Best Concert of 2004-Prince!!--Painful Detail Recap

If you watched the Golden Globes on Sunday, January 16, 2005, then for the first time ever, you may have been slightly saddened to not have an invitation to a private Hollywood party hosted by Puff Daddy or P Diddy or whatever the kids are calling him nowadays. Prince performed at his private party, and I would have loved to hear him.
Prince played at the Fleet Center on Wednesday, August 18th, 2004. Now Prince may be an odd fellow, but he is positively normal when compared with his contemporary superstars such as Michael Jackson (MJ) and Madonna. It is obvious that he loves his job and must be a great boss because he does not hog the stage, but gives others ample time to showcase their talent. The musicians do not just play music, but communicate their personality.
Prince has so much energy and seemed like he would have performed all night if permitted. He interacts with the audience and actually remembers what it was like to love a song when you first hear it on the radio. He is an amazing musician and a considerate host. He entertains the audience and himself. He seems less strange in person than he does when he interviews.
Before I go into painful detail of the actual performance, I must add that his best CD pales in comparison to a live performance. I have most of his CDs, and I did not recognize many of the songs. The stage was a huge purple cross. At one side, there was a little lounge area with some funky throws and pillows, a chair and a coffee table.
Prince started with Musicology in a white flared shirt with white pants. He smiled a lot and likes to pose in a self-mocking/serious way. It is as if thousands of people just happened to appear in his living room, and he was so psyched to have us there. "If you came to funk, you came to the right place tonight....Is my band tight or what?" Indeed we did, and they were.
Then he rapidly covered some of his greatest hits. Confetti and streamers fell from the ceiling at the start of "Let's Go Crazy." He encouraged us to sing along, and we did. Suddenly, a guitar materializes in Prince's hands, and he seamlessly transitions to "I Would Die 4 U." During "When Doves Cry," he executes some MJ moves and remixes the song a bit. He kept the audience enthralled with "Baby I'm A Star" then threw his hat into the audience and disappearred while his band jammed.
I love that Prince does not seem bored or annoyed with the audience for still loving these songs. He makes the songs seem similar enough to be recognizable but makes enough changes to seem like an entirely different song.
Prince reemerged in a gold shirt, a more casual look for a slow jam that may or may not be called "Break it Down." (From now on, if I am not sure whether or not the song is described with the correct title, I will put a question mark within the quotation marks.) Meanwhile the musicians were just chilling and lounging around. Prince's guitar solos were wonderful, and we obediently screamed his name when asked.
During "Everybody Get On The Floor," Prince mocked the audience good naturedly, "This is what you young people like!" The band played "Crazy in Love" by Beyonce then shook his booty. "I don't have a booty." One of his musicians in a great gold suit shook his butt, and Prince remarked, "This is what a real booty looks like." The band screamed "DANCE! MUSIC! SEX! ROMANCE!"
Prince threw down his microphone and was eager to dance with anyone. "I told you that we were going to take the roof down." I have no idea what the subsequent songs were, but they were amazing. While a random audience member danced on the stage, Prince got the rest of the audience involved in a call and response.
"Upstairs, how you doin?" Just fine, Prince. Thanks for asking.
"This is Rhonda. She is funky!"
"Boston, " he gestured to a band member, a large man resplendent in a white suit and hat. "Boston, don't get too close. This is a pimp!" He lifted up the man's pants leg and explained that he instructed the band to wear certain colors, but he went all out. The band danced together while playing "I Feel For You," "Controversy," and "A Love Bizarre," a little known song that was popular in the 80s and was performed by Sheila E.
In a show stopping pause that the whole audience eats up, Prince threw his guitar on the pillows and pouted a bit. He sat back and started reading a Rollong Stone magazine while one of his band members covered Prince with the throw. He opened to an article, "Bringing Down the House," while he put his feet on the coffee table. The article is about him, and Prince threw the magazine into the screaming audience. Such a fabulous gesture!
"What is that smell? Oh, it's me. Boston, you like funky music! We would like to give a shout out to the lipsynchers. NOT! MTV...NOT! Radio...NOT! Real Music...YES!" Then a band member with a trombone and dressed in a graduation cap and gown danced around the stage.
Maceo Parker did an intermission tribute to Ray Charles and played "Georgia On My Mind." Then the keyboard player player played "Sometimes It Snows In April," from Prince's Parade CD.
Poor Prince. He has so much music that he wants to share and he is running out of time! Thankfully he reemerged in an Elvis style white outfit, complete with fringe, but not tacky. He was seated on a swivel stool and played "Little Red Corvette," "Peach," "I Wanna Be Your Lover," "Things Just Got to Get Better-Maybe We Should Write A Letter (?)" and a show stopping "Cream" on an electric guitar.
Once again, Prince brought the funny, "Help me. There's no lip synching. When I do this (he cups his ear), you've got to sing. OK? Ok."
At the first line, "Baby ain't nobody better," he stopped singing and said, "I bet you sing this song in the mirror, don't you?" Then he mimed looking in the mirror while singing, pointing and kissing his reflection. Seriously.
Then at the line, "Everything you do is success," he confessed that he loves that line, then mimicked himself singing, pointing and kissing his reflection.
"I Can't Get No Satisfaction." He started to do an Elvis song and abruptly stopped, turned to the audience and said, "You've got to be a Prince before you can be a king." When he played "Raspberry Beret," he was delighted to discover that the audience knew the song, "You do know it!" At the high point of the song, the audience sang along, and he just stopped and said, "You know you sound really crazy back there....Boston, the bar is closed!"
The band returned triumphantly with "Seven," "Pop Life," "Sign O The Times," "A Question of U," which was thankfully treated like the symphony it is. Prince dramatically walked away from from his guitar, and it continued to play! I have no idea how he did it. He did a weird push up hand walking thing to the guitar then started pole dancing. While Prince does some gymnastics, KC sings the chorus to Alicia Keyes' "Fallin'" while the band segways to "I Am the One, If You Are Looking For A Man (?)," then the song turns back into "A Question of U."
During "U've Got The Look," a ton of women (and one brave man) from the audience were dancing on stage. "We're Having A Funky Good Time," "Soul Man," "Kiss," "Take Me With U" randomly interspersed with the theme song to Sanford & Son (seriously). One of the audience members sang a little during Kiss and if I haven't stated that Prince is moving wildly during every moment of each song, then assume so. He leaves, and we are bereft.
The deafening roar of the crowd makes it impossible for me to hear myself scream, and the whole audience is stomping on the chair backs. No one is on stage. Suddenly purple light focuses on the streamers like Purple Rain (wink, wink). He emerges once again from the center of the stage. Words cannot describe how unbelievable it is to hear this song in person but it is what it must have been like to hear Mozart when he was little or see a miracle. I cannot believe he exists and can do that with his music. At the end (no!!!!!!), he turned to each side of the audience and thanks us. He shakes his head at our applause and points above to God, implicitly giving thanks.
[Actually I'm working on an article about Prince & Christian themes in his music so just thank God that you're not reading that.] I'm psyched that he did that even though I do not think that we see eye to eye on who He is and on Bible interpretation. But I hope that God works it all out, because his music belongs in heaven.
It was an insanely long concert for which we are all grateful!! Thank you Prince! We would like more.

Bible Commentaries & Versions

I enjoy reading the Bible, but I realized that while reading a One Year Bible may have the advantage of taking me through the entire Bible in one year, it did not enable me to remember obscure references to characters like Achan or places like Timnath Seres.

In addition, I got really tired of people telling me about what the Bible said, especially when I was relatively certain that the person was quoting the passage out of context to fit whatever topic he or she was discussing, but I could not refute the person because of my own ignorance. (Slightly embarassing considering that I have been a Christian since I was 3 years old.)

So I decided to deviate from the One Year Bible and create a personal Bible Study regimen for the intellectual Northeast blue state Bible believer. I decided to read slower.

Let me digress by explaining that I am a book addict. I cannot go into bookstores unsupervised, and I no longer visit libraries because it is so hard to part with my precious book after finishing it. Also when I used to go to libraries, I would go on author sprees. I would choose a prolific author then take out every book by that author. I imagine that was quite frustrating for my fellow patrons who were wondering why there was suddenly a dearth of John Irving books a few years ago at Widener library. Sorry.

So when I decided to read slower, it was not only counterintuitive. It was absolute torture. I always want to move forward and devour whatever I am reading. At times, it was agonizing, but in the end, I think that it was the right thing for me to do. I have been using this procedure for 1 year and ended 2004 by finishing the Pentateuch. I recently finished Joshua and am currently reading Judges, which is anything but dull. (Word to the wise: Leviticus is difficult.)

What did I do? First, I gathered four Bible translations: King James (because of the poetic language), New International paperback edition (because commonly used, but I prefer my older version with the navy blue cover), The Message (because it is hilarious and in contemporary language) and another version which I would not recommend but I like the study notes and application exercises in that version.

Second, I bought a Bible commentary for whatever book I was reading. My favorite commentary is the New International Commentary on the Old Testament and The New Testament (NICOT and NICNT); however, the editor, Eerdmans Publishing Co., does not have a commentary for every book in the Bible. Someone suggested using the appendix of How To Read The Bible for All Its Worth by Gordon D. Fee and Douglas Stuart to find a commentary. I have not tried using it yet, but I noticed that the appendix recommended NICOT and NICNT so I am inclined to use their suggestions in the future.

Of course, there are some great online commentaries and Bible translations, but you can use google to find them.

Third, I have an old fashioned marble cover Composition notebook--just like the ones that I used in grammar school. I use that book to write down my questions and comments for each chapter. I also copy the chapter in my book then use different pens to jot down notes from different commentaries so I can distinguish my thoughts from those of another author's. I like these books because they have hard covers, are easy to store on a book shelf and are not as vulnerable to paper tears as wireless notebooks or looseleaf three-ring binders.

Finally, I make a schedule and do my best to stick to it. I plan to read a chapter a day. I go through each translation, then write out the chapter in my notebook with my comments and questions, then read the commentary while adding notes next to my earlier entry.

I would also suggest getting a good Bible dictionary or concordance. I have not found a Bible dictionary that I love, but I do use Nelson's Quick Reference Bible Dictionary. Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible is the definitive source to use if you want to find every Biblical reference for a word.

Ultimately, I prefer going through the Bible book by book. Then I have fewer questions as I move forward. I come from a heavy New Testament tradition, so it is nice to get reacquainted with the stories in the Old Testament. In addition, Sunday school really sanitized and in some ways, did a bad thing by simplifying the Bible and making everyone seem so nice. Regardless of your religious affiliation or lack thereof, it is interesting to know that the people in the Bible are just as messed up as they are today.

Books on Models & Drag Queens

During the eighties, I was obsessed with Vogue magazine and knew all the top models by heart. Before you scoff at modeling as a talent and dismiss it as solely the work of the photographer, the designer or the makeup artist, think about what you can convey with your face and body at will. Modeling is acting without moving pictures, and it takes an emotional intelligence and vulnerability that the average human being does not have. Lately that interest has morphed into a fascination with the drag community, particularly Ms. J. Alexander. Ms. J. Alexander was popular in Paris before her appearances in America's Next Top Model (ANTM). (Actually, Ms. J should get more air time with the contestants.) Just look through a couple of her fabulous photos in Girlfriend, Men, Women, and Drag by Holly Brubach. Through sheer force of will, drag queens and models become something extraordinary and change their pain and passion into beauty.
Janice Dickinson's No Lifeguard On Duty is a great book about modeling in the 70s & 80s. Here is a woman (who is also a judge on ANTM) with a riveting story who happens to be a model. I find her intensely interesting because she really does understand the industry. She struggled against the beauty standard of her day--the blonde American look, and succeeded. In ANTM, it does surprise me that she still promotes that beauty standard even though she had to overcome it.
I needed a book about models to help me get through the dry spell before the fourth season of ANTM so I picked up the mass market paperback version of the book, Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women by Michael Gross, which has a hot pink cover with photos of Claudia Schiffer, Linda Evangelista and Cindy Crawford. Frankly, I was horrified by the cover and contemplated covering it with a book jacket made from a plain brown paper bag like I used to do in grammar school.
I persevered and did not let it deter me. I am not quite finished reading it, but if you are looking for a quick read that does not end quickly, I would suggest this book. The author interchanges an interview with a legendary model with a historical summary of the modeling industry.
By the time that I reached the 1950s, I began to notice a pattern. A young girl decides to be a model. She is initially discouraged or praised. Her career has a few rough starts, but before she knows it, she is a huge success adored by everyone in the fashion industry. Then she becomes reckless, gets hooked up with the wrong guy, parties too hard, then loses everything either by choice or from living too hard. There are a few models who escape the pattern, and they make brief appearances in this book.

The British Empire In Color (2002) VHS

I have a tendency to tape television shows and watch them weeks or years later. I do not have cable so I am dependent on PBS if I am in the mood for a documentary. Today, I finally had an opportunity to watch "The British Empire In Color," which consists of three 52 minute episodes of archival video footage showing the view of the British empire during the twentieth century from various points of view.
It is a chilling documentary because one cannot imagine what the world would be like without the British Empire. The documentary rapidly goes through British involvement in Asia, Africa, North America, Caribbean and Australia. A rather long documentary could focus on one of these regions and not exhaust all the topics one may want to know about. The documentary succeeds as a warning to any country (ahem, I'm talking to you U.S.A.) that has lofty intentions and tries to impose them on a sovereign country.
As always, John Quincy Adams had it right.