Susie Bright's Journal

Miss Jean Brodie's Modestly Magnificent Spring Fling Movie Quiz

susie@susiebright.com (Susie Bright) — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 21:48:05 PDT

1) The classic movie moment that everyone loves except me is: Sharon Stone crossing her legs in Basic Instinct. Big Whoop. I'd rather see Grace Kelly cross her brow. That disappointment is closely followed by the "Parting the Red Sea" in The 10 Commandments I'd like to direct my own...

What the Frack? Chasing Oil in the Santa Cruz Mountains

susie@susiebright.com (Susie Bright) — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 11:11:30 PDT

Oil drilling derrick, De Laveaga Park, Santa Cruz, c. 1926. Local subscribers funded an oil-drilling project on public lands that drilled fitfully (with each infusion of investor money) from 1924 through 1927, reaching a final depth of 3,400 feet, finding only traces of oil. Yes, there's oil and gas in...

The Feminist Sex Wars and the Myth of the Missing Middle

susie@susiebright.com (Susie Bright) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:30:23 PDT

I was quite delighted to hear about the recent publication of The Feminist Porn Book, edited by Tristan Taormino, Celine Parreñas Shimizu, Constance Penley and Mireille Miller-Young, and chock full of authors I know and whose work I treasure. A Letter to The Feminist Porn Book's Editors, by Gayle Rubin...

The Feminist Porn Book Editors Respond to Gayle Rubin

susie@susiebright.com (Susie Bright) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 18:28:45 PDT

We thank Gayle Rubin for her critique of the Introduction to our volume, The Feminist Porn Book: The Politics of Producing Pleasure. We take her point seriously but feel it misrepresents our text. We appreciate the opportunity to clarify our argument and to engage the questions that Rubin has raised,...

My Oscar Predictions: Comatose and Coatless

susie@susiebright.com (Susie Bright) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 21:55:28 PST

Years ago, I sewed myself a Jazz Age Oscar-Night coat, black and gold velvet, swooping to the floor. With my hair in marcelle waves, you'd swear I was Zelda Fitzgerald. I don it for every Academy Awards telecast, with all my best jewels. But my costume has not even come...

Cozy Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie

susie@susiebright.com (Susie Bright) — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 19:09:31 PST

This exquisitely comforting recipe is upon Aretha's request, who looked at me with her big brown eyes and said, "Mommy, please!" This casserole reminds me of my mom's cooking, too. She was keen on stetching a small piece of meat. This is a gravy-rich chicken casserole with vegetables that even...

43 Paints

susie@susiebright.com (Susie Bright) — Sat, 09 Feb 2013 17:52:41 PST

I want to talk about two paintings, “Artist in the Shower” and “Artist in the Bath,” by the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush. They were revealed when the former POTUS's e-mail was hacked. by Jon Bailiff The public commentary has thus far veered from breezy put-downs...

4 Things I Never Understood Before About Obama's Inauguration

susie@susiebright.com (Susie Bright) — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 12:56:12 PST

1. Before today, I only had ever seen the Inauguration on TV. Maybe for five minutes before I switched channels. I am here to tell you: the live event, the whole weekend, is NOTHING like what you see on the tube. The cultural experience has far superceded the political one....

I Have Something to Say about Aaron Swartz's Suicide and the Special Way the US Justice Dept Hounds People to Death

susie@susiebright.com (Susie Bright) — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 09:24:04 PST

Twice in my career I've been asked to serve as an expert witness on the defense team of an obscenity trial, where the prosecution was spearheaded by the U.S. Justice Department. I was naive enough— both times— to think that I had a chance to further the cause of the...

Tragic Denouement for Romance Victim

susie@susiebright.com (Susie Bright) — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 10:04:38 PST

This is tragic: The day after I posted my Cassandra-like warning, Alisa Valdez, the author of The Feminist & the Cowboy, wrote on her blog that her lover had knocked her up, then immediately abandoned her, "took her back" after "miscarriage," beat the crap out of her multiple times, raped...