The first daughter isn't about to let the job get to her head.
I hope she keeps this up during the entire presidency of her father. I think her pictures once released to the world, will be amazing. Her point of view in the eye of this historic storm will be revealing.
Dolls are a little freaky to me. A mini version of a real person. As a child we mimicked conversations and conflicts through dolls. Or for boys "action figures". It's the original self created third person narrative. The ancestor to Second Life. The virtual world to be a better you was in your imagination.
Then our love for celebrities. Their vapid stare in space, all statuesque and perfect. Us Weekly, People, feed us those images. I'm not immune. I buy Elle every 2 months to divine from the style gods what look I want to slip into for the upcoming season. Dress the part for a saucier version of me.
So in my digression again from working on the short story for my fiction group, I came across these pics.
I'm a fan of collaboration. Currently developing on a project for myself and with one or some of my multi-talented friends. More on that later. I came across Jaydiohead while procrastinating work on a short story.
Minty Fresh beats merged one of my favorite bands, with one of the greatest MCs of all time. I think I was in the locker room changing for 4th period gym when we the radio blasted Public Enemey and Anthrax collaboration. Take a listen.
I'm not mad it. It's kinda hot, even. Check 99 Anthems, No Karma, and Fall in Step.
I'm not sure if or when Mad Men will return. The parallel between Don Draper and Matt Wiener was certainly not lost on any of us. However, in my time of need, I turn to youtube for answers:
Oh, to be a fly on that wall for that conversation...
But my absolute favorite is sitting president W's excitement in counting himself as a member of the ex-president's club.
But body language says a lot. I'm not sure why Obama and W. were centered the way they were. Carter the furthest away from Clinton for the photo op. Bush Sr. far away from Bush Jr, seperated by Obama. Like a child separating bickering divorced parents to keep the peace. In another video, as the photographers start to leave, and questions hurled at the presidents past, present and future, the awkward family dynamic persists, Clinton comments to W. about how much he liked the rug in the Oval Office. Carter stands and smiles longer, and is off to the far left of screen. Bush Sr. and Obama smile at each other. In the theater of American politics, it's nice to know that you can never really escape the awkward and dysfunctional family drama.
1. January 20, 2009 2. Elizabeth Alexander's poem for the inauguration 3. Robert Downey, Jr. and Jamie Foxx in the Soloist 4. Literary debut of The Other Side of Paradise by Staceyann Chin 5. Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned by Wells Tower 6. Mad Men Season 3!
I knew immediately when Coldplay released their latest experiment, with the album cover of the Delacroix painting and the storm the Bastille aesthetic that they were styled in, that something big, unnameable and epic was on the horizon for us -real americans- and the world. I remember listening to the opening opus thrilled yet melancholy by the rather upbeat and contradictory lamentable lyrics.
It occurred to me then that this was the subtle cultural response to the Bush Years. No? Think about it:
The song is persona piece of a historical figure, Herod, King of Jerusalem, before it collapsed under the rule of Romans and the subsequent crusades that dominated the ancient world. Considering the Bush years led to our own experience in a holy war. I don't need to summarize the last 7 years of what we've experienced -soldiers, civilians, Americans, the world, respect, etc.- but consider the losses we've had.
The election of Barack Obama sent people dancing in the streets. It was amazing to see humanity celebrate possibility.
But at the same time, I felt a little bad for W. Seriously. I certainly can't wait for the end of the Bush years. But I felt sad for him because he's that guy. It's like the song: "Revolutionaries wait, for my head on a silver plate". Granted, no one was storming the White House gate like it was the Bastille or anything nearly as bloody as the Delacroix painting. It was more like a peaceful manifestation of the Delacroix painting, the flag waving and the cheering, ecstatic mob outside of the castle waiting for the deposed king to leave.
The financial system collapsing adds another nuance to this culturally significant ditty. Watching the fall of giants such as Bear Sterns, Lehman, Washington Mutual, the auto makers, and the remix of a Ponzi scheme with Bernard Madoff seems to make the timing of the release of Viva la Vida hold a deeper resonance for our times in ways that I'm not sure they've even imagined yet.
