amanda palmer's open poem to jonathan chait (and other crimes)

http://blog.amandapalmer.net/post/227061643/dear-robert-smith-an-open-letter

I've done this a few times myself and it always spins the ol' head around.
Generally quite nicely put.

Will have to give that a closer reread but that beyond rules.

But Dan's going to hate what she's going nuts for in the final photo.

hahahahahahaha I did get to the end and go "OH COME THE FUCK ON"

but yeah, that pretty much exactly encapsulates why I still listen to The Cure (and why, in general, I think making fun of anyone for liking a "past-their-prime" band is the hallmark of an irredeemable dick)

Interesting.

Getting backstage at The Cure show at the Greek in Berkeley in '87 (I think) was the highlight of my life at the time.

hahahahahahaha I did get to the end and go "OH COME THE FUCK ON"

Seriously LOLing for real here.

"Amanda Palmer performs the popular hits of Radiohead on her magical ukelele" EP out tomorrow:

http://music.amandapalmer.net/album/amanda-palmer-performs-the-popular-hits-of-radiohead-on-her-magical-ukulele

fuck that

it seems like the only thing that poor instrument is used for anymore is for shitty covers

extra 'for' in that last one

fake plastic covers

I've spent quality time with Amanda. Never seen the Cure though. I would like to.

Always hated this woman, her music, her shitty graphic design & her terrible personal brand.

Jeez.

Anyway...

I never ever had this close a connection to any rock star, father figure, or (day I see it) hero type as so many people have done. To the extent that I wanted to follow them or be them (beyond the thought that I'd like that job yeah, sure)...

Even to the extent that I don't even have a default understanding of the mindset beyond appreciating how someone else might feel in the situation.

Anyway, nice letter, it's good to be happy.

my extreme distate for dresden dolls, that letter, her wordiness, etc, put me off listening to 'who killed amanda palmer' until now but I really like it, it's a good record.

She may not get a lot of ILM love, but getting crowdfunded to the tune of $1m is still something worthy of note, I would say.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/amandapalmer/amanda-palmer-the-new-record-art-book-and-tour/posts/232020

also recently filled in for erykah badu as bathtub fodder

25,000 people pledged an average of $50... how

25,000 people pledged an average of $50... how

I was sitting next to the writer Neil Gaiman in a pizzeria today, and he was with this lady with tattooed eyebrows and a bunch of Bard kids who appeared to be shlepping them around.

Tonight I learned that she's Amanda Palmer, and they're married. Also that Gaiman is some kind of Upper Poobah Lightning Level Scientologist (son of former U.K. Scientology boss and Vitamin mogul David Gaiman), and that many suspect the $1 million was just poured in through Sea.Org (fancy Scientology people) as part of a pretty sneaky publicity stunt....

and now I guess I should be drawing the blinds or changing my display name or something

Also that Gaiman is some kind of Upper Poobah Lightning Level Scientologist

this is not true, although his family are still. (he was actually listed as supressive for a long time iirc). and anyone who needs to make up conspiracy theories abt Palmer's fanbase and social media aptitude has prob not read anything about her, or spoken to anyone who likes her, in the last five years.

What's a suppressive?

WTF Church of Scientology is in my iPhone! Just resumed scrabble game and "Hard" robot played ENGRAM(!)

^true

Wait hold on

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/12/rockers-playing-for-beer-fair-play/?hp

um

isn't that the entire point of funding your enterprise via Kickstarter, so that you can raise enough money for the things you want

on the flip side, this appears to be a "hey fan musicians, I invite you to play with me for a night on stage" thing and, as such, should be looked upon as a giveaway for amateur musicians rather than a solicitation for professionals

hahah goddamn musicians union folks are weird. DJP otm.

oh don't get me wrong, if she was doing this to drum up her core band she would deserve every bit of invective and more

What's the distinction your drawing there, though? "one gig vs a tour" or "horns & strings vs guitar/drums" or "a few songs vs the whole show"?

*you're

If she's doing a "let me bring out enthusiastic fans at each show to do a song or two" thing, then who cares

If she's doing a "let me fill out my band for the majority of my set with people I don't have to actually pay" thing, she should fuck off

i had never paid any attention to this person until this musician thing, which is shitty. but even shitter, she apparently was dating (pre-gaiman) someone who was a recovered drug addict and relapsed, and she faked a suicide attempt to show him how hurt she was by it, and recorded his reaction to finding her and thinking she had killed herself, and used it on an album. he later committed suicide. how is this person real?! that is stomach turning.

holy shit, is that for real

http://youtu.be/h57XWrFNGs8

5:10

this woman, holy shit

I hated this woman anyway for being a total shit to my friends when they were doing Weill cabaret, this is next level

ennh, she was 18 and the "gf fakes a suicide" -> "he commits suicide" connection doesn't ring true for me. It is so fucked up that she'd put that recording on an album, though, oh my god.

and christ, pay your musicians. Amateur vs. professional who the fuck cares. More like "I am blessed with a worshipful fanbase now let me exploit you for cheap labour"

haha Owen I think we're pretty much on the same page here with minor deviations

like... always?

he said here.

ennh, she was 18 and the "gf fakes a suicide" -> "he commits suicide" connection doesn't ring true for me. It is so fucked up that she'd put that recording on an album, though, oh my god

yeah i wasn't making the connection that he committed suicide because of her, it was more of an aside. but faking suicide is horribly abusive behavior, and using the recording on an album implies she has no remorse about it.

If she's doing a "let me bring out enthusiastic fans at each show to do a song or two" thing, then who cares

If she's doing a "let me fill out my band for the majority of my set with people I don't have to actually pay" thing, she should fuck off

― DARING PRINCESS (DJP), Thursday, September 13, 2012 2:18 PM (49 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, this is OTM. I think if one of my favourite bands put out a call for people to show up and play either a track they already know or jam out some psych a la Suzuki's Network, I'd jump at it and not expect payment. However, if it was "please learn my entire set, be present at a rehearsal, play for the entire show or at least when and where I expect you to" then I would find that a very different proposition indeed.

The string/horn sections she pulled together for the immediate post-Kickstarter mini-tour thing were all fans who opted in. They were asked to learn two songs I think, and turn up in time to soundcheck - and they looked like the happiest damn fans on earth onstage (as well as actually being really good).

i had never paid any attention to this person until this musician thing, which is shitty. but even shitter, she apparently was dating (pre-gaiman) someone who was a recovered drug addict and relapsed, and she faked a suicide attempt to show him how hurt she was by it, and recorded his reaction to finding her and thinking she had killed herself, and used it on an album. he later committed suicide. how is this person real?! that is stomach turning.

She's also ableist. I think she's an asshole.

You guys don't understand, she's an artist. You can't be an artist and an asshole at the same time, they're like matter / anti-matter.

(If I listen carefully, I can probably hear DJP's reaction to that from across the Atlantic)

I think a lot of the greatest artists have been complete and total assholes, and she's certainly living up to that. But women get given a harder time for ~not being nice~ and the level of assholehood required to be a ~great~ artist, so I try to cut female rock stars some slack on that count, i.e. The Courtney Love Clause.

The problem is, I've never heard any work of Amanda Palmer's that actually inspired me or blew me away in the way that I require ~great art~ to do. Which may well be my failure to appreciate it. So it's complicated.

Oy oy oy, that Evelyn Evelyn thing. I would have no problem if it was a Victoriana/Steampunk concept album about conjoined twins, really, but... positioning them in the contemporary world? Pretending that you rescued them? Giving *quite* such a distressing backstory to the record? DRESSING as them?

Yeah, that thing Nicole posted, that was the thing that really just crystalised a lot of the floating discomfort I'd been experiencing about her and her schtick. But, like I said, it's complicated.

but faking suicide is horribly abusive behavior, and using the recording on an album implies she has no remorse about it.

I've not knowingly heard an amanda palmer record but she reminds me so so so strongly of girls i used to know -- there can be this sense that making art around something shitty that you did is a way of working through it, the experience and your own behaviour? I mean, to me it is a terrible thing to have used that recording on an album that you release and get money for, but I can sense the edges of the logic that leads to it. Also i do not think her behaviour can be held responsible for his later suicide.

Like WCC says, it's complicated - because there've been these girls I knew who would have been so happy to grow up into Amanda Palmer, the very phenomenon of her existence is dear to me -- even when she does stuff like the Evelyn Evelyn project, which was frankly repulsive.

I think I'm probably misreading you, WCC - your first paragraph seems to suggest that there's a minimum level of assholehood required to be a great artists? But your second suggests that if she was a great artist, she'd get a reduction in effective assholehood?

in short, Great artists tend to be assholes, but assholes do not tend to be great artists.

The compassionate thing would be to take the kid away from these two narcissists.

I imagine the evaluation process was like "soooo, what was the reason you were separated in the first place?" "I broke a bunch of quarantine laws to get away from my partner and kid" and then raised eyebrows, appeal denied. But on this occasion the reviewer asked who the partner was.

I'm so proud of her

Everytime I've walked into a coffeeshop there in aotearoa new zealand, the guy behind the counter has asked me "what can I get you, boss?"

I just a left a hipster coffee shop. It was packed with Kiwis, whispering amongst each other about what a commendable job President Biden did with his speech at the Inauguration

oh no

well, this tweet also spawned the first time i’ve ever seen “yankee go home” in my feed from a kiwi, so clearly, yes, some people here hate americans. good to know, thanks guys.

takeaway = stick to the coffeeshops, where the people seem to be consistently kind ♥️☕️🙏🏼

— Amanda Palmer 🎹 (@amandapalmer) January 21, 2021

have to agree with my Kiwi friend there

They managed to keep out corona but got stuck with Amanda Palmer. Thoughts & prayers for New Zealand in these trying times

How much should you tip when your server applauds you for your nationality?

if there were any justice the tips would be going to Amanda

I fee like we have over looked an important detail:

just walked into a coffeeshop here in aotearoa new zealand and everybody behind the counter

So two people

lol that's the best bit

TS: Living Through Pandemic for One Year or Living with Amanda Palmer for One Year

It also stretches belief that she had not told those people who she was

I've seen it pointed out that it just being the staff makes it more likely - "maybe this will get her to tip with money rather than hugs"

first prize for loud clapping is getting to sing a track on the new amanda palmer album

second prize is singing on two tracks

They managed to keep out corona but got stuck with Amanda Palmer. Thoughts & prayers for New Zealand in these trying times

― Yelp for gyros (wins), Thursday, January 21, 2021 5:28 AM (four hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

there seems to be sufficient evidence that the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 is avoiding amanda palmer

It also stretches belief that she had not told those people who she was

come on - i simply cant imagine that amanda palmer could find a way to bring up the election and talk about herself while placing her coffee order. nope, simply not possible. it was "spontaneous".

How many people were behind this coffee counter exactly?
I'd say you need 20-25 people applauding pretty bloody hard for it to count as an eruption. Anything else is a light round or a golf clap.

i see we have covered this

Okay so clearly this was a flashmob

The slow hand clap means something different in the US, right?

I wanted to go to New Zealand but they told me I'd have to stay in my hotel room for two weeks until they could be sure I wasn't Amanda Palmer

It also stretches belief that she had not told those people who she was
― Muswell Hillbilly Elegy (President Keyes), Thursday, 21 January 2021 14:48

I like to picture an unpaid intern preceding her to hand out "you have met me" cards, like Steve Martin did.

"And I said to myself: this is fair."

takeaway = stick to the coffeeshops, where the people seem to be consistently kind ♥️☕️🙏🏼

I checked but somehow she has continued tweeting after this?

come on - i simply cant imagine that amanda palmer could find a way to bring up the election and talk about herself while placing her coffee order. nope, simply not possible. it was "spontaneous".

tbf I assume that after ten months in an airbnb in a town of 60,000, staff at a place she goes to regularly "not knowing who she is but knowing the loud lady with a loud American accent and fake eyebrows is American" is probably as common as she says

Well, it happened. Sort of. https://thespinoff.co.nz/society/22-01-2021/did-everyone-spontaneously-applaud-amanda-palmer-in-a-havelock-north-cafe-a-spinoff-investigation/

Lol, "the guy I talked to about the inauguration the day before clapped and said congrats" is not quite the same story.

guys, let's try to get her twitter banned for spreading misinformation and FAKE NEWS

(update: town of 15k now we've narrowed it down, too)

first the Hawke's Bay region had that earthquake in 1931 and now they have to deal with THIS

brilliant

I'm imagining a version of No Exit with Donald Trump and Amanda Palmer stuck in a room forever ... hopefully I wouldn't be the third person.

sarahell is other peo- ah, forget it

just c&p to "username/post" lj

lol @ kiwis getting riled up over ppl believing or doubting this story

fwiw, i'd be pretty riled up if i were falsely accused of participating in a standing ovation for this clown too!

oh dear

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7ZDbBsjMt8

dear god

don't make the mistake I did and start reading the comments

don't make the mistake I did and let jon's advice to not start reading the comments induce you to stubbornly start reading the comments

i'm gonna guess they're pro-rape

i mean, that's probably in there too, had i scrolled farther, but no. it's no surprise that YouTube comments are a cesspool, but it's not like these are offensive in the traditional sense, rather offensive and terrifying in that there is apparently some alternate layer of reality superimposed on ours in which Amanda Palmer is the epitome of creative genius and this song is the most powerful artistic creation ever uploaded to the internet.

Ok, that is obviously extremely "on the nose," but I think that may be the best thing that Amanda Palmer has ever done. I don't think it's "creative genius", but it's not the worst idea in the world and they executed it pretty well. Additionally, I really like the natural eyebrow look as opposed to her trademark artsy doodle thing.

that's it, folks. im never listening to music ever again.

jeezo beezo that's bad

Comments are amazing

I wonder what it would do to my personality if everything I did were greeted with hundreds of comments like that. Seriously, I think it would change me.

insofar as the computer geeks have taken over the world, perhaps it's just as well that the theatre nerds have yet to

Literally beyond parody, the singularity of narcissism