Twenty Third & Seventh

the Legendary Storme

Our compadres at Living with Legends are featuring a profile of proto-drag king and Stonewall veteran Storme Delarverié.  Storme, an imposing figure with a heart of gold, lives at Hotel Chelsea where she is frequently to be found adding to the lobby ambience.

Click on over to Legends for the Storme profile.

Cosmetic Surgery Atrocities- Courtney Love

As much as we adore Courtney, she really needs to give over on the surgery while she is still recognisable... 

Patti Smith LIVE

Download PattiSmithJimMorrison.mp3

A little freebie from the wonderful world of open source media.  For your enjoyment, Patti Smith performs Poem for Jim Morrison and Bumblebee.  Anybody who can decode the identity of 'Bumblebee' is most welcome to be in touch.

Hotel Chelsea in the movies: Leonard Cohen I'm Your Man

Well, gosh.  It's confirmed.   The Hotel appears in the Leonard Cohen doco.  We await with antici...

Click here to visit the film homepage.

CINEMASOURCE SYNOPSIS
This documentary on the legendary singer-songwriter features performances by those musicians he has influenced. Woven through a riveting tribute is a career-spanning interview with the man himself. Sprinkled with his own artwork and personal photos, Cohen speaks of his stately writing process; "savage criticisms" exchanged with fellow Montreal poets; the scene at the Chelsea Hotel; tea and oranges with the real Suzanne; his retreat to Mt. Baldy and more.

Stupid Ideas Central. New Look Culture Club

This is both silly and totally uncalled for.  The band will look sillier, the fake George can only be farcical.  Sometimes it best to leave dead dogs to sleep where they lie.  Or something..

Culture Club to reform without Boy George

'80s pop group Culture Club are to reform for a tour - but without their iconic frontman Boy George.

Record label bosses want to replace him with a flamboyant singer and performer, but not a carbon copy of the legendary singer.

An advert posted on gumtree read: "We want a unique vocalist with a brilliant voice to take part in a 2007 World Tour and TV series.

"We do not want a karaoke Boy George 'lookalike' but a charismatic and unique performer in his or her own right with something truly fresh, contemporary and original to offer."

The band split in 1997 and reformed in 1998, before splitting up again shortly afterwards.

Shocking Plastic Surgery

The remains of Carol Channing as captured perhaps, twelve months ago.  Apart from the askew wig, she has little control ovr her dentures.  One false eyelash appears to have come lose in the breeze.  Poor Miss Channing the elder looks and sounds just a bit past one more round of Hello Dolly.

An audio sample of Miss Channing is included for your amusement.  She seems to have gotten lucky with her medication at least.

Download channing.mp3

click to reveal horror of living dead woman!

Oh, Oh- George is in Trouble

Oh, lordy!  Boy George O'Dowd is in trouble again. 

A clearly annoyed Manhattan judge issued a warrant today for the arrest of Boy George after the former Culture Club singer failed to appear in court, but the judge stayed the warrant pending his return at a later hearing.

Judge Anthony Ferrara said he will hold a hearing on June 26 on whether the singer, whose real name is George O'Dowd, violated the terms of his conditional discharge after pleading guilty in March to third-degree false reporting of an incident.

The charge followed his false report of a burglary at his Lower Manhattan apartment where police found cocaine.

Under his plea deal, O'Dowd was to enter a drug program in England and do five days of community service in Manhattan. He was also supposed to pay a $US1,000 ($A1,349) fine and a $US160 surcharge, and avoid arrest for any reason during the next six months.

The singer was scheduled to appear today to explain why he wanted to change the terms of his sentence.

Ferrara angrily complained that O'Dowd had not paid the fine or the surcharge and had never reported to begin fulfilling the community service requirement.

"I put people in jail who don't pay fines," the judge told O'Dowd's lawyer, Louis Freeman.

"Why shouldn't I do that?

"I think it's important that Mr O'Dowd be treated like any other defendant," he said.

Freeman said he had told O'Dowd, who was in England, that he did not have to appear today but that he should be ready to fly to New York on a moment's notice. He said the singer would be present for his next court date.

Ferrara said that on June 26 he would issue a final order as to what O'Dowd must do.

Freedman said that O'Dowd hoped to do something more worthwhile than sweeping New York City's streets.

"There's nothing wrong with that if that's part of his punishment," Freeman said, "but it will turn into a media circus and the press will be following him every day".

Freeman said the singer intended to comply with the terms of his conditional discharge, but he hoped to work with an HIV/AIDS charity while taking part in an outpatient drug treatment program for himself.

Ferrara ridiculed Freeman's community service proposals, which included helping teenagers make a public service announcement, holding a fashion and makeup workshop, serving as a DJ at an HIV/AIDS benefit and doing telephone outreach.

Ferrara said he understood the objection to street cleaning.

"It's humiliation," he said.

AP

All the Good Reading

All the good reaading is over at Legends today.

They have a feature profile of our own, cherished Randi Marx and a bit of yaddah from your never humble editor.

Sienna No Longer 'Muse'. Journalist finds new adjective shock!

I'm utterly stunned.  It became tedious reporting on every incident of Sienna Miller portraying Andy Warhol's muse Edie Sedgick, even I can only push tedium so far.  In this telling, and a shocking development in the field of journalism, a new adjective to describe Edie has been offered.  We now find out Edie was a DOOMED muse.

Just imagine, we'd all be cultural illiterates if it weren't for Sienna.

Approach with caution- high puke factor:

FROM: Pearce has worked on films where the actors realized the director wasn't going to be any help, so they learned to rely on each other. And he says there's nothing wrong with that.

"On the job I've just done, the Warhol movie -- and I don't want to talk too much about it because it's still being put together -- but Sienna Miller is so switched-on that it's remarkable," Pearce says of his co-star, a tabloid staple for her tumultous relationship with Jude Law after he had an affair with his kids' nanny. "I want to say Sienna is remarkable for a [24-year-old] but, really, age is immaterial. She's this beacon of brilliance. Both of us had moments where we felt insecure, but we knew we could look to each other for help."

Max's Website

Our attention was drawn to this marvellous Max's Kansas City website.

If you're feeling benevolent, or even just like throwing away some of that massive disposeable income, you might consider the various ways that you can help out the fund to look after musos who have fallen on hardtimes.  There's some great merch available. I have NEVER owned a CBGBs t-shirt because they could be bought in fashion shops here before I'd even seen the place.

Interestingly, my favourite original Go-Between has recently established a similar orgaisation here.

A Max's shirt would much more effectively communicate "I'm too cool for you- do not approach".