[Moshe]

Thurston is working on or appearing on a short film about Jonathan Raymond.
In 2004, Portland author Jonathan Raymond published his debut novel, The Half-Life which apparently influenced Thurston.

Anyone has more details?

[sonicl]

You've probably already posted this months ago ...


Thurston Moore and The Half-Life
Posted by Chas Bowie on Fri, Oct 26 at 11:30 AM

In May 2004, Portland author Jonathan Raymond (who was living in Brooklyn at the time) published an incredible debut novel, The Half-Life. (Raymond also wrote Old Joy, which he helped turn into a great movie, and co-edits Plazm magazine.) Set in Portland, The Half-Life alternated between two stores of friendship: between two teen girls living on a Reagan-era commune off Highway 30, and two unforgettable (and hilarious) 19th-century trappers looking for Eden in the Oregon Territory. In my review when the book came out, I gushed that it was “breathtaking, dazzling, honest,” and a bunch of other superlatives that failed to make the book the hit it deserved to be. In fact, I’m hard-pressed to think of one friend who has read the book and they didn’t exactly fly off the shelfs at major book retailers.

But at last night’s (fucking incredible) Thurston Moore show at the Doug Fir, the Sonic One paused to dedicate a song to “a cat (he didn’t) even know, Jonathan Raymond.” He then proceeded to tell the audience how incredible The Half-Life was, and started going on and on about the different storylines until he caught himself and began to wrap it up. “I’m going to tell you every single subplot,” he laughed. “China even gets worked in somehow…” Then he told the audience, “That book inspired this song,” launching into the wonderful “Fri/End.”

When I told Raymond this morning what he missed at last night’s show, he was as excited as anyone would be if they just found out that Thurston Moore was writing songs inspired by their novel, saying “He’s one of the reasons that I wanted to make art in the first place.” Check out the book. If not on my recommendation, then on Thurston’s.



http://blogtown.portlandmercury.com/...he_halflif.php

[Moshe]

I'm getting old.
Anyway, Thurston is working now on some project related to Jonathan Raymond.

[sonicl]

THIS CULTURAL LIFE: Kim Gordon
The Independent on Sunday, Sep 25, 2005

What are you reading in bed at present?

I'm reading The Half Life by Jonathan Raymond. It's about an older guy, who discovers two skeletons in his property, who are found holding hands. It's good.

What book have you been meaning to read since you bought it in a fit of misguided enthusiasm? And why haven't you got round to it yet?

I buy books all the time. I have so many that it's kind of overwhelming. I mean to read them all! Someone gave me a book about the painter Willem de Kooning. I would love to read it but I know it will be too depressing. You know, he was an alcoholic and everything.

Is you mind an art gallery or a porn cinema? If neither, what kind of civic building is it?

It's more of an art gallery. I analyse everything visually, in terms of art.

What music's playing in your kitchen at present?

This morning I put on Paul McCartney's first record for my daughter. I like it " it's very Paul. It's the first record he wrote when he was living in Ireland or somewhere with Linda, and he was kind of in limbo because the Beatles' finances were in disarray. They lived really simply, and wrote these songs. We have many different things in our kitchen " from Buffalo Springfield to Wolf Eyes, who are a Detroit noise-band, Bob Dylan, Vanessa Carlton, Lil' Kim...

What's the least disposable pop song you've heard?

'Maggie's Farm' by Bob Dylan. It's one of Dylan's swingier songs and yet he's such a poet " his lyrics still hold forth today.

And the most dispensable piece of classical music?

Probably be something by Rachmaninov. Listening to his music is like eating a big sack of pancakes and maple syrup. It seems like it's this big thing, but it just goes right through you.

What was your cultural passion at 14?

I was really obsessed with Michelangelo, because I wanted to be a sculptor. I read his biography. I bought it hook, line and sinker, that he was supposed to be the greatest sculptor ever.

Who should play you in the Hollywood version of your life?

Sarah Polley. I like the fact that she's sort of outside Hollywood. She's an actress, but she doesn't seem so actressy. She could play me in my teens/early-20s I guess. She's a really good, interesting actress.

And who would be your nemesis in the last reel?

That's easy " Courtney Love. She's either someone's best friend forever or their nemesis. Although she's never actually been my best friend.

What is you ideal alternative job?

I could be a dancer, like Isadora Duncan " I would get to wear a tunic and dance.

And the realistic alternative?

I guess I would be a professor of art. Teaching is a little bit like performing.

Do you have a hole in your cultural life?

I don't really read The New Yorker. We get it, but I tend to read Vogue, or something, because I read magazines to escape, and The New Yorker appears so dense to me.

Which painting most corresponds with your vision of yourself?

Probably something by De Kooning, because it's a gush of mess and emotion. Nobody would think of me that way, but inside, I'm very emotional.

If you could tear down any building in the world, what would it be?

Trump Towers. It's really ugly. It's not the ugliest, but Donald Trump is just awful. He makes really bad buildings, and I think he should shave his sideburns.

Do you have a secret cultural passion?

I like to go to big county fairs to look at the bad t-shirts. We live in western Massachusetts " our town is really sophisticated and liberal but outside it's more redneck. People win prizes for the best livestock, they have amusement parks and they sell over-the- top heavy metal t-shirts with unicorns, that say things like 'I fucked your girlfriend.' You know " real American culture.

What's the most fashionable thing you own?

My new Marc Jacobs watch. It's got a little black ribbon strap and has diamonds on it. It's nice.

And the most uncool?

My Volvo station wagon. It's such a family car. I guess it's more cool than a mini-van.

Are you yourself cool?

I think it's hard to be cool after you've seen people born and die. That notion of 'cool' loses meaning.

You die and go to heaven " who would you most like to meet in the bar?

I don't believe in heaven, but I'd like to meet John Lennon. I grew up with the Beatles. Having met his son and his mother, I'm curious to meet him.

What question would you ask first?

I'd ask what inspired him when he was playing feedback guitar with Yoko " such amazing, abstract music. I wasn't inspired by it as such " I discovered it in hindsight because I was doing a lecture on Yoko. I was amazed by it.

What do you cling onto from childhood?

My surfing pictures. I was going through old slides and Thurston [Moore, her husband and bandmate] discovered these photos of me and we blew them up and put them up around the house.