For better or worse, he's become part of the cultural wallpaper and thus easy for me to not think about. He'd probably be happy to know that he's become every bit of a product, a brand, a hollow icon as those he revered (or criticized, depending on who you belive) in his art. Thinking about his would-be assassin, Valerie Solanis, it occurred to me that I had never gotten around to seeing the Solanis biopic I Shot Andy Warhol starring Lili Taylor. I remember really wanting to see that when it came out but missed it at the theater and never got around to it.

Monday night, I thought I'd go to the video store and see if they have the movie. After a long day at work and after running errands, I decide to put it off til later. Instead, I went home and watched a copy of ¡Viva Los Muertos! an episode of The Venture Bros. that features a parody of the Scooby Doo gang, only this time all of the characters are based on famous psychos. Shaggy and Scooby, I mean "Sonny" and "Groovy" are based on Son of Sam and Harvey, the dog he claimed ordered him to kill. Velma, or "Val" is based on no other than Valerie Solanis with most of her dialogue lifted directly from her infamous Scum Manifesto. As an added bonus, this episode was written by Ben Edlund, of The Tick fame. The Venture Bros. is the brainchild of one Jackson Publick, who got his start writing for both the animated and live-action Tick series so it was nice of him to return the favor.

Tuesday rolls along and it's time for a trip to I Luv Video, the best video store in Austin. Adding to the coolness is the fact that it is Free Beer Tuesday at I Luv Video. At long last, I finally got to see I Shot Andy Warhol. Frankly, it suffers from having to compress so much of the story that Valerie's descent from disturbed eccentric to homocidal maniac doesn't come off as fully convincing. Fortunately, strong performances from Lili Taylor, Jared Harris, and Stephen Dorf compensate nicely.

Wednesday, I visit Half-Price books on my lunch break and decided to browse the discount bins. Lo and behold, there's Victor Bokris' Warhol: The Biography . "What the hell," right? I take it home and I'm already 100 pages in when I realize it's late and I have to go to bed.

Today, Thursday, and I'm stuck in 5:00 traffic. I'm listening to the radio while approaching a busy intersection. I'm looking at passengers climbing aboard a Cap Metro bus when I hear an ad on the radio for Art On 5th Fine Arts Gallery. Tomorrow, they're opening a Warhol exhibit with a reception and lecture. "Hey," I think "I don't have any plans tomorrow evening. I should go to that." Just as I'm inching towards the intersection, some jackass in the oncoming lane, decides to run the yellow, makes a left turn in front of me, and drives directly into the path of the now moving bus. 

As cliched as it sounds, you really do see stuff like that in slow-motion. I just knew this moron was going to get hit by the bus and all I could do was watch. Fortunately, the bus hadn't picked up much speed and the damage was limited mostly to the jackass' right fender.  Thankfully, no one appeared to be hurt. He pulled into a parking space and the busdriver got out to talk to him. By now the light was green and I headed off, sure that the driver of that car must feel like a total fool. Just as I was entertaining the idea that maybe this week of Warhol was some kind of sign that I should attend that exhibit, something totally random happens. So much for looking for patterns. Still, I'm going to go anyway. It's sure to be fun; and besides, you never know. Maybe something good will come out of it.