Alas, the article went without us, as it turns out it was far more steampunk-oriented than the New York Times interviewer implied. It's true, however, that since it glowingly includes mentions and quotes from SalonCon's Deb, that we'll still get exposure from it.

Plus I have someone from the New York Times who in the recesses her brain knows who we are.

It's still pretty decent.

Experienced tough money problems, but I got my check. After a few overdraft fees, it's not as substantial as it once was, but there's always Friday. I will be a traveling fiend starting Friday, anyway, and will likely need the cash considering I will be going to Somerville to see Dad & Michele and then Andrea's show; staying with Andrea on Friday, then (I think) going to South Jersey and then to Connecticut on Sunday. Or we're going directly to Connecticut on Saturday, which is more likely. But I honestly have no idea.

Pop Pop's 80th birthday is on Sunday and I will be there for it. It will be ice to see both he and Mom Mom as I did not have the opportunity to see them in April, and I will not have an opportunity to see them any later than now in May.

This is a big week. I have to:
- get together with Sandy and Genevieve to complete our number for Rockstars and Strippers
- get together with Randi to complete our number for Rockstars and Strippers
- firm up and complete the setlist recording for Rockstars and Strippers to send out (I made myself a promise that every show's music would be set no later than a week before the performance)
- nail down the other R&S people and make sure they and I know what we're doing
- e-mail Jamie from R&S to make sure we know when we go on
- work on the Wonderland script for June so when I come back from Connecticut, I get those voiceovers started
- finalize the setlist for Rochester's show and tell everyone what they're doing (and be certain who will actually be there). Alas Rochester's throwing a gear in my wrenches by asking for the music sooner than 1 week before. I've worked with less in less time, so I'm not crazy in hell about that, but I just gotta do it.

...and that's just burlesque. I have crazy work stuff to do that will hopefully involve upwards of 3 signed contracts. More nailing people to the floor, really.

I did enjoy some relaxation with Angie on Saturday, where we also determined what she'll be performing for R&S (and probably again for Rochester) and also Sandy, who I never did get to talk to about what we're doing. But we all hung out, drank a lot, watched Practical Magic and The Devil Wears Prada (the former Sandy had never seen and the latter Angie had never seen). We all got reasonably blitzed, but not sick (bonus for not throwing up, points lost for that meaning all those calories are still inside me... ah well, life's booze's a trade-off).

Sunday was quiet, more or less. I spent a lot of time just listening to the Scissor Sisters, and wandering the internet. Then watched a lot of The View on TiVo. Due neither to Scissor Sisters or The View, I was pretty funk-tastic, and just feeling fairly low.

Monday's already here. I should get to sleep.

I rarely post up other peoples' news articles. But when I do, it's because I really like them.

This is entitled "Teenagers Fuck (And Other Lessons From The Miley Cyrus Debacle)" and comes from Defamer.com, who I am quickly loving. At least a lot more than Perez Hilton, who has gotten increasingly flaky and, well, wrong.

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( Read more... )

Original article source

Got No, Virginia. Love the songs, but it really does come across as a collection of individual songs rather than a full album. Admittedly, yes, that's what it is since they're a handful of newly recorded tracks and older material. It has a very mixtape quality about it. I may've been able to come up with a "better" track order. But everything sounds good. Even "Pretty In Pink," the sole cover doesn't seem out of place, really. Best bits are "The Mouse and the Model," "The Gardener," "Dear Jenny," and "Ultima Esperanza." It craves to be played loud.

Ironically, I'm starting to think they may really have been better off releasing 2 EPs. But I'll take what I can get. :)

EP 1: Dear Jenny, Night Recon, The Gardener, The Mouse and the Model, The Sheep Song

EP 2: Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner, Ultima Esperanza, Sorry Bunch, The Kill, Boston

I guess at that point, "Pretty In Pink" wouldn't fit very well. Ok, bravo.

Money... where the hell did it all go?!

Seriously difficult time for me at the moment. I don't think I realized how much the wedding and preparation for it threw me back. Before the money's earned, it's all been spent.

PSE&G waited 2 weeks to finally cash the check I sent them and Netflix whacked me way later then they ever do (they're almost always exactly on the 15th or 16th). If I get any other charges before I get my check in the bank I am fucked. If I get any charges before next week, either, I am pretty fucked too.

::thunk::

Genevieve and Michael got married this past weekend. I didn't expect to cry during my speech, but I did. I cried during writing it, which sucked even more. But it was a lot of fun after that! I tore up the dance floor, got down with sexy ladies (and Richy to boot), and even sorta-jitterbugged with Joyce. It was over far too soon. I don't experience enough dance parties. The third week if not sooner I get a theatrespace for White Elephant, Viktor's having some monthly dance parties.

Omitted multiple journals by the same people and fictional beings.

I got an e-mail at the WE Burlesque account, for someone marked as "R [last name omited]." They left their address, phone number, and e-mail address. The e-mail address was marked "nytimes.com" They wanted an interview for the Styles section.

Wait, what? Seriously? After some Google search, I determined to be a real person. Whether or not someone from the New York Times was actually trying to interview someone at the Society, I hadn't determined. So I gave a call.

And yes, yes, they were. I spoke to her about burlesque's re-emergence (if it ever did go away), briefly about our performances, what I thought about the spirit of burlesque, and also gave her info for Deb from SalonCon as she was also curious about steampunk.

It was surreal. But awesome.

I think White Elephant may (and only may) end up in a New York Times article.

New Madonna...

In 1994, Madonna released a very R&B-themed Bedtime Stories, which also featured some of her very first dabbles in electronica. From the leaked demo Shep Pettibone-penned "Love Won't Wait," or the eventually released b-side "Your Honesty," you'll hear that Madonna was going for an occasional old-school disco sound in addition to the friendly R&B and lite electronica. One track, "Don't Stop" is actually the only really hold-over from the sound, and it's a good change of pace on a really great album. It sounds like with Confessions Madonna finally got to make her dark disco album, and Hard Candy is her ultra-bright disco album.

First track "Candy Shop" is sprinkled with some candy-sex metaphors but too many to be clever and too few to be consistent. The beats are decent, and her lower range vocals sound great. Her high vocals, however, are a mess. The last minute is pretty painful, and while it sets the album up to be less impressive than one would hope, it doesn't even musically fit that well.

"Give It 2 Me" (which I can't help but think is a way better version of Britney Spears' "Gimme More") doesn't sound like a first track, admittedly, but it would've been a better foot to start on. Scissor Sisters would rock the hell out that song, and that's a really big compliment, you'll learn. For Madonna, the only folly is a Gwen Stefani-interlude (seriously, it's straight out of "Yummy") bit that kills the fun. She quickly recovers, but it's a sharp veer for what was looking to be the song to beat, for best track. It'll end up being #4 best by album's end.

If Stefani had done "Confessions on a Dancefloor," it would have included "Heartbeat." Good beat, good layered vocals (again she's singing a little high but it's processed better), but dumb-as-bricks lyrics. Admittedly, this is is probably her 19th song that is dedicated to the subject of dance as freedom (and "Into the Groove," "Music," "Everybody," "Jump," and "Don't Stop" all did it better), so maybe she's running out of ideas. If that is true, then maybe she should start writing songs about something else.

"Miles Away" has a similar riff as "Love Profusion," which may be intentional (and if it is, that's brilliant; sorta like "Love Profusion" 5 years later). It's a pretty, early 00's-sounding Madonna song that would sit comfortably with "Gone," or "Intervention," but with a bit more of a groove to it. Lyrically, it has a lot of repetition, but it's still one of the strongest. It will also probably be one of the most talked-about even if it never gets released as a single, as it seems pretty clearly about Guy Ritchie, who she is often separated from due to their busy lives. The media will have a field day picking apart the heavy-hearted sigh that comes with lines like "I guess we're at our best when we're miles away... so far away."

The clap-clap-clap of "She's Not Me" is infectious, and her verses are solid. The choruses sound a bit strained, vocally, again. It's also far too long, and features a cameo from Pharrell that needs to be edited out immediately; it is AWFUL. During the bridge, which is pretty decent, she deadpans "I know I can do it better," and she's absolutely right.

A much-hyped track called "Incredible" features the line "sex with you is incredible," but otherwise, it's pretty lame. A stuttering beat that doesn't ever seem comfortable with the melody or the lyrics, it's is long and uninteresting. The synth at mid-point is fun, but it just doesn't go anywhere.

When "Beat Goes On" was leaked on the internet as a demo, it was a pretty low point in Madonna's career. In finished form, with it's bells and glass-clinks, it's better, but still somewhat anemic. Again, better processed higher vocals, tho. A Kanye West cameo actually makes it more interesting; the ONE time a rapper's cameo improves the song. Don't get too used to it, Madonna.

"Dance 2Night" is THIRD dance-is-freedom track of the album, following "Beat Goes On" and "Heartbeat," and it's definitely the most solid. It's got a really cute chorus sound to it and will get your head bopping. Justin Timberlake, who also appears on the single "4 Minutes," adds a bit of "Rock Your Body" disco sweetness to it. If "4 Minutes," with it's Missy Elliot-cribbing horns, had any of it's charm, we'd have a much stronger first single.

Timberlake has a good effect on "Devil Wouldn't Recognize You," which is very much like Timberlake's work with Rihanna ("Rehab") and his own solo material ("What Goes Around...", "Cry Me a River"). It is excellent, and the best song on the album. Apparently when Madonna tries to be Justin Timberlake, it works. When she tries to be Nelly Furtado, it doesn't. Next time: work with Timberlake (or, don't) but leave Pharrell and Timbaland to the nasal, midriff crowd.

Pharrell's "Spanish Lesson" fails on almost every level outside of the beat. Madonna's vocal sucks, the lyrics are painfully bad, and the music is not interesting enough to make up for it.

Final track "Voices" is a better version of Confessions' "Like it Or Not," or a more cynical "Gone" from Music Madonna has made a habit of ending her albums on a quietly anthemic, somewhat reserved downer ever since 1992's "Secret Garden" from Erotica. The methodology is working; they are often some of the best material on the albums. Indeed, "Voices" is very good.

Since Madonna is so versatile, it isn't a big deal to mention that her albums are only as good as her producers. They have all been appropriate for the time, all perfect for the songs, and all exactly where she needed to be, whether she was a lounge singer or in a lace wedding bodice. Hard Candy is a big misstep that may very well score her some hits, but will probably instead just allow media outlets to lace into her for trying so very, very hard to be sexy. She's never had to try so hard before.

Even Erotica, her most sexually upfront and sweatiest adventure, seemed effortless with it's gravelly vox and amazing songwriting. Hard Candy is probably going to just get a whole bunch of people thinking Madonna's the next Dina Lohan: trying very hard to wear the sexy mom jeans and hanging with the DJs at the club. I'm not saying she has to wrap herself in a mumu and sew up her vagina... I'm just saying that what is disposable pop music is acceptable for the wannabes of modern pop; it's a little off-putting from a woman who they will never live up to.

Album: C+

Back to blonde for a very brief time.

It's pretty striking and it's weird to hold onto it for longer than a few hours, as I usually only bleach it to get a better color when I dye it. That'll be true soon enough.

Also shorter. That feels good, too.

New Dresden Dolls Songs:

"The Kill"
I really liked this song when I had the solo Amanda version. It retains it's slightly menacing, quiet sound, I wish the vocals were a little louder (but that may be a compromise from getting a leaked copy). The lyrics are curious, "I fought the British and I won," "I am... a closeted misogynist." I've never been ooh-ahh about the bridge, "Put Pat Sajak back in office." Mainly because I don't get it. It's an odd-ball, but a good track. The vocal effects are especially welcome, with the echos at mid-point. B+

"Dear Jenny"
An instant favorite, and in the same class as "Necessary Evil" or "Shores of California." Very repeatable, and could make for a good single... well, as good a single as the Dresden Dolls seem to get (little airplay, rare physical discs, and online-only music videos). Love it. A-

"Night Reconnaissance"
Again, another I first new from Amanda doing it solo (and this was one I saw her do live). A lot of fun, but perhaps I've heard it so often already with my solo Amanda-boots so it just seems less shiny compared to the completely virginal "Jenny." I know I love it, tho. A-

Can't wait for the rest of it all.

(for the record, I HAVE heard two other tracks from the 11-track album that were previously made available, "Pretty In Pink" which is cute B-side level track and "Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner" which is one of my favorite Dresden Dolls songs... so there are 6 more surprises for me.)

I feel like I let several days go by without acknowledging them. This is fairly true. Since my LJ is really the only journal that I have ever really kept for a length of time longer than a month or so, it seemed both natural and bizarre to not be writing in here daily. In high school, I would write several times a day about almost nothing.

I sort of cringe when reflecting on some of those previous entries. I know that I come off as whiny and needy a lot of the time in general (and that is because I am both of those things), but as a teenager, I was both of those things in addition to being so Fucking Sure of myself. These days, while I remain opinionated and steadfast (and perhaps meaner than ever), I am significantly Less Sure.

This past weekend was a strange bookending. When I started dating Matt in 2003, he began work on the musical Narnia for ATC. I saw the show, helped them move locations, but wasn't very. very involved. It was, however, the first time I was really involved in non-HOH community theatre since I was an adolescent. On Friday afternoon, the first of three performances for a new cast of Narnia, directed by the same woman at ATC but with high school students, went on. Load-out for the show was on the one-year mark of Matt breaking up with me. Equally, it was the one-year mark of the day before Zombie Night where things spiraled out of control on cast, as well.

I am not nearly where I expected to be, last year and 2 days ago.

I'm not Really happy, you know. I mean, I am trying very hard to "make the best" out of it all with White Elephant projects, being occasionally brilliant at work, or reminding myself that even if Matt and Jamie are having sex by themselves, it's still hot (I just don't get to see it anymore). But I still fear very abandoned by Matt, unappreciated by HOH, and generally complicated. It is not going away, and I have no real expectation for it to. I catch myself thinking of meaningless and important things from years ago that tore me up, and I shake my head, grind my teeth, and press on. I don't really hope for a better day tomorrow, just a different one. I like to think of that as hope.

But, well, I've never been one to "get over it." Pretty much ever. Especially in high school.

That's 1 year, then.

Matt and I got a cat in the first days of January. I never really wrote about it... I never really write very much here in general. Her name is Moaning Myrtle, after the Harry Potter character. She is so named because she moans and howls when you poke her, lift her up, are not feeding her when she is immediately ready, or otherwise interested in getting attention.

The longtime goal was for her and Forty to mate. However, that will not be happening. A few days ago, Matt suspected that Myrtle (who is probably no more than 11 months or so) was pregnant, which means Forty didn't just jump on her back the last time she was in heat, like we thought. However, today, she was quite sick, and well, leaking. So after a visit to the vet's office, we learned that she has a uterine infection and will have to be spayed or else she will die. This will, of course, leave her sterile.

We hope that Forty will still love his barren betrothed.

The new Madonna song:

"4 Minutes" features a minute-long intro from Timbaland that does nothing to really introduce the track... the lyrics don't make any sense: "We only got 4 minutes to save the world." Save the world from what? Why do you have 4 minutes? Is the idea that this song is the last hope to save the music world or something? 'Cause, well, you lost. And you only had 4 minutes and wasted 1 on Timbaland robotically saying the main line over and over? Talk about slacker saviors.

It's not an awful song. The horns are cute, if dated, and sound a lot like Missy Elliot 4 years ago. Missy Elliot was good 4 years ago, so no foul. But we've got lame lyrics and self-referential name dropping between Madonna and guest Justin Timberlake that makes "Me Against the Music" sound introspective. Justin Timberlake's only real purpose is to act as MC as he hypes Madonna's name, or well, "muh-DONN-uh" as he calls her. The radio edit (amusingly brief at 3:11) is a better bet as it avoids the initial sounds of what Nelly Furtado thought better to avoid on her last album.

Madonna croons at one point, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Bottom line: this song is very well-intended, and somewhere between heaven and hell.

Grade: C

Tracklisting for the Dresden Dolls' upcoming No, Virginia album:

1. Dear Jenny
2. Night Reconnaissance
3. Mouse And The Model
4. Ultima Esperanza
5. Gardener
6. Lonesome Organist Rapes Page Turner
7. Sorry Bunch
8. Pretty in Pink
9. The Kill
10. The Sheep Song
11. Boston

Release date: May 20

Woohoo.

Complicated, tough week. I was on the verge a few times and actually fell off it one night where I basically just sobbed myself to unconsciousness. It had been a while; I'll consider it therapeutic.

Through the jimble-jambled emotions, I experienced another HOH performance at Randi's last show, had a 2-day tradeshow in East Stroudsburg, PA that may prove to be quite useful, learned that Pop Pop had made a turn for the worse and then made a full recovery within days of panic, and generally felt overwhelmed by everything.

Here's to a better week.

First actual review I've written in months... I was feeling somewhat catty I guess.

( Janet Jackson: Discipline )

Wrote this for Matt's site, outtonight.mobi (which I hadn't written for since September... I do the blog of the mascot). I have to go back and write some post-dated blogs. Actually, a lot of post-dated blogs. Oh, well, here's one... for the present.

A very busy week... but I'm almost surprised that it's already almost 1/2 over. I've been working a lot, which has been compounded by 2 employees being out. Can't really fault them for that, tho: Genevieve is sick and Erin had a Gogol Bordello music video shoot. Otherwise, just post-show stuff.

Came back from Colorado, which was a successful, less stressful show. In fact less stressful then I can remember any others being. This may have simply been because it was just me and Matt... but on the other hand, you may assume that it would be the opposite. I think I just acclimated myself to how Matt and I work together.

Went to bed early last night (before midnight) but could not get myself to crawl out until almost 10 this morning. I think I have some slight sinus stuff going on.

I have a million things to work on, so I'm going to start one of them.

After 6 days in Colorado where we got only a light dusting and it was freezing as hell, I return to New Jersey and we have a 4-inch blanket outside overnight. Now to go from exhausted salesman to Mr. Plow.

I doesn't help that I passed out at 10 o'clock last night in my clothes on top of my bed while trying to unpack. I woke up shivering with the lights still on and not feeling remotely rested.

Here we go!