Saturday, September 19, 2009

La nouvelle télésérie "Ils" (version homme de elles!)

Je vous confirme que la Vilaine Charrue ne prendra pas sa retraite maintenant!

Ouin ben hier, j’ai été manger chez mon beau gars du Brésil, Kayak men… Ben malheureusement, je crois que ça ne colle pas… Ben lui semble intéressé, mais cette fois-ci c’est moi. Pourquoi, je ne sais pas… Ce n’est pas ce que je m’Attendais, il est bien et sincère, mais y’a un comme je ne sais pas qui fait que je ne crois pas que c’est le bon. pourtant, il est en santé, fait beaucou de sport, il ne fume pas, ne sort pas, ne prend pas de café, mange équilibré, etc… Cibole, je sais pas si ce que je veux c’est un bad boy ou une Nun! En tout cas, il avait planifié une activité sportive avec son ex, pas celui dont il a encore une relation qu’il va terminer à son retour de voyage, son ex, il a vécue 10 ans avec… Bon j’chu pas jalou pis de toute façon comme je suis en bon terme avec mon ex de 7 ans (oui oui, La Vilaine est capable de stabilité les tout petit!) je comprend.

Youpi, week-end débute et ce soir je repars à la chasse, je me dépêche de terminer ce post et go gay411. Je me demande ce que la vie va faire pour me surprendre ce week-end!  J’vous assure, je voudrait inventer un scénario télé avec des rebondissement que je ne pourrais pas être aussi imaginatif, rien ne se déroule comme je le planifie, alors pourquoi pas laisser ouvert les neuneuilles pour voir ce qu’il se passe. Ah oui je vous assure que je l’Ai pas trouver drôle, vous vous rappeler hier j’arrête de fiumer! Ben cibole pendant la soirée j’ai réussis à tenir le coup, mais pendant la soirée, là j’En peux pu faux que je fume…. Je lui dit bon je vais aller fumer dehors et je reviens, wow le beau cendrier en cristal qu’il me donne. Il me dit  “Je ne fume pas mais quelque fois pour les invités!” Bref elle était bonne et m’a fait tourner la tête…. Le pire ça été le matin, ben y prend paas de café… oups, là c’est pas drôle! moi pour me starter le matin 3 cafés minimum, pis le thé vert, non merci, il m’en a offert, hi hi h! LA Vilaine avec un Thé, pas dans son patern.  bref je diminue deumer, oui je sais y faut pas fumer avec une patch… inquiété vous pasa je l,ai déjà fait, la cigarette est pas bonne mais assez pour continuer à avoir le gout.

J’espère que ce soir mon prince va apparaître, on sait jamais, je sais pas si MArs est en Saturne, faudrait que je demande à Miss V.  elle a connait ça les planètes! eille elle m’Avait dit que j,Avais avec un gars, mon Barman, Vénus qui rétrograde, j’pensais pas qu’une vierge pouvait rétrograder, moi oui je peuxx me rétrograder, je vous l’assure, lol. Elle m’a expliquer une histoire charmande sur la chaloupe pis je vous dis que ça corresponsdait aboslument à mon histoire avec mon barman…  “Vilaine, tu rencontre un gars et il te dis je t’aime, bien dans ma chaloupe on va être heureux et on rame on rame et c’est beau c’est agréable et soudainement, le gars angoise et il te dit, non! non! je veux être seul, alors saute dans le lac, je ne veux plus te voir…  Alors toi tu nage, pour ne pas dire rammer jusquà la berge de peine et de misère et tu arrives sur le bord et là le beau ti-gars revient et il te dit non! non!, reviens je t’Aime, je t’aime, je ne peux vivre sans toi! et toi tu te dis ben ça se peut, alors tu rembarque dans la chaloupe et tu rames ,tu rames et là le manège recommence et il te fit, ben là je crois que j’Ai le gout d’être seul, je crois que ce n’est pas cce que je veux…. Alors tu replonge… et l’Hisoire ne s’arrête pas là le manège coninue à l’infinie!  Bref c’est ça Vilaine la Vierge qui rétrograde!”

Ben j’vous assure mais la Jojo médium  avait raison, je vous dit pas combien de tour de chaloupe J’ai pu faire, j’ai ramé, nagé pis ramé pis ……..Bon j’pense que vous avez compris… la morale de cette histoire, prennez le pond c’est moin long… Pis surveillez l’Allignement des planètes, ça pourrait vous jouer des tours!

Ce soir c’est samedi et je vais sortir, je vais faire briller la Vilaine Charrue, la Madonna des clubs Gai crusser et trouver “The Hot Men!”

Dans un autre ordre d’idée, je parlais pour parler avec Miss C, elle est folle d’un jeu sur facebook (fait toi uen farme!) ça j’avoue je ne comprend pas ce jeu, passer des mois dans les clubs, ça c’est quelque chose, tu les vois real tes légumes pousser, lol… Bref, on se disaient que mon blogue serait fort intéressant en film ou télésérie.. Peggy disait ben jpense que ça serait la série “Ils”, version ammélioré de “Elles”  OUUUUUUUUUUUUmmmmm qui ferait mon rôle comme acteir américain…. avez-vous des idées et Miss Peggy, qui incarnerait ce personnage…. Aidez-nous à faire le casting…. La première série  la plus écouté à ????? au fait quel canal?  Out Tv? ben c’est juste anglais, pis mon anglais est trash, j’Vous dis pas pour L’espagnol…. c,est encore pire… Bref, laissez-moi de messages, on aimes ça, moi Monsieur X et Peggy…

Et si vous sortez dites-vous que vous pourriez rencontrer La Vilaine charrue! et même que je pourrais vous signer des autographes!  APlus et dites-vouss bien c’est important!

Friday, September 18, 2009

Celebration CD booklet



This is part of the 1 CD booklet. I do believe the 1 CD booklet unfolds out to the poster as seen above. The 2 CD booklet is much more extensive.

Okay, so I’ve decided I’m buying both the 1 CD and 2 CD formats after seeing the artwork. I know it may sound silly, but I’ve invested over 25 years

in this woman, and I feel the need to splurge on this. The fact both formats have different artwork and posters is an added plus to this. This is definitely

a collection that’s worth owning. And most definitely, I’ll be picking up the DVD set on this as well. Though, I’m pretty sure I am passing on buying the digital

collection. I just feel the only reason I would be doing it is for the one new song which I am sure I’ll find somewhere. And the video collection isn’t complete

with the digital deluxe version vs. the DVD.

So who is going to buy both physical formats? Who is going to buy all the formats? I’m sure if enough fans who do this, it’s possible this collection could

hit #1. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Here’s the poster that comes with the 2 CD set. The 1 CD set has the same image but it’s the black and white version.

I know. I saw that poster and thought… hell, I’ve got to have it!!

Here’s the poster in the 1 CD format:

and here’s just 2 pages of the booklet in the 2 CD set:

Another image from 2 CD booklet:

2 CD:

1 CD:

more from the 2 CD booklet:

More from the 2 CD booklet:

Here the back of the 2 CD format:

Below is the back side which is actually the booklet:

If you look, you see the top right square image while it’s in the CD tray. And then when it’s unfolded, you see it’s the top right corner there with the credits for all the songs is below, lying on it’s side. So yeah, I am thinking that the poster is the booklet for the 1 CD. (Awaits for some to go completely bonkers over this one. LOL!)

So I believe that DOUBLE CD is with the booklet and poster separately.

In this photo we can see the poster behind the album (with booklet inside)

Well, the single CD has the album credits (neut’s first post) for sure. No idea what’s on the back of the double. Maybe one’s b/w the other color? That seems possible – look at the folds of both posters:



It’s quite possible they’re opposite sides, given the inverse folds. But that’s just a hazarded guess.

Celebration (2 CD)

Madonna

List Price: $24.98 Price: $17.99 You Save: $6.99 (28%)

Release Date: September 29, 2009



Product Description

2 CD edition. Madonna, who has racked up a record 37 top 10 hits as well as seven No. 1 albums (including her last four) on the Billboard Pop Charts, has given her fans yet another opportunity to ‘celebrate’ her musical achievements. The songs on ‘Celebration’ have all been remastered and selected by Madonna and her fans. They cover the expanse of the Material Girl’s extraordinary career of hits

Track Listings

Disc 1

1. Hung Up

2. Music

3. Vogue

4. 4 Minutes

5. Holiday

6. Everybody

7. Like A Virgin

8. Into The Groove

9. Like A Prayer 10. Ray Of Light

11. Sorry

12. Express Yourself

13. Open Your Heart

14. Borderline

15. Secret

16. Erotica

17. Justify My Love

18. Revolver

Disc 2

1. Dress You Up

2. Material Girl

3. La Isla Bonita

4. Papa Don’t Preach

5. Lucky Star

6. Burning Up

7. Crazy For You

8. Who’s That Girl

9. Frozen 10. Miles Away

11. Take A Bow

12. Live To Tell

13. Beautiful Stranger

14. Hollywood

15. Die Another Day

16. Don’t Tell Me

17. Cherish

18. Celebration

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Madonna - Revolver (feat. Lil Wayne)

We hope the title is a reference to the shit Guy Ritchie film. We wouldn’t put it past Madonna. The song is alright. This wouldn’t sound out of place on one of Britney’s past two albums. The rhythm is definitely very similar to If You Seek Amy. The people that listen to one electropop song after another and don’t care who sings it will like it because it’s, as we say, another electropop song. It’s just one metaphor after another. Some work well like “You’re an accessory to murder” and “I’m no counterfeit” others less so like the cringey “Who’s the baddest of them all?” There’s an “E-oh E-oh” bit because apparently every pop song needs a catchy nonsensical noise at the moment. We quite like Lil’ Wayne in small doses and he does his bit and then we don’t hear much more from him.  It seems a bit pointless but it fills thirty seconds and HE’S COOL AND YOUNG.

Madonna’s songs used to feel important and different but this one could fit easily on a Kristinia DeBarge or Eva Simons album. Lady Gaga wouldn’t put this on her album because it’s too blunt and unimaginative. It’s ridiculous but we guess most pop stars that have carried on into their older age get beaten at their own game by the people they’ve influenced at some point. Obviously Madonna is good at comebacks and ‘reinventions’ so she could come back outplaying everyone again in a year or two. Everyone knows it’ll never be over for her until she says so because face it she’s Madonna.

Hear it here.

Revolver - Madonna feat. Lil Wayne

Madonna is about to release a greatest hits album called Celebration. I’m really digging the Warhol-tastic album art. After releasing a really lackluster single called, unsurprisingly, “Celebration” the pop legend leaks a new single featuring hip-hop golden boy, Lil Wayne. The beat is good, the lyrics are pretty standard Madonna pop fare and the hook is killer. This is what I call a greatest hits single.

While “Celebration” was in the same vain as the electronic phase the singer donned since a bit before the turn of the century starting with 1998’s Ray of Light (that is, until Hard Candy’s hip-pop), it was nowhere near as good as even some of the worse album cuts. Very disappointing.

But “Revolver”  is exactly how all of Hard Candy should have sounded. Apart from obvious exceptions, (”4 Minutes,” “Give It to Me,” and “Beat Goes On (feat. Kanye West)”) Hard Candy was underwhelming. This single gives us something to rock out to while waiting for something bigger and better from the singer. If she does more, which I’m sure she will.

Revolver  (feat. Lil Wayne) Bonus Downloads: Celebration Celebration (Oakenfold 12″ Dub)

What do you think of Revolver? Let me know with a comment below!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Manchester's Music ... in Pictures

The Kevin Cummins photography exhibition in the Northern Quarter is brilliant.  If you like Manchester music or even if you just like photography, check it out at the Richard Goodall Gallery on High Street before it closes on 26th September.

The exhibition is called MANCHESTER: Looking for the Light Through the Pouring Rain.  It features Cummins’ photographs of Manchester’s music scene taken over a period of more than 30 years.   It coincides with the release of his book of the same name. 

I was an avid reader of the NME in the 1980’s and Cummins’ band photography was one of the standout features of the music paper.   In fact, my first post for the Forever Manchester blog featured his brilliant front cover of the Stone Roses drenched in paint.

That picture (taken at a studio in Stockport, I think) is one of the 50 on display in the gallery.  Others feature Joy Division, The Fall, Buzzcocks, The Smiths, Happy Mondays and Oasis. 

Of these, the pictures of The Buzzcocks are probably the best.  Those of the Happy Mondays probably the weakest – not much material to work with there, let’s face it.  The cover shot of the book is an early snap of Morrissey, but it doesn’t grab me.  

Occasionally, an out-of-town act gets a look-in too, and the picture of a young Madonna at the Hacienda is wonderful, as is the one of The Clash playing at Belle Vue – yes, The Clash really played at Belle Vue. 

I’m probably drawn to these shots because of the crowd appearing as a backdrop and helping to date and place the picture in context.  If I recall correctly, the crowd visible behind Madonna are all static blokes with bad 80’s haircuts.  The Clash in the late 70’s obviously inspired a more dynamic response.

The Electric Circus, Collyhurst (not one of Kevin's shots!)

The pictures outside the Electric Circus in Collyhurst are also brilliant.  It is 1977 and the crowd on their way to see The Ramones have long hair and a complete lack of punk-rock regalia – yes, The Ramones really played in Collyhurst.  The shot includes a Hillman Imp and two lads offering a V-sign to the would-be David Bailey – perfection!

 

For my favourite shot though it is back to the Stone Roses – although they are not actually in it.  Cummins has taken a sensational shot of the crowd at Spike Island.  He has captured so much movement that the picture gives the impression that the crowd are dancing/girating at an incredible speed.  It reminds me of a C17 painting of the souls of humanity consigned to hell on judgement day and trying to escape from the burning pit.  But then, thinking about it, Spike Island really was that good!

Nice one Kevin.

Chris

A great accompaniment to Kevin Cummins’ book is John Robb’s The North Will Rise Again, published earlier this year.  John Robb relates the experiences of those that lived and breathed the Manchester music scene from 1976 based upon interviews with them.  One of the contributors is Kevin Cummins who is quoted as saying; ”In Manchester we weren’t dressed up like London punks.  At the time we were wearing old school shirts, cutting the tie shorter and writing slogans in biro on the shirts”.

.

MTV VMA 2009: Moda [ RedCarpet ] III

Simple, clasica, moderna y a la vez elegante se ve Madonna con este conjunto en color negro, de mas esta decir que toda la sobriedad para ese discurso tan emotivo, Madonna esta llevando los años con gracia y con estilo, bellisima asi sin mucha pose , maquillaje y pelo al natural.

Bellisima!, Juvenil y divertida se ve Maria Menounos en este mini vestido, nos encantaron los detalles en dorado que hasta hacen ilusion a las gravitores de la musica. Este para mi es uno de los mejores looks de la noche.

Espectacular, juvenil, fresco y super trendy. Los detalles de la cremallera estan fantasticos!

Clasica, elegante y sobria. Como nos tiene acostumbrados Olivia Palermo. El detalle del cinturon en animal print cierra con broche de oro este look.

Ni fu ni fa, hacia me dejo este look. Aunque hay que decir que Whitney Port esta radiante con este bronceado, pero el atuendo no me ha vuelto loca. Hubiera querido ver a la reality star y recien estrenada diseñadora con una de sus prendas, que hizo el lanzamiento 2 dias antes de los premios.

Imagenes [ MTV ]

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Panty lines and perfectionism

I was doing my regular exercise on the elliptical machine at the gym reading a magazine and wishing my 30 minutes were over.  When I looked up for a diversion, I saw a woman in front of me wearing a short top and pants slightly below her waist giving me a view of her red thong underwear.  While I can appreciate style and fashion I definitely had no interest in knowing the look and style of her underwear! But there it was, and I could hardly resist wondering why she chose to wear this uncomfortable garment and why it was all right for her to be flashing us.

Thongs were supposedly invented to remove panty lines which have become a faux pas in fashion according to the male-dominated sex/fashion industry.  Now sexy, liberated women can show their underwear publicly (thanks to Madonna for starting this trend), and I presume this is why. She wanted to be sexy and fashionable. However, women get sexual messages about gender from a repressive Christian church as well. According to Jessica Valenti in The Purity Myth, How America’s Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women, “…the virginity movement gives young women only two choices of who they can be sexually: sluts or not sluts. While the first choice doesn’t seem attractive, I can guarantee you that most young women are going to go with the option that allows them to have sex. And there’s no in-between identity for young women who are making smart, healthy choices in their sexual lives.” (1) This means then that women who desire to be attractive will follow the fashions of the day, whether uncomfortable (Girdles in another age were the precursor to thongs!) or dangerous (Who can run from danger in 4 inch heels?) And according to the virginity movement, as long as they are not sexual they meet the criteria for Christian purity.

In ‘”The Perfect Pantomime,” a short story about eating disorders, Aimee Liu notes the connection  between those women who suffer from eating disorders and the curse of perfectionism. Although researchers have discovered the risk of eating disorders is largely genetic, the mystery has not been solved because “science has shown that the contributing genes often express themselves through a signal personality trait: perfectionism.” Describing the perfectionism of her parents and her own life she writes, “I never doubted that the world was divided between the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the desirable and the disgusting. I knew there must be a right and wrong way to do everything, including simply to exist.” Suddenly, the flashing red thong in front of me connected to the author’s eating disorders that connected to the ‘purity movement’ and perfectionistic Christianity. The woman on the treadmill obeyed cultural rules about fashionable sexiness to her discomfort. Liu obeyed perfectionistic standards of her family system to the detriment of her health. And so many Christians obey an unattainable standard of perfection in their walk of faith that can only result in substantial guilt and angst.

The unrealistic quest for perfection is based on the misinterpretation of “Be ye, therefore perfect as your father is perfect.” (Matt 5:48) Yet, at no other time in the Bible are people of faith and courage told to be perfect. The Hebrew scriptures (Lev. 11:45) say, “You shall be holy, for I am holy” but according to Thomas Dozeman, “Holiness and God are inseparable in the Bible, but they are not the same.” In his view, “Holiness acts as an agency of the divine will.” That means that in following God’s will for our lives and seeking to live righteously we convey the holiness or righteousness of God even as we are not being God.

The word perfection is seldom used in scripture which favors the word righteousness instead. Any attempt to achieve some semblance of earthly perfection is idolatry. The self-absorption required in this folly prevents us from placing the rightful focus on God’s righteousness and obstructs our view of our neighbors and enemies as recipients of the love and grace that we are to convey.

Although we note Jesus’ disciples were less than perfect, Christians still attempt the impossible, especially women. This is because we get the double whammy of the cultural emphasis on sexy perfection and the religious repression emphasizing being sexy but not sexual.

While some women have wished to be “just a little” anorexic, Liu’s response is that this is like wishing “they could be just a little bit dead.” She concludes that “imperfection and blemishes are part of the human condition… our bodies contain us.. They carry us and work for us and give us pleasure. They speak for us when we dare not admit the truth. We owe it to ourselves to remember how to listen.” Christians seeking some sexual purity or female perfection are not listening to the wisdom of their bodies.

Instead of being like Jesus, a more correct idea would be to live like Jesus. This means not seeking some miraculous transformation into a quasi-god state but rather doing acts of justice to bring healing to those who suffer and to challenge the status quo when people are being hurt. This is what righteousness is. The perfection that many Christians seek is not Christian. It is from the Greco-Roman world which, it must be remembered, included a pantheon of gods to worship. Of eating disorders Liu writes, “Recovery must be measured not only in pounds, but also, crucially, in the discovery of a sense of self.” And that is also the mandate for Christians, discovering our sense of ourselves through the eyes of a loving God.