fear & loathing in puerto rico

This trailer has many things going for it - the stylings of 1950s Puerto Rico, a semi-fictional account of the birth of gonzo journalism and maybe most importantly, Bruce Robinson behind the camera. In his past life you may have seen him in the background of Zeffirelli's Romeo & Juliet as Benvolio, or being unbelievably beautiful in Truffaut's L'Histoire d'Adèle H. He's a self described failed actor and thank god for that because he went on to gift us with the black gem of Withnail & I, and is back to capture Johnny Depp channeling Hunter S Thompson for the second time around in The Rum Diary. No one makes inspired lunacy quite so appealing as this unholy trinity.

I love to see the towns go crawling by

I heard this at a party on the weekend for the first time in a really long time and now I've had it on repeat for days. Goddamn it, Cat Power. Her covers are untouchable.

I'm not against collecting stuff

In the mail, the most perfect tee shirt in the world. All you need to know is that it has both Noah Taylor circa Flirting AND Harold & Maude era Bud Cort on it.(Sam has had one for years, natch)

you play that thing one more time, I'm gonna melt it down into hairspray

"1970s Jack Nicholson is THE man. He wins everyone over and gives the appearance of not trying. He walks into the room and pushes the needle off the record player. He looks incredible in clothes. He says something completely terrible and insulting and then is forgiven because he smiles to acknowledge that he knows he is being terrible. What he wants he just takes and if he can't get it he destroys property. He is charming but he is also evil. Are all charming people evil? Isn't that sort of what charm is about?"

One of the best opening titles ever. That SONG.

see also

(FYI correct answer is Jack/Dustin/Warren, obvs)

you're a real cowboy

and while we're on this western kick - hello, Community!

just a country boy that combed his hair

I won't lie -

I like my cowboys via Hollywood. Soundtrack courtesy of Mixtapes for Johanna, as ever

earthquake weather

Ed Ruscha's Every Building On The Sunset Strip

"But the feeling feeling in L.A. that the place was not safe - that hovering earthquake in the air - was why anyone in the trance even came down long enough to learn to thread a camera at all. They had to take their eye off what was probably the apocalypse and invent Theda Bara out of a girl from Cincinatti to make sense out of the light."

(L.A. Woman - Eve Babitz)

Getting my surrogate summer feelings through literary L.A. dreaming with Eve & Joan Didion .