For the Purity of Our Precious Bodily Fluids: an Essay on Eroticism in Vampire Films

For the Purity of Our Precious Bodily Fluids: an Essay on Eroticism in Vampire Films

By
William Meyer
Emerson College

In 1896, with The Devil Castle, Georges Melies introduced the world to vampire films. Since then, the vampire movie has become a mainstay of popular horror. According to John L. Flynn, Brain Stoker's Dracula has been adapted for the screen more often than any other book, while the word vampire has appeared 1046 times in film titles. One reason behind this remarkable popularity is the close association between vampirism and eroticism that cinema has explored and exploited to increasing degrees over the years. These films have frequently presented various taboo aspects of sexuality; from sadomasochism to dominance and submission to homoeroticism. The settings of horror and fantasy are used to showcase the titillation of these forbidden topics. Over the years the explicitness of these representations have been molded by the changing standards of censorship.

A great deal has been written on the portrayal of sexuality in vampire literature, primarily Dracula and Le Fanu's classic story; Carmilla. The scene in Dracula in which Jonathan Harker is set upon by Dracula's three brides is the most overtly erotic piece of writing in the novel. This scene is interesting in many respects. It represents a rape scene in which the victim is male. This is no small deviation from our normal ideas of sexuality; Harker's vague recognition of one of the female vampires has been interpreted by several critics as a moment of Oedipal fantasy. There is also a brief passage which sounds like nothing so much as a description of fellatio. "The girl went on her knees... Lower and lower went her head... I could hear the churning sound of her lips and tongue (Stoker, 42). Critic David J. Skal has written on the
connection between vampirism and fellatio. He argues that the unconscious mind does not distinguish between bodily fluids and cites such varied personages as black magician Aleister Crowley and born-again Christian Anita Bryant equating vampirism and oral sex. Another interesting point in this scene is Harker passively awaiting the bite of the vampire woman. This resignation has been read as the male desire to be penetrated and therefore contains homoerotic implications.

Critics have also found in Dracula and Carmilla evidence of a fear of female sexuality; In Dracula, Lucy, who is characterized as sexually aggressive, is ultimately destroyed by the homosocial Crew of Light in a scene evocative of a brutal gang rape. Lucy has earlier shown her deviancy in her expressed desire to marry three different men. The male group decides that Lucy is a danger and takes it upon themselves to hunt her down and violently penetrate her with a wooden stake. In Carmilla, Laura's father is threatened by the possible sexual awakening of his daughter by the lesbian Carmilla, and he and other paternal figures enact brutal vengeance.

The many studies of literary vampirism have already explored the sexual deviancy of these monsters, but what of their filmic counterparts? The titillation and demonization of sexuality in Carmilla and Dracula can be seen as a reflection of the repression of the Victorian era during which these stories were written. During the course of the 20th century, as mores changed, we have seen greatly differing filmic interpretations of these texts and their erotic content. As Skal reminds us, "the sexuality in Dracula is both rancid and repellent. The story's nightmarish power derives in part from the tension wrought by a highly ‘civilized' Victorian surface narrative clashing with a raging subtext of unsublimated animalism (Skal, 8). Stoker's Count Dracula is a far cry from the seductive portrayal of Christopher Lee or Gary Oldman's tragically romantic Count. While Dracula does indeed grow young in the book, he never becomes attractive. The power of Stoker's Dracula has consistently been portrayed in film as sexual.

It is interesting to see how the portrayal of Dracula himself has developed over the years. In the original Nosferatu (1922) directed by F. W Murnau, the first film adaptation of Stoker's novel, the vampire Graf Orlock (referred to as Dracula in many American prints) is a vile, reptilian creature with rat like incisors for fangs. In 1931, Lugosi's Dracula, while not necessarily attractive, is well dressed and characterized by his aristocratic bearing. Christopher Lee's Dracula of the late 50's to early 70's emphasized the powerful seductive qualities of the character, and by 1979, the Frank Langella version presented Stoker's classic work of horror as a tale of long lost love.

It may be pertinent at this point to note that the more overtly erotic content of later vampire films is as much a reflection of audience demand as any inherent sexuality of the vampire itself. Warner Bros., which distributed the Hammer horror films in the United States, pressed the studio to include more lurid content in each subsequent picture. While 1958's Horror of Dracula was denounced for its explicit violence and heavy sexual content, it hardly compares to the frontal nudity of later Hammer films. The specific ability of film to offer actual visual images and impressions was seized upon by the makers of vampire films. Hammer Studios managed to garner high profits from medium budgets largely due to constantly pushing the envelope of ever-loosening censorship.

While earlier vampire films were not as lurid, they still often contained elements of sexual deviancy. In 1918, two film versions of Hanns Heinz Ewers's popular gothic story Alraune were made. Unfortunately, neither of these films seem to have survived the first World War. The original source material tells the tale of a mad scientist who artificially inseminates a prostitute to create a beautiful woman. The woman, it turns out, is vampiric and must feast on human blood. Eventually, the creature wants a sexual relation with the scientist, her spiritual Luther. These two missing adaptations are considered the first films to associate vampirism and sexual perversion.

While Nosferatu (1922) does not contain any explicit sexual content, one of its deviations from Stoker's novel is that Ellen must sacrifice her purity in order to destroy the monster. As Ken Gelder points out, "By making Ellen's decision to let the vampire into her bedroom central to the narrative, Nosferatu inevitably invokes the conventional presentation of woman as virgin and whore (Gelder, 97). Ellen must save both by virtue of her purity and by her willingness to give up that purity. This creates a narrative ambiguity, if not an outright contradiction. Although this is a narrative deviation from Stoker's novel, it could be argued that the conflicting attitude towards female sexuality represented her is quite reflective of the Victorian mores of the original book.

The Hammer cycle of vampire films were among the first to overtly focus on the seduction aspect of the vampire attack. The attack of Dracula in these films resembles foreplay, and his female victims tend to enjoy, rather than resist, his bite. Horror of Dracula (1958) distanced itself from its Universal predecessor by a more direct representation of sex and violence. In one of the first scenes, Harker narrowly escapes attack by a noticeably well endowed female vampire. Sequences like this make explicit the thematic connection between the erotic and the dangerous that runs through so many exploitative films. Eleven years later, in Taste the Blood of Dracula, the moaning of Dracula's victims is practically indistinguishable from a female orgasm.

By the early 1970's, due to pressures of the box office and the gradual loosening of censorship standards, the Hammer films had become much more direct in their portrayal of sexual material. Films like The Vampire Lovers (1970), Lust For a Vampire (1971), and Twins of Evil (1972) began to showcase full- frontal nudity and scenes of lesbian sex.. The sexual content of these films was soon outdone by lower budget soft and hardcore pornographic vampire films like "Dracula Sucks (1979).

The connections between vampirism and sex can be clearly seen in many of the vampire parodies. By their satiric nature, the films overemphasize many of the traditions and subtexts of vampire cinema. Blood For Dracula (1974) (also know as Andy Warhol's Dracula) is a particularly exploitative example of a campy vampire send up. In this film, the Count, excellently portrayed by Udo Kier, must go in search of virgin blood. He travels to Italy seeking a maiden bride. A poor but aristocratic family gives him a room at their house and attempts to marry off their daughters to him. Sex and brutality abound in this film. Of the four daughters, the two that are considered marriageable are sexually involved with Mario, the farm hand. During sexual encounters, Mario frequently slaps the girls around. When they explain that Dracula is seeking a virgin bride, he asks "what does he want with you two whores? Mario eventually becomes the film's de facto hero by killing Dracula and eradicating the vampire menace. This hero's most memorable line may be when he says of the fourteen year old daughter, "I'd like to rape the hell out of her. Which he later does, explaining to the mother that he's trying to protect the girl from Dracula.

Incest is also among the perversions portrayed in this movie. The two middle daughters are also sexually involved with each other. Their submission to Mario's brutality is quite disturbing even by exploitation film standards. Indeed, the rape sequences and the final messy dismemberment of Dracula by Mario have led John L. Flynn to dismiss the film as “trash like Blood Feast (1964) and Orgy of the Dead (1966)” (Flynn, 169). Perhaps what is so disturbing about Blood for Dracula is that while it is a tongue-in-cheek parody, it is not exactly lighthearted. The sheer brutality and injustice presented in the film begs a more serious consideration than mere camp.

Roman Polanski's The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967) is a much more palatable example of the vampire parody. This film focuses on the bumbling exploits of two vampire hunters, Professor Ambrosius and his assistant Alfred. Although portrayals of lesbianism are common in vampire cinema, male homosexuality is rarely portrayed. In The Fearless Vampire Killers, we see the other side of the coin when a male vampires attempts to seduce Alfred. This is an inversion of the generic norm. This scene comically trangresses the standards of the vampire genre itself. In doing so, it points out the conservative limitations of the typical vampire film.

Sexual deviancy is given a comic treatment here. There are several images of voyeurism in this film. Sharon Tate's breasts are carefully showcased by the camera on more than one occasion. Alfred falls in love while watching the young lady bathe. There are also several amusing scenes of the innkeeper sneaking out of his wife's bed and rather ineptly attempting to seduce the maid. Ultimately, the sexual allure of Sarah leads to the hero's downfall.

Ambrosius and Alfred daringly infiltrate the vampire's ball and take Sarah away with them. However, whilst escaping in the back of the sleigh, Sarah bites Alfred and vampirizes him. Ambrosius drives on, unwittingly bringing the very menace he meant to destroy to the world at large. Frighteningly enough, the underlying themes of sex and violence in Polanski's films became all too real two years later when Tate was murdered by members of the Manson gang.

Aside from the obvious comic irony of the last scene, this undoing also points to a larger theme prevalent in vampire films. While these movies showcase a wide range of deviations and perversions, the transgressors are almost universally punished. Like Faust, Lilith, or Satan, the vampire flagrantly disregards the natural order of things. He lives beyond the grace of God. The vampire's undead state is an affront to nature. As such, he must be punished.

While vampire films may be said to glorify sexual perversion, they ultimately equate deviant sexuality with monsters. The perversions of sadomasochism, homosexuality, and incest are decried by moralists as unnatural. Their association with creatures of evil in vampire films serves only to strengthen this demonization of sexuality. The spectator is allowed to vicariously enjoy the deviant actions of the characters and then feel self-righteously assured when the characters are punished for their transgressions. One of the few deviations from this pattern is the aforementioned Blood for Dracula. Although the Count himself is killed off in the final reel, the audience is left with a rapist as a hero. Mario's sexual transgressions remain unpunished at the end. Indeed, in many ways he would seem to be rewarded for his sexual violence. It is this lack of moral closure that makes the film effective and has caused its offhand dismissal by so many critics.

Brain Stoker's Dracula (1992), directed by Francis Ford Coppola, is notable as arguably the most sexually explicit interpretation of Stoker's novel. The sheer number of exposed breasts in the film are enough to classify it as either an art film or an exploitation flick. The various vampire attacks in the book are here shown as clearly sexual acts of seduction. However, despite the overtly erotic content of this film, it lacks the transgressive edge of many others. Despite whatever artistic merits it may or may not have, Brain Stoker's Dracula is ultimately a healthily budgeted mainstream film. One could hardly expect mainstream audiences to digest the brutal sexuality of Blood For Dracula (1974). While Coppola has stated his intention to clearly portray the sexual subtext of the novel, he deals only passingly with the terror. Coppola's film is sanitized and made safe by borrowing the subplot of a reincarnated love from the 1979 version of Dracula. The edge of dangerous eroticism is blunted by being couched within a love story.

This is not to say that this is merely a conservative film. Nor are the others mentioned. They each have their transgressive aspects. It is impossible to come to any single, conclusive, judgmental statement about the history of eroticism in vampire films. Many of the texts discussed here have their ambiguities and allow for multiple readings. While I have commented above on the relatively safe and sanitized aspects of Brain Stoker's Dracula, the film still contains many lurid sequences of explicit sexuality. While tame compared to many underground offerings, some of its elements are at least mildly shocking for a big budget studio film. The lasting impressions of lurid sexuality outweigh the love story and narrative retribution for many viewers.

Blood For Dracula is so ambiguous that it can at times be disturbing. The film refuses to morally judge its characters. While, as previously mentioned, Mario is a questionable choice for a hero, Dracula himself is hardly heroic. He is a pathetic old aristocrat in search of virgin blood. Good and bad are not clearly and safely defined. They exist within a contested gray area, and the audience must sort them out for itself. Blood For Dracula makes no excuses for its brutal depravity. It simply is as it is. The campy tone renders the extreme brutality even more disturbing than a straight portrayal would. It helps to evoke unease in the audience. Blood For Dracula explores the troubling space between humor and repulsion. The film is shocking in its humor, and humorous in its shock value. This ambiguity is what places it above simple camp or exploitation.

There is a certain moral ambiguity at work in all these films. The transgressive aspects of vampires are punished, but they are also glorified. As censorship loosened, increasingly graphic sexuality was balanced by the increasingly violent death of the vampire in the final reel. The films attempt to excuse their sexual and violent content through narrative retribution, but this does not alter the luridly transgressive nature of the images themselves.

Much of the basic iconography of vampire films can be read in sexual terms. As mentioned earlier, there is a strong connection between the acts of bloodsucking and oral sex. The small twin bite wounds of many cinematic vampires with their bright red centers have been said to resemble nipples. The act of biting is an act of penetration, and the wooden stake is a violent phallic symbol. In many shots, the biting of a female characters neck gives the camera an opportunity to focus upon cleavage. This harkens back to a Freudian perspective that relates bloodsucking to infantile oral appetites. The poster for the 1979 Dracula, starring Frank Langella, "features the Count ogling a supine victim's neck, but our gaze is pulled instead to the undead uplift of the woman's breasts, (Skal, 10). Indeed, in later films like The Graveyard Shift (1987) and many of the lesbian vampire movies, vampires go straight for the breasts in their attempts to feed.

Another pertinent point is portrayals of the body in vampire films. In their book, The Politics and Poetics of Transgression, Peter Stallybrass and Allon White write a great deal about representations of the body. Citing Bakhtin, they discuss the difference between the body as represented in popular festivals (low culture) and classic statuary (high culture). The high culture body "has no openings or orifices whereas grotesque costumes and masks emphasize the gaping mouth, the protuberant belly and buttocks, the feet and the genitals (Stallybrass and White, 22). The classical body is a perfect closed system, unsullied by the world around it. It is pure and self-contained, whereas the grotesque body with its various orifices and protrusions is constantly excreting or consuming.

The most obvious violation of the classical body in these films is the act of feeding. in scenes of attack and seduction, the vampire's teeth penetrates the victim's skin, disrupting its closedness. The vampire then drinks from the victim. Body fluids flow freely from victim to aggressor. The body is no longer whole and pure. it has been rendered grotesque. In classical statuary, little attention was paid to the lower body Strata. The less than impressive size of the genitalia on many classic statues is a way of marginalizing these body parts. They are barely represented at all. They are rendered negligible. The specific iconography of vampire films offer more indirect ways of representing the sexual organs. As mentioned above, the stake of the vampire hunter has clear phallic connotations. Also phallic are the teeth. They penetrate the body of the often female victim and plant their seed in the victim's body, creating a new vampire. The vampire's attack is in many ways an act of impregnation. This idea is carried even farther in the psuedo-vampiric Alien films. In these films, victims become hosts for the offspring of their alien attackers. Much of the terror is due to the idea of being rendered female by the rape and impregnation of an alien creature. The wounds inflicted by the vampire's teeth are new bodily orifices, and can be read as vaginal. When Dracula slices open his chest and brings Mina to feed from him, many critics have interpreted the small slit inflicted by his fingernail as representative of the female sexual organ.

In the more graphically violent films, the classical body is violated through acts of brutality. The surface of the body is broken by weapons and blood flows freely from the wounds. The wholeness of the body is attacked. A particularly memorable example of this is the Count's death in Blood for Dracula. Mario attacks the Count with an axe, lopping off his limbs before driving the obligatory stake into his chest. Through this over the top act of violence, Count Dracula's body is made less than whole. The scenes of vomiting in this and many other vampire films are also examples of the body portrayed in the grotesque form. Although these violent acts are not overtly erotic, the violation of the classical body that they present has interesting correlations to modern studies on sexual perversion.

In his book, Observing the Erotic Imagination, Robert J. Stoller, M.D. discusses the connections between eroticism and hostility. According to Stoller, perverse sexual fantasies are characterized by the inclusion of humiliation or harm to one or more parties involved. This is largely a defensive measure. Through fantasy, past "trauma... is converted to a triumph, (Stoller, 32). The objectification of sexual partners so central to many perversions, is indicative of a fear of true intimacy. For those who do not fear dissolution, intimacy is a joy. For those who do, there is an even more primitive threat: if I let someone in -if I thereby merge with that person - may her or she not, like an evil spirit, possess me, take me over entirely? Then, the great terror, I shall lose myself. It is against such fundamental menace that perversion is invented. (Stoller, 29) Through fetishization and other sexual aberrations, the perverse person (I hesitate to use the term pervert, with all its judgmental weight) seeks to preserve the wholeness and purity of their person. Like the classical body, they wish for their self to be untouchable, closed, and whole. They fear being corrupted by intimate contact with the outside world. The violation of the person through intimate sexual contact is roughly equivalent to the destruction of the body by physical violence.

As mentioned above, Stoller sees hostility as a vital element in perverse sexual fantasy. This is not a particularly radical viewpoint. However, Stoller goes one step further by questioning what separates perverse from normal sexuality. He sees elements of hostility in all sexual fantasy. Whether this is true or not, it is safe to say that fear and risk can serve to heighten eroticism. It is only natural, then, that eroticism should be so closely associated with the horror genre. Vampires, like sex itself, are both alluring and dangerous. From a purely physiological standpoint, fear and sexual arousal are closely related. Psychologically, the fears and insecurities that many of us have about sex are reflected in the terror of horror films. Sex is not merely an added attraction in these films, it is part of the unease.

Over the years, vampire films have portrayed sexuality and eroticism in many different ways and to many different extents. Taboo sexuality has been alternately glorified and demonized in these movies. The loosening of censorship has allowed more overt portrayals of the sexuality that was previously relegated to subtext. While most of these films follow the conservative pattern of punishing the transgressors, it would be an oversimplification to read them as merely supportive of the dominant ideologies. The titillation associated with deviant sexuality in these films leaves a lasting impression that can not be erased by last minute narrative moralism. From the underground to mainstream Hollywood, eroticism in vampire films remains an interesting and potent force in the realm of cinema.

Works Cited

Blood For Dracula, Dir. Paul Morrissey. Perf. Joe Dallesandro, Udo Kier, Arno Juerging, and Milen Vukotic. Bryanston Pictures, 1974.

Brain Stoker's Dracula, Dir. Francis Ford Coppola. Perf. Gary Oldman, Winona Ryder, Anthony
Hopkins, and Keanu Reeves. Columbia Pictures Corporation, 1992.

The Fearless Vampire Killers, Dir. Roman Polanski. Perf. Jack McGowran, Roman Polanski, Alfie Bass, Jessie Robbins, and Sharon Tate. Filmways Productions, 1967.

Horror of Dracula, Dir. Terrance Fisher. Perf. Peter Gushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Cough, Melissa Stribling, Carol Marsh, and Olga Dickie, Hammer Film Productions Limited, 1958.

Nosferatu, Dir. F. W. Murnau. Perf. Max Schreck, Karl Etlinger, Gustav Botz, John Gottowt, and Greta Schroder. Prana-film, 1922.

Flynn, John L. Cinematic Vampires. London: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1992.

Gelder, Ken. Reading the Vampire. London, Routledge, 1994.

Skal, David J. "Bloodsuckers & Cocksuckers Bright Lights 14: 4-11.

Stallybrass, Peter and Allon White. The Politics and Poetics of Transgression. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1986.

Stoker, Brain Dracula. New York: Barnes and Noble Books, 1998.

Stoller, Robert J., M.D. Observing the Erotic Imagination. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1985. Meyer 6

belgrade looting

Mankind's true nature when he/she thinks no one will catch them?

what's the worst thing that can happen?

An Open Letter to Washington Mutual / WaMu

It is my great hope that this message gets forwarded to the district manager who oversees the Journal Square Wamu branch in Jersey City, NJ.

Out of all the banks I've used in my life, no branch has treated me more poorly and unfairly than the Washington Mutual Journal Square branch.

The most recent injustice occurred on December 14, 2007 when I deposited a check drafted directly from Wachovia for XXXXX. The lady at the teller told me she had to call in to verify the check which she did and I thought everything had been processed and taken care of.

It is now December 19th and the check still has not been processed. Let's not overlook the timing of this during the holidays, WaMu is absolutely putting unnecessary strain and stress that no customer should have to endure.

I went down to the local branch today to find out why they had refused to make my funds available and they said half of it would clear on Friday, the other half EIGHT DAYS FROM TODAY. That's a total of 13 days waiting time for a bank-issued check (not a personal check, mind you) to clear. How in the world am I suppose to not take that personal? This is Christmastime, I have bills to pay, and you pull this crap on me? Seriously?

Some of the other problems I've had with Washington Mutual or, if you will WaMu Journal Square have been stolen deposits and badmouthing my good name.

Stolen deposit: check your records, this year, I deposited cash in the ATM one late night and WaMu Journal Square processed this envelope as empty. When I went down to the branch to complain, they basically called me a liar to my face and said that it could not have happened. Three weeks later, I assume after some kind of investigation was launched, the funds mysteriously reappeared in my account, No apologies were given, no explanations were made, no mention of thieves being fired. No respect, unfortunately. I guess they must have looked at the videotape. Now who's the liar WaMu? Look at your bank records, you tell me.

And last but not least, the few times online bill pay has not worked for me, my landlord called up WaMu to find out what the problem was because they know me to be a responsible person always paying in a timely manner. WaMu went on to tell my landlord that I was a tier 2 customer of theirs, and insisted that the mistake was my fault! Tier 2? Are you kidding me?

If and when my funds ever clear (hopefully before 2008, but I'm not holding my breath) I'll be taking my business elsewhere because of the way I've been treated at WaMu Journal Square in Jersey City, and I'll be wishing your company nothing but ill for rest of my life. I"m not lying about that.

PCLINUXOS is getting crappier

things aren't working. things that used to work quite well like Audacity and and soundKonvertor.

I just did the most recent update so hopefully that will resolve the fact that I can't get to the noise removal tool in audacity, in fact none of the editing tools have been availible.

one great thing that came out of these frustrations is the discovery of this site:

podtopia

I may get into that kind of stuff and the girl that runs the site seems quite helpful explaining things--even using video step-throughs that have already helped quite a bit.

Other Music May Have Just Saved My Indie Life

I was going to check online to see if Other Music has tickets to the Mum show this Friday night when I came across their new portal when you visit othermusic.com.

Turns out other music has a digital business now! This means I may not have to use Emusic after all.

Itunes is basically NOT linux friendly, leaving me with Emusic as my digital alternative. I really like Emusic, but their selection is somewhat limited. I'd rather pay more per mp3 for more selection.

Unfortunately all their digital music is only availible in 320 kbp non variable bit MP3. I say unfortunately because mp3 isn't open source like ogg vorbis or flac, but I can live with that. AND the mp3's that Other Music sells ARE DRM-free, so FU to apple and itunes, once and for all.

kind of moved, but not really

So all my knicks content has been rerouted and going forward can be found at www.knicksdefense.com

This site now mostly serves as a place holder for my valued hyperlinks, but also to occasionally expound on some other shit.

got bandwidth?

so I just took this bandwidth test to test the new modem comcast has installed, here are the results:

22929 kbps download rate

1361 kbps upload rate

I'll have to research those numbers further to see if I'm getting my money's worth for cable internet...

free NEW deerhoof mp3's

the fantastic San Francisco band we know as deerhoof have free remix mp3's posted on their website. some of the recordings are live, only a few aren't extremely great, so get them while you can!

summer photos

apple, ipod, itunes and rick rubin

I came across this article online where a mac fan beats up on rick rubin for saying ipods are going the way of obsolete.
>>>

Rick Rubin, co-chairman of Columbia Records, has publicly stated that the iPod and iTunes models are doomed, with the way to go being subscription-based, music-anywhere, services.

In fact, he thinks the whole music business will only be saved by going to a subscription model, but he's quick to pick on the iPod. "The iPod will be obsolete, but there would be a Walkman-like device you could plug into speakers at home," he said.

Rubin's motivation is that adopting cheap music subscription services will curb illegal downloads, believing that "If music is easily available at a price of five or six dollars a month, then nobody will steal it."

I'm not convinced.
Click here to find out more!

What's more amusing is that somehow, in Rubin's mind, the iPod and iTunes can't evolve but this mythical "Walkman-like device" can. Hmm... who owns Columbia Records? Ahh yes, Sony.

The iPod has evolved and, in fact, so has the Walkman. If it hadn't, we'd still be messing about with cassette tapes.

Apple already has a device that you can plug your iPod into at home - the iPod Hi-Fi - and if that doesn't suffice then there are plenty of iPod speaker docks that do the same thing.

Rubin isn't saying anything revolutionary. Subscription-based music services have been around for years, and the idea of mobile music and a converged home is a reality to many.

Even fellow chairman at Columbia, Steve Barnett, isn't convinced. "Smart people have told me if the subscription model is not done correctly it will be the final nail in our coffin. I've heard both sides of the argument, and I'm not convinced it's the solution to our problems. Rick wants to be a hero immediately. In his mind, you flick a switch and it's done. It doesn't work like that," he said.

I wouldn't want to be in the Columbia board room after that little spat.

>>>

My response, which for some reason was not accepted by the blog:

rick rubin is a musical genius. would I place money on the forcast of a studio producer of that of some business major? maybe. in this case, he may be on to something.

i own an ipod 30g video. it is certainly not the latest or the greatest, but i bring it up here because i don't want you to think i'm an ipod hater before bringing up ipod's list of flaws.

1. battery life. it sucks. always has, probably always will. if sony is going to try and steal some of ipod's glory, i'm 100% certain that it's product will have SUPERIOR battery life. I know that mac people get real sensitive about other tech being superior to that of their own, but in this case it is true.

2. DRM. steve jobs wouldn't be writing open letters to the major music labels if he wasn't worried about his current setup of itunes and consequently ipod. anything you buy from itunes is going to have proprietary drm encoding, preventing your purchased mp3 from truly being your own. you may have a copy of a song that you think you are happy with, but that song has been designed to be transferred a maximum of usually 3 times before it becomes locked and unmovable. rubin's point about subscriptions services is 100% right in that respect, because websites like emusic offer mp3's that are DRM free, and you truly own the mp3's you get from websites like emusic.

so in my mind the only thing mr. rubin could have said better is that "itunes" is obsolete rather than "ipod." He got the wrong "i" as it were.

0% of my ipod music collection was downloaded from itunes, because I can't stand proprietary technology and let's face it, since the beginning, steve jobs and the folks over at apple have made their entire fortune based on proprietary rights. they may say otherwise, but it is in their best interest to keep their technology highly proprietary, to maximize profits margins because you'll have no choice but to buy from them.

by the way, my brother's new macbook has a proprietary power cord. the thing broke last month. what should cost $40 max for a ac adapter is universally priced by mac at around $80. a wonderful illustration of the unfortunate pitfalls proprietary philosphy. they're at least doubling their profit margins in this example alone.

that's why I don't use windows anymore, why I don't use mac anymore. I use linux, the most robust operating system on the planet.

Fear Is Your Only God!

so unbelievably good. so awesome.


Just amazing guitars. I've never seen a band rock that hard, and I saw this band play in summer of 1993. That was a spiritual concert for me.

rage against the machine are more relevant now than they've ever been.

too bad they waited until 2007 to reunite.

they could have thrown an impeach Bush concert/festival. Peaches would have been there. (link) I'd imagine ol' Henry Rollins would have been there too. something tells me clear channel wouldn't have sponsored that concert.

I read somewhere that 1/3 of the US thinks that there are just grounds to impeach Bush, but since rich honkeys own the newspapers, no reporters are doing that story here in the states.


probably the entire music community would have played, except the country music people. they like ol' G dubya.

>>>>>>>

just switched to ubuntu from pclos yesterday after I had some packages that broke in synaptic. ubuntu is way slower overall and when I have the time in three weeks I'll be switching back to PCLOS or I might try another distro like opensuse or fedora. I liked Mint Linux but since it's based on ubuntu I might not be too pleased with the speed.

Ubuntu looks great though.

The Zach Randolph Trade and What's Next for Isiah's Knicks

Well the 2007 draft came and went for Isiah's Knicks. By the following morning, Channing Frye and Steve Francis were no longer Knicks. Isiah had drafted Wilson Chandler, and traded for the rights to second round draft pick Demetris Nichols. But, of course, the main buzz of the evening was created when Isiah pulled the trigger to land Zach Randolph, Fred Jones and Dan Dickau. Immediately after the trade was announced, Spike Lee was interviewed--he said that he likes Dick. Take what you will from that.

Randolph is a dominant power forward in the NBA. At this time, he is only 25 years of age. He has gotten in trouble outside of basketball many times in his young career, but if Isiah can influence him for the better, the Knicks may have improved with the transaction.

Of course for the real knicks fans, the first thing that came to mind when we traded for another power forward was, what happens to future nba all star David Lee's minutes now that Randolph is in town? According to recent interviews with Isiah, Lee is going to remain a substitute player, which implies that Quentin Richardson or Jared Jeffries will be the starting small forward for the 2007-2008 knicks--that is if they don't try to acquire Ron Artest between now and the beginning of the season in November.

Yes, the same Ron Artest that started the brawl over an empty beer cup, the same Artest that announced that he wanted to abruptly retire from the NBA to pursue his career in rap music. Artest, as I recall, stated a few years ago that he still wants to play for the Knicks, and Isiah may make that happen. Considering that Isiah should have been fired for not getting the Knicks in the playoffs last year, perhaps Isiah felt desperate to revamp the lineup.

I'm against the Ron Artest rumors, because I think Artest is emotionally disturbed. I don't think it's his fault, he just wasn't raised the right way, and has no control over his emotions. It is dangerous to have a guy like that on your team--because he is so unpredictable and violent.

Lets not forget that New York already has a pretty decent small forward in Quentin Richardson. The catch with Richardson, of course, is that he just had back surgery, and it is unknown how athletic he will be after his return. I'm hoping for a full recovery, because Q was the best player for the Knicks for the first month and a half of this past season, before his back started ailing him again.

There is also Jared Jeffries, Renaldo Balkman, Wilson Chandler and Demetris Nichols (each with their own unique talents) to consider at the three spot. Bottom line is, if everyone that is currently a Knick stays healthy, the Knicks may not need Artest to make some noise in the playoffs next season.

I am particularly against Artest coming to the knicks if the trade involves David Lee or Renaldo Balkman, two great players that will only get better as they learn the nuances of the NBA game. We haven't even seen a limit to Lee's upside yet, he doubled his numbers in his second season in the league to 10 points and 10 rebounds OFF THE BENCH. Balkman seems prime to follow suit if the minutes are given to him--but with the roster the way it is, minute management will be a touchy subject at nearly every position for the Knicks in 2007-2008.

NBA Finals: Game 1

Game one of the NBA Finals was played last night as the San Antonio Spurs hosted the Cleveland Cavaliers. As many predicted, the Spurs came away with the win, 85-76. Yet I disagree with the consensus among the sports media world, that the Spurs "outclassed" the Cavs (How can any team that starts Bruce Bowen, the dirtiest player in the NBA since Karl Malone, outclass any other team?). Most sports writers consider this series a blowout, but I don't. Here's why:

LeBron James and Larry Hughes combined to shoot 5-21 from the field. Kudos to the Spurs for their shut-down defense (the only player I really dislike on San Antonio is Bowen). Yet despite the lack of production from the two major players on the Cavs, they made an impressive run with about 6 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, a time when the Spurs struggled to put up any points. Look at the final score, a mere 9-point difference, now if James or Hughes (or both) find a way to put up their regular numbers, then we have a series--and this thing could go to seven games.

Yes, you could argue that San Antonio was rusty going into the NBA Finals, with the layoff between the Western Conference series and the this one being over a week. Again, go to the box score, Duncan got his usual numbers, as did Parker and Ginobili, so unless there is some kind of fluke, look for the spurs total points in the game to stay in the mid 80's.

Like Jeff Van Gundy said last night, the first team to 80 wins in this NBA Finals, every time. If LeBron finds a way to produce his playoff average of 26 points/game, next time that team could easily be the Cavs. It would be amaizing, if not impossible, if San Antonio was able to stop LeBron for the entire series. And if they steal game two, watch out--because the next three games will be played in Cleveland.

Just wanted to put this point of view out there because I doubt it is being expressed very much right now with all the "outclassed" parroting dribble right now. Do sports writers even make an effort to be original anymore? Seriously, take a look at your newspaper, it's all one voice out there.

X-factors for a Cavs Victory in Game 2 of the NBA Finals: Gibson has obviously been the unsung hero for the Cavs during their run to the finals, but veteran defensive-minded point guard Eric Snow, should he ever get any minutes, might be able to slightly disrupt Tony Parker's game, which in effect would throw off San Antonio's entire game. Only Coach Brown knows if Snow's number will ever be called in this series, Snow played just 14 seconds in Game 1.

Billy Donovan Trying to Pull a Larry Brown on the Magic

I'm not that surprised that Billy Donovan is doing an about face at the beginning of a lucrative 5-year NBA deal. The ink isn't dry on his contract with the magic and he wants out.

It's not like Billy Donovan was Larry Brown's protege or anything. Oh wait, he was. At least Donovan didn't deliberately tank an entire Knick season before negotiating a buyout.

mangoes: pain-in-the-ass tasty treat

my apologies to my filipino brothers and sisters, but mangos have got to be the most annoying fruit on the face of the earth.

First, you need two utensils to eat the fucker. You'll need a) a knife and a spoon -if you're filipino or b) a knife and a fork if you're one of three americans who actually likes to eat mangos.

And lets not forget the odd shape of the fruit and its giant pit that make extracting the edible part of a mango more tedious than removing spyware from windows xp home edition.

And that's not to mention the stringy fiber that is all up in your teeth for two days after eating one.

Mangoes are a fruit where you'll probably be washing your hands immediately after eating one, otherwise walk around for the rest of the day with sticky hands a-la-kindergarden playground days.

And every time I've ever eaten a mango, I'm wearing a white t-shirt. Once that mango juice gets on your shirt? Forget about it. Might as well make it a tie-dye and send it to Bill Walton.

And finding a mango that's ripe? Good luck with that. Either its bitter and not ripe or you open it up and its a whole 'nother science project up in there. SOMETIMES they're just right; do consider playing the lottery on those days.

Mangos may taste good, but they're the most high maintenance, pain in the ass fruit ever.

Only In New York

WKCR.
Today they're doing the Charles Mingus birthday bash. 24+ hours of nothing but Charles Mingus.
Tomorrow they honor the recently departed Andrew Hill. Again, 24+ hours of Hill's music.
Next week, Duke Ellington. 24+ hours of Ellington.
In May, ONE FULL WEEK OF SAM RIVERS. No other radio station in the world can do stuff like this. Not one.

>>>

Sam Rivers Festival Broadcast

89.9 FM in New York
Streaming live online at www.wkcr.org
Starting Friday, May 18, 2007 at 12 noon
Ending Friday, May 25, 2007 at 9 p.m.

WKCR is proud to announce a week-long festival broadcast honoring the musical genius of Sam Rivers, set to air continuously for 177 hours during May 18-25, 2007.

In a career which spans over 60 years, multi-instrumentalist Sam Rivers has been an extraordinary force in the world of jazz and creative music. Whether through intricate composition or stunning free improvisation, his music synthesizes a broad spectrum of styles into a unique and forward-looking sound. Equally important to history was his proprietorship of Studio Rivbea, a vibrant performance space in lower Manhattan which nurtured exciting new expressions of jazz in New York's musician-driven renaissance of the 1970s. As a community-minded mentor and facile performer alike, Sam Rivers represents the highest level of artistic achievement and, remarkably, continues to innovate at the age of 83.

In a unique round-the-clock format, the festival will thoroughly explore Sam Rivers' fascinating musical world. The broadcast centers around a presentation of Rivers' complete recorded discography, supplemented by interviews with his fellow musicians and in-depth features on particular aspects of his music-making. Additionally, Sam Rivers will join us in studio to reflect on his career and share with listeners his living history.

In a tradition spanning over 35 years, WKCR's jazz department again presents a signature radio event: a multi-day salute to an under-recognized legend of the art form. In May of 2007, tune in to WKCR for Sam Rivers Radio.

A Major Victory for the NYC Cycling community?

If Bloomberg isn't just blowing smoke up our ass, this could mean less cars -and more bikes- in the city!
Power to the bikes!

Scott Skiles was always a piece of kaka

"From everything I hear, the Knicks are on the verge of becoming a great team," Skiles said sarcastically. "So they are probably a team we will be playing over and over again in the years to come. Something like this should not fester."

Fuck the Lower East Side

Fuck the lower east side, or what has become of the lower east side as of late, bunch of Goddamn rich stock brocker assholes moving in taking over shit. they're closing tonic! Tonic was in trouble a few years ago, this time they really are closing, and they only have one week left of shows.

tonicnyc.com

Every time I walk past that bullshit high rise luxury apartment building next to tonic, I'm going to fucking spit on the window or do some other kind of insiginicant vadalism, because that was place for beautiful music to be heard, and now it has to make way for the ugly, hiddeous people that are going to live there. Also fuck you to the bullshit high rise apartment building that supplanted what was once Luna Lounge. Better yet,FUCK YOU to all the new Lower East Side condo assholes. You think you're so cute putting up indoor swimming pools where artists once lived. You regard your life to be an episode of in sex and the city. Fuck your SUV, fuck Prada and fuck you. You took the coolest neighborhood in manhattan and turned it into yuppie SHIT.

>>>
from the website of tonic:

Dear Musicians, Fans and Friends:

After more than 9 years as a home for avant-garde, creative, and experimental music, Tonic will reluctantly close its doors on Friday, April 13th, 2007. We simply can no longer afford the rent and all of the other costs associated with doing business on the Lower East Side.

The neighborhood around us has been increasingly consumed by "luxury condominiums", boutique hotels and glass towers, all making the value of our salvaged space worth more then our business could ever realistically support. We have also been repeatedly harassed by the city's Quality of Life Task Force which resulted in the debilitating closing of the ))sub((tonic lounge in January. Coincidentally, this campaign began as our immediate neighbor, the Blue Condominium building - a symbol of the new Lower East Side - prepared to open its doors.

As a business, we take responsibility for mistakes made along the way. If profit had been our chief motivation we could have changed our programming to something more mainstream and financially lucrative. Instead we were more committed to a certain type of music and loyal to the community that supported us. As a result, we've always just survived but never really prospered. It is, however, unfortunate that it is so difficult for small businesses to operate in this city and that a chain store that can afford a high rent is more desirable than a place like Tonic that has a different kind of value.

While this is certainly the end of Tonic at 107 Norfolk Street, we remain committed to what Tonic represents and plan to try again in some form as soon as possible. In the interim, Tonic will make efforts to present new music in existing venues such as the Abron's Arts Center located just a few blocks away.

We invite you to join us as often as you can over our remaining days to help us celebrate Tonic and more importantly the amazing artists, our unwavering staff, and the nurturing community that made Tonic possible. It’s because of you that we’ve stayed open as long as we have. Thank you!

Sincerely, Melissa and John

Contact: tonic [at] tonicnyc.com