hipper than you

April 10, 2005 11:13 AM

"Stray Prose"of Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth fame. Semicoherent Bob Dylan review, a paean to Kerouac, and an entertaining interview with William Burroughs. Pretentious, but, uh, you know, if you're into that sort of thing... There's some more stuff of his around his official site
posted by ITheCosmos (12 comments total)

Most of the Sonic Youth side projects and extracurricular activities strike me as too pretentious, but just when I'm ready to dismiss the whole lot they lure me back in with something good. The thing that hooked me on the Lee Renaldo site is the "Rhys Chatham: Meltdown!" bit on the front page. Maybe I just like them best when they're telling stories.
posted by Slack-a-gogo at 11:40 AM on April 10, 2005

Pretentious, but, uh, you know, if you're into that sort of thing...

Why yes, I most certainly am. So thank you.

On a side note, I still think it's very funny that Mr Ranaldo has choosen to feature a q&a session he and I had (via fax) back in 1995 on his site. It's my claim to fame, I guess. :)
posted by soundofsuburbia at 12:01 PM on April 10, 2005

Loved that Burroughs interview. Thanks!
posted by basicchannel at 12:24 PM on April 10, 2005

The Burroughs interview is amusing indeed. I took a course in filmmaking with Burroughs the same summer at Naropa that I took a course in literary history (previous FPP) with Allen Ginsberg, and found WSB to be a charming, sweet, witty, polite, and surprisingly understated dude -- an old-school Southern gentleman in some senses -- and quite droll to share a joint with.

I don't find Lee's site "pretentious," unless that word has come to mean "behaving like someone who reads books and is passionate about them." In fact, I find the site endearingly personal and casual. Thanks for the post.
posted by digaman at 12:34 PM on April 10, 2005

(screenwriting, not "filmmaking," to be more precise)
posted by digaman at 12:45 PM on April 10, 2005

Screenwriting with WSB and lit. history with Ginsberg?! *mind implodes*.
posted by basicchannel at 12:48 PM on April 10, 2005

My mind more exploded outward than imploded [grin].

Yes, it was wonderful. Corso, Peter Orlovsky, Anne Waldman, and other assorted Beat suspects were there too -- pretty heady stuff for a 19-year-old dork from Jew Nersey. Star Wars and The Grateful Dead Movie also came out that summer, as did Joni Mitchell's middle-era masterpiece Hejira... and there were a bunch of sharp-minded Zen masters and Tibetan lamas around as well. A wonderful summer.
posted by digaman at 1:06 PM on April 10, 2005

Sorry for the drift, but since Revenge of the Sith is coming out in a month, I may as well tell this story:

I saw Star Wars with Allen Ginsberg. When the screen crawl rolled up at the beginning saying, "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." Allen sighed, "Thank God, I don't have to worry about it!"
posted by digaman at 1:10 PM on April 10, 2005

Contains the single most reliable earmark of goodness namely an appreciation for WFMU.
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:39 PM on April 10, 2005

this is so old im gonna cry.
posted by Satapher at 8:33 PM on April 10, 2005

tho digaman, that is easily the best story ive ever heard
posted by Satapher at 8:47 PM on April 10, 2005

Thanks satapher. :)
posted by digaman at 11:04 PM on April 10, 2005