Twenty Third & Seventh

Dazed and Confused. Happy Cindy Wilson Day

My apologies for the sudden blackout there, normal service is slowly being restored.  An explanation is forthcoming...

Lets start with a festival. Today we say Happy Birthday to Cindy Wilson from CBGBs alumni, the B52s and don our biggest wig in an act of frivolous humility to honour the day.

Cindy  is a Pisces who likes chihuahuas and Chinese noodles.  She would like to be Queen of the Universe and wants to meet to have a baby now.

We suggest at least one hour be spent today wearing a wig to honour the divine Miss Cindy.

And some middle era B52s to get your wiggy juices flowing:

What's that on your head?
A wig
Wig. Wig. Wig

Sally's gotta wig
Ricky's gotta wig
Buffy's gotta wig
Kate's gotta wig
Fred's gotta cheap toupee
Keith's gotta big bouffant on
We all got wigs, so... Let's go!

On the neon, neon side of town
On the neon, neon side of town

Julia's gotta wig
Phyllis has a wig
Cindy's gotta wig
J.T's gotta wig
Carol's fall fell
Bubba's gotta big bouffant on
We all got wigs, so... Let's go!

On the neon, neon side of town
On the neon, neon side of town

On the neon, neon side of town
On the neon, neon side of town

What's that on you head?
A wig
Wig. Wig. Wig

Wigs on fire! Wigs on fire! Wigs on... Fire!
It's 2525 and we've got the most wigs alive!

Wigs on fire! Wigs on fire! Take it... Higher!
It's 2525 and we've got the hottest dos alive!

Happy Get Drunk and Fall Over Day

Today's Chelsea birthday person is Brendan Behan.

Q- What's more irresistable than an alcoholic, Chelsea-dwelling, Irish playwright who played a large part in the Irish freedom struggles?

A- Getting so drunk that you fall over in honour of Mr Behan.

I am a drinker with writing problems.
Brendan Behan

New York is my Lourdes, where I go for spiritual refreshment... a place where you're least likely to be bitten by a wild goat.
Brendan Behan

Happy Gary Coleman Day!

It's Gary Coleman's birthday. In honour of such a momentous occasion we plan to celebrate exploiting people with hormonal disorders and listen to Avenue Q a lot.  Who knows, it might even call for... a toast!

On this Day: Jan 24

ON THIS DAY: JAN 24

1874 Mussorgsky's Boris Godunov premieres in St Petersburg
1901 1st games played in baseball's American League
1922 Eskimo Pie patented by Christian K Nelson of Iowa
1935 1st canned beer, "Krueger Cream Ale," is sold by Kruger Brewing Co
1933 Noel Coward's Design for Living premieres in New York City
1961 Edward Albee's American Dream premieres in New York City
1962 Brian Epstein signs management contract with the Beatles
1984 Apple Computer unveils its Macintosh personal computer
1987 Andy Warhol flies Milan-JFK.  The suppository he is given to aid sleep is ineffective.
1989 1st reported case of AIDS transmitted by heterosexual oral sex
1989 Ted Bundy, serial killer of up to 100 women, executed
1998 Jay Monahan, husband of Katie Couric, dies of cancer at 42

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:

1732 Pierre de Beaumarchais  Playwright and Librettist
1862 Edith Wharton Author
1888 Hedwig "Vicki" Baum, Austrian/US author, Men Never Know
1917 Ernest Borgnine Actor
1918 Oral Roberts Televangelist. Brother of Anal.
1928 Desmond Morris English zoologist author of Body Language
1941 Neil Diamond  Legendary singer / songwriter.
1943 Sharon Tate  Rivers of gore, rivers of gore....
1960 Nastassja Kinski Actor, Cat Person

“In the midst of the turmoil, the fear, the anxiety that's in our nation and in our world, as I was walking and meditating, I heard the voice of God. I've heard that voice many times; it's familiar to me, and there's no way that I can fail to understand it's His voice because I'm familiar with it.”
                               -Oral Roberts

[Wouldn't it be wonderful to have a direct line to God like that...  Or maybe it's just a touch of the old voices in the head syndrome? Fuckwit!]

On this Day: Jan 22

Today is Dolores Conchita Figueroa del Rivero Day
Dance and be gay! It's Chita Rivera's birthday. 

ON THIS DAY

1840 - British colonists reach New Zealand.
1881 Ancient Egyptian obelisk "Cleopatra's Needle" erected in Central Park
1899 - Leaders of six Australian colonies meet in Melbourne to discuss federation
1901 - Edward VII becomes King after his mother, Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom, dies. Edward had previously been engaged in an affair with pioneering Chelsea Girl, Lillie Langtree
1907 - the first American Indian senator, Charles Curtis of Kansas, began his term in office
1931 - Sir Isaac Isaacs sworn in as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia.
1953 - Chelsea Hotel resident, Arthur Miller's The Crucible opens on Broadway.
1971 - John & Yoko record "Power to the People" 
1973 - The Supreme Court of the United States delivers its decision in Roe vs. Wade .
1977 - ABBA Dancing Queen released
1983 - Duran Duran Hungry Like the Wolf released
1985 - Andy Warhol goes clubbing with Boy George and Marilyn

1998 - Suspected Unabomber Theodore Kaczynski pleads guilty and accepts a sentence of life without the possibility of parole.
2006 - NASA is scheduled to conduct a gravity-assist maneuver designed to guide the NEAR spacecraft launched in February 1996 toward its primary target, asteroid 433 Eros.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:

1561 - Sir Francis Bacon, philosopher
1788 - George Gordon, Lord Byron, English poet & very bad boy
1849 - August Strindberg, writer
1875 - D. W. Griffith film-maker
1904 - George Balanchine dancer and choreographer
1933- Chita
1953 - Jim Jarmusch film director

1959 - Linda Blair friend of Satan

We deeply admire Lord Byron even if his work isn't much to our taste.  Byron was a kindred spirit, some of these quotes might have come from my mouth if I spoke archaic English.

If he lived today he'd either be numb on anti-depressants or in gaol on drug crimes. More is the pity for western civilisation.

With no further onanism, and because it's my blog and I'll binge if I want to, lots of quotes from Byron.

Those who will not reason, are bigots, those who cannot, are fools, and those who dare not, are slaves
                  -Lord Byron

Man, being reasonable, must get drunk; the best of life is but intoxication.
                -Lord Byron

To have joy one must share it. Happiness was born a twin
                  -Lord Byron

One certainly has a soul; but how it came to allow itself to be enclosed in a body is more than I can imagine. I only know if once mine gets out, I'll have a bit of a tussle before I let it get in again to that of any other.
                    -Lord Byron

I am acquainted with no immaterial sensuality so delightful as good acting.
                 -Lord Byron [who obviously saw Kathleen Turner do Virgina Woolf last year!)

Sorrow is knowledge, those that know the most must mourn the deepest, the tree of knowledge is not the tree of life.
                 -Lord Byron

n.b. conflicting sources report varying birthdays for Chita.It's either today or tomorrow.

On this Day: Jan 21

ON THIS DAY

today is national hug day [us]
hug a stranger
and steal their wallet while they're distracted

1908 New York City passes a law, the Sullivan Ordinance, making it illegal for women to smoke in public only to be vetoed by the mayor.

1919 Sinn Féin adopts Ireland's first constitution.

1968 Simon & Garfunkel release the Original Soundtrack to The Graduate

1976 The first commercial service Concorde flight.

1977 Salon Kitty released in the US

1979 Andy Warhol watches the Steelers win the Superbowl on TV.

1985 Don DeLillo's White Noise wins the American Book Award

1994 Lorena Bobbitt is found not-guilty by reason of temporary insanity for severing the penis of her husband John Bobbitt.

2003 Camp released in the US.  It's Turkey Lurky time for the Ladies who lunch!  If you haven't seen Camp you absolutely must.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

1924 - Benny Hill English comic.  Found breasts extraordinarily funny.
1926 -Steve Reeves Frank N Furter's favourite actor
1905 - Christian Dior Fashionionable Person
1941 - Plácido Domingo, Spanish tenor
1942 - Edwin Starr, American Singer "War"
1952 - Peter Tatchell Provocative 'gay activist'.
1955 - Jeff Koons, Artist 
1976 - Emma Bunton  aka Baby Spice

pictured
top: bad hair day for the Concorde
lower
left Steve Reeves in Duel of the Titans   
Right Jeff Koons 'Puppy' in NY. The Sydney Installation was much more colourful, but we have sun to make the flowers flower.

Art to me is a humanitarian act and I believe that there is a responsibility that art should somehow be able to effect mankind, to make the word a better place- Jeff Koons

On this Day: Jan 20

ON THIS DAY

1936 Edward VIII becomes King of the United Kingdom. On 11 December 1936 he abdicates in favour of marriage to Wallis Simpson
1942 Nazis at the Wannsee conference in Berlin decide the "final solution to the Jewish problem".
1944 The Royal Air Force drops 2,300 tons of bombs on Berlin.
1948 Mahatma Gandhi assassinated
1958 Elvis Presley receives his draft notice
1964 "Meet The Beatles" album released in US
1971 John Lennon meets Yoko Ono's parents in Japan
1979 Gloria Gaynor releases 'I Will Survive'
1981 Iran releases 52 American hostages bare minutes after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated as U.S. President
1986 Martin Luther King, Jr., day celebrated as a federal holiday for the first time [us]
1986  The United Kingdom and France announce plans to construct the Channel Tunnel.
2002  Photographs showing al-Qaeda and Taleban suspects shackled and masked are published by the United States military

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

1896 George Burns: Actor, comedian
1906 Aristotle Onassis: Greek industrialist
1910 Joy Adamson: Naturalist/author (Born Free)
1920 Federico Fellini: Filmmaker
1934 Tom Baker: British actor (Dr Who)
1946 David Lynch: Filmmaker
1947 Malcolm McLaren: Self declared cultural interventionist.  Best known as ex-husband of Vivienne Westwood.  Has stayed at Hotel Chelsea
1960 Michael Hutchence: Rock star. Autoerotic asphyxiation enthusiast.

On this Day: Jan 19

today we mark the solemn festival of saint janis joplin
born this day AD1943
the lustre of a pearl is eternal

TODAY IS INTERNATIONAL GOITRE AWARENESS DAY
PLEASE BE AWARE OF GOITRES

Goitre: Lumps like this on your neck may be a health concern.  Consult a Doctor as soon as possible if you believe you may be effected by goitre.

ON THIS DAY:

1829 Goethe's Faust premieres.
1883 The first electric lighting system employing overhead wires begins service (Roselle, New Jersey) It was built by Thomas Edison.
1937 Howard Hughes sets a new air record by flying from Los Angeles to New York City in 7 hours, 28 minutes, 25 seconds.
1961 1st episode for The Dick Van Dyke Show is filmed
1963 Whiskey-A-Go-Go opens [Los Angeles]
1966 Sweet Charity premieres with Gwen Verdon directed by Bob Fosse
1971 Beatles' Helter Skelter is played at the Charles Manson trial
1977 Snow falls in Miami, Florida.
1978: Andy Warhol attends an auction of Joan Crawfords costume jewelry.
1979 Shah flees Iran

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO:

1809 Edgar Allan Poe.  Author and spooky guy.
1839 Paul Cézanne. Painter
1917 John Raitt.  Broadway lead man. Starred in Carousel, Oklahoma! and The Pajama Game,
1921 Patricia Highsmith.  Crime Novelist
1931 Tippi Hedren.  Hitchcock muse
1933  Susan Sontag.  Thinker, essayist and genius. Defined 'camp', redefined 'disease'
1942  Michael Crawford. Annoying singer and actor of Phantom of the Opera infamy
1943 Janis Joplin   
1951  Martha Davis. Motelier
1953 Desi Arnaz Jr.  Son of Desi Arnez
1954  Cindy Sherman.  Photographer
1956  Katey Sagal.  Singer and actor [Married, With Children] 

[picture- Cindy Sherman Untitled Film Still #14 1978]

"Camp" is a vision of the world in terms of style - but a particular style. It is the love of the exaggerated.      Susan Sontag

Read Sontag's landmark essay, Notes on Camp

On this Day: Jan 18

ON THIS DAY:

1778 Captain James Cook becomes the first European to discover the Hawaiian Islands when he sails past the island of Oahu
1788 First Australian Penal Colony Established
1861 Flush toilet (with separate water tank and a pull chain) patented by Mr Thomas Crapper
1896 1st demonstration of an x-ray machine in the US, New York City NY
1904 Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard opens at the Moscow Art Theater
1874 The original Siamese Twins, Chang and Eng die
1934 Eugene O'Neill's Days Without End premieres in New York City NY
1939 Louis Armstrong records Jeepers Creepers
1968 Happy Time [Kander & Ebb] opens at Broadway Theater New York City NY for 286 performances
1974 Six Million Dollar Man debuts
1979 Andy Warhol takes cab to Union Square [$3-]
1980 Studio 54 owners Steve Rubell & Ian Schrager sentenced to 3½ years in prison for tax evasion & fined $20,000
1981 Wendy O Williams (the Plasmatics) arrested in Milwaukee for on-stage obscenity
1998 Ragtime opens at Ford Theater New York City NY
2003 Party Monster opens in US

HAPPY BIRTHDAY:

1689 Montesquieu: Philosopher. First articulated the idea of separation between church and state.
1779 Peter Roget: Vocabularist
1882 A.A. Milne: Pooh!
1849 Sir Edmund Barton: 1st PM of Australia
1882 Sylvia Pankhurst: English feminist
1904 Cary Grant: Actor and early LSD advocate
1925 Gilles Deleuze: Philosopher
1933 Ray Dolby: Inventor
1944 Paul Keating: Twenty-fourth Prime Minister of Australia
1969 Jesse L. Martin: Actor, original cast of Rent

I am going to fight capitalism even if it kills me. It is wrong that people like you should be comfortable and well fed while all around you people are starving- Sylvia Pankhurst

On this Day: Jan 17

ON THIS DAY

1775 R B Sheridan's "Rivals" premieres in London
1929 Popeye first appears in cartoon strip
1945 Soviets capture Warsaw
1969 UCLA Black Student Union members John Huggins and Bunchy Carter, also members of the Black Panther Party, shot and killed in Campbell Hall
1974 Joni Mitchell releases Court and Spark album
1975 Bob Dylan releases Blood on the Tracks
1977 Convicted murderer Gary Gilmore is executed by a firing squad in Utah ending a ten-year moratorium on the death penalty in the United States
1977 - Andy Warhol opens exhibition in Kuwait
1998 - Paula Jones accuses President Bill Clinton of sexual harassment

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO

1706 Benjamin Franklin: Important American dude
1899 Al Capone:  Entrepeneur
1922 Betty White:  Actor, Golden Girl
1927 Eartha Kitt: Purring triple threat. Wants to be evil.
1928 Vidal Sassoon: Inventor of Shampoo
1942 Muhammad Ali: Boxer and civil rights hero
1949 Andy Kaufman: Comedian
1956 Paul Young: English musician & pioneer of the extreme mullet
1959 Susanna Hoffs: musician (The Bangles)

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety- Benjamin Franklin