CampusIntel

Sweet Corn Sauce and boiling pasta

One of the things I wanted to do this summer, was become a better, or even decent, cook. I don’t often watch Rachael Ray, but sometimes I catch the tail end while waiting for the Ellen Degeneres show to come on. So I catch her cooking segment. Oddly enough, ever since I was a little girl I have loved cooking shows. Mom would often find me perched at the end of her bed lost in a cooking show. Once I grew up, I lost all interest in cooking, until recently. I`ve decided it`s time for me to grow up and learn how to cook.

I`ve been experimenting with easy basic foods and dishes like casseroles, pork chops and potatoes, pasta etc. I`m not going to try and big meal just yet. But I wanted to share this recipe that I saw on Rachael Ray it`s called Fettuccine with Sweet Corn and Fresh Dill. Personally, I don`t like dill, so I have made a few changes to Rachael`s original recipe.

Jill`s Fettuccine with Sweet Corn (serves 4-6 people)

Ingredients

• 8 ears corn, peeled
• About 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• Salt
• fettuccine, tagliatelle or egg tagliatelle
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
  

  Sauce ready to add pasta!

• 6 slices smoky bacon, chopped
• Green onion or fresh chives
• 3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 7-8 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped and finely chopped (a couple of tablespoons)
• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
• Freshly grated Parmesan or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

My instructions to mix together follow the same recipe as Rachael’s on her website. I am just not a Dill lover and therefore left out the dill (I also left out the chili pepper). It

Suppertime!

turned out delicious! And I can’t was able to have left overs for lunch!

This is also a healthy alternative to a cream sauce, it has the sweet creamy flavour. And I am sure other spices and veggies could help make this an entirely different sauce with the healthiness of corn versus cream!

Hopefully I can make it again, this time I will make sure to have all necessary FRESH ingredients on hand. Fresh is always better than the alternative!

This summer while traveling to Prince Edward Island to see Taylor Swift at the Cavendish Beach Music Festival, my friends and I stopped into the Information Village they have as soon as you get off the bridge. For those of you who have never been to PEI, go to this place, it`s really cute! It has a Cows Ice Cream store, a museum, gift shops and places to buy PEI paraphernalia!

I`ve been to PEI many times over the years from camping trips to basketball tournaments, and I had stopped at this Information Centre before, but I had never come across what myself and my friends came across on this particular visit. We were in one of the Gift Shops looking around and one of the girls with us, Angela who is from Toronto, had never been to the East Coast before.  For her this trip was exciting, because she was able to come to Halifax to visit Alison and also get to PEI. Angela had never heard of Anne of Green Gables before, and the other four of us couldn`t believe it! My mom read me Anne of Green Gables when I was a little girl, and living so close to PEI, we were always aware of the international phenomenon that Lucy Maude Montgomery had created.

Anne of Green Gables times 5

While at this particular book store we found out that for $2 per person, supplying your own camera, you could dress up as Anne of Green Gables and get pictures with your friends and family. So the five of us all dressed up and got pictures as Anne. Of course we had a great laugh!

At the end of our “photo shoot“ we turned back into Ashley, Jill, Jessica, Alison and Angela. The girl working at the gift shop gave us a flier and told us to check out this website. So, I stuck the flier in my purse and soon forgot about it.

Two weeks after our adventure to Cavendish, I found the flier in my purse. It was for a website called Tacky Tourist Photos. So I went to check it out. It turns out this website is devoted to collecting tacky photos in monumental or recognized places of different countries or cities that have a tacky feel to them, much like the one my friends and I have of Anne of Green Gables. Literally anyone who wants to can send in a photo from anywhere in the world that is of them looking tacky on a trip! Of course, I have many so I sent some in. A few days later I recived an unexpected reply from Darren Garnick of Tacky Tourist photos thanking me for the photos. I thought that was really nice!

At Hennigar's Farm Market in Annapolis Valley, NS

After reviewing photos, they post some on their website. They are also in the process of choosing photos for their Tacky Tourist Photos coffee table book, displaying some of their best Tacky Photos! So if you have any tacky photos from trips you have taken, send them in!

So I could not do all of this in the 140 character limit! Enjoy!

V.1

This IS a song for ChickFlick
A silent prayer that will be quick
I want be just a face in the crowd
I want to hear Bon Jovi’s voice
When he shout’s his songs loud

[Chorus:]
It’s my life
It’s now or never
I ain’t gonna live forever
I just want to see Bon Jovi while I’m alive
(It’s my life)
My heart is like an open highway
You asked for a tweet
But I did it my way
I just wanna see Bon Jovi while I’m alive
It’s my life

V.2

This is for the ones who stood their ground
Who kept on tweeting and didn’t back down
Tomorrow’s getting harder make no mistake
Luck ain’t even lucky
Got to make your own breaks

[Chorus:]
It’s my life
It’s now or never
I ain’t gonna live forever
I just want to see Bon Jovi while I’m alive
(It’s my life)
My heart is like an open highway
You asked for a tweet
But I did it my way
I just wanna see Bon Jovi while I’m alive
It’s my life

v.3

Better stand tall when they’re tweeting you out
Don’t bend, don’t break, baby, don’t back down

[Chorus:]
It’s my life
It’s now or never
I ain’t gonna live forever
I just want to see Bon Jovi while I’m alive
(It’s my life)
My heart is like an open highway
You asked for a tweet
But I did it my way
I just wanna see Bon Jovi while I’m alive
It’s my life

‘Cause it’s my life!

As an English, History and Religion student at university, I find I have it rough. Books are being recommended and forced on me left, right and center. When I do get a chance to read something non-school related, I find I read “quick” novels, murder mysteries that are formulaic and really, they don’t take much brain-power.

That being said, during the school year when I have to read a “good” book (say Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon), I have no will to read it, and it becomes a grudgingly long and tedious task… all because the book is for school.

So, ladies and gentlemen, I have decided to reclaim my summers and reclaim my reading list! And I figured there has to be one or two of you out there who are like me, so, without further ado, I have recommendations for a fantastic summer reading list.

1. Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon – this is a great novel that was the prototype for Sherlock Holmes. A fantastically written mystery with twists and turns. As it was really one of the first of its kind, you never really figure out what is going on until it is explained! ***Note*** those of you who have had to read it for school and are thinking to yourselves “oh man Alix… seriously? this is kind of lame…” pay attention! This book is really cool when read outside of the classroom!

2. The Dream King by Gregor Robinson – this is a Canadian author whose book of short stories gives a whole new dimension to weird, wicked and out of this world! His writing may strike close to home, or may just make you gasp with shocking results; either way this book of short stories is bound to make you think … ***Note*** If you like this book you can read his other book “Hotel Paradiso” and his new book, coming out February 2011 “Providence Island”.

3.  The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson – a shorter read then many novels in this day and age but a page turner nonetheless. Really putting modern day mystery writers to shame with the interesting leaps the author expects the reader to make. Instead of a long drawn out description, Stevenson wants the reader to use their imaginations, making some scenes more horrible and dramatic then they really are!

4. Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson – this novel takes place in British Columbia and is not a mystery (like the first three books on my list). This story is about a Native American girl and the life she leads. The reader encounters tragedy and renewal of hope in a book that brings to light some of the issues in Native American communities.

5.  Frankenstein or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Shelley – this novel is by the brilliant wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley and was the beginning of “monsters that go bump in the night”.  Mary Shelley delves deep into the unexpected side of science to a dark world so few know even less about. This classic is a must read for anyone who likes a clash of science and reality.

6. The Blood of the Lamb by Peter DeVries – this book is about a man’s experience with religion throughout his life and how it changed and/or altered him (and not always for the better). This novel is one of my favorites, not only because it is a compelling read, but because it explores issues and a reality other books dealing with religion choose to ignore or leave out. This is the must-read of summer 2010.

7. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle – alright… I caved! Sherlock Holmes is an awesome mystery and totally retro reading experience. Perhaps a little adventerous for when it was written, but an interesting read in the modern day (and no, sadly Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law do not make apperances in the novel…).

8. The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova – This novel is a historical fiction based partially on the life of Vlad Tepes III, otherwise known as Vlad Dracula. DO NOT WORRY though, this is no teenaged emo vampire book! This is a thrilling adventure of a young lady finding herself as well as the truth behind Dracula the person (evil dictator, ruthless leader, cunning oponent to the Ottoman Turks) this book has literally everything. Monsters, adventure, a wee bit of romance, travel (and beautiful descriptions of Eastern European countries), this book is my favorite book of all books I have ever read!  ***Note*** If you like this you might check out a book called “Vlad”, it is by a Canadian author and is about the youth of Vlad Dracula (historically accurate for the most part). It gives the reader an interesting look at why he turned out the way that he did.

9. Agatha Christie – Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I do in fact realize that there is no book title here. As I was looking through all my books of hers I realized I cannot choose just one! So, my dear readers, I really must insist you pick up one that looks interesting to you!!! Read away, get carried away, let her wonderful writings transport you to a different world!

10. The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart – ok, so I really like this book and if the name sounds familiar to you it should! It was mentioned in my previous blog! Yes it is a book intended for a younger audience, BUT it is a book that has a lot more substance then one would think. The book plunges into the story right away (as the children’s backgrounds are purposely hidden we don’t have to deal with boring explanations of who they are) and immediately the reader is grasped by the sense of adventure and passion older readers forget they have! This book is a wonderful, perhaps lighter read for those wishing to escape reality while sitting on a deck chair in the heat of summer!

I know you guys are probably thinking to yourself that there are a lot of older books here, and that there seem to be a lot of mysteries. You are right, but these are only a few of my favorites (and my favorites happen to be mysteries). The older books in here could be considered classics (and are in my eyes) but are totally worth the read! I am always open to book suggestions (I read like it’s nobodies business) and would love to hear any more suggestions for my already extensive list.

Escape reality for just a second, allow your brain to wander… that world is waiting for you to explore. Happy Reading!

Photo Source: amazon.com

Critically acclaimed award-winning novelist of Fight Club and Choke, Chuck Palahniuk has released his latest novel, Tell-All on Doubleday on May 4, 2010.

A Random House review of Tell-All on The Cult, Palahniuk’s official website, describes the novel as a “Sunset Boulevard–inflected homage to Old Hollywood when Bette Davis and Joan Crawford ruled the roost; a veritable Tourette’s syndrome of rat-tat-tat name-dropping, from the A-list to the Z-list; and a merciless send-up of Lillian Hellman’s habit of butchering the truth” (Source: chuckpalahniuk.net).

Narrator Hazie Coogie, caretaker of Hollywood actress Katherine “Miss Kathie” Kenton, guides the mysterious tale turned murder plot when Miss Kathie’s latest suitor, Webster Carlton Westward III, is discovered to have written a celebrity tell-all memoir alluding to Miss Kathie’s death in a forthcoming Lillian Hellman musical (Source: chuckpalahniuk.net).

Tell-All thus pays homage to American playwright Lillian Hellman, who died in 1984. Following the discourse laid out in Hellman’s autobiography, The Unfinished Woman (1969), Palahniuk reproduces Hellman’s controversial starlet persona crafted during her forty-plus year career. After penning critical successes such as The Children’s Hour (1934) and The Little Foxes (1939), Hellman’s public image was tested in the 1950s when she was blacklisted by the Hollywood Movie Studios for her long-time affair with communist party member and detective-novelist Dashiell Hammet.

Palahniuk is also set to release a novel, Damned, in 2011, which he said in an interview with Doubleday is “about an eleven-year-old girl who finds herself in Hell and learns how to manipulate the corrupt system of demons and bodily fluids. Imagine if The Shawshank Redemption had a baby by The Lovely Bones and it was raised by Judy Blume, and you have my next new project” (Source: chuckpalahniuk.net). Watch for a North American tour by Palahniuk soon in support of Tell-All.

The 10^th Annual Joey Ramone Birthday Bash is scheduled for May 19 at the Fillmore New York at Irving Plaza in New York City. This year’s event is being headlined by Hank III and Morningwood, with supporting acts The Sic Fucks, The Independents (whom Ramone managed shortly before his death), Spanking Charlene, and Heap. The Joey Ramone Birthday Bashers, a parade of rock and roll underworld royalty featuring Little Steven Van Zandt, Mickey Leigh, Richie Ramone, Walter Lure, Cheetah Chrome, Thunderbolt Patterson, Ed Stasium, and Hank III will also perform at the night. All proceeds from the event go to the Lymphoma Research Foundation.

The bash celebrates the punk godfather’s life which ended on April 15, 2001 due to complications with lymphoma cancer. Shortly before his death, the 59 year old Ramone made his brother, guitarist Mickey Leigh, Rattlers, and mother Charlotte Lester promise they would celebrate his birthday that year. Now a ten year long tradition, the annual bash is notorious for its wild party atmosphere and performances from punks the Ramones hung out with and influenced alike. The first bash featured Cheap Trick and Blondie, and since The Misfits, Rocket From The Crypt, The Bouncing Souls, The Waldos, and The Saints have all hit the stage for Ramone’s birthday.

After Joey Ramone died the legacy of the Ramones thrusted into the mainstream. The seminal punk rock band responsible for stripping down pompous rock and roll in the late 70s with such worldly hits as “I Wanna Be Sedated” and “Blitzkrieg Bop” were recognized for their importance to modern rock. The first Ramones album, released in 1976 and produced by the reputed Phil Spector (Beatles’ Let It Be), is widely considered as the prototype for the first wave punk era that reshaped mainstream music.

Joey also did a lot of work outside the Ramones. In 1985 he joined Little Steven Van Zandt’s advocacy group Artists United Against Apartheid acting against the Sun City Resort in South Africa. Other acts he worked with include Youth Gone Mad, Helen Love, Ronnie Spector, Blackfire, and The Independents. In 2003, a section of East 2^nd Street near CBGB’s nightclub where the Ramones played their first shows in New York City was officially renamed Joey Ramone Place. In 2002, the Ramones were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the same year that Joey’s last work, a solo album entitled Don’t Worry About Me, was posthumously released by his predecessors. On May 14, 2009, Joey himself was inducted into the Hall of Fame, as well.

The Alex, Brantford

April 23, 2010

“Move the fuck up here,” beckoned Fuck The Facts bassist Marc Bourgon at the Alex in Brantford last Friday night while lead vocalist Mel Mongeon skittered around the empty front row pit-space. The audience of local punk and metal-core diehards quickly filled the floor’s void for the intimidating 10-song mudslide of drop-B tuned guitars and blast-beat infernos leaving a grind core bullet hole in the Brantford scene.

The quintet slipped ferociously into “Wake” off their latest release which came out in February. You can’t find the limited 1000 copy pressing in stores, aptly titled “Unnamed EP,” no doubt playing on Fuck The Facts’s fractured metal style most closely associated with grind, but ever indefinable with varying genre injections of industrial, punk, and stoner groove. Further personifying the confusion record buyers face when encountering their music, the band played on a continuously unlit stage at the Alex with minimal banter between songs that often seamlessly melded into one another. The distortion dripping chaos is faceless to the average heavy rock listener, empowering FTF’s niche noise to its fullest intentions.

They slowed the set’s tempo with “My Failures (Just Like Yesterday)” off their 2008 split with Belgium deathgrinders Leng Tch’e. Then a quick, audacious rendition of “The Sound Of Your Smashed Head” off Stigmata High-Five triggered more slam-moves in the pit, and Mongeon couldn’t help but tizzy-groove her growl spewing noggin with the blast beat crash along. “Kelowna” off 2008 full-length Disgorge Mexico and “Ballet Addict” from 2003’s Backstabber Etiquette rounded out the performance that gave Brantford a glimpse of what‘s going on around Ottawa right now: original hardcore metal that knows no borders and plays into no commercial agenda. Or, real art.

Gender equality is a fierce topic nowadays, where in many nations, females are equal or perhaps “better off” than males in regards to law and treatment. Females, at the very start of human life, were seen as a typical “gatherer” in a hunter gather society. This was because of their lack of physical strength, smaller build, and perhaps their cautious nature (I’m only hypothesizing that they are cautious because of the first two reasons). In addition to their passive cooking, home making, taking care of offspring treatment, or rather placement in society, they probably also have been treated as a sex object for the males.  Again, emphasizing their physical lack in respect to males.

Of course, this was a long long time ago. Now that we’ve established a civilized society in which the society seeks justice against those who are weaker, abused, exploited….things along thing lines. Male and female rights are being fought in many countries as we speak. In every single one of those countries, males have more rights than females do. This probably dates back to my hunter gatherer explanation. Such stubborn people. Third and second world countries aside, what’s going on in first world countries? The countries that are supposed to be leaders of this world. Leaders in technology, organization, government stability, economic stability and lawful rights and justice. The last is the category in which I think a leading country should exhibit.

In the case of Canada, men and women are almost equal in terms of applied laws. This is because it’s a crime to be sexist. Even if it wasn’t, if you were really sexist, the people of Canada around you won’t stand for that anyways. In this country that I live in, I’ve experienced many things: life, love, loneliness, anger, sadness, joy, happiness and much more. I’m originally from Korea. Korea has a lot to offer, but it seems that my moving here has given me many more things than what Korea would have given me. Korea is, I would say still a second world nation, perhaps something like 1.5th world nation as it is catching up quite fast. In this country, there is military draft. Thing is, it’s only males. Females have a choice not to go, but men do not. Of course it toughens up Korean men, but so what? there’s no equality. In the military today, females can be as good as males, because strength nor build comes into play in the era of guns, tanks, and airplanes.

Back to talking about Canada. I was at work a few days ago, and I was at the back taking a rest and two females come into the room and start talking about a first date. Here’s how it went.

Girl A: Hey, a guy should pay on the first date right?
Girl B: That’s obvious. I wouldn’t even take my wallet.
Girl A: I know huh….

Then the talked about something else. Point is that women (not all so don’t take offence), seem to expect things from guys. This could be exploitation. For a chance to see if the guy could get in her pants, he pays for dinner, at probably a pretty expensive restaurant because it gives an impression that you are rich, therefore a higher probability to get in her pants. In a way, it makes sense to do this. I mean, if it works, then the money you spent on dinner would be equal to nothing. This is to prostitution as softcore porn is to hardcore porn.

In conclusion, even in Canada, where lawfully, males and females are virtually equal, the way people think and expect of a specific gender won’t really change. In a hypothetical world, made in an instant with no previous events like the hunter gatherer society, where males and females were equal, and treated as equals by law, I think the way of thinking of that world’s people would eventually spiral down to exploitation, based on economic ambition where females could become more economically stable by exploiting males and the implied favors that come with them (dinner for example).

I just wish that all humans were equal, in rights and in treatment. Especially in treatment.

As a high school graduate of 2000, it’s coming around to that time of life — time for the 10 year high school reunion.  I’ve got to be careful about what I choose to write here, because I think I might inadvertently get myself de-invited. 

I while ago, I got the official (via Facebook) invitation for my 10 year high school reunion, set to go down this summer.  Good on the former students for organizing, apparently the school was ZERO help.  So with the class of 2000 set to ride again, I pose the following query for your dissection: The whole Facebook thing seems to have eliminated the need for high school reunions, hasn’t it? 

I mean, wasn’t the whole thing with the reunion to see and catch up with people you lost touch with over the last X amount of years, and catch up?  So, now with pretty well every human being on the planet having a Facebook profile, and certainly most of every grad class that ever, well, grad-ed (even those who took a little extra time)… well, haven’t we all been doing that very same catching up, and keeping IN touch with each other already, via Facebook, or email, or whatever?

For those who just wanted to see who got fat, who’s bald, who’s rich, who’s still on drugs, and/or who you think you have it better than, well, there’s an app for that all the magic of those mysteries can be solved with a few clicks on incriminating Facebook posts.  So that’s out.  Even if you just want to creep on pictures, and see every move everyone’s made over the last decade, well, that’s at your disposal too—as long as you’ve got that all important “Friend Request” approval.  You don’t even need to leave your house for that.      

And for those looking to show up and prove some point about what you made of yourself and how you’re back to extract revenge on all the people that picked on you by rubbing your accomplishments in everyone’s face, well, if you didn’t already know… YOU’RE THE REASON NO ONE WANTS TO GO TO THESE THINGS. 

Here’s a few direct quotes from people in the reunion group that I cut and paste from our reunion page; all examples of things I don’t want to deal with, nor conversations I want to become involved in, if I were to attend:

“I think this past year was my best looking year”

“I’ll be at the grad reunion and be the shocker of it all”

“I neither got fat nor skinny. I got out of my Goth period and grew my hair long.”

“I wasn’t the smartest student…and some people may have thought I wouldn’t do much in my life… well I am happy to say I’m doing pretty good.”

So basically all the things that make you point out how late it is, or pretend you’re getting a call on your phone that didn’t ring, or remind yourself of what you left on the stove, or plugged in, or what’s burning down, or whatever else you can conjure up to exit that convo A-S-A-P.

Now, of course there are good, positive reasons to go.  There definitely is no replacement for seeing people in person when compared to online social networking.  There are a few good people that I would enjoy seeing, and hanging out with again.  Rekindle some old friendships, and re-connect with those who have managed to hermit themselves from technology.  Was there anyone that became famous in our class?  Hmm, might be interesting to find that out. 

Of course, there’s going to be people who’re only going to go if ______ goes, and then there’s a stalemate, and then no one goes.  And some people live really far away, and just can’t go.  I’ve been fortunate to stay good friends with the people of that group I care to keep in touch with most; and at times, I think that’s probably all I really need.

Look, high school wasn’t that bad for me, compared to some of the tortured stories I’ve heard from others.  I had some good times, and some good friends, tried to be a good dude, and also tried not to fail classes and get stuck there.  I think I learned a few things in class here and there, but math DID turn out to be useless just like we all contended; outside of calculating tips at restaurants of course.  I definitely had my insecurities, embarrassments, and jerks and idiots that I wish I never had to have dealt with; but I got out relatively unscathed.  Some stories I’ve heard are certainly of the kind of psychologically damaging material that has people paying shrinks to keep them from climbing to the top of a bell tower and opening fire.  I don’t recall crossing anyone in that manner, so I think my odds of getting shot are fairly low.  I can think of a few people whose odds are probably not in their favour though… remind again why we all want to get together with each other again?

So if we all know that eveyone’s got their issues buried somewhere down deep, can we just all agree that this thing’s not an opportunity to get revenge, or to continue being an idiot to people, or to take that last shot at love with the girl/guy you liked but were too shy to talk to, or whatever agenda you’ve been stewing in the crockpot for waaaay too long, and can we all just hang out like civilized adults that weren’t only brought together by the social bindings of a mandatory public education system?  Can we all just pretend that despite the social awkward life period of us all once being acceptance-seeking (just me?) adolescents that were forced to congregate in the same building for 5 consecutive years, that we actually want to be in the same place with each other this time for some reason?

 Or maybe should we all just go buckwild; have one side of the room for people who want to start fights, gloat, and get embarrassed by asking out the person you always wanted to date that still doesn’t want to date you roll the dice on a crack at romance, and the other side for all the people who are over themselves and their issues, and just wanna hang out and have a good time?      

Again, I hope I haven’t just lost my invitation.  I know I sound cynical, but surely I’m not the only one with these thoughts running through their heads. 

My invitation status is currently set as “Maybe Attending”.  Do you think I should go?  Why or why not?  Did you/are you going to yours?  Why or why not?  What’s your best high school reunion story?

read more of Dave at Serenity Now… The SDC Blogs http://davecunning.wordpress.com

Photosource: esquire.com

I’m getting sick of doing this. Last Thursday, April 8, 2010, Malcolm McLaren died due to complications with mesothelioma. He was 64.

Malcolm McLaren is most notable for being the manager of seminal punk rock bank The Sex Pistols, arguably the world’s most famous punk band. The Sex Pistols popularised the punk fashion of the late 1970s. Safety pins, ripped and torn clothing, spiky haircuts, leather jackets and bondage gear, and straight up negative attitudes toward anything mainstream – this all stems from The Sex Pistols. They also helped usher in a highly influential anti-political musical movement called anarchy punk, prominent today in mainstream music with bands such as The Casualties and The Exploited. However, The Sex Pistols were nothing without McLaren.

It all happened like this. In 1971, after giving up on formal education after a series of expulsions from various British arts colleges, Malcolm McLaren and then girlfriend, now renowned fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, opened a fashion boutique in London called Let It Rock. The shop specialised in costumes for cinematic productions and saw some success, but McLaren grew a new itch. In 1972 he travelled to New York City and hung out with inspirational protopunk group The New York Dolls, who had a huge underground following at the time. McLaren was drawn to their provocative dragqueen stage personas which countered the egotistic, no-fun direction rock and roll was heading toward. McLaren renamed his London shop Too Fast To Live, Too Young To Die and began outfitting the Dolls for all their shows. But, The New york Dolls split in 1975 after a gutsy move by McLaren: to draw attention, he dressed the band in red leather suits and used a hammer and sickle as their new logo. Dolls guitarist Johhny Thunders would go on to become the underworld face of punk, a foreshadowing fact in the later success of The Sex Pistols.

After The New York Dolls, McLaren set out to create a band with members from local London. After a scrounging period, at the newly renamed McLaren shop SEX, guitarist Steve Jones, drummer Paul Cool, and bassist Glen Matlock started producing rough-edge rock similar to The New York Dolls, and with the new do it yourself anti-rockstar ethic conceptualised by NYC punk prototypes the Ramones. McLaren found what he needed most for the band in a young man sporting a t-shirt reading “I Hate Pink Floyd.” Oh, so punk rock. This Floyd-hater was John Lydon, aka Johnny Rotten, the most recognisable voice in punk.

So, the band was complete. McLaren named them The Sex Pistols after his shop and another random controversial image. The Sex Pistols countered Top 40 music of the late 70s. They didn’t play ten minute guitar solos or have trained musical knowledge, which is the essence of punk: regular people playing rock and roll, instead of larger than life heroes who didn’t give a shit about their fans. Punks wanted to recreate the rock scene of the 50s and 60s by playing short, 3-chord rhythm and blues songs. No filler.

In 1977, the Sex Pistols blew up. New bassist Sid Vicious became the ultimate punk anti-hero complete with a nasty heroin addiction and total lack of personality on the surface. The band’s “Anarchy Tour” with up and coming London pals The Clash and The Damned, and headlined by infamous junkie-punk Johnny Thunders and his Heartbreakers, gave them a previously non-existent soapbox.

The rest is literally history. The band’s one and only studio album, Nevermind the Bollocks, Here’s the Sex Pistols, was released in fall 1977. Complete with now punk classics ”God Save The Queen” and “Anarchy in the UK,” Nevermind the Bollocks reached No. 1 on the UK rock charts. It is widely considered by music historians as one of the most, if not the most influential rock album of the twentieth century. If you’ve never listened to it, do so, and play it loud.

Then, as quickly as they appeared, the Pistols were gone. They broke up after their dismal first US tour in 1978. In February 1979, Sid Vicious was dead due to a heroin overdose. McLaren went on to manage British punk rock group Adam and the Ants, and create his own music with various backing bands.

So after this brief punk history, my message ends with remembering Malcolm McLaren, punk’s PR representative. Without the pop culture and fashion vision of this man, it is quite possible that punk never would have reached the heights it now floats upon. RIP Malcolm McLaren.