Dear Readers, The actor/writer/singer Ann Magnuson recently told me, "The only thing anyone should be talking about is this war." She reads this column, or did for a time anyway. She once forwarded it to Steven Daly, whose interview with Madonna graces the cover of this month's Vanity Fair. He mentioned that he liked it. Or at least that one, the one where I talk about punk rock version one and punk rock version two called "Everything Old Is New Again." Vanity Fair is one of those magazines that make you feel like you've made it if they publish you. That is a validating tip of the hat I have yet to receive.
Now that the war is heating up and the 51 percent of the population that didn't want Bush Jr to be president are heating up as well, I took Ann's words to heart and wrote only about this war. After a little talk about Jack Kerouac, I spell out the loss of our civil rights as reported by the Associated Press, compare the Bush Administration to a totalitarian regime (although I was indulging in the most blatant yellow journalism which I readily admit to) and hopefully remind you how precious our freedoms are and they need to be protected, not from Islamic hotheads, but from the Bush Administration. And then I tack on a public service announcement for Banned Books Week, which is this week. "Evidently, the constitution is just another piece of paper Cheney, Rumsfeld and Bush use to wipe their ass once they get their head out of the way rather than the cornerstone of the American way of life, the one they are theoretically protecting. No wonder critics have taken to calling G-Dub "Osama Bush Laden." The essay, titled "A New Definition of Outer Space " can be read in its entirety here: http://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/hbs.cgi?feature=620 Respectfully yours, Thom Fowler And if that's not enough, I've practically got a whole mini-celeb issue right in this tiny, unassuming email, available for reprinting by permission only. an Interview with Janeane Garofalo http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/interviews/7.html or Bruce McCulloch http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/interviews/5.html or Stephen Marshall of the Guerilla News Network http://www.moviepoopshoot.com/off/6.html There's something about Kieran Culkin but it needs some editing. I don't care enough about it to repair some consistency issues, but its still pretty good. Kieran Culkin Tiptoes Into the Spotlight http://www.hollywoodbitchslap.com/hbs.cgi?feature=618
