“I Am My Hair” – Lady Gaga`s New Single ‘Hair,’ Familiar Theme
I`m okay with Lady Gaga`s new single, Hair. The full album, Born This Way, will be out on Tuesday. Okay, I`ve heard Monday as the release day also. Hair is Gaga`s take (as I see it) on “Rapunzel, Rapunzel, Let down your hair!” In other words, your hair is an extension of your personality or your spirit. That idea has been around for a while,
but I`m cool with it. Didn`t Bill Shakespeare come up with it? I still listen to and love the late 1960s musical, Hair.
You`re going to have to check out Jon Pareles (The New York Times) really huge piece on Lady Gaga, published just yesterday. Lots of insight into the creative process employed by Ms. Gaga to produce this new record, that`s likely to blow the charts out to sea and off the map. The Lady`s a zany girl, and Jon Pareles gets underneath some of this unfathomable gumption packaged in this Italian Wanderlust of a Diva Pop Queen.
Much of the record was actually created while she was on tour. Apparently, she has a studio set up in her tour bus, so that whenever an idea comes to her princess-ness, she can lay it down before the muse vanishes. I do that myself sometimes, with a digital portable Dictaphone gadget I have, The only problem is, I`ve misplaced it! Therefore, brilliant new songs are lost for all time, drifting out into open air and forgotten for eternity. Boo, Huh Huh….
M-Bone (Montae Talbert) from Cali Swag District Shot In LA Drive-By!
Stories posted on rapper M-Bone`s drive-by shooting in LA have been sketchy so far. The most detailed story I
could find was one posted by the Boston Herald (M-Bone partied in Hub during final days). Montae Talbert was in Boston over the weekend playing with his group, Cali Swag District. This explains why a Boston newspaper is getting the scoop.
Another amazing thing about this article, is that it analyzes who may be the suspect who drove beside M-Bone`s vehicle and shot two rounds into his head. The vehicle he was in belongs to a woman he was seeing. Apparently a man who lived in the same building as this woman who M-Bone was seeing, was concerned (possibly jealous) about the rapper`s developing relationship with her.
New information comes from TMZ. The fact that the gunman did a U-turn and went back by the vehicle to see if he hit his mark, tells you volumes. I watched the video Teach Me How To Dougie for the first time this morning. A bit crude, but I know this type of rap song strikes a nerve in these rap/hip-hop circles. Unfortunately, street violence seems to be part of the lore and appeal of this particular genre. This is the real deal!
‘Bridesmaids’ Will Keep You Chuckling the Entire Summer Season!
Bridesmaids took in 24.4 million at the box office this weekend. I have my ticket stub to prove a matinee
attendance of 1:25 PM, at Cinemark Southpark Meadows. It was hilarious, as you`ve probably heard by now. So many gags packed into two hours of non-stop guffawing, giggling and chuckles galore to the nth degree. The critics loved it too. So I`ll link for you Joe Morgenstern`s review from the Wall Street Journal. The Tomatometer reading over at Rotten Tomatoes was 90 % positive.
Bridesmaids is not afraid to get down and dirty, and waddles in the mud big time! Also, it`s not afraid to poke fun at our society and some of the characters are appropriate archetypes of people you and I have brushed up against in our stage of life. This might be a good reason why just about everybody on the planet will go see this ‘mock chick flick!’ Take that Miss Goody Two-Shoes character Helen (Rose Byrne) for example, I`m sure I`ve come in contact with her somewhere and time in my past?
Most of the motion of the plot, however, is a heightened identity crisis of Annie (Kristen Wiig), who has lost her groovy little cake shop to a cruel recession. Her forte is baking sweets, and it takes an Irish cop (Rhodes played by Chris O`Dowd) for her to realize this essential talent. As far as a favorite scene goes, you have so much to choose from. All of them are good, but the giant French cookie with free puppies scene tickled me most. You`re going to see it anyway, so why not just go today, before you`re upstaged by a co-worker or a friend, like me.
Austin Record Convention Delivers the Goods-The Doors` Morrison Hotel
A few weeks back I got to experience the Austin Record Convention. I haven`t seen that much vintage vinyl in a very long time. Come to think of, I don`t believe I`ve ever seen that much vintage vinyl. I walked away with a quite a
few gems, some of which I`ve had a long-term craving for. May have something to do with connecting back up with my teenage years. One LP I picked up was Cat Steven`s Tea For the Tillerman. A few pops, but not too shabby of a copy.
What I`m trying to get out in my own tortoise-shell, snail-like manner, is that I purchased a vinyl copy of Morrison Hotel. It`s in mint condition too. Been wanting it for a long time, but not in a CD format or in a digital format. The Doors` Morrison Hotel was released in February of 1970, and is considered by many critics to be their very best album. I truly love it, but it`s just different. *(an afterthought is it`s a nice balance of hard and soft songs.)
Part of it smoking` blues/rock and part of it is poetic/mystical, the best of both worlds. I looked back at some of the original reviews of the record, where I could find them still preserved on the internet. Lester Bangs has one archived on Rolling Stone that`s particularly clever, although I don`t really agree with all of it. I`d say that some of the mystical/psychedelic stuff was original and different from earlier efforts. An example would be Queen of the Highway. Come to think of it, maybe no writer has written a proper review of Morrison Hotel yet?
Why Are People So Fascinated with the Casey Anthony Murder Trial?
Jury selection begins today in the Casey Anthony murder trial, accused as she is of killing her own 2-year-old daughter Caylee. It`s a secret as to where the jury pool is being selected from. I heard it`s happening in Pinellas, County, which is in the Tampa area. The trial itself, which begins May 17th, will take place in Orange County Superior Court, which is in Orlando, Florida. The trial itself should last about 2 ½ months.
Media coverage of the Casey Anthony case may exceed coverage of any case in the history of American jurisprudence. That would include O.J. Simpson, who got away with the murder of his wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. O.J.`s defense attorney, Johnny Cochran, currently holds the record as the greatest defense attorney who ever walked the planet. Cochran died in 2005 from a brain tumor.
Jose Bias has a very exacting challenge before him to upstage the miracle worker Johnny Cochran. One thing that just occurred to me is that the prosecution has been weaving together a very strong case against Casey. It`s not any one thing, but rather the sum of the parts that points to her guilt.
Today my main consideration is why are people all over the world so fascinated with this case? Mothers very seldom kill their own progeny. Any theories regarding Casey`s possible motive (if she did do it)?
B-Movie Idol Yvette Vickers Found Dead In Her Home!
Buried beneath all the Bin Laden stories streaming on the bottom screen news tickertape (MSNBC) this morning, something sensational caught my eye. A ‘mummified Playboy Playmate`s corpse’ had been found. I raced over to my Google search and pulled up the news stream that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up! This is in keeping
with traditions embraced by B-Movie Star Yvette Vickers, who found her way to fame byway of some cheesy horror films.
I recommend as your basic source for the gruesome account of a neighbor`s discovery, a Los Angeles Times piece that appeared just two days ago. Also, I recommend The Daily Mail article, which as usual, has plenty of nice pix to accompany the text. The other thing, is that there are a few extensions to Yvette`s life, such as she presumably had an affair with both Cary Grant and Lee Marvin. It was Jimmie Cagney who discovered her.
The other thing, which I almost forgot, is that The Mail has a great pic of her ram- shackled Beverly Hills mansion, which looks as spooky as could possibly be imagined! Yvette`s first role was in Sunset Boulevard, which is ironic in the sense that her own demise apparently mirrors Gloria Swanson`s final days, lost in the idle dream of a Silverscreen Comeback, doomed from its inception! (I`m projecting here, so don`t take this literally.) Want to examine the Russ Meyers connection now…
Osama bin Laden`s Death Brings Pause for Thought – What Really Happened?
Osama bin Laden is dead. You know that, but now you want to know exactly how the raid was conducted by U.S. Navy Seals. The best article I could find, so far, is in a British news service, The Daily Mail. This raid has been carefully
planned for a long time, and was successfully carried out without the loss of life of any Americans. They did lose one helicopter, however.
Three men were killed, along with Osama bin Laden (who was shot in the head). One of the men was a son of bin Laden and the others were couriers, I heard. One woman was killed also, who was used as a human shield. It looks like bin Laden was totally surprised. It also looks as if he was starting to ease his guard somewhat against detection. The compound house was 8 times as large as any other houses on the block. There was no internet or phone connection. Duh?
Now is time when we can begin to reflect back on the toppling of the Twin Towers and its aftermath. Why did he do it in the first place? This will require going back through the history of the Afghanistan-Soviet War and what were the reasons why bin Laden had a break with Saudi Arabia? Also, one still must ask, how was bin Laden able to elude capture for 9 and half years? There are hundreds of things you`ll want to consider. For me, I return to the moment (I watched it at work on a small black and white TV) when I heard there was an accidental plane crash into one of the Twin Towers.
Victoria Arbiter at CBS Best Bet for Royal Wedding Coverage!
What network will you choose for the royal wedding of William and Kate? Which one will do the best job? Or which one will entertain you most? CBS, NBC, ABC or CNN? Maybe you`ll merely channel surf until you land on the coverage that fits your specs? But the real question is, which station will you want to commit to recording on your
DVR? The quality would have to be good enough to warrant playing it back over and over again.
The damn thing starts at 5 AM tomorrow here in Austin, but fortunately I`ve earmarked a holiday from work. I`m leaning towards CBS, since Victoria Arbiter will be covering the wedding with the dignity and grace of an expert. Judyth Piazza, with The SOP Radio Network, has interviewed Victoria just yesterday, and she (both Victoria and Judyth) seems like the best bet to manage the media circus surrounding the wedding of the century. Victoria is English and an expert on these matters.
This morning I`m conducting a history lesson on Westminister Abbey, which dates back to 960 AD. English coronations are conducted here. The Gothic building itself was built by Henry III in 1245. The Library and Muniment Rooms are of special interest to me. They house the multitude of manuscripts that comprise the Histories of Westminister, that preserve a thousand years of recorded marvels that is oh so British.
Mumford and Sons` ‘Sigh No More’ Number One on Itunes Alternative Charts!
Mumford & Sons` Sigh No More is the number one album over on itunes Alternative Music category. It`s been out already for a year and half, so that bodes well for it, in terms of staying power. This is my first listen this morning,
and it`s quite a surprise. Don`t get to hear much banjo. Like the way they emphasize dynamics too. Every song seems to build up and spring forth. That holds true for Lion Man, which I just heard.
Reading over some reviews, most of which are quite good. Pop Matters gave it a great review, but said it sounded like American Music. It sounds mostly English to me. The Guardian, however, found it a little “too polite.” When I first heard them, I thought of The Pogues. But The Guardian is right, too soft to be like The Pogues. Closer to Simon and Garfunkel, actually.
The Cave is Mumford & Sons` most popular song. I see why. It`s kind of like a nursery rhyme, that builds to a crescendo. Irresistible limerick about coming out of a cave and into the light of understanding. What`s this about a noose around your neck? Whoever it is in that cave is obviously a false siren of the past. The self-righteous angle here is the hook on this one. Must be a story from true life behind these intriguing lyrics?
‘The Conspirator’ Only Sends Us Over To the Real Lincoln Assassination Story!
I saw The Conspirator on Saturday and left the theater uncertain whether I had really seen a good movie. It seemed to drag in the middle and the courtroom drama was anything but dramatic. I just don`t know about James
McAvoy`s acting? Everytime he gave a shout out for justice I checked my iphone for emails. And what was that Justin Long doing in the film? A sense of authenticity in his portrayal as a union Civil War soldier is just not there.
I didn`t read any reviews until yesterday and this morning, but what I read simply confirmed what I was already feeling. This was a 2 to 2 and ½ star film. It wasn`t a bomb, but it didn`t live up to the incredible high bar imposed on it. That is, the telling of an important chapter in our history. Rotten Tomatoes gives it an average rating of 58%, and this is about in line with what I can give it.
I`ve never given the Lincoln Assassination proper consideration. Don`t know why exactly, either I didn`t have enough time or I thought I already knew it all. Actually, it`s fairly complicated. Especially the evidence surrounding Mary Surratt`s role. I`m not quite convinced that Robert Redford`s version adheres with the record, but I can`t get specific for you. Not yet, at least. Took a look at the Wikipedia entries to break the ice. Did visit Ford`s Theater when I was kid. Didn`t realize that John Wilkes Booth once played a great Romeo!