Moro med Insomnia Blogg

Paloma Faith
Singer

Northern School of Contemporary Dance, Central St Martins College of Art and Design

Scenekunst; scenografi

Jeg er fra Hackney, og mamma var ubøyelig på at jeg skulle forlate London for et par år, og lære å bli selvstendige, så jeg var veldig spennende å få en plass på Northern School, særlig fordi bare 50 personer ble akseptert ut av 2000 søkere , så vi alle følte virkelig spesiell.

Det var ikke den normale studenten livsstil. Vi gikk i en klasse hele dagen, fem dager i uken, og fordi det handler om din personlige trening, kan du ikke har en fridag. Da jeg jobbet som danser en kveld i uken og i en pub tre kvelder i uken, så jeg tilbrakte de fleste av mine studentlivet oppbrukt. Som dansere vi ikke hadde det sprit ting - vi skulle opp på 7am å gå på korset-trener før klassen. Jeg tror ikke jeg kunne ha festet så vel, jeg ville ha hatt et nervøst sammenbrudd.

Vi bodde alle i delte leiligheter. Som folk flest, var jeg også helt ute av stand til å ta vare på meg selv i det første året. Jeg husker våkne opp en dag med konjunktivitt og bare ligge i sengen min ropte "Jeg er blind! Jeg er blind! "Omsider min flatmates kom inn og tok meg til sykehus, heldigvis.

Jeg var ikke så bekymret for å få venner - Jeg har nettopp blitt venner med de andre weirdos. Jeg er ganske omgjengelig, men jeg har alltid vært tiltrukket av utenforstående. Russella av drag queen var på kurset mitt og vi er fremdeles venner.

Men jeg hadde ikke en fantastisk tid på kurset mitt, hvis jeg er ærlig. Faglig, var det ikke det jeg hadde forventet. Jeg fant det ganske restriktiv og narsissistiske fordi du brukte hele dagen i rom fulle av speil fokus på feil - Jeg var prpretty merkelig albumed og stakk mye, men jeg hadde ikke mye tid til å dyrke meg eller min egen kreativitet.

Jeg ønsket å stoppe og gjøre noe annet, men jeg følte jeg trengte å bevise for alle at jeg kunne gjøre det. Jeg er sta som faen. Som synes latterlig nå, men faktisk det lærte meg hva jeg var i stand til.

Da jeg ble uteksaminert, visste jeg at jeg måtte få en ny sjanse til utdanning. Å gjøre en MA på St Martins var det beste. Det åpnet mitt sinn til så mange ting. Kurset var fullt av folk fra ulike disipliner som alle var interessert i ytelse, så jeg jobbet med skuespillere, arkitekter, regissører og designere fra hele verden, som ble massivt inspirerende. Det åpnet en verden av bøker, teater og film, og jeg fikk til å tilbringe hele året tenker om den menneskelige tilstand, og kom ut følelsen jeg hadde noe å si.

Ser tilbake på det, jeg vet ikke om jeg skulle ha byttet fra dans eller ikke. Hvis du er misfornøyd på kurset ditt det er så mange andre fantastiske ting du kan gjøre. Men på den annen side har jeg ikke tro på å gi opp, og jeg føler meg danse grad lærte meg ting som utøver. Jeg føler meg virkelig trygg på scenen, og jeg vet hva som former kroppen min er å lage - og alt som kommer fra dansetrening.

Topp tips: Du må gi ting tid. Min mamma pleide å si at du må gå på fem datoer med noen fordi du ikke kan fortelle om du liker dem etter ett, og det er sant om universitetet.

Paloma Faith's nye album, «Do You Want the Truth eller Something Beautiful?" Er ute nå. Hun turer i Storbritannia i oktober og november.

Dr Christian Jessen
Lege og programleder i pinlige Bodies

UCL 1996 - 2001

Medisin, Pass

Jeg var ganske redd på min første dag. Vi hadde en innledende forelesning, som handlet om hvordan vi ble nødt til å jobbe hardt - ikke noe press der - og da den eldre medisinske studenter spilt mange triks, blant annet fortelle oss at vi var nødt til å drikke urin.

Jeg bodde i haller rett under BT Tower (i London) i mitt første år, noe som betydde jeg aldri fikk tapt. Jeg var i samme blokk som en gruppe med gutter som var i et band. Vi pleide å bli virkelig irritert fordi de var alltid i korridoren spiller sine gitarer. Om jeg bare hadde visst at de skulle gå videre til å være Coldplay!

Jeg nøt min selvfølgelig, men jeg var veldig slem - Jeg hadde egentlig ikke gå på forelesninger. Faktisk brukte jeg til å gå dager uten å gå til forelesninger, dels fordi jeg fikk langt mer ut av å lese en bok. Jeg gjorde også mange av ikke-Medic ting - jeg var i UCL orkesteret, og i mange skuespill.

Jeg tror studerer medisin er ekstra skummelt. Det er en så stor satsing, og du vet innerst inne det blir vanskelig å gå hvis det ikke hva du vil gjøre. Og faktisk, det du lærer er ofte ganske opprivende - så snart du kommer, får du din første kroppen å skjære opp, og du begynne å lære om hvordan å fortelle pasientene at de er døende.

Topp tips: Dette kommer til å høres litt nerdete - men så er jeg en lege. Det er en forferdelig mye press å drikke masse og ha masse sex, men å lære å si "nei" er en veldig viktig del av skoleåret.

Kan jeg bare spør? av Dr Christian Jessen (Hay House, £ 12.99) vil bli publisert den 1. november.

Jessica Ennis
Heptathlete

Sheffield, 2004 - 2007

Psykologi, 2,2

Jeg dro til universitetet i hjembyen min, slik at jeg kunne fortsette utdanningen min uten å risikere min trening. Friidrett var min viktigste prioritet, men jeg tror min trener var engstelig, å vite hva elevene kan like! Men mine foreldre var veldig glad jeg hadde funnet en måte å kombinere begge.

Selv om jeg bodde i Sheffield, jeg fortsatt ønsket å forlate hjemmet. Jeg fant ut at å bo i haller ville bli for mye av en distraksjon, så jeg bodde i et hus med to venner fra friidrett. Jeg tror jeg sannsynligvis hadde en helt annen skoleåret fra folk flest - Jeg hadde ikke tilbringe hele uken å gå ut og drikke seg full fordi jeg fremdeles måtte stå opp å gå trening. Men jeg hadde gledet meg ganske mye i løpet av videregående, så på en måte følte jeg at jeg hadde allerede gjort det. Og selv om jeg ikke gikk ut hver kveld det var veldig lett å møte folk på min selvsagt, som var stor.

Jeg var nok mye mer organisert og disiplinert om min timeplan enn gjennomsnittet student, men det verste bit for meg var å gjøre presentasjoner. Jeg blir nervøs når jeg konkurrerer, men stå foran et rom med folk til å levere en tale var mye mer skremmende.

Jeg nøt psykologi og i en ideell verden ville det vært fint å ha hatt mer tid til å konsentrere seg om studiene mine som jeg definitivt måtte gjøre offer, manglende forelesninger og frister for å konkurrere. Men det var virkelig hyggelig å gjøre noe annerledes og ikke være fokusert på sport hele tiden. Og da jeg hadde eksamen, kunne jeg bryte den opp ved å gå trening.

Topp tips: Få deg et kart. Sheffield er mitt hjemsted, og jeg fortsatt har tapt!

Jessica Ennis er verden og europeisk mester og verdensrekordholder sjukamp innendørs femkamp mester

Katie Derham
Broadcaster

Cambridge 1988 - 1991

Økonomi, 2.2

Det mest vesentlige ting om skoleåret ved Magdalene College i 1988 var første året kvinnene ble tatt opp til Magdalene College - det var den siste av de høgskolene å gå blandet. Jeg hadde gått opp en uke tidlig å gjøre en audition, men det betydde at for de første fem dagene jeg var den eneste jenta der. Jeg hadde en fast strøm av folk som banker på døren annonsere at de hadde «kommet for å se Magdalene jente"!

Jeg visste ikke at økonomi ville være så matte-basert - Jeg ble sjokkert over hvor mange forelesere snakket i grafer i stedet for setninger. Men jeg gjorde virkelig liker min grad. Jeg syntes selvdisiplin utfordrende (du trenger ikke gå til forelesninger ... og så realisere på eksamen tiden at de kunne ha vært ganske nyttig), og de enorme pensumlister, men jeg lærte raskt å bare lese det jeg trengte.

Jeg hadde ikke oppfyller alle mine nærmeste venner umiddelbart. Jeg kastet meg inn i nok altfor mye, derav 2.2. Jeg ble involvert i komiteer og Lyset Underholdning Society, og gjorde college sang og masse sport. Jeg gjorde ikke skinne på noe, men jeg hadde en gå på alt.

Topp tips: Sørg for at kjeks tinn er full - når du gjør møter yvour nye beste venner eller drømmemann du kan si: "Kom tilbake til min plass til kaffen - jeg har kjeks!"

Katie Derham vil presentere live fra Proms for BBC2 og Radio3

Huw Williams
Vokalist, Melodica, Melody og Me

Leeds, 2006 - 2009

Filosofi og historie vitenskapsteori, 2.1

Jeg kom til min haller ganske sent på den første dagen, så det var veldig manisk, med alle klart veldig nervøs og massevis av mennesker allerede kamerat med hverandre. Du har den samme samtalen om og om igjen, sier hvor du er fra, og hva faget du gjør.

Min brors råd var "Gå til hva som skjer, og du møter andre mennesker som ikke liker det også!". Så på min første kvelden gikk jeg til en klubb kveld ringte jeg Love Sex. Da jeg kom dit, fant jeg at jeg var den eneste som står i hjørnet ikke nyter det. Det tok meg en god noen måneder å finne folk jeg likte. I ettertid, hvis jeg hadde blitt med samfunn, ville jeg ha funnet likesinnede mye raskere.

Musikk var en stor del av tiden min. Vi startet bandet på skolen, men alle gikk til forskjellige universiteter, så vi fikk til å opptre i mange forskjellige byer.

De beste bitene var de tingene du ikke kan planlegge for. I mitt andre år, bodde jeg i et stort hus med en ceilidh band - vi legger på åpne Mikes og jeg lærte mye om tradisjonell folkemusikk og irsk jigs. Jeg begynte å engasjere seg i kampanjer, og jeg løp en tildeling med en venn som en del av Leeds Studenter Green Action.

Top tips: Rådet min bror ga meg var bra - hold med den, og du vil møte folk du liker.

Melodika, Melody og Me's debut singel "Piece Me Back Together", er ute nå

Mark Watson
Komiker

Cambridge, 1998-2001, engelsk, First

Nesten alle inntrykk jeg hadde i skoleåret var negativ. Jeg hadde ingen tro overhodet at jeg skulle bli bra. Jeg trodde jeg ville møte folk som meg på universitetet, men menneskene jeg møtte var ikke noe som meg. Det var først senere at jeg skjønte folk som meg var i deres rom ruge - ikke rart jeg kunne ikke finne dem.

På skoleåret "rimelig jeg registrerte meg for masse ting (som jeg skrev navnet mitt jeg ta meg selv tenker" Jeg vil ikke ønske å gjøre det "). Jeg møtte opp til det tyske selskap håp om å praktisere min tysk. Det var vanskelig å forklare på tysk at jeg var faktisk ikke tysk. Etter to halvlitere og en time for å bli snakket til av typen tyskere, dro jeg. Selv om jeg aldri hadde mot til å avslutte abonnementet på e-post.

Den andre ting om skoleåret er måten den avslører din manglende personlig kompetanse. Jeg møtte opp til min første veiledning dekket av blod, som om jeg hadde kommet direkte fra slagmarken. Faktisk hadde jeg hatt en neseblødning på vei, hadde jeg ikke noe vev, og hadde ingen anelse om hvor nærmeste butikk var. På den tiden trodde jeg at jeg var nødt til å forlate byen, men faktum er at det var noe vi endte opp med latter om.

Omsider jeg fått venner, reiste seg mot til å prøvespille for Footlights og begynte å nyte min grad. Men skoleåret var veldig pen Odd album - mitt råd er å se bort nesten alt som skjer.

Topp tips: En kommentar om Toast med beslutningstakere: forlate det sandwich avkjølt før du spiser den. Og gjør rengjøre brødristeren eller du må kjøpe en ny en på slutten av året.

Mark vil være på turné over hele Storbritannia fra oktober; www.markwatsonthecomedian.com

Jimmy Doherty
Farmer

University of East Anglia 1995-1998

Zoologi, 2.1

Jeg var besatt av insekter, slik at graden var en ekte lidenskap. Den ene hendelsen som stikker i tankene mine var en veldig streng professor som hatet alle som spiser i sine forelesninger. Jeg var gumlet en pork pie da han kom i. Jeg fikk panikk, og stappet kaken på toppen av projektoren. To minutter senere, gikk projektoren på og det var denne enorme svinekjøtt pie på skjermen.

Min familie bodde i Essex, og jeg ønsket å fortsette å jobbe i dyrepark jeg hadde jobbet for siden jeg var 13, så jeg bodde halvparten hjemme og halvt på UEA.

Topp tips: Lag et budsjett. Da jeg gjorde mitt PhD jeg bodde sammen med en fransk fyr og vi vil alltid gå til markedet og lage mat fra bunnen av. Vi bakte egne brød, og det reddet oss en formue.

Jimmy vil bli vertskap for festivalen Jimmy's Harvest på sin gård på 11 til 12 september; www.harvestatjimmys.com

Bridget Phillipson
MP for Houghton og Sunderland Sør

Oxford 2002-2005

Historie, 2.1

En av de første tingene jeg lærte på Oxford var at hvis du gikk glipp av middag i Hall du var ganske mye snookered - men du kan alltid bruke brødristeren i fellesrom. I den første måneden, kom jeg tilbake sent en natt og brent meg toast, innstilling av røykvarsleren og få alle ut av sengen.

Jeg gikk inn i Oxford Labour Club i første week.I virkelig likte å møte mennesker fra et bredt spekter av bakgrunn - blant annet fra Høyre Association. Som virkelig hjalp meg til å finpusse argumentene mine. Det er definitivt likheter mellom skoleåret, og den første uken som en MP - ikke minst at alle spør ditt navn, din valgkrets og flertall. Jeg bør nok spørre hva A-nivåer alle fikk!

Topp tips: Bli med og delta ting. Jeg spilte kvinners rugby i to år - det var ikke en massiv satsing, men det var gøy og jeg møtte folk fra andre høgskoler.

THE SECRET LIFE OF GIRLS

20 august 2010

Fabiola Carletti

STAFF Reporter

De liker å ha et publikum. De spore hvert kjøp, antrekk og valp-kjærlighetsforhold. Deres hud er tykk. Velkommen til livet som sett av ungdoms jente bloggere

Du trenger ikke å være en matte whiz å vite at 13 er et ganske merkelig album nummer. Noen enda kaller det en uheldig ett. Men i motsetning overtroisk byggherrer, jenter inn tenårene kan ikke hoppe over 13. etasje.

Skriv blogg: den potente plattform som kan være en dagbok eller utklippsbok eller et fotoalbum, eller ... noe, synes det. En jente kan nå dokumentere sine prøvelser og triumfer i omvendt kronologi, og vokser opp en offentlig prosess.

Tavi Gevinson, 13, vet alt om blogging. Den selvutnevnte Style Rookie er kanskje den høyest profilerte eksempel på et barn som ikke er redd for å bli hevet, eller rasert, av den globale landsbyen.

Hun startet sin blogg i mars 2008, da hennes stri rammen var fortsatt veldig mye av en 11-år gammelt barn og hennes mote photo shoots så mer ut som dress-up spill. Tavi's første blogginnlegg syntes å love en slags selv-overbærende klistremerke album, men senere oppføringer inkluderer hennes vordende feministiske idealer og kritisk brev til magasiner med smale definisjoner av skjønnhet.

"På et tidspunkt i løpet av andre halvdel av 8. klasse, ble jeg tristere og sintere," skrev Tavi i juli 2010. "Til dette vil jeg ikke kreditt teenagerdom, eller angst eller noen hormonell uansett, bare å lære, og ikke den typen som jeg skulle være får fra skolen."

Det har vært tiår siden Shakespeare betrodd 13 år gamle Julie med slike dramatiske dialog. Nå er mange av de yngste kvinnelige bloggere, knapt i stand til å feste en-tenåring til deres alder, tenke høyt og lage dagbok-utklippsbok hybrider lest av mennesker over hele verden.

The Chicago innfødte, nå 14, har fylt sin blogg med attester som spenner fra nedtrykt til det sublime. Den bråmodne forfatteren gjør dristige uttalelser og kulturelle referanser som er eldre enn hun er. Faktisk, de finnes som finner det vanskelig å tro at hun gjør det på egen hånd.

Men andre 13 år gamle bloggere høres ut som babling ungdom som rippe gjennom silences på bussen.

I halvveis rommet mellom barnet og den unge voksne, jenter blir mer klar over seg selv. Plutselig hadde de ikke lenger kvalifiserer for barnet rabatter, men kan se filmer ansett som upassende for 12-åringer. Fascinasjonen med sine skiftende sinn og kropp har bidratt til alt fra sunne bøker serien, slik som The Babysitter's Club , til kontroversielle filmer som racy drama tretten .

I en uberegnelig blogginnlegg , Lourdes «Lola» Leon skriver: "Mange av dere spurte meg hvilken farge jeg var døende håret mitt, og det er faktisk kommer til å være som en slags kirsebær gråsort thingy Bobbie. OH MY DAIZ. "Derfra Lola berører eselet i Shrek (" bare såååå friggin legendariske haaaaaaa "), britisk slang (" var var LOL ») og spansk fotball spillere som er" PFH (ganske freakin varme). "

Mange lesere oppmerksom på at Lola, som tilfeldigvis er Madonnas datter, virker som en vanlig jente. Og selv om stemmen hennes skiller seg drastisk fra Tavi's, begge har blitt delt ut de samme variablene: high school, pubertet, stil bevissthet. Det mini materialet jenta akkurat startet blogging i juni.

Enten du finner det elskverdig eller irriterende, har du kanskje ikke ventet å finne slike unselfconscious skriving utenfor videregående skole årbøker.

Alyson Lewis, en engelsk lærer i Toronto's Pleasant View ungdomsskolen, har blitt vant til måten mange 13-åringer skrive.

"Det tok meg en stund å omfavne at kaos og innse at det de legger på siden akkurat reflekterte hva som foregikk i hodet på den tiden, sa hun," Jeg tror det er en reell råhet å skrive i denne alderen, og Jeg er ikke bare snakker om det obligatoriske stave-og grammatiske feil, og heller ikke de store hullene i logikk. "

Lewis legger til, "den slags ærlighet - før de har lært til sofaen deres ord i metafor, formaliteter og emosjonell distanse - er virkelig spesielt."

Men, ikke overraskende, vil noen eldre lesere heller forelder enn ros disse unge forfattere.

London-baserte Camilla Ackley mottatt anonym tilbakemelding på sin måte blog " Into the Fold . "Den nå 14-åringen startet sin blogg i juli 2009.

"Gud, jeg ønsker ikke å komme opp med den dumme når-jeg-var-din-alder argument, men egentlig, da jeg var tretten, ville mamma har drept meg for slik å kle meg,» skrev leseren. "Selvfølgelig, du er veldig stilig, veldig pen og alt, men dette er ikke hva barndommen (ja, er du fortsatt barn) handler om."

De bemerket ville mer sannsynlig forholde seg med New York Magazine 's Emily Nussbaum, som brukes til å forsegle sin dagbok med en bokstavelig lås og innrømmer å være urolig med andres selv-eksponering. Likevel, i en funksjon kalt " Say Everything , "Nussbaum kommer til tre konklusjoner om henne uhemmet etterfølgere: de tenker på seg selv som å ha et publikum, de har arkivert sin oppvekst, og, mest interessant, hud er deres tykkere enn din.

"Ulike barn velger å ha forskjellige barndommer. Noen velger sport, noen velger musikk, noen velger mote, "Camilla forklart. "En barndom behøver ikke dreie seg om å kjøre om 24 / 7, det handler om å finne ut hvem du er."

Camilla fortalte Star at tenåringen bloggere kan være mer utsatt for nedsettende kommentarer, men hun tar det på strak arm.

"Hvis bloggere tok hver fornærmelse til hjertet, ville det ikke være noen av oss, sa hun sier," Det er lett å se forskjellen mellom konstruktiv kritikk og mobbing. "

Vi ofte glemmer hvor spenstig unge mennesker kan være - bare navnet ditt tid og sted.

Maya Angelou begynte å tale på 13, etter seks år med taushet ansporet av en traumatisk barndom hendelse. Jeanne d'Arc var 13 da hun begynte å høre stemmer himmelsk. Anne Frank, som fikk sin ikoniske dagbok i en alder av 13 år, skrev en av de mest berømte personlige beretninger om Holocaust.

Nyere eksempler er Lady Gaga, som skrev sitt første piano ballade på 13, og David Suzuki datter Severn som skjemmes FN-delegater på vegne av en miljø-barns gruppe.

Til tross for deres forskjellige stemmer, alle jenter har noe å si for verden med egne ord.

Girl bloggere fra hele verden

• The Style Rookie av Tavi

• Materiale Girl Collection blogg med Lourdes "Lola"

• i folden av Camilla Ackley

• The Writing Sider ved Meghna

• Fallie's Scrapbook av Fallie

• Maja Ravn av Maja

• PaulinaBelle av Paulina

• Den stilige Wanderer av anonymous

• plast Brain av Eleonara

sFabiola Carletti

Editor's Picks

To dresser i middelalderens rustninger dominerer entreen til bakketopp slottet som Rachelle Spector kaller hjem. En står overfor et oljemaleri av Beatles, hvis siste album, Let It Be, ble produsert av hennes fraværende ektemann, Phil, i 1969. Den andre, lener seg noen meter til høyre, på et stort sverd. Siden Phil fascinasjon med farlige våpen nylig havnet han i fengsel, kan du lurer på om de gjør for helt passende ornamenter. Men i de få timene jeg tilbringer sammen med Rachelle, sammen med et par anledninger når vi snakker via telefon, jeg kommer til å innse at sett med utrustning egentlig oppsummere henne ganske godt: hun er en tøffing, og tykk-flådd, også.

Rachelle hilser meg på dørstokken, hvor jeg har vært beundrer personlige
antall plate av hennes Lexus SUV (det står: "Jeg Í Phil"). På
første øyekast, ser hun utrolig blondt hår, blå øyne og boblende;
ved andre øyekast, kommer den blonde fra en flaske, og hun har på seg lyse
turkis kontaktlinser. Men boblende bit er ekte. Mens hun nips til
kjøkkenet for å hente en drink, jeg ser rundt seg enorm spisestue. Det er
innredet i stil med en Berni Inn: alle mørkt tre og humørsyk belysning. I
hjørnet sitter en enormt stykke papir som Rachelle, kanskje på
befaling av en psykiater, har tegnet et flytskjema kartlegging sitt "mål i livet".
De handler holdent rundt to inter-tilknyttede enheter. En er Phil, den
andre, hennes pop karriere.

Disse er, som det skjer, nøyaktig fagene Jeg håper å snakke om. For
år, denne berømte 30-room house, som kalles Pyreneene Castle, og
ligger i Alhambra, en charmless forstad til øst Los Angeles, har stått som en
neo-gotisk monument til eksentrisitetar den store Phil Spector. Det var,
henhold til rock'n'roll folklore, en Xanadu-lignende herskapshus, der
usedvanlig rik plateprodusent, som hadde gjort en slew av de mest
oppløftende pop sanger i historien (fra "Da Doo Ron Ron» av
Krystaller, til "Be My Baby» av Ronettes), men led fra
depresjon som rammer mange et geni, hadde pensjonert seg fra posten
virksomheten å velte seg i en skumring verden av mørke og paranoia.

Det var slottet omdømme, minst. Men i det siste, Spectors gamle venner
(Og selv hans fiender) har beskrevet ham som en mann forvandlet. Det
Grunnen: Rachelle. Bright, medgjørlig, og en tredjedel hans alder, brast hun på å
scenen en gang i 2003, og snudde ham fra en besettende eneboer, hvis
kontrollere naturen en gang skapte stygge søksmål etter stygg søksmål, inn i en
milde gammel mann med fornyet appetitt på livet, kjærligheten, og pop spillet. Jeg
ønsker å finne ut hvordan Rachelle klart dette. Og for å komme til bunns i
om hun kom på scenen for sent til å hindre tragedien som kan
Nå overskygge resten av sitt naturlige liv.

Rachelle tilbake. Vi trekk deg tilbake til den trepanel spisestue, og sitte på en
lange antikk bord, foran noen innrammede bilder av deres bryllup, som
fant sted i foajeen på Castle i september 2006. Hun var 24, og
hadde på seg en tradisjonell hvit kjole. Phil, som da var 66, og giftet seg for
third time, opted for a straw-coloured wig, teamed with a black silk shirt,
dark suit, and an impish smile. “Philip and I are many generations
apart, but we do have an incredible amount in common,” says Rachelle. “We
both wanted exactly the same thing: a small ceremony, at home, with a
minister and just a couple of guests. That's how it ended up. Perfect.”

Today, the Spectors profess to remain as deeply in love as they were that day,
and though they make an pretty odd album-looking couple, I have no reason to doubt them.
But life is no longer quite so perfect. Since April 2009, Phil has been an
inmate at California State Prison in Corcoran, three hours' drive north of
Los Angeles. According to Rachelle, it's “disgusting”. He spends
23 hours a day in a shared cell measuring five feet by nine feet, and has
little to do with his time except read, and sweat. “Recently,” she
says, “the prison has been cutting off its power supply, and air, for
one day a week, to save money. Temperatures up there can reach 120F. He's 70
år gammel. It's gross.”

Phil became a jailbird because of a now-notorious event which took place just
a few yards from where we are sitting. On 3 February 2003, a month before he
first met Rachelle, Lana Clarkson, a B-movie actress whom he'd apparently
met in a Hollywood nightclub and taken home for drinks, was shot in the face
in the Castle's hallway. She died immediately. Phil, who may or may not have
witnessed the event, and who is certainly the only living person who may
know what actually occurred, denied pulling the trigger. But a jury at Los
Angeles Superior Court saw things differently. In April 2009, he was
unanimously convicted of second degree murder and given 19 years to life.

Dommen har forlatt Rachelle ansvaret for Phil Spectors liv, og ettermæle.
Hun driver sitt hjem, ryggen katalog, og hans multi-million-dollar business
interesser. Hun er for tiden masterminding en appell mot myrde sin
overbevisning, og gir også om hans eneste faste familiær kobling til
omverdenen: de tre barna han vedtatt i 1970, to er
fremmedgjort (en sønn, Donte, holder kontakten). Hans eneste gjenlevende datter,
Nicole, som er omtrent samme alder som Rachelle, besøk av og til. Men
Hun bor i New York, en dags reise og tre gang-soner unna.

For Rachelle, gjør dette for en noen ganger trist tilværelse, krydres av små
høydepunkter. En kommer like etter 14:00 på hverdager, da Phil er lov til å
foreta en 15-minutters telefonsamtale (når han ringer, Rachelle Blackberry belger: "Philip
ringer! "). Det andre som skjer hver lørdag, da hun stiger på 1am og
stasjoner til Corcoran å være først i køen for å få tilgang til de besøkendes
området. Hun er strip-søkte, og tatt inn i en spartansk kantine. Der Phil
er vanligvis lov til å kysse henne en gang og gi henne en eneste klem, etter det,
de snakker i timevis.

Rachelle andre høydepunkt, og den som hjalp meg bag en invitasjon til
slottet, dreier seg om musikk. Beskriver seg selv som sanger,
låtskriver og trombonist, har hun bare gitt ut en debut-CD. Dens tittel
Out of My 'Chelle, og det allerede dekker et spennende sted i pop
Historie: Det ble produsert av Phil, før han gikk inn chokey, og er
derfor det første albumet som han har vært fullt ut ansvarlig for i ikke mindre
enn 30 år. Hans siste før hadde vært End of the Century, av
Ramones, som kom ut i 1980.

Til tross for at den markerer tilbakekomsten av en av pop største
impresarios, har kritikere ikke er helt like om posten. The New
York Post kalte det "en pop vrøvl forfengelighet prosjekt som ikke har noe forhold
til noe den legendariske produsent noen gang har hjulpet båt "og sa at
Phil's musikk er nå like kriminelle som han er. Det har allikevel gjort et lite
inntrykk på den amerikanske hitlistene. "Den høyeste vi har fått så langt er 46,"
sier Rachelle. "Jeg vil si det gjør ganske bra, spesielt for
noe fra en ny artist, som ikke har et stort plateselskap skyve den. "

Rørende, albumets første spor, «Her i mitt hjerte", er en kjærlighet
sang om Phil og Rachelle's langdistanse forhold. Det er satt til en
1980-stil synthesizer-pop beat, inneholder og noen ophøiet-ekstravagante
lyrics som ikke ville være ute av plass i Eurovision Song Contest. «Du er
her sammen med meg natt og dag, selv når du er langt borte ", går en typisk
linje. "Sangen handler om noen du elsker, som alltid i ditt hjerte,
selv om de ikke er i armene, sier Rachelle. "For meg, som
person vil alltid være Philip. Han er min skinnende lys, og en del av ham har
bli en del av meg, så han er stadig her hos meg. "

Phil har i mellomtiden vært like soppy å diskutere prosjektet. "Jeg er så
begeistret for dette albumet som da jeg møtte Elvis eller Stones, sier han,
i et fengsel intervju samtidig med utgivelsen. "Making at posten
med Rachelle var en av de største opplevelsene i mitt liv. "
Angående hans kone, sa han til Associated Press: «Prison er veldig
vanskelig. Jeg er her med sociopaths og mistilpassede ... [men] hun kommer hver
uke å se meg, og jeg ser himmelen raketter hver gang jeg ser henne. "Da han
lagt til, uten et snev av ironi: «Hun er den feen prinsesse i min verden".
Og for å forstå at verden, du kanskje trenger å høre Rachelle historie.

Det var, som det skjer, masse eventyrverden om reisen som viste
Rachelle inn i sålen beboer på 30 rom Pyreneene Castle, som ble
bygget på 1920-tallet som en en tredjedel størrelse skala kopi av en fransk chateau.
Vokst opp i Beaver Falls i Pennsylvania, med en enslig mor, lærte hun
trombone på skolen og spilte i korps. Etter å ha forlatt, og
oppdager at hun kunne lage en levende fra å synge og modellering jobber,
Hun satte seg ned en vei trpretty odde albumen av mange vakre jenter fra små-by
Amerika, kjørte og til LA. 20 år, kom hun i 2002, med kun $ 150 i
sin egen lomme.

A year later, Rachelle Short, to use her maiden name, was performing live gigs
(she had won a gong for Best Indy Pop Performer at the LA Music Awards). One
night, she found herself dining at Dan Tana's, an old-school Hollywood
restaurant. Phil Spector, who was also there, asked her to sit at his table.
And Cupid's dart struck. “I learnt more that night about religion and
politics than I knew in my entire life,” she recalls. “We ended up
talking until six in the morning. When it was time to go, he looked at me
and said, 'May I kiss you?' I said, 'No!'. But he got my phone number.”
The old devil called the next day. “I've always been attracted to older
guys,” she says.

The romance blossomed during visits to the local Starbucks, dinner outings,
and trips to LA Lakers basketball games. But it wasn't all plain sailing. A
few weeks in, Rachelle heard about Lana Clarkson, who had died a few weeks
before their meeting. But Rachelle didn't for one moment doubt Phil's
innocence. Never has, never will. “When you meet him, you get no sense
of danger whatsoever. He's tiny. I'm bigger than him now, and he wouldn't
hurt a fly. He couldn't murder someone. He's too kind, and caring and giving
and genuine.” They duly became engaged in 2005.

Deres forhold ble først dratt inn i den offentlige arena når Phil første
Mordet rettssaken ble sendt på fjernsyn, i slutten av 2006. Synet av Rachelle i retten
utgangspunktet skapte intriger og latter. Hun så mistenkelig ut som
Clarkson, og snarky kommentatorer lurte på hva som hadde lokket henne til
berømte multi-millionær. Men over tid, snudde mening. "Selv de
som avsky Spector, og det er mange i Hollywood, overraske selv
med følelsen av denne beskyttende kjapt sympatisk kvinne, "bemerket Los
Angeles Times, i en profil av Phil. "De ros hennes urokkelige
lojalitet til Spector. Menn særlig faller under spell henne. "

Innen Phil første rettssaken var avsluttet i 2007 (juryen var ikke i stand
å nå de nødvendige enstemmige dommen), hadde Rachelle blitt Mrs Spector.
Så, under nedetid fra ny rettssak, Out of My 'Chelle ble unnfanget. "One
dag jeg gikk gjennom gamle hjemmevideoer av meg synge. Phil gikk inn, og
sa «Det er deg?". Han visste ikke hva min vokale evner var, fram til
dette punktet, siden jeg hadde lagt min karriere på vent hjelpe ham til retten
sak. "

To release the record, Rachelle recently founded her own label, Genius Forever
(named after Phil, of course) and cut a distribution deal with Sony. She is
also about to go back into the studio to make a Rachelle Unplugged version
of the record, which her husband will be unavailable to produce. “People
say that Phil Spector can make anyone sound good, and I want to prove that I
can actually sing,” she says. Allegations that Phil used auto-tune and
other dark arts of his trade to paper over holes in her musical ability are “totally
untrue”.

The other thing that often angers Rachelle, and we can't beat around the bush
here, are allegations that she's a gold-digger. The reality of her
existence, she says, is quite the opposite: she says her favourite shop is
Target, a sort of American Argos. She doesn't loaf around. When we tour the
downstairs bar area and pool room, I notice that a layer of dust has
gathered on Phil's collection of Grammy trophies.

It must, I suppose, be a lonely existence. She shares the vast home with six
dogs, some cats, and two iguanas. A maid comes twice a week. Her other
regular visitor is Esmerelda, her gardener's six-year-old daughter. Det
lawns of the Castle are brown and parched (she recently turned off the
sprinklers, to save money and the environment), and even Phil's collection
of garden gnomes could use a lick of paint. This is hardly the high life,
she says.

"Mitt liv er vanskelig. Det er mye arbeid. Det er så følelsesmessig, fysisk og
mentalt drenering. Jeg jobber syv dager i uken. Jeg har startet plateselskap,
Jeg prøver å promotere albumet, administrere Phil eiendom, og ser også etter
klagen for å få ham ut. Hvis jeg var en gull-digger, ville jeg ikke være her,
gjør alle det. Jeg ville være av noen bassenget, på en eksotisk øy, telle pengene mine. "

Rachelle prioriterte, i disse dager, er å fri Phil. Etter å ha satt som de to
prøvelser, som til sammen varte i mer enn et år, og gjennomgått 40 000 sider med
bevis, har hun søkt om (og fikk) en lisens til å praktisere som en privat
etterforsker i California. Dette gjorde henne å være tett involvert i
utarbeiding den omstendelige klage på hans drap dom som ble arkivert
tidligere i år.

Saken mot Spector var på ingen måte klippe og tørket. Det dreide seg om
ufullstendig tekniske bevis, med motstridende tolkninger av blod
sprut mønstre og krutt rester, som forlot eksperter fordelt med hensyn til
om den berømte tiltalte var på langt nær Frøken Clarkson da hun døde.
Den antatte mordvåpenet ikke bære noen av hans fingeravtrykk, og ingen
er sikker på identiteten til eieren sin. Offisielt var det registrert i et
pantelånersjappen i Texas.

In attempting to prove Spector guilty, prosecutors therefore relied on
testimony from his driver, who told the court his boss had confessed to
Clarkson's killing. They also persuaded the judge to allow evidence from
five former female acquaintances of Spector, who claimed that at various
times in the past 30 years, he had threatened them with guns. This, the jury
said in its explanation of the sentence, tipped the balance in favour of
conviction.

It certainly worked into a well-established narrative. Spector, who had
produced his first number one hit, “To Know Him is To Love Him”,
in 1958, at the age of 18, had never enjoyed what you might call a normal
life. A millionaire by the age of 22 (during the early 1960s, his hits
included “You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling”, the most extensively
played record in history), he was always volatile. When creating his famous “Wall
of Sound”, which involved vast armies of backing musicians and singers,
he lorded over recording studios like a mad dictator.

Stories also abound of Spector's fascination with firearms. He once fired a
pistol into the roof when losing his temper while working with John Lennon.
Some years later, when apparently drunk, he wandered up to Leonard Cohen,
and stuck a loaded pistol in his neck, saying, “Leonard, I love you!”
(Cohen is said to have casually replied, “I hope you do, Phil”).
In the 1980s, his mental state deteriorated further when his only son,
Philip Junior, contracted leukaemia. Phil retired from music to nurse him,
only for the child to die, in 1992. Soon afterwards, he began taking vast
quantities of anti-depressants, and for most of the next decade, made only
occasional forays into the recording studio. He had also become paranoid
about being left alone at the Castle; visitors spoke of him locking doors
and gates to prevent them from leaving.

After talking the jury through this biography, the prosecution was able to
construct a compelling narrative: Lana Clarkson, a down-on-her-luck actress
who also suffered from depression, had met him at the House of Blues
nightclub in Hollywood. She returned to his house, and shared some drinks.
But when Ms Clarkson got up to leave, Spector lost his cool. By accident or
design, he fired the gun. Given Spector's personality, they argued – it was
in any case an accident waiting to happen.

Det er imidlertid et problem med denne teorien: Det er avhengig av indisier
bevis. I sitt forsvar, Spectors "dream team" av høyt betalte
advokater har avansert et alternativ: at Clarkson, som hadde hatt roller i
Scarface og kult fantasi flick Barbarian Queen på 1980-tallet, men
hvis karriere hatt siden Tanked faktisk begikk selvmord. "Hun hadde
konsumert en flaske tequila, hadde hun Vicodin [en smerte-lettelse stoff] i hennes
systemet, og var blakk, og i ferd med å bli kastet ut fra leiligheten sin, "er
hvordan Rachelle sier det.

Klagen vil markere mangelen på tekniske bevis, og mener også at
dommeren burde ikke ha tillatt de fem kvinnene å gi karakter uttalelser
mot Phil, siden de var skadelig. "Hele hat mot
kvinner ting ... Jeg forstår ikke hvor den kom fra. For hvis du vet
noe om Phil's karriere vet du at han hjalp kvinner, spesielt
kvinner av farge, oppnå suksess, folk som Tina Turner og Ronnie Spector
[Hans andre hustru]. Det finnes ingen større misforståelse enn Phil hater
kvinner. "

Clarkson søster, Fawn, og familien hennes advokat, Roderick Lindblom, ikke
svare på forespørsler om en kommentar om appell om denne artikkelen.
Rachelle, med et halvt øye på sine følelser, sier saken »var en
tragedie for alle involverte. Men det var ikke et drap ". Clarkson ble
to meter høy, veide og 160 pounds, som er langt mer enn Spector. "De er
prøver å fortelle meg at hun la ham gå opp og satte en pistol i munnen? Det var to
inches bak henne tennene da den gikk av. Hvordan kunne han muligens gjøre det? "

Tid, selvfølgelig, vil vise om Rachelle sikrer deres dag i retten. Men
hjulene av rettferdighet gå utrolig sakte. Selv om klagen er gitt,
det kan være år før Phil Spector er gratis å igjen bygge en vegg av
lyd. "Jeg har mistet min mann og min beste venn, sier hun,
tilbake igjen til emnet i albumet hennes. "Hele poenget med den
var å snu den negative av saken til en positiv og sette fokus tilbake
på Phil Spectors musikk, der det hører hjemme. Uansett hva som skjer, håper jeg å
minne folk om at han fortsatt at geni produsent som er langt mer enn sin
tid, og som ingen vil noen gang være i stand til å imitere. "

');
) Else (
document.write ('

[Editor's Note: Synspunktene i denne kolonnen reflekterer ikke nødvendigvis de av SOHH.com]

En. King Me

D*mn, doggies, this year's Forbes' Cash Kings list is ridiculously funny. Not so much because we see Jay-Z and Diddy in the list but that Ludacris, Snoop Dogg and DRAKE made more $$$ than 5-0 Cent? LMFAO!!! This has to be a clerical error, right? LMFAO!!! Before we see who made the cut, let's just analyze a few things. In 2008 , when those numbers came out, 5-0 held his ground at No. 1 with Jay and Puffy looking in the rearview, right? Then this clown caught feelings when he got booted to No. 4 last year, getting edged out by Kanye West . OK. But now, to get tossed all the way to No. 15? SMFH. There's no excuse doggies, especially with as much as this clown says he's WORKING . Those tours? Those straight-to-DVD movies that he claims are where the REAL $$$ is at? Or how about all those iTunes sales G-Unit is raking in? SMH. It's over, doggies, admit it :

#1. Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter – $63m

# 2. Sean “Diddy” Combs – $30M
#3. Aliuane “Akon” Thiam – $21M [that Lady Gaga money is no joke...]
# 4. Dwayne “Lil Wayne” Carter – $20M
#5. Andre “Dr. Dre” Young – $17M
#6. Christopher “Ludacris” Bridges – $16M
#7. Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadus – $15M
# 8. Timothy “Timbaland” Mosley – $14M
#9. Pharrell Williams – $13M
#10 Kanye West – $12M
#11. Aubrey “Drake” Graham – $10M
#12. Clifford “TI” Harris – $9M (tie)
#12. Kasseem “Swizz Beatz” Dean – $9M (tie)
#14. Marshall “Eminem” Mathers – $8M (tie)
#14 Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson – $8M (tie)

^ LOL. Good looks @ NahRight for that list. Some things ain't adding up, doggies. We can understand how Jay got $63 million from Roc Nation ( J. Cole, Wale , Blueprint III Tour, etc.) and Diddy's a** was all over those informercials and let's not forget that Lady Gaga money ain'ta joke for Akon along with Dr. Dre 's dope BEATS. But Ludacris? F*cking Drake!?!? TI ??? Wait……how the h*ll did TI make more $$$ than 5-0 when he was LOCKED UP for 6-8 months!?!?! SMH…… Look at those numbers doggies, this post is short but the comments should be long. Feeling sad about 5-0′s numbers? Maybe it's just me, but something tells me he had this coming……………

“I'm on deck,” 50 said in an interview in JULY 2009 . “I'm loaded. Call me 'four' this year, and then you call me 'one' next year , because I'm really preparing for my cycle . They're fine…What kind of person would be upset at what position they fall when they're on the Forbes list . That person would be a complete idiot. Ask me to show you a person who's happy, and I'll show you someone who's content. And if you ask me to show you a guy who's piss-poor with really nice things around him, I'll show you the guy that's on that list that's worried about being number one. And [the person] won't stay there , trust me.”

^ …..”call me 'one' next year….” Really 5-0? REALLLLY? And yeah, I hear your issue about the accomplishment to be on the FORBES list, but that's like saying what doggy would be mad to get SIGNED to Interscope? Call Wale, Charles Hamilton and the rest of those other doggies. And I pulled that quote, doggies, to say this. If you really believe everything coming out of this Gorilla-Doggy's mouth, then why when you have the PROOF right in front of your eyes that he's speaking bullsh*t, do you continue to DEFEND and VOUCH for this clown? SMH………

2. The New Def Jam Records

Go ahead doggies, consider my words “STFU” Honors material, but at least hear me out first. Baby is the NEW Russell Simmons. Whether y'all want to admit it or just skip over this to peep this week's Mrs. Butterworth (she's juicy, too!), you cannot deny how powerful Cash Money Records is becoming. And let's stop lying, we all KNOW Young Money is the same company, don't get sh*t twisted thinking Nicki Minaj is not technically a Cash Money Records artist. Everybody, and I do mean everybody, wants to be Cash Money affiliated more than ever right now. But first up, Shyne ?

“I might do that. I'm not sure,” Shyne said about possibly releasing an album on Cash Money. “We're still finishing the fine points and negotiating that . Maybe I'll come with something six months later, [maybe] every six months. I've got so much to say, you dig? I don't think I can answer all the questions on one album. So I definitely think we can put out two different albums on the same day at the end of the year, then come back with a third one or another double set six months later. Get all this sh*it off my chest.”

^ So this doggy wants to drop an album on Def Jam AND Cash Money Records. SMFH…even though we think he has turned into straight a** since getting out of prison, especially after 5-0 pranked the h*ll out of him last week, you can't lie, having Shyne drop something on Cash Money would be a GOOD LOOK. Let's be honest, doggies, Bow Wow and Jay Sean are cool but haven't even an ounce of street credibility to their names. Shyne on CM would be like when 5-0 recruited Game to G-Unit. Just to add another element. But even bigger than that? Recruiting Bizzy Bone ? WTF?

“ Cash Money , Young Money and such labels as this know how to treat a artist ,” Bizzy said in a statement. “Whether the artist has been in the industry for a decade or brand new to the system. They (Cash Money, Young Money, G Unit etc.) respect the artist position and know how to market and promote a top caliber artist(s) .”

^ Whether Bizzy Bone is just kissing a** to get Baby's attention or really feels like Cash Money is a hot label, this is f*cking amazing that he's upping a company that has been publicly sh*tted on by producers like Jim Jonsin and Bangladesh .

Need an explanation for all this, doggies? Well, even though I planned on featuring this in the “STFU” Honors section, Baby pretty much lays out the formula for why CMB is out-doing the industry:

“I look at that sh*t as we went through war and we sustained the weather and we stood in the fog ,” Baby said in an interview. “Even when muthaf*ckas counted us out, we stood up and we manned up. We did everything we had to , to get where we're at today. I think God gives it to ya when he feels you're ready for it. It took us a long time ; we had to go through a lot of changes. A lot of obstacles, losses, gains . I just think right now we're so great at this sh*t. We got so many young n*ggas who look at me andWayne and what we've accomplished. You see the hunger [that] Drake and all the rest of those little n*ggas [have] because they're reaching for those stories . We work like n*ggas who never made a dollar and I think that's impressive to them. That makes them go harder. Those little n*ggas got promising futures.”

^ D*mn, hate it or love it, Baby has a point. No other label has hotter artists, mainstream artists and, most importantly, SELLING artists. Not familiar with the Def Jam/Russell Simmons' 1990′s days? Just think DMX , Jay-Z, EPMD, Ja Rule, Redman, Method Man and all those other motherf*ckers from Def Jam Vendetta . LOL. The list runs long, doggies, for CM going with Lil Wayne, Cool & Dre, Bow Wow, possibly Shyne/Bizzy Bone/ Sean Garrett / Freeway / DJ Khaled, Jay Sean, Kevin Rudolph and the Young Money roster…so don't sleep on this squad.

Tre. The Day The Earth Stood Still

Utholdende og b * tches (kvinnelige hunder, utholdende) like, det er sant. Nicki Minaj is the hottest artist out. When Kanye West said it, I kinda shrugged but when the f*cking Associated Press interviews rap doggies about what THEY think about her? SMFH. It's bigger than her just being a “good” female rapper. She is THE rapper out right now. Doggies might shrug too but her buzz is bigger than Drake. Her following is bigger than Drake. (Do the math doggies, she hit that million follower mark weeks before Frogger). Even though I hate her album title, Pink Friday , she has even given herself months to do whatever changes she feels necessary. Anyway, getting to the point at hand, here's why your favorite artists are f*cking with this Barbie :

Pharrell

“I think since Nicki came out there's going to be a lot of new girls coming out. There's always one that paves the way and opens the door [and] I think she reopened the door to hip-hop for females.”

Ludacris

“Now that you have somebody that has pretty much her own style and does her own thing, people are gravitating toward it, so I think that makes her stick out 'cause she's so different.”

5-0 Cent

“There's not as many female rappers because there's not as many emerging crews. When those new crews come up, there's a potential for a female artist when the head of that crew sees the idea of bringing someone to speak from a female perspective.”

Eve

“Even though Nicki is representing for females period, she's not representing for every female. She's a specific type of entertainer. There are a lot of different kind of men out there representing for the males, and you need a lot of different females that represent for the different kinds of females. … Honestly, between [Lauryn Hill] and me and Nicki being out there, hopefully a lot of other females will be coming up.”

Queen Latifah

“Part of the reason hip-hop was dead is because there weren't any female emcees out, really like in the forefront of hip-hop, playing on the radio, in the daytime, every day.”

SMFH. F*ck it doggies, “It's Butters Barbie, b*ttttttttch!!!!” CO-SIGNED.

4. Mrs. Butterworth: Dela Monet

Doggies, I have yet to fail y'all at this point and once again Bulldog Butters has come through with the most juicy Mrs. Butterworth we have seen thus far, Dela Monet. Now she is on the come-up, so there isn'ta rack of pics out there for us, but we got a solid stack to peep this week. Even though some complain that a** and t*ts don't get more exposure here, I would hope that y'all could at least find some dark corner of your parent's basement and find something worthy of posting in here. F*ck it, why do I bother to type, here's what y'all have been waiting for:

Bonus Video, Doggies:

5. “STFU” Honors

LMFAO! D*mn, sometimes it's even hard for me to begin this section doggies b/c I know what is going to be said. Easily the most hilarious “Shut The F*ck Up” Honors material of the week but even better is when you take away my bolded font and really look at what these doggies are saying. SMFH. Comparing a Little Weasel to the best pop singer of all-time? Or what about saying rappers need second chances after their careers are completely destroyed, and actually comparing your horrible a** sales today to someone out-selling you. SMFH. Not impressed? Well, then imagine some fat rapper not including the TWO BEST MC'S OF ALL-TIME in their top five list or a lying a** wannabe groupie thinking a rap magazine feature is the equivalent of getting tossed up in a TIME piece. SMFH. Doggies, it's that time. Feast your eyes:

En. Baby

“When Wayne comes home he lifts everybody's spirits, he lifts everybody's value, he lifts the brand, he lifts everything. Wayne is gonna be the biggest artist in music, not just in hip-hop; in music. It's some Michael Jackson sh*t right here goin' on right before our eyes…He's a beast; he went back to that raw rappin'. That n*gga still be impressin' me with his music.”

2. Ja Rule

“Yeah, I'm starting to now see people that may have hated on me in the beginning are not rooting for me and want to see me win,” Rule explained in an interview. “That to me is big. The best part about it is I'm humbled by it all. I feel like everybody deserves a second chance to do whatever. Really, I feel that my situation was an unfair situation. A very unique, very pretty odd album situation. Nobody ever seen anything like that in hip-hop, you know? I laugh when I see people say sh*t like, ' Yo, [50 Cent] kilt Rule , but he didn't kill [Rick] Ross.' No disrespect to Ross, but he did 180-something [first week sales of Teflon Don]. I went platinum with [2004's] RULE after I made [2003's] Blood In My Eye. I look at sh*t like that and… I don't know, take it how you want to take it. I was a much bigger selling artist than just platinum so I guess that's why people felt I took a hit. But the music industry was taking a hit at that time, too. You can't really judge it or try to make an issue out of it, or an excuse. It just is what it is.”

Tre. Fat Joe

“That's a hard question to answer,” Joe told DJ Vlad when asked who his top five favorite artists were. “I would say Big Pun , I would say KRS-One , umm, I would say Kanye West. Yeah, I would say Kanye West, umm, it changes every day. I can't really answer that question you told me. I would go with Lil Wayne . That's four. Then I like this combination, Dr. Dre and Snoop [Dogg] combination. If I could put them as one, that would be like, my top five and half. Big and Pac are up there too, a million percent but when you ask somebody who's their top five, they gotta tell you who 'their' top five is. You can't always say Big and Pac. We know they're the greatest, we know they're the best, we know all that. And listen, it changes every day, my favorite rappers of all-time and my favorite rappers now.”

4. TI

“I pushed the album back so I can completely focus my attention to the rollout and release of this film Takers ,” he said. “I feel it wouldn't be fair to the film or the album if I was splitting my attention span amongst the two, so I hit pause on the album to completely focus my attention to rolling out this here film. And once we prayerfully debut No. 1–25-plus, 20-plus million–then after those bottles have been popped and that celebration [is] underway, I will completely resubmerge myself back into the music, fully on album mode.”

5. Kat Stacks

“When I first made the Internet blog, I regretted it, because everybody stopped talking to me ,” Stacks revealed in the interview. “But as I got bigger in time , bigger names and muthaf*ckas in the game, they all started getting at me . It just upgraded my career . Now I don't gotta go work . I don't gotta do sh*t. All I gotta do is show up at a [club] and get paid [for appearances] I don't regret it anymore . The first time I did it, I was like, 'D*mn, why the f*ck I did this sh*t? Because I was drunk? Just to embarrass muthaf*ckas?' I didn't expect to get money out of it. Now these muthaf*ckas keep f*ckin' with me, so I'm gonna continue to do Kat Stacks. “

^ Just for you Kat:

***D*mn doggies, final weeks of summer, can y'all believe it? F*ck it though, I like that NY cold weather and the hoody's out. Turns out all that rap beef sh*t just died out, with Waka Flocka/Gucci Mane, Rick Ross/Young Jeezy and Nelly/The Mask. LOL. No hot albums out, no blockbuster movies out…nah doggies, “The Lottery” doesn't count, and no more rap b*tches going after Nicki Minaj anymore. Any excuses/reasons? Well, it's dark and h*'ll's hot, so I'm hopping in the pool bathtub doggies. See y'all on Tuesday with that Waka Flocka Flame/LeBron James sh*t! LOL!!!!!!!! -BB***

Kenny Chesney 's new album “Hemingway's Whiskey” isn't out until Sept. 28, but the Country chart-topper gave Billboard an in-depth preview, discussing the record's 11 songs track by track, and in the process revealing how he sees himself in his fans, his thoughts on being like a “modern day pirate,” finding inspiration in the dentist's chair, and why duet partner Grace Potter is “a hell of a singer.”

The Kenny Chesney Billboard Cover Story

En. “Boys Of Fall”
(Casey Beathard/Dave Turnbull)

Kenny Chesney: “Boys Of Fall” is a perfect description of how I grew up and where I grew up. That song meant so much to me and I thought, 'Wow, there's a lot of kids out there and a lot of people that have that feeling in their lives.' There's a line in the song that says, “In little towns like mine, that's all we got.” And that's the way it was in East Tennessee, and still is. I've got a lot of guys from East Tennessee out on the road [with me] that grew up the same way, and I played them that song when [writer] Casey Beathard gave me the CD of just him on a guitar playing it. I made everybody come on the bus and said “listen to this.” I knew we had something that was very common.  A lot of people that listen to my music and that are passionate about what we do out on the road… I've been pretty perceptive over the years, and I think that we kind of grew up the same way. I see myself a lot in my fans, and I think vice versa. I hope so anyway.”

2. “Live A Little (Love A Lot)”
(Shane Minor/David Lee Murphy)

Chesney: “That song is what I try to live by. When I heard 'Live A Little (Love A Lot),' that's pretty much the definitive sound we create out on the road. If there's a predictable song on the record, for me, this might be it. And I don't think that's a negative, either. I think this song is going to be awesome in concert. I think it defines me — anybody out there that gives to anything — a lot. I work really hard, I give everything to this, I've given my life to this. But so does the guy that's a CEO for some company. I'm addicted to 'Deadliest Catch.' Those guys, they don't have a life; that's what they do. They can relate to that, 'I've got to get off this boat and live a little.' That's why I think that song matters.”

Tre. “Coastal”
(Michael Mobley/Wendell Mobley/Neil Thrasher)

Chesney: “When I was a kid we were very lower-middle class. We weren't poor, but we didn't have a lot of extra money to go places. So when we went on vacation, we packed the car up and we drove to Myrtle Beach. Or we drove to Daytona. Or we went to the Redneck Riviera: Panama City, Gulf Shores or Destin. And I still love that. That song is for everybody that grew up like I did. It's a beach song, but it's a Redneck Kenny song. These people work for a living. Like he says in the song, 'No more building transmissions, he's going deep sea fishin'.' I love that line. That's my family, that's my friends. That's my cousins. That's my audience.”

4. “You And Tequila” (featuring Grace Potter)
(Matraca Berg/Deana Carter)

Chesney: “This song makes me believe in music even more. I'd never met Grace Potter until she came into the studio. She grew up in the woods in Vermont. I grew up in the woods in East Tennessee. We come from completely worlds, different backgrounds, probably religious beliefs, we haven't talked about it. I don't know what her political beliefs are, I don't know nothing about any of that. I know she's a great person and I know that she is a hell of a singer. I heard her voice and I knew I would love to sing with her one day. I didn't know it would be on this, or this soon.

“At the end of 2007, I rented a house North of Malibu, Calif., for about two months. I was exhausted, I didn't want to talk to anybody, I didn't want to listen to music, I just wanted to be still for a minute. Every day I would drive close in to Santa Monica, meet some friends, eat dinner, and I'd drive back up the PCH with the windows down. That time of year is really chilly, I'd watch the sun set. It's beautiful, I loved it. I would turn on the radio every now and then and I would hear these songs. I heard an Eagles song, I don't even remember what the song was. But I remember thinking, 'Wow, I think I like music again.'

“When I heard 'You and Tequila,' it put me in that spot. That's when I thought of Grace, because I listened to her music a lot on the boat, a lot on the bus, her live record especially. She has a song called 'Apology' that still kills me. I got in touch with her and sent her the song, I had already recorded it. She called back the next day and said “I want to make this happen.” When she came in and we put our voices together, wow.  I love the song, Matraca and Deana wrote it, but, boy, it's relatable, so universal. To have Grace on it, that will be with me forever.”

5. “Seven Days A Thousand Times”
(Lee Brice/Billy Montana/Jon Stone)

Chesney: “To me, when I heard that song it was like 'Anything But Mine,' chapter two. It was like the next phase of that guy's life. I know I have that person in my life, and I think everybody's got that person in their life, that they were with a short time and had no idea the impact that short time would have on them. No matter how you live, no matter where you go in your life, no matter who you're with later on, those seven days or that little time frame that you're with them made more of an impact than you even knew at the time. I think that's very powerful and that's what this song's about.”

Seks. “Small Ya'll” (duet with George Jones )
(Bobby Braddock)

Chesney: “Here's what happened on 'Small Ya'll': George Jones cut that song a long time ago. I had his version in my truck for about three years and it never came out of my six-CD changer. I got into a little routine where I'd fly home after shows and fly back out the next day because I thought it was giving me more rest, until I realized it was only exhausting me more. But, I would land about 1:30-2 o'clock in the morning, depending on where I was playing, and I had about a 30-minute drive home. It would be the middle of summer and I'd roll down the windows to keep me awake and I'd crank up 'Small Ya'll' as loud as I could. No matter how tired I was or if I was in a bad mood or whatever, that song always brought me to center, mentally. It made me smile.

“And as fun-sounding as that song is, it's got an incredible message to it. What Bobby wrote about makes you think, it really does. It's a very well-written, deep lyric. I love that song, and the fact George is on it with me. I really do believe that there's a generation out there now that doesn't realize the genius of George Jones. And I felt like I had the opportunity to educate them just a little bit. It's as country of a song as I've cut in a while, too. It felt good, to be honest with you. It felt natural.”

7. “Where I Grew Up”
(Ashley Gorley/Kelley Lovelace/Neil Thrasher)

Chesney: “I haven't had one of these songs in a while. 'Where I Grew Up' is a song that you really look for, you hope you get three or four of them in a career. And I've been lucky to have three or four of them. This is me. I've been in every scenario in this song. I remember as a kid writing in one of my buddy's yearbook, “I hope we never grow up.” And I try in lots of ways to make that philosophy come true, but then again you realize in some ways I already had. My grandfather died when I was a kid, and I grew  up a little bit. I think this song teaches us that there are things in our lives that force us to grow up.

Åtte. “Reality”
(Kenny Chesney/Brett James)

Chesney: “I got the idea to write 'Reality' in the dentist's chair. I'm sitting there with a gas mask on. There were a couple of years that I was so busy on the road I was kinda numb. I wasn't really tired, I wasn't really not tired, I wasn't really happy, I was just kind of numb. So I'd go to the dentist to have something done and they'd put that gas mask on me and I'd be like, 'Wow, that's as relaxed as I've been in years!' I thought to myself, 'This is why people smoke pot right here! This is it!' I don't smoke pot, but this is why people do it, I guarantee you. Because it gets them away from reality. I even asked my dentist, 'I just want to come over here and sit some time, can you guys do that?' He said, 'We can't do that, we'd get in trouble.' I swear, I started writing that song on the way home. But then I related it to everybody that comes to see us. That's what live music is. It's an escape from reality. That's why as a kid I loved it. I still love going to shows, I love live music. That's where I got the idea to write the song, it's my message to the fans that it's OK to break free and escape reality, with us.”

9. “Round And Round”
(Scotty Emerick/Paul Overstreet/Even Stevens)

Chesney: “'Round and Round' is very different for me, melodically and production-wise. I think everybody, whether it's your job or your love life, whatever it is, there's a certain complacency that we get, the internal voice saying it might be better somewhere else, or I'm kinda sick of what I'm doing now I might want to try this or that. This song is telling us we should enjoy the right now, enjoy the moment. I think everybody searches for that certain balance and tries to quiet those thoughts in their head that they've got to be constantly moving, need to go somewhere, do this, be with somebody else. It's like all those characters in the song. The guy that lives in the mountains wants to go to the beach and the guy on the beach wants to live in the mountains. The message of the song is you've got to enjoy the moment as much as you possible can.”

10. “Somewhere With You”
(JT Harding/Shane McAnally)

Chesney: “This song killed me when I heard it. This is a tortured soul song. If you get going with somebody, you've been in a relationship and for whatever reason she's gone or you're gone. And you're not necessarily in another relationship, but you're with somebody else, just starting something with somebody else. Trying to balance both those worlds is tough. I've done it a lot, where you're with somebody and you're thinking this isn't necessarily bad, but wow, man it would be really great to be with you. That can be a lot of mental baggage.”

11. “Hemingway's Whiskey”
(Guy Clark/Ray Stephenson/Joe Leathers)

Chesney: “My favorite book ever is “The Old Man and the Sea.” Those two characters in that book remind me of the relationship I had with my grandfather. It was an important one. I've been asked many times, on many different occasions, if there was one person you'd want to sit and have a beer with, living or dead, who would it be? And it would probably be Ernest Hemingway. He's traveled, he's met all these wonderful characters, he's written about them, he's loved, he's lost love, he's lived with regret, he's lived with depression, he's lived with so much stuff. Why wouldn't you want to have a beer and pick his brain… on a good day? And he loved life.

“When I saw the title on a Guy Clark record, I was curious. I wonder what that means, wonder what he's talking about? And I listened to it, and it's a celebration of how he kind of walked between the raindrops. I do that a lot. I've spent a lot of time on my boat down in the Keys and over in Bimini and the Bahamas, and those are all places where he hung out. I haven't been to Cuba yet. But when I heard this song, it just took me to those places. It took me to a state of mind. I love that part of the song where it says, “Sail away, sail away, three sheets to the wind/live hard, die hard, this one's for him.” Because I do, I live a pretty fast life. Even though I'm very healthy and regimented in my diet and everything, we live hard. We don't live as hard as the guys on “Deadliest Catch,” now they live hard. But we're in a different place every day, we're a lot like modern day pirates. So I get what that line is. It's not about being drunk at all. It's about being pedal to the metal. When I heard that line, it about killed me. I felt this pretty odd album kinship to that song.

“I don't know what I'd ask Hemingway if I had a beer with him. We'd have to have whiskey, I guess.”

A Conversation with eels' Mark Oliver Everett (E)

Mike Ragogna : What have you been up to since Hombre Lobo ?

Mark Oliver Everett : It's funny, we last spoke before Hombre Lobo came out, and that was only last April or May. That's weird to me because it seems like it must have been five years ago.

MR : Yeah, it seems like a long time.

MOE : I've been so busy. The fun thing about my life is that I immerse myself every year or so into a new musical world, and this time, I expedited how many times I was going to do that in a much shorter period of time. So, last year feels like several years to me.

MR : It should because you have had three albums in what, a little over a year?

MOE : Yeah, that's right.

MR : End Times was this past January's release, right?

MOE : That's right, a wintry record.

MR : And now you're capping off your run of Hombre Lobo and End Times with this third record that we're talking about today, Tomorrow Morning .

MOE : Right.

MR : Well, in some respects, Tomorrow Morning seems like a finale for the trio. On the other hand, it seems like you're opening another chapter.

MOE : Well, yeah. I guess that's the point. It was important for me to follow a title called End Times with the title Tomorrow Morning because then it changes the meaning of the title End Times . How could it be the end if there's a morning coming tomorrow?

MR : (laughs) Very clever. And it's interestingly sequenced.

MOE : Actually, the beginning is at the end of the story, and the end is in the middle.

MR : I've been a fan since E, and you had me at “Nowheresville” and A Man Called (E) .

MOE : You're showing your age.

MR : Somebody has to. You know, I've been following your career since your “E” days and when you became the eels that dabbled with even more experimental pop melodies and lyrics. With this album, did you have an overall mission with Tomorrow Morning ?

MOE : Well, I wanted to make a warm, celebratory album that was celebrating life and all of the good things in life. You know, as you get older, you start to look around, and you start to notice that there are things that you should be appreciating.

MR : Yeah, including love. There are a couple of great “love” songs on your latest. “I Like The Way This Is Going” is a really simple song with you on electric guitar…

MOE : …it's just guitar and bass and nothing else.

MR : Right, and it's a real joy to me. “Mystery Of Life” is probably my favorite, your “la la” chorus all but poking the eye of pop music.

MOE : Oh, cool.

MR : There are a few songs on this record that seem pretty complicated topically such as “I'm A Hummingbird.” Terrific lyrics and sentiment.

MOE : That's very nice to hear because I wasn't sure what anyone was going to make of that one. I felt like it was pretty pretty odd album, and so far, it seems like people are liking it, which is nice because I didn't know what to expect.

MR : From your perspective, which song was the most complicated from any perspective?

MOE : Well, a lot of them are deceptively complicated, but you wouldn't think it. The one called “Looking Up” is my favorite probably because I had the most fun I've ever had in the recording studio making it. But a lot of these songs are very complicated because they're multi-layered. Literally, there is just layer after layer, adding and subtracting as the songs go on. In the case of “Looking Up,” that applies to all the different percussion that keeps piling up on it, so it just keeps building. It's a different way to do a song, rather than the traditional verse, chorus, bridge, outro. Instead, you can also build songs by layering different percussive elements in and out.

MR : Looking at Hombre Lobo , End Times , and Tomorrow Morning , might this one be the most personal?

MOE : Well, End Times was pretty darn personal.

MR : True. What's your tour going to be like?

MOE : Yeah, we're about to start a fifty-show world tour.

MR : Where are you headed?

MOE : Japan, Australia, Europe, and America.

MR : Where in America?

MOE : They're on the website. I'm on a need to know basis, and I only know within the next twenty-four hours.

MR : (laughs) I may have asked you this question when I spoke with you last, but what advice do you have for new acts?

MOE : Well, I think the best advice I could give a young act is to try not to be tentative about anything that you do. Even if you're unsure about yourself or what you're doing, do it like you know what you're doing. That right there is half the battle. Do what you're doing with authority, and you'll be amazed at how much it works just by having that attitude.

MR : Nice. No one else has ever answered the question that way.

MOE : It's actually hands on, very useful advice.

MR : Yeah, it goes beyond just self-confidence, it's just about believing in yourself and what you're doing.

MOE : Exactly. Even if you don't believe what you're doing, lie to yourself that you believe what you're doing as a start, and eventually, you might start believing what you're doing.

MR : (laughs) From your days of making “E” albums through now, what are some of the most significant changes that you think you've gone through?

MOE : Artistically?

MR : Artistically, and maybe personally.

MOE : So much. I've had so many experiences, and I've been through so much since then. I wish someone could have told me back then how things would be for me twenty years later because things are really nice for me now, and I never would have guessed that things could have turned out this nice. So, good to know, and I hope that can serve as a little bit of hope. If a schmuck like me can get happy, anybody can.

Tracks :
En. In Gratitude For This Magnificent Day
2. I'ma Hummingbird
Tre. The Morning
4. Baby Loves Me
5. Spectacular Girl
Seks. What I Have to Offer
7. This Is Where It Gets Good
Åtte. After The Earthquake
9. Oh So Lovely
10. The Man
11. Looking Up
12. That's Not Her Way
13. I Like The Way This Is Going
14. Mystery Of Life

(transcribed by Ryan Gaffney)

A Conversation with Ellis Paul

Mike Ragogna: With more and more artists taking responsibility for the marketing and distribution of their projects, fan funding has become a more obvious route. For The Day After Everything Changed , you raised over $100,000, right?

Ellis Paul : Yes.

MR : How did you do it?

EP : Well, we set up a tier system on the website where people can go get goods and services that they bought into. The top end is for $10,000 and in exchange, you get a guitar and a house concert, and I write a song for you with hand written lyrics to whatever song you like. On the lower end, a $15 dollar scale would get you a pre-ordered CD that is signed and numbered and on like that.

MR : Didn't your first albums came out on Newbury Comics?

EP : Yes. Newbury Comics hooked up with my manager and myself and we started a label called Black Wolf. We put the first two records out with them, and that went well. It gave me confidence to really do this.

MR : Was the first one also fan funded?

EP : Nope, I funded it myself. The management company basically put it out themselves. I have a good team right now put together for this kind of project.

MR : So, you've had songs in movies such as Jim Carrey's Me, Myself & Irene as well as music in the final scene of Ed .

EP : More and more of that kind of stuff is happening, and I'm starting to get calls from Nashville about covering my material. I had two cuts on a Sugarland record, and other commercial stuff coming my way which has been good. But I'm trying to write songs that I'm proud of having written, I don't want to write strictly for commercial means. I am just trying to write good songs.

MR : You mentioned Nashville which is perfect since your material is so cover worthy. “Annalee” sounds like it should be somebody's hit if not your own.

EP : That would be great, I like that song a lot. Well, that's part of the writing. Writing it for accessibility makes it universal, so a lot of people can be covering songs that are on this record as opposed to my other records which are based more on my personal experiences and personal take on things. My personal voice is maybe a little bit stronger on other records than the universal voice that is on this one.

MR : This album reminds me a lot of Stories .

EP : You know, it has more of that story kind of theme in a lot of ways. It's like a sister record.

MR : There is an intimacy to it that circles back to your earlier career and even the way you are phrasing things seems like Say Anything and Stories , that era.

EP : Glad you picked up on that as the writing is more like that era than the stuff that I have done in between.

MR : On the other hand, this batch of songs seems very emotional, the opposite of your earlier, concept-driven material.

EP : These songs seem to be more from the neck down rather than the neck up. The lyrics are more accessible right from the first listen. I think it was more country style writing where you just say what you mean, what you feel rather than trying to politicize everything. So, it just immediately connects emotionally and the production doesn't get in the way or distract, it supports whatever the mood of the song is in a great way. I am with you. It's my best record to date.

MR : Yeah, I also think The Day After Everything Changed is your best as well as your most “commercial” album to date.

EP : Yeah and I think that has to do with the immediate impact of the songs. It only takes a listen or two to get pulled into what the songs are about. It's partially the writing and partially making the right choices production-wise to hook people. “Commercial” production can be very hokey.

MR : Yes. Also, the packaging is beautiful with some real attention to detail.

EP : I don't want people to think that this was done on a shoestring or that I was begging people for money on the Internet. It's really more money than anyone has ever spent on me, we didn't cut any corners. I spent more on the recording, spent more on the artwork, and spent more on the marketing than I have ever spent on any other project. So, it's not a shoestring thing at all. It's a move up in a lot of ways.

MR : And due to your taking your career into your own hands–not becoming behoovin' to a label but going the fan funding route–you have the mandate to express yourself any way you need to artistically.

EP : Yeah. They are always trying to think of the bottom line and not actually what the actual product looks like. They give you deadlines that you have to be done by, you have to spend this much money, you can't go over budget.

All of those things are bypassed. We spent as much as we needed to make a record right, and we hired the right people for the design who could express who I am and what I want rather than what the record label wants. It feels more real, more me, more artful, more creative.

MR : It's always nice when the album concept is supported by its artwork. As we head towards CDs retirement, I guess it's logical that artwork will be the biggest casualty.

EP : I think people are dogging CD artwork because it's so small and it's fading out as more and more records are getting smaller and smaller and going to digital. So, we decided to maximize what the artwork would say. We really took our time with the artwork and the designer did a great job. There was sort of a theme of baptism and renewal in all of the photo shots of the water.

MR : Though my favorite shot is the one of you in the room with the guitar in the corner with the sunset through the bay window.

EP : That was in a little bed and breakfast mansion in Orange, Virginia, that we found on the Internet. We thought about each location and figuring out how to make the drama of the artwork work with the drama that was going on in the songs.

MR : How are you making this the best online experience for your fans?

EP : Well, I am trying to learn more about YouTube and Facebook interactions with people.

MR : And the website?

EP : I want it to be like a little garden. I want it to be filled with cool looking things rather than weeds. I think a lot of people just throw out weeds on their websites. They just let their gardens go entirely, let it go stagnant for years and throw garbage up on it that doesn't have any value. These are things that can stay up for years and years to come after we are all long gone, so it will be a website that will support high quality. I think that is why the artwork is so important. I just want to stick it out.

MR : Earlier, I brought up “Annalee,” but “Rose Tattoo” also is a pretty catchy song complete with a sing-a-long vibe at the end.

EP : With “Rose Tattoo,” I took a lot of that Jim Croce stuff with two guitars panned left and right. I'm happy with that one. But you know, I'm happy with all of them.

MR : You ended the album with the intense “Nothing Left To Take” which is a very unusual song. Can you discuss it a bit?

EP : I had heard a story about a couple that broke up and there was alcohol involved. One of the parties was an alcoholic and got into a car accident. So, I tried to dress up that story, and a lot of the specific details kind of came down to the bottle while he was driving. There was a time frame as to how the break up happened. Fifteen seconds, a minute, an hour–like a clock ticking as the song is going on.

MR : Which song are you closest to?

EP : “Hurricane Angel” seems to be one that I gravitate to the most, even though it's not a song about me. It's about a Katrina victim and the crossroads after the storm that happened, and trying to figure out how to get help. He's reaching out to the insurance companies, the President, and God looking for some help and relief.

MR : It's years later and the aftermath of Katrina and there's damage still remaining.

EP : I wrote that after all of the Katrina victims were in the FEMA trailers and were kicked out of them because of formaldehyde poisoning, nearly 40,000 people got their trailers taken away from them. I guess they were getting poisoned from the formaldehyde that was in the walls, and it just spurred me to write it. There is just no way that those people can win down there. It's just speed bump after speed bump after speed bump.

MR : You were a social worker at some point, right?

EP : Yeah, in my early twenties after college for about four or five years.

MR : Do you find yourself wanting to jump into specific social causes?

EP : Yeah. I want to write about those things, but often times, you can't force the subject matter. You start doing that and then a song comes out (that's) a piece of s**t. I try and wrap my head around these problems, but I'm just waiting for the right story to come to me. It's a challenge for me being self-employed to afford health insurance I need in order to cover my family. So, its going to be a social issue that addresses my life in some way, and then I need to find a story that I can address the emotions of, so it took me five years to write the Katrina song.

MR : A balance of sentiment and constructive engagement. Interestingly, it takes a while to know what to be talking about when you're talking about it.

EP : When (Katrina) happened, there were a thousand songs written in the weeks after that. It was too big of an event for me to ever get objective about for me to write about. There were some beautiful songs written, but I have to say, though a lot of songs were written out of that moment, I couldn't do it. It was just too big of a thing.

MR : This project's overall statement seems to be, “Okay, everything has changed and now it's time to start life.” Was that intentional?

EP : I have kids now and I'm looking back at the last 20 years of my life and what am I going to do with the next 20 years of my life, so it seems like, “What am I going to do now?” I'm at the halftime of the super bowl of my life and I'm reflective. I'm looking back, and a lot of these songs are about people who are about, you know, a guy who just got laid off and is at home, and in the first song, there is a guy who is going back to college and wondering what the future holds for him. So, every one of the characters are approaching some kind of major crossroads and are trying to make decisions about what their future is going to look like and which road to take. I guess I am sort of in that place in my own life being at a halfway point too.

MR: At this halfway point, are there things you haven't done musically that might be explored over the next few projects?

EP : I think so. If I can do the next four or five records with the same batch of people and approach the songwriting in the same way, I really feel like we could get locked into something that is like a sweet spot. I feel more centered with my production and writing style. It feels kind of like I found my thing. If I can write out of this place and write the next four or five records this well, even without any commercial success, I would be thrilled just to put out records that are this good every time.

Tracks :
En. Annalee
2. Rose Tattoo
Tre. River Road
4. The Day After Everything Changed
5. The Lights Of Vegas
Seks. Hurricane Angel
7. Heaven's Wherever You Are
Åtte. Dragonfly
9. Sometime, Someplace
10. Once Upon A Summertime
11. Waking Up To Me
12. Walking After Midnight / Change
13. The Cotton's Burning
14. Paper Dolls
15. Nothing Left To Take

(transcribed by Erika Richards)

PRESS RELEASE :

DISTURBED ABOUT THE ENVIRONMENT

Multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated hard rock band Disturbed have released the video for their #1 single “Another Way to Die.”
The video, shot by Roboshobo (Mastodon, Metallica), is a hard-hitting, unsettling look at the dangers of not taking care of our environment. Examples of global warming, pollution, deforestation and overflowing landfills are intercut with a post-apocalyptic narrative. “Thematically, the song's about global warming and how the choices we make affect the planet,” explains guitarist Dan Donegan. “It's a new topic for us, and it'll hopefully raise a little awareness.” Front man David Draiman continues, “It definitely is meant to draw the effects of the indulgent life that most people lead. It is meant to draw a contrast to things and to show the effects of the abuse we are causing to our planet.”
The track itself is already a #1 hit at Active Rock Radio. “Another Way to Die” is the highest Billboard Active Rock debut in Disturbed's history and the fastest #1 for the band on Billboard's Active Rock chart, getting to #1 in just 4 weeks. It is also the fastest # 1 on Billboard's Active Rock chart in over 3 years and is the band's 7th # 1 single on Billboard's Active Rock chart: they are tied with Metallica for the 3rd most #1′s on the Active Rock chart.

“Another Way To Die” by Disturbed

Follow Mike Ragogna on Twitter:

www.twitter.com/ragz2008

They Might Be Giants won a Grammy Award in 2002 for their half-finished song “Boss of Me,” which served as the theme song for the hit show “Malcolm in the Middle,” said John Flansburgh, one of the founders of the Brooklyn-born band.

“We had no idea that song would be a hit,” he said. “The success of that song really illustrates how you just can't tell how something is going to work out.”

TMBG, who will perform at the Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz on Friday, has a way of making things that work out.

TMBG, founded in 1982 by John Flansburgh and John Linnell — often referred to as the two Johns — started out somewhere in between alternative rock and performance art, Flansburgh said. Flansburgh played the guitar, Linnell played the accordion and saxophone and, true to 1980s dance culture, they rock a drum machine.

“Our stuff was kind of pretty odd album,” Flansburgh said. “We weren't accepted as a real band,' but at these performance art places we were the rock guys,' so we were kind of caught in between.”

But TMBG, born in the era of free form radio and punk rock, didn't care where they played, just so long as they played, he said.

“We're not virtuosos,” Flansburgh said. “When you're not a virtuoso, it's kind of a humbler. I don't know what it would be like to go through the world thinking I'm totally hot stuff. Our skill set is a little bit more willful. We actually have to work at what we achieve, and I think we get a lot out of the work that

we do.”

But, what TMBG lacked in virtuosity, they made up for with creativity.

For example, for their performance of their song, “Number Three,” they put down their instruments and wore giant, hot pink, papier-mache hands, crafted by Flansburgh, and did a choreographed dance, he said.

In the late '80s, their project, “Dial-a-Song,” set them aside from other bands.

They recorded their songs onto a phone answering machine so that when people called in they would hear TMBG on the recording, Flansburgh said. They changed the song daily and advertised the phone number in the New York weekly newspaper the Village Voice.

“It was quite the phenomenon,” he said. “It made us different from any other band and it was, uniquely, our own.”

The Two Johns began performing in the East Village New York club scene, where they gathered a local following, he said.

“The East Village scene pushed us into the national spotlight,” Flansburgh said. “It was pretty freaky in the mid '80s. There was a really hardcore night club scene, there were a lot of drugs and everything was hyper-sexualized. Stylistically, we were kind of the opposite of dance floor music but I think the fact that we worked with a drum machine helped bridge us into that world.”

TMBG found success and produced four albums as a duo, and in the early '90s they expanded into a full band, he said. Though they still used a drum machine and pre-recorded music, they took on a keyboardist, a drummer and a bassist.

TMBG's unconventional style, unusual subject matter and low budget but wild MTV videos, shot by television producer Adam Bernstein, gained them wide spread recognition and a big fan following, Flansburgh said.

Their music videos, which were adapted from their stage performances, often featured off-the-wall ideas, Flansburgh said.

“I think one of the reasons our videos did so well, besides our incredibly handsome faces, was that they were shot on film,” he said. “Even though they were very low budget, they looked more authentic than the video in 1986. It gave us more of an artistic value and that was a lucky break for us.”

In 2002, TMBG did a kids' record called “No!” which was very warmly received, Flansburgh said. After that, writing kids' music became a parallel industry for them.

TMBG's most recent, 2009 album for kids, “Here Comes Science,” uses catchy alternative rock to introduce listeners to applied sciences, according to their Web site. Songs such as, “Meet the Elements,” “What Is a Shooting Star” and “My Brother the Ape,” entertain as well as teach. The group is working on additional children's music but is also due to release another grown-up album in 2010.

“We're just trying to find a way to make a song that's a little more unexpected,” Flansburgh said. “We're were just trying to find our own voice in a “” well “” a really crazy world.”

Over the years, rock-star side projects have not fared particularly well. More often than not they are a self-indulgent mess or an ill-advised ego-trip, having little worth to anyone other than devoted disciples. So what to make of the news that Philip Selway, the unassuming Radiohead drummer, is to release his first solo album nearly 20 years into the band's celebrated career?

For such a hugely successful group, the members of Radiohead are among the most publicity shy in modern music. They aren't, however, adverse to the pretty odd album stunt, as the no-singles-to-be-released-from-”Kid A” furor and the pay-what-you-want experiment for their last album, “In Rainbows,” prove.

Selway is perhaps the band's most innocuous member, having little creative input into Radiohead's tunes, and being just as well known for his charity work as any kind of musical prowess.

It makes his decision to launch a solo career a surprising one, yet here he is with a world tour to coincide with the release of his “Familial” album. Of his motivation for this new project, Selway says, “When you're the same age as the prime minister, you think 'I'd better get on with this.' "

Produced by Ian Davenport of Radiohead's Courtyard Studios at their Oxfordshire base, “Familial” will shock many. That's not just because the emotional resonance of the sparse folk and haunting melodies inspired by the death of his mother in 2006 is genuinely moving, but because it is actually pretty good.

Japanese fans should be particularly excited, not to mention privileged, as Selway's whistle-stop tour — a date in Tokyo followed by one in Osaka — are his debut live shows. Not even British fans will have had the chance to see what are surely going to be, at the very least, some intriguing shows with Radiohead's unsung talent.

The Crowded House frontman has been busy with, of all things, a radio show about flowers

By George Varga , UNION-TRIBUNE

Originally published August 19, 2010 at 9:49 am, updated August 19, 2010 at 10:56 am

Music fans around the world know Neil Finn as the talented leader of Crowded House, New Zealand's most successful pop-rock band ever, and as a former member of Split Enz, New Zealand's most quirky band ever. Fans also know that Neil's older brother, Tim, founded Split Enz (which Neil joined in 1977 at age 18), that Tim joined Crowded House in 1991 for a few years, and that both are pals with ex-San Diegan Eddie Vedder, who attended Split Enz's memorable 1981 gig here at the State Theater.

But here are some things you may not know about Neil Finn, who performs here Sunday with the revamped Crowded House at Humphrey's Concerts by the Bay, in support of “Intriguer,” the group's arresting new album.

Fresh bloom: This veteran singer-songwriter and band leader now hosts a radio show in New Zealand, “Neil Finn's Cornucopia of Flowers.” Thus far, he has used the show to explore the allure of sunflowers, daffodils, gardenias, hyacinths, poppies, lotuses and peonies. (You can hear “Cornucopia” online at 95bfm.com/index.sm) . But what, exactly, qualifies him to discuss blooms and blossoms?

Finn: “I don't want to give you any illusion I have any real depth of knowledge. I got asked to do the show. It was the most unusual thing I've ever been asked, especially given my lack of knowledge. But I thought: 'I'll never be asked that again, so I should do it.' ”

Pedal pusher: An avid bicyclist, Finn has discovered that honing his song lyrics comes easy when he's pedaling away or when he's simply walking. Thankfully, he's never had an accident while mulling a tricky couplet or chorus on his bike.

Finn: “I ride about 6 to 10 kilometers and it's a great place to go over lyrics, on your bike, or walking as well. If you're searching for a few lines, you can get it. The rhythm of those activities things is quite good for songwriting.”

Fruits & nuts: While some bands take great delight in demanding that colorful (and sometimes outrageous) items be provided in their backstage dressing rooms, Crowded House is not one of them.

Finn: “I would think we're fairly easy to please. We ask for avocados, salt-and-pepper potato chips, tamarind-almonds, fruit and some nice bottles of red wine. That's the extent of it, really. We don't take delight in making (concert) promoters find pretty odd album things. We don't even ask for M&Ms!”

Sugar rush: Finn does admit to having a sweet tooth, although, he notes: “I don't eat as much I used to.” Does he have any favorite sweet treats from his native New Zealand?

Finn: “As far as confectioneries go, I'm very fond of Chocolate Fish, which is just exactly what it sounds like: a chocolate marshmallow, shaped like a fish. And Pineapple Lumps are pretty good as well. Do we ever ask for Chocolate Fish and Pineapple Lumps to be stocked in our dressing rooms? No, that would be really problematical for promoters in America to find, which — hmm — is tempting!”

Rob Sheffield's new book, Talking To Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man's Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut must have been titled by the publisher rather than the author. There was no questing for true love. Yearning and pining, perhaps, but no discernable actions were taken by the author to actually acquire a girlfriend. Despite having the advantage of three outgoing sisters who gamely attempted to transform him into a babe magnet and generally school him on the subtleties of elusive, mysterious minds and hearts of teenage girls, Sheffield was too paralyzed by fear and anxiety to talk to most girls, let alone bust a move. This is understandable for an awkward, gawky 15-16 year-old. But his neurosis extended throughout the entire decade of the 80s, well into his early 20s. It certainly takes balls to admit that, and makes me feel a little better that I at least managed to conquer my own fears just shy of 19.

So it's not really about talking to girls, nor questing for love, and not even much about Duran Duran. Instead, it's an episodic series of 25 impressionist vignettes using pop songs to talk about his life, which mainly involved listening to music, driving ice cream trucks, staying with his grandfather, thinking about religion, hanging around some girls and thinking about talking to them, but mostly not. Those looking for a compelling, heartbreaking narrative arc like his first book, Love Is A Mix Tape , will be left wanting. This book will appeal more to music trainspotter types who love the 80s. Really, really love the 80s. One of the most admirable things about the book is that Sheffield manages to be funny without using the crutch of irony. There's very little irony, only sincere love letters to 80s pop as it coincides with his hapless adolescence and early adulthood. I enjoyed Sheffield's enthusiasm for long-forgotten artifacts like Haysi Fantayzee, despite the fact that I hated the 80s. At least that aspect of it.

I was particularly struck with how he made 1986 seem particularly dreary, despite his enthusiasm. It seemed like a year that nothing really significant happened in music. And it does coincide with the conventional wisdom that the mid-eighties were a cultural wasteland. Sheffield characterized that era with Rambo and Top Gun, sources of repeated hilarity and guilty pleasures at the time, but best forgotten. Of course it was also the year of Aliens, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, One Crazy Summer, Blue Velvet, The Name Of The Rose, Down By Law, The Big Easy, Matador, Something Wild, Sid And Nancy, Nine 1/2 Weeks and Pretty In Pink. By now you're realizing this isn't really a review of Talking To Girls About Duran Duran , just like the book wasn't really about girls or Duran Duran. Let's talk more about 1986.

1986 was when MTV started to royally suck. Hit videos were repeated so often they would often appear twice in the same hour, including the likes of Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Heart, Bon Jovi, Bruce Hornsby, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Billy Idol, Mr. Mister, Lionel Richie, Billy Ocean, Starship, Robert Palmer, Genesis, Steve Winwood, Huey Lewis & The News, The Bangles, Falco and Wang Chung. Not all of it was horrible, but just for the indignity of being force-fed the stuff so repetitively, every single one of them made me want to drive nails into my raging, sexually frustrated teenage skull. Or better yet, their skulls. Bon Jovi particularly irked me at the time, because I thought at first he sounded alright, a kind of metallized Bruce Springsteen. But then I saw the videos with his ridiculousy poofed hair and cheesy preening that was blatantly aimed toward an audience of screaming tweener girls, and I somehow felt betrayed. Similarly, the tunes from Madonna's first album made me think she was like a former tough New York punk chick who discovered dance music, like Blondie. But her later hits like “Like A Virgin,” “Papa Don't Preach” and “True Blue” drove me insane with their obviously, cynically calculated, cold feel. Feh, sellout.

1986 felt uneventful for some as it was an pretty odd album limbo between the blockbusters of Thriller, Purple Rain, Born In The USA, , and later hits like Faith, The Joshua Tree, Bad, Hysteria and, erm, Dirty Dancing . Other major post-punk and indie bands like The Cure, Echo & The Bunnymen, The Replacements, The Pogues, Tom Waits, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Naked Raygun and Dinosaur Jr. also took a breather that year, when it was still common to put out albums every year.

1986 was pretty uneventful for me personally too. It spanned the spring of my junior year and the fall of my senior year in high school. I ran track and cross country, applied to colleges but didn't know where I was going yet, and needless to say I had no girlfriend. But my relationship with rock 'n' roll was getting pretty dang mature, if you count our first date when I bought my first album, Gary Numan's The Pleasure Principle in 1979. I had quickly graduated from buying 45s to albums that year, and I was hooked. I was always about the album. A single was over way too quickly, then you had to get up and flip it or put on something else. It was like a commercial or a movie preview. Listening to an album was more like the main event, or like reading a good book. It gave me time to read or do homework during the 16 to 20 minute sides. I was addicted, shoveling snowdrifts bigger than me at age 9-12 during the winter and raiding trash cans after summer house parties for beer and pop cans with 5 cent refunds to support my habit.

The liberating factor that easied my financial restrictions was the acquisition in the end of 1985, of my Aiwa double cassette deck mini stereo with graphic equalizer. It was not quite a real stereo, but it was bigger than a boombox, with detachable speakers. It was my sweet baby that allowed me to horde ten times the amount of music than I had previously. A local rock station would play new albums in their entirety on Sunday nights, and I could tape them. But most importantly, whenever I or my small group of friends would get tapes via the Columbia and RCA clubs, local stores The Asteroid or Musicland, or Target's $5.99 sales, we could dub them for each other. At 16 I had a fair collection of 100 or so records and tapes. And a want list of another 500. When college/public radio station KUNI would play something enticing, I'd take notes. I had a long-standing ritual of scouring reviews in CREEM, Trouser Press, Rolling Stone and RECORD magazine, which was bought out at the end of 1985 by SPIN . I was well equipped to side-step the tyranny of MTV and top 40 radio and find out what else the world of music had to offer. By the time 1986 rolled around, I was 5'9″ and barely 100 lbs (with 4 more inches and 60 lbs of growth ahead) of quivering, twitchy teenage music obsession, ready to rock.

[More on music from 1986 with some videos. Click on my dorky picture at the end for the soundtrack, which I kindly matched the sound levels for you with Adobe Soundbooth.] Continue…