Arkansas Democrat-Gazette illustration/NIKKI DAWES "In the songwriting field, there isn't a section for fiction and a section for nonfiction. It's all mixed together." -- Warren Zevon I heard a story about a 13-year-old Warren Zevon drinking Scotch with Igor Stravinsky. It was a long time ago, probably in the 1970s. That was a cool image, the kid who'd grow up to be the most outre and Hunter S. Thompson-esque of all the Linda Ronstadt constellation of Southern California singer-songwriters hanging out with the great "inventor of music," the Russian who'd scandalized Paris with The Rite of Spring in 1913, getting together in a modest house in the Hollywood Hills a couple of years before anyone had heard of The Beatles. That house is up a little hill from the Sunset Strip, maybe half a mile from the Viper Room. You can pack a lot of poetry in that image, it's like that photograph of Boys' Stater Bill Clinton shaking hands with President John F. Kennedy. It seems impossible but somehow … [Read more...] about Zeroing in on Zevon
Big deal on madonna street
Madonna At 60: A Look Back At The Queen Of Pop’s Most Legendary Moments
ENTERTAINMENT 08/16/2018 10:49 am ET The Material Girl has put her stamp on music, film, style and more throughout her prolific career. By Curtis M. Wong Madonna rings in her 60th birthday on Aug. 16, the same way she has since she burst onto the scene in the early 1980s: as a pioneering and ever-divisive force in popular culture. She’s known globally as the Queen of Pop, but honestly, music is just one of many spheres that have felt her influence. From fashion trendsetter to film director to children’s author to queer icon to philanthropist, Madonna has worn many hats through countless incarnations. The one constant? She’s always the one in charge, much to the chagrin of her naysayers. “I’m tough, I’m ambitious, and I know exactly what I want,” the Material Girl famously said in 1991. “If that makes me a bitch, okay.” In 2016, she offered a similar sentiment when she cited the many … [Read more...] about Madonna At 60: A Look Back At The Queen Of Pop’s Most Legendary Moments
60 Times Madonna Changed Our Culture
By THE NEW YORK TIMES AUG. 16, 2018 Power. Innovation. Identity. Madonna has blended all of these and much more into a singular career in music, fashion, movies and beyond. For her 60th birthday, we assessed her broad and deep influence. Power. Innovation. Identity. Madonna has blended all of these and much more into a singular career in music, fashion, movies and beyond that’s crossed boundaries and obliterated the status quo. For her 60th birthday, our writers assessed her broad and deep influence. Zak Kaczmarek/Getty Images 1.She is fighting the pernicious idea that older women don’t matter. “People say I’m controversial,” Madonna told an audience of music-industry peers in 2016. “But I think the most controversial thing I have ever done is to stick around.” Sexism was the demon that haunted Madonna’s early career, but for two decades — maybe longer — it’s had an equally unwelcome sibling: ageism. … [Read more...] about 60 Times Madonna Changed Our Culture
Ceramics Aren’t Enough. Bring on the Spaceships, Italian Town Says.
Sections SEARCH Skip to content Skip to site index Europe Subscribe Log In Subscribe Log In Today's Paper Advertisement Supported by Italy Dispatch ByJason Horowitz July 30, 2018 GROTTAGLIE, Italy — After racing down a two-mile runway, a van carrying top airport officials rattled onto a patch of asphalt overrun with tall swaying grass, wildflowers and herbs. “Ah, smell that oregano,” said Antonio Maria Vasile. “It’s wild fennel if it’s anything,” replied his boss, Marco Franchini. “No, it’s oregano,” grumbled Mr. Vasile as Mr. Franchini stepped out of the van and announced: “Here we are. The Space Port.” Grottaglie, a medieval town known primarily for its handmade ceramics, is getting ready for liftoff. In July, Italian aerospace companies signed an agreement with Virgin Galactic to take space tourists with about $250,000 to burn on suborbital flights … [Read more...] about Ceramics Aren’t Enough. Bring on the Spaceships, Italian Town Says.
The Big Business of Being Gwyneth Paltrow
Sections Skip to content Skip to site index Feature Inside the growth of Goop — the most controversial brand in the wellness industry. Gwyneth Paltrow. Credit Amanda Demme for The New York Times Supported by ByTaffy Brodesser-Akner July 25, 2018 On a Monday morning in November, students at Harvard Business School convened in their classroom to find Gwyneth Paltrow. She was sitting at one of their desks, fitting in not at all, using her phone, as they took their seats along with guests they brought to class that day — wives, mothers, boyfriends. Each seat filled, and some guests had to stand along the back wall and sit on the steps. The class was called the Business of Entertainment, Media and Sports. The students were there to interrogate Paltrow about Goop, her lifestyle-and-wellness e-commerce business, and to learn how to create a “sustainable competitive advantage,” according to the class catalog. She moved to the … [Read more...] about The Big Business of Being Gwyneth Paltrow