Well I guess that's a hazard of not allowing tape recorders to get exact quotes.
<Moderator: Well 50 is pretty old. Maybe Prince forgot he said these things? -Derek> On Mon, Nov 17, 2008 at 12:27 PM, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Statement from Prince's people denying article on www.dr.funkenberry.comright now. > Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile > > <Moderator: That is pretty assuming. That is a whole lot of effort to make > a Prince article for the New Yorker... -Derek> > > -----Original Message----- > From: ZA <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2008 11:14:31 > To: <[email protected]> > Subject: NPNY: New Yorker (11/24/08): Soup With Prince > > > [This article just started making its rounds on the net... nothing really > surprising for those who have been following Prince's religious life over > the past decade or so. Still, don't recall reading such direct & candid > statements before re: politics/religion/Republicans/Democrats.--NPS] > > http://www.newyorker.com/talk/2008/11/24/081124ta_talk_hoffman > > Soup With Prince > by Claire Hoffman November 24, 2008 > New Yorker > > The thirty-thousand-square-foot Italianate villa, built this century by > Vanna White's ex-husband, looks like many of the other houses in Beverly > Park, a gated community in L.A., except for the bright-purple carpet that > spills down the front steps to announce its new tenant: Prince. One > afternoon just before the election, Prince invited a visitor over. Inside, > the place was done up in a generic Mediterranean style, although there were > personal flourishes here and thereÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢â∠a > Lucite grand piano > with a gold-colored > "Artist Formerly Known as Prince" symbol suspended over it, purple paisley > pillows on a couch. Candles scented the air, and New Age music played in > the > living room, where a TV screen showed images of bearded men playing flutes. > Prince padded into the kitchen, a small fifty-year-old man in yoga pants > and > a big sweater, wearing platform flip-flops over white socks, like a geisha. > > "Would you like something to eat?" he asked, sidling up to the counter. > Prince's voice was surprisingly deep, like that of a much larger man. He > picked up a copy of "21 Nights," a glossy volume of photographs that he had > just released. It is his first published book, a collection of highly > stylized photographs of him taken during a series of gigs in London last > year. "I'm really proud of this," he said. Short original poems and a CD > accompany the photographs. (Sample verse: "Who eye really am only time will > tell/ 2 the almighty life 4ce that grows stronger with every chorus/ Yes > give praise, lest ye b among . . . the guilty ones.") > > Limping slightly, Prince set off on a walk around his new bachelor pad. > Glass doors opened onto acres of back yard, and a hot tub bubbled in the > sunlight. "I have a lot of parties," he explained. In the living room, he'd > installed purple thrones on either side of a fireplace, and, nearby, along > a > hallway, he had hung photographs of himself, in a Moroccan villa, in > various > states of undress. At the end of the hall, a gauzy curtain fluttered in a > doorway. "My room," he said. "It's private." > > Prince has lived in Los Angeles since last spring, after spending years in > Minneapolis, holding court in a complex called Paisley Park, where he made > thousands of songs, far away from the big labels. Seven years ago, he > became > a Jehovah's Witness. He said that he had moved to L.A. so that he could > understand the hearts and minds of the music moguls. "I wanted to be around > people, connected to people, for work," he said. "You know, it's all about > religion. That's what unites people here. They all have the same religion, > so I wanted to sit down with them, to understand the way they see things, > how they read Scripture." > > Prince had his change of faith, he said, after a two-year-long debate with > a > musician friend, Larry Graham. "I don't see it really as a conversion," he > said. "More, you know, it's a realization. It's like Morpheus and Neo in > 'The Matrix.' " He attends meetings at a local Kingdom Hall, and, like his > fellow-witnesses, he leaves his gated community from time to time to knock > on doors and proselytize. "Sometimes people act surprised, but mostly > they're really cool about it," he said. > > Recently, Prince hosted an executive who works for Philip Anschutz, the > Christian businessman whose company owns the Staples Center. "We started > talking red and blue," Prince said. "People with > moneyÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢â∠> money like thatÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢â∠are > not affected by the stock market, and they're not freaking out over > anything. They're just watching. So here's how it is: you've got the > Republicans, and basically they want to live according to this." He pointed > to a Bible. "But there's the problem of interpretation, and you've got some > churches, some people, basically doing things and saying it comes from > here, > but it doesn't. And then on the opposite end of the spectrum you've got > blue, you've got the Democrats, and they're, like, 'You can do whatever you > want.' Gay marriage, whatever. But neither of them is right." > > When asked about his perspective on social > issuesÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢â∠gay > marriage, > abortionÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢â∠Prince tapped his Bible and > said, "God came to > earth and saw people > sticking it wherever and doing it with whatever, and he just cleared it all > out. He was, like, 'Enough.' " > > Later, in the dining room, eating a bowl of carrot soup, he talked about an > encounter that he described as a "teaching moment." "There was this woman. > She used to come to Paisley Park and just sit outside on the swings," he > said. "So I went out there one day and I was, like, 'Hey, all my friends in > there say you're a stalker. And that I should call the police. But I don't > want to do that, so why don't you tell me what you want to happen. Why are > you here? How do you want this to end?' And she didn't really have an > answer > for that. In the end, all she wanted was to be seen, for me to look at her. > And she left and didn't come back." ÃÆââââ¬Å¾Ã¢Ãâæ > > <Moderator: Interesting story at the end... -Derek> ------------------------------------------------------------------------- NewPowerNewYork Mailing List website: Www.NPNY.Org ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe? Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED], in body place npny ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions/Help?: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
