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Quoted: Andy Warhol shares a meal with William S Burroughs. Nico sings "Chelsea girls". Filmed inside the Chelsea Hotel, New York in 1980.

nico bored the crap out of me. but the first 3 minutes of andy warhol and william burroughs having a banal dinner convo is worth watching. if only i get a play by play by some british reporter the next time i'm having dinner with my friends!

Quoted: Jean had very specific ideas about dying. He summarized them in a song he wrote, which he read as Mike Kelley’s band played on the stage at Whiskey Pete’s, a casino near Las Vegas, in 1996, during the “Chance Event” organized by my wife, Chris Kraus. Jean had always wanted someone to take care of his death, and Marine, with grace, cheerfulness, and despair in her heart, allowed him to die as he wished.

Quoted: The band was created in 1992 by Kathi Kamen Goldmark, a singer and musician who was working part time as a media escort in Los Angeles, driving authors around on their book tours. “When they heard I sang in a band, that’s all many of them wanted to talk about,” she recalled on Thursday. “They’d say: ‘You’re kidding. You’re so lucky!’ ” She came up with the idea of putting together a literary band to give a benefit concert at a Los Angeles book fair that year and sent out a dozen or so faxes. Those who responded became the Rock Bottom Remainders, and with a few additions the band has been together ever since.

band members include amy tan, dave barry, ridley pearson, stephen king, scott turow and mitch albom.

and sometimes maya angelou.

for rills.

Quoted: Author Jonathan Lethem was a big fan of the comic "Omega the Unknown" when he was a boy growing up in Brooklyn, and he was pretty depressed when the superhero vanished from corner store shelves. Never fear. He'll see Omega in print again soon, because Marvel Entertainment is reviving the comic after 30 years — with Lethem writing the story.

Quoted: No, no, Jonathan Lethem concedes, he's not really in favor of plagiarism. At least not the deceptive, thieving kind. But he does want to spark an argument that will "explode the word."

having an oeuvre is to a large extent my bread and butter. unlike when i was a designer, i only appropriate if i'm making a specific point (historic reference, visual associations, symbolism, pastiche... whatevs).

i'm aware i cannot escape my influences and that i am in some way influencing those around me. but the subject of plagiarism definitely surrounds me in my immediate environment. when i see someone else in my studio start using marks or process similar to mine, like out of nowhere, i can't help but wonder if some shit's going down. perhaps that's why so many of my peers don't like to talk about their work. and others spend most of their time developing complicated material processes that they refuse to share. there's definitely a large grey area here. i guess it's like that saying about porn: i can't describe exactly what it is, but i'll know it when i see it.

Quoted: on April 17 the first book in 30 years to be published under the name JRR Tolkien is released worldwide. The Children of Hurin, started in 1918 but abandoned, has been 'reconstructed' by the writer's son Christopher.

Quoted: Kurt Vonnegut, whose dark comic talent and urgent moral vision in novels like “Slaughterhouse-Five,” “Cat’s Cradle” and “God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater” caught the temper of his times and the imagination of a generation, died Wednesday night in Manhattan. He was 84 and had homes in Manhattan and in Sagaponack on Long Island.

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Quoted: Atwood Discusses Religion. Atwood's most famous novel, The Handmaid's Tale, depicts a democracy transformed into a theocracy of God-quoting true believers who strip women of their rights. Bill Moyers explores how these two confessed agnostics come to grips with a world immersed in belief.

part 1 of 3 >

excellent interview with a very smart woman. besides religion, also touches on human nature, language and imagination.

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Quoted: Atwood Discusses Religion

> part 2 of 3 >

speaking of strict agnostics, i had a couple of recent conversations with other recovering catholics/christians regarding atheism and agnosticism. specifically about why we would choose one or the other given our similar religious upbringing. this definitely cleared up a few things and generated some future reading materials. =)