Beginning with Andre and Prince.
And ending with a now deleted QL post. (Yall know how he aggravates me, and this is an illustration of how close he was NOT and damn well knows it, though he holds forth differently today.) That's not really the point, but since I had it, here it is.
I have a kind of parade outfit, a lavender double breasted crop top suit with buttons up the pantlegs, down the sleeves, and something similar to the yellow lace vma suit (neither pictured). But its black and no nude paneled butt, so. I love his music of course but fashion is such a big part of his performance, not just on stage. It was always so interesting to see what he would come out in. I miss seeing his new looks, I was digging the leather, the fringe, the animal beanies not long before he passed. I wonder what he'd be wearing now. He somehow made socks with flip flops look cool. Truly amazing.
I've been trying to find what works being in a hotter climate. Trying to stay cool and also not get burnt to a crisp.
Someone just told me the an 18 year old is not biologically an adult. Biological ignorance aside- wtf. No one knows the actual definition of pedophile or abuse anymore. These people are hysterical. Age has become a heuristic for abuse and its a bad one.
Age isn't the bad thing. Abuse is the bad thing.
Power imbalance can be fertile ground for abuse. It doesn't necessitate it. (It actually makes me wonder why they think it must. Is opportunity the only thing stopping them??) And power imbalance shows up in a thousand ways: income, age, gender, race, education, connections, appearance, disability, on and on and on. People have glommed onto this one.
We've all seen same age abuse, older/younger, younger/older. Age isn't the signifier. Character is.
It infatilizes and removes agency from the younger party while assuming the worst of the older.
I feel like this is another version of satanic panic. People losing their minds over a nonexistent issue. If two adults say they are happy and compatible and safe in a relationship, who the hell am I to tell them they're wrong and being... abused? exploited? they're too stupid to know how they feel, let me inform them???
It kills me when people say they're missing out on dating their own age. You mean Connor the drunken frat boy who isn't sure he can commit and can't do laundry? Or maybe Ava that has mistaken real life for a fairy tale, can't communicate, and thinks a good relationship is between a princess and a savior? A lot of younger people are more interested in older and that's their call.
Why do we suddenly think only close age can be a good relationship despite all real world evidence to the contrary?
Its such an extreme and dogmatic view.
I really wonder if this push to dilute what is actual pedophilia and abuse is by design.
If everything is wrong, then nothing is wrong. Who does it serve?
People are obsessed with two consenting adults dating while actual clinical pedophiles head countries and control industry, media, and direct culture.
At best, BEST, it acts as a smokescreen to the severity of the true horror, and distracts an individual's (and enough individuals equal a force) limited resources- time, attention, effort.
Is age gap hysteria a flood the zone tactic to facilitate the doings of actual monsters?
Age isn't the bad thing. Abuse is the bad thing. And it happens, and also does not happen, in every permutation of coupledom.
I still don't miss them. Turns out they're entirely unnecessary to life.
!!! ------EDIT------ !!!!
Some of y'all are misunderstanding, deliberately or not (and yeah I know the Target shills are in here, hope you get a raise). They're trying to reframe all of their wrongdoing as we can't tell our employees to attack ICE That was never the question.
No one thinks Target should have instructed employees to try to beat ICE down barehanded.
Before ICE even stepped foot in MN, Target was sending money. Target was giving access and was in lock step with the requests and instructions from the admin. They went on tv to announce their fealty, first in line!
They could have simply... NOT donated to the administration. NOT happily invited ICE into their security systems and labs. NOT invited them into their stores, announcing they were welcome. NOT publicly dropped to their knees and declared support.
Everyone has seen what small businesses, individuals, did. Poor, poor, powerless Target just had no ideas, they were the victims, really, if you think about it. But yes, they could have fought it just like Costco did. Just like the small businesses did. None of which told their employees to attack ice or whatever the fuck this narrative spin is.
Target dropped to their knees at the first opportunity, even before ICE arrived. THEY COURTED THE ADMIN INTO YOUR BACKYARD. THEIR OWN BACKYARD.
Whataboutism is bs. MN built this company. They gleefully betrayed their employees, their neighbors, their community.
Everybody hates an adversary. But the adversary that ate at your table, smiled in your face, and slept in your bed while double dealing and planning your ruin is viscerally repugnant. Its a special betrayal.
Every dollar spent at Target is a dollar funneled to this admin and their masters. A dollar funneled to efforts against your country and your community.
Don't let perfect be the enemy of good. Any diversion of resources from their efforts is good
If you live here and you're ignorant of what they've done, read a little bit. If you live here and you don't care what they've done, well, you're already a lost cause. If you DON'T live here, I hope you're at least getting paid for your efforts and this isn't just your idea of recreation.
Incredible for me to think theses are actual locals that are going 'but there is nothing Target could do' when we all saw and many of us did what there was to be done.
Here is an interview archive.
Some of yall have aggravated me beyond reason with these wildly misguided and completely uninformed posts lately.
Before you construct a theory or draw conclusions, just- listen. If you say you're interested in knowing more, here's more. If you say you think x is because of y, here- test it. If you find yourself repeating opinions you heard third hand from idk, tiktok, try parsing some source material instead.
"Gentlemen, let's broaden our minds."
The producer worked with Prince, “Funkytown” and Jonny Lang as well as Etta James.
By Jon Bream
The Minnesota Star Tribune
I never see anyone mention this performance. Its incredibly moving. I know I'm partial to guitar solos, and keys, but this feels bare especially after 2010s.
It says its 1986 and he was in his Cherry Moon fashion phase, this is Purple Rain or Controversy at best. And he said he met Bowie at Paisley Park. The jacket is too long. He'd have been more likely to avoid that group I think, just none of this is 1986 Prince. Maybe the brick is uneven.
At home in Glam Slam getting ready for D&P tour
My favorite Oscars ever. Context:
Kim Basinger was at the height of her fame when she met Prince. She starred in Batman, while Prince delivered an entire Batman album after being asked if they could use one of his songs for the film. (The answer was no, but I have this for you instead).
They met on set, and a very short while later Kim arrived to Minnesota, Prince's home base. She had rooms at the hotel she never checked into.
She did not return home to LA, and soon had her things shipped to Paisley Park. It was all very hush hush. Neither would speak about the other, and Prince enjoyed a lot of privacy in Mpls. He recorded her album, Hollywood Affair. There was an infamous soundboard incident with Prince's manager reportedly realizing it was time to leave when the honey came out. And so Scandalous Sex Suite was born.
Kim shows up to the 1990 Oscars as a presenter. She is wearing the fashion equivalent of PRINCE across her chest. He had an in house atelier and her gown was in his singular style. He did not accompany her. But the gown and what followed were a public declaration for anyone watching.
She was presenting for Best Picture. She went completely off script, this Hollywood princess, to talk about the racism in Hollywood and how Spike Lee (in the audience) is getting ignored.
Prince been putting this woman up on something. (He loved Spike's work and was always ready to talk, personally, and in verse, about the bs. People have no idea how much he did, Spike is the least of it). Spike Lee writes: "thank you, that took a lot of courage" on the back of his ticket and has it passed high-school style through the audience to get to Kim. So a lot of America became aware of him that night because Kim went off.
Prince and Kim lasted about a year, legend is her brother had to come get her while Prince was playing away because she was gone. Talking about getting a farmhouse and getting married, forget hollywood. (Its equally likely she told him to go screw himself, getting tired of his rotating cast of lady friends, maybe rejected a proposal?) But by all accounts they had a lovely time, for a time, and I will never forget her standing up like that, much respect.
And never forget thinking: Damn, Prince done it again, got Kim Basinger preaching! Turning a new one all the way out, only Prince.
And a little follow up: https://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/new-again-prince
All I can remember is something along the lines of
"I play any card I'm dealt and turn it to my advantage"
I think its from an unreleased track or maybe released but not a single
On this season on the Vampire Lestat! I was happy to see it. These books were written in the PR era and were very much in the New Romantic style. Lestat the rockstar said something about playing First Avenue and playing guitar like Prince.
Occupying my free time! Kinda stuck on the last few. Or maybe some pics need no words. What say you fam? Ideas welcome.