Supermasochistic Bob has Cystic Fibrosis
Hey guys, remember our big “Vote for Coilhouse” effort from about week ago? Well, the three finalists have been announced, and unfortunately, we weren’t selected, despite your incredible feat of getting us into the top 10 out of over 4,000 nominees in under 24 hours with your votes. The finalists are Sacred Wind Communications (a telecom company), Beacon Paint & Hardware (I was excited when I originally misread this as “BACON PAINT”) and Happybaby organic baby foods. We wish them all the best during the remainder of the competition.
Actually, this is a huge relief. For the past week, we’ve all been kind of second-guessing ourselves every time we made a blog post, asking: “is this too risqué? Should we go easy with the gross/weird stuff, just this week, to avoid scaring the judges away from picking us as a finalist?” For some, the pressure was too great: Ross kept writing and deleting draft after draft until he just snapped, covering the walls of his office with writing in feces.
Now that all the suspense is over, it’s a huge relief to feel like we can write about anything we want (which most of us ended up doing last week anyway) without feeling any apprehension or guilt. Anything I personally might’ve felt too cautious to blog about last week, I will blog about in my next few posts, with interest! I kick off this trend with a song by one of our great heroes, Bob Flanagan, from Kirby Dick’s documentary Sick. If you don’t know who Mr. Flanagan was, the song explains it all. Much more about Bob Flanagan at a later date.
In the end, grant or no grant, we’ll make it. It would’ve been easier and faster with that funding, but we learned through this “Vote for Coilhouse” experience that we have something more valuable than any amount money that any large company could bestow upon us: a caring, kind, loyal group of friends & readers that was willing to support us when we asked for help. Also, we got a brief taste of what it’s like to feel beholden to a large company for any kind of support, and we did not like that feeling at all. We don’t need them to make it; we just need you guys. Thank you, all, from the bottom of our hearts.
September 24th, 2009 at 3:02 am
MMMMM. MOAR BLOOD SAAAHSAAAGE.
(Too soon?)
September 24th, 2009 at 6:01 am
I dunno, but for this particular morning, that seems waaaay better than coffee (esp. with blood sausage chaser!) Mer, can it be nominated for that tag?? ;)
Whenever I see Mr. Flanagan, I’m brought back to the night I discovered him…I committed a MAJOR (and now that I think of it, completely inexplicable) faux-pas, bringing my Dad to see SICK: The Life & Death of Bob Flanagan, Supermasochist (1997). I still blush when I think of it…
September 24th, 2009 at 7:15 am
He was also in a NIN and Godflesh video!
September 24th, 2009 at 11:37 am
@Red Scharlach
The NIN video was how I discovered Mr. Flanagan
September 24th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
I <3 Bob Flanagan!!
September 24th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
There are some interesting comments on YouTube for this video, also. For example: “I am 23 and have recieved a double lung transplant…. I LOVE YOUR OUTLOOK! YES S N M we need it.. needles, knives, and oxygen cord whips.. ;) oi…. lol”
@badluckshadow13 @Red Scharlach: His bits in the “Happiness in Slavery” video are phenomenal. When I first saw them, I was a teen, wondering if he was an actor or what his story was… he made an impression on me then. I discovered his persona sometime later, and made the connection after the fact.
@Jessica HAHAHA! I would’ve loved to see the look on your dad’s face. I’m sure it was priceless. Yes, I think this is definitely deserving of the “Better than Coffee” tag. Actually, Mer’s “Posession” post had a better than coffee effect on me too. Nothing like a psychotic, oozing meltdown to start your day!
September 24th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
I remember seeing sick in a class last year and it completely won me over.
Bob Flanagan was such an inspiring person.
<3
September 24th, 2009 at 6:13 pm
Nadya: Here’s the Godflesh video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flMcgcYNyBg
Also stars his partner, Sheree Rose.
September 24th, 2009 at 7:56 pm
To this day he inspires me. Wonderful man that he was.
September 24th, 2009 at 8:38 pm
He really was an incredible guy. As heartbreaking as portions of Sick were, I’m so glad Flanagan was strong enough let them document him.
Speaking of strong– does anyone know how Sarah Doucette (the 17 year old girl with CF who requested to meet Flanagan through the Make A Wish foundation) is doing? I know there was a 15 min documentary made about her in 2003 that can be seen on the Sick DVD, but I haven’t watched it, or heard anything more about her since…
September 28th, 2009 at 3:48 pm
Back in L.A. in the early 90s, when the LA Weekly had powerful mojo and the city was littered with performance artists and slam poets from Watts to Topanga Canyon, I would read about Super Bob Flannagan and his exploits. When I saw Sick, it was a blessing. His courage and joy were a wonder to behold. Thank you for reminding us all of his life and his talent.