| EastWesterly
Review
|
The Mainly Annual
EastWesterly Review/Postmodern Village
15th Annual Conference
 Teetering
on the Brink of Disco: the Nefarious Epicycles of the Trash
Culture-Go-Round, or Fashion As Found Object, a Subjective Objection
by Betty Gibb-Johnston
The only thing that lasts longer than polyester
is trash culture as high culture, as the underwear-optional
socialite set continues to prove. Gibb-Johnston takes that complaint
a step further as she exposes a variety of fashion trends, from
deely-boppers to legwarmers, that refuse to go away. This PowerPoint
felt a little bit like watching an episode of Sex in the
City directed by John Waters. |
 Lady
Chatterly's Leather: Mainstreaming Lit-Fetish for a Post-Literate
Age
by Eric A. Jong
Jong is back with another thought-provoking look
at what goes on between the covers—both hard and paperback.
The demonstration of Lesbizon online bookseller's new Kindling
electronic book was enlightening, but the corseted back-up singers
were a little much despite what they did with the "writing"
crops.
|
 Yellow
Subtleties: Reading Between the Lines of Classic Journalism
of the Late 19th and Early 20th Centuries
by "Randy" Bill Hurst
Hurst's microfiche-driven presentation revealed
nothing about the involvement of the press in the Spanish-American
war or ousting the machine politics of Tammany Hall. Rather,
Hurst literally shows that within the columns of turn-of-the-last
century newspapers could be found hidden crosswords, connect-the-dot
patterns, and, naturally, "It" girl paper dolls. For
an audience jaundiced on scandal, it was a pleasant surprise,
but why did we get the blunted non-dangerous scissors to cut
out our own mimeographed Clara Bow?
|
 DefacedBook:
Cyber-Tagging in Virtual Gangland: a Cripto Nerd's Perspective
by 4XXXM47K8000
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 On
the Meatship Lollycock: of Simulated Kiddie Porn, Salacious
Suckers, and the Supreme Court
by Surely Dimple Flack
With the Supreme Court's recent decision to uphold
a law banning even the appearance of children in sexual situations,
classic works from Romeo and Juliet to Lolita
appear to be in danger of disappearing from American society
altogether. Flack's irreverent, satirical paper presented the
high court's hypocrisy (Clarence Thomas/Long Dong Silver
reference, anyone?) as a raunchy burlesque review. But the point
was well taken: sure you may know it when you see it, but do
you trust Scalia, Roberts, Alito, Thomas and Kennedy to do the
same?
|
 The
Dread Justice Roberts: Supreme Court Policy as Partisan Piracy
by Nita Tokenblurb
In a follow-up paper to Flack's, Tokenblurb exposed
just how bitterly partisan the court has become through the
metaphor of the lives of 17th and 18th Century Atlantic privateers.
The canon were loud, but the message was deafening: after decades
of tracking starboard, it's time to take the ship of state back
to port.
|
 Judge
Dred: the Caribbean Counterculture Meets Mainstream Comix
by Rime A. Bust
Tasked with both determining guilt or innocence and meting
out justice, what's an otherwise peace-loving supernatural Rastafarian
to do? This is only one of the deep questions posed by periodicals
and graphic novels of the new Caribbean avant-garde according
to Bust, whose careful intertwining of academic analysis and
THC-enhanced spirituality liberated us all by mere contact. |
 Rasta-Roni:
Caribbean Jerk Culture Meets the (Post) Modern Boxed Dinner
by Bunny Crocker
Tastier, if not toastier, was Bunny Crocker's ethno-culinary
discourse on the nexus of down-home island eating and modern
packaging techniques. Swanson's frozen jerk-chicken? It's on
the way, mon. The meanings fade, but the spices remain piquant
on the theoretical tongue. |
Page 3: "Small town
living, big town thinking."
|
