Fabulous @ 50 - Traci Lords!

Happy Birthday Traci!
Traci Lords

That's correct peeps the one and only Traci Lords turns the big five-oh today. Can you believe it?! So what's an Icon to do for her 50th? Why give her fans what they want most. New music and more Traci! 

I got Traci to slow down long enough to chat with me about her latest tune "Come Alive" and what it feels like for a grrrrrrl turning 50. After all that's what friends are for! It's time to lick it up!  

MS: Happy 50th, welcome to the tribe, how does it feel to be Fabulous & Fifty?

 TL: It’s about damn time!  I am so proud of everything I’ve accomplished and the life I live today. I can straight up tell you that I am happy, healthy and ready to finally take my place at the #elderbitches table! Bring it. 

MS: I wanted to tell you my sister's Birthday is the day after yours and she will be turning 50 as well.

TL: How funny!  Tell that Taurus woman that I wish her a very Happy Birthday!!!!

 MS: Any big plans to celebrate the beginning of another decade of living?

TL: I’m celebrating my 50th over the next year!  I’m going to do 5 things I’ve never done before. All of which must somehow terrify me! I’ll be traveling a lot, recording more music and really savoring time with  my husband and my little  boy! He’s growing up so fast and I love that I haven’t missed ANY of it. And yes, I will eat the cake. 

 MS: It's your party, what made you decide to gift your fans with the new single "Come Alive?"

TL: I really appreciate and love my fans.... without them there is no audience.  They have given me so much of their attention over the years and they have been relentless in their pleas for new music. But it’s been difficult for me to wrap my brain around. Thing is I  love to write and record  but I’m not in a band and I don’t consider myself an amazing singer. I’m more of a vocal stylist. Having said that, I’m excited to be collaborating with different people this year. I’m in an exploring stage.

 MS: Tell me what inspired the song. 

TL: "Come Alive" is about surrendering to what you ache for. When I write, I try to paint a picture. This story is really about the 17 year old Traci who created an ultra ego to dominate men and make her world okay. It’s about being out of control ( Control has always been my obsession! I am a Taurus!!!!). but somehow finding power while flailing.  It’s  about the stories we tell ourselves to deal with the shit life hands us. You know surviving.

"Come Alive" 

MS: Well I really like it. Are you planning a video for it? (Can I be in it?)  

 TL: Thank you so much Michael. The lyric video for "Come Alive" will be up on YouTube Today, my Birthday. 💋 The rest I’m not sure about yet! 

MS: What's the latest 411 on your Pin-Up Girl clothing line. 

TL: My Line at Pinup Girl is doing fantastic! I’ve had such an amazing time working with Laura Byrnes and my team. There’s so much creatively that’s going on in fashion right now. And I have several new pieces due out for summer that are truly classic vintage must have staples. Also, season 2 of our hilarious comedy series Swedish Dicks is landing on Pop TV this July 26. My character Jane McKinney is dressed head to toe in original Pinup Girl designs. We will be releasing the Jane collection as the show airs! 

MS: Tell me one thing that you want for your Birthday that money can't buy.

TL: Tomorrow

 MS: Who are you listening to at present (pun intended) 

TL: These days, no pun intended, I am listening to myself.That's the great part of being an elder bitch. (laughs) Musically though, for real  I am listening to Avicii remixes. I'm blown away that he is no longer on the planet, he was gone so young. I'm feeling a little nostalgic at the moment. I've been listening to the Pet Shop Boys, with a little Pat Benatar and some Blondie thrown in. "Yes" I'm in an eighties state of mind.

Elder Bitches in the Driver's Seat
Me & Traci

MS: Invite some famous people to celebrate Fabulous Fifty with you living or not, who would they be?

TL: Cleopatra, Brian Wilson, and Sid Vicious

MS: Any exciting acting gigs coming up?

TL: Season 2 of Swedish Dicks airs July 26 on Pop TV and my new indie film Steam Room Stories will start playing the festivals this Fall. 💋

"Come Alive"on iTunes at: 
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/traci-lords/61320

Keep up with Traci on the www at:
https://www.instagram.com/tracilords/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/thetracilords?lang=en
www.tracilords.com/

That's So Random, Traci Lords

It's been a busy time for my friend Traci Lords, why just yesterday a fashion campaign she is in for Helmut Lang dropped (refer to the photo above.) Not to mention she has her own successful line of clothing with the title Pin-Up Girl.

As if that isn't enough she has been busy at work on the TV show Swedish Dicks which premieres on PopTV August 9th.

Well, Traci stopped by to respond to 10 random things I threw at her, hey that's what friends are for. Ready? Of course you are...

OK Traci, here we go!

MS: Swedish Dicks

TL: Fun with Dick & Jane! Popping up August 9th on PopTV. Find your channel at PopTv.com

MS: Helmut Lang

TL:  Rebel

MS: Martini, Gin or Vodka?

TL: Dirty. Gin.

MS: Pin-Up Girl

TL: Forever

MS: Swedish Meatballs

TL: Salty Devils

MS: Wanda Woodward

TL: OG #restingbitchface

MS: French Kissing

TL: Never on Mondays

MS: Fashion

TL: Whore

MS: Garbage

TL: sisterfromanothermister

MS: Beat It Creep

TL: John Waters Mustache

Thanks Traci!

Follow Traci on the WWW at:

https://www.instagram.com/tracilords/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/thetracilords
www.tracilords.com/   

Michael's Musings

Give It A Name
Michael Shinafelt

"Come on everybody, I say now let's play a game, I betcha I can make a rhyme out of any body's name. The first letter of the name' I treat it like it wasn't there" - The Name Game, Shirley Ellis 

For some random, yet most likely not one this song came into my mind this particular week. I am not about or above calling names when they are deserved. However I am responding to the timelessness of this song and it's many interpretations. Especially the iconic performance of Jessica Lange's rendition of it on American Horror Story: Asylum.

This week we play the name game.

Male sure you always wear underwear. You don't want your "V" on TMZ. 

Don't make me unleash the powers of the underworld  

New Acronym DAB = Dense Ass Beotch 

I'd like to indict on more than three pubic hairs and a confession

Sometimes you need to do push-ups with someone on your back

Porn for the paranoid 

Seriously?! Who Dressed You?!
Mariah Carey

Dear Mariah, WTF?! Get a new stylist and some glasses that are preferably not rose colored

Traci Lords coming soon in "Swedish Dicks"

I have something most guys don't 

I played an online avatar game where you push Donald Trump off a cliff into a volcano, laughed every time I did it, I couldn't keep track of how many times that was

Sometimes: "You kicked my ass" is always the correct response 

My name is Hyena I am 26

Go Balls Out with me at:

https://www.instagram.com/michaelshinafelt/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/mshinafelt?lang=en   

Traci Lords Pin-Up Girl

It's The Traci Dress!
Traci Lords & John Waters

Actress, Singer, Author, Songwriter, Icon these are the adjectives that come up when you mention the name Traci Lords.

Well saddle up because there is a new adjective in town to add to Traci's resume: Clothing Designer.

That's correct Traci has a new vintage clothing line from a design company with the moniker Pin-Up Girl a company that meshes seamlessly with her fashion sense and image.

Tired of having to alter pieces to flatter her curvy figure Traci set out to design ready to wear clothes for women like herself. The line also has a shout out to her character Wanda Woodward from John Waters Cry-Baby. Hey guys she didn't forget us, there is a T-shirt that was made just for us men as well. Time for Traci!

MS: Hey, Traci how's your day going?

TL: Fine, I'm just recovering from a whirlwind last week at Burger Boogaloo.

MS: Was it a good time?

Beat It Creep!
Traci & Laura Byrnes of Pin-Up Girl

TL: Yeah, it was a lot of fun! I've never been to it before, they do it every year. It's like a punk rock, rockabilly festival. It's all outside and it's in Oakland, CA, Jello Biafra was the DJ there. John Waters had done it last year, he was the Mister of ceremonies so when it came up this year they asked me to co-host it with him. I knew it was a big deal when I had family in town the week before and my nephew who is twenty-six now asked "What are you doing aunt Traci?" I told him I was going to MC an event where a band called The Mummies were playing. He said "The Mummies, oh my god!" They were all dressed like mummies, they were pretty groovy. The clientele was really great too sometimes the nicest people you meet are the ones covered in tattoos and dressed in leather, and the conservative looking ones in the suits are the ones you have to watch out for. You can't judge a book by it's cover.

MS: Let's talk fashion, give us the 411 on your clothing line.

TL: I'm doing this collab with Pin-Up Girl Clothing so I got to take my new "Beat It Creep" shirts to the festival. I also wore two samples of my Traci Dress which is a red halter just below the knees in homage to my Wanda dress from Cry-Baby. The fans were really delighted and supportive, they squealed, they loved getting a glimpse of Wanda! The week before I thought "I can't possibly host this event with John Waters without the Traci Dress."

MS: When first I heard about your clothing line I was intrigued. Is it based on Wanda?

                                                           Traci as Wanda 
                                                              In Cry-Baby

TL: The line isn't really based on Wanda, I realized Pin-Up Girl and myself have the same fan base. My female fans who love Wanda tend to dress up in more retro/pin-up inspired clothing. All these women are looking for empowerment, some sort of strong female bad ass prototype. Wanda has become such an icon for rockabilly/punk/pin-up scene, she just really is. I'm not kidding, I have my little baby Wanda's who are six years old that I have pictures of and those little girls they just love the songs. John made Cry-Baby so musical and so much fun to sing with, kids just love that! 

Then I have the women with tattoos and they're dressed like a pin-up. They are straight women who have families and all that, and they all want me to sign their breasts, every one of them. They say "just sign right here on my cleavage" so there are all these women walking around with gorge dresses on with my name across their breasts (laughs) It's really funny it's like "OK, right on!" - over the years it's really wild, men and women show up with my name tattoo'd on their bodies where I've signed it, I'm thinking "tattoos are forever are you sure you want to do that?!" (both laugh) The clothes I am doing with Pin-Up Girl are day wear, like that cool skirt with the hip/retro vibe that's ready to wear and you don't have to squash your body into. I'm not a large woman, but I am all legs and have a short torso, so it seems like everything always has to be moved to fit right, and I was tired of squeezing my boobs into dresses to make them work. This idea came from a desire to have clothes that were custom made for me and women like me that look amazing and aren't made for a twenty year old. These clothes are for women who want to look cool, elegant and sexy in their forties.

MS: Tell me about "Swedish Dicks."

TL: Peter Stormare and his partner own a detective agency and they had the bad luck of opening it across the street from my agency. My character sees herself as the finest detective in all of Los Angeles, I think I have the biggest dick of all! 

MS: You might! (both laughing)

TL: I know! She has a little bit of Jane Lynch from "Glee," she's very blunt about what she says and uses all of her feminine wiles to get what she wants. She is such a fun part to play. It's dark comedy with off quirky little bits here and there as well.

Traci, Gunnar & Jeff

MS: I have to ask about "Sharkansas Women's Prison Massacre"...

TL: My husband rented it I haven't seen it yet, it's on my list. My son watched, this is horrible but this is what happens when I'm out of town, My husband and my son watched "Sharknado" I'm worried about Gunnar being afraid. Gunnar then told me about it when I got home "It was the stupidest, most hilarious movie I have ever seen, the shark went flying through the air and ate this guy and only his legs were left, and there was what looked like paint from my paint set!" He just thought it was hilarious! With "Sharkansas" I think what I'm going to do...he can see the parts that I'm in with Corey Landis because we are the detectives, that was actually a really fun role to play, but some of the cheesy stuff with the prison girls, I think we will go ahead and edit that out.(laughs)

MS: He stole the show on "Celebrity Wife Swap."

TL: He thinks he's a TV Star because of that, it's just hilarious! He tells me, this is just so funny that his plan is he wants to be a scientist. What he tells me he is going to do is graduate High School and make one or two movies so that he can finance his career (both laugh) this is his plan! Which made me laugh, it's less work for me!

MS: You will be jetting of to Williamsburg, VA soon for "Scares That Care."

TL: Yes, it's a 501 non-profit, it's a really great one. All of the money from it goes to helping families who are facing serious hardships, things that are insurmountable like a family member who has cancer. It's all 100% volunteer, nobody is paid salary or anything like that. The money really makes a difference. All ticket sales all the money goes to the people who need it. I've never been to Williamsburg it's supposed to be a very cool place historically, I'm looking forward to that. 

MS: I feel that if you are in a position or have a platform to help you should. The more open I am to that the better I feel.

TL: Especially when it hits that close to home. I am sure it doesn't surprise you that I had a lot of hardship in my family when I was growing up. There was nothing like "Scares That Care" at the time to help. Children Of The Night is another organization that is near and dear to my heart, it helps young girls really transform their lives. It's really important, human trafficking is really a big deal Los Angeles is the hub of it, it's unbelievable and not sexy. You are talking about young girls who are having their lives taken away from them.

MS: You've got a lot going on, all the best on the clothing line.

TL: Here's a fun little factoid, my old friend Shirley Manson of Garbage, used to be with a band called Angel Fish that was on the same label I was Radioactive Records. She just Tweeted me a couple of days ago that she wanted a pink and a black "Beat It Creep" T-shirt. I'm very flattered that she wants to wear them.

MS: By the way I would love to have one of the men's T-shirts.

TL: I think that can be arranged. (laughs)

Traci on the net:
https://twitter.com/thetracilords?lang=en
https://www.facebook.com/tracilords
https://www.instagram.com/tracilords/

Pin-Up Girl Clothing:
https://www.pinupgirlclothing.com/