I Found Some Blog...by Cher Scholar

Cher Tour News and Beaches

Cher News and Cher World have posted pics of Cher's recent appearance at Los Angeles International airport (left).  

Cher News also posted some tour news:

http://chernews.blogspot.com/2012/03/news-round-up-chers-new-tour.html
http://chernews.blogspot.com/2012/02/cher-must-have-found-what-she-was.html
http://chernews.blogspot.com/2012/02/chers-concert-coming-to-kansas.html

No album news yet, but since the tour is officially starting in September, the album will probably be delayed until near then. Sad face. Cher says most likely the tour will start in Kansas (Cher Scholar Tyler must be very happy!)

I don't know what to feel about this tour business. Of course I love buying tour memorabilia. But my non-Cher-friends are more than mildly irritated about the KISS-like renegation of the plenitude of said farewells. My long-suffering husband will probably go again with me (even if it means traveling to Denver or Phoenix because Albuquerque only hosts has-beens and tribute bands) but I will hear plenty of shame-speech when all my peeps find out about this.

And I can't say it's undeserved. This is one of the hardships of being a Cher fan.

But who can shake a stick at another tour book? Not obsessed me!

I'm glad the opening song will change from "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (hire a detective already) to "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me." That's somewhat of a bright spot. I hope the song list changes in other ways, too.

I never thought I'd be saying this, but a set of covers would be refreshing about now. I never thought I'd live to see the day of Cher doing one Greatest Hits tour, let alone three (Believe, Farewell, Caesars Palace). I used to pine for that.

But it would be swell if Cher sang some old catalogue tunes, as a nod to the events going on in this primary election (something like "It’s a Man’s World" or "Do Right Woman").

When I was 8, I adored Cher’s version of Aretha Franklin's "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" (if you want a do-right woman, you gotta be a do-right man). I found the song on the first S&C album I ever bought with my own money, The Beat Goes On (a compilation unbeknownst to me). It was 1978 and I was at Record Bar with my defacto bff Krissy and her older brother. I had five dollars and the album was $7.35. Krissy’s brother spotted me the extra dough to get the record. I made my parents listen to it. I remember the night well. It was in St. Louis, the piece of furniture that was our record player taking up a whole wall of our “nice” room, my parents sitting in our “nice chairs.” Mom and Dad were not completely won over but they begrudgingly said they liked "Do Right Woman."

I say defacto bff, because Krissy had another “official” bff, albeit a bff she never played with. I was the constant day-after-day dependable stand-in, a theatrical part I’ve played over and over again in my life with bffs in high school and college. No matter what frustrations my friends have with their “official” bffs, I always feel that someday they will return to them and I will be bff-less.

I’ve tried to believe over the years that this doesn’t bother me. But when I heard about how former Cher-Show-writer Iris Rainer Dart wrote the movie Beaches with Cher in mind, I had to face a painful truth. It did bother me that I was always a stand-in-bff which is why I never wanted to see the movie Beaches. I was jealous of bffs. My bffness made me sad and I avoided the movie and its insipid popularity for decades. In fact, my high school defacto bff, Lisa, even said the movie reminded her of her "official" bff Nellie (Nellie is also my good friend and a very talented showgirl). Nellie couldn’t come to Lisa’s wedding so I was the Maid of Stand-in Honor. Which I was happy to do because I loved my friend Lisa. I wasn’t bitter about it. Just jealous.

I finally forced myself to watch the movie last weekend. And it was awful. Honestly. The performances were awful. The dialogue was awful. My husband left the room it was so awful. I didn’t even find the bff relationship plausible and Bette Midler and Barbara Hershey had no chemistry. It was sort of a relief. Now I can move on. But yeah…Barbara Hershey’s lips plump up half way through the movie. Remember all the brouhaha about that? Those were the days of lip-plumping innocence.

And which part was supposed to be for Cher? I didn’t get Cher playing C.C. Bloom at all.

 

Christmas with Billy the Kid

Sigh. Life continues to get in the way of Cher schoalring. For Christmas, Mr. Cher Scholar and I headed down to southern New Mexico to visit the Billy the Kid locales of Fort Sunmer (where he was kilt) and Lincoln (where he made his brazen escape). Then we headed to Roswell for the night. Sadly, my Uncle Ben (really my Dad's cousin but practically an Uncle to me) passed away on Christmas Day and the funeral was set for the following Wednesday. So we decided to head home, on the way seeing our remaining sights of Carlsbad Caverns and White Sands. Mr. Cher Scholar poses to the left with Billy the Kid; Franz poses below on White Sands snowy beach.

In the meantime, I've been saving up a few links from friends.

Cher groups at Yahoo posted this link to USA Today's own version of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame --the fashion edition and Cher sits here with some reputable company: http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/Women%27s+role+in+rock/G2245?csp=lfmpg

Cher scholar Tyler sent around this interesting link -- a story about one-time Cher Show and Sonny & Cher Show writer Iris Rainer Dart who wrote Beaches with Cher in mind. Oh, how sweet that would have been.

In fact, she was apparently the only female writer on those TV shows, saying,

"she had to prove her mettle, mostly by "not crying," even when criticism was rugged. Brutal honesty was the name of the game and no one was too concerned with hurt feelings. Still, as the sole woman on the show, she had a close relationship with Cher, who ultimately became the model for the lead character in "Beaches." Initially she had hoped Cher would play the part in the film version, but in the end it went to Bette Midler."

And finally, Cher scholar Dishy was kind enough to recall my frustration that not enough non-"Believe" Cher mashups existed in the Universe and sent me this new mashup, Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" mashed with "Song for the Lonely."

I so love mashups. I really do.

 

Bric a Brac

Cher's new single, "The Greatest Thing" has turned into a duet with Lady Gaga. And the world is agaga waiting for it. It's being tweaked even as we speak. The new album is set for Christmastime but that sounds like a hard deadline to meet when they might still be recording tracks.

The movie Zookeeper came out on DVD and Blu-ray yesterday.

And Cher-scholar Rob sent me a great copy of Cher and Gregg Allman singing "Love Me" -- see screen shot above.

 

The Long Lost Blog Post

Geez...it's been since June 6!! Uhh....I took the summer off. :-)

Well, here's what really happened (very little of it keeping up with Cher): I was mired in some day-job woes, culminating in not having a work computer for a week. My husband and I been searching for a larger place to shack-up in here in Santa Fe. Now we're packing to move into the new place we found just down the street. I had my birthday weekend at the water park in Albuquerque. Been working with some friends on sample illustrations for a book of poems and I took a new ceramics class at Santa Fe Community College. OH...and my uterus has lost its mind. Many gynecology appointments and a (normal) biopsy later, I am finding a moment to write this blog.

But the good news is....during this time Cher zine 3 has gone through its layout and we’re in the final stage of checking and soon printing. Lots of great stuff in there!

But in the last two months, lots of current Cher news has passed me by. So to recap…

There was a special screening of Come Back to the 5 and Dine, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean in New  York City at the Walter Reade Theater on July 15 that was followed by a Q&A with the production designer David Gropman, production executive Peter Newman and the distributor Ira Deutchman. The screening was presented by UCLA Film & Television Archive's preservation project at their Biennial Festival of Preservation. The Film Society of Lincoln Center hosted.

http://www.filmlinc.com/press/entry/film-society-to-host-new-york-engagement-of-ucla-festival-of-preservation

A review of the screening: http://altscreen.com/07/14/2011/friday-editors-pick-come-back-to-the-five-and-dime-jimmy-dean-jimmy-dean-1982-2/

Zookeeper came out! (Cher at premiere above and below) I really enjoyed Zookeeper. Critics have been harsh but then critics always hate the feel-good love story. It’s been done so many times, you know. But they actually do the trick of making one feel good. So, there you go. Cher was way underrepresented in animal dialogue (but it was her character Janet’s idea for Kevin James to go on a date with his co-worker...which was a crucial plot point). To hear her sing Boston’s "More Than a Feeling" during the end credits with the other animal cast members more than made up for the price of the ticket. I was in Cher-singing-random-songs Heaven. My trip to the movie was not without drama though. I went alone and arrived early. A huge Caucasian family (grandma in tow) completely surrounded me, passing their popcorn and drinks over me without so much as an excuse us. And then kept giving me annoyed glances as if I were the rude one. Note to parents, if you’re going to a movie with 12 family members who insist on sitting together, get there on the early side. Don't expect everyone there to accommodate you.

The movie had lots of zoo jokes. Everyone enjoyed it. Kevin James’ brother Dave in the movie looks like ICANN's CEO Rod Beckstrom. I liked the crazy Asian character--geat break from stereotype. I enjoyed the sweet wedding scene the best…the leads had chemistry. The Bromance with Gorilla Nick Nolte was also fun. Ironically, the animal scenes could have been funnier.

News came out in Entertainment Weekly this summer that Jane Lynch took the Nun role in the Three Stooges movie. I can’t say I’m devastated by this news. Although it must be fun to make comedies, Cher’s true acting gift is doing dramatic roles and I wish we’d see more of those. The best parts of Burlesque were when Cher was in a bit of drama. Cher cries and we cry.

Becoming Chaz’s has earned an emmy nomination.
http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2011/07/chaz-bono-becoming-emmy-nominee

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/news/article_1651272.php/Chaz-Bono-good-for-OWN-delivers-first-Emmy-Nomination

Speaking of World of Wonder productions, Drag U season 2 has been keeping me GOING the past month with its feel-good female empowerment messages. I even bought RuPaul's book "Workin It." This season they've had some butch lesbians in want of some dragging, which further reinforces the idea that clothes serve more as a uniform than representation of un-evolving identity. All the women seem to get a confidence boost from a few days as a Drag Queen. There's power to mine in big hair and sequins, there really is. And pink is just a a color, not an identity statement.

Cher turned up on the Bullseye page of Entertainment Weekly this summer and not in the good part of the page…she was in the far-off-center part: “Cher plans on touring long into her retirement. See? Another Mermaid in a wheelchair” (referring to Bette Midler as the other mermaid in a wheelchair).  She won't escape crap for a fake-retirement tour.

A clip of Cher and her mother Georgia singing together has surfaced. I love, love, love this. Hope this clip is a hint of more country to come from a new Cher release. You gotta do these things while you can.

My cousin has tipped me off to Cher Sidewalk (part of the Heavy Metal Parkinglot series) although it turns out Cher fans are not as hilariously dopey as 1986 Judas Priest fans.

In the wayback files, Sonny & Cher Comedy Hour costume designer Ret Turner(all the costumes Bob Mackie didn't do) is interviewed.

That's all for now....I hear I have a lot of Cher tweets to catch up on.

  

Standing Larger

I was joking to my husband that this week was Sex-Change Week!  Just to lighten things up, you know. Turns out there was no need. John’s been listening to all of Chaz's interviews with some astute commentary.

However over the past week(s), I seen a dearth of Cher-fans chit-chat on Chaz’s appearances. Not one comment on the Yahoo list about the documentary. Is that disconcerting? I hate to think so...but I am surprised. Although I understand, your generic Cher celebrity obsession does not equal a Chaz celebrity obsession. This is why we didn’t send Ceremony’s Hang Out Your Poetry up the charts. However, Chaz’s current transgender story is still solidly a part of the Cher story.  Honestly, my “peripherals” blog tag is just an ironic jest. Nothing is ever truly peripheral:

a) because everything Chaz or Elijah will ever do in their entire lives is still part of Cher’s story… but much more so this story because it represents loss for Cher.

b. because Chaz, in talking about his life, drops Cher-at-home tidbits. For instance, you learn that Cher once bought Chastity a Wonder-Woman jean skirt.  Which is an unprecedented look behind the curtain, a unique child’s-point-of-view peek into her private life. And I don’t care what you think you know about Cher’s private life. You don’t know shit. Cher’s a master of only appearing to be seen. Her interviews are like a Bob Mackie gown, you think you’re getting more skin than you really are. And short of a for-real Cher autobiography, this is as good as it gets.

Is the topic just too difficult for them? Let me explain my non-discomfort with the transgender topic. I used to live with my bff Julie in Los Angeles from 2003-2006. Everyone but our friends thought we were gay. My siblings and parents probably did too. We were on an Animal Planet reality show created by the Humane Society (where we won the adorable Edgar Winter Dog) and some viewers there even thought we were gay.  It didn’t bother me. Well it did bother me that I had such a distant relationship with my family that they didn’t know I had a crush on John Waite for 15 years. But mostly, it didn’t bother me because I thought of Katharine Hepburn and her heiress-bff Laura Harding living together and how everyone thought they were gay too…and that me being gay was probably a more interesting plotline than the love life I was living at the time…so let em run with it. 

But that’s really not the point, since we’re not talking about being gay. The point is, due to this conception about us, Julie and I had no problems talking about different kinds of sex and sexuality. As young Bitch/Bust feminists, this was just part of being feminist daily. We saw TransGeneration on Sundance. And for a while we really got into graphic surgery shows about kids and adults with unusual medical conditions. I’m not freaked out about surgical procedures anymore. So I don’t find transgendering or its surgery that disturbing, even if maybe I once did.

However, when Chaz story broke, I did think immediately “poor mom.” And poor all of us who will lose that little TV star Chastity forever. Which was an irrational thought;  because she existed and so will always exist.

The Poor Mom response was not irrational. A mom’s struggle, no matter what kind of major transformations their daughters will face, is harsh. And moms always get a large suitcase of guilt and loss to deal with. Most moms feel guilt; famous moms usually feel extra guilty.

While Chas was a daughter, she says she had an often rocky relationship with her mom. Cher herself has had a rocky relationship with her mother. Let me tell you, things aren’t always smooth sailing with my mom. Billions of women know this mother/daughter dynamic. Many, many mothers subconsciously discourage their daughters from self-actualizing in many ways for many reasons (their own fears, their own dreams). It’s so common it could be called natural. Except that it’s so painful. It feels structured to be painful.  And no one has yet invented an effective way to deal with it.

Even though Chas is now a man, he and Cher still had 40 years of that mother-daughter thang.

I’ve been watching The Judds reality show on OWN (I got accidentally sucked in last weekend). Talk about mother-daughter DRAMA. The episode I saw started with Mama Judd sobbing over Ashley Judd’s book and Ashley’s disclosure of her painful childhood. Mama Judd felt guilty. Winona Judd felt guilty. Mama and Winona tried to have a therapeutic moment together with a therapist; but the event fell apart over disagreements in their diverging memories of their traumatic few years living on Larabee Street in Los Angeles (it truly did sound awful). The session ended with Winona storming out because her mother “wasn’t hearing her.”  Sound familiar?

Add to that transgendering and it’s not surprising that the press has been relatively kind to Cher.  It’s mother-daughter drama to the hilt.

It’s hard not to be engaged by the documentary Becoming Chaz, made by the guys who gave us the gems of The Eyes of Tammy Faye, TransGeneration and Ru Paul’s Drag Race.

This week, Oprah and Rose O’Donnel talked to Chaz about it for an hour each. Cher’s sister Georganne even made an appearance to talk about her initial issues with Chaz’s transgendering and how her husband, Ebar, helped her along. In the documentary, Cher also says it was her boyfriend who encouraged her to see Chaz after some time apart. So interesting that the men in Chaz’s family circle were stronger about it. Maybe because they were gaining a team-mate. Did they think, “who doesn’t want to be a dude?” Oprah was fully understanding. Rosie tried to wrap her head around transgendering as a gay woman.

But David Letterman tried to get his head around it as Middle America. His show proved to me that sometimes ignorant questions are just as important as good ones. They clear the air. His anti-depressants question was such a question.

Cintra Wilson’s review and interview is another good example of being off the rails. I was on NPR with Wilson years ago talking about celebrity obsession. We had something in common: we both think celebrity obsession is bad for society. However, I felt Wilson was either grandstanding her view for some kind of celebrity-like attention or she was authentically off the rails about it. I felt the same way about  her 2000 book, A Massive Swelling: Celebrity Re-examined as a Grotesque Crippling Disease and Other Cultural Revelations (Can you see what I mean?). Her review and interview of Chas for The New York Times was no different. She asked the dumb questions: “Did the toxic culture of celebrity damage Chaz’s gender identity?” and “Did Cher’s almost drag-queenlike hyper-female persona somehow devour Chastity’s emerging femininity?”

It’s hard to take her seriously. First of all, Cher as hyper feminine? Has she seen Cher on a Harley? Was she around for the androgynous 60s? Or was that toxic too?

Toxic celebrity culture does not cause gender identity issues. It may cause body image issues. It may cause our distraction from society’s real problems. Aren't these things bad enough?  But Wilson’s theories are almost radically conservative in a way. In other words, wouldn’t life would be so much simpler without those dangerous moving pictures and pop songs? It’s good to get the dumb stuff out. So we can call it out for what it is.

Let’s be frank (no pun intended), people who are still anti-gay are not going to come around to an understanding of transgendering. Because these are essentially the same people who, in ancient times, would have drowned their own baby twins because twins were seen as being unnatural and unlucky. These people cannot tolerate anything unusual.

I devoured Chaz’s book in two days. He’s getting better at retelling the early stories. In fact, this book was more a complete story than the other two books, Family Outing and End of Innocence. There was a lot to digest but my favorite discussions were on gender tween-ness and society's massive need to see gender absoluteness in people. I also learned Cher’s fame takes a f*#@ing lot of work. And that everyone on Celebrity Fit Club was cheating with the Zone Diet. And that Chaz has returned to college. Which is really cool.

Oh, and I learned this too: I wanted Chaz’s childhood and the irony is he wanted a childhood something more like mine. Who knew?

Anyway, back to Mom. Because this blog is about Moms if it’s about anything, in the sense that I’m also the result of my mom’s not wanting me to turn into an adult Cher Scholar.

There’s a Rusty-Dennis-Mask lesson for us here. Wasn’t the take-home from that movie the fact that Rocky Dennis wasn’t so different from you and me, just that society treated him differently simply due to a roll-of-the-dice fluke of his DNA that made him look abnormal? Remember the ferocity of Rusty’s love in response?

What parent doesn't want a normal child? What parent doesn’t want to protect their children from an unhappy childhood?  Okay, maybe your mom didn't. But Cher’s mother did. Cher did. If I had a kid, I would. Chaz would too. It’s a universal desire. So everyone can sympathize with Cher (which doesn’t happen often).

Everybody has an opportunity to stand larger today due to this Cher story. Yes, this Cher story, this mother story, this daughter story. A celebrity sensation story is probably the smallest part of it.

Cher may not see it this way. Or maybe she does. Surely she must view this story as a mother before she sees it as an iconic celebrity. But my self-imposed job here is to look at this from an entertainment history perspective, 50-years down the line. This is a good trajectory for Cher, not a negative story. Why? Because it’s something more poignant and more modern and more full of humanity than the legacy she will have from a Bob Mackie dress, from “Turn Back Time” or Moonstruck or, God help us, “Half Breed” or even the legacy of Mask.

It’s obvious to me Chaz is standing larger. Gone is that tense, awkward wrinkled brow from all his previous interviews. I’ve been watching this worried furrowed brow since 1979 and The Mike Douglas Show all the way to last years’ Entertainment Tonight story. I have not seen the wrinkled brow all week. What I now see more clearly is Sonny. And what’s to complain about that?

As if by divine messaging, while I was typing this out the Joni Mitchell song “Let The Wind Carry Me” came up on my iPod shuffle (God speaks through my iPod, no?). This song couldn’t be more apropos for this moment. It’s a mother-daughter conflict song. The lyrics tear’d me up a bit because although the daughter in the song is different than Chastity was and she is different than I am…its not so different.

Papa's faith is people
Mama she believes in cleaning
Papa's faith is in people
Mama she's always cleaning
Papa brought home the sugar
Mama taught me the deeper meaning

She don't like my kick pleat skirt
She don't like my eyelids painted green
She don't like me staying up late
In my high-heeled shoes
Living for that rock 'n' roll dancing scene
Papa says "Leave the girl alone, mother
She's looking like a movie queen"

Mama thinks she spoilt me
Papa knows somehow he set me free
Mama thinks she spoilt me rotten
She blames herself
But papa he blesses me
It's a rough road to travel
Mama let go now
It's always called for me

Sometimes I get that feeling
And I want to settle
And raise a child up with somebody
I get that strong longing
And I want to settle
And raise a child up with somebody
But it passes like the summer
I'm a wild seed again
Let the wind carry me

Mama, let the wind carry Chastity. 
He is the proof God lives. And he is God’s gift to you.

(Chastity Sun, 1973)

  



Cher To Guest Host Turner Classic Movies

Ohhhh....so excited!

Ron Perlman, Conan, Cher, Winona Ryder among TCM's Upcoming Guest Programmers

http://tvbythenumbers.zap2it.com/2011/04/07/ron-perlman-conan-cher-winona-ryder-among-tcms-upcoming-guest-programmers/88622

 

  

 

"Cher, who earned an Oscar for her performance in the romance Moonstruck, is a passionate fan of classic films and TCM.  For her night as GUEST PROGRAMMER in September, she has chosen the Ginger Rogers-Fred Astaire musical Follow the Fleet (1936), David Lean’s delightful comedy Hobson’s Choice (1954), the Damon Runyon tale The Big Street (1942) and the comedy-mystery Lady of Burlesque (1943)."

I'm also interested in the John Carpenter night (because I DO love horror movies, haunted house movies…anything but slasher movies. They’re so TIRED...and I mean yours too, Rob Zombie, although your movies are beautifully shot).

"John Carpenter, who revitalized the horror genre with Halloween, is set to present three science-fiction thrillers in October, including The Thing from Another World (1951), a film he later remade in 1982; It! The Terror from Beyond Space (1958); and the Hammer classic The Curse of Frankenstein (1958). Carpenter’s night also includes the Howard Hawks western Rio Bravo (1959)."

I just saw Rio Bravo. John and I decided John Wayne is just a barrel with legs and arms. It wasn't our favorite western but we both thought Dean Martin was great in it. And I thought Ricky Nelson was good but John thought he was silly. Loved the scenes with Ricky and Dean singing together.

 

And the James Brooks night. He's my fav director of TV (Mary Tyler Moore Show) and film (Terms of Endearment and As Good As It Gets), although he’s been a bit flat lately...and I've wanted to see Network.

"James L. Brooks has earned three Oscars for Terms of Endearment and a shelf-full of Emmys for such series as The Simpsons and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Brooks is slated to present four films in January 2012, including My Favorite Year (1982), which will be preceded by the classic Your Show of Shows skit that inspired it; the satirical masterpieces Dr. Strangelove: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) and Network (1976); and the Sidney Lumet thriller Prince of the City (1981)."

A Cher's Eye View (Cher Tweets)

The pics in this post are from Cher's tweets. For instance, Cher takes a picture of her feet. Who hasn't done that??? That's my favorite one!

There are many cool developments in Cher-tweet-land...Cher's eye view pictures being the best. It's like...could you do a tweet an autobiography?

Some ask, "Is it really Cher tweeting?" It doesn't seem too foolish to believe that she is. The tweets are honest, peppery, emotional and even occasionally humanly mundane...and contain a quality of vagueness beyond what an assistant or publicist would contribute.

That said, when folks criticize her spelling and grammar--it's ludicrous. Seriously, Twitter is the land of C U Ltr. It seems these people are just poking Cher with a stick is what that is all about.

Which is why when Cher asks: "If people don't like me then why not just stay away & follow who They Love?" and "I must b very naïve cause I still don’t understand why people who don’t like me come here? Seems mean 4 no reason"  My opinion: they come to get a rise out of Cher…which they are more likely to get with something negative than something positive.

Cher in Nepal: Last night John made me watch a National Geographic show about Big Foot in Nepal.

So anyway, I’m behind with the Cher tweets…does that make me a bad fan? Make no mistake, I love the tweets. Cher is very generous with her tweet time.

"Ok let’s pick a topic & talk to each other! Something u think I won’t answer! Let’s stay away from XXX! We respect one another" Mar 23

I’m 35 text pages behind!!!  Cher has been a tweet'n fool too. And pouring over them feels like trying to uncover mysteries in biblical texts.

In any case, there is no need for Cher to defend her tweets with dyslexia. ("Dyslexia SORE spot 4 me! School was hell! Said I was lazy.” Mar 23) Even if she wasn't dyslexic, she can freakin tweet any way she wants.

Anyway, back to September of last year: Cher is loving on Lady Gaga’s VMA dress and she was just getting her tootsies squished into Grauman’s Chinese Theater ("the impossible dream of a tiny 4 yr old come True!" and "the first time ever someone got to throw glitter all over it." Nov 18). Again, Cher laments “I feel my Best Pictures are behind me” which boggles the mind. I feel like we’ve been hearing this since Believe and there have been amazing amazing pictures since then, The Vanity Fair pics are really beautiful. Stand right up there with anything from the 70s or 80s.

I "liked" Cher on Facebook (as I was told to do Sept 30)

I love this picture...an near-Cher-view of a fan getting his All I Ever Need Is You (1972) album signed in New York City (posted Nov 11). I love that album. I really do.

You haven’t seen the last of me is now in Cher's top 5 songs she's done. Oct 23...says Burlesque isn’t Shakespeare and is predictable but is beautiful and fun. Indeed.

Says Zimmerman is writing for teen Disney show, Shake it Up and Cher was sad when she lost half a years worth of texts between her and Rz...“I’m desolate! They were precious 2 me” (Mar 14) This reminds me of the heartache of losing creative and personal work from computer crashes. Technology has a sucky side. Which is why I'm wary of using document scanners for important docs. A fire seems less likely than a computer crash.

Cher thanked her fans for the last night in her three-year Vegas run: “packed audience on their feet for nearly the whole show! They screamed and yelled with excitement and delight" Feb 8

Cher now has a YouTube station: http://www.youtube.com/cher but there's not much on it yet

Cher often expresses concern for friends in surgery or sick. She expressed honest disappointment about the Oscars shunning for Best Song, “Would u like Some Cheese 2 go with that WHINE!” Jan 26  (her own "Snap out of it!")

She raises the interesting identity question: "Why would someone pretend to be me. It’s meaningless 4 them. Instead of making them feel more…it must make them feel less” Nov 6

She "Didn’t know caps were shouting! Sorry! I’m SO out of the loop. Probably out of the loop Is outa the loop" Feb 23

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two gorgeous pics of Lovely Cher backstage before Vegas Caesars shows.

"Who or What is Cher Lloyd" Mar 15 (Cher Lloyd is who clogs up my Cher google searches, that’s who!)…this comment causes drama to ensue from Cher Lloyd's minions: "I guess I live in a cave. No Disrespect meant !" The next day she apologizes for not knowing tweet etiquette (who does?) "give me a fn break here…There’s rm 4 both she has more followers cool! There truly is lots a rm! It’s a Big planet!"

Which is nice of Cher to say...but...honestly...can we be honest here in the 5th decade?...the planet does not have room for most celebrities, which is why they fade away predictably within months, years or a decade at most. Cher takes up a lot of planet room….nothing against thousands of other celebs who didn’t make it 5 decades…it’s just…you know...the odds are not good for Cher Lloyd. I could be wrong. Let’s touch base in 20 years. If I’m wrong. I’ll eat my hat.

People are asking questions (I'm so jealous!) but we only get to see the answer and I am forced to guess at the questions:

"long blk straight, But I try to make it wavy. Only works in Maui" Mar 15 (Is your hair straight or wavy?)

"true ! Broke it long ago ! Compound fract. but was in rehearsal 4 a show wore cast 2 wks Dr said 'you'll pay' " May 15 (Was it true you broke your toe?)

"Neon Pink on toes Metallic rose glitter on fingers Not deep or meaningful, it's just what I'm Doing right now" Mar 15 (What nail polish do you wear?)

Cher dishes about pets. Awww!

"My cat 'Mr Big' found him on tour undera truck, alone ! Tiny little thing! I took pic & did silly art work" mar 16 

"Love both ! Found puppy in dirt alone (my karma) Rome ! Fought Lily T. 4 him (kidding) name pipo ! My Sister G Took him" (Do you like dogs or cats?)

"loved my dog Kuma ! Akita ! It's cool people Love their pets ! He's Gone, but what a Prince he Was. Strange, writing this i got tears"
Mar 16

On Kathy Griffin: "Let’s talk Kathy! I love her. Took her to Maui with G & bunch a my best friends 4 years! Only KG and RZ make me laugh uncontrollably! She is very kind, dresses up when not working. Me, I live in Chrome’s sweatpants." Mar 16

"Love 2 play wii tennis! It’s so much fun & great cardio!" Mar 17

This reminds me. I just finished a Mark Twain biography, a 600-page opus by Ron Powers. Did you know Mark Twain wrote with a bunch of ampersands in his correspondence & he would probably tweet that way too.)

"NO In & OUT Couple times a yr 3 jack tacos & choc shake whipped cream No Cherry!" Mar 17

"In bed watching tcm! Not tired but gotta get up early’n work out. Been cleaning out my closet 4 what seems like half my adult life" Mar 17

"Hi Lovely's! Ran across my orig S&C Fur vest ! Will take pic tonite & post ! Am in closet will take pics !"

Look at all those shoes!

She solicits opinions about playing Mother superior to an orphanage on The Three Stooges movie (I’m agnostic) mar 18 "I want 2 do more films! …something 2 sink my teeth in! completely different! Unexpected! Cher put a sock in it."

Cher: explore your inner villain! Cher Scholar put a sock in it.

"Several mes! Calm impatient young old funny sad outgoing shy soft sharp laugh cry" Mar 18 (Who is the real you?)

"No Been Cher ALL MY LIFE! Only Cherilyn when in trouble!" Mar 24 (Were you ever called Cherilyn?)

"With Meryl saved girl from getting rapped by HUGE MAN between little Italy china town midnight" (No way!)

She almost had car accident after Chaz’s bday party on Mar 20: "yah but party was tonite ! Many people were away on 4th" (Why was Chaz's bday party on the 20th?)

Says she is "ipad/phone possessed. Artist I love So! Has song 4 me & maybe she & I duet! Oh happy Day lovelies" mar 21

"Wash every other nite! Unless needed don’t user dyer! Put is swirly big bun and let it dry that way" (How do you wash your hair?)

Finally we have questions included around March 26!

"I would have dinner with Jesus Buddha Shakespeare Billie Holiday Harry Hopkins" mar 26

"what’s your fave quotation that you truly live by? If it doesn’t matter in 5 years, it doesn’t matter! Mom" Mar 26

On Liz taylor: "I was once going through Hard time & She was So Kind 2 me" Mar 26

"Don’t sing my songs. Do wear my perfume. Fav song Winter Shade of Pale I’m hippy" Mar 26

Cher's pool with a Buddha statue.

Zimmerman turns out is a "big fan horror film I’m not! He put on Rene Zelweger scary ass film! I’m scared go down stairs 4 ice cream. Ok he’s going down 4 the ice cream, but I may never go Downstairs in the Dark AGAIN! Hate horror! I’m big sissy! What kind of ice cream? Chocolate??? If it’s not choc. It’s not Desert." Mar 28

"Oh! Arg! Monday! I became a singer so I could work Nites! Not really! Son said “Sing Cher” So I Did! But thank God it was Nites" Mar 28

Like all of us, Cher is curious about the latest antics of Charlie Sheen’s personal tour. Apr 3

"was almost no ["You Haven't Seen the Last of Me"] director hated it & wanted it out of his film ..said it would ruin it !" Apr 3

"would you ever duet with merle haggard? Seriously? Oh God yes ! Love him It might not b lovelies fav but great" apr 3 (This should happen.)

"I’m very dyslexic! Imagine what a success I might have made of my life if only my grammar was perfect…Might have been able to have true connection with people! Make them feel something! (sounds like Sonny liner notes from 1973) Oh well quel damage" mar 22

She’s kidding right!? Tell me she’s kidding.

"Nothing would be better than kicking the bucket on stage." Jan 27

Don’t say that! Cher freaks do NOT like to think of "Cher mortality." I can only imagine what Liz Taylor fans are going through right now. And if Entertainment Weekly puts Cher on the back and
Arnold Schwarzenegger's poopey face on the front when Cher “kicks it” I will lose my mind.

By the way, there are many Liz pics on the set of the movie Giant in EW's Taylor tribute this week, that set really being in Martha, Texas, the major plot setting forCome Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean.

Things Cher likes that you might want to check out:

• The 2007 movie Lars and The Real Girl http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0805564/
• Neon colors
• The film Shanghai Lil. Is that the right title? Couldn’t find it on IMDB
• Jesse Jo Stark, her goddaughter: "Hi lovelies just got back from the Troubadour! Jesse Jo my God daughter sang! She was GREAT! I’m SO PROUD!" http://www.jessejostark.com/;  music clip: http://www.jessejostark.com/music ;http://www.vans.com/microsites/girls/jessejo.php
  She’s so sassy!
• Tibetan Buddhism (Interesting. I'm a Zen-er)
• "Gregory’s new cd "Low Country Blues” he looks great! He has Beautiful Hair!!" Mar 17
• Ginger & Fred movie Follow the Fleet from 1936: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027630/
• The book A Place of Yes by Bethenny Frankel: http://www.amazon.com/Place-Yes-Rules-Getting-Everything/dp/1439186901
• The book A Peoples History of the United Statesby Howard Zinn: http://www.historyisaweapon.com/zinnapeopleshistory.html
• Perfumes: 24 Faubourg by Hermes and Diorissimo

"Mom dad ! M. suede pants squaw boots ! ponytail 2 waist" mar 22

"my mom & Dad ! Like movie Stars ! Can't c moms Long hair suede pants & moccasins" apr 1

"I’m tired. Nite lovelies! That includes lovelies that Don’t love Me!" Mar 20



TV and Movie Rumours

The two rumours circulating this week were:

That Cher will star as the nun in the Farrelly Brothers' new Three Stooges movie:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2011/02/the-three-stooges-farrelly-brothers-cher-samberg-knoxville-benicio.html

Larry, Curly, Moe and...Cher?

The goal is for the singer-actress to play Mother Superior, the nun whom the Stooges terrorize.

"Cher is just the coolest chick ever," Peter Farrelly told 24 Frames. "It's hard to describe. You meet a lot of celebrities in our business. We're not cowed by many of them. But Cher is bawdy, she's fun, she's cool, she's lived a life, she's got experience, she's humble. It's the humility that struck me the most. She's not really a diva."  A representative for Cher did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Peter Farrelly: “We’ve thought about it for 12 years. I literally lie in bed thinking about every single shot. I’ve never been more prepared to do a movie in my life.”

And that Cher will be in the 2011 cast of Dancing with the Stars:
http://sportales.com/shooting/dancing-with-the-stars-2011-cast-revealed/

Most not likely due to Cher having been very vocal about hating not only all reality shows, but having dismissed that particular reality show, and unlikely due to her having a bum toe, and unlikely just in general for Cher not wanting to expend that much energy.

Besides, The Cher Show was Dancing with the Stars.   

 

 

Becoming Chaz

Chaz Bono's gender transformation documentary, Becoming Chaz, has just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival last weekend and Oprah has snapped up the rights to air it on her OWN network.

From Entertainment Weekly:

Beyond hormone treatments and surgeries, the film walks moviegoers through Chaz’s changing relationship with his mom, Cher and girlfriend, Jennifer Elia.

From The Salt Lake Tribune:

The three stars of the premiere of “Becoming Chaz” were, in order, Oprah Winfrey, Chaz’s mom Cher, and Chaz’s longtime lover Jen.

But the buzz at the Park City premiere was all about Oprah, who, to the delight of Chaz and the film’s directors, has bought “Chaz” for distribution on her new OWN Network.

“Oprah said last night that she has seen the film and she loves it quite a lot,” said co-director Randy Barbato. Then he joked: “With Oprah approval, we don’t even need a premiere. We’re done.”

From the Sundance page:

Chaz Bono was a male trapped in a female shell for as long as he can remember. Growing up as Sonny and Cher’s adorable golden-haired daughter in a body he felt wasn’t his own was a crucible it took years to transcend. Now, as he undertakes gender reassignment, he’s bravely decided to share the process on camera. Becoming Chaz invites us along on Chaz’s remarkable journey of transformation. As hormone shots give way to top surgery, down-to-earth, unflappable Chaz beams with a sense of liberation and goes public with his story to put a face on a misunderstood issue. Meanwhile, his gregarious girlfriend grapples with the realities of suddenly living with a man, and it’s clear sex change isn’t solely a physical transition.

Intimate and nakedly honest, the film reveals the humanity and courage it takes for Chaz to ultimately embrace his true self. His moving struggle will reverberate profoundly for anyone to whom authenticity matters.

The film has been receiving good reviews. Excerpts:

Initially the documentary shows Cher struggling with her child's so-called gender re-assignment, though she eventually embraces Chaz's transformation, even if she struggles to refer to him as he.
While she has already spoken about him on Late Night with David Letterman, as we see in the film, expect her to be a guest on Oprah any time soon.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10702556

Becoming Chaz delves into the relationship with a level of honesty I wouldn’t have expected from a celebrity profile. Though the film probably would not have mass appeal were it to focus on a transgendered individual without ridiculously famous parents, Chaz uses his celebrity as a form of advocacy.

http://www.filmthreat.com/reviews/29406/

One of the most poignant segments of the documentary is the interview with Cher, who is openly uncomfortable with Chaz's transition and admits to being afraid to see him post-surgery. Cher often uses the pronoun "she" to refer to Chaz and uses Chaz's childhood nickname in place of Chaz or even Chastity. It humanizes the larger-than-lifesinger and actress, even as it shows how far even those we look to as icons and advocates have to go. (Cher and Chaz finally appear together at the end as Chaz, Jennifer and Cher attend the premiere of 'Burlesque.' Cher was reportedly not at the Sundance premiere of 'Becoming Chaz.')

http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/01/28/becoming-chaz-review-sundance/
  

Oscar Snub

Okay, it's not quite a snub of Mask-nitude. But it sucks because I was looking forward to an Oscar-live performance of the song. It's all about me isn't it?

In today's Oscar nomination flurry, many noticed that "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me Yet," the "Burlesque" song written by Diane Warren and performed by Cher -- aka, the best original song winner at the Golden Globes -- didn't receive a nomination for the Academy's best original song. Cher was among those who expressed outrage, tweeting: "The Golden Globe 4 BEST SONG & not even get nominated by the OSCARS? Oh well it is..what it is…the sun is still shining!" In other words, haters gonna hate.

Harumph! Well, oscars love a reason to exclude somebody.

This does not upset me to the level that Farah Fawcett being excluded from the Death Reel last year upset me. Didn't they say something about how she didn't make enough movies.  Umm...I counted seven, including such hits as Cannanball Run, Extremities, and The Apostle. Michael Jackson did make the Death Reel and his only film performance (outside of playing himself) was The Wiz. I'm probably a bigger Jackson fan than I am a Fawcett fan and yet this still irked me to no end. Because it was so obviously a diss. The Oscar people tried to rationalize their obvious exclusion with junk that didn't hold water to anyone who knew how to use imdb.com.

Because they're jerks. There I said it.  

http://www.billboard.com/news/billboard-bits-cher-responds-burlesque-oscar-1005011852.story#/news/billboard-bits-cher-responds-burlesque-oscar-1005011852.story