PicoBlog

A couple of major artists have gotten attention for diving into “dance music” this summer. Interesting albums, yes, but to my old school ears, their attempts don’t really match the funky soul of the ‘80s music that they seeme determined to reinvent, echo or supercede. Though many associate me with hip-hop, being a New Yorker who dated extensively throughout the ‘80s I spent a lot time at clubs that either didn’t play “rap” or only jumped on the genre later in the decade.

          Before turning to the four-day pause to permit the release of hostages held by Hamas and the delivery of humanitarian aid in Gaza, I want to address the top comment from a reader posted in response to yesterday’s newsletter. The reader said (in part), Today I’m fighting despair because of the voting rights decision, Univision’s takeover, the seemingly never-ending coverage of DJT, and the war in Gaza. So... what to do?

Share On Episode 147 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, college horticulture professor Debbie Flower and I tackled a question from Connor, a listener who is growing hops in the San Francisco Bay Area. And he is curious about whether he should keep the ground cover growing beneath his hops: That’s Salt Heliotrope, Heliotropium curassavicum, which according to Wikipedia, is a species of flowering plant in the borage family.

Hello readers,  There was a spontaneous protest late Friday night outside of the Taiwanese legislature. It was sparked by one of the most intense fights that broke out on the legislative floor. Brawls are nothing new in Taiwanese politics, and of course we condemn all violence. But the most recent acts have been sparked by a series of outrageous norm-breaking moves, including not even revealing which version of the bill everybody was voting on, and not even requiring a roll call.

I’m not a huge believer in the need to update everybody about where shit is, or where it’s not, as if what I do moves some cosmic needle for anyone, BUT, I only came to this newfound thing, this realization, about a year ago after a boat load of people told me, in a couple of old posts here, that t… ncG1vNJzZmismaK0sLvDppinZqOqr7TAwJyiZ5ufonyxe8Bmp6unl6eurrnIp55mpp%2Bpsg%3D%3D

Every seven years, it seems, Demi Moore is expensively chopped, dropped, shaved,  airbrushed and hydraulically re-sexualized for a new demographic of boner-attention.   The X-Box contingent is discovering, today, what the Gen-X boys witnessed before them: Despite Repeated Motherhood, Demi (through a vigorous combination of rude will and 6-digit surgeries) Is Still Fuckable! (see Kutcher, Ashton; Dude, Where’s My Mom?) In 1996, La Moore was paid $12.5m -- the highest fee any actress had ever been paid, at that point – to unveil her Demispheres in the movie Striptease, to the delight of several sweaty,  jism-clogged fans worldwide.

“You want to go as deeply into them as people as you can. But usually what happens, if you’re careful with people and if you respect their privacy, they will offer part of themselves that you can use and that is the big secret,” once said Eve Arnold, whose uninstructive approach made her a favorite among the many movie stars who she photographed, who would not only offer Arnold part of themselves, but also divulge some secrets of their own.

This review by longtime Charlotte arts critic Lawrence Toppman was published by The Charlotte Ledger on March 21, 2024. You can find out more about The Charlotte Ledger’s commitment to smart local news and information and sign up for our newsletter for free here. And check out this link for Toppman’s archive of reviews in the Ledger. The touring production of Moulin Rouge! incorporates pop tunes from stars like Elton John, the Rolling Stones and David Bowie.

I’m not currently in a book club, so it’s rare that recently several friends of mine all decided to read the same book. Maybe it’s the name — Dykette — that had interests piqued. One writer friend said she was “jealous” of the title, which I thought was very on-brand for this book in particular. Jenny Fran Davis’s Dykette is filled with femme jealousy — a facet of what Davis’ coined as High Femme Antics in 2020.