Eminem has already said that this video is based on his tumultuous relationship with his ex-wife Kim.  But against the backdrop of the abuse at the hands of Chris Brown, the chorus sung by Rihanna to the mini-movie of an abusive couple has many people wondering if it’s not just Eminem singing from experience.

Must be seen:

Brooklyn-based band The Hold Steady announced they will release their fifth album on May 3rd, Heaven is Whenever, their first since 2008′s Stay Positive, according to Luke Slater at Drowned in Sound.

Image: Taken for Wikipedia/Creative Commons in New York’s Webster Hall at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival.

I am a huge fan of The Libertines, and their music–and that of Babyshambles and Dirty Pretty Things–had a massive impact on me.  Hell, in 2006 when I broke up with my boyfriend I sent him the song Music When the Lights Go Out, as it was practically written about the relationship and how much I had soured on it.

But after I read this BBC interview with Carl Barat about a possible reunion with Pete Doherty after their acrimonious split in 2004, I was left wondering:  does anyone care if they get back together again?  From the BBC:

Former Libertines star Carl Barat has said he expects some “hostility” to the notion of a band reunion in 2011.  The musician also admitted that he had not yet discussed the idea with his former co-frontman Pete Doherty.

“I sent him a text a couple of weeks ago, but he never got back,” Barat said during rehearsals for his theatrical debut next week.

Earlier this week, Barat told the Evening Standard that it would be “glorious” to reform the band in 2011.

Carl, what you face may not be hostility, but ambivalence.

Any Libertines fan knows that a possible reunion of the band has become an almost quarterly news story in the music press that never goes anywhere. Back in 2006, when the idea was first mentioned seriously, my hopes were huge.   I remember forwarding stories to my friends that were full of exclamation marks.  But story after story, year after year, I simply don’t care any more.  And who is to say that a reconstituted band would do any justice to the early work?  They both have carved out admirable careers in the interim, but I think most of us have moved on from the idea that it will ever happen.

Shit or get off the pot, mates, but fans and non-fans alike are a bit sick of all the never-ending talk about it.

I captured this trio in Tompkins Square Park in my neighborhood, New York’s East Village.  An unseasonably warm day in the city, a lot of people were out to enjoy one of the few outdoor days before winter.

The guy was singing his heart out, and these two girls were lapping it up.  The girls were far more attractive than the guitarist.  Just goes to show how far music can carry the heart.  They were both quite taken with him.  He sang so loudly that passers-by had to look.  I am not saying the singing was bad, but its volume created a spectacle.

The one in the middle provided shy, barely-audible background vocals overpowered by his Steve Perry meets John Mayer power chords.

The listening fare included Shwayze – lol.

They are sitting at the base of the famous Hare Krishna tree (from Wikipedia):

One of Tompkins Square Park’s most prominent features is its collection of venerable American Elm (Ulmus americana) trees. One elm in particular, located next to the semi-circular arrangement of benches in the park’s center, is important to adherents of the Hare Krishna religion. It was beneath this tree, on October 9, 1966, that A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, held the first recorded outdoor chanting session of the Hare Krishna mantra outside of the Indian subcontinent; participants in the ceremony included Beat poet Allen Ginsberg. The event is seen as the founding of the Hare Krishna religion in the United States, and the tree is treated by Krishna adherents as a significant religious site.

Photos taken with the Samsung Memoir camera phone.

Click on the image to visit Buell's Wikipedia article, the source for much of this information.

On Wednesday the 24th a piece of rock history will take the stage: Bebe Buell at the Hiro Ballroom.

Some people focus on the giant-sized names I have shot for the Creative Commons, but the people that linger in my mind are the hundreds of others who are not household names but who have successfully created full, interesting lives. The lawyers, academics, economists and artists who shape our world without our ever realizing it.

Bebe Buell is one of those artists.

She is famous in New York City for her ability to throw together–to embody–a scene, and as an accomplished musician in her own right.

In 1981, she recorded an EP with  Rick Derringer and Ric Ocasek, and The Cars served as her band on two tracks.  The rock band Power Station formed around her in 1984 when then-boyfriend John Taylor (of Duran Duran) pulled some famous friends together to provide backing for Buell.

Her music career is underscored by Buell’s presence for many of the Twentieth Century’s huge musical moments. In Almost Famous, director Cameron Crowe partly based the film’s “Penny Lane” character–played by Kate Hudson–on Buell.  Hudson was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won a Golden Globe for the role.

In 1972, Buell began dating rock star Todd Rundgren, which lasted for several years. During and after their sometimes open relationship, she was associated with Iggy Pop, David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Jimmy Page, and Steven Tyler.   In 1977, Buell and Tyler had a daughter together, the actress Liv Tyler.  After her relationship with Steven ended, Buell began dating Rod Stewart.  In the summer of 1978, she began an affair with the recently-separated Elvis Costello that continued on and off until 1984.

All of this shaped Bebe Buell into a piece of living rock history, and as you can see from my 2009 Wikipedia portrait of her above, one of the best-looking.  She clearly kept a good head on her shoulders and took care of herself during what must have been some very debauched moments that she witnessed.

On top of it all, she raised an amazing daughter in Liv Tyler, who my friends in Hollywood tell me is one of the nicest, most down-to-Earth actors working today.  That’s Bebe’s parenting; she spared Liv from many of the problems that afflicted her contemporaries.

Go to Amazon to hear the Bebe Buell Band’s latest single, Air Kisses for the Masses and find out what all of this influence wrought.

Five Questions for Bebe Buell

Q. What is one thing you think every American should know?

A. That marriage is between two PEOPLE who love each other- a personal vow and contract. God does not care who loves or married whom- only how we treat our fellow man. Love is free- it should not have a gender. Only a purpose- to love.

Q. If you had the option to have been born another nationality than your current one, which nationality would you choose?

A. Alien. Oh wait- I AM an alien!! I believe we are born who we are meant to be so it is hard to imagine. But I have always been fascinated with nomads- people who wander and roam with no real anchor. Kind of like the TV show Kung Fu. So probably Tibetan.

Q. What is one misconception people have about you?

A. That I am sexual or good in bed. I’m really just a “love bug”- not armed with much sexual skill or sexual perfection. It is my heart that boils over with loving energy.

Q. Is there anyone’s death, either in your life or in popular culture, whose passing you were surprised by how profoundly it affected you?

A. John Lennon. I cried for days and days. My 14 year old Chihuahua Chiquita- I was consumed with grief. But she was reincarnated almost immediately and my new “mutt” Chickenburger has a home.

Q. In life we often have goals that we feel as if would just die if we don’t reach them. Sometimes we reach them, sometimes we don’t. The question is, have you ever worked to fulfill a goal, only to find that once you achieved it, the experience was a let down? It meant something to you when you did not have it. Then you obtained it and, after the initial excitement, you thought to yourself, “Is that all there is?” Have you ever had an experience like that?

A. I treat my goals as a desire- a passion. If I am meant to have it, earn it, own it… then I consider it a “gift”, a blessing. A gift from the karma police.

I never take anything for granted.

Especially love.  My daughter.  My family.  My art. My music… my muse…

FIVE QUESTIONS – A SERIES

• EVAN WOLFSON – founder of the modern gay marriage movement…I have five questions for you.
• JIMMY WALES – Citizen of the world, sage to millions of editors of Wikipedia, which he founded…I have five questions for you.
• BILLY NAME – Famous Warhol live-in photographer; silverized the Factory; shot the cover of the Velvet Underground’s eponymous album; iconic portraits of Lou Reed and Edie Sedgwick…I have five questions for you.

The Tribeca Film Festival premiered the film Moon last night, directed by Duncan Jones, who is David Bowie’s son.  Sting, Iman, Sam Rockwell and others all showed up for the event.   I will blog more in depth about the challenges I faced in this particular session later this weekend, but for now here are the photos.

A brief aside:  one of the A-List photographers in the Reserved Pen said something to me at the Moon premiere about how I was screamed at by another A-Lister during the Sarah Jessica Parker/Matthew Broderick shoot.  She said it was very unprofessional of that photographer to yell at me the way he did, but most especially because he did it in front of the talent (Parker/Broderick).  When the celebrities are in front of you in the reserved room, there is supposed to be nothing but decorum, politeness and collegiality.  If one of us has a problem with the other, it is supposed to be discussed after the shooting.  The A-Lister said that the one who screamed at me was way out of line, and is known for being temperamental.   She said that what he did makes them all look bad.  I sure did appreciate her letting me know.

As with all my photography, these images are licensed Creative Commons and may be reproduced, altered, photoshopped and copied (with my photo credit) as long as you ensure you don’t violate anyone’s personality rights.

Duncan Jones and his father David Bowie

Sting

David Bowie

Iman

Duncan Jones

Sam Rockwell

It’s all about freedom – these images are Creative Commons. Click here to see more.

I grew up listening to Slippery When Wet, so it was a real riot to hang with the entire Bon Jovi band last night and do their Wikipedia portraits.  Jon Bon Jovi, Richie Sambora, Tico Torres and David Bryan all showed up for the premiere of a documentary about their lives, Bon Jovi: When We Were Beautiful.

As with all my photography, these images are licensed Creative Commons and may be reproduced, altered, photoshopped and copied (with my photo credit) as long as you ensure you don’t violate anyone’s personality rights.

Jon Bon Jovi

Richie Sambora

Tico Torres

David Bryan

It’s all about freedom – these images are Creative Commons. Click here to see more.

Awhile back Bobby, one of my readers who surprised me with a professional Flickr account, sent me a YouTube video for the singer Brandi Carlile.  I don’t watch Grey’s Anatomy, but I guess the song was on its soundtrack.  It’s great.  I bought the album for my sister and for a colleague when I made a mistake at work.  Thanks for the music tip, Bobby. It’s a must listen (below).