Rupert

Gratutious Edie Cut out and Fashion Week

Okay I admit adding Edie to the post is totally without reason because this post has nothing to do with her. It has more to do with being a ragpicker actually--I found this article on the Mulleavy Sisters in a copy of Metro I found on the PATH train. I decided the Mulleavy sisters (admittedly I know zippo about their work) are fascinating--I think mostly for what I don't know about their work. Teh article says they are part of the new fashion "avant-garde" which in fashion tends to mean clothing that can't actually be worn and I can't say I really liked the pictures of their work that was included in the article but I love where they are coming from.

Their trade name is Rodarte and the sisters are named Kate and Laura and they are based in LA. Kate claims she likes to spend her time at art book stores and lists Chris Burden (from the 70s when he crucified himself on a VW and had himself shot as in with a gun in the arm), Walter DeMaria, Eva Hesse, Picasso and Degas as artists that inform their work. Although the article didn't really give a sense of what their work is like nor how the above mentioned artists work can be seen as influencing what they do-- the article quotes Kate as stating " Kim Gordon and Miranda July capture our sensibility...but we'd love to see Julie Christie in our clothes." It also lists their fave mood music:

1. "Ghost Song" by Air
2. "Mother Nature's Son" by the Beatles
3. "Werewolf" by Cat Power
4. "Snow Tip Mountain" by The Octopus Project
5. "Heartbeat" by Wire

I adore Julie Christie and would want her in my clothes too. Darling is one of my favorite films but I absolutely love this film by Sally Potter called The Gold Diggers which you need to have read about a year's worth of Screen issues and tons of feminist film theory of the time to really understand what Sally Potter was attempting to deconstruct and reconstruct but I think that film is truly brilliant in all that it tries to do and for Julie Christie to star in such an completely avant-garde enterprise the Mulleavy sisters might find they will get Ms. Christie yet. But I'm not sure that their designs would exactly be made for a "mature" woman. With all the cut-outs and bare areas it is more like Rose MacGowan circa the invisible dress she is infamous for. Here's the picture that went with the article...not the greatest scan but you can sort of get a hint of their work...I want to like them because "Werewolf" is practically one of my favorite sons ever but...I don't know I think what is pictured here is too sheer and frilly for me...kleenex hung together with lace.

Lilo on the cover of NY mag

I admit I haven't read this issue yet but it appeals to all my most degenerate intersts--Lindsay Lohan AND Heath Ledger's double life. I don't really get why Lindsay Lohan is posing as Marilyn Monroe considering she is like a stick figure compared to Marilyn's curvaceousness--but I guess I have that to look forward when actually cracking open the mag.

New section--magazines/papers/graffiti i'm skimming

Anthony picked this up for me because of my current Zooey Deschanel obsession (patron saint if she hasn't been declared one yet) and the cover article which is an interview with m.ward and zooey deschanel about their collaborative project She&Him and it is a good piece. Some words to live by from Zooey D. about her fear of sending her demos to M. Ward because she figured that as an actress she wouldn't be taken seriously as a musician: at first "I was like,AW, I can't do it [send the demos]. Then I realized, I actually had this moment where I was like, You know what? Worst case, he's like, It's not for me...But if you never try,then you never know if something works out."

She goes on to talk about how they are both Emmylou Harris fans (patron saint number 8 gazillion) and old music and sounds. And I think that is what separates Zooey from other actresses putting out albums now is that she is genuinely interested in not just music but experimenting with sound and finding new ways to put sounds together and that is what makes her sincere to me and what makes me look forward to her release and hope that tour dates are some day announced for nyc.

The other thing that is great about this issue is that they have a pretty wide-ranging number of "best of 2007" lists and they aren't all by critics they asked artists what was important in 2007 to a number of artists like art brut, camera obscura and modest mouse and the lists were pretty interesting and ranged from various releases to takes on the war, and other events and show the idiosyncratic nature of inspiration. Also amazing is their review section which is pretty comprehensive in terms of indie releases and goes on to include books, dvds, video games, and comic books. And the writing isn't going to garner any Pulitzer Prizes but it doesn't fall prey to the overly adjectival gush of much "under the radar-type" writing and it also isn't totally negative. You might agree or disagree but I think they try and be neutral and don't totally fall for hype and do a good job of mixing high name values with no-recognition names. The forthcoming releases feature (besides She&Him) A Place to Bury Strangers, The Mary Onettes, The Black Angels, Camera Obscura, The Dears and Death Cab for Cutie.

I got a couple things highlighted in their review section--Vampire Weekend which features a song called "Mansard Roof" and songs about architecture will win my affection every time..but I've found this release has been pretty hyped but so far I like it. The other thing that I grabbed that got a decent review is Black Mountain who are very very like the velvet underground and have that trippy drone thing down but the bass is great.

So I give two thumbs up to this issue of the magazine. Under the Radar is published quarterly so I want to pick up another issue before I decide if it is worth my precious and very undisposable income for a subscription. But this issue gets a big rupert righteous cheer.

Giggling with the stars

I found out this morning that Monica Seles will be featured in the new season of Dancing With The Stars. Later today, I leaned that she'd retired this week. I thought she'd actually retired by now. Franny told me that she'd been training for a comeback. I wonder if she decided to retire the moment she got the TV offer. Besides being my all-time favorite tennis player, I've always thought she'd make a great pop culture presence and it might be fun watching the non-tennis watching world take to her if she makes a good showing. What's upsetting about all of this is that I feel compelled to watch Dancing With The Stars. Enjoyer of musicals and dancing that I am, I've tried to watch it and found I couldn't last a whole season.

This is sort of a boring post because I can't muster enough enthusiasm to say much more about that TV show. I'm sad that Monica is retiring but I felt for a while that her heart was no longer in it, even though she'd had some amazing moments in later years. I'm glad she'll be back in the spotlight in some way. I've posted this under, among other things, Patron Saints. Does she qualify, Franny?

Actresses turned musicians

See that is the distinction to me there are actresses/actors who put out albums and maybe sing but I don't think they have a passion for music. Reading the interview with Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward in Under the Radar (a really great publication if you ask me) it comes across how passionate Zooey is about her music. And to me she's someone who shares that music geek thing where we've all had that moment when some album or some song has totally grabbed us and held us at that moment when we really needed to find something that meant that much to us...or some variation of that. So I totally accept her as a musician because hell she is more talented musically than I am...she can play piano, she knows how to record on her computer, and she plays some string instrument I can't remember right now. The other thing that I should have buried in a comment is that Lindsay Lohan didn't start as a singer. She started as a child actress and she sang in one movie (i actually think it was mean girls) and she attracted interest from reocrd execs and then an lp was released when she was like 19 or something. And the only place I've ever heard it is in NYSC on their scary music video network which coincedentally (spelling I know) is the only place I've ever seen "Stars are Blind"--the single from the best-seller by Paris Hilton.

You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat

Here's the thing about Dylan and Edie Sedgwick. There is tons of debate exactly how involved they were and how much he wrote about her-- some people claim that "Like a Rolling Stone" recorded in 1965 at the height of Edie's fame is about Edie specifically the lines You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat/Who carried on his shoulder a siamese cat
Aint it hard when you discover that
He really wasnt where its at
After he took from you everything he could steal

which is supposed to refer to Andy Warhol and Edie's dissatisfaction with him for not making the feature film about her that he promised her or something like that. And supposedly Bob Dylan (or rather Bob Grossman his manager who promised to cut a single with Edie) tried to pull Edie away from the Factory or at least lots of lore has it  that Edie went from Andy Warhol to Bob Dylan, but the Bob that she most longed for in "Ciao! Manhattan" was Bob Neuwirth and I've always thought that Like a Rolling Stone grants a little too much insight into one's condition to really be about Edie--I think more likely it is inspired by Edie's predecessor "Baby Jane Holzer" who was smart enough to realize that Warhol wasn't "really where's it at" and she left the factory and went on to do lots of socialite things like raise money for charities and produce films etc--Edie wasn't the only debutante that fluttered through the Factory. If you've ever seen her on film she is captivating. You can't stop watching her. She is nothing like Paris Hilton and the sad part about all the international jet set today is that they aren't like the 60's there is no Warhol to harness all this energy and turn the whole scene into an "experimental jet set"--so instead we settle for boring celebutantes who drive the wrong way down highways (in the 60's everyone would have been in a limo) but the point is that Bob Dylan is widely amongst Edie supporters in part blamed for her demise--for everything from getting married when he was involved with her to getting Edie pregnant. Like I said lots of speculation about Dylan and Edie. Besides "Like a Rolling Stone" supposedly  "Blonde on Blonde"refers to Edie Sedgwick and Brian Jones who in 1966 were part of Dylan's "entourage" and "leopard skin pill box hat" is also supposedly referring to Edie. Hard to say it wouldn't be Jackie Kennedy at that point in time...Dylan is such a cultural blender that he also took from everything around him "everything he could steal" and it takes a great thief to call out another one. 

you must know about my debutante

Well, I'm not the expert on Edie Sedgwick, but on Franny's behalf, I'll submit her as a patron saint. And in keeping with the posts about Heath and Michelle, I just saw the last movie that features the two of them even though they don't appear together. I'd never think of having Michelle Williams play Edie, and of course, she doesn't play Edie in I'm Not There, she plays "CoCo the debutante," but as I said, I'm not the expert but she gets the essence of Edie perfectly and the scenes in which she plays against Cate Blanchett's Jude... acting as his true conscience while being taken without any seriousness by anyone... are hilarious and poignant. What a good movie. I should post about it! (Actually now that I think of it, Me Without You was kind of a precursor but I couldn't get through that.)

And moving into our decade of celebrity debs: does anyone actually realize that a Paris Hilton romantic comedy was actually released theatrically this week? And that it's called The Hottie and the Nottie???!!!! And that there are some really crazy yes-men out there approving of these things? It's already been voted the number 3 worst movie of all time on IMDB. Which is fixed because noone's actually seen it: I just read that it made $76 per screen! That would mean roughly seven people total went to all the screenings at any one theater for the first two days. Why don't these things just go straight to video!???

More stuff from the pseudo-manager

Here's a patron saint post

AGNES VARDA although I still haven't gone through my 4 from Varda DVD set but that gets into being asleep and all sorts of other stuff.

I've never felt more irrelevant in my entire life.

Notice from the management

Since there has been such an upsurge in posts in the past few days, we (or rather I) decided we needed a couple new categories in which to order everyone's thoughts so the blog doesn't beccome overwhelmed (see notice I'm so delirious I actually think other people post to this blog) so I've added "I should be asleep right now" for those times when you find your fingers doing the nocturnal walking at oh say 3 am. And then I added "Patron Saints" who are our inspirations for whatever ridiculous or serious reason. My vision here is all you have to do if you wan is select the category and type a name. You can explain more if you want but don't feel obligted (also love the way I'm pretending that I didn't post most of the babble in the past few days--Anthony helped tho. I also meant to create a catch-all "Buffyverse" category but I forgot and it is too late to sign back in. Either Anthony will be sweetness and light and do it or I'll add it later. So you can see what makes an I should be asleep category--

Baby Matilda: Tree Whisperer

Michelle Williams issued this statement asking for privacy in a time of mourning. It is really kind of sad. But kind of odd too. Just hope Matilda doesn't grow up to be--The Ghost Whisperer now.

NEW YORK (AP) -- Michelle Williams broke her silence Friday, saying her "heart is broken" over Heath Ledger in her first statement since the "Brokeback Mountain" actor's death.

Michelle Williams and Heath Ledger had a daughter, Matilda, together.

more photos »

The 27-year-old actress and Ledger became a couple during filming of 2005's "Brokeback," in which they costarred as husband and wife.

They later settled in New York, and had a daughter, Matilda, born October 2005.

"Please respect our need to grieve privately," Williams said in a statement. "My heart is broken. I am the mother of the most tender-hearted, high-spirited, beautiful little girl who is the spitting image of her father. All that I can cling to is his presence inside her that reveals itself every day."

Ledger, 28, died in his Manhattan apartment January 22. Authorities suspect a possible drug overdose, but the cause of his death is still pending the outcome of toxicology tests.

Police said several prescription drugs were found in the Manhattan apartment where the actor's body was found.  Gallery: A look back at Ledger's life »

"His family and I watch Matilda as she whispers to trees, hugs animals, and takes steps two at a time, and we know that he is with us still," Williams said. "She will be brought up in the best memories of him." 

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