“There’s old wave. There’s new
wave. And then there’s David Bowie.” [1]
After his
brief foray into “plastic soul” with 1975’s Young
Americans, Bowie released Station to
Station— the first
in a string of albums heavily influenced by both contemporary German musical
artists like Kraftwerk and Neu!, often referred to as krautrock, and German
philosophers like Friedrich Nietzsche. [2] Bowie was no stranger to
philosophical references in his work, having previously referenced Nietzsche’s
works with “Oh! You Pretty Things,” “Quicksand,” and “Supermen,” all off of
1971’s Hunky Dory. [2, 3]
Station to Station introduced the Thin White Duke persona;
a character he later referred to as “a nasty character for me.” It was during
this era he made controversial comments referring to Hitler and had the
infamous incident at Victoria Station that took what was meant as a wave at the
gathered crowd and alleged it to instead be a Nazi salute. He had also been
detained in Poland for having Nazi paraphernalia. [4]
“Please welcome those ambassadors of Eastern bloc rock, The Angry Inch.”
[1]
Pictured: (left to right) David McKinley, Chris Weilding, Stephen Trask,
John Cameron Mitchell, Miriam Shor, and Scott Bilbrey.
The Angry Inch is Hedwig Robinson’s backing band. Originally formed in
Junction City, Kansas with a group of Korean Sergeant’s wives, the current line
up is a mix of Eastern Europeans with musical director Skszp on keyboards and
guitar, Jacek on bass, Schlatko on drums, Kryzyzhtoff on lead guitar, and Hedwig’s husband Yitzhak on tamberine and
miscellaneous percussion. [2] They are managed by Phyllis Stein. [1]
Hedwig asserts her power over the band by verbally berating them and
holding their passports hostage.
Former members of The
Angry Inch include Kwang-Yi and Tommy Gnosis. [2]
Btw that’s both a visual and a literal Chinese pun and I’m literally laughing so hard right now (my parents say this every year) and I want everyone to understand this.
Here’s the two phrases you’ll need to know:
年年有鱼 (nián nián you yú) - “(I wish you have) fish every year”
年年有余 (nián nián you yú) - “(I wish you have) extra every year” - this is a common blessing used in China
Both the 鱼 and 余 characters sound exactly the same and here’s where the pun comes in.
Every Lunar New Year, as good luck, we eat “fish” so that we can “have fish every year”. In other words, we’re eating fish so that we can have extra every year.
Extra what, you ask? Extra everything! Extra money in the bank, extra food on our tables, extra happiness, etc, etc. It’s like an all-around blessing. Very kind and used often during Lunar New Year.
The cat has already gotten her “extra” (fish) for the year so the blogger is wishing you “fish” (extra) every year ^^
finally someone explained it, thank you<3
I am so delighted to learn that somebody else also has the tradition of eating puns for blessings on the New Year.
gay trans men do not get to be “stereotypically” or “flamboyantly” gay like cis gay men are. if a gay trans man were interested in things such as fashion, drag, shopping, or traditionally “feminine” behavior that cis gay men partook in, he would face backlash. trans men are forced to perform hypermasculinity in an attempt to prove their transness and any deviation from that is seen as them being “not really trans”. so if a gay trans man were to be effeminate or “stereotypically” gay, he would face transphobia send tweet
This is a project I’ve been considering for a long time and figured the new year was the best time to launch it.
Hedwig Robinson is a character who loves a good pop culture reference and so do we! But as Hedwig expands in both age and international popularity, there are going to be references that ring less of a bell in 2019 than they did in 1998 or ones that make less sense in Korea than they did on Broadway.
The Hedwig Encyclopædia was created to explain all of the questions I’ve asked or been asked as a die hard fan for the last five years such as: What exactly isan 8-track? How does German university work (and how did it work in the now-defunct East Berlin??)
“Can two people actually become one again? And if we’re driving on the Autobahn [when it happens] can we still use the Diamond Lane?”
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