As good students we're slumming it for the
future of urban living, setting our sights on an
end to Aids and child "
training" (no matter how much the little darlings
cost), seeing stars with
Britain's leading cosmologist (if the "
brain drain" doesn't get him first), and hankering after a
Lightbotz or a copy of the first
Superman comic. Sounds
make us buy but the French use
shock tactics, while
Abby Road gets listed and
JFK's last moments are now viewable. Time for a bit of
idolizing;
Gill Scott-Heron,
Django Rienhardt and...
Imelda Marcos? Perhaps not. But it's very confusing, what with
grime going mainstream,
Prada going to the opera, and
London abuzz with
Fashion Week and
bloggers.
DeLillo's in control (wonder if he's vetoing
Google Books?) so lets talk
rules for writers --
The National Enquirer's been playing by them (
John Baldessari must approve of their copy-and-paste journalism).
Irving Penn flies the flag for
classic technique and the old guard storm the
Whitney Biennale, but
Photoshop belies its age.
Thirsty for knowledge, we're checking out SANAA's floating library, paying close attention to good design via Pentagram's Paula Scheur and Luke Hayman, Cecil Balmond's Tokyo show and Herzog & De Meuron's VitraHaus. We're learning from The Hurt Locker and Polanski's triumph, while Christopher Walken contemplates life and death in Hollywood -- he'd be far worse in Britain, where distributors shun quality films and home-grown talent flops.