Much more than a Michael Jackson impersonator

Late last year I had some emails & blogger interactions with Lucas of The Sham, about Richard Blackie, a Michael Jackson impersonator who ran a toyshop in Petersham until he died. Lucas wrote about Richard's death, then his funeral, here and here. Nobody seems to know what happened to Richard's dogs, and I wondered if one of them was Dero Dog (see links in my sidebar). Anyway, a film has been made about this remarkable character and it's showing tomorrow night. Sadly I can't go as I'm teaching, but I'll see it some other time. If you're interested, the Mu-Meson Archives venue is on the corner of Parramatta Rd & Trafalgar St Annandale at the end of the King Furniture building, up the steel staircase. Phone 9517-2010.
Thursday 30^th August
Directors Cut: Maya Newell -
RICHARD The Most Interestingest Person I've Ever Met

A stark, bittersweet, and, at times, humorous portrait of Richard Blackie - consummate eccentric, toy collector and former Michael Jackson impersonator - whose public obsessions and private torments are laid bare in this devastating portrayal of the last few months of his life. Seventeen year-old filmmaker, Maya Newell, enters the inner sanctum of Richard Blackie's extraordinary, utterly bizarre toyshop. Striking up a curious relationship with the 41-year-old toy dealer, collector and ex-Michael Jackson impersonator, Maya is given permission to document the life of this most private of private characters, and the obsessions that drive him. Maya will be live in the Archives to present her film and answerer questions about the production.

	Mu-Meson Archives
	Doors 7.30 for 8pm start
	$10 with supper

Miscellanea

The New York Times seems rather keen on Dulwich Hill, which is part of Marrickville, just up the road from me. The version of multiculturalism described is rather vanilla (or should I say garlic?), but I'm not complaining.

In other breaking news -

Dean has tagged me. Actually he did this some time ago, but I didn't notice until I subscribed to technorati last night.

1. Grab the book closest to you.
2. Open to page 123, go down to the fifth sentence.
3. Post the text of the next three sentences on your blog.
4. Name of the book and the author.
5. Tag three people.

Hmmn, well, first I have to say that the two closest texts to hand are an old NW, its cover screaming "Plastic Surgery Disasters", and the latest Continuum. The closest actual book is a goodie, a hardback borrowed from the UTS library, Ruth Barcan's Nudity: A Cultural Anatomy.

Here are the required sentences from page 123:

"For our purposes, Foucault's description is noteworthy because his metaphors draw on that of the naked truth - revealed, paradoxically, in death rather than life. His description makes use of the recurring binaries of openness and closure, visibility & invisibilty, revelation & concealment. In terms of Perniola's categories, the corpse in modern medicine is not the older en-souled nature, but the empty box."

So there you go. That's rather good I reckon. I tag Superannuated Feminist, Thirty Something North, and Go Away Please.