I love sleazy lawyers. Show me a poorly produced ambulance-chasing commercial filled with images of car crashes, explosions, and infernos with a sweaty man in a suit hollering about bringing down “THE HAMMER!” of justice and I’m over the moon. Maybe it has to do with growing up in Pittsburgh where memorizing a certain ad … Continue reading
The first few chapters of McKenzie Wark’s Sensoria: Thinkers for the Twenty-First Century, recently published by Verso Books, had us both thinking: why are we reading Wark’s book reports? Are we to do a book report on book reports? So instead of that exercise in grad(e) school nostalgia, we decided to have a meandering chat … Continue reading
Have we lost camp forever to the Trump administration and the Republicans? I know what you’re thinking, surely that can’t be! Camp is ours– the outsiders, the marginalized, the queers, the weirdoes, the outcasts! That’s our aesthetic and they can’t have it! Well, I’ve got some bad news. There was no way to witness the … Continue reading
Is there anything more beautiful than the dual glee and panic of a boxy silhouette of tapered jeans and blinding billowing Technicolor sweaters hurtling down a supermarket aisle as if shot from a cannon in search of a specially marked bottle of Tide? Is there anything more inspiring than a blur of Dep shellacked and … Continue reading
A brick appears in his hand as if by magic. This corn-fed white cis straight-passing Ken doll in a torn Gap T-shirt fresh off the bus from Indiana looks down, realizing that history has its eyes on him–not the gender-nonconforming street kids of color he just met and whose brick he just swiped. No, this … Continue reading
A long needle, syringes, gauze and other medical equipment lie strewn on a blood-splattered table. An X-ray of a hip joint. A photograph of an unidentifiable piece of flesh covered in bruises and needle pricks. These were the disturbing images that flickered by after I cautiously committed to watching Madonna’s Instagram stories earlier this week. … Continue reading
Happy Valentine’s Day! Feeling the need to drop to a knee at the first person who makes eye contact with you? Feeling into your pockets to ensure that your emergency engagement ring is still there? Tempted to slip a roofie into a punch bowl with fingers crossed? Stealing Valentines from others, only to argue that … Continue reading
Donald Trump isn’t a reality television show president. Or I guess I should say, he isn’t only a reality show president. Reality television is an unforgettable part of his rise, climbing to power through Apprentice boardroom meetings with weathered has-beens like Vince Neil, Gary Busey and Meatloaf, not to mention tacky tchotchkes and branded opportunities … Continue reading
There’s something spectacular about failure. Of course, it’s no surprise that I think that. As most of you faithful Filthy Dreams readers know, I have a soft spot for failure, from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds’ atrocious album Nocturama, David Bowie’s unbearable pirate song “Red Sails” to Tennessee Williams’ putrid paintings. Even our blessed … Continue reading
Why hello there, faithful Filthy Dreams denizens! The beautiful people who keep our humble tribute to trash alive! The fuel that keeps our fanatical fires burning! Yes, that’s right–where and what would we be without YOU?! You should really give yourself a round of applause, treat yourself to some terribly ill-advised shot of well liquor … Continue reading
