started staying here two months ago. And I have been falling asleep to it," she reveals when asked about her "guilty pleasures" (my words not hers).

Though a daytime drama might just be a pleasant - if unsubstantial - distraction for anyone else, for the earnestly politically correct Garofalo it's a matter of personal integrity. "If I'm going to be falling asleep, I should be reading," says the Air America alum, who doesn't want to be guilty of denigrating the work of fellow actors by using my "guilty pleasure" phrase, nor of indulging in the potentially socially toxic material we've previously been discussing.

"I do feel guilt and it is my pleasure," adds Garofalo, who it seems is constantly torn between her desire to fix society and her need to participate in it - flaws and all. Holding herself to impossible standards of moral perfection may be the source of undue anxiety, but Garofalo's awareness of her own - and our culture's - shortcomings brings sharp social commentary to her humor, and makes for an illuminating conversation - which, after a little small talk, soon turns to topics that carry more gravitas than glasses.

Read my exclusive interview with Janeane Garofalo on SuicideGirls.com.

Tommy Lee - Methods of Mayhem

2010-09-28T13:29:00.000-07:00

Tommy Lee gives good phone. He's the consummate professional when it comes to interviews. Don't be fooled by his easy going charm and natural flirtatiousness; Behind it lies a disarming intelligence and an instinct that knows exactly how to perpetuate and sell the rock & roll myth we all want - and need - to buy into.

It's not that he's is being insincere - far from it - it's well documented that the drummer-turned-multi instrumentalist walks the walk as well as talking the talk. However, all rock & roll shenanigans aside, when it counts, Lee seriously has his shit together - like on the designated press day for his new Methods of Mayhem album, A Public Disservice Announcement.

Fielding questions from an endless procession of rock critics and music writers can be a tedious task. It's therefore not uncommon for artists to flake entirely or give jaded responses. However Lee is diligently going through his record label supplied phone list, giving his all and - no doubt - successfully connecting to each of the journalists on it on some level.

It's this balance of work vs. play that has helped Lee stay on top of his game for over three decades - that and the fact that he is still genuinely excited to be making music and talking about it with those that love it too. Thus, though SuicideGirls are not the type to wait around for the phone to ring, we found ourselves doing just that one Friday afternoon...

Read my exclusive interview with Tommy Lee on SuicideGirls.com, and preview "All I Wanna Do" from A Public Disservice Announcement on the SG Blog.

Chester Bennington: Linkin Park

2010-09-22T14:04:00.000-07:00

“We're willing to put our balls on the line.”
- Chester Bennington

It's been over a decade since Linkin Park released their debut album, Hybrid Theory, which spawned the breakout, radio-friendly crossover hits "Crawling" and "In the End." The SoCal rock/rap band, whose vocal interplay between singer Chester Bennington and rapper Mike Shinoda became their sonic signature, have come a long way since then.

But though Linkin Park's subsequent full-length offerings, Meteora (2003) and Minutes to Midnight (2007), were solid performers, they failed to match the excitement of the band's initial release. Consequently, when we were invited to a special laser listening event a week ahead of the street date for Linkin Park's fourth studio album, A Thousand Suns, we weren't sure what to expect. However, the album - and its presentation - quite frankly, blew us away. And, judging by the reactions of those gathered at Hollywood's Music Box Theatre, we weren't the only ones who felt that way.

Though not strictly a concept album, in an age of single song MP3 downloads, A Thousand Suns is somewhat of a concept by default - being a collection of tracks that are specifically intended to be listened to old-school style, in order, in their entirety. Having toyed with the idea of not even breaking A Thousand Suns into separate song files, the band chose to premiere the album in front of a select group of fans and press at the aforementioned listening party by playing it from start to finish, with Pink Floyd-style laser visuals serving to focus minds and energy, and underscore the vintage Dark Side of the Moon-style album effect.

Less than a week later, Linkin Park similarly exceeded expectations when they performed the first single off the album, "The Catalyst," during MTV's 2010 Video Music Awards. The epic performance, which was broadcast from the iconic Griffith Park Observatory, surprised fans and non-fans alike.

I caught up with the Linkin Park's frontman, Chester Bennington, by phone to find out how the band busted out of their music box.

Read my exclusive interview with Linkin Park's Chester Bennington on SuicideGirls.com, and hit my photo gallery for more images from Linkin Park's Laser Listening Party at The Music Box.

Tank Girl, Genesis, and The Cool-Crap-Continuum

2010-09-18T15:07:00.000-07:00

With her idiosyncratic style, DIY aesthetic, and kick-ass attitude, Tank Girl, who made her debut in Deadline in 1988, is without question a proto-SG. I was therefore jolly chuffed to receive a spiffy, glossy bound copy of her latest adventure, Skidmarks. Written by Tank Girl co-creator Alan Martin and drawn by the awesomely awesome* Rufus Dayglo, the gzillion thrills a minute plot is basically Wacky Races for an audience with a penchant for punk rock, smelly chicks (Tankie rolls with a pungent aroma), on-fire farts (see previous) and esoteric references.

Having grown up in a universe somewhat similar to Martin and Dayglo’s, these seemingly random and bizarre nods to popular culture perhaps make more sense to me than most. However I was particularly confused and disturbed by a reference to Genesis, the well-shite** British band that was once fronted by Phil “I-Dumped-My-Woman-By-Fax” Collins. If Tank Girl had been kicking their collective butts, or nuking the entire world supply of We Can’t Dance albums, I might have understood. However the band’s inclusion in a non-painful, non-violent, and non-deadly context seemed, quite frankly, the far side of wrong.

Then I turned another page, and, thanks to an essay Martin had helpfully included in Skidmarks, much about life, the universe, and Tank Girl suddenly became clear:

Read Alan Martin's Cool-Crap-Continuum manifesto at SuicideGirls.com.

Gary Numan: The Pleasure Principle

2010-09-14T09:36:00.000-07:00

The Pleasure Principle is an album that's provided its maker, Gary Numan, with both instant and delayed gratification. Three decades ago, when the now classic electro album first came out, it made a massive impact culturally and commercially. The Pleasure Principle, and the iconic single it spawned, “Cars”, hit the number one spot simultaneously on the album and singles charts in the UK in September, 1979. The following year, the records crashed the US Billboard charts, making the painfully shy young vocalist, composer and musician a household name here too.

Numan's Kraftwerk-inspired tracks, which channeled the voice of the machine, had a raw energy and DIY aesthetic that served as the bridge between '70s punk and the early dance and hip-hop scenes of the 1980s. Indeed the bare break beats from the opening segment of "Films" (the fourth track on The Pleasure Principle) became the sample of choice for a generation of producers, thanks in part to the song's inclusion on Street Beat's tastemaker compilation series Ultimate Breaks and Beats (which served as the primary DJ and studio sample resource pre-CD).

Ironically, as the spotlight faded on Numan, the sounds he created proliferated exponentially through the fabric of pop music culture. As a new generation of producers sampled samples, the origins of these staple breaks escaped many. However those in the know - such as Basement Jaxx, Armand Van Heldon, Afrika Bambaataa and Dr. Dre - openly covered, used, credited and paid homage to Numan's body of work.

In 2002, Numan once again toped the charts in the UK with an all-girl band called the Sugababes and a song called "Freak Like Me." The track was essentially a highly produced and super slick mash-up of the top line from Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me" and the riff and groove lifted directly from "Are Friends Electric," a song Numan recorded pre-Principle with his band Tubeway Army (which first hit the #1 single spot across the Atlantic in May, 1979).

More recently, Trent Reznor outed himself as a fan, inviting Numan to perform his songs with Nine Inch Nails during the band's 2009 shows in London and Los Angeles. The strong reaction Numan received following his guest spots at NIN's four final shows in LA in particular turned heads, and a coveted invite to play Coachella this year was forthcoming. Unfortunately, fallout from a volcano in Iceland, which grounded flights throughout Europe, meant that Numan, along with several other artists, was unavoidably a no-show at the festival. However fans won't be disappointed for long, since a dedicated tour honoring the 30th Anniversary of The Pleasure Principle will stop off in 15 US cities this fall.

I called Numan up at the East Sussex home he shares with his wife and three children to talk about the shows, his music - past and present - and the realities of life beyond The Pleasure Principle.

Read my exclusive interview with Gary Numan at SuicideGirls.com.

My Lee "Scratch" Perry Image is Indie1031's Picture of the Week

2010-08-31T01:07:00.000-07:00

My snap of Lee "Scratch" Perry is the Picture of the Week on Indie1031.com.

The photo was taken last Sunday (Aug 22nd) at Sunset Junction.

See photo gallery for more images from the event.

Richard Patrick: Filter

2010-08-28T16:49:00.000-07:00

"I'm going to write songs about fucking blowing my head off and giving in to apathy," says Filter founder and frontman Richard Patrick during our interview. It's not that he's going to do either, it's just that he understands what anger combined with a sense of hopeless can do to a person's psyche.

In 2008 he released Anthems For The Damned, which served both as a protest against the Iraq war and a tribute to a friend it had claimed. (Anti-war, but very much pro-troops, Patrick has traveled to the region twice to play concerts for those who risk their lives to serve our country.) Two years on, though our president may have changed, the status quo (or lack thereof) remains the same in the Middle East. After too many years listening to grim reports from the frontlines of a war that was misguided from the start, both the troops on the ground and the masses here at home are suffering from a severe case of fuck up fatigue. With dissent now largely falling on deaf ears, and, even worse, serving to remind the proletariat of their powerlessness, Patrick gets why it's therapeutic to embrace indifference, shrug your shoulders and say "fuck it" to the world.

Thus, at least on the surface, the latest Filter release, The Trouble With Angels, channels the middle finger up attitude of Patrick's drug and alcohol dependant youth - and of his band's 1995 breakthrough debut, Short Bus. Featuring songs with titles such as "Down With Me," "Drug Boy" and "The Inevitable Relapse," the new Filter full-length – which is undoubtedly one of the band’s best – explores topics such as addiction, murder and suicide. Inspired by the music, but puzzled by the message, I checked in with Patrick to find out where his head was at.

Read my exclusive interview with Richard Patrick on SuicideGirls.com.

Met Loaf + Pearl Aday feat. Scott Ian (Anthrax)

2010-08-20T12:14:00.000-07:00

Went with SG Radio co-host Sam Doumit to see my SuicideGirls pal Scott Ian play with his lovely wife, Pearl Aday, last week. Pearl, who released her debut solo album Little Immaculate White Fox in 2009, was supporting her dad – Meat Loaf – at the Gibson Amphitheatre. For more images from the night check my SuicideGirls photo gallery.

SuicideGirls: Ink n' Undies

2010-08-16T23:26:00.000-07:00

SuicideGirls partied in their panties for a good cause on Saturday night (8/14). The event, a lingerie fashion show held at Hollywood's Ecco Ultra Lounge, benefited UnderShare, a non-profit dedicated to providing new undergarments and toiletries to LA shelters that assist the homeless, and women and children escaping domestic violence.

The event was hosted by Criminal Minds actress Paget Brewster, UnderShare founder Helen Huang, and SuicideGirls co-founder Missy Suicide and featured underwear by Seven 'til Midnight. For more images from the night go to SuicideGirls.com.

Steven Adler: My Appetite For Destruction

2010-08-10T12:22:00.000-07:00

In 1988 when Guns N' Roses debut album, Appetite For Destruction, topped the Billboard 200 chart and the band's seminal single "Sweet Child O' Mine" did the same on Billboard's Hot 100, being a member of the hard rocking Los Angeles band should have been a dream come true. But for the band's drummer, Steven Adler, his fantasy reality was already turning into a nightmare. Guns N' Roses muse, "Mr. Brownstone," a.k.a. heroin had moved in, and by 1990 it had robbed Adler of his career, health and wealth.

But the seeds of Adler's destruction were sown long before Guns N' Roses was born. A quintessential problem child, Adler was thrown out of his home by his mom and step-dad when he was just 11-years old. Lack of proper parental supervision aided and abetted his underage activities at the clubs that gave him his music education. It also facilitated sexual abuse at age 14 - something Adler was unable to deal with or verbalize for the next three decades.

Having served his apprenticeship on the Sunset Strip, Adler and his childhood friend Slash hooked up with Axl Rose in 1985. Rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin and bassist Duff McKagan completed what is now considered the classic Guns N' Roses lineup. Under the stewardship of manager Vicki Hamilton, Guns N' Roses signed a marquee deal with Geffen Records, which was also home to the band's idols Aerosmith.

With the release of their first studio album, Guns N' Roses transcended the record sales of their heroes. Appetite For Destruction went on to become the best-selling debut album of all-time worldwide, selling over 28 million copies around the globe. The quintet followed up with G N' R Lies in 1988. It would be the last complete Guns N' Roses album Adler would perform on. He was conspicuous by his absence during Guns N' Roses' 1989 American Music Awards performance (for which Don Henley subbed). A disastrous appearance at Farm Aid the following year would prove to be Adler's last with the band. He recorded one final track, "Civil War," which was included on Guns N' Roses' fourth studio album, Use Your Illusion II (which was released as a companion their third, Use Your Illusion I in 1991).

Adler was fired by his Guns N' Roses' bandmates in 1990. With the absence of a reason to get up in the morning, his substance abuse spiraled. Adler's life was punctuated by a series of car crashes, accidental ODs, and suicide attempts. In 1996 one such incident led to a stay in hospital during which Adler slipped into a coma. He awoke to find one side of his face paralyzed due to a suspected stroke, which resulted in a permanent speech impediment. However, unfazed by his near-death experience, Adler continued on his path of destruction.

Adler credits Dr. Drew Pinsky with changing the direction of his life. He appeared on the second season of VH1's Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew. Though he's succumbed to several, perhaps inevitable, relapses - most notably while appearing on the Celebrity Rehab spin-off series Sober House - Adler nevertheless is proud of his progress.

In order to move forward, Adler has spent a lot of time coming to terms with his past, which he has chronicled in a new memoir entitled My Appetite For Destruction: Sex & Drugs & Guns N' Roses. In the book, Adler is upfront about the part he played in his own downfall, but also makes it clear when and how he thinks those around him may have given him an added push.

I called up Adler to find out more. Read my exclusive interview with Steven Adler on SuicideGirls.com

Nicole
XOX

Ps. Steven Adler will be an in-studio guest on SuicideGirls Radio on Sunday Sept 12th.

Chris Mallick: Middle Men

2010-08-09T11:00:00.000-07:00

You may not recognize his name, but as the man who figured out how to make online adult entertainment pay, Chris Mallick has had a profound effect on our world. "Third-party billing" is not exactly a sexy phrase, but the concept Mallick masterminded revolutionized the way the invisible masses achieved satisfaction, and gave e-commerce its kick-start.

A rarity in the world of pornography, Mallick didn't focus his attention on making or marketing sexual images, it was a few lines of computer code that excited him more. This revolutionary source code allowed users to pay for stuff – any kind of stuff – remotely via the World Wide Web. Naturally, like many technological breakthroughs, its potential was first exploited by the triple-x rated business community. Mallick’s company made its millions by taking a tiny cut of each credit card transaction he facilitated in an industry that would eventually generate fifty-seven billion dollars per year globally. Essentially Mallick and his fellow third-party billers were the ultimate middle men.

Having made “more money than anyone ever imagined,” Mallick got out of the business he’d helped invent while he was ahead and now works in Hollywood as a producer. Initially he’d hoped to turn his stranger than fiction experiences working in the backend of the adult entertainment industry into an HBO television series. After teaming up with screenwriter Andy Weiss (of Punk’d), the project morphed into what is now a major motion picture released by Paramount Pictures.

Luke Wilson plays Jack Harris, a character closely based on Mallick in Middle Men, an action packed, smartly written comic caper Mallick claims is eighty-percent based in truth. Given that on screen his story involves the Russian mafia, accidental murder, an affair with a 23-year old porn star, FBI agents, terrorists, and the bribery of an elected official, it’s intriguing to speculate exactly which twenty percent is purely fictional.

I called up Mallick and got some surprising answers from the internet pioneer. Read my exclusive interview with Chris Mallick on SuicideGirls.com.

Hypernova, The Troubadour, LA – 7/16

2010-07-30T15:32:00.000-07:00

Took some snaps of Hypernova when they played WeHo's Troubabour recently (see photo gallery). The band have an amazing story (they're from Iran) and an awesome sound (New Order meets Franz Ferdinand).

Hypernova are currently on a nationwide tour with fellow Iranian band The Yellow Dogs (who appeared in an award-winning documentary about the underground rock music scene in Tehran called No One Know About Persian Cats). Both bands are in exile (it's illegal to perform Western style music in Iran) and based in New York now (Hypernova originally obtained work visa thanks to the personal intervention of New York Senator Charles Schumer). They're hoping the tour will open a window on a different, more positive aspect of Middle Eastern culture than we're used to seeing on TV, so be sure to check 'em out.

Visit Hypernova's Facebook for tour dates and their website for a free download of their new single, "Fairty Tales," off their debut album Through The Chaos.

Interview with Jonathan Davis of Korn

2010-07-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

As the frontman for heavy duty California rock band Korn, Jonathan Davis has turned angst into an art form, and has sold an impressive 32 million albums worldwide since the group's inception in 1993. Having battled addiction and long-term depression, much of the inspiration for Davis’ lyrics has come from internal demons. But right now he’s making noise about an external issue that will likely affect us all in some way – the April 20th drilling explosion at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

Owned by Transocean but leased and operated by BP, the disaster at the rig appears to be caused, at least in part, by the oil giant’s concern for profits above safety. Channeling his anger at the company’s culpability into action, Davis is the instigator behind a boycott of BP’s products by a coalition of touring bands. Initially it consisted mostly of those on the traveling Mayhem Festival bill, which Korn are currently co-headlining, however the coalition’s ranks have rapidly swelled and now include artists such Lady Gaga, Anthrax, Backstreet Boys, Maroon 5 and Filter.

Though the Deepwater Horizon spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, the human and environmental issues it raises are far closer to home for Davis. He was born and raised in Bakersfield, a city within the borders of Kern County, CA, which has the dubious honor of being the largest oil producing county in the US. Though rich in oil, eighteen percent of Bakersfield’s population lives below the poverty line. The city also ranks as one of the least educated in the nation.

Music was a way out for Davis, but his ties to his hometown remain strong, as evidenced by the first single off Korn’s new album, Korn III: Remember Who You Are. The track is called “Oildale (Leave Me Alone)” and is named after a suburban town 3.5 miles northwest of downtown Bakersfield. Surrounded by oil wells, Davis calls Oildale “the most impoverished, fucked-up place I think I've ever been to.” Though this statement is anecdotal, if the video for “Oildale” which was shot there is anything to go by, it's clear the place could do with benefiting a little more from its oil wealth.

SuicideGirls caught up with Davis shortly after he came off stage after performing at the Mayhem Festival in Idaho. Talking the day after the new album’s release (Korn III: Remember Who You Are has since debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 sales chart), we spoke about life, music, organized religion, close encounters of the crop circle making kind, and his hope that his wrath for big petroleum will prove to be contagious.

Read my interview with Jonathan Davis of Korn at SuicideGirls.com.

Diamondsnake feat. Moby

2010-07-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

In a world in serious need of some extreme silliness, Moby and his new happy metal project Diamondsnake have successfully filled a void. Phil Costello, of Bee Gees metal tribute band Tragedy, fronts the project, bringing dodgy hair, a carefully sculptured butt-crack, and an awesome attitude (ie. his love for anything that will give him some sweet lovin' back) to the plate.

More than a few of the SuicideGirls crew were in the house for the band's debut assault on Los Angeles at the Dragonfly on July 7th. I restrained myself from headbanging and stopped laughing for long enough to take these snaps.

More images from the night can be viewed in a sideshow at the link below:

http://suicidegirls.com/members/nicole_powers/albums/site/20222/

For more on Diamondsnake go to:

http://diamondsnakerocks.com/

Samantha Bee: I Know I Am, But What Are You?

2010-06-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

"I have a knack for penises," isn't the kind of confession you'd expect from a memoir penned by Samantha Bee, The Daily Show's Most Senior Correspondent. But then I Know I Am, But What Are You? isn't the kind of book you'd expect her to write. Leaving politics and talk of Jon Stewart & Co. mostly to one side, the collection of humorous essays sheds light on Samantha's unconventional upbringing, which in turn sheds light on why her recipe for success includes a hearty helping of sexually explicit material - ergo her theory that "we need to bring more of a porn sensibility to our financial regulatory mechanisms" (see April 27, 2010 Sex-curities XXXchange Cumission report).

I spoke with the Canadian-born not-news show funnywoman (who is married to fellow Daily Show correspondent Jason Jones) about her Granny juice steeped childhood, her affairs with Jesus and her cat, her rebellious dislike of hot ham, and the repercussions of her exposure to penis-laden literature and videos at an exceedingly young age.

Read my interview with Samantha Bee at SuicideGirls.com.

Tilda Swinton: I Am Love

2010-06-17T11:49:00.000-07:00

I Am Love is a cinematic tour de force that explores the revolutionary power of love. The film is the result of a long-term collaboration between British actress Tilda Swinton (Orlando, Michael Clayton, The Chronicles of Narnia and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Italian writer and director Luca Guadagnino, who first worked with Swinton when she took the lead role in his 1999 feature-length debut, The Protagonists.

At the center of I Am Love, is Emma Recchi, played by Swinton. She's a trophy wife acquired by her Russian art-loving husband on a foray into the former socialist republic. By marriage, Emma is part of an Italian industrial dynasty that is born of fascism but embracing capitalism. But having served her primary purpose, giving birth to and raising those that will carry on the Recchi lineage, Emma is searching for a place in life beyond that at the end of a well-laid dinner table. At a point where she's at a crossroads in her own life, Antonio Biscaglia, an associate of her son's, crosses her path. As a chef, he's below stairs and below her status, but he proves to be irresistible to her, and their passion ignites a chain of events that rocks the stability of the Recchi patriarchy.

Though I Am Love is a work of fiction, there are distinct parallels to Swinton's own life. "You're always playing yourself," the actress told The Observer newspaper back in 2005 while promoting the film Thumbsucker. "It's all autobiography, whatever you're doing. It's using them as a kind of prism through which to throw something real about yourself."

With luminous pale skin, Celtic coloring and disconcertingly vivid green eyes, Tilda is clearly not born of Italian capitalist / nouveau aristocratic stock. However she comes from one of the oldest feudal baronial families in the United Kingdom, and can trace her bloodline back to the ninth century, so understands what it is to be a woman in a grand family. The mother of twins by Scottish writer John Byrne, who is twenty years her senior, since 2004 Swinton has been in a much-speculated about relationship with German-born painter Sandro Kopp, who is her junior by 18 years. Though this love triangle has echoes of that in her latest film, ultimately the outcomes are very different. The choice Byrne made to give Swinton his blessing in order to preserve their love and family life for the sake of themselves and their children is as progressive as her partner's alternate choice in the film is archaic.

I sat down with Swinton at the Beverly Hills Four Seasons to talk about her philosophies on filmmaking and love.

Read my interview with Tilda Swinton on SuicideGirls.com.

Jake Shears: Scissor Sisters

2010-06-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

When Scissor Sisters first burst forth with their debut self-titled filthy gorgeous album in 2004 their brand of hedonistic dance was too hot for mainstream America to handle (the CD was even pulled from Wal-Mart's shelves). It was a different story across the Atlantic in the U.K. however, where the band were welcomed with open arms - and notable record sales. There the release spawned a total of five Top 20 singles, and became the country's top-selling album that year (and the 9th biggest seller of the decade). The band's follow up full-length, Ta-Dah, released in 2006, also fared much better outside of the U.S. It went straight to the top of the U.K. album charts, and the first single, "I Don't Feel Like Dancin'"(a collaboration with Elton John), also hit the number one spot - and stayed there for four consecutive weeks.

The wide chasm in reception and record sales between the two continents - the Scissor Sisters' first two albums each sold in excess of 3 million units across Europe - can easily be explained when looked at in the context of cultural attitudes. The more liberal Europeans have been dancing continuously since the '70s and dance-based music is ingrained in the fabric of European life. In America however, seizing on the opportunity afforded by AIDS, the disproportionately influential Christian right whipped up a frenzy of anti-dance "disco sucks" hysteria, stopping the party in its tracks and creating a deep-seated prejudice against the genre as a whole that remains prevalent to this day in significant pockets of society.

However mainstream America has started to loosen up, shake its collective booty and dance again. The success of European-produced tracks from the likes of Madonna (who enlisted William Orbit for Ray of Light and Stuart Price for Confessions on a Dance Floor) and Britney Spears (who prominently featured Bloodshy & Avant's production talents on her past two albums) has brought the dance aesthetic back to the mainstream, and paved the way for 100% domestic-raised spawn of disco to return to the fore.

So as Scissor Sisters prepare to step back on the dance floor with their much-anticipated third album, Night Work, the mirrored ball is at least proverbially spinning above middle-American heads. Though this bodes well in many respects, it does pose a new set of dilemmas for the band. Previously, against a background of overbearing earnestness as practiced by a generation of shoe-gazing indie bands, their tongue-in-cheek flamboyance seemed refreshing. Now, their once unique style has become de rigueur in pop culture thanks to the Scissor Sisters-influenced and much-imitated House of Gaga. Hence, to stay ahead of the pack, they’ve been forced to switch things up visually and musically.

I caught up with Scissor Sisters' frontman, founder and driving force, Jake Shears, to talk about Night Work, what inspired it, where his party is headed, and what he'll be wearing to it.

Read my exclusive interview with Jake Shears at SuicideGirls.com.

Chuck Palahniuk: Tell-All

2010-05-27T10:11:00.001-07:00

Chuck Palahniuk needs little by way of introduction on SuicideGirls.com, the site's very name being an hommage to the author of Fight Club, Choke and Snuff. I caught up with him by phone to talk about his latest novel, Tell-All. It's a fictional gossip-laced memoir told in the voice of Hazie Coogan, the female assistant to "the glorious film actress" Miss Katherine Kenton who resides in Hollywood's very real past - a glamorous world populated by the likes of Lillian Hellman, Darryl Zanuck, David O. Selznick, Clark Gable and Bette Davis, who are all names Tell-All's characters love to drop.

During our conversation, Palahniuk spoke about society's need for the culture of celebrity, the nature of name-dropping, and the ultimate name to drop. Read my interview with Chuck Palahniuk at SuicideGirls.com.

Justin Halpern: Shit My Dad Says

2010-05-20T10:55:00.000-07:00

Justin Halpern is an ordinary guy who curates an extraordinary Twitter page. In less than a year it's garnered over 1.3 million fans who follow Justin simply to keep track of the latest and greatest shit his dad says. Justin's talent lies in realizing the aforementioned shit was of a superior quality to that emitted from other dad's mouths. He also has a knack for conveying the underlying heart behind his father's seemingly harsh witticisms.

Raised on a farm in Kentucky, Justin's dad, Sam Halpern, is a man of few words - who knows how to make every syllable count. The exact opposite of passive-aggressive, Halpern, Sr. has never been backwards about coming forwards with his often-unsolicited opinions and words of advice. Growing up, this brutal honesty was difficult to deal with, but now Justin is reaping the rewards. His @ShitMyDadSays Twitter page has spawned a hilarious yet surprisingly touching book of longer vignettes -- brilliantly retold by Justin -- and a TV sitcom produced by Warner Brothers for CBS starring William Shatner, which was co-written by Halpern, Jr. in association with the team behind Will & Grace.

The @ShitMyDadSays phenomenon was precipitated by a very humbling experience for Justin. As the founder of the Holy Taco comedy site, a Maxim.com contributor and an aspiring screenwriter who was free to work wherever is laptop rested, he decided to move back from Los Angeles to his hometown of San Diego to share an apartment with his girlfriend who also happened to reside there. Things didn't go to plan however; Justin's love interest broke up with him the day they were supposed to start cohabiting. To add insult to injury, having already given up his LA apartment, at 28 Justin had little option but to move back in with his folks. Fortunately his story, or at least this chapter of it, has a happy ending.

I caught up with Justin, who now splits his time between Los Angeles and San Diego, to find out more about the upside of living in close proximity to your grumpy old dad (and the fun that can be had with irritable bowel syndrome).

Read my interview with Justin Halpern at SuicideGirls.com.

Alex Gibney: Casino Jack and The United States of Money

2010-05-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

They say the house always wins, but in the case of "Casino" Jack Abramoff it was the guy holding the keys to the front and back doors that made out like a bandit. Like thousands of other lobbyists (close to 14,000 individuals were registered as such in 2009 according to the Center for Responsive Politics) Abramoff peddled access to influence, which he bought with generous campaign "donations" and perks such as luxury "fact-finding" trips.

Abramoff wasn't too picky about who his clients were, had no problem representing more than one side, and, as a disciple of Ronald Reagan school of economics, had a innate disrespect for any rules and regulations that interfered with his ability to capitalize at the often excessive expense of his clients.

Having represented several Indian tribes with regards to their lucrative gaming rights, Abramoff (along with business partner Adam Kidan) utilized his gambling expertise and made a play to buy the SunCruz floating casino line. The deal hit headlines in 2005 when three men connected to the Gambino crime family were charged with the 2001 murder of SunCruz founder Konstantinos "Gus" Bouli, who had sold a majority interest in the company to Abramoff and his associates. By this time Abramoff was being investigated for bribery and corruption relating to his Indian gaming clients, who had collectively been charged an estimated $85 million in fees by Abramoff and cronies Ralph E. Reed, Jr., Grover Norquist and Michael Scanlon -- for the privilege of being played off against each other.

In truth, Abramoff's business practices probably had much in common with those of a large proportion of his contemporaries. His main crime in Washington's prevailing climate of corruption seemingly being that he got too cocky not to get caught. Ultimately Abramoff and an elite group of conspirators including Ohio's Republican Rep. Bob Ney, his former Chief of Staff, Neil Volz, and Michael Scanlon, who had served as Communications Director for disgraced Texan Rep. Tom DeLay (and had assisted Abramoff in the SunCruz purchase), paid -- albeit relatively lightly -- for their crimes, and Washington was able to breathe a collective sigh of relief that it had been seen to do something with actions that had minimal long-term impact on the status quo.

However, it's this status quo, the lobbying system and how its symbiotic with the way we finance the election of our leaders, that we should really take issue with since it has done more to pervert the course of democracy than any one individual. In 2009 a record $3.48 billion was spent on lobbying. And since a politician's primary objective once they get in power, by necessity, is to find the money to get reelected, it's easy to understand why our representatives in government are forced to serve the needs of those with fat checkbooks above those of the people.

With an eye on this bigger picture, Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney (whose previous credits include Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room and Taxi to the Dark Side) takes an in-depth look at the stranger-then-fiction Abramoff affair in his new film Casino Jack and The United States of Money. I caught up with Gibney to talk about the wholesale selling of America he investigated, and how, with a dearth of untarnished white knights, our future champions might just take the form of the likes of Eliot Spitzer (who's the subject of Gibney's next, as yet untitled, project).

Read my interview with Alex Gibney on SuicideGirls.com.

John Lydon: Public Image Limited

2010-04-12T12:38:00.000-07:00

John Lydon (a.k.a. Johnny Rotten) says he doesn't like tattoos, but try not to hold that against him. If I'd been calling in on behalf of a golf magazine, he'd probably tell me how much he's offended by the sport. Not because he's disagreeable -- he really isn't -- but because first and foremost, above all else, the OG punk rocker is a provocateur and contrarian.

The Sex Pistols frontman is back on the scene after reviving his post-punk avant-garde music project Public Image Limited (a.k.a. PiL). The band, which was formed in 1978 in the wake of The Pistols dramatic demise, featured a revolving cast of players (including SG's Martin Atkins), with Lydon being the driving force and only constant.

Returning to the stage after a 17-year hiatus, PiL played a series of critically acclaimed shows in the UK in the latter part of 2009. With the music industry in a state of flux, and with very little cash flowing to support any artistic endeavors, Lydon financed the reunion in a true-to-form, eyebrow-raising fashion. The singer who had once called for "Anarchy in the UK" become a spectacularly unlikely spokesman for a brand of British butter called Country Life, appearing in a humorous commercial which sent sales of the saturated fat soaring.

Lydon, who lives in California, is now set to bring the organized chaos that is PiL stateside. The band will be playing Club Nokia in Downtown LA on April 13 prior to a highly anticipated opening-night performance at Coachella and a series of dates across the US.

I called Lydon up at his Los Angeles beachside home to talk a little bollocks about life, butter, music, politics, PiL, the psychology of punk - and his apparent dislike of body ink.

Read my exclusive interview with John Lydon at SuicideGirls.com.

Benjamin and Peter Bratt: La MISSION

2010-04-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

The companion to hope, "change" is perhaps the most over-used and under-executed words in the common vernacular today. With their movie, La MISSION, actor Benjamin Bratt (who is best known for playing Detective Rey Curtis in the NBC drama Law & Order) and his writer/director brother Peter (who previously collaborated with his famous sibling on the 1996 film Follow Me Home) explore the motivations that might transform change from an abstract concept into tangible social movement in the forward direction on an individual level.

Human beings, by their very nature, resist change. This innate intransigence is often only overcome when the consequences of maintaining the status quo are significantly more painful than personal growth and transformation. In La MISSION, the central character finds himself at such a crossroads.

Che is a tough walking and talking Latino man who has secured the position he enjoys within his local community thanks to his testosterone-charged social skills, which are prized among his peers. However, Che is himself a victim of cultural stereotypes which dictate what a man should be, and unless he can reconcile his outdated ideas of masculinity and overcome the homophobia that to this day is a very real part of his culture, he risks losing the one thing that is most important to him - his son, Jes, whom he finds out is homosexual in the film's opening act.

The story was inspired by two characters in the Bratt brothers' life: Che is based on an older schoolmate and natural born leader whom Benjamin and Peter looked up to as kids (though the real-life Che has two sons, neither of which are gay), while Jes' journey echoes that of a family member who experienced a similar struggle for acceptance when his father discovered he was gay. But the family roots in La MISSION go even deeper. The film is set in the San Francisco neighborhood in which the brothers were raised, and its underlying message of hope and transformation is a testament to the convictions of Peter and Benjamin's activist mother, Elda Bratt, who participated in the Native American occupation of Alcatraz in 1969 (with her two young children in tow).

Though the subject matter of La MISSION may seem a little earnest for some, the underlying issues are handled in a sophisticated and subtle manner, which belies the power of the film. Politics take a backseat, as the viewer is immersed in the colorful lowriding culture Che reveres, and the very personal issues which father and son are fighting to overcome. Heartfelt and touching, La MISSION is all that independent filmmaking should be.

I spoke with Peter and Benjamin to find out more about La MISSION, and their wider calling to inspire and enact change through the ancient art of storytelling and their shared passion for film.

Read the full interview with Benjamin and Peter Bratt at SuicideGirls.com.

International Pillow Fight Day in DTLA

2010-04-04T14:03:00.000-07:00

My SG buddy Heathervescent helped instigate the feathered anarchy that was the International Pillow Fight Day celebrations in DTLA.

For more images of the fluffy fun hit my International Pillow Fight Day photo album.

Sia Furler: We Are Born

2010-03-24T00:14:00.000-07:00

For her forthcoming release, We Are Born, the darling of downtempo, Sia Furler, hits a distinctly upbeat groove. Indeed, the six tracks we've heard so far are decidedly funky. Just don't, whatever you do, use the F-word in the singer/songwriter's presence - it's very likely to irk her.

Having come to the attention of the KCRW-listening, latte-sipping music intelligentsia thanks to her turns with English post-trip-hop outfit Zero 7, for a while Sia was inadvertently defined by what was initially intended as a very limited, no-strings-attached guest spot with the lush lounge combo. Thanks to the success of Zero 7's debut album Simple Things (2001), and their follow up release, When It Falls (2004), and the numerous international tours that followed, Sia's personal brand became synonymous with the downtempo pigeonhole Zero 7 prominently occupied.

Seeking to capitalize on Sia's credentials in the 90 bpm & under department, record label execs understandably pressurized her to continue in a similar vein with her solo work, despite a personal preference for something a little less languid. It was therefore no surprise when Sia's evocative track "Breathe Me," became her first breakout solo song, thanks to its prominent use at the end of the final episode of Six Feet Under. Indeed the inspired TV license earned Colour The Small One, the album on which the song was originally featured, a long overdue release in the US in 2006 (the CD was released in the UK 2 years earlier). And while her next solo album, Some People Have Real Problems, helped bridge the gap between the music Sia was expected to make and the music she wanted to make, it's her latest offering, We Are Born, that has finally allowed the Australian born (but currently New York based) artist to come into her own.

I caught up with Sia by phone to find out how she got her groove back, and to get the 411 on her aversion to the F-word.

Read my exclusive interview with Sia Furler at SuicideGirls.com.

Floria Sigismondi: The Runaways

2010-03-19T11:47:00.000-07:00

Floria Sigismondi is the director of one of the most anticipated rock biopics in recent memory: The Runaways, which stars Kristen Stewart (as vocalist/guitarist Joan Jett) and Dakota Fanning (as frontwoman Cherie Currie). Known for her trademark hyper-surreal style (as seen in the music videos she’s directed for Marilyn Manson, Fiona Apple, David Bowie, Christina Aguilera, and The White Stripes), the challenge for Floria with The Runaways was to create an authentic representation of the trailblazing all-girl band and the era they exploded (and imploded) in. Though a seasoned photographer and video director, this is the first time Floria has helmed a feature film project. It’s also the first time she’s worked as a writer, having taken on the formidable task of transforming Cherie’s excellent biography, Neon Angel, a definitive account of the life (and death) of the band into a screenplay.

During a press day held at a Los Angeles hotel, I sat down with Floria to find out how she set about capturing the essence of The Runaways on film.

Read my interview with Floria Sigismondi on SuicideGirls.com.

Cherie Currie: The Runaways

2010-03-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

You can't always control the situations you find yourself in, but you can control how you react to them. This is a lesson that Runaways frontwoman, singer and rock & roll icon Cherie Currie learned the hard way.

After a chance meeting with vocalist/guitarist Joan Jett and demented pop n' rock Svengali Kim Fowley (a producer whose credits at the time included the novelty hit "They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa"), Currie found herself at the eye of the storm that was The Runaways at age fifteen. The year was 1975, and the male-dominated industry was keen to dismiss the fledgling Los Angeles-based all-girl quintet (which, during Currie's tenure with the group, featured Lita Ford on lead guitar, Jackie Fox on bass, and the late Sandy West on drums).

Under the guidance (or, it could be argued, misguidance) of Fowley, who was a formidable taskmaster, the girls relentlessly rehearsed until they were a beyond tight unit and a force to be reckoned with. Creatively and musically, Fowley's berating and bullying - his primary motivational tactics - paid off. Over the course of the next two very hectic years The Runaways would leave an indelible mark on the music industry, smashing the misconceptions of those who ever doubted that women could rock.

Though Jett thrived on the challenges laid down by Fowley, his abrasive divide and conquer management style took an emotional toll on the more vulnerable Currie, who had never sung before and was the product of a recently very broken home. Ultimately the band was torn apart by the festering resentment fostered by Fowley; the tragedy of The Runaways' considerable legacy being that they stopped far short of their true potential.

Post-Runaways Currie's career was like a leaf blowing in the wind, succumbing to forces beyond her influence. Fowley shaped her first unfulfilling solo album, and pressure exacted by her father turned the second into an ill-fated family affair, with Currie's unseasoned twin sister Marie sharing vocal duties - and creative input.

While recording this second album, Currie also bagged her first acting role, starring opposite Jodie Foster in a film called Foxes. Though not a huge commercial success, Foxes, Foster - and Currie - received very favorable reviews. However accomplishment in this one area was not enough to save Currie from herself. Mourning the loss of her rock & roll dreams, Currie, who had been a casual cocaine user, sought solace in drink and highs from freebase.

Her addiction killed her career and threatened to do the same to her being. After hitting rock bottom, Currie fought to get her life back on track. Having learned how to make healthier choices on her road to recovery, Currie turned addiction on its head and became a drug counselor. Continuing the healing process, she subsequently wrote a book about her experiences with The Runaways, and her journey to the edge and back. Published in 1989, Neon Angel was considered to be an instant classic in the rock biography genre.

Over two decades later, the book serves as the backbone to the highly anticipated biopic about The Runaways, which stars Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett and Dakota Fanning as Cherie Currie. However the film is far from the final word on Currie's story. The original version of Neon Angel was published by a family-orientated company looking for a vehicle to launch a new young adult literary division. Though well received, the nature of the teen orientated book meant Currie had to skip several key chapters in her own story. As a companion to The Runaways film Currie is therefore releasing a more definitive, completely revised and re-written version of Neon Angel. In it, among other things, she talks for the first time about a childhood rape and a harrowing knifepoint kidnap ordeal that happened several years later.

Currie has taken on many roles during her dramatic and varied life - trailblazing woman of rock, actress, drug addict, drug counselor, author, chainsaw artist, wife and mother - but perhaps the most important of all is that of survivor. I caught up with Currie at a recent film junket for a one-on-one chat about The Runaways, redemption, and forgiveness.

Read the exclusive interview with Cherie Currie at SuicideGirls.com.

SuicideGirls Must Die Premiere

2010-03-13T03:38:00.000-08:00

SuicideGirls premiered their groundbreaking reality horror movie last night at the Downtown Independent, in DTLA. Those who came out to witness the sexy fun/terror of Suicide Girls Must Die included members of the cast and crew, alongside We Live In Public director Ondi Timoner and Jeremy “Wizard of Gore” Kasten.

Suicide Girls Must Die is unabashedly documentary in its lowest (and funnest) form. When SuicideGirls co-founder Missy and photographer / filmmaker Sawa invited 12 of their favorite Suicide Girls to a remote cabin in Maine to shoot a calendar video, none of the girls had any idea they were going to be a part of SuicideGirl’s first feature length horror movie.

When models Bailey Suicide and Evan Suicide go missing, the idyllic working vacation quickly degenerates into a chaotic nightmare for the calendar girls. As more girls vanish, those who remain wonder who’ll be the next to disappear – and if their calendar shots will come out OK.

Suicide Girls Must Die is the ultimate feel-good horror movie. After this, all other horror movies will seem way too overdressed!

SuicideGirls Top 10 Life lessons from Suicide Girls Must Die

1. Best misunderestimation:
“Nothing can go wrong.”

2. Most debatable statement:
“Humans are a bit more important than a calendar.”

3. Best health advice:
“An apple [bong] a day keeps the doctor away.”

4. Best model advice:
“Make the blow job face – you know what I’m talking about.”

5. Best fashion/face furniture advice on what not to wear when you accidentally find yourself in the middle of a real-life horror movie:
“It’s always the cute girl with glasses that gets axe-murdered.”

6. Most positive job performance assessment under adverse circumstances:
“All I have to do is make sure the models are happy. They’re all happy, they’re just lost.”

7. Best offer you’ve had all day:
“Let’s have some champagne, get drunk, and I’ll make out with you in the Jacuzzi later.”

8. Ultimate self-preservation evaluation:
“I’m not missing. I don’t give a shit.”

9. Best rallying advice after 80% of your friends have gone missing:
“Do you wanna sit and mope all night?”

10. Famous last words:
“I’m not going to fucking die.”

No Suicide Girls were harmed in the making of this movie.

Check out the HD trailer at SuicideGirls.com/MustDie/.

Massive Attack: Heligoland

2010-03-10T22:18:00.000-08:00

'You're only paranoid if they're not out to get you,' is an adage that's self-evidently true. With that as a given, Massive Attack mainstay 3D (a.k.a. Robert Del Naja) has every right to feel more than a little suspicious and mistrustful, especially when it comes to matters of internet privacy, security and surveillance.

After the FBI passed on a list of 7,300 UK credit card numbers associated with various porn sites (some legal and some of an illicit nature) to UK authorities, 3D was swept up in the excessively wide net of an indiscriminate police sting in 2003. Though allegations of any wrongdoing were unfounded, the repercussions were severe for the outspoken graffiti artist, vocalist and music producer. His home was raided, and all his computers and hard drives were confiscated for several months. To compound the situation, despite the fact that no charges directly relating to the police operation were ever filed, the furor that surrounded the investigation and baseless accusations (which were leaked and sensationally reported by a tabloid newspaper) meant that touring plans to promote Massive Attack's fourth studio album 100th Window had to be put on hold. The situation was all the more ironic considering the title of that album referred to a book that exposed the flaws in computer security and the rampant misuse of information in the internet age.

That unfortunate episode however was not the only incident that might have put 3D on the various "person of interest" lists around the world. He has been extremely open and vocal about his disapproval of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, going as far as designing and funding a series of anti-war ads which were published in the NME (with cohort Damon Albarn). Furthermore, having made several forays to the Middle East with the band, 3D has frequently voiced his concern for the plight of the Palestinian people, and in 2007 put the issue at the top of Massive Attack's political agenda with a series of sold out benefit concerts for the Hoping Foundation (an organization which aids children of the troubled state).

These distractions coupled with increasing demand from filmmakers for scores and soundtracks, meant that a new full-length Massive Attack release took a little longer than expected to manifest. However the wait - and the adversity - has paid off. Original band member Daddy G (a.k.a. Grant Marshall), who'd been absent from the project for several years, came back into the fold, and the resulting fifth studio album, Heligoland (released last month), debuted at #46 on the Billboard Top 200, giving Massive Attack their highest US chart position to date.

I caught up with 3D while he was in LA on a brief promotional trip ahead of Massive Attack's first North American tour in 4 years. During our phone conversation, he spoke about the new CD (which features contributions from Damon Albarn, Hope Sandoval, Martina Topley-Bird, and longtime Massive Attack collaborator Horace Andy, among others), and shared his thoughts on the increasingly pointless posturing of British and American party politics, the inherent dangers of our heavily surveilled states, and the futility of exporting such a culture to the Middle East.

Read the full interview with Massive Attack's 3D on SuicideGirls.com.

Manifesting Equality

2010-03-08T21:32:00.000-08:00

Was Manifesting Equality on Saturday night.

Hope it works!

Can't believe anyone can be pro-Prop H8te in 2010.

That kind of philosophy is so last century, never mind last decade.

It's about time primitive minds evolved.

Thanks to Jon Stern for the images.

Down The Rabbit Hole With Camille Rose Garcia And Robin Williams

2010-03-08T02:15:00.000-08:00

I caught up with artist Camille Rose Garcia at the opening of Down The Rabbit Hole, an exhibition of the original art from her latest project, a reimagining of the illustrations that accompany the text of Lewis Carroll's classic children's book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland.

Though the March Hare, the Mad Hatter and the Dormouse were unable to attend the party at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery in Los Angeles on Saturday night in person, Hollywood funnyman Robin Williams did make a somewhat unexpected appearance.

Earlier, I'd spoken with Garcia for an in-depth interview which can be found at SuicideGirls.com. After talking about the visual vocabulary and inspirations behind her Alice illustrations, our conversation turned to a core SuicideGirls topic: body art.

Here is a previously unpublished outtake from this interview in which Garcia talks about her own tattoos and her art as it appears on other people's body parts.

Ondi Timoner: We Live In Public

2010-02-24T09:53:00.000-08:00

At a time when, however deliberately or consciously, we live our lives in public online, access to our privacy is the new currency of value. Just because you can keep track of your friends via Facebook, post and tag photos on MySpace, and spew out your every waking thought on Twitter - all easily and for free - it's easy to assume it's a good thing. Josh Harris is a man who made a similar assumption.

Described as "the greatest Internet pioneer you've never heard of," Harris carved a high profile career out of being an instinctive World Wide Web visionary. Before the web was very worldly or wide, he founded Jupiter Research, a company which sold technology trend and impact information to corporations that barely understood what a website was. Harris then rolled the dot.com fortune he made there into Pseudo.com, a New York based Internet TV station that went live when most of America was still on dial up.

Serving as both business manager and creative director at Pseudo, which webcast multiple channels of original content, Harris reinvented himself in the frame of a digital performance artist during his tenure at the too-far-ahead of its time company. As the millennium loomed, Harris was forced out of Pseudo, and he subsequently invested a large amount of his considerable fortune ($80 million at its peak) in a series of two very controversial digital media social experiments.

The first was called Quiet, though it was anything but. For the project which was intended to mark the turn of the millennium, Harris built an ambitious - and expensive - fully wired environment, which housed 100 guests / experiment subjects 24/7 for a period of 30 days. The claustrophobic underground bunker featured pod bunks for sleeping, communal toilet and bathing facilities, a dining area, and a poorly insulated gun range where residents could blow off steam. There was also an onsite interrogation room.

Potential residents had to sell their pixilated souls in order to gain entry to Quiet. There was an intense intake program that involved an intrusive questionnaire, those that passed this initial test had to agree to subject themselves to random interrogations, among other dehumanizing things. All activity in the bunker was caught on camera and microphone, and relayed for the entertainment of Quiet's residents to their in-Pod TVs. Privacy was non-existent, and individuals were reduced to being "channels" for the entertainment of others - suffice to say the sate-or-the art society Harris had created was far from utopian.

For his next experiment / performance art piece Josh took things a step further, and took on the roles of both puppet and puppet master. He installed 30 motion-controlled surveillance cameras and 66 high sensitivity microphones in a New York loft, and moved in with his new girlfriend, Tanya Corrin (who had previously worked with Harris as a presenter at Pseudo). The pair were the first couple to broadcast their everyday home lives live on the Internet, and viewers could post their comments in real time via the project's associated chat rooms. The stunt garnered much mainstream attention, and fed Harris' growing need for 15 minutes of fame - per day. But as life in public unfolded, and not in the way either of them had planned, Harris and Corrin realized a little too late that perhaps the most valuable thing online might be privacy. It's a lesson we all may want to take note of.

To this end, renowned film director Ondi Timoner set about assembling and editing footage she'd shot of Harris over a 10-year period. The resulting film, We Live In Public, which Timoner describes as "a cautionary tale," is both thought provoking and shocking, having a profound effect on all who open themselves up to it. The documentary won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance in 2009, making Timoner, whose previous film Dig! was also a winner at the festival (in 2004), the only director ever to be given the honor twice.

I caught up with Timoner ahead of We Live In Public's March 1st DVD and VOD release.

Read my interview with Ondi Timoner at SuicideGirls.com to get an exclusive retrospective tour of the Quiet bunker, and an insight into the mind of its maniacal master.

Anders Østergaard: Burma VJ

2010-02-18T09:13:00.000-08:00

At the time much of the footage for the Oscar-nominated documentary Burma VJ was being shot, its director, Anders Østergaard, wasn’t even in the same hemisphere. Wanting to open a window on the closed country of Burma (a.k.a. Myanmar), the Danish-based filmmaker struck up a groundbreaking remote collaboration with a network of underground citizen reporters, who risked torture, imprisonment and death as they shot then smuggled footage beyond the military dictatorship’s closely guarded borders.

The documentary was originally intended to be a half hour short, profiling a 27-year old video journalist (or VJ) known as Joshua who worked behind Burma’s barbed-wire veil of silence and against the strict media embargo enforced by its military government (which came to power after a coup in 1962). Using a pseudonym to protect his identity, Joshua coordinated illicit on-the-ground coverage for the Democratic Voice of Burma, a non-profit news organization based in Norway. However, when Burma’s ruling junta abruptly ceased subsidies on fuel, which caused the price to skyrocket, destabilizing an economy that was already among the world’s poorest, Joshua and Østergaard’s project took on a far greater significance.

Thousands of the country’s Buddhist monks took to the streets in the latter part of 2007, leading what developed into widespread protests against the intransigent regime. Armed with their wits and hand held video cameras, Joshua and his crew of VJs documented the saffron uprising and the Burmese government’s brutal retaliation to it from the front lines. It was the first time in a generation that the people had dared challenge their leaders, but this was very different to the last uprising in 1988. Footage captured by Joshua and his team was beamed around the world. Vivid images of soldiers viciously beating monks in the street in broad daylight were broadcast via all the major new networks, putting Burma – albeit briefly – at the top of the United Nation’s political agenda. With no room for deniability, Burma’s military leaders were shamed into making concessions. And then the world’s attention moved on.

Fast-forward to 2010, with promises broken and hard fought concessions reneged on, it might be easy for Joshua and his fellow Burmese citizens to feel despondent. However, with Burma VJ, a documentary that combines original footage with dramatic recreations, Joshua and Østergaard hope to raise awareness for the ongoing plight of the Burmese people. At the start of this month their cause was given a massive boost with an Academy Award nomination for their film in the category for Best Documentary feature.

I caught up with Østergaard, a Danish filmmaker who was previously best known for Tintin and Me (a 2003 documentary about comics writer and artist Hergé). Over coffee we talked about Burma VJ's dramatic journey from the impoverished streets of Burma to Hollywood’s glittering Kodak Theater, and what the film’s Oscar nomination means for a new generation of citizen journalists and for those fighting oppression around the globe.

Read my exclusive interview with Anders Østergaard at SuicideGirls.com.

On Blast: My New Favorite Band

2010-02-15T12:45:00.000-08:00

So my interview with Andy Kiddoo of On Blast just went live on the Converse website.

Camille Rose Garcia: Alice's Adventures In Wonderland

2010-02-12T20:26:00.000-08:00

Growing up in the shadow of Disneyland, artist and illustrator Camille Rose Garcia spent a lot of time contemplating the reality of fantasy and the fantasies that make reality palatable.

Just as the white paint flaked and the wood decayed in the once-perfect picket-fenced suburbs that surround Disney's Orange County Fantasyland, on canvas and in print, Garcia's brightly colored fairytale tableaus are juxtaposed with darker elements, as real world forces impinge on her perfect dream worlds.

Much of Garcia's work explores the lie of the American Dream, the loss of it, and how the masses are self-medicating to deal with the aftermath. Though these themes are adult in nature, the on-the-surface beauty of Garcia's art appeals to a younger audience on a more basic level. So when Harper Collins decided to revisit Alice's Adventures in Wonderland amid renewed interest in Lewis Carroll's curious tale (which was first published in 1865), Garcia was a natural choice to re-imagine the visual element of the book.

I spoke with Garcia to find out what she saw when she followed Alice and a certain well-dressed (and very late) White Rabbit down Carroll's most unusual rabbit-hole.

Read my exclusive interview with Camille Rose Garcia at SuicideGirls.com.

David Belle: District 13: Ultimatum

2010-02-05T14:15:00.000-08:00

Some people choose the easiest path through life; David Belle prefers to take the most interesting. As the world's premier exponent of parkour, a physical discipline of movement that's as much a philosophy as it is a sport, Belle has carved a career out of taking the unconventional route.

The freeform method of getting around is based on techniques developed at the turn of the last century by a French navel officer called Georges Hébert. Belle's father picked up the baton laid down by Hébert, building upon his techniques while serving in the French military. The passion for the physical discipline-cum-artform was then passed down from father to son. The latter helped brand l'art du déplacement (or art of movement) with its popular name, bringing "parkour" to the awareness of the mainstream through gravity defying appearances on TV and film. Thrusting parkour further into the popular psyche, Belle's stunts have also been showcased on TV commercials for companies such as Nike, Vittel and the BBC that have since gone viral throughout the net.

In 2004 Belle starred in District 13, a French language action movie co-written and co-produced by Luc Besson (who was responsible for the 1997 sci-fi classic The Fifth Element). District 13 was set in the near future in a fictionalized dystopian suburb of Paris, and was the first major film to feature parkour-inspired action sequences. Belle reprised his role as the gang-busting Leïto in a sequel, District 13: Ultimatum, which was released in Europe last year. Featuring spectacular rooftop chase sequences that should thrill action fans, the film is finally getting a North American theatrical release on Friday, February 5.

I called Belle up at his home in Corbeil-Essonnes, in the southern suburbs of Paris to find out more. With the help of a translator, we spoke about the new movie, the stunts it features, the origins of parkour and where it's taking him now.

Read my exclusive interview with David Belle at SuicideGirls.com.

SuicideGirls Wins LA Weekly's Sexiest Site Award

2010-01-22T00:41:00.000-08:00

SuicideGirls were among the winners of the LA Weekly's 2009 Web Awards. The groundbreaking pinup and social media company was honored for being LA's Sexiest Site.

Co-founder Missy and model coordinator Radeo braved the chubby rain to pick up SG's plaque at a soiree held at Bardot on Thursday night. Other winners in SuicideGirls's extended family included SG columnist Wil Wheaton, who won Best Personal Blog, and SG photographer Zoetica and SG designer Courtney Riot, who picked up Coilhouse's prize for LA's Best Designed Site Aesthetic.

Hit my photo gallery for more images from the night.

Thanks to the LA Weekly's Erin Broadley for organizing and hosting the event -- and for making sure the open bar was open as soon as we arrived.

A Pearl of Wisdom

2010-01-19T13:49:00.000-08:00

Hit the House of Blues in West Hollywood last night to watch Pearl and her hubby, Anthrax's Scott Ian, raise the roof. The pair were celebrating the release of Pearl's awesome new album, Little Immaculate White Fox, which comes out today.

Those that like to rock should do themselves a favor and buy it from iTunes immediately. And while you're at it, I'd also recommend that you set your TiVos to record Jimmy Kimmel tomorrow night (Jan 20th), since Pearl will be the show's musical guest.

Check my photo gallery for more shots of last night's show, which also featured L.A. metal pranksters Steel Panther and Seattle's Witchburn.

Who Are You Honking For?

2010-01-19T13:17:00.000-08:00

As someone who was never a huge fan of Leno or Conan (Craig Ferguson and Chelsea Lately are more my style), I still backed Team Coco when the shit hit the fan. When a David is battling a Goliath, I'll support the little guy (or girl) every time. However, now that it looks like Conan has settled his differences with NBC, and Leno is getting some instant Karma for his part in the debacle, it's time to talk about the real victims of late night TV.

In this day and age it's pretty pathetic that there's not a single network late night chat show hosted by a woman. And the sole female late night representative on cable got her gig in-part due to her special relationship with her E! TV boss. Add to that the recent Letterman intern debacle, and the fact that women (who choose not to schtup their bosses) are conspicuous by their absence even behind the scenes on late night TV, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out who the real underdog is.

I live not far from Conan's Universal City home, and as I drive past the body of curbside Conan supporters I've "honked for Coco" multiple times a day to show my support. But now his $45 million settlement package is sorted, can we honk for all the women that don't even get a shot at NBC's 12.05 time slot?

(Thanks to Scott Ian for the YouTube link.)

Peter Jackson: The Lovely Bones

2010-01-14T12:33:00.000-08:00

Transforming a beloved book into a film is always a huge risk. Alice Sebold's tale of tragedy, loss, and renewal is such a novel and Peter Jackson is the brave filmmaker who volunteered for the job.

The task was even more challenging since the book doesn't conform to any standard structure. The story is told from the point of view of Susie Salmon, a teenage girl who is brutally raped and murdered at the outset. Despite coming to such a violent and ugly end, as Susie watches her family from a place beyond death, she sees beauty in the connections and new beginnings the demise of her earthly body creates. It's this juxtaposition, that Sebold somehow made work on paper, which created such a strong reaction in readers. Many took great comfort in the author's vision of the afterlife, though Sebold wrote it from an agnostic perspective, which caused the devout to complain about her seemingly godless (and judgment-less) heaven. Others rejoiced in her ability to subvert the darkness of humanity, and in her capacity for finding light where there should be nothing but night.

There was therefore a difficult balancing act that was intrinsic to the success of the movie. The book was criticized by some for being too saccharin, yet if Jackson departed too far from its strangely uplifting tone he risked alienating its large and loyal following. Conversely, graphically depicting the rape and murder of a teen could easily be perceived as being gratuitous on screen, yet acknowledging that such a cruel and tragic event had happened was essential to the core of the piece.

Jackson worked on the screenplay with Lord of The Rings collaborators Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh (who's also his partner in life). Though the psychedelic dream/afterlife sequences allowed the team to draw on their familiar fantasy filmmaking background, the gritty, true-to-life segments, set in the suburbs of Philadelphia in the 1970s, have overtones from Jackson's earlier work - namely Heavenly Creatures (a period movie released in '94 that Jackson co-wrote with Walsh, which explored the 1954 Parker-Hulme murder).

Thus the movie will not necessarily appeal to Jackson's Lord of The Rings film fans, nor will it sit well with all who loved Sebold's book. Jackson is prepared for a mixed reaction however. Here he talks about The Lovely Bones' journey to the big screen, and his reasons for making the choices he did.

Click through to read SuicideGirls' Q&A with Peter Jackson.

Sinner Takes All At AVN 2010

2010-01-13T10:37:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, I drove out to Las Vegas for the parade of plastic toys and silicon playthings that is the AVN Expo and Awards.

I was there to support the launch of my friend Carrie Borzillo's book, the Tera Patrick memoir, Sinner Takes All. After stopping by the main stage at the Sands Expo Center on Saturday afternoon to take a few snaps of the Sinner Takes All co-authors doing their thing, it seemed churlish not to check out what else AVN had to offer. Hence, at around 5.30 PM I headed over to the Palms Casino Resort where the 27th Annual AVN Awards was being held.

Above is an image of Female Performer of the Year, Tori Black. You'll find oodles more red carpet images in my AVN Awards photo gallery.

After the awards I hit the Hard Rock where Tera Patrick was hosting a late night soiree at Wasted Space. See separate gallery for more images of Tera's book signing and afterparty events.

Matthew Broderick: Wonderful World

2010-01-12T13:28:00.000-08:00

In Wonderful World, Matthew Broderick's character Ben Singer may think he's fighting "the man," the soulless god of faceless corporations, but in reality he's his own worst enemy. With his folk music career behind him, having lost his family and his copywriting job, he may be down on his luck, but it's his inability to see the light at the end of the tunnel, even when it's shining right in his eyes, that renders him impotent and leaves him without hope.

Written and directed by Broderick's longtime friend Josh Goldin, Wonderful World is a low budget film on very limited release. Its small price tag however belies its true value. With fully realized characters, a quietly powerful plot, and a solid ensemble cast, the full-of-heart film features one of Broderick's most nuanced performances to date.

I met up with Broderick in a non-descript room at West Hollywood's Standard Hotel, which had been converted into an ad hoc press suite for the day, to talk about this very special movie.

Hit the link to read my exclusive interview with Matthew Broderick at SuicideGirls.

Dita Von Teese: Stripteese in Downtown and Hollywood

2010-01-05T17:16:00.000-08:00

After interviewing Dita Von Teese for SuicideGirls, I caught up with her in the flesh at ReVamp in Downtown LA. The burlesque star was at the boutique, which specializes in limited edition vintage recreations, for an event to promote her new mini flip-book set Stripteese.

During a Q&A session which followed the book signing, Dita let slip that she'll be doing a secret preview of her new show at West Hollywood's Roxy sometime early in 2010.

I've posted more images of Dita and her fans (including mini-socialite Paris, of LifeWithParis.com) in a photo gallery at SuicideGirls.

Those that want to see Dita in person however should head out to Hollywood's Daily Planet Bookstore, which will host another book signing event starting at 7pm on January 6th.

Tera Patrick: A Memoir of Love And Porn

2010-01-05T11:36:00.000-08:00

Tera Patrick has one of the most recognized names, faces - and bodies - in porn. The Asian adult film actress made her first movie in 1999 and has managed to stay at the top of the proverbial pile for over a decade. Over the course of her career she has won numerous industry awards, and was inducted into the elite AVN Hall of Fame earlier this year.

The product of a broken home, as a teenager Tera craved attention. Her ambitions were simple: she wanted to be a model and marry a rock star. She achieved her fist goal early in life when she was discovered by a talent scout at the age of 13. She subsequently signed with a Japanese agency, and moved halfway around the world to fulfill her dreams. Alone. When she was just 14. Though successful at landing assignments, without any parental supervision, Tera's life soon spun out of control.

Back in the U.S. with her legitimate modeling career behind her at 16, Tera knuckled down, passed her GED, went to college, and landed a respectable job at a nursing home. A clash of the worst kind with a bedpan however sent Tera hurtling back into modeling. By now her curvy, 5 foot 9 inch frame weighed in at a healthy 135 pounds. Since fashion was no longer an option, glamour work was the natural choice. With Playboy and Penthouse competing over her, Tera's top shelf magazine career blossomed, catching the attention of softcore movie director Andrew Blake, who produced her first X-rated film.

Tera was a natural on camera, and found immense satisfaction in her new career. Consequently her rise in the porn industry was rapid. Though Tera consistently failed to find balance in her personal life, the one place she was able to exert control was on set. There her star status allowed her to dictate exactly the kinds of scenes she was willing to do, and choose the partners she wanted to do them with.

Her vocation also brought her much closer to her second goal, since rock stars have a tendency to gravitate towards models and porn stars. Tera hooked up with Erik Schrody a.k.a. Everlast after appearing in one of his music videos. When that relationship soured she set her sights on Evan Seinfeld of Biohazard, whom she began dating in 2002.

Drawing on his music business experience, Evan took control of Tera's career as well as her heart, and advised her to end her exclusive agreement with Digital Playground, who served as both her management and production company. This led to an enforced hiatus from porn while Tera fought to be released from the deal. When Tera returned to the industry in 2004, she wanted Evan, who was by now her husband, to be the only man in her life. The pair set up their own production company, Teravision, in association with Vivid, the world's largest adult movie house, and Evan began appearing alongside his wife (using the porn name Spyder Jonez) in all their new product.

At the top of her game with a rock star by her side, having conquered the adult movie industry and taken full control of her business (or so she thought), Tera began to reflect on her career and set new goals in life. Closing the chapter on porn, Tera set about writing her memoir.

Sinner Takes All: A Memoir of Love and Porn is the result. Written with Cherry Bomb author and SG contributor Carrie Borzillo, and published by Penguin imprint Gotham Books, it chronicles Tera's path to porn stardom and the loneliness, love, and lust she experienced along the way. It's a page-turner of a book, which, like every good story, ends with the kind of twist even Tera couldn't predict.

On the eve of the book's release, I called up Tera to find out more. Read my exclusive interview with Tera Patrick at SuicideGirls.com.

Jason Reitman: Up In The Air

2009-12-23T10:24:00.000-08:00

"I didn't quite know what to expect from this interview," confesses Jason Reitman. The multi-award winning 32-year old writer and director may be secure in his ability to produce great movies, but he admits to being "scared" at the prospect of being interrogated by SuicideGirls.

It's taken us over a month to tie Jason down, during which time we've been communicating directly by Twitter and via his film and personal publicists. He's very much in demand right now. His first two movies, Thank You For Smoking, a satire set in the tobacco industry, and Juno, a dark comedy about teen pregnancy written by longtime friend of SG Diablo Cody, left indelible marks on the moviemaking landscape. Both films were unabashedly quirky yet each achieved mainstream critical and commercial acclaim -- and more importantly sparked a dialog about their respective subjects that reached far beyond the confines of the entertainment world. It's perhaps this capacity to make us think and to spark meaningful discussion that is Jason's greatest gift.

Though Jason grew up very much within the Hollywood machine (Jason's dad Ivan Reitman produced and/or directed an impressively long list of titles which includes the beloved Animal House, Ghostbusters and Beethoven franchises), creatively he's always preferred to walk the less traveled path. Intelligent and idiosyncratic, his latest comedy, Up In The Air, is no exception. Starring George Clooney as Ryan Bingham, a corporate downsizer who chooses air-miles over attachment and celebrates his solitary existence, the film (which features real-world characters cast from the ranks of the recently downsized) ultimately takes flight on a path that our Hollywood-trained brains may instinctively resist. However, with a nod to Jason's libertarian leanings, the choice is right for Ryan Bingham, and that's what counts.

Though Up In The Air has just gone on wide release today, it's already been nominated for six Golden Globes, more than any other film in the class of 2009. Consequently Jason's press commitments have just got a whole lot crazier. To compound the pressure on his already over-filled schedule, he's just returned from a trip to his Canadian homeland, where he and his dad (who co-produced Up In The Air) were honored with turns carrying the Winter Olympic flame.

We finally caught up with Jason mid-afternoon on Monday as he was heading over to a satellite studio for a live remote appearance on the Faux News show Happy Hour. Once on the phone Jason was beyond generous with his time, and over the course of two phone calls, one before and one after his TV appearance, we talked about the new movie, his affinity with its leading character, and a few other topics that only SG would dare to bring up.

Hit the following link for SuicideGirls exclusive interview with Jason Reitman.

Dita Von Teese: Stripteese

2009-12-18T12:56:00.000-08:00

Dita Von Teese is one of the world's most dazzling women. The Swarovski-adorned mistress of striptease has done more to preserve and promote the hallowed art of burlesque than any other performer alive today. Her sexy and spectacular shows feature stunning costumes and larger-than-life props, but are always grounded in the purity of the classic art form. Thus they have an innate dignity that never relies on the kind of bump and grind sleaze that many of Dita's contemporaries mistake for erotica.

In a league of her own, the Michigan born and Orange County raised girl, who once had aspirations of becoming a ballerina, is an international glamour icon. Celebrated both for her performance art and her impeccable vintage style, her world-class status was sealed in October 2006 when she became the first ever featured headlining guest performer at the legendary Crazy Horse in Paris. She returned to the prestigious cabaret club in February of this year for a limited two week run which was so successful that she was immediately booked again for another series of shows the following month.

The hottest ticket in town, Dita's run at the Crazy Horse attracted such luminaries as Jean Paul Gaultier, Kanye West, Kylie Minogue, and Stephen Spielberg, among others. Her performances are as rare as they are exotic however, in part due to the time and expense they take to conceive. Fortunately those who are unable to witness Dita in the flesh have two new options. The first is a DVD of Dita's Crazy Horse show. The second is Stripteese, a set of three miniature flip-books books which capture individual facets of her repertoire and come packaged together in a deluxe gift box.

We caught up with Dita to find out more about the books and DVD, her new Opium Den set which was 4 years in the making, her plans for shows in Paris and Vegas in 2010, and her life in the romance capital of the world.

Hit the link to read my exclusive interview with Dita Von Teese at SuicideGirls.com.

Meet Dita at her two Los Angeles book signing events: Friday December 18 @ Hennessey and Ingalls at Space 15 Twenty (7 PM), and Sunday December 20 @ at Revamp Vintage (2 PM).

For more information on Dita's appearances, performances, books, DVDs and lingerie go to Dita.net.

XXXmas Fun At Coco De Mer

2009-12-11T14:11:00.000-08:00

Naughty girls and boys in Los Angeles might like to head down to my fave erotic boutique Coco De Mer for some Sexmas fun!

They have some wicked reindeer, luscious elves and a saucy Santa to get you in the XXXmas spirit in their adults-only grotto.

To enter Eye Candy Land the store's owner Justine Roddick is asking for a donation to the Children of the Night charity (an organization which rescues kids from prostitution).

The grotto will be open to the public on Dec 11th, 12th, 17th, 18th and 19th between 5-7pm.

Dilana On SG Radio This Sunday

2009-12-04T13:37:00.000-08:00

Find out what made Rock Star: Supernova runner-up Dilana laugh so much by tuning in to SuicideGirls Radio this Sunday Dec 6th between 10 PM and midnight on Indie1031.com. You'll hear our exclusive interview and tracks from Dilana's brand new solo album InsideOut.

Images by Lena Lincovoi / RedAries.com.

Rocket

2009-11-30T21:26:00.000-08:00

Went to see my friend Auren Suicide's band Rocket at the Viper Room on Thanksgiving Eve. The full-throttle, all-girl quintet have some friends in high places, having played with the likes of Butch Walker, Rancid, Sugarcult, OK GO, Morningwood, The Sounds, and Unwritten Law, to name but a few. Ultimate female rocker Joan Jett was also spotted wearing one of their Ts in a recent PETA ad. Go to Rocket's MySpace to find out what all the fuss is about -- and be sure to catch 'em live when they hit a venue near you.

Click HERE for more images from Rocket's Viper Room gig.

Dilana: InsideOut

2009-11-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

Went to see Dilana's solo show at The Roxy on Sunday night. The should've been Rock Star: Supernova winner (the already forgotten Lukas Rossi won) released her debut album, InsideOut, via Kabunk! Records on Nov 17th. However it's her rendition of Harry Chaplin's 1974 rock classic "Cat's In The Cradle," which she performed on the reality TV show in the fall of 2006, that still haunts me to this day.

Tune in to SuicideGirls Radio Sunday on Dec 6th, 10 PM til midnight on Indie1031.com, to hear an exclusive interview with Dilana and tracks from her new CD.

Click to view more images from Dilana's Roxy show.

The Pixies And Thomas Dybdahl

2009-11-07T17:10:00.000-08:00

Saw some great live music over the past couple of days. Thursday night I hit Norwegian artist Thomas Dybdahl's show at the Viper Room. The singer/songwriter is huge in his native country, and also happened to sing three tracks on one of my all-time favorite albums, Dive Deep by Morcheeba. Check out images from the show in my SuicieGirls photo gallery, Things got rather crazy at a post-show party at the band's swish Hollywood Hills pad. Images from the afterparty however are for my SuicideGirls friends only.

The next night I went to the third night of The Pixies three-night stand at the Hollywood Palladium. Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the release of their seminal 1989 album Doolittle, the band played it in its entirety, then came back for an encore consisting of the various associated B-sides. Check out my Pixies photo album for images from the night.

Jon Ronson: The Men Who Stare At Goats

2009-11-05T16:50:00.000-08:00

The Men Who Stare At Goats is a hilarious new film starring George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor and Kevin Spacey. Unfortunately, the true story it's based on is no laughing matter, especially if you happen to be a de-bleated goat housed in the U.S. Army's top secret Goat Lab or a guest of our government at Guantánamo Bay or Abu Ghraib.

The screenplay for the movie is woven around cold, hard -- and quite frankly bizarre -- facts uncovered by British author, journalist and documentarian Jon Ronson during his investigation into the U.S. Army's all too real paranormal activities, which he chronicled in a book first published in 2005. Though fictionalized, the script features whole chunks of dialog lifted directly from actual interviews Ronson conducted for the book with high ranking army officials and those who were trained by them as psychic spies.

Major General Albert Stubblebine III, who in the early '80s headed up the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command, a joint Army and N.S.A. clearing house responsible for gathering and disseminating intelligence, was one of the military's highest ranking proponents of supernatural techniques. Stubblebine, who was frequently frustrated by his lack of aptitude in the walking through walls department, was eventually forced out, but his dream of creating a superpowered army to defend the world's greatest superpower lived on thanks to the work of a Lieutenant Colonel called Jim Channon.

Disillusioned by what he'd seen and experienced in Vietnam, Channon had wanted to find a better, less lethal way of engaging in war. In 1977 he persuaded the Pentagon to fund a two year fact finding mission. During this time he visited numerous establishments that claimed to offer methods for enhancing human potential (including one in Big Sur that did this with naked hot tub encounter sessions). Upon his return, Channon wrote a blueprint for the next generation of soldier, or "warrior monks" as he called them, in a document entitled The First Earth Battalion Operations Manual.

The report detailed his ideas for the military application of a variety of new age techniques including telepathy, remote viewing, hypnosis, neuro-linguistic programming, and the use of music and subliminal sounds to alter mood. Channon's hippified vision of how to go about war, which included the use of special "sparkly eyes" greetings to disarm the enemy, was intended to create positive change. However many of the more tangible mind-bending techniques that Channon outlined were ultimately subverted by the military and used for torture and psychological warfare.

One of the army's more laughable attempts at co-opting Channon's ideas for darker purposes was their program to create telepathic assassins. The soldiers selected to hone their psychic powers in this way practiced their skills on a covert goat herd based at Fort Bragg that had been de-bleated to avoid rousing the suspicions of the local branch of the ASPCA. Though killing with a stare proved to be a somewhat challenging task, legend has it that a man named Guy Savelli did actually down a goat. But when Ronson caught up with Savelli, a civilian who was initially contracted by Special Forces to teach the mind over body martial art Kun Tao, the only proof of his skills he was able to offer was a somewhat dubious DIY hamster snuff video.

However, disturbing images leaked from inside Abu Ghraib and news reports of interrogation tactics used in Iraq and at Guantánamo Bay, involving loud music and fit-inducing strobe light inflicted over excessive periods of time, indicate that other psi ops methods, originally presented in a far different light by the likes of Stubblebine and Channon, have caused very real harm. Highly experimental mind-targeted tactics have also been deployed in a shockingly disorganized, cavalier and ad-hoc manner during various domestic sieges including the ill-fated 51-day stand off at Waco which resulted in 76 deaths. And it's not just terrorists and religious extremists that are a casualty of our rogue psychological warfare, which has caused a crisis of conscience at home that has over-shadowed the Bush presidency and threatens even that of Obama's.

I caught up with The Men Who Stares At Goats author and psychic spy expert by phone to find out more. Read my exclusive interview with Jon Ronson at SuicideGirls.com.

Art of Bleeding: Spirits of Safety Show

2009-10-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

Went to see Art of Bleeding's Spirits of Safety Show at the Institute of Abnormal Arts in NoHo on Sunday night. The cabaret of the absurd led by former Cacophony Society leader Al Ridenour offered somewhat dubious healthcare advice and accident avoidance tips dished out by mascots RT the Robot Teacher, Dr. Moody, and Abram the Safety Ape.

A host of naughty nurses were also on hand in case emergency treatment was required. During the show Nurse Jezebelle (pictured), who specializes in breast examinations, gave a detailed demonstration of her skills, as did testicular cancer inspector, Nurse Alena. But it was perhaps Nurse Vulnavia's enthusiastic, hands-on kiss of life tutorial that proved to be the most popular of the evening's lessons. Wonder if Art of Bleeding offer HMOs? It'd sure beat my current plan.

Click HERE to view my Art of Bleeding photo gallery.

Diablo Cody: Jennifer's Body

2009-09-19T19:07:00.001-07:00

"I constantly want to feel like I'm in danger," says author and screenwriter Diablo Cody during our interview. This statement reveals a lot when you consider Cody's resume. She punctuated a rather mundane series of office jobs by moonlighting as a stripper, phone sex worker, and a peep show girl. While still working for "the man" she documented her experiences in the sex industry in a very public space -- a popular blog called Pussy Ranch. Subsequently she penned a full-blown memoir, entitled Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper, which was published by Penguin imprint Gotham Books.

Having bared her body, for her next artistic endeavor, Cody bared her decidedly off-beat soul, writing a spec screenplay called Juno based, in part, on her experiences, and that of her friends, while growing up. The non-stereotypical, non-tragic tale of teen pregnancy courted controversy with its optimistic, pro-choice perspective, but ultimately prevailed both at the box office and the Oscars, where Cody won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay.

After receiving what many consider to be Hollywood's ultimate accolade, Cody took a career risk again, turning to a genre -- horror -- that neither has the respect of the mainstream film community nor favor with The Academy. Horror however is Cody's raison d'être, her latest film, Jennifer's Body, being an homage both to the conventions of the genre and her feminist ideals.

Femme fatale Megan Fox plays the title role of Jennifer, a schoolgirl whose body is more attractive than her soul. The film co-stars Mama Mia actress Amanda Seyfried, who plays the archetypically nerdy Needy, Jennifer's bosom buddy turned frenemy. The blood starts to fly after a gig at the local dive bar when Jennifer and Needy encounter the enigmatic Nikolai (Adam Brody), a singer who's willing to deal with the Devil to facilitate his rock & roll dreams.

On the eve of the film's release, SuicideGirls caught up with Cody by phone to find out if her dreams remain true -- or if they've turned into anything resembling nightmares.

Click HERE to read my interview with Diablo Cody on SuicideGirls.com.

Little Boots (Big Talent)

2009-09-18T23:59:00.000-07:00

UK's lo-fi gadget queen, Little Boots (a.k.a. Victoria Christina Hesketh), played a flawless set in front of a packed house at The Roxy on the Sunset Strip last night. It was only the second Los Angeles show for the British electropop sensation, who has gained a rabid following thanks to numerous DIY YouTube videos recorded in her bedroom studio.

Little Boot's debut album Hands was released in the UK in June 2009, rising to #5 in the album charts there. The infectious-as-swine-flu breakout hit it spawned, "New In Town," is featured prominently in Diablo Cody's new film Jennifer's Body. Catch it before it catches you.

Click HERE to view more images from the show.

CSI Creator and SuicideGirls Reach Level 26

2009-09-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

Today Anthony E. Zuiker unleashes a new level of evil into the world. The creator and executive producer of the CSI franchise hopes that Sqweegel, the diabolical monster at the heart of his new multi-media project, Level 26, will slash through the boundaries of traditional crime classification and beyond the confines of the traditional publishing world. Bringing the novel into the digital age, Level 26 connects the printed word with motion picture elements and an interactive web-based social community. "I wanted to tell a story 'too hot' for television while at the same time giving the existing crime reader a different experience," says Zuiker. To this end Zuiker and SuicideGirls have teamed up to create some killer images (shot by SG co-founder Missy) to celebrate the launch of Level 26.

Click HERE for more info on Level 26 and the SuicideGirls photo set inspired by it.

Erika Jayne Album Release Party @ Coco De Mer, West Hollywood -- August 20th, 2009

2009-08-21T15:33:00.000-07:00

Went to a sexy and elegant little soirée last night at luxury erotic boutique Coco de Mer. The party was thrown to celebrate the release of dance diva Erika Jayne's new album Pretty Mess (her singles "Give You Everything," "Rollercoaster" and "Stars" all reached number one on Billboard's Dance charts and are featured on the album).

Yellow Label Veuve Clicquot was flowing liberally as Erika's buddy Michael Des Barres read some erotic poetry in the store's garden, which set the tone for the intimate evening. Afterwards we chatted with boutique owner Justine Roddick (a like-minded soul when it comes to universal healthcare) and Michael, who's a big fan of SuicideGirls (expect to see him on SG Radio soon!).

Since Melrose Place is coming back to the small screen next month, I took the opportunity to ask Michael if we're likely to see him reprising his role as über villain Arthur Field. Apparently he had a somewhat mixed experience on the show first time around -- he told me he found out about his character's demise when he showed up to his own (fictitious) funeral on set. He holds no grudges though, and is open to a return to the show should the producers come a calling. And death has never been that much of an inconvenience when it comes to bringing soap characters back. "I could come back as a twin brother," said Michael with a glint in his eye.

Middle image: Jody Watley. Bottom image l-r: Erika Jayne, Michael Des Barres, Justine Roddick.

Click HERE to view image gallery from the night.

Scientists Conclude That Zombie Attack Would Lead To End of Civilization

2009-08-18T14:21:00.000-07:00

A group of Canadian scientists have just published a paper detailing research on the likely outcome of a zombie attack -- and things are looking rather bleak for humankind. The team built complex mathematical models to forecast the spread of the zombie virus, and have concluded that an invasion by the walking dead would lead to "a collapse of civilization, with every human infected, or dead."

They predict that in a city of 500,000 people, zombies would outnumber the susceptible population in about three days.

"An outbreak of zombies infecting humans is likely to be disastrous, unless extremely aggressive tactics are employed against the undead," stated the researchers from the University of Ottawa and Carleton University in their thesis entitled "When Zombies Attack."

Since decapitation is generally considered the best way to deal with this specific type of undead plague, the team consider humanity's best hope to be a swift counter attack. "The most effective way to contain the rise of the undead is to hit hard and hit often."

“Only quick, aggressive attacks can stave off the doomsday scenario,” the team warns.

Are you prepared?

Image: Mike L. Taylor (based on a photo I took at Fangoria)

Jeremy Piven: The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard

2009-08-14T07:23:00.000-07:00

Jeremy Piven is Don Ready, a rock star amongst used car salesman. With the economy and the national psyche in the doldrums, America is in need of a fast-talking, inspirational hero like Ready. We're a nation that needs to live hard, sell hard -- and laugh hard. In The Goods, a comedy from the folks that brought us Talladega Nights and Step Brothers, Ready delivers on all fronts.

Like Piven's Entourage character Ari Gold, Ready is a man who believes that business is war. He is the fearless leader of a crack team of mercenary car salesmen hired to save Temecula, CA dealership Selleck Motors. Ready has just three days over July 4th weekend to sell all the cars on the lot -- and walk away with the girl.

James Brolin plays Ben Selleck, the owner of Selleck Motors, which is under threat of invasion by luxury car dealer Stu Harding (Alan Thicke). Harding plans to turn Selleck’s used car lot into a studio and rehearsal space for Big Ups!, a less-than-talented man-band fronted by his too-old-to-be-in-a-boy-band son Paxton (Ed Helms) who just happens to be engaged to Ben's daughter Ivy (Jordana Spiro). Ready is off his game however, after losing a man (Will Farrell) in a tragic incident involving a parachute and a bag of dildos at a President's Day sale in Albuquerque.

Going in you know that Ready will ultimately prevail and save Selleck's American dream, the fun lies in watching how he does it. But Piven is waging a less certain war of his own against two big budget movies that open on the same day. He's proud of The Goods (and rightly so), and is going the extra mile to rally the troops and make sure people see it. Thus, with less than 72 hours to go before D-Day, Piven is working the phones talking to the likes of SuicideGirls. "It's been a long, long, strange trip this promotion," says the exhausted actor. "I feel like I've been literally promoting this movie for fourteen years. And I would do it willingly for another fourteen years."

Click HERE to read my interview with Piven at SuicideGirls.com.

Neill Blomkamp: District 9

2009-08-12T12:11:00.000-07:00

In Neill Blomkamp's sci-fi world aliens landed in South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg, in 1989. While international governments argued about what to do with the unwanted guests, unable to return home in their disabled ship, the gigantic exo-skeletoned, shrimp-like creatures were confined to a makeshift refugee camp known as District 9. Wanting to maintain the status quo for their human residents, Johannesburg's officials adopted a strict -- and brutally enforced -- policy of segregation. Public transport and road crossings are reserved for the use of humans only, and those who spot aliens outside of their designated zone are encouraged to call a hotline (1-866-666-6001) manned by a private security firm called Multi-National United (you should keep their digits on speed dial -- just in case).

Blomkamp's nightmarish District 9 is a fictionalized reflection of the real horrors of District 6, a Cape Town municipality that was designated for "whites only" by South Africa's apartheid government in 1966. Removal of the non-white population began two years later. A total of 60,000 people were forcibly relocated to the Cape Flats, apartheid's dusty and bleak dumping ground 16 miles away. Similarly, as Blomkamp's faux documentary-style film begins, Multi-National United is charged with the task of clearing District 9 and relocating the area's resident aliens to a new government-mandated camp.

In his debut feature, Blomkamp skillfully portrays the human/alien apartheid society of Johannesburg in a hyper-real way, which sets this film apart from the bulk of sci-fi canon. With District 9, the South African born writer, director and visual effects artist takes the aliens of his beloved fantasy genre out of their usual star wars environment and has them do battle with the mundane pencil-pushers responsible for compliance in a segregated society similar to that of Blomkamp's youth. However, District 9 may never have happened if it wasn't for a more traditional space-based sci-fi project that Blomkamp was slated to helm.

At one point a film version of the first person shooter Halo was set to be Blomkamp's first feature, but the project got shot down while still in development. Microsoft and 20th Century Fox had charged Peter "Lord of the Rings" Jackson with the task of bringing the computer game to the big screen. Jackson in turn called on Blomkamp, an award winning commercial director who was creating quite a stir in the advertising world thanks to his award-winning visual effects. Though a series of three shorts were released in 2007 (collectively known as Landfall), the film version of Halo ultimately imploded. Jackson and Blomkamp forged a bond thanks to the project however, and when their work on Halo came to an end they turned to a six minute movie Blomkamp had produced back in 2005 as inspiration for their next project.

Click HERE to read my interview with Blomkamp at SuicideGirls.com in which he talks about the harsh realities behind District 9.

New Tales To Tell

2009-07-31T12:51:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday night a rather eclectic selection of music enthusiasts gathered to celebrate the release of New Tales To Tell, a Love and Rockets tribute album which features an even more eclectic selection of covers by the likes of Puscifer, War Tapes, The Dandy Warhols and The Flaming Lips. The event was put together by longtime Love and Rockets friend Christopher "The Minister," who compiled and released the album via his new Swing House label.

Shepard Fairey, who created the cover art for the album, spun an '80s themed set as the after-work crowd filtered into the courtyard of Space 15 Twenty. The newly opened Cahuenga Blvd. venue serves as an experiment for owners Urban Outfitters, who hope to create similar retail, gallery and restaurant/bar environments in other city center spaces where their core brand can mix it up with local artists and vendors.

'80s Flashback DJ Richard Blade was master of ceremonies for the evening, introducing local bands Astra Heights, Vex and The Invisible Humans. Man about town, Michael Des Barres, made an appearance, as did the man of the hour, Daniel Ash, who was closely involved in the New Tales To Tell project and is working on a new story of his own -- his first post-L&R-reunion single release.

New Tales To Tell was released digitally on July 28th and will be released physically on August 18. Daniel Ash's single (with Zak Ambrose), a cover of David Essex's "Rock On," is available on The Swing House Sessions Volume I. Click HERE for more details and HERE to view event image gallery.

SuicdeGirls Recreate The Erotic Art of Superman Artist Joe Shuster

2009-07-30T17:42:00.000-07:00

SuicideGirls helped comics historian Craig Yoe recreate the secret fetish art of Superman artist and co-creator Joe Shuster at back room soiree held at LA's Meltdown Comics last night.

Shuster's erotic illustrations were originally published in 1953 in the under-the-counter comic Nights of Horror. The work violated pornography laws at the time, thus Shuster was unable to lay claim to this work. A spate of murders in New York lead to a crackdown on pornography in the city the following year. The publisher of Nights of Horror was arrested, and the comics were confiscated and destroyed. Thus the adult work of Shuster, which had always been done undercover, was seemingly lost for all time.

Then, about two years ago, Yoe stumbled across a copy of Nights of Horror in a dusty box on an antique book stall. Yoe instantly recognized the DNA of the draftsmanship displayed in the images. Further research into Shuster's hereto unknown illicit work opened the door to a twilight world of showgirls, mobsters, neo-Nazi juvenile delinquents, hate crimes, murders, court cases, and government enquiries held at the highest level.

Yoe has compiled the stories and images he uncovered in a just-released book, Secret Identity. Read more on Yoe's remarkable voyage of discovery in my interview here.

For images from the Meltdown event, click here.

SuicideGirls Bring the Secret Fetish Drawings of Superman Artist Joe Shuster to Life

2009-07-29T16:32:00.000-07:00

Joe Shuster changed the landscape for superheroes. The bold lines and primary colors of Superman, a character he created with writer Jerry Segal, put other action figures in the shade. However unsuccessful legal action lodged in 1946 against National Allied Publications (a forerunner of DC Comics), who claimed ownership of the character, meant that Shuster and Segal missed out on the millions their character would ultimately generate. Worse still, to add insult to injury, following the court case, the duo were stripped of their byline by the publisher.

Shuster and Segal were never able to repeat the success they achieved with their Kryptonite-shy guy. In the era immediately following the war, America no longer felt the need for supermen, and their 1947 follow up, Funnyman, fell flat. By the early 1950s Shuster was reduced to drawing cartoons for cash.

Fast-forward to the mid-2000s, when a comics historian named Craig Yoe discovers a copy of the little-known underground fetish rag, Nights of Horror, in a dusty cardboard box on a book stall. Yoe thought the whip-wielding women depicted in the illustrations bore a remarkable resemblance to the nubile lines of the otherwise chaste Lois Lane. Further research proved Yoe's initial suspicions were likely correct, and with the weight of world renowned art publishers Abrams behind him, he set about compiling a comprehensive compendium of the illicit fetish art of Joe Shuster that had lain undercover for over half a century.

I caught up with Yoe on the eve of the West Coast launch of his book, Secret Identity, which will see several of Shuster's sexy panels brought to life with the help of SuicdeGirls.

Click HERE to read the exclusive interview.

Want to see Sash, Moxi, Adria and Zoli bring Joe Shuster's art to life? Come down to the West Coast Launch Party at Meltdown Comics (7522 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90046) tonight, July 29th. The event starts at 8 PM. Secret Identity author Craig Yoe will also be there to sign copies of the book.

Click HERE for event info.

Richard Farrell: The Two Hour Orgasm

2009-07-29T11:14:00.000-07:00

...And the Connection between Addiction, Universal Healthcare and our Wars on Drugs and Terror

Addiction first took hold of Richard Farrell after a torn knee put an end to hopes of a professional athletics career. That same injury started his relationship with pain medication. One thing led to another, as these things do, and by the time he reached thirty Farrell had succumbed to almost every aspect of the heroin lifestyle.

His journey to redemption is chronicled in his new memoir, What's Left of Us. Farrell was one of the lucky ones; after twenty failed attempts, he slayed his dragon at a run-down, state-funded detox clinic in Massachusetts, and went on to fulfill his potential as an author, journalist, teacher, filmmaker and screenwriter.

Many addicts will not be so fortunate. Clinics such as these are the easy victims of budget cuts. As bankrupt states struggle to pick up the incarceration tab for the collateral damage of the War on Drugs, and our federal government goes deeper into debt to pay for its War on (drug-funded) Terror, Farrell's life experience leads him to pose an important question: Have we forgotten the simple laws of supply and demand? By funding these two never-ending wars are we ineffectually treating the symptoms instead of battling the cause? Wouldn't our money be better spent reducing the demand for drugs?

The state-funded treatment of drug addiction has never been a vote-winning cause (just look at the tap dancing Obama was forced to do recently on the prickly issue of needle exchange programs). Here, in this special guest column, Farrell makes the case for a more enlightened drug (and healthcare) policy and talks of the horrors that will likely transpire if we continue on our current course, which is tantamount to treating cancer with a gold-plated plaster -- ridiculous, ineffectual, expensive and ultimately fatal.

Click HERE to read Farrell's essay, The Two Hour Orgasm, at SuicideGirls.com.

Aimee Allen: A Little Happiness

2009-07-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

Life hasn't exactly been a vacation for Aimee Allen, who is the organically rebellious product of a guilt-laden Catholic school system. Signed at the tender age of 21 to Elektra Records, her debut album, I'd Start a Revolution If I Could Get Up In the Morning, got caught in the crossfire of a corporate merger and was shelved by the soon-to-be dormant label. Worse, Aimee's voice was effectively silenced for several years when the record company refused to release her from her contract without a substantial -- and unattainable -- buyout in place.

Down but not out, Aimee found new voices for her songs, which were recorded by Kevin Michael, Tila Tequila and Unwritten Law. The latter band scored a Top 5 hit on Billboard's Modern Rock chart with "Save Me," which was co-written by Aimee, Linda Perry and Unwritten Law vocalist Scott Russo. Aimee contributed lyrics to the remainder of the tracks on the band's 2005 album, Here's to the Mourning, and Scott and Aimee became romantically entwined. Their relationship culminated with a record of duets, Sitting In A Tree, but sadly the harmony off CD ended, the album's February 2007 release serving as a tombstone for the death of their relationship.

Inspired by the 2007 documentary Zeitgeist, and the work of Alex Jones, Aimee recorded a track to support politician Ron Paul's 2008 election campaign. It became the Libertarian's theme song after the accompanying video became a monster grassroots hit via YouTube. Aimee was subsequently thrust into the political spotlight, and became the voice of revolution for a generation of new voters. However Aimee soon had a more personal battle to fight, after an assault in the summer of 2008 left her with a broken jaw and serious head injuries.

She retreated to Indiana to nurse her wounds and pick up the pieces of her life. Having been the victim of aggression, a new gentler Aimee emerged. When she was well enough to venture back into the studio, the harder rock sounds of her past recordings were replaced with the warm, soothing sounds her body and soul craved. The resulting album, A Little Happiness, is a sonic haven for those needing to escape the troubles of this world. However, as Aimee explained when she stopped by the SuicideGirls office, not everyone is happy that she's taken a recess from revolution.

Click HERE to read my interview with Aimee at SuicideGirls.com.

Torchwood's Eve Myles On The Irresistible Captain Jack

2009-07-15T10:34:00.000-07:00

"If you were ever to meet a character like Captain Jack, I think the most monogamous woman in the world would probably go for him -- it'd be hard not to. "
Eve Myles (aka Gwen Cooper)

Gwen Cooper traded her ho-hum career as a policewoman to work as a professional alien catcher at Torchwood, an organization which legend has it is "separate from the government, outside the police, and beyond the United Nations." Eve Myles, the Welsh actress who plays Gwen, in turn, has traded her life in very legitimate theater for one in the warped and sexy science fiction universe.

Torchwood is the adult-orientated spin-off from Doctor Who, the world's longest running sci-fi TV series. Created by Doctor Who writer/producer/guru Russell T. Davies, Torchwood debuted in the UK in 2006. Picked up by BBC America in 2007, it has since become one of the station's hottest properties to date.

In part that is due to the on-screen chemistry between Eve's character and that of her charismatic boss Captain Jack Harkness (played by John Barrowman). When the two aren't doing battle to save the planet, they're battling to resist their mutual compulsion to get it on.

At the end of season two Jack and Eve lost two of their colleagues. Season three picks up where two left off, and takes the form of an epic five-part mini series called, Children of Earth.

I called Eve up while she was on a promotional trip in New York to get the inside scoop on Torchwood's other worldly success.

Click HERE to read my interview with Eve which is exclusive to SuicideGirls.

Place Your Bets: Public or Private Healthcare?

2009-07-13T15:12:00.000-07:00

Just returned from Vegas, a city that's been devastated by the recession more than most. At best employers are using news of the economic downturn to force wage and benefit cuts on their staff (the folks at the hotel I stayed at for example had recently kissed goodbye to their 401Ks and were providing stellar service with a gritted teeth smile for 10% less). At worst, companies have just let people go en masse.

I was there for a friend's birthday party. He's one of the lucky ones who still has a job (he lost pension benefits however and is being forced to take two weeks unpaid leave). Sadly many of his friends haven't been so fortunate. Some had not only lost their jobs but had reached the limits of their unemployment benefit and were taking drastic measures to make ends meet (one ex-insurance agent is now a stripper, another girl with an accounting degree does odd jobs for $10 per hour). Several were also facing the loss of their homes (short sale anyone?).

And with the maximum unemployment benefit in Nevada coming in at $362 per week, health insurance -- especially COBRA -- was way beyond their budgets. So you'd think public health insurance might be a priority for those in Las Vegas. You'd be wrong.

Here's the Top 5 Reasons Why the Public Option is a Bad Idea as expressed to me by the folks I met in Sin City this past weekend:

1. There aren't enough doctors.
2. My health insurance costs $276 per month so I couldn't afford a $200 public option.
3. We need tort reform first.
4. As it is doctors only get 60-65% of what they bill.
5. I can only afford catastrophic health insurance, so for all intents and purposes I'm not insured for regular doctors visits.

You might be forgiven for thinking that the above statements would be reasons for the public option, not against it. And that's what disturbed me the most. These otherwise intelligent people would make a statement that was seemingly pro-public option, then follow up with a passionate argument about how black was really white.

The only explanation for this confused thinking that clearly defied logic was the decades of brainwashing by governments, politicians and the "health" industry, which has falsely managed to equate universal healthcare with communism and lack of choice in most people's mind. Personally, I'd like everyone to have the option of health care that goes beyond mere emergency room triage. That to me is real choice.

But I guess these people were feeling lucky, since they were all happy to roll the dice and play the health industry's wheel of fortune game. You'd think they'd know better -- and that the house always wins.

Michael Moore: For The Love of Money

2009-07-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

Michael Moore has just confirmed the name of his new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story, which will explore the evils of corporate governance. The Bowling for Columbine and Fahrenheit 9/11 filmmaker released a teaser trailer (see above) for the previously untitled film last month.

Capitalism: A Love Story is set for release on Oct 2nd, which marks the one year anniversary of the Senate vote to approve the $700 billion Wall Street bailout/rape/pillage.

Earlier in the year Moore had appealed for whistleblowers from the financial sector to come forward. It'll be interesting to see who stepped up to the plate.

"It will be the perfect date movie," said Moore in a statement released to the press yesterday. "It's got it all -- lust, passion, romance and 14,000 jobs being eliminated every day. It's a forbidden love, one that dare not speak its name. Heck, let's just say it: It's capitalism."

The Cove: A New Documentary That Exposes The Horrific Flipside of Flipper

2009-07-02T09:55:00.000-07:00

The Cove is a new documentary that exposes the horrific flipside of Flipper. Shot in the historic town of Taiji, Japan -- which is the birthplace of modern day whaling methods -- the film follows activist Ric O'Barry in his crusade to save the 2,000+ dolphins that are captured and/or slaughtered in a remote cove there each year.

Before O'Barry became an activist, he was an unwitting beneficiary of the dolphin trade. A one-time dolphin trainer (the mammals are closely related to whales), O'Barry first made a name for himself in the 1960s working on the Flipper TV series. "I feel somewhat responsible because it was the Flipper TV series that created this multi-billion dollar industry," says O'Barry, who older and wiser is appalled at the idea of dolphins in captivity in zoos and amusement parks around the globe. He now works for the Earth Island Institute, trying to save these wondrous creatures from this fate -- and worse.

His undercover work at the cove, exposing the atrocious practices of the Japanese fishing industry, caught the attention of former National Geographic photographer Louie Psihoyos, who directed the movie about O'Barry's work at the cove. Using high-tech hidden surveillance equipment, the duo were able to capture the covert activities at the well-guarded cove, that had – up until now – been hidden from world view. Even the Japanese dolphin industry it seems is aware that it must remain concealed if it is to continue.

At the end of the film, O'Barry storms the International Whaling Commission with footage from the cove that convinces many to disengage from the corrupt organization which sets whaling quotas which are intertwined with the issue of tolerance for Japan’s dolphin trade. For O'Barry, giving interviews in support of the film is the next step towards exposing the practices of those in the dolphin trade who are happy to perpetrate unmentionable cruelty and ply mercury laden dolphin flesh that in truth is too toxic for human consumption.

Click HERE for SuicideGirls' exclusive interview with Ric O'Barry.

Democrats Blowing It On Health Care

2009-06-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

More from my favorite political columnist and voice of extreme reason, FearTheReaper:

It’s really quite interesting to watch the Democrats throw it all away. This time, they seem to think blowing the chance at decent health care reform will aid them in future elections. Or perhaps they have taken so much money from the health care industry that they don’t give a shit. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Fixing health care is the biggest problem facing our country. If we don’t do something drastic, it will completely destroy our economy in the years to come. As it is, we’re in bad shape. Democrats, specifically Senate Democrats, have decided to help the poor insurance industry out as much as possible. Es no bueno.

Click HERE to read FearTheRepaer's summary of the various sick options the Democrats are seriously considering.

Moby: Wait For Me

2009-06-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

Moby could be described as a reluctant celebrity. He first found his way into the collective consciousness with the 1992 rave anthem "Go." In the faceless world of techno culture success remained within his comfort zone. For the remainder of the decade he released his increasingly hybrid electronic-based music with little fanfare outside of the dance world. His 1999 album Play, barely made a ripple in the ocean of record sales when it first came out.

However, after a series of high profile film, TV and ad licenses, Play was propelled into the mainstream and Moby into the media maelstrom with it. Track 5 from the album, "South Side," a little duet with Gwen Stefani, subsequently gained momentum, becoming an MTV staple for many months. It reached number 14 in the Billboard Hot 100 and number 3 on the Modern Rock singles chart in 2001. Play went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide.

As film director David Lynch succinctly puts it, "Success is just as dangerous as failure, maybe more." In the years since "South Side" graced the charts, Moby has not exactly been chasing similar commercial success -- far from it -- however many automatically assume he has. After all, money and fame are the goals of every artist right?

Wrong. Back in October of last year, when SuicideGirls last spoke with Moby, he told us he wanted his next album to be "a really emotional, beautiful record." Expanding on the subject, he continued, "I don't know if I will succeed, but my goal is to make something very personal, very melodic, very beautiful. And hopefully interesting at the same time." By these standards, Moby has indeed succeeded, his new album, Wait For Me, being all that and so much more.

But, since contemporary society quantifies success in commercial terms, it's easy for certain areas of the media to talk about Moby and his post-Play music in disparaging terms. It's understandable therefore, that Moby looked upon his looming press day in Los Angeles to promote an "introspective" and "vulnerable" record that's the antithesis of commercial with a high degree of trepidation.

Click HERE to read SuicideGirls exclusive interview.

Daniel Ash: Rock On

2009-06-22T09:12:00.000-07:00

Daniel Ash has had a tumultuous recent past. Having reunited with Peter Murphy, Kevin Haskins and David J in 2005 for a now legendary performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, iconic goth rock band Bauhaus released their first new studio album in 25 years in March 2008. Sadly, the reunion had already faltered by then, with David J citing explosive chemistry as the reason in a SuicideGirls interview published that month. Moving on without Murphy, the trio regrouped under their post-Bauhaus band moniker, Love and Rockets, playing Coachella in April '08 and Lollapalooza the following August. After the last epic chord died down, Ash retreated to his Ojai home, seeking solace on the open road with the one thing he loves more than his guitars: his motorcycles.

All remained quiet for many months, until his friend and sometime manager Christopher Minister (whom Ash affectionately refers to as "The Minister"), persuaded him to come down to Swing House, a rehearsal and recording complex in Hollywood, to participate in a session for a new in-house project. One thing led to another, as things do, and Ash ended up producing (the track, "Rock On," to be released on the Swing House Sessions Vol 1, features vocalist Zak Ambrose).

Reinvigorated by working with a fresh mix of people, Ash is now looking forward to taking on more production work. In the meantime his Swing House buddy, The Minister, has compiled a Love and Rockets tribute album entitled New Tails To Tell, which features covers by The Flaming Lips, The Dandy Warhols and Puscifer, among others.

SuicideGirls caught up with Ash at the studio to talk about his new music, needless to say, the conversation soon turned to motorcycles. One has to wonder if the Swing House recording sessions are merely an excuse for the 160 mile round trip on his bike.

Click HERE to read my interview on SuicideGirls.com.

Monsters of Heavy Metal Star In New Computer Game

2009-06-18T09:25:00.000-07:00

The voice and persona of Ozzy Osbourne, along with several other monsters of metal, will feature in a new computer game called Brütal Legend. The music-themed action adventure will be released in October by Electronic Arts in Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 formats.

The plot centers around the character of Eddie Riggs, the world's best roadie who works for the world's worst heavy metal band. Named after Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie The Head, Eddie Riggs is played by School of Rock star Jack Black, of the comedy rock band Tenacious D. His character roams a '70s rock fantasy land created by games legend Tim Schafer (Grim Fandango), doing battle with a motorcycle-mad bassist called Kill Master (played by Lemmy Kilmister) along the way. Lita Ford, Rob Halford and Tim Curry also feature in the game, which is played to a pumping metal soundtrack.

Sounds like it rocks but will you actually have fun playing the game? Click HERE to read SuicideGirls' Hit Play preview.

Happy F**King Birthday From Blue Shield

2009-06-16T13:39:00.000-07:00

My birthday's coming up towards the end o' the month. On April 30th my health insurance company sent me a lovely letter to let me know that to celebrate my big day they'd decided to up my premium by $35 from $191 to $226 starting July 1st.

Then, a month later, they sent me another letter explaining that they were raising my premium again, this time by a hefty $65, just because they can, you know, for the hell of it. What a gift!

That's a total premium increase of $100 effective July 1st.

Think about that. My premium was $191. It's going up to $291. That's an increase of over 50% in one year.

Can you think of any other product or service that's gone up by more than 50% this year? In this economy? Have health care costs increased by that much in the last twelve months? Really?

What do I want for my birthday? Universal health care please Mr. Obama.

Otherwise I can't afford to get any older.

A Sick Way To Run A State

2009-06-12T16:47:00.000-07:00

Last Friday folks were marching right outside our door in protest against the Governator's proposed cut in funding for AIDS medication. I meant to comment on it at the time, but the day, and the next several, kind of ran away from me, hence, precisely a week later, I'm typing this.

The move will essentially be a death sentence for the 35,000 Californians who rely on state funding for their HIV meds. As FearTheReaper succinctly put it in one of his recent posts:

"Shit, I'm sorry, but Republicans refuse to raise any taxes. Bummer you have to die because of it, but it's a moral thing. It would be immoral to take money that is not yours, sicko."

However, even if you're misguided enough to fall for the Republican anti-tax/anti-healthcare bullshit, this move still doesn't make sense. You might save some cash now, but, when these folks succumb to full-blown AIDS, things will start getting very expensive, very quickly.

This sick army of individuals will be packing emergency rooms with what should be minor ailments, like strep throat, colds and yeast infections, that their compromised immune systems will simply be unable to fend off. Too ill to work, they'll be relying on disability, and too sick to look after themselves, they'll be relying on social services. Eventually, they'll become so ill they'll have to hospitalized -- at our expense. And sadly, many will die really horribly -- and really expensively.

In the not-so long run, it'll be much cheaper to allow these people to live with their health intact with the help of state-sponsored prescriptions, but apparently that's just not the Republican way. I'm not sure what is anymore. I don't expect moral responsibility from the GOP, but there's not any fiscal responsibility here either.

Duncan Jones (a.k.a. Zowie Bowie) Talks About His NASA Experience And His New Movie Moon

2009-06-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Ground control to Major Tom, Duncan Jones (aka Zowie Bowie) talks about his amazing new movie called Moon, which was screened recently for NASA -- at their request. Mining Helium-3 of the dark side of the moon might sound far-fetched, but it's actually something NASA's working on. Just watch this film before you volunteer for the low-gravity mining job though, since all might not be as it seems.....

When asked about the NASA screening in an exclusive interview, Duncan told SuicideGirls:

"We did a screening at the NASA Space Center in Houston and the beauty of it was that it wasn't a PR stunt, we didn't organize it. There's a professor at the Space Center who does a lecture series and he asked me if I wanted to show the film. He'd been reading online that we'd done this film about Helium-3 mining and that's something that people at NASA are working on. We went down there and we did the screening, it was a fantastic experience, and we did a Q&A afterward. They asked me why the base looked so sturdy, like a bunker, and not like the kind of stuff they are designing that they are going to transport with them. I said "Well, in the future I assume you won't want to continue carrying everything with you, you'll want to use the resources on the moon to build things" and a woman in the audience raised her hand and said, "I'm actually working on something called Mooncrete, which is concrete that mixes lunar regolith and ice water from the moon's polar caps." So, it was great - they basically started talking amongst each other and I just sat back and watched them. It was truly an amazing experience."

The full interview can be found HERE.

New App Turns iPhone Into A Classic Star Trek Communicator

2009-06-11T10:14:00.001-07:00

This not exactly legit app, which its makers, iPhone Savior, named the Star Radio Communicator (so it's safe to assume this is not an official Paramount-licensed Star Trek product), gives your iPhone the look of the classic communicator from the original '60s TV series.

According to Gizmodo, "the 99 cent app gives you a dialing interface to place calls from within the app, making you feel like you're about five seconds away from bitch-slapping a couple of Klingons."

Yet another reason for those that held out on buying an iPhone (like me) to get the 3G S.

Marilyn Manson: The High End of Low

2009-06-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

There's nothing half-hearted about the new album from Marilyn Manson, The High End of Low, which explores love, hate, revenge, loss and despair. Off stage, many find Manson's passion disconcerting, but the singer/songwriter considers anything that veers towards apathy to be inherently "worthless." It's therefore not surprising to hear that during the recording process Manson pushed himself and his band to extremes, the resulting album returning him to the kind of form he's not seen in a decade.

Very personal lyrically, and more melodic than past efforts, the album is the result of the much-anticipated reunion of Manson and Twiggy Ramirez -- the pair's last studio collaboration being the concept album Holy Wood, which came out in 2000. The lineup for the album was rounded out by longtime Manson drummer Ginger Fish and producer/drummer/keyboardist Chris Vrenna of Nine Inch Nails and Tweaker (who joined the band in 2004 when Fish was injured and moved from drums to keyboards upon his return to health).

The reunion with Twiggy wasn't the only emotionally charged ingredient in The High End of Low mix however, the period of recording, from November 2008 to January 2009, also coincided with the very public disintegration of Manson's relationship with Evan Rachel Wood, whom he dated following the failure of his marriage to Dita Von Teese. The 15 tracks on the album, which appear on the finished product in the order they were written, therefore chronicle Manson's emotional journey during this gut-wrenching time.

SuicideGirls caught up with Manson on the eve of a European tour to promote the new release. When asked about the album during our interview, it's hard for Manson to separate the music from the emotions and events that lie behind it. He also talks very candidly about the identity crisis that was sparked by this emotional turmoil, and his battle to figure out exactly who Marilyn Manson is.

Click HERE to read my interview at SuicideGirls.com.

Hanging Out With The Star of One Eyed Monster

2009-06-09T12:49:00.000-07:00

Bumped into Ron Jeremy (see photo) at the Gavin Rossdale show at the El Rey on Saturday night. I've seen him out and about more times than I can mention (Ron that is -- not Gavin, whom I've only met once), but this was the first time I was able to go up to him and say, without a hint of irony, that I really enjoyed one of his movies.

The film in question is One Eyed Monster, a laugh out loud funny B-movie, in the tradition of Return To The Forbidden Planet, but with one big difference -- a 9 3/4 inch alien-possessed killer penis to be precise.

I have to say, it's all done in good taste -- albeit in the B-movie universe where the right kind of bad taste can sometimes equal good taste.

And I'm not alone in this opinion either, since One Eyed Monster has just won the, ahem, prestigious "Trashiest Trailer" honor at the 10th Annual Golden Trailer Awards. Ron Jeremy must be so proud -- no really, he must!

When is a book not a book? ...When it's an alternate reality game!

2009-06-08T16:02:00.000-07:00

When is a book not a book? When it's an alternate reality game!

(And for that matter, when is a games columnist not a games columnist? When she's a character in a book writing real posts for a popular pin-up website).

Click HERE to go down the Personal Effects: Dark Art rabbit hole with author and podcaster J.C. Hutchins and ARG mastermind Jordan Weisman (creator of The Beast, I Love Bees and Year Zero).