Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Hump Day & Chill: Ariel Beesley



Ariel Beesley
Photo:
Anthony Deeving
"Here it is !! The “Palm Springs” music video. I wanted to do something different with this video, to show people a little window into the things I care about outside of the music. On a personal level this video stands for what I can accomplish when I take myself out of toxicity and love myself instead. I hope you love it" - Ariel Beesley 

Let your inner activist Hump Day & Chill today in one of the best ways I can imagine, with Ariel Beesley. This young woman who I have know since she was, oh never mind, no need to go there. But she is a complete source of inspiration to me in everything she does. Trust me, it takes some kind of special to inspire me.

The video for her latest single "Palm Springs" has dropped and I LOVE what she co-directed along with Lili Peper. It documents Ariel putting together a benefit for the ACLU called "Front Line Girls" (which I attended) and I couldn't be more blown away by this young woman's passion. She puts her money where her vocal chords are.

Thus, I'm going to leave you with the video and a way to find Ms. Beesley on Instagram, as well as a link to donate to the ACLU to honor the artist and humanity. 

Hump Day & Chill minions! 

"Women's bodies are not battlegrounds for a political agenda" 




Ariel on IG
https://www.instagram.com/arielbees/

Donate to the ACLU -
https://www.aclu.org   

Tuesday, October 1, 2019

Fly On The Wall

Talk of the Town
Billy Porter & Bethenny Frankel 
Well here is what has got to be one of the most epic post Emmy, Governor's Ball photo ops I have evuh seen. I think I will title it: When a volcano meets a tornado..."Yes" it's when Billy Porter met Bethenny Frankel.

It is after all the first openly gay black man to ever win the Emmy Trophy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Pose) and a self made millionaire who used her platform on The Real Housewives of New York City to propel herself there. 

OMG! Can you imagine THAT conversation?! Seriously two powerful, bigger than life personalities forming one big nuclear blast! 

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess from the visual evidence that Billy is a fan of Bethenny & vice versa. 

Thus I have bequeathed you this weeks "Fly On The Wall" moment. You know what went down between these two was anything but boring. In fact I bet if we were privy to it, it was quite enlightening.

Yeah, I've got a sixth sense, and not in the "I see dead people" kind of way. 

Time to buzz off!

Bethenny on IG -
https://www.instagram.com/bethennyfrankel/?hl=en

Billy on IG -
https://www.instagram.com/theebillyporter/?hl=en 

Monday, September 30, 2019

"Old Habits Die Hard"

Junkyard
Acetate Records unleashes Junkyard's previously unreleased 1992 album "Old Habits Die Hard" on November 22!

"Junkyard is not a band from the 80s. Junkyard is not a band from the 90s. Junkyard is pure kick-ass bar-hopping motorcycle-ridin' rock n roll that seems as relevant today as when they first started." - Riki Rachtman

Junkyard opens the vault and blows the dust off a killer collection of recordings slated as the follow up to 1991's "Sixes, Sevens and Nines." Guitarist Brian Baker's (Bad Religion, Minor Threat) opening riff serves up the concoction of raucous, bittersweet, bloozy rock that follows. Loose and tight in good measure, with stomping beats and dual guitars zigzagging around David Roach's raspy howl... make no bones about it - this band could play.
 
The strut and swagger of "Pushed You Too Far" and the soulful "Tried & True" are balanced by the slow, dirge of "Blue Sin" and the melancholic duet "Hangin' Around With My Dreams." "Old Habits" recalls everything from Sticky Fingers-era Stones and ZZ Top to the Ramones and Lynyrd Skynyrd (who they toured with in '91). More than anything else, though, it sounds like Junkyard. 
 
Back in 1992, Junkyard was a well-oiled machine, their previous two releases performed well, they had multiple videos in rotation on MTV, and successful club and arena tours under their belt. Looking to infuse more of their musical sensibilities into their third effort, they began writing and recording and in a short few months, they had compiled over 20 songs. The new material reflected more of their alt/punk roots, which wasn't much of a directional change considering their strong punk pedigree.
 
But the major label's rush to jump on the next "popular music trend" quickly led to Junkyards demise. "At this point, Nirvana's "Nevermind" album had been out a few months and we all kinda knew which way the wind was blowing," singer David Roach recalls, "we didn't really 'officially' break up as a band, it was as simple as the party's over." So, with zero fanfare, the band members signed their release paperwork from Geffen (a whopping 2 page fax), gathered their gear and parted ways... the tapes were left to gather dust in the vaults.

Twenty years later, Geffen re-released the first two Junkyard albums and once again, the band was in demand. Tours of Japan and Europe followed, including a headlining slot at Serie Z Festival in Spain, and the band started writing again. In early 2017, Junkyard released "High Water", their first full-length album in 26 years on LA indie, Acetate Records. The album peaked at 24 on Billboard's Hard Rock Charts and Junkyard once again played to packed houses across America and Europe. With the band back in form, it seemed like the right time to dust of the tapes.
 
"Old Habits Die Hard" pretty well summarizes where the band was at the time," Roach continues, "The addition of Tim Mosher (yes, way back then) brought another element to what Chris Gates and I had been doing. So it was the hard rock, blues, southern thing plus some more melodic and punk which was also a natural course considering where we came from."
 
"During the months we recorded these songs we were in various stages of dealing with Geffen. Trying to write a single, but also trying to not care and write for ourselves. The songs indicate the direction we were ultimately not able to take until all these years later."
 
"Old Habit's Die Hard" will be released via streaming, CD and 'Beer' colored vinyl on November 22, 2019. A limited number of signed LPs will also be available via acetate.com.
 

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Just Because...Pamela Anderson


Here For The Fun!
Pamela Anderson 
Just Because it's Sunday Funday, Just Because it's Paris Fashion Week & Just Because it's all about Vivienne Westwood darling, here is blonde bombshell Ms. Pamela Anderson!!!

Pam is looking chic, sleek and in the cut in what I presume may be a Vivienne Westwood creation, or not, the blurb did not say who she was wearing, it should have damn it! Well whoever she has on she looks amazing and ready to go full frontal fashion on any challenger's booty.

I once interviewed Ms. Anderson for Instinct Magazine for the now defunct "Chick We'd Switch For" feature. She is one of the nicest, funniest not to mention savvy individuals I have ever met. Quite gracious and down to earth too.

Thus here we are on this Sunday Funday with some fun and some sun. Whatever, enjoy!


Pamela on IG -
https://www.instagram.com/pamelaanderson/?hl=en

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Margaret Cho Gets Her Some "Law & Order: SVU"

Got Massage?
Margaret Cho
Photo:
Albert Sanchez 
One of my favorite people and my favorite TV Shows of all time, together on one night...I'm so in! 

Emmy and Grammy Award-nominated actress, comedian, author and producer Margaret Cho will guest star in the record-breaking 21st season of “Law & Order: SVU.”

Cho will guest star as the manager of a massage parlor who’s swept up in a sex trafficking sting operation.  The episode, titled “Counselor, It’s Chinatown,” will air in November. 

An accomplished performer in all formats, Margaret Cho could be called the “Queen of all Media” having conquered the worlds of film, television, books, music and theatre. She has five Grammy Award nominations (two for music albums, “Cho Dependent” and “American Myth”) and one Emmy nod for her groundbreaking work on NBC’s “30 Rock.” Never one to shy away from a difficult or taboo topic, her socially aware brand of stand-up comedy has made her both a thought leader as well as a teacher to those with open minds and open hearts. In 2017, Rolling Stone magazine named her one of the 50 Best Stand-Up Comics, calling her “the sort of funny, sex-positive feminist and LGBT activist younger comics continue to look up to.”  Equally as important as her creative side is the causes she is passionate about. Margaret is widely recognized for her charitable work with gay rights and anti-bullying campaigns. In every segment of her life, Margaret is honest, forthright, passionate, uproarious and always entertaining. 

Watch all-new episodes of “Law & Order: SVU,” the longest-running primetime drama in television history, Thursdays at 10 p.m. on NBC.

Margaret on IG - 

Friday, September 27, 2019

Film Buff Friday: An American Werewolf In London


One of my favorite horror films, of all time..."Yes" I saw it when it came out in theaters!
One of the greatest directors of the 1980s, John Landis (The Blues Brothers, Trading Places), expertly combines macabre horror with dark humor in the lycanthropic classic, An American Werewolf in London. American tourists David (David Naughton) and Jack (Griffin Dunne) are savaged by an unidentified vicious animal whilst hiking on the Yorkshire Moors. David awakes in a London hospital to find his friend dead and his life in disarray. Retiring to the home of a beautiful nurse (Jenny Agutter, Walkabout) to recuperate, he soon experiences disturbing changes to his mind and body, undergoing a full-moon transformation that will unleash terror on the streets of the capital... An American Werewolf in London had audiences howling with laughter and recoiling in terror upon its cinema release. Landis' film has gone on to become one of the most important horror films of its decade, rightly lauded for its masterful set-pieces, uniquely unsettling atmosphere and Rick Bakers' truly ground-breaking, Oscar-winning special makeup effects. Now restored in 4K, and presented with an abundance of extra features, this big beast of horror can be devoured as never before...

Bonus Materials

  • New 2018 4K restoration from the original camera negative supervised by John Landis
  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
  • Original uncompressed 1.0 mono and optional 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio
  • Optional subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
  • New audio commentary by Beware the Moon filmmaker Paul Davis
  • Audio Commentary by actors David Naughton and Griffin Dunne
  • Mark of The Beast: The Legacy of the Universal Werewolf, newly produced, feature-length documentary by filmmaker Daniel Griffith, featuring interviews with John Landis, David Naughton, Joe Dante and more
  • An American Filmmaker in London, a newly filmed interview with John Landis in which he reflects on his time working in Britain and British cinema
  • I Think He's a Jew: The Werewolf's Secret, new video essay by filmmaker Jon Spira (Elstree 1976) about how Landis’ film explores Jewish identity
  • The Werewolf’s Call, Corin Hardy, director of The Nun, chats with writer Simon Ward about their formative experiences with Landis’ film
  • Wares of the Wolf, new featurette in which SFX artist Dan Martin and Tim Lawes of The Prop Store look at some of the original costumes and special effects artefacts from the film
  • Beware the Moon, Paul Davis’ acclaimed, feature-length exploration of Landis’ film which boasts extensive cast and crew interviews
  • Making An American Werewolf in London, a short archival featurette on the film’s production
  • An Interview with John Landis, a lengthy archival interview with the director about the film
  • Makeup Artist Rick Baker on An American Werewolf in London, the legendary make-up artist discusses his work on the film
  • I Walked with a Werewolf, an archival interview with the make-up artist about Universal horror and its legacy of Wolfman films
  • Casting of the Hand, archival footage from Rick Baker's workshop as they cast David Naughton's hand
  • Outtakes
  • Original trailers, teasers and radio spots
  • Extensive image gallery featuring over 200 stills, posters and other ephemera
  • Reversible sleeve featuring original poster art and artwork by Graham Humphreys
  • Double-sided fold-out poster
  • Six double-sided, postcard-sized lobby card reproductions
  • Limited 60-page booklet featuring new writing by Travis Crawford and Simon Ward, archival articles and original review

Thursday, September 26, 2019

Michael's Musings

My Doppelganger
Michael Shinafelt
My doppelganger brings all the boys to the yard...

What's new pussycat, whoa, whoa, whoa! Seriously what's new? I am curious yellow please do tell, or not. Whatever...I made it to the gym for the first time in two months on Tuesday. Me and my boot, hey it was made for walking, at least that bloody cast is off and I can now wash my right foot. "Yes" I said goodbye to right foot odor this week, Yay!

Now about that other issue, that one time at band camp when my doppelganger took over...

I draw inspiration from the meta, don't judge me 

The 21st record breaking season of one of my favorite TV shows, Law & Order: SVU premieres tonight, woot!

Keep others afraid of you by calling Fall "the harvest"

Remember it's head spinning season, spin it like a record baby!

The Emmy's happened this past weekend. The Kardashians presenting on them got laughed at like Carrie. I Tweeted about it and Entertainment Tonight used my Tweet in their post Emmy write-up. Here is the link: https://www.etonline.com/did-kim-kardashian-and-kendall-jenner-get-laughed-at-while-presenting-at-2019-emmys-132923

You say Label, I say Whore = Label Whore

The Impeachment process against Trump has been implemented. Let the cartoons begin!

On that note enjoying someone's public downfall does not pay your bills, stay focused


Woman Crush of the Week - Erika Jayne she'll be giving plenty of moxie as Roxie

If I told you once, I told you twice, I'm obviously not going to say it three times fast, duh

Mary Wilson of the Supremes was the first to go on Dancing With The Stars, in case you care

The best advice I can give you? Never give unsolicited advice

Are you a FOMO-sapien?

If you can't fly in the big leagues, stay off the broom

Soon I will be spread eagle somewhere, join me at:
https://www.instagram.com/michaelshinafelt/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/MShinafelt