Got The Bossypants

I just finished Tina Fey’s fun memoir, anecdote collection Bossypants. If you’re watching 30 Rock, you’re definitly going to be reminded of Liz Lemon in some parts. One of the best chapters is “Amazing, Gorgeous, Not Like That” in which Tina goes on about photo shoots for magazines and Photoshop:

“Do I think Photoshop is being used excessively? Yes. I saw Madonna’s Louis Vuitton ad and honestly, at first glance, I thought it was Gwen Stefani’s baby.
Do I worry about overly retouched photos giving women unrealistic expectations and body image issues? I do. I think that we will soon see a rise in anorexia in women over seventy. Because only people over seventy are fooled by Photoshop.”
(…)
“Why can’t we accept the human form as it is?” screams no one. I don’t know why, but we never have. That’s why people wore corsets and neck stretchers and powdered wigs.
If you’re going to expend energy being mad about Photoshop, you’ll also have to be mad about earrings. No one’s ears are that sparkly! They shouldn’t have to be!

Me Loves Bücherstapel

Above is a photo of a page from Place Space, the magazine featuring John Waters at home. So, of course, this is showing one of his many book piles.

And what can we see CLEARLY in the pile to the right? John Waters has a copy of Ausserirdische Zwitterwesen / Alien Hybrid Creatures, the book by die Professorin Michael Krebber.

Below is my personal re-visualisation of the book pile for your viewing pleasure.

Well done.

At Home with John Waters

In the newest issue of Place Space, designer Todd Oldham fotographs John Waters at home. The book comes wrapped in a custom designed poster as well as tear out postcards featuring books from Water”™s shelves such as “œSex on Horseback” and “œGay John”. Also included are essays by Todd Oldham and Cindy Sherman.

More pictures & info at Ammo Books (via).

I just placed my order.

21 Nights

When I attended a couple of Prince concerts last year, I was hoping for a live album. Especially of the aftershows that took place at a smaller venue at the O2 Arena in London. And in October, a little bit over a year later, this is what’s happening.

Prince and photographer Randee St. Nicolas are releasing 21 Nights, a book of photographs spanning his London residency, including poetry, lyrics and “Indigo Night,” a CD–available only with the book–capturing Prince’s live after-show sessions.

Update: Tracklist of the CD
Pictures: Housequake (click for additional pictures)

Candy Darling

Below are a few quotes from the book Candy Darling by Candy Darling, published 1992 through Hanuman. During the course of a day Candy committed her thoughts to a soft-covered notebook writing about things such as recipes, drafts of letters, makeup tips, addresses, etc. Then, there are pages of speculation; words meant to be used as a rebuke or compliment, dialogue to be stored away for future use – perhaps for a play she was writing, jokes:

All I could concentrate on for the rest of the morning was the grunting and groaning and the sounds ofthe bed creaking. Gil left around 9 a.m. I was still too stunned to sleep, being persecuted to capacity. As Mr. Right was going out of the door he saw that I was not asleep and said goodbye. His face seemed to be saying to me it’s really you I love mentally it was all you. But then I am not mentally well.

I know it hasn’t all been beer & pretzels for you either.

I see the day coming when the words femme and butch will be more commonly used. I mean to be used for heterosexuals not just for gay or bisexuals. Think of the intersting types.
Female-Heterosexual-type- Basic butch with femme overtones. the drag type
Raq. W. / J. Craw. / Jane Russell
Basic femme – Butch overtones Greta Garbo
Basic femme – femme overtones M.M. L.T.

When a woman wears the same dress twice
Then she doesn’t feel chic.
And when she doesn’t feel chic
She feels insecure
Then she can’t sleep at
night then she suffers from
nervous exhaustion then
that could lead to a
nervous breakdown.

The only law she never broke is the law of gravity.

The only security is health and the ability to adjust in life.

Dear Kathy
First of all please forgive me for not answering sooner. I’ve been so involved with my own identity, which has been so vague, and social commitments, basic living procedures and affairs of the heart that for a while I ceased to exist. Except for other people. (…)

Party Nuts! Balls!

While I was rolling through the cooking alley of a bookstore, I discovered these gems.
Party Nuts! Balls! Buy me this – buy me that!
And I will fill the balls with party nuts. Yummy.

Over 100 Ball-istic Recipes!

The Kindness Of a Stranger

John Waters on Tennesse Williams.
(New York Times articles are only free for a limited time, so check it out now.)

Taken from John’s introduction to “Memoirs”, the re-released autobiography by Tennessee Williams. I ordered my copy already.

Earlier:
The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore

Courtney’s Diaries

I bought Dirty Blonde, The Diaries of Courtney Love, on Saturday. It seems like it got an early release in Canada, it is supposed to come out in the US on the 31st.

At first, I was a bit disappointed because it is not very kiss-and-tell but then Courtney’s story drew me in: angry, eager, tragic, sad and on the other hand, for short periods, very sparkling. Like an emotional roller coaster ride.

Anyway, here is one of my favourite parts, an e-mail exchange between Courtney and Lindsay Lohan. I think I could get celebrity email addicted.

Click to enlarge.

(VF = Vanity Fair. A 1992 article in Vanity Fair entitled “Strange Love”, in which it was alleged that Courtney had continued using heroin in the early stages of pregnancy. As a result, Child Welfare Services briefly investigated the Cobains’ fitness as parents, removing Frances Bean from their custody for a short period. Love claims to this day that she was misquoted, saying she had told author Lynn Hirschberg that she had stopped using it once she learned she was pregnant. (source))

Dirty Blonde

I can’t wait to get my hands on Courtney Love’s Diary. According to amazon.com it is scheduled for October 31. This is going to be my new bedtime reading.

For all things Courtney, be sure to check moonwashedrose.com. They have news on her next album, which is produced by Linda Perry and should be out before the end of the year. First single is “Letter To God” with a video to be shot by Brett Ratner. Of course, we all know him for his work on the Mariah videos Heartbreaker, It’s Like That and We Belong Together (amongst others).

More pictures of Dirty Blonde.(Thanks h.)

Ikh bin aine dreg kween

I’ve been to my local bookstore today to buy a Japanese phrasebook. Out of curiosity I browsed through the German phrasebook. Now, this book makes it easy for drag queens to visit Germany and introduce themselves properly.

Fantastic. Out of control! Drag queens are the top profession. I just knew it.

Page 93, occupations & studies