a division of the Chersonian Institute
Last week on the Cher-freaks list, Cher scholar Tom posted the following clip of Karen Carpenter singing "I Love Making Love to You," a song Cher sang with Gregg Allman on the 1977 album Allman and Woman: Two the Hard Way.
The fact that Gregg Allman and Karen Carpenter covered the same song calls for a moment of silence.
To the left is my favorite photo taken of Georgia O'Keefe now on exhibit at the Santa Fe Georgia O'Keefe exhibit "O'Keefiana." It was taken by Yosef Karsh. I love the way her hands are positioned touching the wood, the light coming in through the door, the textures on the wall and (you can barely see it in this copy) but the texture of the dirt on the ground.
Last weekend Mr. Cher Scholar and I celebrated Valentine's Day at the Abiqu Inn in Abiqu, New Mexico (a town famous for where Georgia O'Keefe settled to paint the stunning rock formations of the Chama Valley, the Catholic Penitente Morada there and the Genizaro Indians who settled there). John and I keep returning to the area, first attracted to it by my cousin's camping/cabin/fishing recommendations and our wanting to learn more about the subject of John's employer here, The Georgia O'Keefe Museum. While we were staying at the inn, I picked up a book of poems written about O'Keefe by her friend and sometime-librarian C.S. Merril.
This particular O’Keefe contemplation that seem Cher-related.
63
O’Keefe dressed in black suit
silver flower “OK” Calder pin
white scarf at her neck
hair in french roll at the back
felt like riding to the ranch
to get warm things
velvet hood,
quilted Chinese coat, gloves
kleenexes for watering eyes
talking about a critic
who said she was influenced
by Thoreau and Emerson.
“I’m supposed to have read
Thoreau as a child.
I don’t remember that.
I don’t remember anything
about him.
I have found
When something is written
which is untrue,
it is best
not to comment
because that only
draws attention to it.
Otherwise it disappears
And fewer people
notice it.”
March, 1977
From O’Keefe, Days in a Life by C.S. Merril
Cher attended the Pre-Grammy Gala last week to give David Geffen an Icon Award in a somewhat surly manner.
In honor of Geffen, Mary J. Blige sang a spirited version of A Free Man in Paris (Joni Mitchell wrote the song about Geffen). Cher presented the Icon Award to Geffen, her longtime friend and ex-boyfriend. She told the audience she had been instructed to speak from the heart.
"I would rather stick needles in my eyes than speak from the heart to a bunch of strangers," she said before sharing poignant and amusing details of their history together.
"He has a very soft heart," Cher said. "He's always the smartest man in the room. He falls asleep at the beginning of every movie we've ever seen. I have no idea what this (bleeping) award is. Whatever it is, I'm sure he deserves it."
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/awards/grammys/2011-02-13-pregrammyparty_N.htm
The Recording Academy-event was also dedicated to David Geffen, who was given the academy’s
President’s Merit award. The co-founder of Dreamworks is also a legendary and influential music figure and played a pivotal role in the careers of acts ranging from Joni Mitchell to Nirvana.
Longtime friend Cher, dressed in a sequined mini-dress, paid tribute to Geffen in a touching yet irreverent speech:
“When David asked me to do this I just wanted to kill myself, but you can’t say no to him,” she joked.
My blogs were recently interrupted by a job-related trip to Los Angeles, where I promptly met a bunch of sick, near-sick, were-sick-last-week people in the office and within 48 hours I too was sick. It was a hard week to get through due to the sniffles and all, but good food did keep me hanging in there. I stayed in Silver Lake with my friend Natalie for the weekend. We ate at my favorite LA mexican restaurant, Malo on Sunset Blvd. She also treated me to an awesome breakfast at The Village Bakery and Cafe on Los Feliz Blvd. In Redondo, my friend Julie and I tried the gastro-pub Chez 
Melange on Catalina Ave, which was great. I got my fix of sushi with a sushi boat in Santa Monica (Main Street) and had great drinks at The Arsenal (my friend Ken's sort of Cheers bar). Julie, her bf Dave, and I also had good Thai at Palms Thai in Hollywood before we snuck over to Grauman's Chinese to catch photos of Cher's footprints. Cher is right by the front door between Julie Andrews and Rhonda Fleming. It was dark. My pictures weren't that good. We were double parked. No time to be artistic about it.
While I was in LA, Cher did her last Vegas show on February 5. Robin Leach estimates she earned nearly $200 million in ticket sales. Las Vegas host Robert "Bubbles" Ubriaco also died shortly after Cher's farewell party in Vegas:
Las Vegas lost one of its most colorful characters Thursday. Rao's host Robert "Bubbles" Ubriaco died at Desert Springs Hospital, surrounded by many of his friends. He was hospitalized on Wednesday, after what friends believe was a stroke.
A week ago Thursday, Ubriaco was in his glory while facilitating Cher's farewell party for her cast and crew at Rao's. With Cher running 90 minutes late, "Bubbles" chatted with Roman centurions who were waiting to carry Cher into Rao's, ala Cleopatra.
A friend came by and had "Bubbles" pose for a photo with the centurions. "Say Chucky Cheese," said Ubriaco, his signature line. It was one of the last photos of the legendary greeter.
http://www.lvrj.com/news/colorful-club-host-ubriaco-dies-at-65-115863864.html
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/feb/04/cher-sing-final-farewell-caesars-palace-residency-/
Cher also attended the premiere of the new play with Jane Fonda in it “33 Variations” at the Ahmanson Theatre. My friends and I were discussing this due to my odd need to now do Jane Fonda workouts. In fact, I visited Hollywood's Amobea Records last week and bought $50 worth of Cher stuff and Jane Fonda's Fit and Strong DVD (it looks like a good low-impact one for old gals like me). I also found a Nelly workout DVD for Julie and due to her buying Nelly's latest CD, I became obsessed with his recent "Just a Dream" single.
Anyway, Jane is getting good reviews for the play. LA Times called her riveting. The premiere audience was stuffed with celebs:
Also taking in the show was writer-director Richard LaGravenese (seated with Cher), Tony Award winner Ben Vereen, “Smallville’s” John Glover, Tony winner Adriane Lenox, Michael Emerson (the creepy Ben from “Lost”), Corey Stoll of “Law & Order: Los Angeles,” Joan Van Ark and Mary Hart.
http://www.cherworld.com/news/?p=1660
More Grauman's photos:
Obligatory fan's appendages (mine) in the celebrities hand print.
Julie's tootsies in Jack Nicholson's feet.
I don't know why that feels so necessary. But it does.
A few weeks ago I netflixed Who is Harry Nilsson (And Why Is Everybody Talking About Him) to get some better insight into Cher and Nilsson’s unusual pairing for their Phil Spector single. Cher was not mentioned in the documentary, but then not many women were. Most of his compatriots were the big boys of the 70s, Monty Python, The Beatles, Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, Paul Willams, Brian Wilson, Cher-producer Jimmy Webb and Cher-friend Mark Hudson (with rainbow colored beard). Other than comments from his ex-wife and widow that is. There was seemingly no collaboration with women artists. Which makes the Cher duet even more interesting and mysterious.
Although most know Nilsson for his bursting ballad “Without You” which he hated, he also wrote “One” the song Three Dog Night made famous, “Cuddly Toy” made famous by The Monkees and “Girlfriend” which was edited to best friend for the theme of that 70s show The Courtship of Eddie’s Father. You’d also recognize the “Coconut” song from the 70s and “Everybody’s Talkin'”, the hit from Midnight Cowboy. A singer’s singer and a writer’s writer, he was more popular among his peers than he was on the charts. He also refused to perform live or do a single tour, which may have limited his reputation. His newly released Greatest Hits has many of the best songs from the documentary (which was long and repetitive, but informative….you kept thinking his hard partying was going to lead to a bad end…but it didn’t really).
I learned a lot about producer Richard Perry and the making of Nilsson’s biggest album Nilsson Schmilsson. The song “Remember” I like but it almost sounds more like Leon Russel. Other good musical finds were “1941”, “Me and My Arrow,” “Jump into the Fire” (my favorite), “You’re Breakin’ My Heart” (reminiscent of Cee-Lo Green’s recent hit “F*#k You”) and his tracks from the album of standards “A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the NIght”.
His voice is sweet and contemplative with a mad edge and his melodies are meandering and experimental. Probably deserves more credit than being a one-hit-wonder. If only he had toured…
I also finally watched Tina Turner Celebrate!, the concert special with sound bites of celebrities wishing her a happy 60th birthday back in 1999. Cher has a few interesting sound bites. She calls Tina “a hurricane, a tornado, a force of nature.”
Cher and Tina also discuss (painfully briefly) their meeting during 1975 on The Cher Show where Tina questioned Cher about leaving Sonny and thereby gained the courage to leave Ike Turner. Tina said she and Cher “came along the same way although hers wasn’t Nutbush.”
I loved the venue for this show…so intimate. Tina’s show is incredible high energy and her duet with Bryan Adams was awesome. I also loved her dancers: clean, fun, and throwbacks to the Ikettes yet totally different. I also fell in love with the song and video “Whatever You Need” which I soon realized was filmed in Paris near where John and I stayed. The video takes place at those the Roman ruins found under those apartments near The Latin Quarter and Jardin des Plantes.
Jack LaLanne has died at the age 96. Cher did commercials for Jack LaLanne Health Spas in the late 80s.
LaLanne was known as the Godfather of Fitness. He died in Morro Bay, California, of complications from pneumonia.
Everyone should lift a weight today in his honor.
Chaz Bono's gender transformation documentary, Becoming Chaz, has just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last weekend and Oprah has snapped up the rights to air it on her OWN network.
From Entertainment Weekly:
Beyond hormone treatments and surgeries, the film walks moviegoers through Chaz’s changing relationship with his mom, Cher and girlfriend, Jennifer Elia.
From The Salt Lake Tribune:
The three stars of the premiere of “Becoming Chaz” were, in order, Oprah Winfrey, Chaz’s mom Cher, and Chaz’s longtime lover Jen.
But the buzz at the Park City premiere was all about Oprah, who, to the delight of Chaz and the film’s directors, has bought “Chaz” for distribution on her new OWN Network.
“Oprah said last night that she has seen the film and she loves it quite a lot,” said co-director Randy Barbato. Then he joked: “With Oprah approval, we don’t even need a premiere. We’re done.”
From the Sundance page:
Chaz Bono was a male trapped in a female shell for as long as he can remember. Growing up as Sonny and Cher’s adorable golden-haired daughter in a body he felt wasn’t his own was a crucible it took years to transcend. Now, as he undertakes gender reassignment, he’s bravely decided to share the process on camera. Becoming Chaz invites us along on Chaz’s remarkable journey of transformation. As hormone shots give way to top surgery, down-to-earth, unflappable Chaz beams with a sense of liberation and goes public with his story to put a face on a misunderstood issue. Meanwhile, his gregarious girlfriend grapples with the realities of suddenly living with a man, and it’s clear sex change isn’t solely a physical transition.
Intimate and nakedly honest, the film reveals the humanity and courage it takes for Chaz to ultimately embrace his true self. His moving struggle will reverberate profoundly for anyone to whom authenticity matters.
The film has been receiving good reviews. Excerpts:
Initially the documentary shows Cher struggling with her child's so-called gender re-assignment, though she eventually embraces Chaz's transformation, even if she struggles to refer to him as he.
While she has already spoken about him on Late Night with David Letterman, as we see in the film, expect her to be a guest on Oprah any time soon.
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10702556
Becoming Chaz delves into the relationship with a level of honesty I wouldn’t have expected from a celebrity profile. Though the film probably would not have mass appeal were it to focus on a transgendered individual without ridiculously famous parents, Chaz uses his celebrity as a form of advocacy.
http://www.filmthreat.com/reviews/29406/
One of the most poignant segments of the documentary is the interview with Cher, who is openly uncomfortable with Chaz's transition and admits to being afraid to see him post-surgery. Cher often uses the pronoun "she" to refer to Chaz and uses Chaz's childhood nickname in place of Chaz or even Chastity. It humanizes the larger-than-lifesinger and actress, even as it shows how far even those we look to as icons and advocates have to go. (Cher and Chaz finally appear together at the end as Chaz, Jennifer and Cher attend the premiere of 'Burlesque.' Cher was reportedly not at the Sundance premiere of 'Becoming Chaz.')
http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/01/28/becoming-chaz-review-sundance/
Okay, it's not quite a snub of Mask-nitude. But it sucks because I was looking forward to an Oscar-live performance of the song. It's all about me isn't it?
In today's Oscar nomination flurry, many noticed that "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me Yet," the "Burlesque" song written by Diane Warren and performed by Cher — aka, the best original song winner at the Golden Globes — didn't receive a nomination for the Academy's best original song. Cher was among those who expressed outrage, tweeting: "The Golden Globe 4 BEST SONG & not even get nominated by the OSCARS? Oh well it is..what it is…the sun is still shining!" In other words, haters gonna hate.
Harumph! Well, oscars love a reason to exclude somebody.
This does not upset me to the level that Farah Fawcett being excluded from the Death Reel last year upset me. Didn't they say something about how she didn't make enough movies. Umm…I counted seven, including such hits as Cannanball Run, Extremities, and The Apostle. Michael Jackson did make the Death Reel and his only film performance (outside of playing himself) was The Wiz. I'm probably a bigger Jackson fan than I am a Fawcett fan and yet this still irked me to no end. Because it was so obviously a diss. The Oscar people tried to rationalize their obvious exclusion with junk that didn't hold water to anyone who knew how to use imdb.com.
Because they're jerks. There I said it.
So Cher's next movie premiere is July 8. In this one she voices the elephant in The Zookeeper, about "animals at one particular zoo who decide to break their code of silence in order to help their lovable zookeeper gain the attention of one particular woman."
And as Cher reminds us at the premiere of Elephants and Man: A Litany of Tragedy, zoo animals have a lot more to think about than a zookeeper's lousy love life.
Cher attended the premiere to endorse the documentary about the mistreatment of elephants. Which is awesome!
Watch the documentary online:
http://vodpod.com/watch/5354298-elephants-and-man-a-litany-of- tragedy-part-1
Cher's arrival and comments: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qG0Mx9W-u2U&feature=channel
To get an idea how annoying photographers are at premieres:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O_haAHo2SU&feature=watch_response_rev
Ever since working for a few St. Louis-based animal welfare groups as a young woman, I can't endorse zoos. Like Cher says about having elephants at zoos: it's just not worth the suffering. I would extrapolate that to the gorillas, tigers and birds. Okay…and even the snakes, too.
So is it irony that Cher now has a bonafide Disney villain inspired after her "look" when all she wanted as a wee tot was to be light and blonde because the only dark-haired girls were Disney villains?
Cher was the inspiration for Disney's latest villain, one of the film's director's has revealed.
Byron Howard looked to one of the biggest icons in the entertainment industry when he was working on new animation Tangled. He says Cher’s exotic look cemented his decision to base Mother Gothel on her. The animated feature tells the classic story of Rapunzel who finds herself trapped in a tower by a wicked witch.
“People keep coming back to this, but it’s true!” Byron told Cover Media. “I guess it’s because Cher is kinda gothic and exotic looking and definitely she was one of the people we looked at visually as far as what gives you a striking character.”
“Donna Murphy also really influenced what Gothel would look like. She was a hard one to crack,” Byron added. “In this version she’s not really a witch or sorceress, she has to be very intelligent, compelling, manipulative character who is very smart and can convince this poor girl she is her mother. So in order to contract her with Rapunzel, who is very petite with blonde hair, we need to go completely in the opposite direction with Gothel.
“She is very all, curvy and voluptuous, and has this very exotic look. We’re trying to say: this is not Razunzel’s mother.”
http://www.musicrooms.net/movies/24902-cher-inspired-disney-villain.html
Hmmm. I see Cher's point.
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