coupla plugs

January 10th, 2008 | Uncategorized

For an album by my bro and a book by my pal Ellen Forney.

My brother John played keyboards on the new (and last) Ministry album, The Last Sucker. Check out the cool Bush hologram on the package.

View #1

Photo 178

View #2

bushmonster

I also just got Ellen Forney’s beautiful new book, “Lust: Kinky Online Personal Ads from Seattle’s The Stranger.” It’s stunningly drawn, and most educational.
Lust

46 Responses to “coupla plugs”

  1. Maggie Jochild says:

    Mixing Dubya/demon hologram with lust in one post — I’m a little icked out. (grin)

  2. Aunt Soozie says:

    Alison,
    You really piqued my interest with that title…

  3. andrewo says:

    A good education is so important in these troubled times.

  4. leighisflying says:

    I heart Ellen Forney!

  5. Jaibe says:

    Why is it the last Ministry album?

  6. Jaibe says:

    Ah, quick wikipediaing and I know how out of touch I am. I always used to confuse Ministry and The Church when they were both synthpop. I think I saw Jourgensen play acoustic guitar in Lounge Ax in about 1987 during a blizzard. Loung Ax was a bar & live music venue run by two women across the street from Wax Trax… hard to believe now those two places are gone 🙁

  7. Donna says:

    Can’t quite make out what the inscription is on the reptilian-faced holograph. Looks like the word Allah is in there.

  8. Wendy B. says:

    I love Alison’s studious forehead-wrinkling while reading the Lust book.

  9. June says:

    Best testimonial ever (from the Web site AB linked the Ministry album name to):

    This band exists since 1981! I didn’t use to like this band, but as it seems people change as time goes by and I fell in love with their sick and twisted weird mix of groove, brutality and electronic stuff!

  10. Hey! says:

    Where is my copy of Lust?

    I’ll go stand by my mailbox.

  11. d/f/ says:

    a grinningly icked-out maggie? an ‘interest’-piqued Aunt Soozie? Ah, AB, you really know how to create some delicious…

    ./.and that cover!

    i think i need to go pique my pinky ring…

  12. Anonymous says:

    I guess it’s the last album because bassist Paul Raven died.

    But, then again, looking at the huge turnover the band’s had over the years, I can’t imagine why it would stop them. (Check out their wikipedia entry; the roster looks like someone’s idea of a joke. they go through every instrument like Spinal Tap goes through drummers, though with fewer fatalities.)

  13. dzieger says:

    I keep forgetting to enter my name…I’m the wikipedia geek above. I don’t care about getting credit for what was apparently some poorly formatted HTML (and I’m a professional Web designer. For shame!). I just don’t like leaving anonymous entries.

  14. d/f/ says:

    p.s. what is ‘pregging’?

  15. Donna says:

    I also wondered about the term ‘pegging’ (on Powell’s Books’ review of Lust).

  16. kate mckinnon says:

    Yes I accidentally posted as “hey” earlier. Where IS my copy? Dammit!

    Pegging is the act of a woman fucking a man with a strap-on. Term coined by Dan Savage.

    You asked!

  17. artgirlxx says:

    “Pegging” is the term that Dan Savage and his readers came up with for women with strap-ons bonking (or pegging) men. Ah…I feel so learned now!

  18. d/f/ says:

    ah.

    didn’t know the whole ‘bend over boyfriend’ thing got a name.

    thanks for the illumination!

  19. LM says:

    AB,

    …and as the soundtrack of your life: “The Sound of Music” and Ministry?

  20. Colin Tedford says:

    Coincidentally, I just downloaded that album yesterday at eMusic! 2008 has gotten off to a rotten start for me, and I was looking for some loud, angry music to take my mind off things; this one is both in spades – yikes, Ministry! I think the “demon” version of Bush there looks like Donald Rumsfeld. Anyway, yay for your brother.

    Also: Ellen Forney rocks! But I guess we all know that already.

  21. Kate L says:

    If I could continue with the original family theme of this discussion, I’d like to say that I’ve just been knocked for six by Fun Home, which I started reading this evening. Everyone’s family history is unique, but some points of similarity to my own family were striking. Until this evening, I thought my family was unique in having a father who put us on display to coworkers, etc., then seemed to wish he could unplug us and put us in storage when we weren’t on display. And don’t get me started about the goofy, ornate nick-nacks he added to The House (as I call it). Goddess help me, after my parents passed away, I bought the house from my siblings and moved into it. I’ve spent the past several years removing my father’s idea of home improvements, wondering each time, “What WAS he thinking???”.

  22. Deena in OR says:

    Suze Orman just outed herself on “Larry King Live”.

  23. Robo-Pooch says:

    To Deena in OR: Wasn’t she already out since early ’07 though?

  24. Deena in OR says:

    In print, I think so. But this is the first time that I’d heard of her saying so in broadcast media (i.e. “live”) format. It was in the context of her not being able to leave the bulk of her estate to her partner.

  25. Ellen O. says:

    Last year (or before), Suze Orman said the same thing in the New York Times Sunday magazine–wanting to leave her estate to her partner. While I’m glad she’s out, and in some ways, thoroughly amused that this is her key issue (of course it is!), I can’t help but think how having a lot of money twists one’s priorities.

    While it isn’t fair that she’s doesn’t have the same marital rights as men and women who marry, I’m sure her girlfriend will have plenty to live on, married or not. Meanwhile, single people of all sexual orientations continue to get ripped off, in ways small and large.

    Perhaps she is intentionally putting this spin on civil rights for variety’s sake.

  26. Deena in OR says:

    To correct my former statement-what she actually said (and I’m paraphrasing) was that she couldn’t leave more that $2,000,000 to her partner without estate taxes coming into play. If they were married, she could leave the the bulk of the estate to K.T. tax-free (or at least at the favorable tax rate given to spouses.)

    Not that it was really an issue in terms of the discussion here, but I wanted to be accurate.

    Deena, the pedant

  27. corybant says:

    I never thought Ministry would be only 1 degree away from DTWOF!

    Minstry are playing in SF soon. Is your brother on tour with them?

  28. Feminista says:

    Re Suze Orman: I checked her website,with included a link to After Ellen. Orman came out on the Larry King show in Feb. 07,which appeared before the NYT article.

    In any event,I think Suze has some valuable things to say about women and money management. Granted,some may be offended by her self-help approach,but few financial advisors will say, “people first,then money,then things.” I saw her on PBS and thought she connected well with the money issues of ordinary women.

    She “thousands” to Democratic campaigns,esp.Hillary Clinton. Now maybe she could take some further steps and connect with the Ms.Foundation or Women ro Women International.

  29. Feminista says:

    That’s Women FOR Women…

  30. Deena in OR says:

    Feminista,

    Thanks for the research. She did also last night all but come forward and endorse either Obama or Clinton “because there’s more to elections than money issues” (or something to that effect.)

    In a FWIW, 2008 election edition, I played “Hangman” with a bunch of my residents today at work, and used presidential candidates as subject matter. They came up with the names of the major Democratic candidates in no time flat. The Republicans took much longer to name-and two of my ladies are Mormon.

  31. geogeek says:

    Estate taxes! Outraged yelp! Why does any American think it’s okay to creat oligarchic wealth through descent?! Isn’t 2 million bucks enough for anyone?!?! I spent _WEEKS_ before the 2000 election explaining estate taxes to people here in Seattle and none of them seemed bothered by the fact that the “level playing field” is not just tipped, but over-turned, by inheritance.

    Love the Ministry cover.

  32. chriso says:

    Your brother is in Ministry? Rock!

  33. lion's paw says:

    the cd cover (and the ministry name itself) is too scary. the lust cover is awesome and curiously compelling. thank you for sharing, alison.

  34. Roz Warren says:

    suze orman has scary eyeballs.

  35. Riotllama says:

    notice how bush looks like Voldemort, all snakeylike?

    makes me wanna get one of those Republicans for Voldemort bumper stickers.

    but I don’t have a car.

    and it would fall off my ass.

  36. Ian says:

    Whatever you did to Bush’s face, you couldn’t make it more scary than the original attached to the rest of him. The cover reminds me of that bizarre conspiracy theory that the rulers of the world are all lizard type aliens. I must admit the look suits him …

    I love the idea for Ellen Forney’s book. Don’t shout at me, but I have the feeling that the only way I’ll get a copy of it here in Britain is to order it off Medusa (US). *Oh, the shame of it all*

  37. Anonymous says:

    Ian – actually, there’s a bit of a loophole in the whole “Medusa.com” problem. In addition to buying direct from Amazon, most titles can be purchased through their Website from independent booksellers as well.

    The listing for Lust, for example, includes a line saying “2 used & new available from $10.17.”

    In this particular case, the $10.17 price refers to Amazon.com’s pre-order sale price, and the other one available is a $24.95 copy from “Woody’s Books,” somewhere in California. Presumably, it’s a galley proof or something.

    In most cases, however, the books from the independent sellers are less expensive, even cheap. Of course, they are also usually used, which means that the author doesn’t benefit from the sale. This is of little consequence when purchasing a paperback bestseller, but if you’re trying to support someone comparatively obscure like AB or Ellen Forney, it’s a consideration. As is the fact that Amazon is taking a cut, if you’re a purist.

    Anyway, I think you can, if necessary, order Forney’s book through Amazon this way and not go into Karma receivership 😉

    Just, whatever you do, do not activate 1-click ordering. It’s just too dangerous, and I have the bank statements to prove it.

    (Actually, I got all of the DTWOF books — in chronological order, over a one month period — via 1-click orders. Je ne regrette rien!)

  38. dzieger says:

    Argh. To accidental anonymous posts in one thread. I’m getting sloppy.

  39. dzieger says:

    Two. Okay, I give up. I suck.

  40. Ian says:

    Oooh, thanks for that info dzieger. I generally use Medusa.com or .co.uk ‘cos I don’t have a credit card, which makes buying from most ‘foreign’ suppliers websites just a tad difficult – unless they take Paypal like AB. So I can use eBay and Amazon, but not smaller sites.

    I suppose my other option would be to order it through Bounders, who’ve now spread to Europe …

  41. dzieger says:

    Cool. Maybe I don’t suck entirely 😉

    Speaking of which, oddly, now whenever I open one of these pages, Firefox has put my ID in the name field automatically. I haven’t changed any settings. Has my browser become sentient? If so, thank goddess I’m not using Explorer…

  42. Andrew B says:

    Ian, Powell’s takes Paypal and ships internationally. Click on Alison’s original link, above. From my perspective in the Northeastern US, Powell’s looks an awful lot like a warmer, fuzzier version of Medusa. But their website is better, e.g. with some reasonably serious author interviews, and I gather they really do contribute to their local community in Portland, Oregon. (Where they have long had a bricks and mortar store.)

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