Public Speaking (movie)

Okay, this movie came out two years ago.  And it runs about an hour & a half, primarily of Fran Lebowitz talking - just giving her opinions on life.  It's insightful and sometimes hilarious and some of the points she makes are indeed debatable.  But why am I bringing this up now?  How, exactly, does it connect to the theme of this blog?  She talks about history - her personal history in the culture of NYC.  And as you know, she came up through the ranks via Interview magazine and Andy Warhol.   So yeah, she was deep in "out" culture when AIDS hit.  And she takes a moment to remember what happened.   (more…)

Elton John’s new book, “Love is The Cure,” addresses his reaction to the AIDS crisis

It's possible that many have experienced a similar emotional crisis as that which Sir Elton John admits to in the pages of his new memoir, Love is The Cure. People close to us became very sick and were gone within a year - sometimes months - leaving us confused and reeling, and ultimately, perhaps, doing nothing more than numbing ourselves to the pain.  It is warming to find a book opening up this experience, and describing how it inspired him to do such good. He refers to the book as a collection of stories that he hopes (more…)