the power of good-bye

Remixing a lot lately.

Used some mellow string pads and bongo drum beat for Madonna's "The Power of Good-Bye."

ray of light

20 years ago today Madonna's video for "Ray of Light" directed by Jonas Åkerlund debuted on MTV. Still one of my favorite songs and music videos.

new painting

"Lila Crane," Jeffery Berg (Acrylic), 2017

a tale of 2 malibus

So as the country falls down around us, Miley's love theme for Liam "Malibu" is a pleasing, sunny distraction.

Though I still prefer the Hole's Cobain elegy "Malibu," not to mention the era it was released, co-written by Billy Corgan. One of my favorite songs.

I think both can coexist peacefully, however!

7 (new) things i love about gus van sant’s 'psycho': a post by justin lockwood

Psycho (1960) is one of my favorite films, so I’ve always had a love hate relationship with the notorious shot-for-shot remake; on the one hand, it’s interesting and fun to see what they did with Hitchcock’s classic, but on the other it’s so slavishly “faithful” that it’s largely pointless—one wonders what a gory visual impresario like, say, Rob Zombie would have done with the decidedly old fashioned chiller had he gotten his paws on it.  Still, I find there are several new touches added by Gus Van Sant that actually work rather well…

Rita Wilson as Marion’s coworker.  As played by Hitchcock’s daughter Pat, Marion’s office mate was clueless and self-absorbed.  But Wilson—aka Mrs. Tom Hanks—revels in the character’s underlying bitchiness, making the tension between her and Marion (Anne Heche) flamboyantly obvious.

The bird outside Marion’s window.  In the original Psycho, Marion’s fate is foreshadowed by the shower nozzle visible in the background when she agonizes over the cash she’s stolen from her boss.  But Van Sant added another eerily prescient background touch: a live bird that alights outside the apartment, suggesting the stuffed ones Marion will soon encounter at the Bates Motel.

The costumes.  Beatrix Aruna Pasztor’s costumes for this movie are amazing.  The women, and several of the men, wear colorful, form fitting garments that flatter their figures and make bold statements about their characters.  P.S. I want Vince Vaughn (Norman Bates)’s blue pants in this movie, and his haircut, too.

William H. Macy’s eyes. Seriously, his piercing green eyes are incredible.  Kudos to Van Sant for framing them so brilliantly in his interrogation scene with Vaughn.

A moment of hesitation.  The scene in which Norman unknowingly tosses Marion’s stolen money in her trunk along with her corpse was always a delicious bit of irony.  But Van Sant, or perhaps Vaughn, added a nifty bit in which he hesitates for a moment before dropping it inside, as if he wants to open up the paper but thinks better of it.  Of course the swamp gets the money because—altogether now—“these were crimes of passion, not profit.”

Wink wink.  Lila was always a firebrand, but as portrayed by Julianne Moore she’s tough and smart as hell.  Maybe that’s why, when she and Norman lock eyes at the motel counter, she deflects suspicion by winking flirtatiously at him.  An amused (aroused?) Norman winks back.  (On a side note, Heche suggests on the entertaining DVD commentary that Moore plays her as a lesbian.  Let the debating begin.)

Man to man.  Hitchcock exploited the resemblance between Anthony Perkins and John Gavin for the scene in which they have an increasingly heated conversation in the office.  But in the remake, the tension starts the moment they come face to face in the doorway—and it’s decidedly sexual.  Considering Van Sant’s sexuality, and the heartthrob status of both actors at the time, the homoerotic undertones could easily be deliberate.


-Justin Lockwood

mariah carey, an appreciation

I have suffered much ridicule for my love of Mariah. It began in 1995 when I bought the Daydream cassette at Wal-Mart. I played it out and especially loved "Always Be My Baby." Next was Butterfly. I still think this is her best and most accomplished album but many have said this was the start of her musical downfall. For once she wasn't singing bland Tommy Mottola-approved material. Gone were the bombast, treacly ballads. A lot of the lyrics on Butterfly were much more complex and sophisticated than Mariah's ditzy image and cheesy album titles would lead you to believe. Who else slant rhymes "butterfly" with "abandonedly?" (is this even a word?) She even covered Prince with "The Beautiful Ones." She was dipping more into urban grooves (sampling Mobb Deep on "The Roof" and her collaboration with Bone Thugs on the sublime "Breakdown"). I remember people's offensive comments on how she was trying to act "ghetto" and "black" to sell records. I just saw it as her doing the kind of music she loved. She also was changing with the times.


I have a love for '97/'98 Mariah but I continue to watch her career, her outfits, and meltdowns with a mix of fascination, horror, and glee. She always seems to be self-deprecating and herself through her ups and downs. No matter what people may say about her, I will always be a lamb.

Lovely video for "The Roof"

Mariah Carey f. Mobb Deep - The Roof- Watch more Music Videos at Vodpod.