A Gift for Gaga-ween

When I say "a gift for Gaga-ween" I don't mean a gift you should bring to a Lady Gaga and Ween collaboration, though a "Gaga-Ween" show could be rad. Maybe Dean and Gene would break out into a version of "Voodoo Lady"—"Voodoo Lady Gaga."



No, the Gaga-ween gift I'm talking about is this Halloween frame I saw at Target. Since Lady Gaga calls her die-hard followers her "little monsters" I thought some fan could use it to display a picture of them and their friends with broccoli on their heads in honor of Lady Googoo. Hmmm, what about a Lady Gaga and Goo Goo Dolls collab? Ha—"All Hallow's Eve with Gaga-Ween and Lady Googoo Dolls." You heard it here first, my little Monster energy drinks.

(BTW, I'm not a Gaga hater, I think she's very well-spoken, and I think interviewers ask her a lot of stupid questions. She plays United Center in Chicago on February 28, 2011, Scissor Sisters open. But I still call her Lady Googoo sometimes. Ha. Lady Googoo Gaga.)

I Never Knew Camilla Ha Rocked the Stage Until Saturday, and Now She's Leaving

Crazy how you see some people around for years, have some drunken and sober exchanges, but it never comes up that they do really cool shit. And when you finally see it, they're leaving town.



When I heard that Camilla Ha was going to have a show at Reversible Eye in Humboldt Park, I thought it would be just visual art, maybe some fashion, I knew she was a rad stylist. I didn't realize she was going to be onstage in a cloak of shadows and flashing colors masterminding a candle-lit mixer and Kaoss Pad and intermittently emitting vocals between mikes that made me think of Mazzy Star serenading a grueling catfight between Nina Hagen and Diamanda Galas. When I shared that with Camilla at the opening of "The Cosmic Mind of Black Leather" this past Saturday, she exclaimed, "Hell yeah, I like all them bitches, those are all my bitches, shit!"




We hung out and talked about New York, roommates, and the state of the print-media world. Speaking of print media, the Chicago Reader featured an in-depth piece about Camilla, her work as an electronic musician (she performs as Magic Is Kuntmaster—there's supposed to be an umlaut over the "u" can't figure it out right now), the show at Reversible Eye (Camilla's paintings and installations are up through October 22), and her upcoming move; it's written by Liz Armstrong, who also flew the Chicago coop to NYC and has written for publications like New York magazine, ReadyMade and Vice.

Hopefully before I move there I'll figure out the best videocam to use for super-dark shows that's not totally bulky, expensive or obvious, and has a decent zoom and mike, and won't break the bank, whoo-boy. That's my preface to this next video clip. The sound drowns the vocals, but if you listen carefully about halfway through you can get an idea, and it's short because I was frustrated and cursing my new camera.



BUT WAIT! To watch much better radder cooler videos of Camilla Ha as Magic Is Kuntmaster (there's some sick footage) go HERE.

Dear Toucan Ride Thing, I Love You

Dear Toucan Ride Thing at Humboldt Park Playground:

I don't see you around much anymore. When I was kid, we would fight over who got to ride you, even though you really didn't move. But you looked like the bird on the Fruit Loops box and that's all that mattered. Mm, fruity milk. Much better than nasty Cheerios milk.

You're fading away now, an endangered species. At least some kids will still get to enjoy you—at least until The New Safer Playground arrives one day. I'll always remember you, Really-Hot-In-The-Sun Toucan Ride Thing.