Today’s certainly been an odd day. Yesterday it reached the 92 temperature range and today it was in the 80’s.
Malcolm McLaren died today. He managed the Sex Pistols in their initial incarnation, the New York Dolls in their last days and created Bow Wow Wow after taking the Ants away from Adam. He also introduced hip hop and rap to a larger audience.
The Sex Pistols were supposed to play Saturday Night Live in 1977 but canceled and so Elvis Costello & the Attractions stepped into the breach with drummer Pete Thomas wearing a t-shirt that said ‘Thanks Malc’.
I remember one of the first times I was visiting Washington DC and was in some club with Jet when I heard this opera thing mixed with hip hop playing. It turned out to be Madame Butterfly by Malcolm McLaren.
He was influential for sure and apparently pushed more boundaries than Johnny Rotten and the rest of the Pistols ever did.“Rock and roll doesn’t necessarily mean a band. It doesn’t mean a singer, and it doesn’t mean a lyric, really. It’s that question of trying to be immortal.” – Malcolm McLaren.
Last night Bill and I watched Lawn Hors d’œuvre Criminal Malcontent. The farewell to Vincent D’onofrio and Katheryn Erbe. It was good but I don’t think Bill appreciated my snark throughout the show. I won’t give it away if you haven’t seen it yet.
After that Bill went to play his keyboards and I watched Ugly Betty which was really good. I used to watch it all the time but then they kept moving it around and I lost track of where it was an ultimately lost interest. I decided to give it a go once again when I found there were only a handful of episodes left.
And it was great and hilarious and wonderful to see Betty’s nephew Justin coming out to himself and his family. You never can tell if someone is gay or not until they actually come out at their own time. True, Justin was flaming, but there are effeminate straight men out there and there are butch as all hell gay guys out there.
I kept calling Bill into the TV room to watch what was going on. It was so much more enjoyable than Lawn Hors d’œuvre, though both feature excellent actors. Ugly Betty ended with a cliffhanger. Wilhelmina shot?
Today was nice enough. Ran into Deborah and Claire, two neighbors from my building, Deborah on the fourth floor, and Claire maintaining her apartment on the first. Seems that I only see Claire once a year now. Deborah I see once a month.
I invited both of them to the summer party. Picked up Mojo and Uncut today which was super cool. Haven’t started to read Mojo yet but it won’t be delayed like the New Yorker, of which I am still in the February issues.
Also busked today. Tariq stopped by complaining about not getting home until 7:00 this morning. Not the life I want to lead, having lead that life but not those hours in the last century. He was heading into the city and didn’t stay long, his girlfriend stopped by.
She’s sweet and French and also showed me how to play I Can See Clearly Now by Johnny Nash. I met her the other day when she was with Tariq and I got her name then but forgot about it today and forgot to ask as well.
I have to say it was a thrill to learn that song since it was one of the first 45’s I bought for myself.
Malcolm was a nice person on a personal level, a true raconteur. His history will be discussed for a long time, Haters and Lovers. That’s all we ever have. Malcolm R.I.P.
I’m so glad I have “Madame Butterfly”.
I’ll remember.