Sniper's Love Nest

WIDOW PEEKING: Marina Oswald in Dallas

2012-01-26T20:47:00.004-06:00

MARINA THROUGH THE YEARS.

After Jack Ruby erased Oswald, Lee Harvey's wife, Marina, was only 20 years old and had two infant children to raise. The Russian-born beauty remained in North Texas — moving from Ruth Paine's Irving residence to Richardson. Marina eventually settled in Rockwall, Texas.
Throughout the years, the media kept tabs on her — even when she suffered a sunburn while vacationing in Lake Texoma, Okla.
Marina news flashes...
• The high-profile Soviet's request for quicker naturalization was considered and refused — leaving Marina haunted by the fear of deportation.

• Sympathetic women from around the world collected donations, totaling more than $70,000.

• The FBI admitted to bugging her home and tapping her phone line.
• She tried discharging her lawyers/business managers, which ended up costing Marina $12,500.
• She married electrician and race-car enthusiast Kenneth Jess Porter, with whom she had a third child, Rachel, while living at 6448 Dunstan Lane.
The marriage was rocky: After only three months, Kenneth admitted — with regret — that he slapped Marina because she was having a fit of hysteria. Marina complained about the abuse to the FBI, who notified the police. The couple went to court over the altercation and agreed to work out the kinks.
• She opposed capital punishment for Jack Ruby, saying, "When there is no war on, no human being has the right to take another's life."
• She filed a $500,000 suit against the federal government over Lee Harvey's former property — after a Denver gun collector bought one of Lee's gun's, which was introduced to the Warren Commission and later seized by the government.
• In 1964, she told the Warren Commission that Lee planned to use his pistol to kill former Vice President Richard Nixon in Dallas on April 24, 1963.

• In 1968, she was ordered to testify in the Jim Garrison conspiracy trial held in New Orleans.

• She collaborated with Priscilla Johnson for "Marina and Lee," (Harper and Row, 1977).
• She went to Ann Arbor, Michigan to take English courses at the University of Michigan.

• In August 1981, Marina allowed the exhumation of her husbands remains at Fort Worth's Rose Hill Burial Park.
• By 1988, she changed her mind about the assassination — saying Lee Harvey didn't act alone, that when the Warren Commission questioned her, she "was a blind kitten," and that Lee "was caught between two powers: the government and organized crime."

• In 1990, she told "Hard Copy" that she couldn't pit Oswald against Kennedy, saying, "He always bragged about the young, vivacious president America had, not like the old fuddy-duddies in Russia."
• In 1993, she tried to get President Clinton to pardon Lee — "for the crime he did not commit."

MASH-MESS = Sail away, mutherf*ckers

2012-01-25T02:25:00.000-06:00

"Orinoco Ninja Flow." Die Antword + Enya.

I FINK YOU FREAKY, AND I LIKE YOU A LOT.

The odd Homeland Security conspiracy swirling around Brittany Murphy's death

2012-01-23T23:02:00.001-06:00

FASTER KILL PUSSYCAT!

Angelo Bertolotti is Brittany Murphy's biological dad, who's now suing both the Los Angeles Coroner and LAPD. He wants Brittany's hair and tissue samples released regarding her toxicology results.
But there's another weird story about her untimely death, which involves the Department of Homeland Security and Brittany's late-husband Simon Monjack — a schlubby British citizen and ne'er-do-well screenwriter ("Two Days, Nine Lives" and a dubious credit on "Factory Girl").
Five months after his wife's death, Monjack died. Both died at home, and their causes of death were similar: acute pneumonia and severe anemia.
Family friend Alex Ben Block wrote an extensive Hollywood Reporter story called "The Final Difficult Days of Brittany Murphy."

Block, left, says Murphy succumbed to a staph infection she caught while shooting 'The Caller.'

Block stitches together a plausible explanation of what led to Brittany's death. She was cast in "The Caller," a crappy movie that was shooting in San Juan. After the first day, Murphy was discharged from her role, which the brilliant Abby Elliot spoofed on "Saturday Night Live," below.

Monjack joined his wife in San Juan for the shoot and caught staphylococcus aureus — a staph infection that can lead to life-threatening pneumonia. Brittany got infected, too.
Monjack's health was always shaky. And Brittnay's star was fading. Rumors of drug abuse and anorexia were affecting her ability to land better roles.
Instead of seeking proper medical attention for the staph, Block believes that both Monjack and Murphy adopted "holistic" cures — because the appearance of being sick might fuel more rumors and set back their careers even further. (A trip to the hospital would have saved Murphy. She told her mom she couldn't breathe and that she was dying.)
The Hollywood Reporter article also mentions the couple's paranoia regarding the Rising Glenn Road residence where they both died:
Simon told us they had to take extreme security precautions because they were under surveillance by helicopters and their phone was bugged.

DEATH HOUSE: Brittany Murphy bought the 8,000 square-foot home from Britney Spears — the fuck palace Spears once shared with Justin Timberlake.

In February 2007, Monjack was arrested and spent nine days in jail, facing deportation, because his visa to the United States had expired.

WHISTLEBLOWER: Julia Davis

While dealing with Monjack's citizenship, Brittany got entangled with Julia Davis — a whistleblower. Davis is a former federal officer with the Department of Homeland Security. In 2004, Davis discovered and reported a breach of national security.
Murphy and Monjack were targeted by the same branch of the Department of Homeland Security/Immigration and Customs Enforcement that Officer Davis had reported violations regarding the entry of 23 aliens from terrorist countries into the U.S.
Murphy was named as a witness and provided a statement dispelling false claims by Homeland Security against Davis.
According to a new documentary, "The Terror Within," Homeland Security raided Murphy's home, attempted to deport Monjack and subjected the couple to surveillance by helicopters wiretaps and other acts of retaliation.

There's a "Justice for Brittany Murphy" site dedicated to this story. Wow. Weird. (I miss Brittany.)

SHIRLEY'S SPAWN: Grace Phelps, photographer

2012-01-21T00:00:00.003-06:00

SAPPHIC-FLAPPER: Grace Phelps, left. (foto: Grace Phelps).

Just watched Louis Theroux's sequel to "Most Hated Family in America."
The doc introduces Shirley Phelps-Roper's gorgeous daughter Grace Eliza Phelps, who's an interesting photographer and has a Twitter account: @WBCPhotos.
On Facebook, there's a "Save Grace Phelps" page, that posts some of her sensual images, which I think are strong.

Oh, yeah. Wesetboro also did a nifty parody of Gaga's "Telephone."

LINDSAY-DISNEY: A princess gone bad

2012-01-20T23:24:00.001-06:00

Throw shade. I dare you.

Tonight, at the Dallas Museum of Art, I saw Cintra Wilson give a great lecture, "Fear and Clothing." She observed that there's a Disney princess for girls of every ethnic stripe.

From left, Snow White, Pocahontas, Belle, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Tiana, Aurora, Jasmine, Ariel and Mulan.

One of Wilson's slides read, "Even the inside of the Disney Castle is pink."
But what happens when princesses go bad?
See above picture.
They grown into a porno stereotype ... And are banished.

WINGNUTS & GAY PORN STARS: Coulter vs. Alex Jones

2012-01-20T12:11:00.000-06:00

Here's a fiery 45-minute debate between Austin's Alex Jones and Ann Coulter. The wingnuts argue over Patriot Act, 9/11 conspiracy theories, torture at Bagram prison, black helicopters ...

SERVICE FOR COUNTRY: Chad Savage reportedly works the conservo elites at Boho Grove.

But things get really wild at the mention of Bohemian Grove -- where the likes of George H.W. Bush, Dick Cheney and Newt Gingrich reportedly visit. The grove is some Skull and Bones-like exclusive homo-sex playground where porn stars like Chad Savage were serviced by Bush Sr.
Wow. Great stuff.

SUPPORT THESE GAY HOMIES: Die Antwoord on the right side of 'faggot'

2012-01-19T16:46:00.005-06:00

Cape Town's freaky hip-hoppers Die Antwoord are feeling the heat of reactionary political correctness. In November, they parted company with Interscope over the use of "faggot" in the new single, "Fok Jullie Naaiers" (which translates to something like “fuck all your fucked things”).
Judging the song's context would be too difficult for GLAAD to process, but Die Antwoord gets total props from me. Lead singer Ninja explained it all very clearly:

“Our manager Tony in LA was a little concerned that some of the words we use in the video would upset some people in the USA – especially DJ Hi-Tek’s use of the word ‘faggot’,” explains Ninja.
“DJ Hi-Tek is gay,” he explains, “so there you go, now you all know.”
Ninja adds: “Hi-Tek says the word faggot doesn’t hold any power over him. Hi-Tek says faggot all the time. He’s taken that word and made it his bitch."

FOK JULLE NAAIERS from Die Antwoord on Vimeo.

IT'S OK IF YOU'RE GAY

2012-01-19T09:20:00.002-06:00

"SECOND CLASS CITIZEN: The Gay Rights Movement," edited by Ryan James Yezak.

JFK's hearse for sale

2012-01-17T23:39:00.001-06:00

FOR SALE: 1964 Cadillac hearse that transported JFK's remains from Parkland Memorial Hospital to Love Field Airport.
The hearse originally arrived in Dallas in October 1963 for the National Funeral Directors Association Convention.
It was purchased by the O'Neal Funeral Home.
Until recently, the hearse was listed on eBay for $1.5 million.

INCRIMINATING THUGS: 7 idiot savages jump Asian

2012-01-17T01:05:00.003-06:00

CHICAGO — If you can get past this stomach-churning footage, spreading or DOWNLOADING THE FOOTAGE HERE: — will only help bring justice. It looks like the goons listed below are already deleting their F-book profiles.

WESLEY WU: grey hoodie, main attacker (deleted Facebook)
EASLEY WU: big puffy jacket with fur hood, blue striped Adidas pants
RAYMOND PALOMINO: white guy with no mask
TODD RAMOS: grey and black hoodie
JOHNNY LI : blue hoodie
DANNY HUI : dressed in all black

STORY CONTINUES.

BIBLICAL INSPIRATION: Yours Truly worked Jezebel drag last nite

2012-01-15T13:29:00.004-06:00

LIKE A TEENAGE JEZEBEL, Me, left, with my Taliban screen-partner.

At the opening of CentralTrack's "Circle Werk" exhibit, I acted in some green-screen video where I played the immoral Old Testament-queen Jezebel (BTW: I was told I made a complete fool of myself. But ... whatever.)

And now there's a picture to prove it,. above.

"Circle Werk" is overwhelming — almost too much wonderful talent in too small of a venue.

My gal Christeene (Paul Soleau) has a great video piece about drunky Noah getting it on with his daughter — and Solueu's interpretation is part Leigh Bowery mixed with Lovey Howell (of Giligan fame).

Check it out: CentralTrak, 800 Exposition Ave. 214-824-9302.

TRANNY-TASTIC: My girl RuPaul defends the T-word — again

2012-01-15T12:03:00.002-06:00

In a new HuffPo interview, Signoreli and Ru revisit my old stomping grounds: RuPaul approves ’tranny'
On Lance Bass's apology for using the word "tranny" Rupaul says:
"It's ridiculous! It's ridiculous!... I love the word "tranny"...And I hate the fact that he's apologized. I wish he would have said, 'F-you, you tranny jerk!'"

When my article appeared, some nitwit from GLAAD called me up and tried to take me to task over my article. And when I asked if GLAAD was going to denounce Ru over her pro-Tranny stance, the caller (can't remember her name) suddenly said they needed to take another call.
I told the GLAADer, "Next time you phone me to complain about my work, try to have more time on your hands."

Franco cast as Mapplethrope

2012-01-13T10:42:00.002-06:00

James Franco's getting ready to play Robert Mapplethrope in a feature produced by actress Eliza Dushku ("Bring it On.")
What's more interesting is the director slated for the film: Ondi Timoner — who made "Dig!" the epic badass doc about the rivalry between The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols, and "We Live in Public," about audio-video .com pioneer Josh Harris.
Earlier, Timoner said the film would be about Mapplethope and Patti Smith.
Most guessed Timoner's project was the film version of Smith's supreme "Just Kids" memoir. But that adaptation is a different Mapplethrope project, being adapted by "Hugo" screenwriter John Logan.
Looks like the Franco-Timoner biopic's is kicking in gear. Plus, it's getting a push from Sundance Labs and a $15K grant from the Tribeca Film Institute.

CRONKITE CONFESSION: LBJ's not sure about Warren Commission's verdict

2012-01-13T10:00:00.000-06:00

Circa, Sept. ’69. Lyndon really opens up to Wally. Check LBJ's body language — when Johnson shifts in his seat.

IRISH EMERGENCY: Sinead begs for psychiatric help

2012-01-11T22:02:00.000-06:00

Recently wedded, separated and back together, Sinead O'Conner blasted her twitter account today, begging for a psychiatrist to see her immediately in Dublin or the town of Wicklow. She says her ankle is busted and she's in trouble — in need of meds. (She even revealed her email addy.)

TEBOWSEXUAL: Timmy limp wrists

2012-01-11T17:29:00.000-06:00

Broncos' QB wrists are as limp as a dishrag.

TARNISHED GOLDEN SHOWER: Marines allegedly pee on Taliban corpses

2012-01-11T16:41:00.004-06:00

This will end badly.
The Marine Corps will investigate the video — see it on TMZ — which purports to show four U.S. Marines based out of Camp LeJune urinating on the dead bodies of three "dead talibans," according to the description.

Badu, Ronson team up for RE:GENERATION

2012-01-11T14:02:00.003-06:00

YO MAMA DON'T WEAR NO DRAWS

"A La Modeliste" is the jazzy track for the RE:GENERATION music project— when DJs turn the tables on the history of music — featuring Erykah Badu, Trombone Shorty, Mos Def, Zigaboo Modeliste and Members of The Dap Kings.

RAY OF WONDER WOMAN

2012-01-11T07:11:00.003-06:00

Cerne. (foto: Walt Cessna.)

A nifty video-mash, edited by Beantown's James Cerne, a bit of a wonder boy himself.

IM-MADGE-INE THAT: Madonna turned down Jackie for 'George'

2012-01-10T16:02:00.003-06:00

Instead, Drew graced the Sept ’96 'Women in Politics' cover.

FROM NY POST

JFK Jr. asked Madonna to pose as his mother -- She was almost the First Lady Madonna.

John F. Kennedy Jr. asked the Material Girl to dress up as his mother for the cover of his magazine, George, but Madonna declined, insisting she would “never do [Jackie O] justice,” according to a new book.
“We’ll have her in a pillbox hat, sitting on a stack of books,” JFK Jr. told his assistant, RoseMarie Terenzio, author of the memoir, “Fairy Tale Interrupted,” which chronicles her five years as John John’s confidante and publicist until his untimely death in 1999 at the age of 38.
In the summer of 1996, JFK Jr. asked Terenzio who should grace the cover of his September “Women in Politics” issue.
Terenzio suggested then-First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton, but JFK Jr., who co-founded the magazine in 1995, had a different idea.
“I think we should dress Madonna up as my mother,” he said. “Wouldn’t that be a riot?”
Terenzio thought he was joking; Madonna was then at the height of her bad-girl image.
She warned him it would create a media “s--tstorm.”
And although Terenzio insists it wasn’t among her concerns, the cover would have undoubtedly raised eyebrows given JFK Jr.’s once-rumored romance with Madge, who was often compared to his father’s reputed paramour, Marilyn Monroe.
“If it doesn’t bother me, why should it bother anyone else?” Kennedy said.

NO THANKS: Madonna's letter turning down JFK Jr.

So they drafted a letter to the “Like a Virgin” singer, asking her to pose as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
The next day, Madonna faxed her handwritten response, flirtatiously addressed to “Johnny Boy.”
“My eyebrows aren’t thick enough, for one,” she offered.
“When you want me to portray Eva Braun or Pamela Harriman, I might say yes!” she wrote, referring, bizarrely, to Hitler’s mistress and the British socialite who married New York Gov. W. Averell Harriman and Winston Churchill’s son Randolph.
JFK Jr. eventually tapped actress Drew Barrymore for the cover, portraying, ironically, Monroe in her legendary white halter dress singing “Happy Birthday, Mr. President.”
Terenzio, whose book is due out on Jan. 24, says there was nothing untoward at the time of the fax between the Material Girl and the heir to Camelot.
In fact, later that month, JFK Jr. married his longtime girlfriend, Carolyn Bessette.

READING, WRITING ... ERASED: Burroughs & Cobain

2012-01-09T19:20:00.004-06:00

Oct. ’93: Burroughs. left, and Cobain met in Lawrence, KS.

"Heart Shaped Box" was to star William Burroughs, whom Cobain evidently revered as a long-lived defier of convention (overlooking the fact that Burroughs survived only because he switched from heroin to marijuana early on).
The first scene was supposed to express Cobain’s sense of himself as repository of Burroughs’ artistic spirit: “William and I sitting across from one another at a table (black and white) lots of Blinding Sun from the windows behind us holding hands staring into each others eyes. He gropes me from behind and falls dead on top of me. Medical footage of sperm flowing through penis. A ghost vapor comes out of his chest and groin area and enters me Body.”
Burroughs wouldn’t do the video.
So Cobain used a generic old man on a cross and pecked at by crows.

– Seattle Weekly

Found the historical candid image, above, on Michael Stipe's Tumblr account.

BALLDARIAN DOES BIG D: JFK assassination as a downhill race

2012-01-09T14:02:00.003-06:00

I'm devouring Christopher Hitchens' "Arguably" essays, where I'm only now learning about J.G. Ballard — the sci-fi writer responsible for the original texts of "Empire of the Sun" and "Crash" (Cronenberg's film, not the Oscar winner).
Ballard also had fun replaying the JFK assassination as a downhill race, which I've copied and pasted here.

By J.G Ballard, from “Love and Napalm: Export,” (Grove Press, 1969).

Author's note. The assassination of President Kennedy on November 22, 1963, raised many questions, not all of which were answered by the Report of the Warren Commission. It is suggested that a less conventional view of the events of that grim day may provide a more satisfactory explanation.

Oswald was the starter.

From his window above the track he opened the race by firing the starting gun. It is believed that the first shot was not properly heard by all the drivers. In the following confusion, Oswald fired the gun two more times, but the race was already underway. Kennedy got off to a bad start.

There was a governor in his car and its speed remained constant at about fifteen miles an hour. However, shortly afterwards, when the governor had been put out of action, the car accelerated rapidly, and continued at high speed along the remainder of the course.

The visiting teams. As befitting the inauguration of the first production car race through the streets of Dallas, both the President and the Vice-President participated. The Vice-President, Johnson, took up his position behind Kennedy on the starting line. The concealed rivalry between the two men was of keen interest to the crowd. Most of them supported the home driver, Johnson.

The starting point was the Texas Book Depository, where all bets were placed in the Presidential race. Kennedy was an unpopular contestant with the Dallas crowd, many of whom showed outright hostility. The deplorable incident familiar to us all is one example.

The course ran downhill from the Book Depository, below an overpass, then on to the Parkland Hospital and from there to Love Air Field. It is one of the most hazardous courses in downhill motor racing, second only to the Sarajevo track discontinued in 1914.

Kennedy went downhill rapidly. After the damage to the governor the car shot forward at high speed. An alarmed track official attempted to mount the car, which continued on its way cornering on two wheels.

Turns. Kennedy was disqualified at the hospital, after taking a turn for the worse. Johnson now continued the race in the lead, which he maintained to the finish.

The flag. To satisfy the participation of the President in the race Old Glory was used in place of the usual checkered square. Photographs of Johnson receiving his prize after winning the race reveal that he had decided to make the flag a memento of his victory.

Previously, Johnson had been forced to take a back seat, as his position on the starting line behind the President indicates. Indeed, his attempts to gain a quick lead on Kennedy during the false start were forestalled by a track steward, who pushed Johnson to the floor of his car.

In view of the confusion at the start of the race, which resulted in Kennedy, clearly expected to be the winner on past form, being forced to drop out at the hospital turn, it has been suggested that the hostile local crowd, eager to see a win by the home driver Johnson, deliberately set out to stop him completing the race. Another theory maintains that the police guarding the track were in collusion with the starter, Oswald. After he finally managed to give the send-off Oswald immediately left the race, and was subsequently apprehended by track officials.

Johnson had certainly not expected to win the race in this way. There were no pit stops.

Several puzzling aspects of the race remain. One is the presence of the President's wife in the car, an unusual practice for racing drivers. Kennedy, however, may have maintained that as he was in control of the ship of state he was therefore entitled to captain's privileges.

The Warren Commission. The rake-off on the book of the race. In their report, prompted by widespread complaints of foul play and other irregularities, the syndicate lay full blame on the starter, Oswald.

Without doubt, Oswald badly misfired. But one question still remains unanswered: Who loaded the starting gun?

From the Evergreen Review Reader 1967-1973. | Originally published in Evergreen #96, Spring 1973.

HEKMATI, TOO HAWT TO DIE: Iran to execute mega-cutie and former U.S. Marine

2012-01-09T11:04:00.000-06:00

Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, pictured.

From NPR:
An American man has been sentenced to death in Iran after a court there convicted him of working for the CIA and going to the Persian nation to spy. The family of Amir Mirzaei Hekmati, a 28-year-old former U.S. Marine, says he was in Iran to visit his grandmothers.
According to Iran's state-run Press TV, "the verdict was issued by Tehran's Revolution Court on Monday after the defendant was found guilty of collaboration with the US government and its intelligence agency, the CIA, against the Islamic Republic of Iran."
The Associated Press reports that Hekmati was born in Arizona, graduated from high school in Michigan and was an Arabic translator while in the Marines. The wire service adds that "his family is of Iranian origin. His father, a professor at a community college in Flint, Mich., has said his son is not a CIA spy and was visiting his grandmothers in Iran when he was arrested."
"On Dec. 18," the AP adds, "Iran's state TV broadcast video of Hekmati delivering a purported confession in which he said he was part of a plot to infiltrate Iran's Intelligence Ministry. ... It is not clear exactly when he was arrested. Iranian news reports have said he was detained in late August or early September."
Under Iranian law, Hekmati reportedly has 20 days to appeal.

AVANT-GARDE THEFT: Simon Doonan and Gaga had better get creative, quick

2012-01-09T09:51:00.001-06:00

For more about Colette Maison Lumiere — pioneering’70s street performer — check here:

AFRO-MAYO: Christeene invents guerrilla drag

2011-12-29T20:56:00.002-06:00

MY GURL: Miss Piggy-Piggy Porkchop herself. (Foto: Kusner)

All you bitches, just move over and get da f*ck out of her way.

Austin's drag supa-star Christeene (Paul Soileau) drops her newest, "African Mayonnaise" (directed by PJ Raval).

Our loveably-scary mess takes an Occupy Movement approach for this shoot-to-kill video. And Xenu's soldiers — the vigilant guards at L. Ron's headquarters across from the University of Texas campus — violently refuse Christeene and her dance squad as they seek to undergo personality testing. And the inculcators do not look happy.

By the way, I have a question: Does the term "African Mayo" have a Santorum-like meaning?

CHRISTEENE "African Mayonnaise" from PJ Raval on Vimeo.