Papi Don’t Preach: Pedro Lemebel’s Anti-Macho Metaphysics of Love
Pedro Lemebel, queer artist and radical provocateur, was acknowledged to be an “essential figure of Chile” in his own country when he died in 2015. His work and life–“more than a writer; he was a free man” (per Wikipedia!)–are now becoming better known in El Norte. A documentary film, Lemebel, came out last year and Lemebel’s book Loco afán: crónicas de sidario (Crazy Desire: chronicles of the AIDS ward) has just been translated into English. What follows is a swatch from that report on gay life and death in a Latin American city of night.
Tactile Ghazal
Locked down with family, I’m blessed with touch.
People-heavy days, pets give the best touch.
The Snake in the Garden
This is not the old misogynistic story of
the mythic expulsion from the perfect garden
because we know that where knowledge is
forbidden to women there will be no perfection.
On Verra Ca: Balla Sidibe R.I.P. & Orchestra Baobab’s Legacy
Balla Sidibe—one of the original front men of the legendary afro-pop band Orchestra Baobab—has gone to see what’s coming for all of us. You can watch the late Sidibe sing lead (and dance) here as Baobab does a charming version of a song that dates back to the 70s, “On Verra Ca.” 2020 is the 50th anniversary year of the band’s founding.
This next song is another Baobab classic. It’s the track that got me on board their train to heaven.
Paul’s Epistle on “Key West”
Your editor asked Wallace Stevens’ biographer, Paul Mariani, to comment on Bob Dylan’s new song “Key West”…
I Will Never Be
xxxxxOld white woman in the woods—could go at a POP!
But this I know—I will never…be shot by a cop.
The Old Ball Game
Maybe the game you play first is the one that memory coats with the richest patina.
For me it is baseball…
Tom Cotton Vs The New York Times; Queering the Debate
As the demand for “moral clarity” in journalism grows, at least among progressive journalists, I’m forced to reconsider my career as a censor, back when I was an editor at The Village Voice.
At Camp We Sang “Dixie”
Struck by the non-response of her Facebook friends to the following post, Laurie Stone kept her movement of mind going…
The Comedy of Modern Life: Conner O’Malley’s American Breakdowns
Comic Conner O’Malley caught the MAGA moment on the wing a few years ago in a series of Vines (collected here). In these six-second shots: “O’Malley — playing a deranged car-and-wealth-obsessed man — would pull up to befuddled Manhattan businessmen in sports cars, scream guttural praise for their public display of opulence, and then bike away before they knew what hit them.”