Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Looks like Andy, in the end, felt pretty much the same as most people about New Year's: The next day one wonders why one went out and stayed up all night. As he says, "it was stupid to stay out." I really think that people should play Public Enemy's "Don't Believe the Hype" right after Auld Lang Syne. Come to think of it... I may have done it a couple of times back in the day when I spun for hire.

This is what it be like. Check the flo'(back to back--white to black):

Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne ?

CHORUS:
For auld lang syne, my dear,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stoup !
And surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll take a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pou’d the gowans fine ;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin’ auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn,
frae morning sun till dine ;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
sin’ auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
And gies a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right gude-willie-waught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And then we be ready to groove:

Don't Believe the Hype

Back
Caught you lookin' for the same thing
It's a new thing - check out this I bring
Uh Oh the roll below the level
'Cause I'm livin' low next to the bass, C'mon
Turn up the radio
They claim that I'm a criminal
By now I wonder how
Some people never know
The enemy could be their friend, guardian
I'm not a hooligan
I rock the party and
Clear all the madness, I'm not a racist
Preach to teach to all
'Cause some they never had this
Number one, not born to run
About the gun...
I wasn't licensed to have one
The minute they see me, fear me
I'm the epitome - a public enemy
Used, abused without clues
I refused to blow a fuse
They even had it on the news
Don't believe the hype...

Yes
Was the start of my last jam
So here it is again, another def jam
But since I gave you all a little something
That we knew you lacked
They still consider me a new jack
All the critics you can hang'em
I'll hold the rope
But they hope to the pope
And pray it ain't dope
The follower of Farrakhan
Don't tell me that you understand
Until you hear the man
The book of the new school rap game
Writers treat me like Coltrane, insane
Yes to them, but to me I'm a different kind
We're brothers of the same mind, unblind
Caught in the middle and
Not surrenderin'
I don't rhyme for the sake of of riddlin'
Some claim that I'm a smuggler
Some say I never heard of 'ya
A rap burgler, false media
We don't need it do we?
It's fake that's what it be to 'ya, dig me?
Don't believe the hype...

Don't believe the hype - its a sequel
As an equal, can I get this through to you
My 98's boomin' with a trunk of funk
All the jealous punks can't stop the dunk
Comin' from the school of hard knocks
Some perpetrate, they drink Clorox
Attack the black, cause I know they lack exact
The cold facts, and still they try to Xerox
Leader of the new school, uncool
Never played the fool, just made the rules
Remember there's a need to get alarmed
Again I said I was a timebomb
In the daytime the radio's scared of me
'Cause I'm mad, plus I'm the enemy
They can't c'mon and play with me in primetime
'Cause I know the time, plus I'm gettin' mine
I get on the mix late in the night
They know I'm livin' right, so here go the mike, sike
Before I let it go, don't rush my show
You try to reach and grab and get elbowed
Word to herb, yo if you can't swing this
Just a little bit of the taste of the bass for you
As you get up and dance at the LQ
When some deny it, defy if I swing bolos
Then they clear the lane I go solo
The meaning of all of that
Some media is the whack
You believe it's true, it blows me through the roof
Suckers, liars get me a shovel
Some writers I know are damn devils
For them I say don't believe the hype
Yo Chuck, they must be on a pipe, right?
Their pens and pads I'll snatch
'Cause I've had it
I'm not an addict fiendin' for static
I'll see their tape recoreder and grab it
No, you can't have it back silly rabbit
I'm going' to my media assassin
Harry Allen, I gotta ask him
Yo Harry, you're a writer, are we that type?
Don't believe the hype
I got flavor and all those things you know
Yeah boy, part two bum rush and show
Yo Griff, get the green black red and
Gold down countdown to Armageddon
-88 you wait the S1Ws will
Rock the hard jams - treat it like a seminar
Teach the bourgeoise, and rock the boulevard
Some sau I'm negative
But they're not positive
But what I got to give...
The media says this

By now, if you've followed all the postings in Diary of a Star, you will have realized that Andy for the most part likes quiet Christmases. And looking for more info on his tendencies, I found this article, which obviously should be read with a grain of salt (or two):


Andy Warhol's Secret
The Osgood File (CBS Radio Network): 11/6/01

An art historian reveals the secret religious life of Pop-Art phenomenon Andy Warhol.

Andy Warhol is remembered for his Pop Art silk screens of Jackie O., Marilyn Monroe, Campbell soup cans and his avant-garde, celebrity-studded lifestyle. But few know that Warhol was a devout Catholic who attended Mass several times a week and prayed daily with his mother. Recently, Art History Professor Jane Daggett Dillenberger, of the Graduate Theological Union of Berkeley, discovered more than 100 Warhol drawings and paintings based on Leonardo da Vinci's "Last Supper". She has taken her findings and written The Religious Works of Andy Warhol, recently published in paperback.

Andy Warhol created brightly colored, multiple images of Campbell Soup cans, Coca-Cola bottles and portraits of such celebrities as Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Jackie O. and Mick Jagger. He's also remembered as an outrageous art world figure. Creating silk screens of pop culture items and celebrities, such as Coca-Cola and Elvis Presley, Andy Warhol was as an outrageous art world figure. He was openly gay, wore silver fright wigs and started "The Factory" in the 1960s, a drug-addled celebrity hangout for denizens of New York's art underground. Dillenberger, who is 85 years old, admits that she is an old-fashioned, traditional art history professor. In fact, she specializes in Christian art with an emphasis on the Renaissance period and Rembrandt. But since Dillenberger first spotted a large, unfinished painting of Jesus and two apostles in an old Warhol studio photograph, she says she has become "a missionary in regard to Warhol."

Dillenberger immediately realized the wall-sized, unfinished painting of Jesus, John and James was based on Leonardo da Vinci's famous Last Supper painting. "I knew at once that Warhol must have done other such paintings. What were they like, and where were they? Warhol, the pop artist, the creator of religious art? How extraordinary!" says Dillenberger. Over a number of years, Dillenberger combed through collections in galleries and private homes in the US and Europe, looked up records at the Warhol Foundation and consulted with the late artist's family. Eventually, she found over 100 of the Last Supper paintings. In the process, Dillenberger also discovered that Warhol regularly helped to feed the homeless at his church and even had a private audience with Pope John Paul II in 1980.

The Last Supper paintings are of various sizes and media. All are based on Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper and feature the images of Christ and the two apostles on saturated backgrounds of pink, red, yellow and other colors. Some measure nearly 30 feet wide and are silk-screened while others are hand-painted. During the last decade of his life, Warhol created hundreds of paintings with very clear religious themes, including works depicting crosses, brightly colored Easter eggs and others with large praying hands. But according to Dr. Dillenberger, the Last Supper series was Andy Warhol's last will and testament. She adds, "Warhol's contribution was so important. He was incredibly prolific. The number of works he created is beyond imagination. He created the biggest series of religious works of any American artist."

I'm not sure why I want to talk about Bernadette Peters. The first thing I thought when I saw pictures of her online was that she does not really let her tits hang out like Andy claimed: "And then Bernadette Peters was there with her tits hanging out of her dress[...]" but then again, he saw her in person; I've only seen her on TV and online. She does take advantage of cleavage for sure. And her website is so cheesy. That music just ain't workin'. Last time I saw her it was in an episode of Will and Grace, but I can't recall her role at the time.

And since we're talking about cleavage, Here's a woman I love with lots of cleavage (and did I mention brains?): Tina Fey. As far as I'm concerned she can kick any man's ass--including mine. I'm sure she, like Berandette, would also say at a party, when being ask if she needs a ride:"No, thanks, darling. I have my own car."

I always wondered about how Miss Olympia was viewed by feminist theorists. Here are some snippets I found, note how gender and race play a role...

From an academic paper titled "A Woman In a Man's World," by Trisha Gould,

The cultural barrier can be overcome more easily for some people. Race has always played a role in sport, but it was felt that African-American women were believed to be more suitable for a non-traditional sport than a white women would be. The American public didn�t have as much of a problem allowing African-American women participate in these sports, they had been historically know for being extremely strong and capable individuals. In African-American communities, women worked just as hard as the men did, so the men didn�t have a problem with their wives and daughters pursuing a future in sport. Their female athletes were supported to the fullest by the YWCA�s, high schools, and community centers to the fullest extent and given the same treatment the men were. For example, in basketball many black women�s teams played by men�s rules.

And how can we leave Foucault out of this? Here's an excerpt from the book Out of Bounds: Sports, Media and the Politics of Identity
By Aaron Baker:

Given the Tensions within the film and within society, the judges' choice of Carla as Miss Olympia can be seen, in Foucauldian terms, as a response by the power apparatus to an urgent nedd in society.

Just love that power apparatus thing. Love the sound of that!

As to The New York Post's Page Six--that infamous Gossip column, it is interesting to know that The Post sued a blogger for launching a gossip blog titled "page sixsixsix." The blogger had to rename it... Perezhilton.com And now, he's got a very very successful blog, which makes page Six try to keep up.

Here's the deal on the lawsuit (no point in gossiping about that!):

Meanwhile, Page Six Sues Page SixSixSix

p666.jpgSince you can't actually read Page Six just yet, we find the following particularly pertinent:

NYP Holdings Inc. v. Mario Lavandeira
5/2/2005 05 CV-4305
Trademark infringement and unfair competition arising from defendant's unlawful use of plaintiff's trademark "Page Six." Plaintiff claims that defendant registered and operates the domain name "www.pagesixsixsix.com" for a gossip website which directly competes with plaintiff's "Page Six" gossip column.

Given our suspicions about Mario's PageSixSixSix connection to Star, we have to wonder if this might result in some sort of Richard Johnson/Bonnie Fuller mud-wrestling match. One can only hope.

After the jump, we've got the docket in all its sexy glory.

Southern District of New York (Foley Square)
CIVIL DOCKET FOR CASE #: 1:05-cv-04305-RJH

NYP Holdings, Inc. v. LaVandeira
Assigned to: Richard J. Holwell
Cause: 15:1114 Trademark Infringement
Date Filed: 05/02/2005
Jury Demand: None
Nature of Suit: 840 Trademark
Jurisdiction: Federal Question

Plaintiff
NYP Holdings, Inc.
represented by Dale Margaret Cendali
O'Melveny & Myers LLP
Seven Times Square
New York, NY 10036
LEAD ATTORNEY
ATTORNEY TO BE NOTICED

V.
Defendant
Mario LaVandeira

Date Filed

# Docket Text
05/02/2005
1 COMPLAINT against Mario LaVandeira. (Filing Fee $ 250.00, Receipt Number 542129)
Document filed by NYP Holdings, Inc..(jbe, ) (Entered: 05/03/2005)

05/02/2005
Case Designated ECF. (jbe, ) (Entered: 05/03/2005)

05/02/2005
Magistrate Judge Andrew J. Peck is so designated. (jbe, ) (Entered: 05/03/2005)

05/02/2005
SUMMONS ISSUED as to Mario LaVandeira. (jbe, ) (Entered: 05/03/2005)

05/02/2005
2 RULE 7.1 DISCLOSURE STATEMENT. Document filed by NYP Holdings, Inc..(jbe, ) (Entered: 05/03/2005)

And now Andy says that Victor is paranoid... I believe he may be referring to Victor Hugo. Not to keep running with Andy's paranoia, but it's interesting that he is able to notice it in others. Based on the account, however, Victor sounded a bit off that day. Or maybe he was just another New Yorker having a bad day? So much for stereotypes, I can see some NYers reading this post with distaste.

Andy mentioned the Cars video that was shot in his studio. What's cool today is that the video is available in Youtube. And he's right, it looks really good:
Hello Again, by the Cars. Lots of nipples in the video though. I cant' remember how MTV dealt with that. If I remember correctly, they played it late at night, along with Michael Jackson's Thriller (even three years after Michael's video was released).

Hmmm... After reading many diary entries by Andy, I'm beginning to think that he was a bit paranoid. It might be understandable after having been shot by Valerie Solanis, but that was sometime before 1986. Then again, getting shot is probably hard to get over. But he definitely sounds paranoid when he talks about his own dinner party being cancelled and then running into the people who are supposed to attend his dinner in another place. And I'm not sure why Fred would lie to Andy about the dinner. Then again, the diary only offers limited insight into Andy's life.

When I did a search on Andy and Paranoia, all I got were hits about Solanis and the shooting incident. This one, from the webiste From Revolution to Reconstruction, comments on Andy's psyche after the shooting, as well as Andy's relationship to the Velvet Underground:

By the spring of 67 the Velvets were outgrowing their association with Warhol. The EPI had become a means to avoid working on new songs and, despite the Warhol connection, the album was selling poorly. The art connection also meant that the Velvets were failing to reach a rock & roll audience. After the album was released the Velvets played some shows on the west coast, but the reviews were not good. The Velvet were called an amphetamine band, which had no good reputation outside New York. The flower children in San Francisco saw the Velvets as the destroyers of the innocence in the music that was going on there. They were the urban and corrupt evil from New York that would destroy the beauty in the Californian music. The Velvet Underground got tired of working with Nico on stage and Reed felt that Warhol had now made his grand rock`n`roll gesture. The Velvet Underground decided to stop working with both Nico and Andy Warhol. Nico started a solo career. Andy Warhol got shot right after the Velvets split with him, but survived. This episode changed his life so much, and he started to get even more paranoid than before. The Velvet Underground went on tour and planned their second album which they would call White Light/Big City.

As to Andy's claims that Larry Gagosian was weird...

In the Fray—Artless Dodgers: Everyone Pays for Dealers' Tax Scams
By Andre Emmerich

New York—Scandals sell newspapers. So do the doings of the rich. As for art, many are baffled by it, and most especially so when it becomes very expensive. Hans Christian Andersen's fable about the emperor who wears no clothes is still widely believed to apply to much of what is known as "the art world." When you add to this heady brew accusations of wrongdoing, it becomes the irresistible stuff of rumor, gossip and juicy copy. It also draws the attention of prosecutors, who are always interested in cases that have the potential of career-building headlines.

That is one set of reasons why the current sales-tax scandals involving millionaire collectors shipping empty crates to out-of-state addresses have gotten and will continue to get public attention beyond their actual merits. Earlier this month, ImClone Systems Inc. founder Samuel Waksal pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy in connection with evading tax on $15 million of contemporary art he had purchased from Manhattan dealer Larry Gagosian. Ex-Tyco International Ltd. CEO L. Dennis Kozlowski was indicted on a similar charge last year.

And last week it was reported that the government is suing Mr. Gagosian and a group of investors in federal court in New York for $26.5 million, accusing them of trading artworks through a holding company set up to avoid paying sales taxes. Just as the exposure of price fixing by Christie's and Sotheby's drew media attention far beyond its financial importance, so these events are receiving and will continue to receive intense public attention. Had either the auction houses or Mr. Gagosian dealt in plumbing supplies rather than art, their stories might never have made it to the 6 o'clock news.

To be sure, the art world has its share of dubious characters with questionable ethics. Almost 30 years ago Frank Lloyd, owner of the Marlborough Gallery, which handled the estate of Abstract Expressionist painter Mark Rothko, was convicted of enriching himself at the expense of Rothko's heirs.

One should also keep in mind that Andy just had his partner Jon Gould die of AIDS, and then Martin Burgoyne's fight against AIDS was ever present at this time.

So... I googled for "French Intellectualism" and this is the first hit I got from the Jerusalem Center of Public Affairs:

Fifty Years of French Intellectual Bias against Israel
An Interview with Simon Epstein

In recent years France has stood out negatively, not only because of its many violent assaults on Jews and their institutions but also due to the often anti-Semitic intellectual and media attacks on Israel. Simon Epstein, researcher at the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of anti-Semitism at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, points out that the origins of French intellectual anti-Israelism date back almost to the creation of the Jewish state. To gain a perspective on present problems, one must have a better understanding of its historical development.

I was actually looking for the "lifestyle" of the French intellectual. so I performed another search, and I still got the same website quoted above at the top of the first page, followed by another from the blog The Key Monk:

But, finally, the most important reason American leftists love France is that French elites say bad things about America. French intellectuals call us racist, stupid, imperialistic, simplistic, etc. — and that alone is proof of their intellectualism. So long as you call America "racist," you could add that an enema is as good as a toothbrush and some professor of "communications theory" would applaud.

And you gotta love the Guardian, here's their scoop on French Intellectualism:

Orwell's stance reveals the discomfort that French intellectualism has traditionally provoked this side of the Channel. On the one hand he is dismissive of the obfuscation, on the other slightly intimidated by the possibility that, underneath all the Gallic verbosity, there might just be something to it. Ideas make the British nervous, while in contrast the French appear all too ready to promote them beyond the niggling restraints of reality. There is a story, which may not be apocryphal, that during a high-level meeting between American and French civil servants, the French responded to an American initiative by saying: 'We can see that it works in practice. But will it work in theory?'

If anything, French Intellectualism may not be as "glamorous" today, as Andy made it out to back in 1986. Or it may be that Google has chosen to expose certain aspects of French Intellectuals over others. How's that for a "democratic" algorithm that they dare not share with the open source community?