Demi Moore recently posed for the cover of W magazine.
WHY? Does anyone care?

What the hell is she wearing? This metallic swimsuit toga with epilettes reminds of something out of the movie Mad Max. Who picked out this silly frock?
And talk about smoke and mirrors! Her photo must of had to jump through hoops to achieve the more than obvious photo shop and airbrush -a-rama. If her name was not on the cover, I wouldn’t have known it was her.

There comes a time when someone should just accept that they are getting older, and stop trying to nip and tuck their way back to their youth. When everyone knows your age and they see little evidence of any aging, people just think it’s ridiculous and fake.

Although of course Demi, (make sure you pronounce it De-MEE, ick) completely denies that she has ever had any plastic surgery. Yeah, OK De-MEE. *laughs holding sides*

To make everyone really roll their eyes even more…
Apparently, Ms. Brat Pack has just announced that she would like to be called a puma rather than a cougar.

Bitch please… you are forty seven years old. Pumas are women in their thirties dating older men. Your barking up the wrong tree Ms. Hot Flash!

I never cared for Demi Moore. 
She is not that talented and completely full of herself. Top that off with her early interest in Scientology… and that really sealed the deal for me. Thank you Bruce Willis who had the common sense to put his foot down and say no to his kids being raised as Scientologists. Bravo Bruce!

But of course on the other hand, she is seen everywhere with that silly red Kabala string around her wrist. I guess they photo shopped it out of the pictures? 
Kutcher and her also got married by a Kabalah minister or whatever the heck. Silly celebutards. *Rolls eyes*

So on to her MUCH younger and prettier half, Ashton Kutcher.
Women are still crazy over him, and I think he was once perceived as a likable fun loving character. But now I think everyone just looks at him and thinks he is pretty much whipped by Demi and has lost totally his mojo. woo pah!

It seems that Ashton doesn’t do much of anything any more, except those stupid camera commercials. Not that he was some great big talent before. He has his Punk’d show and some crappy movies he did. But what does he do now? Or have I missed something major?

Same goes for Demi. What has she done lately? Would anyone take the risk and hire her for one of their movies? That seems very doubtful.

One thing that Demi has been busy doing, is biding her time by tweetin’ on Twitter. She loves to tweet about guess who? Ashton of course. All about their ooey gooey romance. Made me throw up a little. 

Yeah ok, we get it Demi, you landed yourself a young one with a pretty face. WE KNOW. Now what?

Eonline wrote:

Demi Moore is on the cover of December’s W wearing a festive holiday getup. The reigning Queen of Twitter talks about (what else?) being a cougar and how great Ashton Kutcher is. Feels like we’ve heard this all before from the actress, but let’s do it anyway.

While everyone considers Demi to be the O.G. cougar, she doesn’t see it that way.

“I’m certainly not the first person to be in a relationship with a younger man, but somehow I was plucked out as a bit of a poster girl,” she says.

“I don’t know why that is. But I just kind of step back sometimes and say, ‘There is some reason, and what is it that I have to share in a positive way?’ I’d prefer to be called a puma.”

(”Puma” is already used to describe women in their 30s who go for younger men, so 47-year-old Demi doesn’t really fall into that category. But she thinks “she came up with the new designation,” so maybe it’s best to let her go on believing that?)

Now about her 31-year-old husband. She loves him. A lot.

“The most overwhelming part of meeting someone that you already felt you had such a deep and old connection with is that your feelings are greater than the time you’ve had to actually be with one another. Now we’ve had the physical time together. The love he has for me makes me a better person by giving me the courage to take risks. I can fail and have someone who loves me just the same. I never knew it was quite possible.”

If she’s not gushing about her hubby on Twitter, she’s gotta gush somewhere. Now let’s wrap this up with a photo of Demi looking like she’s ready to join the next round of Dancing With the Stars. (That’ll happen at some point, right?)

So what about that dress that E is talking about?
Here it is below.

Hey Demi! The ’80’s called they want their dress back!
And what is that thing on her thumb? A grey bandage? Or am I seeing that wrong?

Such an awful pose she struck with that boney chicken wing of an arm sticking out. Why would W magazine and Demi approve of that picture? Were the other pictures to pick from that much worse? Hard to imagine.

Back to the inigma of their relationship.
I wonder if Demi’s cub (Ashton) will still be into making love to a 65 year old saber tooth when he turns a meer 49 years old?

Hey Demi, I hope you’re up for a hoo-ha rejuvenation? Or have you already had one? Well by the time you hit 65, you will be in need of yet another hoo-haw hoist anyways, because gravity is not kind.

Ashton was and still is considered quite the looker. I doubt he will ever have a shortage of women who want to jump his bones. He’s only 31 years old and has his whole life ahead of him. The older he gets… the better the young ones are going to start to look to him. It’s usually the way it goes. Sorry, fact of life. Get over it.

And don’t start with the “if Demi was a man, it would be more accepted” BS.
It goes both ways.

I have a friend who married a MUCH older man. They have a huge age difference. She did NOT marry him for money, he didn’t have any money. She still loves him of course, but the more he ages, the more his personality is changing, and he wants to do less and less. He is pretty content with just sitting around and watching TV when he is not working and of course that is normal for many. She jokes about him being a senior citizen, but I know it’s really starting to bother her. And no my friend is not shallow. I think when they got married, she convinced herself that his age wouldn’t be an issue. But now that he is in his sixties and he is changing his ways, she wishes for the younger man she married. It happens.

But maybe Ashton will feel differently.
Maybe he will stay with Demi, even when her ta-tas go completely south for the second time and she has to keep dying her pubes, so the rug will match the drapes. (ok, now I am grossing myself out) 

Hey Demi! I wouldn’t hire any cute young things as maids to hang around the house, if you catch my drift. And I think it would be a little tough to see Ashton smooching it up with a younger gal in a movie. Which has already happened. And as much as Demi acts like she is secure about their relationship, there’s bound to be insecurities. Especially when some of the girls are twenty years younger than her. It’s normal.

And what if Ashton wants to be a baby daddy? What if he wants his own kids? That has to weigh heavy on Demi too, especially that her baby making years are over. I know he considers Demi’s kids as his own, but it’s not the same as having your own child. He may be filled with a lot of regret when he gets a little older for not having one of his own.

Ashton still has PLENTY of time left for that. But Demi? Nope! She is done. I guess they can always hire a surrogate. But again, not the same.

Only time will tell if this puma cougar can hold on to her cub.
Who knows… maybe Demi will leave Ashton for a younger cub!

Not sure how many lives out of nine that Demi the puma cougar has already used.
I am just telling it like it is.

FYI… In the animal kingdom….
Cougars and pumas (and mountain lions) are all one in the same.
But don’t tell Demi that… she will then want to be called a kitten. MEOW!

Recently, Juliette Lewis was interviewed by Craig Ferguson on The Late Late Show. What the hell is wrong with her? Really? Yeah, I know she has always been wacky, but she sounds totally out of her mind now more than ever.

I was surprised that Craig Ferguson even had her as a guest on the show and that she agreed to go on the show to begin with, especially since he has been mocking Scientology pretty heavily for quite a while now. But as usual, I would imagine because Lewis is a celebrity (I use the term lightly), that she is out of the loop as far as what is going on in the real world. Particularly if its anything anti-Scientology.

I believe that Ferguson was mocking her during the whole interview and she was too dumb to realize it. After all, Ferguson did do a parody of the famous Tom Cruise Scientology video, and seems to enjoy being snide at Scientology’s expense.

Lewis was being interviewed for her new CD called Terra Incognita. Rolling Stone gave it 2 1/2 stars. I think they were being a bit generous, okay, A LOT generous.

Not surprising to me was the fact that Terra Incognita is also the name of an article written in 1949 by Scientology cult founder L. Ron Hubbard and published in The Explorers Journal. The title of the piece was “Terra Incognita: The Mind”

Not terribly shocking, when you consider the fact Lewis is a raging Scientologist and sadly was born into it. Shame on Lewis’ parents.
Her Scientology records, shows that she went “clear” in 1997, and she has been quite the busy gal at the Celebrity Cente, spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on courses and auditing. 

Her Scientology records also show she did the dangerous Purification Rundown in 1993. Juliette has also been on the Scientology cruise ship the Freewinds twice. Which means she has been exposed to asbestos twice, since it wasn’t until April 2008 when the Freewinds was shut down by the Curacao Drydock Company due to the blue asbestos on board. I also doubt Juliette knows how much of a polluter the operators of the Freewinds are.

Although she supposedly legally emancipated from her parents at age 14, I still say shame on her parents for getting her into Scientology.

Her Mom is Glenis Batley, a graphic designer and her Dad is, actor Geoffrey Lewis. He is also listed as a “clear” in the Scientology database. He is in a band called Celestial Navigations with fellow Scientologist Geoff Levin (whom he met at the Celebrity Center) Celestial Navigations is a band which started out in the late 60’s and began touring again a couple of years ago.

The band uses story telling. together with music and is way, WAY out there. I did a quickie look around their MySpace page and website and knew immediately I fell into a L. Ron Hubbard Scientology blackhole. So a word of caution, if you hear that Celestial Navigations is performing or doing a “benefit”, please know that the proceeds from your ticket purchase may just end up in Scientology’s pockets down the line.

Scientology artists sneak things into songs all the time. Several of Beck’s songs and titles have Scientology references — which all sucked. As we mentioned in a previous article, Beck did a “benefit” concert and did not tell his fans that the proceeds were going to a Scientology front group called Educating Children International. Slick move Beck.

So back to Juliette on The Late Show…

She was babbling on about being inspired by pixie dust and magic, and said:

“You know, the kind that lives in your imagination”.

Of course we know Juliette.

She goes on about her outfit, (which by the way I have to give her credit for those fabulous boots) and how she doesn’t wear animal fur (good girl) and explains that her outfit has feathers on it, not fur, and that when birds drop their feathers, you can pick them up and then put them in your clothes.  I do that all the time myself. You should see my pigeon sweater. Ick!

They discussed her new CD,  and the CD cover, which pictures her pulling a bull by a red rope. She says it was a vision that came to her and that it was a metaphor for so many things. Emphasis on the BULL Juliette.

So what has Juliette said about her band “The Licks” in the past:

“Disillusionment, joy and pain, the contrast of sound… heaven and earth, really groovy big-bottom bass and drums and then very atmospheric mercurial guitars. I was trying to get my sonic soul poured out on record. It’s like heaven in a vat of lava that’s about to explode.”

Ummmm yeah. Well I have heard the Licks and I do agree on one thing she said. The word pain. They are very painful to watch. Speaking of painful. If you didn’t catch her singing (I use the term VERY lightly)  ”I Will Survive” with Eve at a Detroit night club prepare to cringe. Click Here. 

This is the kind of crap that makes me nuts. With all the people trying to make it in the music industry today, along comes doofus Juliette Lewis and the Licks, who simply can’t sing a lick, or play for that matter, yet, they are getting gigs. Just sickening.

Juliette did announce on the show that her band was no longer going to be called The Licks, as one of the “band” members is going in another direction. Smart move dude.

As the interview continues, Lewis mentions sky diving out of nowhere. Do you think she is possibly suffers from ADD? It would make sense. Although of course any mental problems she may have do not exist in Scientology land.

Call me crazy, but I think this interview may have hurt the few sales she would have had for her CD? Of course that’s not counting all the Scientologists who are told to buy more than one copy. (suckers)

You just have to simply watch the clip of The Late Show yourself, so you can see exactly what I am talking about. Click here and be horrified.

To complete the torture, Lewis also performed a song on the show.
WHY? I hate to keep repeating myself… but again, there are so many talented people out there who will never get the chance to make it, and here’s Juliette Lewis stinking up the stage. Click here and be disappointed.

Between her former drug problems, alcohol use and Scientology helping her to further screw up what little brain cells she has left, Lewis sounds like she is on her way to a padded room. When talking about her CD she said,

 ”That’s where she wants to go sonically and physically and lyrically and all those things”.

How proud do you think Scientology is over an interview like this? If you look at the celebrity members that Scientology brags about, (you know, every “church” does that) it’s not looking too good for them.

You have Tom Cruise, who is crashing and burning, Will (I am not a Scientologist) Smith and Jada, who just opened a Scientology school, Kirstie Alley whose weight and current nuttiness has not been the best advertisement, then on to Lisa Marie Presley who has had a wacky past and is being sued by her maid, Isaac Hayes who died on a treadmill with a heart condition, and John Travolta who continues to suffer over the death of his son Jett and just may walk away from them completely (fingers crossed). Of course we can’t forget to mention the crazy sauce that is, Jenna Elfman who was quoted as saying:

 ”Aids is not a disease, it’s a state of mind”

So what have all these Scientology celebrities proven? That they have been totally duped by a cult and obviously Scientology doesn’t work AT ALL. They all seem to be getting wackier and wackier, and if anything, Scientology proves to be a real career adjuster — and not in a good way.

I hope some day these stars snap out of it and leave this crazy cult that turns their heads into jello. But if they decide to stay in, I hope they continue with their nutty behavior and shenanigans which work like kryptonite against joining Scientology.

Kudos to you, Juliette, for the lovely interview with Craig! Keep on doing exactly what you are doing. We need all the help we can get to show how much Scientology is exactly what it is…BULLSHIT!

Rumors have been circulating lately about the gender or shall I say the genders of Lady GaGa. Many people thought that The Princess of Pop (yeessh) is a hermaphrodite. For those of you who do not know what a hermaphrodite is, it is a person born with both male and female genitalia.

The picture that had everyone a-buzz, is the one below. It clearly shows a “bulge” of some sort in the crotch region.

People were wondering, if this was carefully placed “package” for shock value for her career? Or a photo-shopped picture? Or is Lady (I use the term lightly) more than just a lady?

Well Lady finally came forward and put an end to the rumors and said that “she was not offended, but her beautiful vagina was very offended”.  Thank God that is cleared up, I will no longer have sleepless nights. *snicker*

Wait….what did she say? Her beautiful vagina? Who the hell talks publicly (or at all for that matter) about having a beautiful vagina? (with the exception of the Vagina Monologues)
Wow!  Talk about being totally full of themselves.

The Examiner.com reported:

Since the hermaphrodite rumors started circling around Lady Gaga back in August, the singer has kept quiet about whether or not she has both parts.

Lady Gaga reportedly told an Australian radio station, “My beautiful vagina is very offended. I’m not offended; my vagina is offended. I’m not embarrassed. I sold four million records in six months; I’m not embarrassed about anything. I think this is society’s reaction to a strong woman.”

“The idea that we equate strength with men and a penis is a symbol of male strength, you know, it is what it is. But like I said,” the dance-pop diva reiterated, “I am not offended at all, but my vagina might be a little bit upset,” she added.

The singer has been flaunting her naked body in various magazines since the rumors began, hoping to disprove that she may have both man and lady parts, but we all know what a little Photoshop can do.

What do you think? Is Lady Gaga telling the truth or just deny, deny, denying?

My reply? Who gives a damn? Sorry, I could care less what she’s packing, and besides, what’s the difference? Are people saying if GaGa was a hermaphrodite that they wouldn’t be fans any more? Why, can’t a hermaphrodite be a diva too?

This story oddly peaked my interest and I decided to look more into GaGa’s music, since I wasn’t too familiar with it, and I wanted to see what the fuss was all about. What I discovered wasn’t much. I found an ok looking gal who loves to dress in kooky outfits and writes some really lousy songs.

GaGa is going the ol’ shock diva route because she basically needs those costumes and stage performances to hide her lack of talent. Her audience needs a lot of distractions. And now that she has a following, he crappy songs wont’ matter as much.
 
Her voice and song style comes pretty close to Madonnas, although Madonna’s songs were better written. Now I am not a fan of Madonna’s either, but nobody can deny that when Madonna blew up big in the 80’s that she was at least original and her songs were much better than GaGa’s. 

I have to say, that some of GaGa’s outfits are very cool, I will at least give her that. I love the way she sometimes meshes a vintage look with wackiness and forms some pretty outrageous get-ups. BUT…is that it? Yes, that’s it.

Let’s not forget this has been done a hundred times over in the music biz, and way before she strapped on that bubble suit for the cover of Rolling Stone.

Performers have been making names for themselves via shock for years. Way back when, Liberace was one of the first shockers and was the king of outlandish outfits. He was one of the first pioneers of  “putting on the dog“.

Although Liberace’s voice was far from good, he did play a mean piano. And look at Elton John, who started out as sort of a meek country bumpkin and ended up going all Liberace on everyone, once fame came knocking on his door.

Elton was not only an elaborate dresser, but he had quite the collection of outrageous glasses, which became a signature for him. So was Elton copying Liberace? It really didn’t matter, because he can sing and play piano to boot.

There was David Bowie who dressed up as Zigggy Stardust, and Cyndi Lauper who started an entire fashion craze with her gobs of costume jewelry, and her poofy crinoline slips.

But again like Elton, this girl can sing.

Take the band Kiss for instance, who was popular in the 1970’s. They rose up in the ranks due to their alter ego wild costumes, pyrotechnics on stage and Gene Simmons spewing blood and wiggling that long snake of a tongue. It was freaky to see a band dressed like that with full face paint back  in the 1970’s, and it was very innovative. (I was never a Kiss fan though, I think their movie ruined it for me *snicker*) But they did have some talent to back up their look.

Alice Copper, another unusual performer, used to hang himself on stage complete with an entire gallows set up on stage. He also would whip bloody plastic baby dolls on stage during his Dead Babies song… but again…Cooper had the talent to rock the house.

Let’s not forget Dee Snyder in Twisted Sister, ok… never mind, we can forget that one.

(Just have to mention, and way off topic, but I think Christina Aguilera definitely stole Dee’s look when she did the video for Moulin Rouge).

And what about Boy George? He started out rather tame with Culture Club (well sort of) and then showed up in an airport one day dressed like a Geisha girl, and got more outrageous from there. But nobody can deny that the man possessed decent set of pipes on him. We won’t get into where he is today.

Back to Madonna… one of the biggest shock divas. (who is sadly still trying to shock people today, you can stop now)
She started a whole fashion trend with her pointy bustiers, rosaries, rubber O ring bracelets, and boy toy belt buckles.

Who can forget her humping a wedding veil and rolling around on the floor, when she performed Like A Virgin for the 1984 MTV music awards?  Looking back on Madonna’s perfomance in that video, it wasn’t a very good one, but people were so wrapped up in the lyrics of  the song and what she was doing on stage,  that few people noticed the bad notes she hit. Rr the fact she was fluffing up her hair after she took off her veil, and that she became semi entangled in the veil at one point.

Madonna continued to push the envelope in her career and put many Catholics and others’ knickers in quite the bunch with her Like A Prayer video.
 Fact.. it was her highest-selling single and viewers voted the video as the “Most Groundbreaking Music Video of All Time”.

Many people argue that Lady GaGa is a huge Madonna rip off. Although I am not a Madonna fan at all, her pop songs were much better than GaGa’s. (never thought I would be defending Madonna’s music)

Yes.. shocking people has always worked. (Right Cher?)
And we certainly couldn’t name all of them here. But one thing for sure… they had the right stuff.

But does GaGa have the right stuff? Is her only claim to fame shocking the audience with costumes and stage humping, so they won’t notice her lackluster singing? It looks that way. Although her fans would certainly disagree.

GaGa is also trying to further her career by posing for an ENDLESS  amounts of nudie photos. Now I am not a prude in any sense, but honey if your bringing out all the goods now, what’s left? Put that dern thing away!

Take for instance this lovely photo of her half straddling a skeleton. Yawwwwnnn. Needless to say, I had the same reaction as the skeleton. DEAD BORED.

There is the chance of spreading yourself (no pun intended) too thin in this business, especially if that’s all you have. So GaGa better come up with some decent hits soon.

Now before you jump down my throat, I did listen to some of her songs and watched her videos. I suffered through “Paparazzi”,
and “Poker Face,” (she obviously likes to stu-stu-stutter in her songs). I then went on to listen to ”Just Dance” (total Madonna rip off), “LoveGame” – (that’s the “I want to take a ride on your disco stick” song) and ”Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)”, which was eh eh, more boring than the title. And finally let’s not leave out “Beautiful Dirty Rich”. (”Bang bang we’re beautiful and dirty rich.”) Well she got the dirty rich part right. 

My conclusion?

I find her ba-ba-ba-BORING and repetitive. Perhaps I am jaded by years of watching others before her do the same things, only better. The difference again is they HAD TALENT and it was new.

I happened to catch a video of her on YouTube. She was a guest on some sort of talk show in Tokyo. Her performance was not any better than a night at a karaoke bar or a cruise ship talent show. She did a slow and painful version of “Po-po-po Poker Face.” Her piano playing sounded like she was wearing oven mitts. And frankly, I could NOT stop staring at the elephant on her head.

Yes, you heard me. She had a wig on her head in the shape of an elephant, complete with eyes.  However the elephant did work as far as taking my attention away from her piss poor performance. 
Smart gal. The acoustic rendition of this song  made me cringe more than her other version. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth the laugh. Click here. 

GaGa just doesn’t cut it for me. She is probably thinking,  Hey! look at me in my rubber spider bubble dress with the giant butterfly on my head, aren’t I outrageous? NO! Sorry, you are not. 

But who is laughing all the way to the bank? She is.

As she said, ”I sold four million records in six months; I’m not embarrassed about anything”. Bless her little heart. 

But I say, if you are going to be a diva today, you better have some talent to back it up.

It’s very hard to get ahead these days in the music industry. Unfortunately many talented people fall by the way side, and some with little or no talent make it big. Just doesn’t seem fair. Hello William Hung!

There have also been some American Idol contestants who made it to the top, but I still don’t understand how some of them got there…. (hello Clay Aiken). Sorry Claymates. Are there any left out there?

I do give Lady GaGa SOME kudos for her confidence and for being able to make it in the music industry today, despite how little talent she has under those bubbles. But everything she does seems “borrowed” from either someone or something that came way before her. Even her name was taken from Queen’s song Radio GaGa according to her.

So for all you fans out there who are gaga over GaGa, and whom I expect will be barraging me with some lovely comments…just know that she is not the inventive ground breaking diva you think she is.

It’s all been done before many, many years ago and by people who wrote better songs and who had much more talent.

In fact even GaGa’s hair and face have a familiar look to it. GaGa has said that Donatello Versace is her favorite fashion icon. Um, clearly…she totally stole her look. I guess we know early what GaGa will look like when she gets older and has had a few nip, tucks and plumps. Scary isn’t it?

So getting back to divas from way back when… Who had the coconuts back in the 1940’s, to put a pile of fruit on her head and wear gigantic platform shoes and outrageous midriff outfits?

Why it was the lovely Carmen Miranda of course. Aka Maria do Carmo Miranda da Cunha. Here she is in one of her many wacky costumes complete with Christmas ornaments glitz and feathers! Carmen was also an actress and appeared in many movies. Watch this vid to see some of her many outrageous outfits and actual movie footage.

I can easily see GaGa taking Carmen’s Chica Boom song and adding some techno tracks and coming out on stage with fruit on her head. Errr…I mean humping some fruit on stage. Gee, I hope GaGa doesn’t read this, I don’t want to give her any ideas.

Chica chica boom chic baby!

The infamous Barneys of New York raised some eyebrows recently with their latest window display. It featured contorted mannequins in death scenes complete with blood spattered windows. The displays were featuring the clothing of designers A.C. L. and Helmut Lang. But stunned passersby of the Madison Ave. store did not waste any time in voicing their outrage, and the displays were quickly removed. The edgy idea backfired because people thought it promoted violence against women and that it basically was in bad taste.

A snippet from the NY Daily News reported:

A bloody window display featuring mannequins apparently being attacked unnerved Barneys customers and was swiftly torn down by the store.

“It’s distasteful,” said Angie Lobo, 50, of Woodside, Queens, who made a face when she noticed the window while shopping with her daughter.

“I was just thinking, ‘What’s the point?’”

Simon Doonan, creative director of Barneys, said the displays were installed while he was away overseeing advertising shoots and that he had ordered them dismantled.

They were taken down shortly after the Daily News called to inquire about them yesterday afternoon.

“We encourage our display people to be creative. We give them a lot of latitude, but this clearly crossed the line,” he said. “It’s as if someone saw a bad Hitchcock movie.”

I am on the fence about how I feel about this display. Although I appreciate that people are free to express their creativity these days, is a touristy store like Barney’s the proper venue for this sort of thing? After all, Barneys is a not an art museum, it is visited by thousands of tourists daily who are eager to shop and has been a fixture in NY since the 1920’s. Barneys has also appeared in many big films over the years and was even mentioned on The Family Guy, in the ”A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Bucks” episode when Peter asks Chris if he wants to go to Barneys to “fart in the suits.” 

So perhaps this artistic display was a bit too over the top for the average shopper, but on the other hand, are people over reacting? I have found over the past years that some people have become too “PC” to the point where it stifles even the most innocent of things. Let’s not forget the story back in 1997, of the town of Kingsville in Texas that has their town employees answering the phone by saying “Heaven-O” instead of using  the word Hello, because Hello has the word Hell in it. I kid you not. You can’t make this crap up.

Now back to Barneys.

Perhaps if Barneys bloody display previewed in October as a Halloween theme, people wouldn’t  have batted an eyelash. But then again, using blood and gore for an October theme wouldn’t have been a very edgy move for such a well known store as Barneys. They need to grab people’s attention.

It is a far cry from Barneys 2008 holiday theme of “Peace & Love: Have a Hippie Holiday!”, which was inspired by the 50th anniversary of the peace symbol, which even included a big dove in the window and a quote about Peace from John Lennon. It seems like they went from one extreme to the other.

So what does anyone really know about the history of  Barneys? I was curious as to how it originated and how it grew globally from one small shop to a chain store giant and also wondered if it always carried top designer clothes and the myriad of products it offers today. Was it always the brick and mortar hub for haute couture?

Nope. Not even close. I was a little shocked to discover Barneys meager beginnings. Barneys goes all the way back to 1923 and was started on a shoe string by Barney Pressman, who pawned his wife’s engagement ring for $500 to rent out a 500 square foot space at Seventh Avenue and West 17th Street in Manhattan to sell discounted men’s suits. Discounted suits? Huh? 

Some of Barneys history courtesy of Wikipedia:

Their original slogan was “No Bunk, No Junk, No Imitations“.

Barney’s was able to sell tailored clothing at discounted prices by purchasing showroom samples, retail overstocks, manufacturers’ closeouts at auctions and bankruptcy sales. It also offered free alterations and free parking to attract customers. As business grew, eventually three floors above street level, starting in 1934, would be gradually added to the store.

By 1973, the store was stocking 60,000 men’s suits, and women’s clothing was not introduced until 1976.

By 1993, the store moved to the current 230,000-square-foot (21,000 m2), 9-story Manhattan flagship on Madison Avenue between East 60th and 61st streets. It was the largest new store in New York City since the Great Depression. The store is housed in a 22-story building with 14 floors of offices above the store.

Woah…Barneys sure has come a long way. It was not without its share of problems though. In 1996 it filed for Chapter 11 and closed down several of its shops. As a matter of fact Barney’s had MANY financial problems: cash flow problems, shady loans and family members dipping their mitts into the cookie jar and subsequently not keeping track of what they were taking.

According to Answer’s.com:

There were tales about how the Pressmans–eight of them on the company payroll–helped themselves to store merchandise without accounting for it, according to the New York Times article “Haughty Couture” and Joshua Levine’s “Let Them Wear Black.”

Hmmm, sounds like the Pressmans were helping themselves to whatever they fancied and it blew up in their face BIG time. There is more detailed information available at Answers.com if you are interested. Their financial history is way too lengthy to list here.

So does Barney Pressman or the Pressman family still own Barneys? No, they haven’t owned it since 2004. With the Pressmans plagued with financial problems, the Pressman family sold its less than 2% remaining ownership to the Jones Apparel Group, they in turn sold it to the top bidder who is a private equity firm in Dubai called Istithmar PJSC for $937.4 million.  A long way from the original story of Barney Pressman’s original $500 investment back in 1923, wouldn’t you say?

For now, Barneys with it’s bright red awnings will remain a place to shop for a pair of Manolo Blahniks, from housewares to luggage and everything in between. With annual sales of way over $300 million, employing over 1,700 employees, my guess is if people were outraged by their display, ultimately, they must cater to the whims and needs of its customers. Especially in this economy, one has to be careful.  I think they are done taking chances with edgy bloody window displays and will leave the horror to the local costume shops for Halloween.

Pity though. I think the display was kind of neat and it certainly got people’s attention, and isn’t that what it’s all about in the retail world? I mean with all the competition out there, to keep coming up with new display ideas with a sense of “gotcha” for your customers must be tough these days. Barneys original slogan…”No Bunk, No Junk, No Imitations”… may have worked fine for them back in the 1930’s, but to push $1,600 Armani suits these days, stores have to be creative and take some chances — but the chance that Barneys took this time around met up with the same demise as Barneys mannequins, DOA.

Loonnnnng Legged Katie At the Capitol

Looks like our little cultie Katie flew into DC to do a play at the National Mall.  Here she is dressed in high-waisted naval looking pants and a sheer navy top. (Looks a bit like a Scientology Sea Org uniform).

Is it me, or does anyone find her involvement with this ceremony upsetting?, Considering Scientology beliefs on anything to do with brain injuries, their stance on psychiatry, and ESPECIALLY the false war records of their founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Hubbard’s ”war hero” claims, have mostly been totally debunked. He greatly exaggerated his worth and rank in the military, and I am sure that any veteran would find these lies to be beyond despicable. And please feel free to go check out scans of his actual Naval records, it will make you cringe.

L. Ron Hubbard The "War Hero" In His Final Days

I find it very hypocritical for Katie and hubby Cruise to attend a ceremony in recognition for veterans when they believe the founder of their cult was such a war hero, and that brain injuries can be fixed with an e-meter.

I guess most of the public will just look at this as a WONDERFUL tribute that Katie is doing, but that’s because most people don’t realize the harm Katie and other celebrity Scientologists perpetrate by supporting and endorsing a cult.

ABC Reported:

She just took in the “American Idol” finale, and this weekend, Katie Holmes will be on hand for an equally all-American event.

Holmes is among a clutch of stars performing in tonight’s 20th anniversary National Memorial Day Concert broadcast from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on PBS (8 p.m. ET, check local listings). She plays the sister of an Iraq war veteran, Jose Pequeno, who suffered a traumatic brain injury in combat. Pequeno, his sister, Elizabeth, and his mother, Nellie Bagley, will be in the audience. Gary Sinise and Joe Mantegna co-host.

My father is a WWII veteran. He was overseas for 42 months during which he endured malnutrition, “jungle rot”, and missed three Christmas away from home. He has suffered hearing loss and for years, as late as the 1970’s, if you woke him too suddenly or made any noise, he would jump to a complete standing position from laying down. Needless to say “don’t make any noise around Daddy” was an understood rule in our household growing up.

I highly doubt that my father or ANY veteran would appreciate anyone who would lie about their war history or time in the service.
Especially someone like L. Ron Hubbard who eventually became a millionaire from bilking his “church” members out of billions of dollars and who later died a fugitive hiding from the law.

So excuse me if I find Katie’s performance in honor of our heroic veterans extremely disturbing. I also doubt that if the public REALLY knew just how much Katie and Cruise (especially Tom) revered Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, that they would appreciate  Katie’s participation in this ceremony.

To all the REAL veterans out there both with us and for those who have passed, we deeply thank you for your dedication and service, and our hearts are with you and you families.

Blessings to you and yours on this Memorial Day.

With these tough economic times, it’s no wonder the fashion police haven’t been out in full force these days. I doubt they would have let this little number fly under their radar.

Yes of course I am guilty of wearing mismatched clothes around the house with two different color socks, staying in PJ’s all day and one time I wore two totally mismatched shoes to the post office, but my husband is not Tom Cruise (thankfully), I don’t have the dough to shop in haute couture boutiques, and I am not a gazillionaire. Never mind the fact that she is in the Tokyo airport with paparazzi galore for the NOT so popular debut of Valkyrie in Japan.

Just a thought: Will Tom’s role as WWII hero Col. Claus von Stauffenberg seem more convincing with Japanese dubbed in? ‘Cuz the absent German accent he was trying to get away with didn’t fly elsewhere.

Perhaps you think I am being catty, but sorry, the spike heeled beatle boots, the too tight black leggings, the 60’s style flowered dress,the red PLAID shirt and the navy swing style coat all scream crazy cat lady to me. MEOW!

At least Suri (who’s adorable btw) out-shined her Mom, with her red frock, cute white cardigan and little leopard flats, but her Mom’s fashion sense still showed through with Suri’s black tights. Why, Katie, why?

There are probably many reasons why she looks like she fell on a table full of clothes from a garage sale. So I listed five reasons which can be possible explantions for her giant fashion faux pas.

1. She got dressed in the dark

2. The airport lost her baggage, and this is the only outfit that she can get together from the lost and found department.

3. Suri picked out Mom’s outfit that morning and Katie didn’t have the heart to say no

4. Her body thetans couldn’t agree on the same outfit

5. OR Tom dressed her that way, because he knew it was a fashion disaster and he was counting on the PR. After all…he himself looked fine, well, except for his three-inch lifts. (For the record…fine as in ok, not as in, oh baby you look so fine.)

Dear Katie,

I know you can’t help the jam you’re in being married to the poster boy for Scientology, but please consult a stylist or at least buy a new mirror, ’cause yours is way broke girlfriend!

(Posted by Glosslip’s very own Queen)

I’m not pointing fingers, but I’m pretty sure she stole those shorts from my son. He’s five and outgrew them about two years ago, because even HE thought they were getting too small for him. Me thinks Amber Rose has been digging through my trash.

Look, far be it for me to disparage a working “lady” (there’s that word again) but if homegirl is going to be accompanying a fashion icon, and the “voice of this generation” around, couldn’t he maybe spring for some new duds? May I suggest shorts NOT found in the toddler section of a second hand store? Julia Roberts is NOT impressed.

There’s breaking new territory and then there’s plain stupid and unflattering, and unfortunately for Amber Rose (yeah, I bet that’s her real name) the above outfit is both. Even Britney Spears wouldn’t be caught dead in that outfit.

Oh well, you know what they say, you can take the girl out of the strip club, but you can’t take the stripper out of the girl.

“In love witchu”?  Don’t try so hard, you’ll hurt yourself.

Mariah Carey’s new video has come out, and it looks and sounds like pretty much every other Mariah Carey song that has come out.  It starts off soft and ends up with Mariah screaming and showing off her vocal range while dancing around and touching her heaving bosoms.  Yeah, we get it, you can hit the high notes…and by the way, thanks for ruining millions of talent shows all across the world as entirely too many pimple-faced wannabees who stopped vocal lessons after the “project your voice” class try to be you.

Plus, this video is nothing more than an almost four-minute commercial for Mariah’s perfume.  The logo is on the wall behind her as she dances as well as on her boot (which you see in the first few seconds), and just in case we missed the total subtlety of it all, she is seen applying the scent to her cleavage in the first fifteen seconds.  Because “subtle” is Mariah’s middle name.

And just in case all that wasn’t enough, not only is Mariah trying too hard to be Mimi From The Block, but her song features such soul-stirring lyrics as these:

It cuts so deep
It hurts down to my soul
My friends tell me
I ain’t the same no mo’…

Oh, wait…that’s totally different.  I can see now what the fuss is about.  I’m framing those lyrics and hanging them on my wall.  I need such inspirational thoughts to help get me through my day.  Because, after all, I have to suffer through life without a Hello Kitty bathroom.  The agony!

I don’t know what kind of magic kool-aid they’ve been giving Katie Holmes since being hooked up to the e-meter cans, but homegirl is looking BEAT-DOWN.

Katie’s metamorphosis from “hot girl next door” to “creepy Stepford-wife” is doing little to assuage the public’s concern that the Church of Scientology isn’t a mind-controlling, money-swindling alien-inspired cult. In fact, this transformation has pretty much cemented (in my mind anyway) that those inside the “church” are completely clueless to changes around them and are stuck in some kind of time-warp space machine designed by founder and bad sci-fi writer himself, L. Ron Hubbard.

Let’s put it this way, the only thing worth resurrecting from the 80’s is the music, NOT the fashion. (I bet if you look close, you will see some rolled jean action.)

Katie, may I suggest you get Graham Berry’s number on speed dial, pack light (leave those Guess jeans behind, PUHLEEEZE) grab little Suri and RUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNN, as fast as you can before Tom Cruise and the crazies suck every ounce of hot you once had right out of you.

Before the Cult

Not so long ago, my sister, an avid music listener and the foundation for my music taste (she’s older and I used to steal her records, HAHA, you can’t do anything about it now sis!) turned me on to The Weepies, a duo featuring a folk/pop sound and their song “Gotta Have You” and I loved it.

Well, it seems their sweet indie sound has garnered them a fair amount of soundtrack work (songs from Say I Am You have been featured on many popular TV shows, including Grey’s Anatomy, Everwood, One Tree Hill, Scrubs, The Riches, How I Met Your Mother, Gossip Girls, GRΣΣK and Kyle XY) on both the small screen AND now the big screen.

A secret source passed this on to us:

The Weepies In The City?

Not only is The Weepies song ‘All This Beauty’ featured on the Sex & The City movie soundtrack, the band members themselves make a CAMEO in the movie! Look for Carrie and Charlotte out on the town drinking martinis at a NY hotspot where The Weepies just happen to be performing! Sarah Jessica Parker, herself, was even heard humming the tune during filming!

You can hear “All This Beauty” here.

While k and I haven’t seen the big screen version of “Sex and The City” yet, there was much discussion of this hideous ensemble worn by SITC star Sarah Jessica Parker at the premiere yesterday. Seriously, WTF?

No amount of whiskey, no amount of wine, no amount of crack, no amount of crying will ever make that outfit not look ridiculous.