John Hicks

The other night I was watching Blue Velvet for the 26th time. I am helpless against the power of Blue Velvet, especially if it’s an uninterrupted (looking at you, IFC), uncensored showing, which this happened to be.

I’m a big fan of David Lynch. Generally speaking, I think Lynch makes movies about The Movies, and that alone would normally be enough to keep me interested. But he also has a terrific imagination and a painter’s eye for color and detail.

Just about everything Lynch has directed, including the oddly successful Twin Peaks television series, is by turns familiar and eerie. It’s hard to identify a tonal baseline in a Lynch film. Things get weird fast, and they just get weirder as the story unfolds.

The landscapes of films like Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart (1990) are relentlessly gorgeous and, well, Lynchian. You know you’ve accomplished something when your last name becomes an adjective. Hats off, sir!

Jimmy Gabacho

Mojada, part VI

By Angie Sánchez

The school year ended but I was enrolled in summer school and that summer was great. I made friends both Latino and American. I became friends with two little girls living in the building as us. Imagine they spoke no Spanish and my sister and I spoke no English, but we still managed to have the time our lives. Hanging out with them helped me practice basic English words. But I was still very hesitant and I would avoid using long sentences. My parents kept telling me that I needed to practice the language otherwise they were going to send back to México. At that time I really did not want to go back because I wanted to be here.

Jimmy Gabacho

Part I/Part II/Part III/Part IV

Mojada, part V

By Angie Sánchez (via Jimmy Gabacho)

My first day of school was nerve wrecking. It only got worse when I boarded the bus. My dad was with me at the bus stop and he showed the bus driver the bus pass and I proceeded to board the bus and the bus driver told where to seat but I couldn’t understand her so I sat on the wrong seat. So, I’m standing in the middle of the aisle staring at her trying to figure out what she was telling me finally she gets up and points to the seat she wanted me in, she did it in a very rude manner. As a mater of fact I remember what she said to me now that I know English and she said something along the lines of me being stupid. So I think to myself and say “Umm No I was not stupid I just didn’t speak English!” She kept telling me where to seat and finally she gets up from her seat and points to where she wanted me to seat. I felt so stupid and embarrassed because everyone was looking at me and probably thinking how stupid I was or that poor girl doesn’t speak English.

Derek Bridges

What: A “Special Collector’s Edition” magazine called Oliver North: Portrait of an American Hero.

Where: Purchased in 1987 for $3.50 at an Eagle supermarket in northern Illinois.

Why?: Yes, it’s true, almost half of all Americans at one time were hot for Ollie North.

Huh?:  You didn’t answer the question: Why?: I bought it to prove that I’d seen it. I recently dug it out of a box I had in storage and …

 

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