well, seems wolverine is a flop. and i still want need to see it.

"Ryan Reynolds, Taylor Kitsch and Will.i.am show up and do what they can, but prove hopelessly unable to compensate for the absence of, say, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin or Ian McKellen. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” will most likely manage to cash in on the popularity of the earlier episodes, but it is the latest evidence that the superhero movie is suffering from serious imaginative fatigue."

- nytimes review here.

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Blast from the Past: Bow Wow Wow



the original* coverers of the "were not a teen angst film unless we use it" song, 'i want candy', bow wow wow was - no joke here - a boy/girl band created by malcolm & vivienne to sell their 'new romantic' clothing line. not surprisingly, they sound strikingly similar to x-ray spex, which is apparently the only band to ever garner a compliment from the negativity prone (albeit now butter-advert staring) johnny rotten - better known as the front man to the late 70's Sex Pistols - who, coincidentally enough, was also a product of mclaren and his business acumen. maybe its because they were both fronted by black women (the, uh, first two mentioned bands, not the sex pistols - mr.rotten is decidedly white. painfully white). or it could be the period. (both bands being within years of each other. and both london based too. and mclaren / westwood incited. and teenage. and full of angst.) (allegedly, the rumor went something like "your not that sucky" or something - even at his nicest, mr.rotten still could manage to be nasty.)

originally a 1965 hit by three whiteguys with strange drums, 'i want candy' was actually a throw back to times of yesteryear when a days high point could be simply - but effectively - achieved by repeating the line "i want candy" in a repetitive, "im not moving until i win" sort of way, when you and your mom are in the check out line and people are starting to look and there really is no other way out for her but to fold. or it could be a reference to those heavily laden with drug addiction. or it could be their favorite prostitute, who happened to be on her day off that one time. i actually have no idea.

with lines like "candy on the beach, theres nothing better / but I like candy when its wrapped in a sweater" and "my boyfriend's back he's gonna save my reputation / if i were you i'd take a permanent vacation" (from their other hit, "my boyfriends back"), these three wig-sporting, drum-wielding jews had a short career and went on to do very little else. (well, one of them actually did help get Blondie up and running, but thats about it.)

*note: technically, they were the second group to cover the song - the first being some guy from the UK or something, but he made like zero impact or something, so, in the land of opinion, does he really count?

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In the Pantheon of Convenience





we all need one of these. they rock. and clip to things.

-via amazon.