Welcome to Fantasy Island
You're gonna love it here.
[photo by me]
The weather has been cooler in Los Angeles lately, which is nice. In other news, did you know that California has one of the lowest Covid-rates in the nation? Also, Governor Newsom handily survived a stupid, money-wasting recall.
In any case, let’s get to it.
I’ve been really into bookstores lately. Have you ever been to Counterpoint Records and Books? They play hip hop and have a copy of Gang Bang Island for $12, if you’ve been looking for one. I also like Skylight Books. So does Natalie Portman. Check out the nearby Skylight Books Arts Annex if you’re looking for art books, cool comics, or weird magazines. I bought a copy of Joseph Rodriguez’s LAPD 1994 there. Also, I recommend Alias Books East. It has a very well curated selection, interesting art on the walls, and a discerning proprietor. I scored My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, which is fantastic.
Recently, I watched “Bitchin’: The Sound and Fury of Rick James.” It reveals the man behind the mythology. Did you know that Rick James started out playing in a band with Neil Young? There are lots of interesting details about how he crafted his look and onstage persona and what he thought of that Chappelle skit. It also dives into his troubled relationship with women. Rap legend Roxanne Shante recounts a time during which she stayed with Rick while working on an album and how she didn’t know the name of the woman that Rick was living with at the time because he only called her “bitch.”
If you only have one eye, learn how to prance.
My favorite Met gala look: Rihanna and ASAP Rocky.
We finally got a trailer for “Succession” season three. It looks awesome. The third season of the best series currently on TV premieres on October 17.
When I was living in New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina swept through, I lost a lot of things. That included all the copies of magazines in which my writing had appeared and a lot of VHS tapes featuring TV appearances I’d made. So I finally started ordering copies of some of those old issues, including Harper’s Bazaar, Details, and Detour. It made me a bit nostalgic for print and the days when I’d find out the new issue was out, and I’d go down to the magazine rack off Hollywood Boulevard, and I’d flip through the pages to see my name.
Sorry, I was trapping.
The Wall Street Journal has a damning expose of how Facebook knew Instagram was bad for teen girls. “For the past three years, Facebook has been conducting studies into how its photo-sharing app affects its millions of young users. Repeatedly, the company’s researchers found that Instagram is harmful for a sizable percentage of them, most notably teenage girls.”
Mostly, I’m focused on writing my book.
And when I’m not doing that, I’m working.
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