Eartha Kitt Dies at 81...

I was lucky enough to see her a few years back at the Carlyle...RIP Eartha...

two at the bush...courtesy of Michael...

Though it was meant as a deep cultural insult, many sympathize with the Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at Bush...Wanna take a crack at it?

Posthumous Homage to a Legend...

Bettie Page, Queen of Pinups, Dies at 85

From NYTimes.com By ROBERT D. McFADDEN

Published: December 11, 2008
Bettie Page, a legendary pinup girl whose photographs in the nude, in bondage and in naughty-but-nice poses appeared in men’s magazines and private stashes across America in the 1950s and set the stage for the sexual revolution of the rebellious ’60s, died Thursday in Los Angeles. She was 85...

...She had a few stage and television appearances, but it was a chance meeting that changed her life. On the beach at Coney Island in 1950, she met Jerry Tibbs, a police officer and photographer, who assembled her first pinup portfolio. By 1951, the brother-sister photographers Irving and Paula Klaw, who ran a mail-order business in cheesecake, were promoting the Bettie Page image with spike heels and whips, while Bunny Yeager’s pictures featured her in jungle shots, with and without leopards skins.

Her pictures were ogled in Wink, Eyeful, Titter, Beauty Parade and other magazines, and in leather-fetish 8- and 16-millimeter films. Her first name was often misspelled. Her big break was the Playboy centerfold in January 1955, when she winked in a Santa Claus cap as she put a bulb on a Christmas tree. Money and offers rolled in, but as she recalled years later, she was becoming depressed.

In 1955, she received a summons from a Senate committee headed by Senator Kefauver, a Tennessee Democrat, that was investigating pornography. She was never compelled to testify, but the uproar and other pressures drove her to quit modeling two years later. She moved to Florida. Subsequent marriages to Armond Walterson and Harry Lear ended in divorce, and there were no children. She moved to California in 1978.

For years Ms. Page lived on Social Security benefits. After a nervous breakdown, she was arrested for an attack on a landlady, but was found not guilty by reason of insanity and sent to a California mental institution. She emerged years later as a born-again Christian, immersing herself in Bible studies and serving as an adviser to the Billy Graham Crusade.

In recent years, she had lived in Southern California on the proceeds of her revival. Occasionally, she gave interviews in her gentle Southern drawl, but largely stayed out of the public eye — and steadfastly refused to be photographed.

“I want to be remembered as I was when I was young and in my golden times,” she told The Los Angeles Times in 2006. “I want to be remembered as a woman who changed people’s perspectives concerning nudity in its natural form.”

I'm on the radio...This time it's with MR&R...

I did a phone interview with Arwen Curry and Erin Yanke last night for the "You Got a Problem!" show on Maximum Rock and Roll Radio...I think my topic was a bit heavy for the girls and there really was no answer to my problem...getting over the heartbreak of my first love...My first music love was punk rock, but due to the lifestyle that seemed to go hand in hand with hanging out with musicians, I lost a great deal of passion for the scene...And migrated from punk to other types of music...not to be a traitor to my subculture, but I got tired of the excessive substance abuse and crime that sprang from it..I mean, when I started out in the scene, most of us were straightedge...Anyways, Arwen set me straight saying that your first love is just that...It's meant to be heartbreaking because it was my first...As for conservatism and allowing outward appearance to be less edgy, the guilt associated with it loses out to my older more adult tastes...I guess I was just searching for the older punks who feel the same way...There must be a large population. Arwen said there is. That made me feel better.

Skeme Richards $2 Flow Show Episode 1

Loved Defender? Try Cosmic Defender...

I tried to keep the game on my site, but the sound wouldn't toggle off...So here's the link...

YNN Labs Presents the Latest Stem Shirts...

Maybe Pitt IS the Newman of our Generation...?

Families move into homes that Pitt built
From yahoo.com By STACEY PLAISANCE, Associated Press Writer Stacey Plaisance, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 43 mins ago

NEW ORLEANS – It was a bittersweet moment for Brad Pitt, walking through the Lower 9th Ward neighborhood where families were preparing to spend their first holidays since Hurricane Katrina...

While the homes built by Pitt's project are more contemporary than the Creole cottages and shotgun-style homes typical of New Orleans, they incorporate some elements used in the area for generations, such as high ceilings and shaded porches.

The homes also have solar panels and other features that help cut energy bills by at least 75 percent, Pitt said. Other architectural elements address challenges of the area, including ventilation and mold- and termite-resistant materials.

"The misunderstanding of architecture is that it's all about aesthetics," Pitt said. "It's not. First and foremost, it's about function."

The homes, costing $150,000 on average, are for property owners who can pay insurance and taxes. Monthly payments are based on applicants' income and subsidized by Pitt's foundation...

>>I miss you Paul Newman...I never got to give you proper homage when you passed, but thank you for being a really decent guy and a role model for everyone...

Where I'll be tomorrow night...

DEC. 3 - FEB. 7: BRONX
GRAFFITI: SPIRIT OF AN AGE 40x10
Opening Reception: 5-9pm. Feat. CES, CEY, DR. REVOLT, EZO, KET, KLASS, MARE139, SHARP, SP, REVS. Curated by EZO. On view through Feb. 7. Longwood Arts Gallery at Hostos Community College 450 Grand Concourse at 149th St. Bronx, NYC. 2, 4, 5 to 149th and Grand Concourse. Mon - Sat: 10 Am - 6pm from artcrimes.org...

Revised Dec. 4th 2008....Went to the show and totally was impressed by Ezo's paintings...Not only did he curate the show, but his work is amazing...Also, Mare 139's sculptures were sick...