The wrath of who?

Sorry, but that new Star Trek flick still wasn’t better than the classic…

Chocolate City Burning: The Untold Story of “Dot-Com”

The first nine minutes.

Who is Bozo Texino?

I watched this a few years ago in NYC, but finally got a copy. Watching Bozo Texino flip through his old train pictures and reminisce about the streaks, felt weirdly like a glimpse into the future.

Who is Bozo Texino? is a film on the 100-year-old tradition of hobo and railworker graffiti. The project is the result of a 20-year study of “monikers ” and is fabricated from hours of 16mm and super 8 film, most of it shot on freight trips across the western US. The film includes interviews with some of the railroad’s greatest graffiti legends: Colossus of Roads, The Rambler, Herby (RIP) and the granddaddy of them all, Bozo Texino. The film also catches some of the socioeconomic history of hobo subculture from its roots after the Civil War to the present day. Included are interviews with tramps that Daniel encountered in his travels. The range of the interviews, and the film’s style deal with both the clichés and the harsh realities of tramp life. In researching hobo culture Daniel found the written histories fraught with myth, and was initially frustrated by the apparent lack of verifiable truth to much of the lore.

“At some point in the research, and in the filming, I had to give up on the idea of being able to tell every story down to the detail. One of my initial impulses was to create a highly resolved document that would allow people in the future to see exactly what this culture was like. Impossible enough. But at the same time I was painfully aware that to broadcast these discoveries would alter or wreck the innocence and freedom that was there. Gradually, I realized that to report on freight train culture I should just acknowledge this mythologizing that permeates the culture and adopt that as an essential part of my approach. But the difficulty was, at the same time, to present this purely documentary material that I earnestly want to be appreciated and preserved. And no matter what the disappointment might be in finding the lonely reality behind a particular myth or graffiti, there is a mystery, or truth, that will always evade the documentarian and the audience.” – Bill Daniel

More info

Who Killed Nancy?

This looks to be an interesting documentary about Sid Vicious and the murder at the Chelsea Hotel.

On October 12th 1978 New York Police discovered the lifeless body of a 20 year-old woman, slumped under the bathroom sink in a hotel room. She was dressed in her underwear and had bled to death from a stab wound. The woman was Nancy Spungen, an ex-prostitute, sometimes stripper, heroin addict, and girlfriend of Sex Pistols’ bassist Sid Vicious. In a trial by tabloid newspapers Vicious was pronounced guilty before noon the following day. But the case never had the chance to be brought to trial, and a number of New York cops weren’t convinced. Less than six months later in a flat in New York’s Greenwich Village, Sid, himself aged only 21, died of a heroin overdose. For the next 28 years the assumption was that Sid did it – case closed. Over time, the death of Sid and Nancy has passed into rock legend and has only added to the controversial and notorious image of the Sex Pistols and punk music. At the request of Sid’s mother, who committed suicide in 1996, rock author and punk expert Alan Parker has devoted himself to discovering what really happened in room 100. Parker has re-interviewed 182 people, re-examined NYPD evidence, and gone back to his original interviews with Sid’s mother.

Trailer here

Thanks Roger.

Beastie Boys to play inaugural gig in DC

It’s no surprise that a bunch of musicians will be here for the inauguration, but it’s cool to see they will be doing shows while in town. I just found out about the Beastie Boys, Sheryl Crow and Citizen Cope show over at the 9:30 Club on Monday night. Looks like it sold out pretty fast, but maybe you can score some tickets outside the door. I would like to go, but there are a few special guests playing over at Manifest Hope that evening. Anyway here is the info:

Fresh off their combined efforts on the Get Out and Vote ‘08 voter awareness tour, Beastie Boys and Sheryl Crow will play full sets at a very special all ages Inaugural Gala presented by Rock The Vote. Citizen Cope and Justin Jones will round out the bill.

Rock the Vote Presents
“Hey, America Feels Kinda Cool Again”
Inaugural Gala featuring

BEASTIE BOYS, SHERYL CROW, CITIZEN COPE and Friends

@ 9:30 Club
January 19
Doors at 8pm, Show at 9pm

All tickets will be will call only. Valid photo ID must be presented to claim tickets.

Net proceeds from ticket sales will benefit Rock The Vote.