Forming the Preamble to ‘The Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale’, the following playlist was actually burned to CDs and sent out to my friends before that fateful tour even began. Hey, it was 2005 – I’m not even sure we had playlists then. The musical selections for this portion of the Divine Diva project were designed to be quietly enchanting, with an element of whimsy, highlighting the fairytale aspect of what was to come. This is very much moody music, conjured for atmosphere and ambiance, to set a tone of dream-like intrigue and fantasy. It’s also night music, for drifting off to sleep on clouds of sheep and rolling hills of cotton candy. Compile and play accordingly, tomorrow we tour…
Shades of lilac and lavender in a tulle puff of a strapless dress, flitting about like a cloud of fairy dust – not wholly solid, more of a wisp, a whisper, a hint of something purple in the air.
In Tchaikovsky’s ‘Sleeping Beauty’ ballet, “the Lilac Fairy is a benevolent fairy who represents wisdom and protection” and ultimately helps Sleeping Beauty find her happy ending. My own fairy’s tale doesn’t come to such joyful fruition, but a story isn’t told from the end to the beginning…
A music box whirls, tinkling bells of metal shards, sharp enough to slit a throat, slowly dying and running itself down. Crystalline winter, wrapping the sly softness and icy deadliness of snow around us, seduces with dangerous charm. We allow ourselves to be swaddled, thinking it is what we want, believing in the lie that it is what we need. We are too often willing accomplices in our own deception, in conspiring with the loveliness of a city covered in snow and ice – a city of quartz, ticking away with the tense, unrepentant measure of a time-bomb. Beauty about to explode.
Charming, someone to fear Handsome, very much here Evil, dancing through fire Whore of Babylon, world famous clear
Something to charm Danger, someone to harm Falling into the mire Climbing, higher and higher
The smoky world-ravaged voice of Marianne Faithfull, something we will never hear live again, gives ragged life to the song at hand. Recently deceased, she lasted longer than she thought she would. We never know how strong we are, or will need to be, until we go through it. And God, what she must have gone through… file it under ‘fun from the past’.
Someone to fear Handsome, very much here Evil, dancing through fire Whore of Babylon, world famous clear
This is the penultimate song of our introductory fairy-tale playlist, setting up the whimsical beginning of the Divine Diva Tour: A Fairy’s Tale. How fitting to give the almost-last word to Ms. Faithfull, whose voice once gave sustenance to a lost boy. Every fairy tale is lined with darkness and danger, as though designed to prepare a child for the horrors of what will undoubtedly lie ahead.
Ivory tower Longing for something now Waiting, hour after hour Give me some of your power
Every escape can become another prison. Every chance grab at freedom another chance at confinement. Paradoxically, every prison can be conquered by the mind, and perspective is the greatest weapon anyone can ever wield. The power is in our hands.
Citadel, a prison of sorts Only the rich make the laws Using repression and force Whore of Babylon, City of Quartz
Why did this music imprint itself upon my brain at such a young age and why did I carry it with me all these years later? Imagined worlds unfurled before me – allowing for escape, allowing for survival, allowing for finding goodness in a place that wouldn’t always find me good. If I could create goodness, if I could conjure beauty, even if it was make-believe, perhaps it would be enough. Whatever gets you through being a gay kid and surviving somewhat intact.
A waltz. A walk in the forest. A whisper from my future self.
Our precious preamble to escapism continues its whimsical way with this track by Tori Amos, and featuring a gratuitous foot pic inspired by this quirky video. Fetishists have fairy tales too, sometimes more quaint than the rest of us. It has been my experience that those who dare to delve into their more devilish sides come out with stronger morals at end of it. Make of that what you will – there’s a lot of room for interpretation. The same goes for a Tori Amos song, so have at it.
Things you said that day Up on the one-oh-one The girl come undone I tried to downplay it With a bet about us You said that you’d take it As long as I could I could not erase it
And I’m so sad Like a good book I can’t put this day back A sorta fairytale with you A sorta fairytale with you
And I ride alongside you then And I rode alongside you then And I rode along side ’till you lost me there in the open road And I rode along side till the honey spread itself so thin For me to break your bread For me to take your word I had to steal it
With luscious locks of hair to rival Beyoncé (and that similarly never met a fan that didn’t adore them and set them into glorious flight for every photo) Law Roach is one of the most celebrated stylists in the Hollywood scene. Witness the fabulous lewks he was integral in conjuring for Zendaya’s promotional appearances for ‘Challengers’ and ‘Dune 2’, as well as Celine Dion’s comeback last year. This marks Law’s first Dazzler of the Day crowning, and it definitely won’t be the last we’ll hear from him.
When I stuck a letter into our mailbox for the postal worker to pick up on their later round, I had to step gingerly around large patches of rippled ice and snow; by the time I picked up the mail at the end of the day, the ground was clear of all ice and snow, just a muddy and wet space that promised of spring. A day of melting is a sign we are headed in the right direction, even if the temperatures plunge again every night. The overall trajectory is promising. It’s been a while since we’ve had such a feeling.
Let’s have a song to celebrate, part of the extended preamble for our next project posting, something that hints at the whimsy and escapism to come…
I’ll stop the world and melt with you You’ve seen the difference and it’s getting better all the time There’s nothing you and I won’t do I’ll stop the world and melt with you
To catch melting as its happening takes a different kind of magic and acute perception – most often we only notice the before and after – the act itself is always more elusive, shunning to be seen in motion, as if it might diminish the sorcery. It’s seen in the dripping of an icicle, or the sweet, sticky running of an ice cream cone; hardly ever when it comes to the heart or the malleable movements of the mind, and those are the places where melting is most important.
Dream of better lives the kind which never hate (You should see why) Trapped in the state of imaginary grace (You should know better) I made a pilgrimage to save this humans race (You should see why) Never comprehending the race had long gone by
While Pedro Pascal has already proven he knows how to rock a red coat, it’s nice to see he can rock a pair of red swim trunks equally as well. In these beach shots, he’s also displaying all his shirtless glory, and if you’re a fan you should check out his crowning as Dazzler of the Day here. It looks like he’s reading ‘Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead’ by Olga Tokarczuk, which is described as “a deeply satisfying thriller cum fairy tale…” and I am all in for that right now.
Maybe we should stop relying on algorithms to dictate our choices and simply engage with all the varied things that interest us. And maybe the algorithms should allow us to do that.
Love and lunacy on full display in the winter sky – this is Venus making motions to kiss the moon on an early February evening. Winter has always held its enchanting delights if you know where and when to look for them. I’m not so well-informed, so this was a happy catch that I didn’t realize I made until after the fact. The Cowboy Junkies wrote a song about this scene for their album ‘Pale Sun, Crescent Moon’.
Reach a hand to the crescent moon Grab hold of the hollow If she sits in the palm of the left That moon will be fuller tomorrow If she sits in the palm of the right That moon is on the wane And the love of the one who shares your bed Will be doing just the same
‘Won’t you come with me’, she said ‘there’s plenty of room in my iron bed You’re looking cold and tired And more than a little human I know I’m not part of the life you had planned But I think once your body feels my hand Your mind will change And your heart will lose its pain’
Lunacy and love, and years past have already swirled beneath our life bridge, long carried away by currents we caused and currents we could not control. Knowing moon, winking Venus, and the power and might of a winter’s night. Whatever bit of warmth that remains from a memory, whatever sees you through the dark, these are little prayers to which we cling.
Do I reach for you When I know you’re on the wane? Do I sense you when I know you’re not around? Do I search for you When I know you can’t be found? Do I dare to speak your name?
Oh crescent moon, how we long for you to cradle us right now, lifting us up from this wretched planet if only for a night of comfort. Humans are reckless and relentless in their torment. What a lovely predicament to be as constant and removed from us as a heavenly body. Do you watch us from your lofty vantage point or are you wisely and sensibly tuned-out to all our awfulness? I wouldn’t blame you for either – I feel torn myself.
Raise your eyes to a moonless sky And try to wish upon a rising star Search all you want for her blessing But you won’t find her sparkling there Now cast your eyes to a part of the sky Where nothing but darkness unfolds And watch as all around you She reveals the brilliance of secrets untold
If I focus, and block out the noise from this crazy world of plane crashes and encroaching fascism, I can escape to the chiffon-shrouded world of Lawrence Welk, flying along on a cloud of accordion comfort, and finding momentary respite in the flight of fantasy…
“A free press is fundamental to human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.” – Antonio Guterres
Way back when Hilary Clinton was running against the orange blob in 2016, I saw the press do its ‘both sides’ bullshit, and obsess over her e-mails in an attempt to equalize the monster who was already breaking the law. The New York Times has already been proven to have given lopsided coverage to those candidates then, and it only got worse in the ensuing years. Giving any sort of normalized leeway to a man who has been repeatedly shown, and convicted, of breaking the law seems a questionable stance, even and especially if you’re reporting solely on facts.
Cut to the current moment, after the press helped Trump to a win in the last election. (All the talk about a President’s age dissipated when they finally coerced Biden out of the election, all the wondering of a President’s competence disappeared when there was a black woman running against him, etc.) Now the press offices of the New York Times, NPR, Politico and NBC are being ‘rotated’ out of the Pentagon to make room for OANN and Breitbart. LOL!
Happy FAFO to the Free Press, which is now suffering greatly in print and television form, so congrats to them on aiding in their own deterioration.
