My Uncle David just sent me this video of We Are The World. I remember seeing it as a kid and I recall that my mom and I sang it when we did Hands Across America on Beech Street in Manhattan in 1986. I even owned the record. Still, none of these prior experience prepared me for the visual/oral orgasm I experienced just now while watching everyone in my iTunes folder arise like younger, more bushy-haired (ahem, Billy Joel) phoenixes after a quarter decade. They all seem like impressions of themselves. Good ones, but still. I am mesmerized. Are you?
In OBSOLETE I talk about how phone sex is going bye-bye, thanks to sexting, IM sex and other forms of online sex (which I wrote about a few years ago on Salon).
I don’t write about this in the book, but I have a theory that there’s eventually going to a backlash against all this sexy technology. Personally, I like to do it retro style—without denying myself the pleasures of modern technology, that is. Just put the video chat screen in black-and-white mode, turn off the sound, get some speech to tech software that turns your words into subtitles at the bottom of your lover’s screen… For the full effect, slip an asprin into your Coke and draw a silk-stocking seam on the back of your leg. NOW you’re really partying like it’s 1929. As my 17-year-old cousin would say: Yummy!
ANYWAY, I mention this 1985 Village People production in OBSOLETE, but I could’ve written the entire book solely on this video. I would do it right now, but I have to go take a bath in eggnog. So, I will not bore you with any more of my silly ramblings. Really, this baby needs no ramp up.
I humbly offer this as my Christmas present to you.
MEET THE AUTHOR
Anna Grossman is writing this bio in the third person. She is a New York-based freelance writer specializing in lifestyle and entertainment features. She is 5'7" and has been described as "nice." Su esposo, Jesus, enseñandola Espanol. Email her if you feel like it: GrossmanAJ@Gmail.com
MEET THE ILLUSTRATOR
James Gulliver Hancock is an internationally acclaimed artist who crosses as many mediums as he does borders. James is constantly on the move, having been involved in artist projects and residencies in Indonesia, Austria, France, the U.K. and America. He is currently located in Los Angeles and works on projects in Europe, America and Australia. His work is as varied as his travels, encompassing editorial illustration for magazines, commissions for music group artwork and animations, work with disabled children on logo designs, creating gigantic set illustrations for performances and TV.
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CONTACT: ObsoleteTheBook@ Gmail.com. Because books love to check email.
FOR PRESS OR SPEAKING INQUIRIES: email Jessica Alter
