Eight-time Tony Award-winning lighting designers Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer have created the theatrical lighting designs for all of the musical numbers in the feature film Burlesque…
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Okay, so usually there's the ubiquitous paparazzi shot of Cher in a clown-white beauty mask walking to her car from a Beverly Hills health clinic or spa. In fact, I've been fatigued by all the most recent paparazzi shots. Are they really worthy of re-posting and consuming? But then these shots pop up this week: Cher on the beach (okay, not unheard of) but actually enjoying the water…what an anomaly! I almost can’t get my head around it. There was that paparazzi shot back in the 80s of Cher sunbathing on a boat with her ass tattoo unveiled. These things exist, I suppose. It’s just not as common for us to see Cher frolicking in the surf as it is to see Cameron Diaz doing it. Beauty mask shot is much, much more common. Flipping off the a-hole taking the picture…not at all unusual.
Do you think we’ll ever uncover pictures of Marlene Dietrich or Katharine Hepburn in the ocean??
No.
Well, we did see Katharine Hepburn golfing, I guess. But I don’t think my astonishment has as much to do with the intrusions of the paparazzi, (which are granted and I feel an uncomfortable voyeur's guilt), as much as I am surprised with the idea that this is a sport of Cher’s time and she's partaking of it in spite of us.
It’s a weird moment of Cher being a media object and stubbornly refusing to be a media object. Of Cher being timeless (more and more becoming part of the secured rank of Hollywood's old glamor guard) and her being solidly, modernly of her time.
Oh, for Christ's sake, I’m starting to talk like Proust now!
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/bizarre/usa/2914350/Boardings-Cher-bliss.html#ixzz0jnknUAlu
Cher has been caught having a fantastic time enjoying paddle boarding off the Hawaiian Island of Maui. Cher has a little trouble at times keeping her balance, but the pop queen ended up walking on water.
Walking on water? See? We jestly deify. We make timeless. Yet by paddle boarding, she stays in resolutely in time.
How would Cher handle a date who had passed out into his plate of pasta?
The College Code of Cher, by Sara Cox, is all about how college students should take the advice of Cher songs and date like an empowered woman. Things start off with a nifty description of Cher and introduction of the article's premise…
As an iconic American performer, Cher is a woman known by all. In fact, we know some pretty intimate details about her life. However, very few of us appreciate the sound advice that her melodies and lyrics have to offer. College is a time in our lives when many of us are deeply involved in the dating game. We suffer through multiple break-ups, back-ons and variations of the word ‘commitment’ during our time on the college campus. As dating faux pas occur commonly on college campuses (often, embarrassingly enough, in public places), I offer you the words of Cher to curb your dating mishaps and to help you further enjoy your time in the college dating circuit.
Can melodies offer advice…technically? I only dated one person in college. I feel like I missed the whole "circuit."
What follows is an explications of "I Got You Babe" with its lightness and fun:
Enjoy the relationship without taking it or yourself too seriously, “Let’s see what happens” isn’t the worst thing a friend or loved one can say.
Then, we look more deeply into the song, "If I Could Turn Back Time":
Don’t be distracted by the thong and sailors in the video; Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time” can teach us to select our words carefully in a disagreement with our significant other as well as to admit when we are wrong…We should all take a look in the mirror when reading this page of the Code of Cher and make a conscious effort to up the level of foresight as well of maturity in all of our collegiate romantic encounters.
Code of Cher. Sounds more like a perfume than a manifesto. But what about "Believe"?
Don’t be the subject of Cher’s song, BE CHER: end the relationship, move on, and don’t let lingering bitterness get in the way of the happiness that you deserve! When Dating in College, Live by the Code of Cher.
Thank you, Sarah Cox. That's actually not bad advice for anybody in the early stages of dating no matter what their age. And I would add that in my experience people will mirror back to you what you project to them. So pick your attitude wisely: gloomy and needy or wise yet fun.
http://buquad.com/2010/03/16/when-dating-in-college-live-by-the-code-of-cher/
Or new to me rather.
R.E.M. vs. Cher – “Losing My Believe”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6kY3o5TjnQ
Cher vs. Alice Deejay – “Better Believe Alone”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_nZ1o-ypo2M
Both are top notch. “Better Believe Alone” actually works like a call and response, one song arguing with the other.
These are actually my favorite of all the “Believe” mashups (so far); but seriously, who do we have to f*%k to get a mashup of “Gypsies Tramps and Thieves?
Cher parties for her 100th Caesars show; Cher Scholar parties for the sake of scholarship.
Yes, I missed a week of blogging and I have no real good excuse. All I can say is that I've been very tired from overtime at work and negotiations and all I've wanted to do was read the novel The Lost Night by Rachel Howard.
However, I did do my Cher duties last Saturday night when I threw a dinner and video-viewing party to gather some material for the next Cher zine. My husband was an amazing sport about the whole thing, helping me cook for 7-8 fans, semi-fans and non-fans, including me. All were tasked with sampling food for the obligatory zine food article and commenting on 27 of 28 Cher videos. I cut the live video "All or Nothing" when guests started getting antsy. Yes, I realize the irony of cutting a song called All or Nothing from a long Cher-video-watching party. But I was facing a mutiny! Sacrifices had to be made for the more artistic "The Music's No Good Without You" and "Song For the Lonely" videos.
John cut his finger cooking, among other sacrifices, but helped me pull it together. Overall it was a trying and tiring party. People crapped out at pretty much at video 16…but we had some interesting discussion as to what makes a legitimate video. Most agreed TV and movie segments do not count, only a promotional film EXCLUSIVELY made to sell a single, not as content for one’s other projects. The food was a hit (with everyone else, not so much with me). My friend made a very delish jello though, as a cross-over project for her blog, Julie and Jello, which is a take-off on the book Julie and Julia.
Anyway, there are some awesome, awesome things coming in the next zine. Notes on the director's screening of Mask, interviews with pop-culture feminists (so awesome), an essay on the Phoenix, Arizona, sites for the movie Chastity,and a new piece on the new Cher dolls that have come out since the last zine.
However, we can still use a bit more content. If anyone has any personal experiences of being a Cher fan that you would like to share, please contact me.
Cher's sweet tooth has spoken.
http://www.jammiesjams.com/index.php/cher-picks-jammies-moonstruck-marmalade/
Cher Picks Jammies “Moonstruck Marmalade”
Cher has spoken, and she’s picked Jammies’ Moonstruck Marmalade as her favorite organic jam.” Jammies Jams taste like fresh fruit in a jar. Of course I am partial to “Moonstruck Marmalade” but they’re all great!”
There's a lot of love for Cher over at Jammies Jams. There's also a non-marmalade Moonstruck jam and 
a "Snap out of it!" jam. Buy your set today.
I have a general question: what’s the difference between jam and jelly and preserves and the nebulous "spread"? Jam has seeds? Anybody? Is it me?
These flavors also look promising:
Can you believe I found a pic of Chaz in front of a step and repeat wall?
Since December, Chaz has been doing some light press. There was a People article I missed from December. You can see this, as well as all things Chaz on his website: http://chazbono.net/press03.html
Recently, he also did some interviews with CNN and Anderson Cooper to help publicize the CNN documentary on transgendering "Her Name Was Steven."
Chaz said:
Starting the hormone therapy was "like going through puberty as a 14-year-old." "Your voice starts to deepen. You start to grow hair. You start to gain muscle mass."
Chaz says he's "so much happier, more confident… My life just feels right now. And there was always some kind of disease within myself before that just doesn't exist anymore."
As for how his family is dealing with the change, Chaz says they've been "pretty good" — though he doesn't speak about his famous mother specifically.
"My family's been pretty supportive," he says. "Everybody kind of comes to different points of understanding at different times…I've been talking about this for years, because this has been something I've been struggling with for years, so it wasn't really a surprise… And everybody's been pretty good. Pretty good."
Read more on the CNN Story:
http://www.starmagazine.com/chaz_bono/news/16617
By the way, Newsbusters is a right-wing news website that claims to "expose liberal bias in the media" similar, I suppose, to Media Matters on the left, a website which calls out conservative lie-making. I find it very interesting that Newsbusters covers gay issues at all, as if accepting gay and transgendered people takes a liberal bias. Which is, by the way, exactly what they believe. Their title is telling "CNN's Cooper Interviews 'Chaz' Bono as Part of Pro-Transgender Publicity." So, CNN is being implicitly criticized for interviewing Chaz "sympathetically."
These site's usage of terminology exemplifies how progressives and conservatives typically use language. Conservatives bust and bash with force. Progressives whine about what matters. I find It frustrating.
Video of the CNN interview: http://x17online.com/celebrities/chaz_bono/chaz_bono_to_anderson_cooper_i_felt_like_one_of_the_guys-03122010.php
It doesn't seem that Chaz is hugely comfortable being a spokesperson yet, although he is confident about his decision. You still see a lot of brow wrinkling in interviews.
Last week was quite a bit challenging for me. The company I work for, ICANN, held a high-profile meeting in Nairobi, Kenya. Terrorists threats were made against the meeting venue, notifications from high levels, many participants backed out, and therefore remote participation (meeting video, audio, transcripts) was in demand unlike for other more typical international meetings. My team coordinates with other IT personnel to make this remote participation work. Long story short, my work day morphed into a schedule that went from 2 am to 10 am.
To keep awake, I played crime shows like Cold Case Files, First 48, Snapped, and The Investigators in the background (hoping to glean fodder for a novel) while I worked. All the murders…oh, the many many pointless and gruesome murders.. and the late nights of solitude drove me slightly bonkers. One night I saw an Investigators episode about LA celebrity-stalker prosecutor Rhonda Saunders who talked about Madonna's nutty stalker among other lesser-known cases. It was truly frightening, a notable quote being: "There's a thin line between a dedicated fan and a stalker." God, help us.
This quote inspired me to forgo visiting Elijah Blue's art show and instead spending my first day off, Friday, at Dog Beach with Franz and the hubby. There's always time for an obsession check, no?
Do one for yourself.
But a Cher-connection-free weekend in LA is slightly improbable.
On Sunday night I was fortunate to have been able to attend the Curb Your Enthusiasm cast panel at PaleyFest 2010. The awesome lineup included pre-teen pals Richard Lewis & Larry David, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Garlin, Susie Essman and Bob Einstein, who plays the always-disgruntled Marty Funkhouser on the show.
Young people may only know Bob Einstein from Curb Your Enthusiasm. Or you may be familiar with the character of his alter ego Super Dave Osbourne going back all the way to the 1970s John Byner Show or the 1980s John Byner show Bizarre.
Or you may know the quirky bit of trivia that Bob Einstein and Albert Brooks are brothers. See them above with their other brother, Clifford. How bizarre is that? They seem at total odds: Funkhouser and Nemo's father Marlin, Super Dave and the comedic schlub of many an 80s movie, including most notably Broadcast News and Lost in America.
Or you may know that Bob Einstein and Steve Martin where the famous writers to come out of The Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour, 
freshly plucked from their historic tenure as writers for The Smothers Brothers.
Again, there's a world of difference between the comedy of not only what came before Sonny & Cher's show, the political and sexual boundary-pushing humor of the Smother Brothers' show, but what comedy came after Sonny & Cher: The Jerk, Super Dave, Let's Get Small and the hilariously vulgar and cynical humor that Bob Einstein displayed Sunday night for the Curb Your Enthusiam panel, jokes that made even the stoic Larry David laugh and Jeff Garlin hoot like an owl. He stole the show from a panel of brilliant comedians discussing today's leading cutting-edge television comedy.
I've been retelling his jokes all day. The guy's still got it.
Who was the popcorn girl at the El Portal in North Hollywood? Well this was news to me when I visited the theater about five years ago to see Stephen Colbert and Amy Sedaris in the reading/play Wigfield, but it was "Cherilyn Sarkisian, now known as Cher."
You can take in a play there and see the tiny concession stand where Cher might have once doled out buttery popcorn and soda pop. Debbie Reynolds is there now: http://www.elportaltheatre.com/elportal.html
More North Hollywood history: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2010/02/walking-tour-north-hollywood-history.html
…and his demo of "Haunted" from his MySpace page: http://www.myspace.com/elijahbluemusic
I guess I like the vocals better from this group over Deadsy. But did I hear him poet-drop Dante in the lyrics?
Heavy like pancakes.
