Friday, December 20, 2019

Film Buff Friday: Betty - They Say I'm Different


Betty: They Say I'm Different
Before Beyoncé, Madonna and Prince - there was Betty Davis

"Astonishing and tantalising" - The Wire

Arriving on DVD on January 17th via MVD Entertainment Group

Funk Queen Betty Davis changed the landscape for female artists in America. She "was the first..." as former husband Miles Davis said. "Madonna before Madonna, Prince before Prince". 

An aspiring songwriter from a small steel town, Betty arrived on the 70's scene to break boundaries for women with her daring personality, iconic fashion and outrageous funk music. She befriended Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, wrote songs for the Chambers Brothers and the Commodores, and married Miles - startlingly turning him from jazz to funk on the album she named "Bitches Brew". 


She then, despite being banned and boycotted, went on to become the first black woman to perform, write and manage herself. Betty was a feminist pioneer, inspiring and intimidating in a manner like no woman before. Then suddenly - she vanished. 

Creatively blending documentary and animation, Betty - They Say I'm Different traces the path of Betty's life, how she grew from humble upbringings to become a fully self-realized black female pioneer the world failed to understand or appreciate. 

After years of trying, the elusive Betty, forever the free-spirited Black Power Goddess, finally allowed the filmmakers to creatively tell her story based on their conversations.

Bonus Materials
- Director Interview: Phil Cox on the making of Betty - They Say I'm Different
- Interview Extract with Betty Davis  

Thursday, December 19, 2019

Michael's Musings

Call Me By My Name
Michael Shinafelt
"Impeach he bop and we bop, Impeach you bop and they bop, Be bop be bop a lu she bop Ohh ohh she do she bop" - Cyndi Lauper, She Bop

"Yes" I altered the lyrics of Cyndi Lauper's awesome hit She Bop to reflect yesterday's event. Now we are going to get more bitch baby whining. It ain't over till the petulant POS Trump says it is. Oh, newsflash it is over bloated one, right here, and right now. Because I say so, that's why!


Lick my tacos Squirrel Wizard!


Knock three times if Satan's doing you up the booty


Choir Boys singing Christmas Carols, discuss...


My 54th Birthday was yesterday, what did I do? Pretty much nothing, yep that is awesome when you are 54!


What am I doing this weekend? Seeing Bombshell 


I love you! Now I need a Popsicle 


The Pooping Pooches 2020 Calendar is real. "Yes" you to can get a different dog taking a squat for twelve months!

Is there anybody out there? Asking for a friend


Woman Crush of the Week - Charlize Theron who portrays Megyn Kelly in Bombshell. My movie pick of the week.

I love Christmas, just not as much as a big fat _____ it's blank fill it in

Ashley Benson from Pretty Little Liars (one of my fave TV shows) and Brad Pitt share the same Birthday as me. Yesterday, December 18th, yeah I'm in good company!!!

Santa Says: Just Coal For You Whore!

Not the bore worms! If you have to ask, then I ain't gonna tell

Your spreading rumors about me? At least you found a hobby spreading something other then your legs!

I'm here for you at:
https://www.instagram.com/michaelshinafelt/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/MShinafelt  

Wednesday, December 18, 2019

Hump Day & Chill - Happy Birthday To Me!

54 Pick-Up
Michael Shinafelt
Happy Birthday To Me! "Yes" it's today, thus I thought I would celebrate by reminding myself of who I am and where I've been. When I think about it, it's quite a journey. Cheers to me turning 54 the best is yet to come!


Weight Loss is a very personal journey. It is one that has to be done for the correct reasons or it is not going to work, I repeat not going to work. Take it from one who said they were going to do it several times before they actually did. I am 5' 7 and said I was going to lose it when I was 180 lbs. I then said I was going to do it when I was 190 lbs. Then I reached 200 - yep I said I was going to do it again then too. Well guess what I didn't do it until I reached 213! By then I fit into none of my old clothes (well that happened at 180 to be fair) and only bought things that work with my expanding waist line i.e. large shirts, drawstring pants etc...

Sometimes you have to lay your pimp hand down! Yep, this is when I finally decided to drop the weight and drop it noooow! It's about wanting to feel good about yourself. It's about claiming who you are. It's about, as Janet Jackson so directly put it Control. "Yes" weight loss is about taking control of who you are and being in a positive mind space. Life is a journey we are not going to be who we are one hundred percent of it. This being stated, once we allow ourselves to access who we are on an honest and real level then we can do anything! 

Who are we to judge ourselves? The first step to happiness is to accept who you are and deal with it. Life is not about perfection it's about acceptance. Does this mean you have to like everything? Hell to the Fucking  No! It means deal with it and find out what works for you. That is exactly what I did.

Being authentic is the best gift you can give yourself. Start there, make your weight loss journey about your happiness. It's not about pleasing anyone else. I can tell you I found a wonderful guy with a six pack when I was 213 lbs. He liked me for me, because despite the fact that I was overweight, I still had some self esteem. Of course he loved the fact that I lost it. But it was because I wanted to. Doing it for yourself is the key to victory. 

I decided to take this journey when I was 51. Thus proving you are never too old and you are never too late. Honestly I was tired of looking like a balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving day parade. 

Thus one day I got out of my bedded stupor (I suffered from clinical depression for three years prior, was treated and learned how to manage my life through therapy and anti-depressants which I have not been on for over four years now) and said: You've got this Mother F#cker! I wanted my outside to match my inside. I wanted to like what I saw in the mirror. 

And so the journey began...I started with the best diet I knew: fruits, veggies & meat. Although you should eat lots of meat, protein anytime of day is acceptable. You should try to do your fruit aka sugar that is acceptable in the ayem and veggies round the clock. Sound boring? It truly isn't, it's all a matter of reprogramming your way of thinking. 


OK, I will admit it isn't easy. When I started for every 5 pounds I lost, I gained three back for a long time. The key is I did not give up. That would have been an easy thing to do. Get discouraged and throw in the towel. I owed this to who I am, not who I wanted to be. I am this person who wants this from themselves, not what anyone wants from me. It's about who you are and what you want. “Yes” I have emphasized this before. But it is the key element to what I am stating.

As I continued on this journey I kept moving adding in more exercise to what I had been doing. FYI weight loss is an 80/20 proposition - 80 percent what you consume 20 percent exercise. Exercise is to keep you and your mind healthy and focused. It's also there to take the weight you have lost and make it look fab! One of the unexpected benefits of me dumping the weight is doing my weekly routine of: Spinning, Abs, Weights & Yoga I have achieved definition in my stomach for the first time ever at 53 years old. Imagine that?! 

What that you ask? Do I still drink alcohol? The answer is "Yes" but in moderation. Honestly at this point two glasses of wine gets me tipsy. That's what Uber is for. (call a driver, don't drive drunk!) Do I  have cheat meals, you are damned right I do. Most of the week I eat clean, but there is that one day a week I eat, not like a pig. But I will eat something not on my diet and in moderation. I have a thing for pizza, burgers, Mexican food and my ultimate favorite snack is brie and crackers.

OK, now I'm hungry for some In-N-Out Burger, but I had pizza yesterday so it's off limits until next weekend. The one trick to adhering to healthy eating habits is to reprogram your way of relating to food. Don't think of it as depriving yourself, because you aren't dieting you are eating cleaner and more efficiently. I view my changed eating habits as being good to myself. Also reminding myself of all the hard work it took me to get there and not wanting that effort have been a waste of time. I remind myself of how great I now look naked too. Hey, that's a big one!

Speaking of big ones, certain other things appear to have gotten bigger when I lost the weight. Another unexpected, but welcome change to my body. If I can do it, you can too. Trust me you've got this!

Continue my journey with me at:
https://www.instagram.com/michaelshinafelt/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/MShinafelt  

Tuesday, December 17, 2019

Odd Couple

Meow!
Taylor Swift & James Corden
New Couple Alert! Bare witness to Taylor Swift and James Corden out on the town. JK Last night was the premiere of the movie Cats and the two of them co-star in it. But how fun would it be if they were really dating? Yeah, I thought so too 😃

Anyway, "Yes" about last night, it was the premiere of the movie musical Cats and it was a big to do. Director Tom Hooper says he finished the final cut of the film 36 hours before the premiere. Wow! That's really "cutting" it close! 

Oddly enough, or perhaps not. There is no word on how good it is or isn't really. That may be because of it getting it's final touches at the last minute, or it could be that they fear the critics will not like it.

Personally I have not interest in seeing it one way or the other. Nothing about it appeals to me which is why, never have I ever seen the Andrew Lloyd Webber show.

C'est La Vie!

Cats on the WWW:
https://www.catsmovie.com/

Monday, December 16, 2019

Monday Motivation

Rock On With Your Bad Sweater!
Ozzy Osbourne 
With a scant 9 days until Christmas I thought I would motivate you with the gift of laughter. "Yes" today's Monday Motivation arrives in the form of Ozzy Osbourne wearing an ugly Gremlins inspired Christmas Sweater.

Seriously are there truly any good looking Christmas Sweaters? Aren't they all by law ugly AF?

But this particular one really stood out when I spied it. It made me recoil, repulsed, had my head spinning round 360 degrees, yet at the root of all that tomfoolery was laughter.

Yeah, I am giver, and so is Ozzy apparently, or is it unwittingly? 

Honestly I don't know how anyone celebrity or otherwise thinks the Christmas Sweaters they wear are not an assault on the senses of common decency.

Now get motivated, it's Monday after all!!!

Ozzy on IG -
https://www.instagram.com/ozzyosbourne/?hl=en

Sunday, December 15, 2019

"Play That Rock n' Roll"

Supersuckers
The band's 13th studio album arrives February 7th via Acetate Records

Listen to the single "Ain't Gonna Stop" HERE

Pre-order HERE


"Ain't gonna stop until I stop it, Ain't gonna let it go until I drop it," growls Eddie Spaghetti on the first track off the Supersuckers 13th studio album, "Play That Rock n' Roll."  Tracked over the course of four sweltering days at Willie Nelson's Austin, TX studio, "Play That Rock n' Roll" rocks with an amphetamine intensity, delivering muscular riffs, big choruses and more than a few tricks up it's sleeve.
 
Raw, immediate and often times hilarious, "Play That Rock n' Roll' is the album a band makes after slugging it out on the road for thirty years (barring a one year hiatus while Eddie battled throat cancer).  No frills, no guest stars and no collaborations, the album earns the listener's ear - the Supersuckers have lived this shit and you can feel it.
 

Songs like "Bringing It Back" and "Last Time Again" deliver a Ramones-like wall of sound, courtesy of guitarist Metal Marty Chandler, while "You Ain't The Boss Of Me" recalls Dirty Deeds-era AC/DC - and never one to be taken too seriously, Eddie and company make sure to keep the Supersuckers tongue firmly planted in cheek with "That's a Thing?" and "Gettin' Into Each Other's Pants".   The album also includes a rousing cover of Michael Monroe's "Dead, Jail or Rock n' Roll" and a long overdue revival of the Allen Toussaint penned "A Certain Girl," which appears as an "unlisted track."
 
All in all, "Play That Rock n' Roll" delivers the middle finger brand of Rock n' Roll the band has been known for since signing to Sub Pop in the early 1990's.  Combining the ferocity of Motörhead, the off kilter humor of Cheap Trick and the swagger of Steve Earle, the 'Suckers earned their spurs playing everywhere from dirt floor dive bars to The Tonight Show. Thirty years later, they still deliver the goods, or in the words of Eddie Spaghetti himself...
 
"The Supersuckers have been doing this for a long time. A LONG time. And the fact that we're still doing it is not lost on us. We still love Rock n Roll. I mean, we must. There's no other explanation for why we would still be putting out fresh, new rock music anymore. No one NEEDS it. Hell, hardly anybody even WANTS it. But here it is. Another master class in quality Rock n' Roll. Sure it's for the few, the proud, the People of Impeccable Taste, the Connoisseurs Of Quality but it makes us happy to know we still got it. And we do. We might be better than we've ever been and that's exciting. So here it is, our love letter to good, ass kicking rock n roll. Turn it on, turn it up and listen to the Supersuckers play that Rock n' Roll!!" 
 
 
US TOUR DATES:
  • 1/16 - Steamboat Springs, CO @ Schmiggity's Live Music
  • 1/18 - Denver, CO @ Globe Hall
  • 1/19 - Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
  • 1/22 - Dallas, TX @ Three Links Deep Ellum 
  • 1/23 - Austin, TX @ Empire Control Room & Garage 
  • 1/24 - San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger 
  • 1/26- Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall 
  • 1/29 - Outlaw Country Cruise
* Full European tour starts Feb 7, US dates continue in May 2020

Saturday, December 14, 2019

Waxing Nostalgic

We Go Together
Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta
Being it is the season for nostalgia, sentimentality, etc... this photo really brought back fond memories for me of my youth. That's correct minions, I've got chills they're multiplying!

My first girl crush Olivia Newton - John and John Travolta got their inner Danny Zuko and Sandy Olsson on for a Grease Sing-A-Long in Palm Beach, FL.

Olivia captioned the photo on Instagram with: "First time in costume since we made the movie! So excited!" 

Indeed as were the attendees of the three day event called "Meet N Grease" which will include a Q&A session with the dynamic duo.

Thus today's secret word is "Grease" because, after all "Grease" is the word!

ONJ on IG -
https://www.instagram.com/therealonj/?hl=en