where is the cerebral jester?

where is the cerebral jester?
visit him and his friends at the house of dandridge by clicking above

Sunday, August 31, 2008

gorgeous!

this a a new project by prada done by james jean and it's absolutely remarkable! you are transported to a imaginary couture world that will blow you away. james jean's work can also be found during madonna's sticky and sweet world tour during a rain/here comes the rain again mashup for one of the video interludes while madge does one of her eight costume changes.

enjoy!

the million person pyramid!

this is amazing! i wish they would build something like this in america!





Ancient civilizations, the Maya and Ancient Egypt, are known for their incredible art of architecture. The ancient people could never imagine that the form of their pyramids would be used as a model for the latest ecology-friendly construction that will become another decoration of Dubai, InFuture.ru reports.

Timlinks, which develops environmentally safe projects, has recently published several stunning images of a giant pyramid titled Ziggurat. The company also posted the information regarding the plans to officially open the pyramid during the Cityscape Dubai exhibition which is slated to take place on October 6-9 this year. The giant pyramid will be built on 2.3 square kilometers of land and will be capable of housing up to one million people.

Timlinks said that their Ziggurat would not be dependent on the energy system due to the use of steam, wind and other natural resources. The building will also be distinctive for its highly efficient transport communication system that will operate both vertically and horizontally. In addition, the company plans to use private green zones for agricultural purposes.

Specialists of the International Environment Institute said that the technologies used at Ziggurat would make it a viable center. Timlinks has already patented the construction and the technology that were developed for the project. Several European professors will attend Cityscape Dubai to explain how an object like Ziggurat can be used in bigger projects, which probably means that the giant pyramid will not be the only construction of such kind in the world.

A ziggurat was a temple tower of the ancient Mesopotamian valley and Iran, having the form of a terraced pyramid of successively receding stories or levels. Some modern buildings with a step pyramid shape have also been termed ziggurats.

Ziggurats were important to the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians of ancient Mesopotamia. The earliest examples of the ziggurat were simple raised platforms that date from the Ubaid period during the fourth millennium BC, and the latest date from the 6th century BC. The top of the ziggurat was flat, unlike many pyramids. The step pyramid style began near the end of the Early Dynastic Period. Built in receding tiers upon a rectangular, oval, or square platform, the ziggurat was a pyramidal structure. Sun-baked bricks made up the core of the ziggurat with facings of fired bricks on the outside. The facings were often glazed in different colors and may have had astrological significance. The number of tiers ranged from two to seven, with a shrine or temple at the summit. Access to the shrine was provided by a series of ramps on one side of the ziggurat or by a spiral ramp from base to summit. Notable examples of this structure include the Great Ziggurat of Ur and Khorsabad in Mesopotamia.

The ziggurats had no internal chambers. They were almost always square or rectangular, where one side was typically more than 170 feet (50 meters) long.

The Mesopotamian ziggurats were not places for public worship or ceremonies. They were believed to be dwelling places for the gods. Through the ziggurat, the gods could be close to mankind, and each city had its own patron god. Only priests were permitted on the ziggurat or in the rooms at its base, and it was their responsibility to care for the gods and attend to their needs. The priests were very powerful members of Sumerian society.

Saturday, August 30, 2008

the power of a dj!

someone sent me this amazing video of a short film called "spin" that won all sorts of awards...it is absolutely brilliant! it has that 'run lola run' magic that i absolutely love! check it out...it's eight plus minutes of brimstone!

Friday, August 29, 2008

straight pride parade?

i'm not really sure what's wrong with the world anymore....it's fucked up on so many levels it's hard to comprehend



Time Out New York / Issue 674 : Aug 27–Sep 2, 2008

Straight dope

Crown Heights will see its first-ever Straight Pride Parade this weekend. So how do the homos feel?

Reggae artists on the Taking Care Of Our Own Productions (myspace.com/tcooo) label are planning a Straight Pride Parade for Sunday 31 at 10am, starting at Church and Flatbush Avenues in Crown Heights and continuing down Bob Marley Avenue. It was organized in response to accusations made by gay activists, specifically Peter Tatchell, founder of the activist group OutRage!, that certain reggae songs, including Stapler’s “Hit Them Hard,” incite violence against gays. “The issue is not homophobia,” explains Tatchell. “It is incitement to murder gay people, which is a criminal offense.”

Gregory Larson, president of TCOOO Productions, views the parade and song quite differently, calling it “pro-family, not anti-gay.” Adds Larson, “It just talks about a man and his wife, but the gay community takes it as a hit against them. Maybe because they can’t have children, I don’t know.”

To help mediate, we asked local pop star Jonny “Gay Pimp” McGovern (of Keep It Faggity: The Gay Pimp Remix Project and This is NYC, Bitch! The East Village Remix fame; gaypimp.com) to rewrite the lyrics of “Hit Them Hard” in response to the parade.

STRAIGHT PRIDE VERSION

“Hit Them Hard”By Stapler

Jah Jah gonna hit them hard All the men who visit men backyard Leaving all the women to starve…

Hand in hand with my lady Hug her and kiss her ’cause she carried my baby But some boys moving shady While I’m chilling on the ends making sweet love to Sadie…

Remember you are a king, what happened to your queen The youths need a role model to instill self-esteem So live your life clean and you will see what I mean…

Children live what they learn Aren’t you concerned of your choices in society We need to preserve the value of a male and a female in every family

Thursday, August 28, 2008

can you recognize bad education?

wow! is all i can say! someone worked some editing magic and made a video for madonna's 'devil wouldn't recognize you' using clips of the almadovar film 'bad education'. i haven't gotten a chance to see the film yet...i think it came out about four or so years ago but this definitely makes me want to find it and watch it soon. whoever edited this is a genius and should be making lots of money...enjoy!




and here's quite the opposite version of a fanmade video and it actually made me crack up out loud (cuol...my version of lol which i despise haha). the girl and guy in this video are both adorable especially the "i should just walk away" part and when they start using props...cuol! can you tell i love extremes?


hillary is amazing!

clinton and biden gave amazing speeches last night....but i missed hillary's the night before and thanks to living in the youtube generation...here it is...

she is amazing!

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

fuck fox news!

this video is really wild!  it captures a protest that happened in denver not too far from the democratic convention.  it looks like the far left doesn't want to share anything with someone from fox news and i don't blame them.  far right "journalism" and far left activism definitely create thunder....check it out!

chauncey treat - machine gun



here's a track from the new portishead album that is so disgustingly good i had to shine some light on it.  it's the soundtrack to a most pleasant nightmare and is definitely the standout song on the new album called appropriately 'third'.  the album isn't as trip hop heavy as the first two but it's gloriously dreary and makes for good companionship to night of marijuana smoking haha.  just when you think the song is over it twists and turns with a  slow and grimey and burning and longing techno frenzy that will just send you to another, very dark place.

enjoy

Saturday, August 23, 2008

fancy


a common longing of mine
is to have a suitor
someone who i fancy
who fancies me in return
too often i find myself
obsessed with someone
that thinks of me never
or i am the subject
of someone else's fascination
who i wouldn't give the time of day to
but when i find that mutual attraction
when i find an exciting counterpart
i drown the situation
in caustic inaction
and sabotage the situation
so
i have decided
not to pursue any more
romantic distractions
until i know that i can
handle the complication
of someone who i fancy
that fancies me in return
for obviously
i am not equipped yet
with that particular protocol
stuck in one place
by my misdirected nectar
trapping me in cynical solitude
yet instead of growing bitter
like so many others often do
i will tend to my garden
religiously
to prepare my paradise
for the proper intruder
so that he may discover
all of my favourite fruits
before they become overripe
and rotten and inedible
delicacies i have been waiting to offer
to the highest bidder
for as long as i can remember
until then
i shall find something else to fancy

hip hop for homos


last night i had the absolute pleasure (courtesy of my dear pal mykel) to witness the brilliant piece of modern theatre that is 'bash'd : a gay rap opera'. it is showing at the zipper room in hell's kitchen until the end of august and i highly recommend you catch it while you can. i had never been to the zipper room and that was an experience in itself. you walk in to what seems like an apartment building and then walk into an amazing little bar/playground that served mighty strong drinks that you were allowed to bring into the actual theatre!!! that's unheard of in nyc! and one of the highlights was that all the seats in the main seating area were actual backseats from cars...so comfortable and strangely intimate. after seeing the show it kind of annoyed me that a lot of the seats were empty throughout because the show was ridiculously potent and important.
the stage was pretty bare except for two large ornate trunks on either side and a very futuristic techy lighting board that played a key role throughout the entire show. quickly the two actor/rappers ran onto the stage and began their 50ish minutes of rapid beat poetry, character swapping, crazy choreography...all part of a show that left me and mykel exhausted mentally and emotionally. there was a lot of fourth wall breaks and pseudo audience participation. there were moments of camp splattered generously throughout the entire production but all that came to an end during a powerful crescendo that actually almost made me shed a tear. it was flawlessly executed and it was hip, modern and poignant with the current state of the gay community around the world and how every step forward we go there will always be a herd of homophobic buffalo to attempt to stampede us with fear and violence to keep us down. the show overall was very inspiring and i left the theatre energized and about to look around for someone who might dare call me a 'faggot' because we would have kicked their ass!!!

check out their website and GO SEE THE SHOW!

liberation



liberation never felt so good
even though i have felt it a thousand times before
and i'm sure in some way
i shall feel it again and again
it is the sick cycle of life
perfect in its imperfections
remember my friends
nothing is unnatural
because that would be going against nature itself
whatever you do
whatever i do
it is what creates the universe over and over again
every moment
every day

i feel like i am on vacation
yet i feel completely familiar with my surroundings
i have escaped from that dirty prison
i used to keep my belongings in
that tiny cell
humid, tight and sticky
a place i thought i would call home
but never ever could
now i am surrounded by fresh air
now i am surrounded by love
i can see the sky breathing from my window
i can feel the life flowing back into my soul
this platform filled with endless potential
inspiration like a tsunami
invigorating every fiber of my being
and once all my things are put in order
which i feel they almost are
i can go and master myself
for the last damn time
until the next incarceration
until the next liberation

hallmark sets a benchmark

one small step for hallmark...one giant leap for gaykind (hey did i just coin a new phrase? 'gaykind')





Now on the Hallmark aisle: Gay marriage cards


By Sarah Skidmore, AP Business Writer

Hallmark, seeing a new market after California ruling, rolls out gay marriage greeting cards

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) -- Most states don't recognize gay marriage -- but now Hallmark does.
The nation's largest greeting card company is rolling out same-sex wedding cards -- featuring two tuxedos, overlapping hearts or intertwined flowers, with best wishes inside. "Two hearts. One promise," one says.

Hallmark added the cards after California joined Massachusetts as the only U.S. states with legal gay marriage. A handful of other states have recognized same-sex civil unions.

The language inside the cards is neutral, with no mention of wedding or marriage, making them also suitable for a commitment ceremony. Hallmark says the move is a response to consumer demand, not any political pressure.

"It's our goal to be as relevant as possible to as many people as we can," Hallmark spokeswoman Sarah Gronberg Kolell said.

Hallmark's largest competitor, American Greetings Corp., has no plans to enter the market, saying its current offerings are general enough to speak to a lot of different relationships.

Hallmark started offering "coming out" cards last year, and the four designs of same-sex marriage cards are being gradually released this summer and will be widely available by next year. No sales figures were available yet.

"When I have shopped for situations like babies or weddings for gay friends I have good luck in quirky stores," said Kathryn Hamm, president of the Web site gayweddings.com.

"But if you are just in a generic store ... the bride and groom symbol or words are in most cards," she said. "It becomes difficult to find some that are neutral but have some style."

The Williams Institute at the UCLA School of Law estimates that more than 85,000 same-sex couples in the United States have entered into a legal relationship since 1997, when Hawaii started offering some legal benefits to same-sex partners.

It estimates nearly 120,000 more couples will marry in California during the next three years -- and that means millions of potential dollars for all sorts of wedding-industry businesses.

Hallmark, known more for its Midwest mores than progressive greetings, has added a wider variety lately. It now offers cards for difficulty getting pregnant or going through rehab.

It pulled a controversial card that featured the word "queer" in the punch line after it was criticized by some customers and gay magazine The Advocate last year. At any given time, Hallmark has 200 different wedding cards on the market, including some catering to interracial or inter-religious marriages and blended families.

The Greeting Card Association, a trade group, says it does not track how many companies provide same-sex cards but believes the number is expanding.

"The fact that you have someone like Hallmark going into that niche shows it's growing and signals a trend," said Barbara Miller, a spokeswoman for the association.

Rob Fortier, an independent card maker who runs his company, Paper Words, out of New York, added same-sex wedding cards to his mix after thinking about what he would want to receive.

"A lot of people think a gay greeting card needs a rainbow on it," Fortier said. "I don't want that."

But for some time, it was difficult to even find the words for what anyone wanted to say, he said.

His first card poked fun at the challenge. On the outside it featured lines that had been scratched out: "Congratulations on being committed!", "Congratulations on being unionized!" and, finally, "Congratulations on being domestically partnered!" The inside wished the couple congratulations on choosing to be together forever.

"It really comes down to language," he said.

John Stark, one of the three founders of Three Way Design in Boston, which makes gay-themed cards for occasions from adoption to weddings, has several new designs sketched out and ready.

But he has hesitated adding more wedding cards to his mix until after the November election, when California voters will decide a constitutional amendment that would again limit marriage to a man and a woman in the state.

"What is scary is to produce a marriage line and then November comes and it's recalled, then we have thousands of dollars of inventory waiting," he said.

The gay-friendly business can be challenging, companies said.

Hamm said although she has found many vendors willing to work with her company, some have asked to be removed from the Web site because of hate mail or some other backlash.

Hallmark says all of its stores can choose whether they want to add the latest offerings.

sticky and sweet!


here's the fabulous cover of the sticky and sweet tour book...possibly steven klein or tom munro's work...not sure yet. it's amazing! i always love when she uses a photograph without her face as the main focus....still you can always tell it's madonna.

i can't wait! so far i'm only going on opening night at madison square garden on october 9th but i hope to get tickets for more shows closer to the dates...



and here's a funny little video of madonna backstage getting ready for her dress rehearsal...it seems the funny and silly madonna of yore never really went away...check it out
madonna getting her hair did

Thursday, August 21, 2008

just freakin weird


i'm at a loss for words....could this be any more bizarre?  what's next?  people buried in trophy poses with bats in their hands or maybe set up doing a split or something?   i'd rather be cremated.




Mon Aug 18, 11:42 PM

By The Associated Press


SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A Puerto Rican man has been granted his wish to remain standing - even in death.

A funeral home used a special embalming treatment to keep the corpse of 24-year-old Angel Pantoja Medina standing upright for his three-day wake.

Dressed in a Yankees baseball cap and sunglasses, Pantoja was mourned by relatives while propped up in his mother's living room.

His brother Carlos told the El Nuevo Dia newspaper the victim had long said he wanted to be upright for his own wake: "He wanted to be happy, standing."

The owner of the Marin Funeral Home, Damaris Marin, told The Associated Press the mother asked him to fulfill her dead son's last wish.

Pantoja was found dead Friday underneath a bridge in San Juan and buried Monday. Police are investigating.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

chauncey treat - joystick


photo above of a giant joystick that is fully functional! these modern day artists are such kids at heart!

but now for the music. here's a delightful track that just blew my mind when i first heard it. it's easy, breezy and beautiful and it is the perfect song for a cool summer night. it's by a new band called discodeine and it's called (you guessed it) 'joystick'. it's great for the beginning of a set...the end of a set or somewhere in the middle to send your crowd into a dizzy, trippy funk.

enjoy!

discodeine - joystick

check them out at www.myspace.com/discodeine

not for the faint at heart

found out about this video courtesy of my new friend james....it's devilishly sick fun! enjoy!
wheelchair rebecca...she's fun!...she's handicapped!....but how did she get in that wheelchair?


Tuesday, August 19, 2008

compact discs r.i.p.

Cue the Curtain: In-Store CD Sales Nearing an End




Posted by JR Raphael

Video killed the radio star -- so who's to blame for putting the brick and mortar music store star in his grave? It may not be funeral time just yet, but new word this week that Wal-Mart is getting ready to slash into its music-selling strategy signals the start of a long-brewing change.

Here's the deal: The mass market CD section at Wally World is on its way out, the Wall Street Journal says. Execs are sick of seeing struggling sales and wasted space and are "preparing changes" to the store's approach -- likely a significant cutback in the amount of titles carried.

They're not alone, either. Reports indicate 2008 will see a huge drop in in store cd availability across the board, with cuts as high as 40 percent in retailers ranging from Best Buy to Circuit City by the year's end. And we've all seen how few of the standalone music stores are left. Like it or not, the physical manifestation of music is rapidly becoming an endangered species.

So where do we point our accusatory finger? Who's the demon causing our old friend to breathe his dying breath? Well, Napster's the obvious candidate. But calm down, Lars...if the once-free music service hasn't come along at the turn of the century, something else would have done it. If anyone's to take the fall for physical music's fall, it has to be technology in general.

It's pretty simple, really: The demands have changed, and the industry is just now starting to catch up. I see it as a generational shift. A new batch of kids -- i.e. today's teenagers -- grew up with music always available with the press of a button. They never knew the joy of heading to the CD store the day their favorite band's album was set to come out, then heading back home with that cellophane-encased treasure in their hands. To them, music is a concept, not a tangible object. It's a disposable file, not an invaluable possession. The mindset has undergone a massive transformation, and the stores are seeing the result.

As for me? I guess I'm a bit old-fashioned. I may be a professional purveyor of high-tech information, but I still love my CD collection. Sure, I download songs -- but I inevitably end up burning them to disc and printing up a track list to go with the case. And I'd always prefer to have the real CD, complete with color cover booklet, over that.

I suppose, though, change is inevitable. I'll keep my CDs. Odds are, though, I'll have to start buying in stores less and downloading over the Web more. Only legally, of course...back off, Ulrich.

it was bound to happen and i really feel that the record companies deserve this because the amount that each artist recieved was so minute compared to what they charged per cd when they first came out. i do have fond memories of a store a couple towns over from me while i was growing up that was a video store on one side and a cd haven on the other. they would keep a card with your name on it on file and once you bought ten cds you got the eleventh one free! that was in 1990 when i got my very first cd/cassette boombox for christmas and my personal musical journey really began!

Monday, August 18, 2008

chauncey treat : bathroom gurgle



here's a new track from late of the pier called 'bathroom gurgle' and it's absolutely fantastic!  i've posted another one of their tracks a while ago called 'here come the bears' for obvious reasons but this track is so many nasty things rolled into one that it's just brilliant.  it's good for rock parties, it's good for dance parties and it's good for some hot sexual encounters hehe

enjoy!

the rosebush



disapointment
such familiar territory
the lovely trees
and the wonderful vines
have changed to dangerous
rosebushes
but the soil still remains the same
my goals and ambitions
have been smothered
by my dirty need to escape
this new year
has about four months forgotten
and i couldn't tell you
the difference
between one week and the next
i barely wake up each day
because i can never fall asleep
swimming barely in a gooey river
wearing self doubt and anger
like the latest trends
my passion has gone dry
but i still vaguely remember
craving something once and then
achieving something
maybe because i was once
foolish enough
to believe in something

Sunday, August 17, 2008

like an angel....


above photo taken by out my new bedroom window (of course i played with the colour haha)

so it finally leaked! madonna's rumoured cover of abba's 'like an angel passing through my room' from the music sessions. william orbit made mention of it years ago and just in time for her 50th birthday it popped up onto the internet. it's really, really pretty and reminds you how wonderful of a balladeer madge is. i've still not heard the original but it was from abba's last studio album 'the visitors'. it's a perfect sunday afternoon gift....enjoy!


madonna - like an angel passing through my room

Saturday, August 16, 2008

the plight of the purple pigeon!

i just moved to queens! i hope i see one flying by! i read this story and thought it so bizarre i just had to post it hehe. the thought process and patience involved alone...


Fowl play: Sicko paints pigeon purple in Queens


By LISA L. COLANGELO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

A pigeon that was painted purple was discovered in a Queens park. We heard it through the grapevine - Queens has a purple pigeon.



Theroyal-hued bird wasn't born that way, though. Someone with a sick sense of humor - or a problem with pigeons - painted him purple.

"It was terrible," said Joe Mora, an animal lover who rescued the bird Thursday from a Long Island City playground, where onlookers were gawking at the oddly-colored columbine.

"It looks like this was done intentionally...it could have been blinded," Mora said.

Hetried coaxing the lethargic bird to eat while asking anyone and everyone for advice on how to clean paint from its feathers and beak.

Friday,city Animal Care and Control officials transferred the pigeon to Bobby Horvath, a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in Nassau County who has extensive experience caring for injured birds.

The young pigeon, about three or four months old, might not survive the prank - if it was one, Horvath said.

"I have never seen anything like it," said Horvath, who is also a New York City fire fighter.

"He's flightless at this point. His feathers are completely rigid," he said.

"His beak and mouth and eyes are clear of paint," Horvath said. "That's a positive thing."

Horvath said the bird has a better chance if the paint hasn't seeped through into his skin.

Mora said he hopes someone in the neighborhood will come forward with information about the bird. He said he has heard stories about a man on nearby Roosevelt Island who dyed his dog's fur purple.

"If this was intentionally done to the bird, it certainly is animal cruelty," said ASPCA Assistant Director Joseph Pentangelo.

prizefighter


damn it damn it damn it
here i go again

clutching a ticket for a roller coaster ride

that i never wanted to embark on

but find myself every couple of years

being forced to endure
besides the disappointment

and unsettling feeling of failure

this time i am confident

i put up a good fight
i didn't or don't have
the familiar excuse

of oversleeping or dancing too late

the night before
this time i gave my all

mentally

physically

emotionally

once again making magical connections

along the dirty and dusty way

friendships i hope will last a lifetime

but nevertheless
i obscenely welcome
the transition

i feel like i've finally grown up
accepting my sensational powers

rather than my inadequacies

i've touched many hearts
incited many riots

fiddling very little with compromise

a devil i don't fear anymore
i will find another fortress

spend very little time in a cocoon

i will treat my next reinvention
with more respect than ever
i'll be fine
i'll be a superstar
i'm a prizefighter

happy birthday madonna!

just a simple happy birthday wish to one of the most artistically creative, ravagely restless, savagely intellectual and powerfully potent individuals to ever walk the face of the earth and has had a major hand in shaping me as a youngster and still has the power to do so until this day! here's a brilliant retrospective featuring quotes about her from celebrities and political figures and a quick photo essay representing every year of her career.

enjoy!



butches, trannies and queens


"coming out with cher and chastity"

Pop superstar CHER is planning to star in a reality TV show with her lesbian daughter CHASTITY. The pair will counsel youngsters too scared to come out as gay and help their parents come to terms with the news, according to the National Enquirer. A source tells the tabloid, "Both Cher and Chas are experienced in this area. When Chas first revealed to her mother she was gay, Cher initially freaked out and tried to send her teenage daughter to a psychiatrist. "As part of the show, Cher would talk about what she went through and how she finally came to terms with her daughter's lesbianism. And Chas could relate to younger homosexuals about the trials that she had dealing with her celebrity parents. They both believe this show could help young men and women coming out of the closet.



i think this is a fantastic idea and should have many moments of camp thrown in somewhere along the way. it will be interesting though because the parents of the kids coming out will definitely know who cher is but the kids themselves might not know much about her other than maybe that 'believe' song....i'm anxious to see what comes of it. i think its a step in a great direction even though some 'gay authorities' think its a bad idea considering how horrible cher immediately dealt with the situation.

Friday, August 15, 2008

sims it 2 me

i find the whole sims movement a lot creepy....do you? and they are so fast at making videos...that's even creepier...but i like it

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

mistress of metamorphosis

finally, an amazing article about madonna turning 50 on august 16th. written neither by a rabid fan or a biased blogger, it is a true piece of exciting journalism. kudos!



Madonna, mistress of metamorphosis

In uncertain times for the music industry, the most protean of pop stars holds her own. As she turns 50, William Langley wonders how the material girl will cope as woman of a certain age .

Madonna

Of all Madonna's reinventions, the least persuasive are the most memorable. Soaking up the mood of every era she has passed through, she has given us Desperately Seeking Susan, Marilyn Monroe, Madame Whiplash, and, upon acquiring a country pile in Wiltshire a few years back, a passable version of Audrey fforbes-Hamilton. Now, with the arrival of her 50th birthday next week, it may be a good moment to ask who Madonna really is.

This is no simple task. Not least because the multiple personalities are still springing out of her. Earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival she showed up wearing a pink silk Stella McCartney dress with a big pussy bow at the neck that made her look like Grayson Perry reporting for another session of Question Time. Just a few weeks later she was photographed in New York, gaunt and scrawny, with a demeanour that suggested, so help us, that she might be turning into Ronnie Wood.

All this appears to suit Madonna well. Not only because it satisfies her craving for eternal cultural relevance, but because it gives her something to hide behind. Even chameleons have a natural colour, and even pop stars have a life where their act ends. Madonna's life may be a bizarre, opaque and complicated one, but there's nothing to suggest that she doesn't live it for real.

What doesn't change, and hopefully never will, is Ms Ciccone's hypercaffeineated zeal to make the world pay attention. The career? Her last album, Hard Candy, sold slowly, as, reportedly, are tickets for her forthcoming Sweet & Sticky world tour. Not to worry: Madonna, as we shall see, has ways of making us take notice.

She reaches her half-century with three children, a £250 million fortune and an eight-year-old marriage to Guy Ritchie, the mockney-mouthed British film director, which is regularly described as "troubled". The latest source to portray it as such is Madonna's younger brother, Christopher Ciccone, a gay interior decorator from Los Angeles who claims in a new book that the couple's life together is marred by explosive rows, triggered by Guy's resentment of his wife's fame, and that they only stay together with the help of a marriage-counselling rabbi.

In the course of admitting that he and his sis no longer get along very well, Chris also depicts Madonna as self-worshipping, power-crazed and miserly, and Guy as an insecure Hollywood mogul manqué, and allegedly unrepentant homophobe who makes jokes about "poofters". Damaging stuff, you might think, except that, according to the New York Post, Madonna not only collaborated with the book, but "ghost wrote" substantial sections of it, rather as Diana, Princess of Wales discreetly assisted her biographer Andrew Morton.

Why would she do that? Why would anyone want to be described in print as "the sweatiest woman on earth"? Because it refreshes our perception of who she is, and refreshing perceptions is Madonna's true art. Some years ago, the American rock critic Kelefa Sanneh wrote that: "When you imagine Madonna, you don't see a single image but a time-lapse photograph, with one persona melting and warping into the next." The line has been much quoted not only because the imagery works so well, but because it hints at the dedication with which Madonna, after 25 years at the top, keeps herself fresh.

Not that Guy seems to see it like this: "We're not that flash, me and the missus," he once shrugged. "Matter of fact, we're quite low-maintenance." They met at a garden party thrown by Sting's wife, Trudie Styler, some time after the collapse of Madonna's relationship with her personal trainer, Carlos Leon, with whom she had a daughter, Lourdes. Guy, son of a London advertising executive, was luxuriating in the success of his breakthrough gangster movie Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. "He had an incredible light around him," Madonna said later: "He wasn't intimidated by me. I felt the sparks. He did, too." They were married on New Year's Eve 2000 at Skibo Castle, an ornate pile in the Scottish Highlands, with Guy wearing a kilt.

The self-made Madonna, who, by now, had tried most things, hadn't yet tried the life of the landed gentry, and the heady whiff of ancestral tradition and good breeding that swirled around the banqueting hall that night appears to have given her a new idea. The following year the Ritchies bought Ashcombe House, a magnificent Georgian manor on a 1,200-acre estate in Wiltshire, formerly the home of the society photographer Cecil Beaton. With characteristic fervour she plunged into the world of tweeds, gumboots and shooting parties, and with equally characteristic candour was soon denouncing it all.

"I was mad for shooting a couple of years ago," she told Tatler. "I loved my bespoke outfits and everything. It was so much fun. That all changed when a bird dropped in front of me that I'd shot. It wasn't dead. It got up, and it was really suffering. Blood was gushing out of its mouth, and it was struggling… I haven't shot since… I realized I had a kind of bloodlust, and was manically shooting things and trying to kill as many birds as possible." She was reported to be thinking of putting Ashcombe discreetly on the market for around £12 million.

Madonna now has bigger preoccupations. One is proving it possible, against all the received wisdom, for a woman to be a major pop star in her fifties, although pulling this off will stretch even her powers of ingenuity and re-invention. The crucial "Q Score" index, with which the music industry measures the commercial appeal of its big name stars, currently gives her a rating of 13, against the average of 17. Audience research suggests that her fans are growing older with her – which is the industry's polite way of saying that she isn't finding any new ones. Prince turned 50 in June and Michael Jackson will cross the frontier a couple of weeks after Madonna, but everyone knows that longevity is harder for females.

Then there are her children, Lourdes, 11, Rocco, her seven-year-old son with Guy, and David Banda, two, whom she adopted in Malawi. Madonna prides herself on being a hands-on mother, painfully aware of the deficiencies of her own turbulent, working-class childhood. "I believe that the less you have the more you appreciate," she said in a recent interview. "I'm tough, I'm the bad cop, but I'd hate my children to be spoiled."

There is, too, the issue of what Madonna at 50 believes in and whether, unlike the images she fashions for herself, it has staying power. At the heart of this conundrum is her attachment to Kabbalah, an ancient Jewish belief system that seeks to explain the true nature of God. Although raised a Catholic, Madonna became consumed with Kabbalah after being introduced to it by her former best friend, the New York comedienne Sandra Bernhard. Persistent hints that her commitment was waning appear to be refuted by news that the Ritchies will renew their vows at a Kabbalah ceremony later this month.

Which would also appear to refute the reports that their marriage is collapsing. Last month they issued an official denial that they were divorcing (a PR device which has regularly proved fatal in the past). They say that Madonna is merely spending more time in the US to prepare for her tour.

At 50, she is almost as old as Britney Spears and Beyoncé put together, has sold 200 million records, has changed the world's social history, done more things as more different people than anyone else is ever likely to. If, when she hits 60, we still don't quite know who the real Madonna is, it might be because there isn't one.

madonna abducted by aliens

Madonna Abducted By Aliens In Central Park




Authorities are not sure exactly what happened but eyewitnesses say that Madonna was taking a walk through Central Park when suddenly there was a blinding succession of lights and then a large saucer like vehicle hovered above the pop star and film director and mother of three and paused for about five and a half minutes. A light show ensued that reminded the onlookers of one of her dazzling light shows from one of her recent concerts. "It was brilliant!" says a nanny from the Upper West Side, who preferred to remain nameless due to her illegal immigrant status. She also said that suddenly what sounded like the opening swells of Madonna's eighties hit "Open Your Heart" blared out of the UFO and then suddenly blended quickly into her 1990 hit "Vogue". Two strange looking extraterrestrial creatures then descended from the craft, carrying what looked like a futuristic jump rope glowing like the kind of glowsticks you would find at a futuristic rave and began courting the mesmerized Madonna into a bizarre series of "double dutch like" maneuvers until the movement the ropes sped up and the children's book author vanished along with the creatures, the spaceship and the amazing lightshow. The NYPD is still stumped and hopes to uncover the mystery as soon as possible. The only piece of evidence was a crumbled piece of paper that was all the remained of the incident. When police unravelled the sheet of loose leaf, inscribed in what looked like Madonna's handwriting were the words, "Thank you..whoever you are".

Friday, August 8, 2008

sticky and sweet costumes!

these a few sketches of the costumes for madonna's upcoming sticky & sweet tour! they look amazing! the last one is my favourite by far! and you gotta love that druid robe...so dramatic!
here's the four supposed sections of the show in order....i can't wait! i'm going to the first show at madison square garden on october 9th! woo hoooo!

* Gangsta Pimp Section
* Old School Section
* Gypsy Section
* Futuristic Rave Section



Madonna's Costumes for her Sticky and Sweet Tour

By Jacob Bernstein
Posted Tuesday August 05, 2008
Last Edited Monday August 04, 2008
From WWD Issue 08/05/2008


Most people are lucky to work with Madonna once. Costume designer Arianne Phillips has lasted 11 years, from the singer's Pre-Raphaelite look for "Ray of Light" to the urban cowgirl of "Music" to the Patty Hearst look of "American Life" and on and on and on. In other words, measured in Madonna time, Phillips is roughly 77 years old.

Still, La Ciccone's upcoming "Sticky and Sweet" tour has had its own unique challenges for her longtime stylist. "Normally we prep in April and May, and open in June," says Phillips. "This time, the tour begins in August. It's a nightmare. Everyone in Italy and France is on a beach sunning themselves."

Thankfully, everyone is a bit of an exaggeration, as Phillips goes on to detail a mile-long list of willing collaborators and everything they've designed for the trek, which begins Aug. 23 in Cardiff, Wales, and comes to the United States in early October. Givenchy's Riccardo Tisci designed two outfits, while Tom Ford provided bespoke suits for the band. Three pairs of shoes have been custom-made by Miu Miu, there are thigh-high boots courtesy of Stella McCartney, sunglasses from Moschino, and other outfits and odds and ends from Yves Saint Laurent, Roberto Cavalli, and Jeremy Scott.

Like her shows in the past, this tour will be divided into four sections. The first references gangsta pimp and Art Deco with Givenchy costumes. This, it would seem, is Madonna's current take on her longest-running fashion inspiration — the dominatrix. "It's a theme that runs throughout her career" Phillips says. "She's not afraid of being hard." The second section has been termed "Old School," and harkens back to Madonna's early days in New York, with Scott's outfit and some vintage prints from Keith Haring, the late graffiti artist and friend of Madonna who died of AIDS in 1990. "He and Madonna were friends. If her were alive, it would be his 50th birthday as well. So I thought, 'What if we revisited that?'" Afterward, there's a gypsy section with more costumes from Givenchy. "Riccardo's a new young talent. If you look at Madonna's history with fashion, that makes him an obvious choice." Finally, there's a futuristic rave section with lots of Japanese influences.

And while The New York Times complained recently about Madonna's style choices, Phillips says getting older has had little effect on her sense of fashion adventure. "She always wants to push the envelope. There are no vanity considerations based on her age." As Phillips adds seconds later, "She looks good in everything.





Thursday, August 7, 2008

talons

here's some more original poetry...expect more very soon

i almost considered the stopping the enjoying of the mundane things
that's the poison you helped me devour
i almost became one of a pair
instead of remaining one of a kind
that's how far your talons have dug into me
i believe that any kind of cancer
is something that you're born with
and until someone or something shows you
the way to find it and cultivate it
it wakes up and destroys you
when someone i love knows the way
to all of that devastating destruction
i try my best to ignore the inadvertant teacher
but stick around for a bit to learn the antidote
my only wish is to make them learn
how to forget to get there
or at least pretend

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

some crazy shit

how the hell did this guy figure out he can do this? creepy as hell but i kinda think the guy is cute hehe

ilan at mr. bones

time will


so after the magic of the song of the summer died down, which undoubtedly in my mind and in the gay world was 'blind' by hercules and love affair (especially with the fantastic and gorgeous remix by frankie knuckles), i finally got a chance to take time and listen to the entire hercules and love affair album. Besides being a solid and brilliant album from start to finish, any other singles will definitely live in the shadow of that 'blind' monster. they released 'you belong' and it's getting a little attention but one song that sticks out as well for me is the first track called 'time will'. i really hope this gets released and remixes are commissioned because it definitely deserves to get it's chance in the strobe light.

here are the lyrics:

don't lie to me - don't make it up
don't snake it up - don't snake it up - my friend
stay with me - lay with me - be true to me
be true to me my love
now i'm young
i got nothing to lose
i'm gonna follow
i'm following my muse
you're the older one - you're older by now
you're the one whose - got some
you're the one got something to prove
well its only me - its only me now
i cannot change you - but time will
my heart it will - not stand still
i cannot hold
a half a life
i cannot be
at half a wife

and here's the song

hercules and love affair - time will

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

i love caricatures


so funny! they really made him look even worse than he does in real life haha

Monday, August 4, 2008

joey at mr. bones

Saturday, August 2, 2008

goodbye and hello again



so last night was my last night in williamsburg...i moved in at the end of january and i'm moving out august 2nd. it was only six months but it felt like a lifetime! when i moved here, it was to escape the wrath of my former psycho landlord who claimed me and my roomate didn't pay her for like 6 months and we had no way to prove otherwise because she wouldn't accept checks for almost a year and never gave us receipts...but that's a whole lifetime ago. when i first moved in here...i had just recently become store manager of the housing works in chelsea and at the beginning of july, i was fired from housing works for reasons ridiculous. you can scroll down for that posting if you wish hehe. so now i'm leaving a place i never really felt at home at on to an apartment shared with two others in astoria...one a dj with a sick studio hookup in his bedroom (i'm going to be able to make mixes again!!!) and the other one of my dearest friends in the universe...mel. i've lived in astoria before so it will be interesting to be back in that neighborhood. i'll be familiar with the shops and the train stops so adjustment to my surroundings will not be one of my distractions this time around and i'm definitely looking forward to that. my only concern is that i'm going into it without a job currently other than the few dj gigs i still have and my unemployment payments (it's the first time in my entire working life that i gave in and decided to collect and let me tell you it feels good!)
i'm also leaving the most unintentional roomate i ever thought i would have...living here was definitely a spur of the moment decision out of desperation and it almost destroyed one of my newest friendships. i never really enjoyed living here after the initial excitement washed away. i couldn't smoke in the house (even though i snuck ciggies quite often), he was allergic to anything scented so my love for scented candles and incense had to be shut down, my bedroom was a literal closet, the wireless internet connection was nearly non existent (a dj with a slow internet connection is the harshest form of torture) and the apartment always smelled like marcus the dog and the bathroom never smelled like anything other than dog piss. i did get to enjoy taking the L train for a while though...spending most of my time out in the east village drinking the nights away with too often a vial of cocaine to prolong the inevitable time i spent in the apartment. and that's just the tip of the iceberg of complaints...hehe.
when i move out things will definitely get better because not only were me and river roomates but i got him a job at housing works right after i moved in and he bartended at the bar that i dj at. the time we spent together was more than most couples i know spend together. it was power trip after power trip...and advantage taken after advantage until the crescendo of frustration was a little too loud and a little too shrill for either of our likings. but alas...you never really get to know someone until you live with them and i'm sure we both learned more than we cared to. so it's another newish beginning for me...wish me luck in finding a job asap and to finally find the success i've been looking for since i first moved out of my parent's house. i've honestly never quite figured it all out and hopefully this next incarnation of my life will see that all happen in its grandest form.

i leave you with a song from alanis morisette's new album called 'flavors of entanglement'...the track is called 'not as we' and it really smacked me in the face when i first heard it and really sums up how i feel right about now...thanks again alanis. the new album is brilliant and reminds me lot of my favourite album by her 'supposed former infatuation junkie'...and makes me excuse her for all the albums inbetween that didn't quite do it for me

alanis morisette - not as we

future matrix lovers

found this on a madonna forum...and with the new tour pending it really hyped me up for what she's going to come up with this time around....someone edited scenes from the matrix to go with the live performance of future lovers from the confessions tour....check it out....it works on so many bizarre levels it's glorious!

Apture

DJ Chauncey D on Facebook