Saturday, March 24, 2007

christina aguilera


christina aguilera
Originally uploaded by seb the web 71.
To MSG last night. Home of boxing, countless Elton John sell-out shows and for one night only home to Durrrrty gurl Xtina.

First up of course is running the gamut of high fructose corn syrup fed mid-westerners, over stimulated, under educated and distracted by the famrmyard utensil sized buckets used to feed them. Squeeze past and you're inside just in time to watch the support's support act The Jizzety Hoes (or some such) do their shouty, short skirted 'thang' with more gusto than elan. After their 'performance' they're presented with a disc commenorating 1m sales - they must have had a very busy fleet week is all that I can say.

Next is the Pussy Cat Dolls. Basically a bunch of don't take it off strippers with a record deal they gyrate, bounce and do their stuff through the hits, whilst Nicki their lead singer, manages to look stunning and sound amazing. Mid-way through the set she drifts off into a semi-Latin stripper bendiction. Good stuff - she just needs to tame the Ki-op verbal tick now.

And then finally Xtina takes the stage. Costume changes galore. All of the hits (and my how many of them sound alike) and a sickly sweet 'you're great' fan video combine to make for a good set. Alas Xtina has terrible diction. She sounds as though she's chewing a baby tiger, all yelps and low growls and the result is best described as 'gutteral'

Not a bad night out (for the money though $10 per ticket 'service charge' is extortionate) but not one that I'd pay to live through again.

Ok, late for the gym and a new machine....

Friday, March 23, 2007

Tonight's the night


Pussycat Dolls (47)
Originally uploaded by Thomas Hawk.
tonight Jude and I are off to see Xtina Aguillerra and The Pussy Cat Dolls....

... who said I didn't know how to show a lady a good time?

Review tomorrow...

Thursday, March 22, 2007

Lots going on today

Lots going on today. My granddad is in hospital following a very minor stroke, Jude may well have a job lined up (fingers crossed and I said nothing) though her body is falling apart post PhD. - nothing major just incident after incident that seem to leave her thinner and more ill. She's doing all of the right things though. My niece was one yesterday, I wish I was closer at times - it would be great to cook for her. I've been working with lots of people whose theories on brain fat composition and child development make sense to me.

Additionally I came across this picture this morning (though not literally you'll be glad to hear, I'll leave that to the Saudi visitors who pop up whenever I mention sex, butts or Lindsay Lohan's drunken escapades with an epilator on the blog) and it reminded me that Booties - the ass lover's version of Hooters - is a very, very good idea.

Oh and Stephanie Edwards went home yesterday - expect a thin voiced Beyonce wannabe walking the lonely roads by the docks of Rhyll any day now

Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Runnning Late


Two as One
Originally uploaded by Sindri Svan.
For some reason the well oiled machine that is my morning routine came off the ralls this morning and I arrived at the office to find it full though humming with silent intent. Everyone is home from the road and catching up with putting what they saw into a format that's useful and so whilst seats are scarse so are decibels. It's a weird feeling actually. No balloon races, no shoe bowls, no women interviewing by teaching Tae Kwan Do or men bringing in hyper obedient dogs who lose control at the first whiff of crotch. It feels like an office. An office with beanbags, purple sofas and rubber chickens to be sure, but an offive non-the-less.

Idol news. The boys sucked again last night. One audience member lost control and sobbed like she was witnessing the Beatles at Shay Stadium. Lekeisha was fat and rubbish and Doolittle remained a talented dwarf.

Actually let's break it down.

Guests Lulu and that tombstone toothed bloke from Herman's Hermits. She tries to outsing every contestant (and does) he's happy to prove that he's still alive and available for the Chicken in a Basket circuit.

We open with Haley Scarnato who does "Tell Him" in wobbly heels and in wobbly voice. She doesn't have the legs for shorts. Especially for hotpants.


Chris Richardson attempts a ballad "Don't let the sun catch you crying" and comes across as a scratchy voiced adanoid patient. It's more horrible than Scarnato's legs. Or Nigel Lithgowe's teeth

Stephanie Edwards should be a young Shirley Bassey. That is a prostitute in Rhyl. Her version of "You don't have to say you love me" sounded like Mary J Blige having her larynx sanded. Worse than the thought of Scarnato in a g-string.

Blake Lewis likes to beatbox. Like hightower in the Polce academy movies. Only 25 years later. And less tunefully. "Time of the Season" comes across like a YouTube back bedroom performance. The audience lap it up like cats at a leaky udder.

Lakisha Jones did "Diamonds are Forever" against Lulu's advice. She claimed to be wearing a million dollar's worth of diamonds. They were barely noticable stretched around her vastness. It was okay. Lulu had been right.

Phil Stacey sounded pretty good when he sang "Tobacco Road' to the Hermit guy and appalling when he screamed it over the band. He's going home tonight.

Jordin Sparks sang " I (who have nothing)" - quite beautifully. She's good. Real good.

Sanjaya Malakar made one little girl sob when he hammed his way through " You really got me going"... between the tears and snot was a spirited performance. Bless him.

Gina Glocksen is like your mouthy cousin. She's the coolest girl at the mall but has all the authenticity of a Ryan Seacrest smile. Her version of "Paint it Black" was supposed to be satanic - shame it was just bad.

Chris Sligh started "She's not there" by walking through the audience without once looking at any of them. He's a fat fool who's getting by on being self knowing... I liked "Fro Patrol", increasingly I dislike him and his variations on the mediocre.

Melinda Doolittle - does america need or want a hunchback Gladys Knight? We shall see. She's great but looks (literally) like a car crash and that may be unforgivable.

Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Statue of Priapus

Always seems to make student groups giggle for some reason... I've not posted today - too busy checking out chocolate stores, drinkling suggestive lattes and taking slices off the boss's chocolate breasts (nobody touched the oh too realistic nipple)

Have a presentation to finish up in the morning and then a day or two of clear space during which I intend to enjoy the clear skies and warm weather.

What are y'all up to?

Monday, March 19, 2007

a Jude not a Nude


sunshineface
Originally uploaded by stevenjude.
yesterday the light started to strea in burnt, orange, harsh and just smelling of portrait and so JUde gamely leapt into America's Next Top Supermodel pose mode and 'gave it fierce face'... got a few pics out of it before the sun disappeared behind a building and left us in darkness. I think that this is my favorite, though I'd be hard pushed to say why. Perhaps because it looks very heavily treated when in fact I pushed very little or perhaps because it achieves both gingerness and hotness (something about 4 people in the world have managed this decade - I think I know them all)

Anyway today will be spent framing positioning areas in a way that allows anyone to have ideas off of them. It's something I enjoy - framing the essence of an idea. Party philosophy, part common sense, part stand up comedy, part exercise in linguistic semantics. I once spent 3 months on a project and ended up changing the article from definate to indefinate... it worked as well.

Off to work with me I think

Sunday, March 18, 2007

Avoiding work


The Beach
Originally uploaded by Protection Island.
I promised to help out some old friends this weekend - by looking at something that they'd written and making a few changes here and there. Turns out I'm rewriting everything - or I would be if I could just settle down in front of the computer and actually do it.

Why is starting work on something so hard for me these days? Time was that a looming deadline was all that I needed to scare me into frantic typing mode. These days I sit back and enjoy the whoosing sound that those deadlines make as they whizz past.

In a bid to avoid the whole thing I'm carrying Jude off into the city to look at murderously expensive jewelry (she's after an "I've graduated" Right Hand Ring) and wondering whether I could extend the shopping trip to some local galleries that I love. What could be more civilized?

Okay 1 hr of work and then into town. Here we go