
During my most recent travels, I was fortunate enough to run into my ol' gal pal, Margaret at a local pub. You may know her as the Iron Lady, the longest serving British Prime Minister of the 20th century and only woman to have held that office. To me, she was Margie aka Large n' In-Charge Marge. She was a brilliant woman who thought outside the box and was known for her uncompromising politics and leadership style. She loved Wes Anderson films, playing dominoes, and a good rugby match. Most of our time together was spent photocopying images to make punk-rock style music posters. Sadly, her time came to an end on Monday, suffering from a stroke at the young age of 87. I was lucky enough to look inside her purse before it was too late. Rest in power, sweet Maggie.

What kind of bag is that?
Oh heavens.. I haven't the slightest idea. It is darling isn't it, darling?
Yes. Fabulous! How long have you had it?
I've had it since 1983. I bought it as a gift for myself after being re-elected for the third time. I don't normally treasure such spoils, but what was a lady to do?
Do you think a purse is important in fashion?
I highly believe a woman has certain powers that a man cannot resist. My handbag is something I can always have in my hands to remind everyone who we are and what we stand for. Being powerful is like being a lady… if you have to tell people you are, you aren’t.
Can we take a look inside?
Well, sure, my dear!
• Pearl earrings
• Green tea bags
• Black tea bags
• Eary Grey tea bags
• Chamomile tea bags
• Mr. Tea bags
Well, it's official, via Reebok to TMZ:
"While we do not believe that Rick Ross condones sexual assault, we are very disappointed he has yet to display an understanding of the seriousness of this issue or an appropriate level of remorse."
I wonder, if he actually tried to apologize—could Reebok have kept his endorsement?
UPDATE: Statement from UltraViolet, one of the protest organizers, after the jump...
Looks like this issue got even more heated yesterday, with a protest in NYC
at the Reebok flagship store.
Just minutes after Rick Ross tweeted an awkward non-apology to people who had “misinterpreted” his rap about drugging and raping a woman, more than 100 UltraViolet and NOW NYC members crashed Reebok’s flagship store in New York City to demand the company drop Rick Ross. Survivors of rape, athletes, moms, and concerned women all lugged boxes containing 72,000 petitions to the store for delivery. Reebok barred the women from entering, but two representatives met them at the door and promised to deliver the petitions to CEO Uli Becker.
72,000 petitions! They get it done, in New York City, don't they? Read the entire press release after the jump.
Well, this is a really interesting debate. Rapper Rick Ross is catching hell for perpetuating rape culture, because of this lyric in his song "U.O.E.N.O.":
"Put molly all in her champagne / She ain't even know it /
I took her home and I enjoyed that / She ain't even know it."
Talib Kweli takes him to task, along with Marc Lamont Hill, Ebony Magazine's Jamilah Lemieux, Washington Post columnist Rahiel Tesfamariam, and activist Rosa Clemente.
Listen here. The Rick Ross "apology" here. Personally, I'm with Kweli.
He is a smart man.
Willie Nelson, age 79, is so fucking untouchably cool. From giving musicians "Willie Weed" every year at SXSW, to speaking out for marriage equality, in Texas Monthly, he is an 100% American gem. Read more about Willie's take
on same sex marriage here.
Huh. Buzzfeed reposted the new Wavves video yesterday, with the headline: "Wavves Troll Homophobes With New Video."
Correct me if I'm crazy, but after watching it, the plot of the video seems to play out just like this description:

I don't think I like this, Wavves. I don't think I like it, even one bit.
Video after the cut...
Punk band Pussy Riot remains defiant of Putin's Russia. Interview by Lesley Stahl, for 60 Minutes.
"I think to a great degree, we humans still divide ourselves into two species, even though we are monotypic. There are males and females. We see them as different and not equal. Things get better when women get more equality. That is a bit obvious but I think it leads to better results up the road. If it’s a man’s world as they say, then men, your world is a poorly run carnage fest."
Read the whole thing here. Most times, Rollins seems like a blow-hard. But this seems, to me, to be well-spoken. Whadda' you think?
Last night in San Francisco, Michelle Shocked, onstage to her audience:
Michelle Shocked, known for living up to her surname, cleared out San Francisco club Yoshi’s last night, and shut down the venue, after she went on an anti-gay tirade, which she summed up by saying, ”You can go on Twitter and say ‘Michelle Shocked says God hates fags.’
“She said she lives in fear that the world will be destroyed if gays are allowed to marry,” tweeted one audience member.
Read more on Dangerous Minds. If you have tickets to see Shocked, here in Seattle, on Friday April 26th, at Meanders Kitchen, for the price tag of $23 adv/ $25 at the door, I THINK YOU SHOULD RECONSIDER ATTENDING.

UPDATE: Meander's Kitchen, via FB, has canceled the Seattle show.
Hiya, folks. Meander's Kitchen will not be hosting Michelle Shocked for her April 26th performance in Seattle due to her homophobic performance in San Francisco last night, during which she actually said "God Hates Fags". I'll post more about this later. But no. Just, no.
HBO Documentary Films has bought the U.S. television rights for Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer at the Sundance Film Festival.
Dear HBO executives: now hear my prayer:
Please, please, PLEEEEEEASE? I thank you in advance! Love, Kelly O

So the global superstar rapper Psy said some very unflattering things about the US 8 or so years ago. Now that his rich and famous, now that his video for "Gangnam Style" is about to hit a billion views, he is apologizing for saying those unkind things...
“There was huge sorrow all over the country,” Psy says of that time, when outrage over the U.S. military presence in South Korea was hot and widespread. “Explain and express about the sorrow . . . I thought that’s kind of part of my job . . . But the specific words that I used, it was too much.”But there is no need for Psy to apologize to America or its government. What's needed instead is an apology from the US for bombing Iraq for no real reason at all. There were no WMD in that country, Saddam Hussein had no connection or connections with 9/11, and the war was illegal. Psy shouldn't be apologizing but pointing out the facts about the war and US militarism.He has more perspective today. He’s since become a husband, a father of twin girls, and has even served in the South Korean military. “After that eight, nine years, I have been changed a lot.”
“If it’s gonna hurt my career or not, that’s not important,” Psy says. “The most important thing is that as a human being, I really, fully regret the using of [those] kinds of words.”
I went to the Rock n' Roll Hall of Fame for the first time on tour last year, and made the much noted observation that the whole place is a giant sausage fest. I mean, sure. Guns N' Roses are entitled to their piece of the butt rock shrine, but within five expansive floors of rock memorabilia, female artists make up less than 15% of the museum. And where they are represented, the focus is on stuff like Stevie Nicks' wacky dresses and Madonna's more scandalous costumes. To be inducted into the museum, you need to be voted in by 600 music industry members (at a conference in LA last year, an executive for the Cleveland museum admitted that females are underrepresented among the voters .) So rest assured that the Red Hot Chili Peppers have been voted in, while Joan Jett is up for her 7th year in a row of being nominated and not inducted.

For the first time ever, the 2013 inductees will be giving fans a say in the voting process... granted, it's a pretty small one; the top five artists in the competition will comprise a single ballot and be tallied up with the other 600 or so memebership picks. Fans are invited to cast votes for the 2013 class at rockhall.com, hbo.com, cnn.com and rollingstone.com; "There have been times that something has come down to one vote," says Joel Peresman, president and CEO of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation. "One vote can carry pretty great weight. We wanted to give people a small voice in the process as opposed to just an opinion on a website. We'll see how it goes. If everyone's comfortable with it, it could be expanded. It will be interesting to see how it matches up with the votes [of members]. It could be in sync or we could see a huge disconnect."
Uncle Ted *PROMISED* us he would be dead (or in jail by now.)
WELL?!?
Weeeeeeeeeeee're waiting!!!
Hmm?
Check out the somewhat normally composed lead singer Corina Bakker go nuts on ole Mittens!!! Recorded last Friday, at the Comet Tavern, by SSG Music.
h/t to Nikki Benson, SSG
Just in time for today's election (ya heard?), Sweet Apple release their righteous cover of Alice Cooper's 1972 classic, "Elected." Sweet Apple's Cleveland-based vocalist/guitarist John Petkovic says that the song is "a tribute to cheapjack political ads. It might not be cinema, but neither is the election—or the ads (especially for us being bombarded by them in Ohio)..." By the way, fuck Jon Husted.
[Alice Cooper plays Emerald Queen Casino Nov. 18.]
This is exactly how I feel...
A very serious, and goth-looking Cher calls Paul Ryan a vampire, and then
Kathy Griffin makes a bunch of bad Cher song title puns. DID YOU VOTE YET? Also, Gypsys, Tramps & Thieves is Cher's best song. It just is.
David Crosby and Graham Nash of the classic folk rock group Crosby, Stills, Nash (and sometimes Young) spoke to CBSNews.com at the TJ Martell Foundation benefit in New York about their thoughts on Campaign 2012 .The two veteran singer-songwriters, long famous as supporters of progressive causes, spoke openly about their dislike for this year's Republican nominee, Mitt Romney.
"We cannot let Mitt Romney be president of the United States at all," Nash said on the red carpet. "[It would be] a disaster," Crosby chimed in.
Because my pop imagination was shaped in the 80s, my fav Crosby, Stills & Nash tune is, or course, "Southern Cross"...