Edith the Egg Lady ponders the existential Easter question: Chicken or the egg or the Easter bunny

Glory Glory Hallelujah! He has risen! …ahem…Why hello there, Mary, as well as Jesus, Joseph and the Easter Bunny! And a hop-hop-happy Easter to you, dearest Filthy Dreams readers! Why come on in and grab yourself a drink while we wait for the Easter ham to cook. Sure, we’ll be too drunk to eat it by the time it’s done but it’s the thought that counts. The Easter Bunny is more of a fan of eggs anyway.

While we celebrate this holiest of days remembering the Easter Bunny’s heavenly ascent after his crucifixion at the hands of the Romans…wait…that’s not how the story goes? Well, anyway as you await the Easter Bunny’s descent down your chimneys with baskets of pastel eggs and hollow waxy chocolate bunnies, you’ll need something to pass the time. I mean, who wants to go on Easter egg hunts anyway? Sounds like work. Count me out.

*hippity hoppity hippity hoppity* Wait…what’s that sound? It must be the Easter Bunny! Well, we here at Filthy Dreams have something a little different in our Easter baskets this year. Burrowed among that faux grass that is always in Easter baskets (Aside: where do you actually purchase that and who makes it?), we have a list of five films/videos to answer your prayers this Easter.

Don’t have the time or energy to go to church or wait in line at the mall for the Easter bunny? Then plop yourself down and get to watching. We’ll let you know when the ham is done…did we turn the oven on?

1. David Bowie’s The 1980 Floor Show on Midnight Special

We, here at Filthy Dreams, continue to mourn David Bowie’s passing, mostly through obsessive listening and theorizing about his entire musical and aesthetic canon. Actually, we’re thinking of starting the Church of Bowie. I mean, he really did have all the answers. And what better way of praying to Saints Halloween Jack, Ziggy Stardust and Aladdin Sane than watching Bowie’s legendary 1973 performance The 1980 Floor Show on NBC’s Midnight Special. From a narcotic I Got You Babe duet with Marianne Faithful dressed as a nun to crooning Sorrow at our disco diva and Filthy Dreams role model Amanda Lear, Bowie’s 1980 Floor Show takes you on a hallucinatory trip through the decadent heights of glam.

2. The Seth Bogart Show’s Mantyhose Commercials

Speaking of Filthy Dreams role models, Seth Bogart has certainly earned himself the coveted title. Known for his campy bands Gravy Train!!!! and Hunx and his Punx, Bogart’s recent transformation into a demented plastic-haired queer(er) Pee-wee Herman character has turned us at Filthy Dreams into hysterical crying fangirls. Sure for this list, we could have recommended one of the fantastic videos from Bogart’s new fun solo album like “Club With Me.” However, I find myself, watching and rewatching (and rewatching again) these commercials for Leggg’s Mantyhose. Suddenly my legs feel twelve feet looong! Where can we get a pair?

3. John Waters in Charm City

This being Easter and all, we, of course, need to pay tribute to the ultimate Easter egg-lover herself: Edith the Egg Lady. Since we certainly don’t want to demean your filthiness, dearest readers, by suggesting you watch Pink Flamingos as if you don’t watch it already, we’re providing you with this short clip of John Waters driving around his hometown–Charm City itself–Baltimore. Like a tour guide from hell, John takes you to all the best, but also worst, trashy must-see destinations including Edith Massey’s thrift store, or as John describes, the front for the Edith Massey fan club. Talk about bucket list–I want to go to all these places!

4. Nelson Sullivan’s video of The Sound of Muzak at Limelight

For those of us professionally preoccupied with club culture, particularly its height in New York during the 1980s, Nelson Sullivan’s videos are a godsend. Lugging his huge camera from Pyramid to Limelight to Danceteria, Sullivan captured everything and anything that happened in those clubs–both onstage and off. One of the most fascinating and under-discussed performances that happened quite frequently in these clubs were bizarre and hilarious recreations of renowned musicals and plays as interpreted by the Downtown scenesters. In Scott Wittman’s The Sound of Muzak, Maria is not played by Julie Andrews but by trans pioneer, Warhol Superstar, Trash icon and club performer Holly Woodlawn. With appearances by other nightlife figures such as John Sex, The Sound of Muzak is definitely one of our favorite things.

5. And whatever this is

Last Easter, Marion and I got hammered on Railsplitter IPAs and then glued our glazed eyes on CNN’s Finding Jesus for hours. Why? We’re not even sure, but that ham was burning in the oven while we sat captivated. What did we learn? Well, Jesus was a bit of a drama queen. No wonder Judas was fed up. He just had enough. This year, let’s take it one step further and think of Jesus as a disco queen. I mean, who hasn’t been resurrected by a little Gloria Gaynor?