We're BAAAACK!! Questions for the Zeitgeist- August 1, 2009

Okay, folks, we said we would be back in August, and here we are! We're feeling a little rusty after not posting for so long, but- just like riding a bike- we'll get our bearings back, QUICK...

So while while we wait to find out what, exactly, killed the KING OF POP (and who should get his 3-4 kids!!!), while DMX goes to rehab for the umpteenth time and while STEPHON MARBURY simultaneously breaks out into an all-out crying binge, dances a ditty and eats Vaseline in a 24-hour webcast, these are the questions going through OUR heads...


QUESTIONS FOR THE ZEITGEIST- AUGUST 1, 2009

Pontification(s) on the meteoric rise of the lovely Grace Jones/Brigitte Nielsen hybrid known as AMBER ROSE...
1- Okay, we can't start off The (newest) REAL RE-Edit without talking someone who has become about the hottest thing to happen to the blogosphere since Nicole Richie: the ubiquitous Amber Rose!



Hailed as everything from a fame-seeking 'video ho' to the new Grace Jones or the new-and-improved-Brigitte Nielsen, Ms. Rose has definitely made her mark on the entertainment industry. However, there may be something to the Grace Jones and Brigitte Nielsen comparisons. Consider this:














A- The androgynous (yet obviously stunningly exotic) Grace Jones redefined beauty in the 80s, busting out of the beauty milieu to become a top model and singer while providing shock value by sporting what was considered at the time a feminine no-no: a shorn head and full, lipsticked lips. She was 'discovered' by the man she was dating at the time, photographer and pop art icon Jean Paul Goode...


























B- Statuesque Danish actress Brigitte Nielsen simultaneously emasculated and aroused men in the 80s, while appearing in the movie 'Red Sonja'. Like Grace, she also came to fame by way of who she was dating at the time, the part-time-porno-star-part-time-pugilist-actor Sylvester Stallone. All of this while sporting a short cropped blonde buzz cut that became her calling card. She even starred in two of Stallon's movies, 'Rocky IV' and 'Cobra', before they parted ways.






















Which leads us to our Question for the Zeitgeist:
Its unquestionable that Miss Rose was made infamous through her relationship with her romantic interest (like Grace and Brigitte). So does that make Kanye West the new Jean Paul Goode (a.k.a, the mad scientist who, through careful imagery and calculated artistic risk,unleashes the newest Amazonian beauty into the world for beatific consumptioni), or the new Sylvester Stallone (the poor schmuck who is purportedly used by said Amazonian beauty to further her untofore nonexistent career)?











1a- How much do you want to bet that Amber Rose makes the Maxim magazine Hot 100 list this year?





















2- Speaking of Grace Jones...How HOT was her ONLY New York Show at the Hammerstein Ballroom last week? (thanks for the GREAT pics, Kevin H.!)

(double-click to enlarge pictures!)




3- This question is directed to the french sculptore Madame (Marie) Tussaud...how does one make a wax figure of a "waxed figure"???





4- LOOOVE her, but...isn't Pamela Anderson (seen here arriving at the Premiere of ESPN/Disney's "X Games 3D: The Movie") a little "long in the tooth" to be still running this same "blonde bimbo" effect?



















5- We liked them as a couple, but...Isn't this how Kim Kardashian SHOULD nurse her wounds after her high-profile breakup with Reggie Bush? (pic: KimKmanipedi). Isn't this how she should get OVER Mr. Bush, and not by getting UNDER someone else so soon?





6- 'Free: The future of a Radical Price' by Chris Anderson, editor-in-chief of WIRED magazine...makes the argument that sometimes the price best price for your book, music, art, or magazine is...FREE! Then WHY is he selling it at Amazon for $26.99? (NOTE: Staying true to his credo, the book is available for free download here )


7- Speaking of "free" enterprise in the context of a globally capitalistic society...Do we REALLY believe that we are at the beginning of the end of The Recession?




8- She "came out" last week with a deeply personal issue and laid herself prostrate before her viewers last week on BET's Teen Summit '106 & Park'. Yeah, people are buzzing about the size of her ears and her choice of a romantic companion, but how COURAGEOUS was it for Rocsi to be fully open about her adolescent battle with her eating disorder?









9- Why, according to a recent study, can teens text-message at approximately 70 words per minute, but it seems most can't type?








10- In one of the most recent politically questionable and potentially disastrous Republican moves (the only one not involving adultery, it seems!), former presidential candidate John McClain makes the claim that Republicans have a problem connecting with potential Latino constituents, which could lead to the further downward spiral of the party overall...and then votes AGAINST confirming Sonia Sotomayor as the first Latino to become a Supreme Court Justice!!! Was that smarter or dumber than picking Sarah Palin as his running mate?





11- With a new strain of the HIV virus having been discovered in Cameroon (read about it here), shouldn't this re-galvanize our efforts to fund research to completely eradicate this disease?









The REAL RE-Edit's "RE-Blog" (Hell, we read blogs just like YOU!)...





According to


1- "... August 02, 2009. MediaTakeOut.com just learned that R&B singer Sisqo allegedly has A NEW baby’s mother. According to the Swizz newspaper Basler Zeitung, Sisqo was ordered to pay child support for a nine-year-old boy he is believed to have fathered in 1999.The mother, who's black and lives in Switzerland, claims that she and her friends met Sisqo while he was performing with Dru Hill at a concert in Zurich in 1999. At the time she was only 14 years old. She claims, "After the concert Sisqo was [standing] with his band at the bar, we went over and talked to them … Then everything went very fast."When the child was six, the woman reportedly reached out to Sisqo via his Web site and e-mailed him a photo of their son. Sisqo reportedly remembered who she was, but didn't acknowledge the child.The woman subsequently sued Sisqo for child support in a Swiss court. The singer repeatedly REFUSED to take a paternity test and so after 6 years in court, and even though no DNA tests were performed, the court concluded that the 1990s singer is the "presumed father" of the woman’s child...





OUR Question for the Zeitgeist is...between Sisqo and his Swedish "swirl-buddy", who has the blonder hair?



2- Beyonce's new Las Vegas show is a HUGE Flop

"August 02, 2009. Here’s a report on what’s ALLEGEDLY going on with Beyonce’s Las Vegas concerts from one of MediaTakeOut.com’s faithful:
I am a local girl who lives here! Me and my best friend went to her show and were extremely disappointed. We paid $1000 each for our front row tickets, and not only did she not perform hardly any songs from her Sasha Fierce album, including "diva" and "ego" she only changed wardrobe twice. Where were the fancy costumes? Heres a couple of more things:Tickets couldnt sell out, so they were comped by the Wynn/Encore to all of their "high limit" gamblers...most of whom were middle aged and white, who didnt know ANYof her songs, and sat down and did not dance the whole time she performed.Beyonce is using the alias "Rolanda Williams" while staying in the hotel.....my friend works in security and told me....:)In order to fill the theatre which only holds about 1500, the Wynn/Encore is giving away FREE tickets to their employees...since ticket sales have been so low....wow. Dang ..."


THE REAL RE-Edit wants to know.... Is Jay-Z reportedly covering the losses for the Vegas shows by buying up tickets for THESE shows, too? Moreover, is a long-running Vegas show, a la Celine Dion, Bette Midler and Cher, completely out of the question for Beyonce now?





3- "What's good for the Goose...Latoya Luckett Swagga jacks Beyonce for her new album cover..."

THE REAL RE-Edit asks...
Soooooo... Beyonce can "pay homage to" everyone from Tina Turner to Diana Ross to Bob Fosse, but the slightest indication of another artist's simliarity to her "imagery" is seen as "Swagga Jacking" now?...With her world tour let's just say, "not selling all out", shouldn't Mrs. Carter feel like "imitation is the highest form of flattery"?

THE FASHIONISTA FILES
-by THE STYLEMONSTERS

1-What happens when Cindy Crawford (or Halle Berry, for that matter) is your mother? Do you grow up feeling the pressure of be stunninly beautiful?

2- With the exception of the GODDESS Grace Jones (see "Questions for the Zeitgeist" above for proof), she can affect an androgynous look better than anyone else out right now...How HOT is it that Rihanna was recently seen shopping at menswear designer Tom Ford's Upper East Side flagship store?








3- Sorry, but doesn't Neve Campbell's drab and ghoulish get-up (pictured below attending the Cartier International Polo Day at Guards Polo Club in Egham, England.) make you wanna SCREAM?
































4- France's first Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy now has a Roger Vivier bag named after her- the Carlalala. Bruno Frisoni designs the crocodile bag (to be part of the Haute Couture collection for the Winter 2009-10 season) that was custom-made for Bruni-Sarkozy. Why do we have a sneaking suspicion that Victoria Beckham is FURIOUS at that, since she owns over 100 Hermes bags- supposedly valued at a collective $2 million- and has yet to have one named after HER?

For your viewing pleasure, THE STYLEMONSTERS give you the newest trend in fashion editorial...the fashion short film! Check out how various fashion houses are taking advantage of online technology (and defraying advertising/fashion show costs) by posting their wares on places like Youtube...keep up or fall behind...





THE REAL FLASHBACK...
For this week's flashback, we are going to take a cue from Amber Rose and get inspired by Grace Jones, back when she exclaimed that she was a "Slave To The Rhythm". And now, Ladies and Gentleman, heeeeeeeeEEEEEERRRRRRRE'S GRACE!!!!

WE'LL BE BACK...WE PROMISE!!!

THE REAL RE-EDITOR wanted to take a minute to thank, personally, each and every person who has written in to ask what the h*LL is going on with THE REAL RE-Edit. Yes, some of you used language that bordered on completely offensive (!), but we'll take all of that vitriol in the spirit in which it was intended- with the understanding that you expect to see us back on the pop culture/art/fashion/"meaning-of-life" soapbox.







So, it is with great pleasure that we announce that we WILL return- in August!!! We're sure you guys can wait until then... can't ya??!!! Yeah, we know- Kimora and Wendy and Kanye and Rihanna and a couple of our other favorites have had some life-changing events since we've last "spoken", but we'll do our best at THE REAL RE-Edit to make up for lost time- while still managing to stimulate your mind as well as your guilty pleasure buttons...

In the meantime, feel free to forward any "Questions for the Zeitgeist" that you'd like to see appear here- we'll definitely include them (some kind of way!).

See you in JULY!!!!!!

Questions for the Zeitgeist- January 27, 2009

More "Grace in your Face", Toccara gets you "small in the waist", and
'Notorious' star catches a case...





1-Ray J's new reality show "For the Love of Ray J" is set to have its Vh-1 premiere shortly,on the heels of "Real Chance at Love', 'I Love New York', and (the one that started it all!) 'Flavor of Love'...When will black folks stop allowing themselves to be "clowned" by the Vh-1/MTV/Viacom juggernaut???




2- Not many women can look like she does after dropping twins, but...was Jennifer Lopez' dress at this year's Golden Globes a desperate attempt to recapture the attention she garnered at the 2000 Grammys for "the dress"??


3-

"There is something immoral and sick about using all of that power to not end
brutality and poverty, but to break into people's bedrooms and claim that God
sent you."
"It amazes me when I looked at California and saw churches that
had nothing to say about police brutality, nothing to say when a young black boy
was shot while he was wearing police handcuffs, nothing to say when they
overturned affirmative action, nothing to say when people were being [relega
ted] into poverty, yet they were organizing and mobilizing to stop consenting
adults from choosing their life partners."
"I am tired of seeing ministers who will preach homophobia by day, and then after they're preaching, when the lights are off they go cruising for trade...We know you're not preaching the Bible, because if you were preaching the Bible we would have heard from you. We would have heard from you when people were starving in California--when they deregulated the economy and crashed Wall Street you had nothing to say. When Bush took us to war chasing weapons of mass destruction that weren't there you had nothing to say. But all of a sudden, when Proposition 8 came out, you had so much to say, but since you stepped in the rain, we're going to step in the rain with you."

Did the Reverend Al Sharpton get THIS one off, or WHAT??!!??




4- We are ALL waiting for her return...Will Whitney Houston (who looked STUNNING at the BET Honors last week!!!) 'bring it' at her performance at this year's Grammy Pre-Show? (No pressure, Whitney!)



5- Bow Wow to team up with Stephon Marbury to introduce a low-cost clothing line . Will it work better than Marbury's low-priced merchandise at the now-defunct Steve and Barry's? Besides, in this economy, who the F*CK has $190 to buy their little kid some new "Jordans"?
5a-Given all the money Michael Jordan has made off of the "hood", shouldn't HE get on the "high-low" bandwagon himself and pressure Nike to make some athletic wear that lower-income people can AFFORD?


6- What did YOU think of the "Notorious" movie? With the film's star, Jamal Woodard (who plays Biggie Smalls), named in a domestic dispute incident (where he was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault, menacing, and harassment of his spouse), is it a case of life imitating...art?





7- We mentioned this a couple of weeks ago, but...Is Taraji P. Henson (fresh off of her THREE Screen Actor's Guild nominations and, this past week, an Oscar nomination!) now REALLY poised to be the next Halle Berry?

8- Who would win in a schoolyard scrap- Sasha and Malia Obama or Ming and Aoki Lee?
















9- Since they're pregnant at the same time...who's progeny will be more fashion-forward, Kimora and DJimon's offspring, or Nas and Kelis'?



10- Is Eddie Curry having the WORST two years EVER?
In 2007, Curry and his wife were bound and robbed at gunpoint in the family's suburban Chicago mansion by three gun-wielding thugs. He was recently set back further by a bacterial infection that forced him to miss the first six days of training camp. He played in just one game this season, curtailed for 35 games with a knee injury.
Two weeks ago, with his career slipping, he found himself being sued by his former driver, David Kuchinsky, who accused Curry of making sexual advances toward him, forcing him to perform demeaning tasks, twice pointing a gun at him, and hurling racial and religious epithets at him. This weekend Nova Henry, the woman with whom Curry fathered a 3-year-old son (while presumably still married to his wife- with whom he has four children) was murdered in Chicago in front of the three year old, along with a nine-month-old daughter that she claimed Curry sired (Curry has denied paternity). The killer is suspected to have been a "known acquaintance," Chicago Police say, and Henry had a boyfriend that she recently filed a restraining order against...

10a-First former Knicks head coach Isaiah Thomas is let go amid a sex abuse scandal, then Stephon Marbury finds himself in a very contentious standoff with Knicks management over contract negotiations, and now tragedy has found Curry once again. Is someone "working a root" on the New York Knicks? Shouldn't Knicks Center Jerome James at LEAST wear a luckier jersey number?






11- Chris Rock's new documentary, "Good Hair", about the billion-dollar black haircare business, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival this week... Did Chris let the cameras roll while he got his texturizer?

12- With President Obama's image burnished on everything from watches to hot sauce to toilet paper to dildos (yes, dildos! check it out here!), has he done more for the economy before his stimulus plan gets approval than we even realize?
12a- Was there really any doubt that President Obama would find a way to keep his Blackberry?



13-A couple of weeks ago, we hipped you to Stephon Marbury's workout DVD. Are we ready for Toccara's "Fabulous" workout DVD (Check it out here)???























THE FASHIONISTA FILES

Cover Wars

14- Check out the cover of this month's V Magazine. Isn't Grace Jones STILL killing it?


























15- Lebron James on the cover of GQ this month? Is this cover better than his "King Kong" 'Vogue' Cover with Giselle Bundchen?









16-Naomi Campbell and Linda Evangelista bringing it in the Spring/Summer '09 Dsquared campaign....Will these chicks EVER age? At this point, isn't the LAST thing we wanna see is Naomi being violent?




17- GQ Magazine has named (former?) Outkast member Andre 3000 one of the Best New Designers in America for his prep-inspired men’s line, Benjamin Bixby. However, with the merchandise not exactly flying off the shelves (and with most of the remaining merchandise at Barney's reduced to over 50% of its retail price), will he have to go back to his day job and put out another CD?










The REAL FLASHBACK...
THE REAL RE-Edit knew that (for better of worse) Rihanna would evolve into the fashion doyenne she's become soon after she burst on the scene. However, what solidified it was her video for "S.O.S". While it was definitely a good look for her to sample Soft Cell's "Tainted Love", the REAL good look was Rihanna herself- who ditched the "Bajan Girl Next Door" look she rocked in 'Pon De Replay' for a more slick, stylized effect...