by Blogbot

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By Keanan Duffty

In 2002 I had reached out to Bill Zysblat. Bill is David Bowie’s longtime business manager. His office, which houses the RZO organization is on 57th Street in Manhattan. I was interested in designing some clothes for David. “Great,” said Bill, “but he’s on tour so let’s revisit after the current dates come to a close in 2003.”

Several years later I reconnected with Zysblat. In the time since our first conversation my fashion business had changed. My label had blossomed and I struck a deal with the American mass retailer Target, a 1400 plus chain based in Minneapolis and reaching across America coast to coast.

“Come up to the office,” said Bill. “You should meet with David and see if there is synergy.” The RZO organization – that would be the place where I would first encounter the guy who had influenced my whole career.

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by Daniel Robert Epstein

2006 was a illustrious year in music for many reasons, but certainly the release of Meat Loaf’’s Bat Out Of Hell III was one of them. Meat Loaf and his longtime Bat Out Of Hell collaborator, Jim Steinman, were able to heal their wounds long enough to finish their trilogy.

Meat Loaf has been a cult figure since the release of his first albums in the early 1970’s, but it was his role as Eddie the biker in The Rocky Horror Picture Show that cemented his legendary status. Meat Loaf has had only middling hits in-between his Bat Out Of Hell albums, but he is still creating music and still picking amazing roles in Fight Club and Dario Argento’’s most recent episode of Masters of Horror, Pelts.

Read our exclusive interview with Meat Loaf on SuicideGirls.com.

by SG’s Team Agony feat. Salome, Dorsal, and Morgan

Let us answer life’s questions – because great advice is even better when it comes from SuicideGirls.

Q: I am 25 years of age. When I was 18 I used to be the kid that played every sport you can imagine. I was not a jock though. I never made fun of kids. In fact I would get along with everyone – skaters, stoners, gangbangers, etc. At 18 I had a chance to play college basketball and I went to get a physical. I complained I had a little pain in my back when I ran and so forth, so the doctor suggested I get an X-ray. I come to found out I have Scheuermann’s disease and spinal stenosis. The first thing I said was, “Can I still play ball?” The doctor said “no” because if I took too hard of a hit I could get paralyzed. I said, “Well shit you that just ruined my life.” The doctor also told me he couldn’t perform surgery because it would just make it worse.

I’m in a catch 22 here ladies. I have thought about this for a long time. Hope you can go ahead and give me an answer. I really want a girl’s point of view.

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by Daniel Robert Epstein

Stan Lee was recently named the 26th most influential American by Atlantic Monthly, but if it was up to me I would have put him quite a bit higher. Lee is, of course, best known as the co-creator of Spider-Man, X-Men, Fantastic Four and dozens more, though controversy has always swirled around how big his real contributions might have been. But first and foremost Lee has always been the consummate salesman, whether it was selling the latest weird Spider-Man villain to the readers or hosting the television show Who Wants To Be A Superhero?

Lee’’s latest projects are totally without connection to Marvel Comics. His company, Purveyors of Wonders, has been producing original characters for straight to DVD movies. One of the best is Mosaic, an animated film starring the voice of Anna Paquin as Maggie Nelson a high school student whose father is an Interpol agent investigating a mysterious race that can change appearance at will. After Maggie is bathed in the power of one of her father’s discoveries, an ancient runestone, she gets all the powers of a chameleon. Maggie teams up with a member of that ancient race, codenamed Mosaic, to defeat the evil Mannequin who wants to take over the world.

Read our exclusive interview with Stan Lee on SuicideGirls.com.

by Daniel Robert Epstein

David Mamet is one of the greatest writers who ever lived. He’’s had success in every medium he’’s worked in from theater to film and in the past year in television with The Unit, which he co-created with Shawn Ryan.

The show has become a ratings success for CBS. But what people love the most about Mamet is his wit, his hilarious cynicism and his ability to teach. That teaching gene has been put on display with Mamet’s acting classes, his book On Directing Film and now his new book, Bambi vs. Godzilla: On the Nature, Purpose, and Practice of the Movie Business.

Due to the nature of making studio films and mainstream television Mamet has been steeped in the business end of Hollywood for many years now. With Bambi vs. Godzilla he uses the classic 1960’s cartoon short as a metaphor for how Hollywood treats its denizens.

Read our exclusive interview with David Mamet on SuicideGirls.com.

by A.J. Focht

Following a grueling six-year legal battle, the video game industry has kicked the ass of California lawmakers who wanted to ban the sale of violent games to minors. The successfully appealed California Assembly Bills 1792 & 1793 would have made it illegal to sell excessively violent games to anyone underage. However, there is no similar legal penalty applied for including similar content in other forms of comparable media, such as books, music, movies, etc. While the legal battle is officially over, critics of the Supreme Court ruling are just beginning to raise their voices. Everyone from The Daily Show to the Washington Times has attacked the court’s position, without ever noting it would have separated video games into a unique category, while opening the door to further censorship and restrictions on all other forms of art, creativity, and media.

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