Inauguration day! Hooray!  I’m sick to death about the endless coverage of this “monumental” , “historic” event!  What’s so historic about it?  The fact that a man’s being celebrated for his skin color?  I mean this reeks of racism.  Why can’t Obama, just like any other man, be sworn in without all the swooning,  fulsome, maniacal and hysterical behavior?  Oh, because he’s a black man!  Way to go onto becoming colorblind America!

If America was really past race and color then this would be just another ordinary event, another ordinary Presidential Inauguration.  But America is NOT past color at all.  This mania is an overcompensation for the racism that’s clearly still there.

Why don’t today’s stars know how to carry stylish clothes with cool demeanor? I mentioned in a previous entry how Hollywood ladies today lack gravitas even when stitched up in Gautier couture. Well, I was flipping through several magazines today and was focused on the sections of stars with their kids. The kids look just as frumpy as their parents: Wearing non-ironed clothes, jeans, raggedy shirts, frumpy hats, ugly shoes.

Ugly! But expensive, mind you. Stars go to great lengths to get the most expensive ugly clothes for their kids. Well, i’ve figured it: Kids, since the Victorian age, have always worn miniature adult clothing. Think of Alice in Wonderland . They wore the baby versions of their parents’ clothes. And really, today the same is happening. Only today, grown-ups don’t wear polished clothes. They go about in jeans, sweats, sneakers. And so do their kids.

Little Suri Cruise is an exception to this trend. Her parents seem to want to create a Victorian enchanted universe for her, where little girls look polished and princessy. And why not? I would do the same! I mean no wonder adult stars have no sense of style and no clue on how to present style when it’s handed to them. They grew up wearing slacks, cotton Ts and other frumpy clothes.

CHIC:

UNCOOL:

I feel for Britney , I really do. Even though she’s a young, hot millionaire mom, I feel she’s still one of the sweetest in the music industry, and someone who got used by a loved one. But, there’s no excuse for the documentary she’s making about her stardom and subsequent spiral to madness. In the trailer below, she says she’s more guarded now and that for a time wanted to shut out the blitz and lead a normal life. Not one year after her admission to a psych-ward, and here she is opening up to the world yet again. And we’re left asking the inevitable: Who are you fooling?

Just saw Beyonce’s ‘Single Ladies‘ video and my initial reaction was “So B. is essentially saying that if you liked my (literal) ass you should’ve put a ring on my finger.” Lovely! The entire video, although displaying great choreography, has Beyonce and her sidekicks point to their derrières, squat suggestively while grinding to the floor, and faux-spanking.  So, Beyonce, what you’re saying is that there’s value in a tight female body that can bump and grind, and only then is it justifiable to demand the guy marry you?

Hooray for female emancipation!

Single Ladies:

]]> http://rottenfruit.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/single-ladies-flaunt-their-ass-ets/feed/ 0 rottenfruit http://rottenfruit.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/slow-economy-dying-club-scene-and-the-revival-of-synth-pop/ http://rottenfruit.wordpress.com/2008/11/24/slow-economy-dying-club-scene-and-the-revival-of-synth-pop/#comments Tue, 25 Nov 2008 00:41:49 +0000 rottenfruit http://rottenfruit.wordpress.com/?p=573 ]]>

If you haven’t noticed yet, American pop music is going through a major change. For the past 18 years, the standard pace has been slow, with an R&B beat underscoring even the most club-like tunes. Not so of late. The pace has picked up. We’re hearing more and more synth and electro tunes.

Britney Spears’ 2008 album, Circus, testifies to the need for faster, club-influenced tracks. But, what of clubs? Now that the energy in music seems destined for a comeback, club life seems destined for the highway. In this economy, hardly anyone but celebrities can afford nights of decadent booths where the champaign flows and go go dancers flaunt their fringed undies.

Where will all this high energy music go? Will the tide be reversed? I am hoping for a final blow to contemporary R&B beats. Perhaps the need to galvanize into action now that we’re left jobless and lost will give the final boot to R&B sluggishness? I am not clairvoyant enough to predict how this will turn out, but I’ve given you all the pieces of the puzzle. Let me know where fast-paced pop is headed.

In a recent talk to US magazine, John Voight proudly claims that his daughter’s virtues are from his side of the family. Specifically, Angelina’s love of children and ideas about family have been influenced by her paternal grandfather. So, essentially, it’s Voight’s side that cultivated such a love for family in this woman, even though Voight himself abandoned his family when Jolie was just a kid.

“I think that comes from my dad. My dad was a great storyteller and just had this way with kids,” said Voight during his 24: Redemption premiere in NYC. Jolie’s virtues are “part of a legacy of my dad … [they both have] this idea about family.”

Got that Angie? All that’s good about you comes from your father, you ingrate! As for your bad side, well, he made it clear years ago that you had psychotic tendencies and never took credit for any of that.

First lady of France, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was on Letterman the other night to promote her new album “Comme Si de Rien N’Etait” (As if Nothing Happened.) She wore a drab gray pant suit and sported lackluster brown hair. Why was Vanity Fair’s September cover girl so frumpy, you ask?. It might have something to do with her trying to distance herself from her past supermodel (and hyper-sexual) glamor days, but she’s gone the other extreme, looking positively matronly.

Yes, this new Carla did not seem like the sexual predator many believe her to be. Polyandry? This woman wrecked Jerry Hall’s marriage to Mick Jagger? These are the kinds of questions Carla wants us all to ask. And I did ask in disbelief, until she started talking in that breathy, come-hither way.

The interview was surprisingly boring with Letterman flustering as usual.

On another note: Why was she on Letterman? When was the last time a French actor or singer went on national US television to promote anything?

Well, this is a very fitting song for the bubble-gum crowd. With lines like “And I like my bluetooth, buttons comin’ loose/I need my hands free/Then I let my mind roam/Playing with my ringtone,” the song is the heralding of a new kind of sex education and a surefire pleaser for parents everywhere. Hey, preteens having phone sex is better than actual sex – this way their minds may get corrupted, and they may even experience a ‘premature world-weariness’ , but at least they’ll be physically healthy and not pregnant! So, yea, do your thing Britney: Educate our lusty 10 year olds about technology and its sexual benefits.

Phonography:

Gotta admit it’s very catchy.

And not one to go against the grain, here’s Beyonce with her version of cybersex

How is NY holding up in these dire economic times? Not good! It was recently announced that the City will cut back on public transportation this year which totally contradicts mayor Bloomberg’s vision of a traffic-free NYC. He wanted pretty much all of us to start using more public transportation in an effort to clear up the smog, the traffic, the congestion. But it seems with the new cut bus routes, shut-down subway lines, less trains and longer waits, green NY is a distant dream.

About 1,500 MTA jobs are being cut to accomplish this. And a word to the wise, start carpooling because during midday and after 11PM, trains and buses will have a frequency of at least 30 minutes. Later on, they disappear all together. Oh, and start preparations for subway cars packed much like they are in Japan: like sardines.

The second i picked up December’s Vanity Fair, I said “Wow, she looks like Catherine Deneuve,” not knowing yet that that was the intended effect of Kate Winslet posing with tousled but stiff blond hair with little more than an unbuttoned white coat on, sitting in that charming way Catherine would.

I’ve always had a special fondness for Kate, especially since she set off on her journey of serious film making. Her unaffected, unassuming and disarmingly soft nature was refreshing to see in an industry reeking of affectation. But alas, my enchantment was not to last long! I have yet to read the full feature in Vanity Fair, but one quote sufficed to bring me back from ‘Pleasantville’: When asked about a possible Oscar win this year, Kate responded with, ” Do i want an Oscar? You bet your fucking ass I do.”

Deneuve image shattered!

Really Kate, there is no need for vulgarity, especially while paying hommage to one of film’s most elegant and fascinating women.