Michael's Musings

Doe Your Mama Know?
Michael Shinafelt

Happy Thanksgiving Minions! If you are a turkey and you get scared, does that make you a chicken?

BTW does your Mama know? 

If it she does hopefully it's with waffles and some Cabernet. I'm packing at present, take that however you want, time to tap Turkey Day!

I taste heaven from my knees, hope you do too!

Here comes the judge! (give it a name)

Einstein Speaking

It's that time of year again when Satan gets letters asking for presents from the dyslexic children

All men are the same! BTW Who told you to try all of them! 

Harry Morton passed at 38, Damn! 

Something I am thankful for is where I have been and where I am going. It's been a long uphill battle. If you hang in there it truly only gets better 😄

Fatal Attraction
Glenn Close & Michael Douglas 

In case you aren't doing turkey this Thanksgiving, try rabbit stew...

Kiss it goodbye, you ain't ever gonna get it again

Tease it to Heaven, spray it to Hell 

Time to get your Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on! 

Woman Crush of the Week -Tina Turner just turned 80, Hail Queen!

"I am 100 percent sure that people who re-tweet their own tweets have also attempted to suck their own dick" - I 100% agree Whitney Cummings

Grab your booze and let's celebrate Thanksgiving!

There was that one time, well if you want to find out more, follow me at:
https://www.instagram.com/michaelshinafelt/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/MShinafelt  

Hump Day & Chill - Tom Connan

Multi-Faceted artist Tom Connan has just released a remix of his song "Chaos" which tackles the subject of drug addiction in a very direct and realistic manner. I just had to know what inspired Tom to "go there" so without further adieu let's Hump Day & Chill with Tom Connan!

MS: I love your song Chaos, obviously it resonates with many others as you did a "Black Mix" of it and a whole new video. What made you decide to do a song addressing drug addiction?

TC: I wanted to make a song addressing drugs because several friends of mine fell into that trap, went to rehab etc. It's a horrible phenomenon which is also closely linked to everyone's personal history. Nobody takes cocaine or things like that just because it's "fun". I see a lot of people feeling depressed and trying to escape with drugs. To my own point of view, I think our modern society creates a lot of psychological frustration which sometimes become a real pathology. It's not exactly the same as alcohol, even if it's also some kind of drug, after all. But with cocaine, or heroin, people are looking for something new, some brutal effect in order to erase their negative thoughts. Except it doesn't work. However, I have a lot of empathy for drug addicts as life can sometimes be a very sad and tough experience.

MS: Requiem For A Dream is one of my favorite films. I am guessing you have seen it based on the video. What are your thoughts on it?

TC: I love Requiem For A Dream and I'm very happy that you mention it. I was a child when I first saw it, but then I saw it again a few years ago and I was absolutely fascinated. Not only because it's so realistic, but also because it has this ability to grab you and force you to see what you don't want to see. I think this is precisely where cinema is the best among any other arts. With the combination of music and images, you can't help but looking at it and being focused. Of course normal people feel bad when they see that kind of movie, but sometimes we need to see embarrassing things to increase our awareness about something. I enjoy feeling embarrassed. All the time we watch stupid shows and stupid ads on TV, and it's easy for the mind. With movies like Requiem For A Dream, or Fight Club, or Eyes Wide Shut, we really learn something and become someone new -at some level.

MS: While you show plenty of skin in the re-mix video, you showed a little more in the video for the single. Why did you decide to leave your booty out this time?

TC: Lol, I don't want to show that booty too often. More seriously, this new video was something like the "dark" side of the first one. With the original video, I was trying to show the recreational aspect of taking drugs, which is obvious for everyone. With this second one, I wanted to describe how it can evolve. I have the feeling that in any phenomenon, we can find a "positive" and a "negative" side -we all know that-, but also that we can't delete one part for the other. You can't have the positive if you don't want to take the risk associated with it. If you want to have fun, you have to accept that, at some point, you can put your life at risk. It's the same in love affairs. Love can be a fantastic experience, but when it ends -which happens quite often- it can drive you nuts, so nuts that you want to kill yourself. Love is dangerous, drugs are dangerous, life is inherently dangerous.

MS: Your look in the video is very reminiscent of David Bowie in The Man Who Fell To Earth. Especially when you are shirtless, am I on to something?

TC: Honestly I don't know very much of David Bowie, I was more into singers like Michael Jackson (or even Marilyn Manson). That said, I'm a big fan of transgender and genderfluid pop icons like Bowie, Cher or Prince. Playing with feminine and masculine sides of the human body is so interesting. My own body changed quite a lot the last few years, and I enjoyed all the different levels, if I can say so. We only live once, for me, we need to experience different versions of ourselves. French poet Arthur Rimbaud said something like that in the 19th century.

MS: I love that Tom Connan has gotten freer and more out there creatively.

TC: I think you're totally right about the "freer" person I became. Back a few years ago, I was obsessed with other people's opinion. Now, I just don't give a fuck. My work is not understood by everybody, including in my family, and I think that's good. If you follow what your parents or your brothers want you to do, you'll never achieve your dream. We need to stick to our own model, that nobody can copy. There are tons of singers and artists out there, I don't want to look like them. I want to express my personal, and radical freedom. Otherwise it's absolutely useless.

MS: Spill about your other ventures outside the music world.

TC: The last two years I worked a lot on other ventures outside the music world, I changed the project name many times, and I finally decided to simply choose one name for every division of the brand: Connan. That's simple, that's neutral, that's honest -it's my real last name- and there's no confusion with my full artist name. It's currently a website (connan.io) when you'll soon be able to find different cultural products: music (not only mine), tv, books, fashion and art. I'm currently working with other artists for the music division, as well as authors for the publishing division. It's super exciting as I'm working on several levels at the same time: my next novel will be published by a well-known French publisher called Albin Michel, but I will also publish myself other authors as an entrepreneur. It's great to have this opportunity to work as an author as well as a publisher. The best is yet to come. 

MS: If you could be any famous person fictional or not, who would you be?

TC: I'd love to be Tyler Durden, that Fight Club character played by Brad Pitt. He's gorgeous, he's radical, he's clever, he wants to revolt against society. That's a role model for me. No joke.

Get social with Tom at:
https://connan.io/

https://www.instagram.com/tomconnan/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/TomConnan

https://www.facebook.com/tomconnan/  

Apprentice To Murder

Not to be confused with "Redrum"

WAS IT MAGIC, MURDER, OR MADNESS? In early twentieth-century Pennsylvania Dutch Country, young Billy Kelly (Chad Lowe, Highway to Hell) falls in with a charismatic "powwower" or folk magic healer, Dr. John Reese (Donald Sutherland, Don't Look Now), shunned by the rest of the community for his non-conformist beliefs. Together, they investigate the mysterious sickness that is blighting the area, which Reese believes to be the work of a sinister local hermit. But as the plague spreads and the wide-eyed Billy falls ever deeper under Reese's spell, are they doing God's work or the Devil's bidding? Also starring Mia Sara (Legend) and featuring a powerhouse performance by Donald Sutherland - reunited here with Don't Look Now screenwriter Allan Scott - Apprentice to Murder is a chilling and unforgettable tale of the macabre that blurs the lines between conventional notions of "good" and "evil".

Bonus Materials

• Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original 35mm interpositive
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation
• Original lossless mono soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• New audio commentary by author and critic Bryan Reesman
• New video interview on religious horror cinema with Kat Ellinger, author and editor-in-chief of Diabolique Magazine
• New video interview with cinematographer Kelvin Pike
• New video interview with makeup supervisor Robin Grantham
• Theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Haunt Love

Order Here:

https://mvdb2b.com/b2b/s/AV230

Monday Motivation

Please Sir, I Want Some More
Red Wine

"Red red wine, It's up to you, All I can do, I've done" Red Red Wine, UB40

Guess what's happening now minions? Red, red wine of the Cabernet Sauvignon kind is what my Monday Motivation is. 

Hey, motivation is a mysterious thing, it can take on many forms, so sit right back and you'll hear a tale...

"Yes" red wine is my end game for Monday as I am having it with cheese and crackers as a little before Thanksgiving celebration with a friend tonight.

Any questions? I thought not, now carry on, that's all.

Say Cheese! 😺

Red Wine on Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_wine  

Come On Get Happy!

Happiness Is...
Lizzo

"Hello world, here's a song that we're singin', C'mon get happy, A whole lotta lovin' is what we'll be bringin', We'll make you happy" - Come On Get Happy, The Partridge Family 

Today I am channeling Lizzo celebrating her sister's Birthday from the happiest place on earth, Disneyland! I was there just two weeks ago and had a grand time, and "Yes" like Lizzo, I got happy!

With all the strife going on in the world around us, please remember to do the one thing that counts most, make yourself and others smile, everyone, smiles.

It doesn't cost a thing and it feels good for all parties involved. Lizzo personally makes me smile every time I see her do anything. Thus I hereby decree Lizzo the mascot for getting happy.

Enjoy your day 100% minions...!

Lizzo on IG -

https://www.instagram.com/lizzobeeating/?hl=en

"Hardcore 81"

D.O.A.'s "Hardcore 81" Receives 2019 

Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize Designation 

The Polaris Music Prize has announced D.O.A.'s Hardcore 81 and Oscar Peterson Trio's Night Train albums have received 2019 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize designation.

D.O.A.'s genre-defining hardcore punk album from 1981 was chosen over 11 other nominated albums in the Re:Sound-supported Heritage Prize public voting category, which ran this year from September 17 to October 18. This marks the first time a British Columbia artist has won the Heritage Prize. The Oscar Peterson Trio's 1963 album by the legendary jazz pianist was selected by a 10- member Polaris Heritage Prize jury made up of music media and historians.

"Congratulations to these two winning artists. You've created important memorable recordings that have had a lasting impact on the musical landscape. I have tremendous appreciation for the work that has gone into creating these timeless albums," said Gary Slaight, President and CEO of Slaight Communications.

The winners appreciated that these albums remain so relevant with the jury and the public decades after their initial releases.

"It's pretty cool for D.O.A. and our fans to have Hardcore 81 recognized by Polaris. When it was released, we never realized that this album would give birth to the hardcore music genre and make an impact around the world," said D.O.A.'s Joey 'Shithead' Keithley. "So this is an amazing moment for us." 

D,O,A,

D.O.A. and the Oscar Peterson Trio now join a list of past Heritage Prize winners which include the likes of Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Alanis Morissette, Peaches, Glenn Gould, Dream Warriors and Harmonium.

"Re:Sound is proud to sponsor the Polaris Heritage Prize for the third consecutive year," said Ian MacKay, Re:Sound's president. "By spanning numerous decades and musical genres and incorporating both the jury and the public's selections, we see winners who reflect Canada's diverse and dynamic musical history. The shortlist and winners reinforce why we do the work we do to help build a thriving and sustainable music industry in Canada." 

Like the Polaris Music Prize, winners and nominees for the Heritage Prize are Canadian albums of the artistic distinction, without regard to musical genre or commercial popularity. This is the Polaris version of a hall of fame where we try to determine who would have been nominated or won the Prize before it began in 2006.

The Office of Gilbert Li, who curated the 2019 Polaris Music Prize posters and the posters for the 2018 Heritage Prize winners, will once again select the visual artists who'll pay tribute to the two winning records in the form of Polaris Posters.

The 2019 Polaris Heritage Prize jury included Stephen Cooke, Del Cowie, Francella Fiallos, Stuart Henderson, Bob Klanac, Valerie Lessard, Trevor Risk, Tabbasum Siddiqui and Andrea Warner. Mary Dickie was the jury foreperson.

TIME TO FIGHT BACK AND CHANGE THIS WORLD

TALK - ACTION = 0

Ya Hey! D.O.A. - Forty years and going strong

Follow Joe and the D.O.A. gang on Twitter and on Facebook

Freaky Friday

Walk Like A Ballerina
Harry Styles

Look up on the stage: It's a peacock! It's a beach umbrella! No, it's Harry Styles in a pink tutu! Well it's Harry Styles in a pink tutu hosting Saturday Night Live to be exact. Thus bringing you the Freaky Friday moment you never know you needed, but did.

Now when someone says you have "Nice long legs" you can produce this photo and confidently state "Well it's not Harry Styles in a pink tutu bending and pointing his toes nice long legs, but I'll take it!"

That's the beauty of things like this, you can assign any narrative you choose to them 😉

For the record Styles does have nice long gams. Being built stocky I will never know the joy of having my legs being complimented as nice and long. They do get compliments though, for being nice or hot, depending on who is giving the adulation and why (if you get my drift, and I think you do.)

So get Freaky with Harry this Friday, you know you want to, I know I do!

Harry on IG -
https://www.instagram.com/harrystyles/?hl=en