~~~~~ Me vibrating in my chair. Phenominal review as usual. Thank you for sharing.
~B On Sat, Feb 14, 2009 at 12:26 PM, <[email protected]> wrote: > <Moderator: RD had to find and copy and paste it from TheOrg for some > reason > I kept only get the first line. -Derek> > > The title of this is a tribute or theft of sorts for Stanley Kubricks' > film, > Dr Strangelove: Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb. > While my experience wasn't anything to do with that film it was > Kubrick-ian in that it reminded me of another of his films, Eyes Wide Shut. > > It began with an email telling me that I had been cordially invited to > Princes mansion. Yes it said exactly that and a few other things. Be > there at 8 p.m. I'm intrigued, and I'm also thinking someone else is > pulling a hoax on ol' RD. I mean what would you think if you received such a notice? > It was like Eyes Wide Shut in that there is this mansion, strange but > intriguing things are said to go on there, and its private. > > After deciding to go and try my luck, not knowing what to expect, we > had some drama over finding the correct address due to map quest and our gps. > We > ended at a dead end mansion under construction and then even went to > an old mansion with a lock on its with old creeping trees on it. I > definitely felt like it was a hoax. I'm like what the hell is going > on? I was actually ready to call it a night and go eat somewhere in > Hollywood as it was nearing the stated 8 p.m. starting time. Finally I > flagged down a cop as I was making a major traffic violation. I told > him I was looking for Princes house lol. He stated that prince had > several addresses. He was kind enough to lead us to the final street > area address. I knew this was the right place. > > .. .. > > They asked for my name and looked on a list. Of course we did not have > a password like Fidelio in the movie but I gave them my name as > password, "rdhull." They let us go in. We drove up to the gates of the > neighborhood just like in Eyes Wide Shut where Tom Cruise has to enter using his mask. > The gates are like a mile from the houses. > > Now this neighborhood was not any neighborhood..this is where folks > who never have to work another day in their life nor will their family, lives. > Someone asked before I left where I planned to park as Beverly Hills > is notorious for no parking on it's streets. Oh no, this wasn't that > same area Bev Hills folks are accustomed to. We pull in to the house > into the circular driveway area with fountain. It's a sprawling > mansion. I expected someone to greet me with "Welcome Mr. Bond, we've > been expecting you. " I was at the Purple Casino Royale. > > We walked up the steps into the house and were greeted by security/staff. > They opened the door and told us told "everyone's in the kitchen". Me > and my better half were just looking at each other as we walked down > the marble floored hall to where we heard some voices, walking as if > were in the FBI building at Langley lol. We felt at any minute someone > would tell us "Um excuse me, you have to leave" lol. > > Of course the kitchen is huge and elaborate..with a center block big > enough to seat 20 people or so. The cooks are cooking, the drinks are > flowing, the conversation is going. We choose to sit in the living > room right next to the kitchen. It's a huge open space. Prince music > is being pumped through built in wall speakers. Band members walk in, > walk out, Bria Valentine, dj Rasheeda, (I asked her later " remember > me from BET Aftershow?") she was so nice tonight lol. > > We first met two people from the Huffington Post who were pleased to > see some other people arrive. They were very pleasant to talk with. We > all felt like our initial invites were a hoax.but the Huffington post > guy came from NY and brought a colleague on this "might be real or might not be real" > invitation. "Whoah"-C Neo. We talked a while. Amorbella from > Prince.org came and told us her friend named Pej was coming. I > immediately lit up lol. "Oh boy, is this great !"-CFlounder/Animal > House. It was like Eyes Wide Shut again because "an old friend" is at > the mansion as well. And my missus and Amor went through the house > just looking casually like Tom did. I wonder if they saw any orgies > haha. They saw and talked to Prince a bit though. > Everyone was relaxed, normal, as well as Mr. Purple himself. He was > pleasant, at ease, friendly.and why not? He was at home. > > Hor Deuverves were being served and made by two chefs. Skewered pastas > (yes skewered pasta), stuffed mushrooms, other delights. A drink > server was ever so gracious bringing us drinks all night. I had to use > the restroom ( I was thinking..oh lawd..I am pooping in Princes house. > How mortifying). After I come around the corner using the facilities, > there's Pej, all dapper in a fedora no less. I immediately started > laughing as I walked towards him and we hugged like in Eyes Wide Shut. > As we hugged he was laughing and I was as well. It was comical for some reason that us two jokers would end up here. > > We walked in the room with the magic piano and clock rug.I also notice > that room was one of the pages on the NPGMC.the doors were > unmistakable. I told Pej.."Look..I'm in a virtual website now lol" as > I stood in the room next to the piano. > > We meet and talk with Princes hairdresser and crew (who got the party > grooving later) and also the web designers in a casual dinner party > atmosphere. The web designers Scot Clay , Anthony Malzone are down to > earth people who really valued our opinions and really are excited > about the project. We discussed thing such as the youtube situation. I > stated that "I have a feeling this is why Prince took down his videos > at youtube, so he could have a centralized place for his material." > Scott affirmed that. Mind you while all this is going on I'm still > trippin. My favorite thing is that my baby girl (the "D" in RD) was > able to experience it with me. After an hour I finally go and get some > hor duerves. I ate a few and felt like it was I Love Lucy situation > where she ate that fake apple at Ricky's boss house. > Not that I ate fake fruit but I was just eating lol. And oh I had > several glasses of ginger ale that I requested from the wait staff. > Why I didn't order and alcohol I don't know but I was already on a 'high' so to speak. > They were so nice and accommodating. Prince is truly a class act. > > After a while Prince is there and mingling. We are lead downstairs. He > is in the hall as we pass him and I go "Hi" like Jill Jones after he > sang Purple Rain in the movie, and he says "hey" back. I cant look at > him too much because the Jaime Fox syndrome and just out of > nervousness. They lead us to another second part of the mansion and > enter a theater room. Nice comfortable cushions and seats in a theater > fashion except it was more funkdafied. The website is on the giant > screen and Scott begins to give his presentation. He shows us what's > happening with the future of the website which included a section to > go to each of the three albums and how you can download and listen to > each song from each respective cd. He showed us the "inside Prince" > section of Lotusflow3r which had us enter a globe sphere with so many > icons spinning inside a sphere. You choose an icon and it may be an > image of Prince , the Twins, whomever. You pick another and it's a > high quality video. The one Scott clicked began showing a video and > dummy me yells out "Creep" nonchalantly and immediately. Kind of > shocked that I knew what it was so fast, Scott stated yes indeed it > was the Creep video and it was the Coachella performance. Other videos > picked had other performances from the Coachella concert. However > there are some legal ramblings that need to be worked out before Creep > can be shown officially he later told me. > > .. .. > > Another special feature that Scott presented was a section that showed > clips of a Prince Movie. A lot had to deal with 3121 project I believe > because there were flash cut scenes of 3121 performances at his other > place in Beverly Hills, and side bars of comments by people and such. > This is directed by someone named Sima. It looked real interesting to > say the least. > I immediately thought of Madonna's Truth Or Dare. BTW regarding the > name Sima, it made me recall the drink Zima. Wonder if it's still around. > > I asked if there would be vault content and they stated that yes, > there would be. Now if it's the vault material between 1980 and 1990 > or 2004 to > 2009 who knows lmao. Other information was given to us such as how the > water will actually be flowing on the website, the images will move > etc. Each section would take you to another 'galaxy." And the artwork > is what is already presented but the galaxies that have not been > offered are more dynamic. > > I asked Scott (again out loud, the ugly American that I am) if what we > were seeing was what everyone at home was able to see right now. He > stated that no we were seeing exclusive future presentations of the > website. He stated that "the website has gone live about 30 minutes > ago." So as I sat there in Princes theater room I was wondering what > everyone was doing online. I stated something about wondering if there > were blogs or forums and the reaction I got was humorous. If I recall > correctly it was stated that a blog may come to fruition for people to > leave their comments. There were some March dates listed on the site > and I was under the impression that not only will cds be released at > that time but maybe a tour of some sort. > > One thing they wanted to convey was that the website is a work in progress. > Daily, weekly, things will happen or disappear. One thing that's of > note is that Prince wants things to be done as soon as the idea pops in his head. > He > is "spontaneous" like that regarding this project, Anthony stated earlier. > So no mulling over this or that: an idea happens, so lets make it work > as soon as possible situations are in store. The designers were > pleased to be working with Prince because he is excited about things > in the project as they are. > > As Scott ended the presentation, Prince struck a guitar string and it > wailed throughout the place in a Pied-Piper call for us mice to follow > the wail. > And we did. Down the hall to another smaller more intimate living > room, Prince and band were all set up. As we all walked in and stood > in front of them, they began with a lively " Lets Go" by The Cars. He > went into the Crimson and Clover cover and it sounded ethereal live. > Then Miss You by The Rolling Stones (I kind of like that band a bit > tee hee). And oh did they make Miss You funky. It was extended and > everyone grooved to it. The harmonica player who was such a gracious > gentleman (as well as his wife)also rocked his harmonica piece doing > duels with Prince. It was the harmonica versus the guitar. And oh what > a guitar. Prince rocked the ever prized Controversy Hohner so hard. He > came up to me and the missus displaying his extraordinary guitar > skills as I did the "we're not worthy" patented bow I do whenever I > see him up close with the Hohner. He ripped it for like a minute going > off on the geetar while the Miss You groove played and everyone sang > the "whoo whoo whoo oo oo oo" parts. I was in awe, in limbo, and on > terra firma all at the same time. He did some other sludge groove > bucket songs that apparently are new. They were all backed by a driving groove. > What was notable of the covers he played. Yes he played Sly Stone > material, but then came the guitar riff of The Doobie Brothers 'Long Train Runnin.' > Wow.and they rocked it. Shelby especially. She was M.V.P. of the night > rocking the joint and pumping it up with energy. Then they also did > Ohio Player's 'I Want To Be free.' Let me explain what was special > about this. I Want To Be Free had this vibe. It was extended . I turn > around and everyone is moving like in slow motion grooving as if they > were on acid. Now imagine this "I want to be free" part going on and > on in the slow sexy groove. Now imagine Prince and company doing it in > his room with the lights low and disco light going and everyone > seeming to be jonesing and twisting and turning.then they end it > right? But Anita Baker wants some. She comes on and they sing more of > the I Want To Be Free coda that and it becomes an ascension of slow > groove but with Prince playing guitar like Charlie Daniels does the > fiddle in Devil Went Down To Georgia. Then he apexed the guitar to a > crescendo with Free slow groove climaxing. In essence Prince 'Joy and > Repetition'ed it. After it was over we were spent, but on a sweat funk > high. > Then he did.. Controversy. Oh no. You know Controversy is THE essence > of Prince song right?. Him and the hohner doing Controversy is a > religious experience. And trust, we went to church. Oh how good the 'chicken scratch' > guitar sounds on this song. Then I Feel For You. Then Pulling out Sexy > Dancer on us? He did Guitar and it was thumpin. He did another extreme > solo and marvelous playing on this one. Overall, he was really in love > with the guitar this night and the band was all about the bottom. Cora > was doing her thing. Her vibe was Cloreen Baconskin trust me. Then > came a new one if I'm not mistaken called Old School Syndicate. Now > this song was bad ass as it has this synth riff that is .menacing. > Prince continued to state that this was his song and he killed it with > rapped choruses , menacing synth riff as the base of the song, the > background singers Marva, Shelby, and Liv all killing it. I mean it seems like a Dr. Dre type of aggression in the song. > One of the Prince 'fuck you I'm bad' songs. He did Stand and in the > coda where the chant is 'na na na na na na na na', he went into Turn Me loose. > Turn Me Loose which sounded great live. A real chugging song that was > 'furious." He also did Be Happy by Mary J Blige (Shelby sang it) and > even went into Barry Whites Ecstasy. Sang the whole thing. It was a > groove filled set. Everybody was dancing, the web designers , his > people, guests. > > After the main portion, the band left, and Prince went to his > sequencer that placed the backing drums to several songs. He played > several and sang along to them. Alphabet Street, Dorothy Parker. He > let Erotic City groove play, then changed up to Forever In My Life and > let that drum backing play. I began to sing 'alright" like they did in > SOTT movies and he gave a nod of acknowledgment which was cool. He > picked up his guitar and started singing it while everyone else did > the "la da da da's." Then he went and had to begin the Irresistable > Bitch program. Oh no. He went to the drums and began his Cloreen > Baconskin. Playing to Irresistable Bitch. Pej and I sang the lyrics > but did 'Ughs" on the Bitch portion. Hush! I don't want hear it about > not cursing. I was being respectful as one should be in the situation. > Here's where I get moded: Prince finishes playing the drums , > Irresistable is still playing, he walks to the sequencer and and I > sing the end part "Everybody.everybody dance" just as he cut it off. > He turned around and pointed to me and laughed in a "Ha you got moded, > I cut it off before that part " laugh lol. I don't care what anybody > says, I jammed with Prince on Irresistable Bitch lol. Then he walked > on over through the crowd and hung out in the hallway. I shook his > hand and we spoke about some things (the dow > jones) and we continued to mingle and dance to Dj Rasheeda. Folks went > upstairs, I stayed downstairs with Pej, Amorebella, my baby, Anita, > Taz from Sa-Ra, Anita Baker and more. I kept telling Anita "Chapter 8! > Sweet Love. > Giving you the best...lol. She was gracious. > > .. .. > > A staffer asked us to give some quotes (On the lotusflo3r site, there > is a section of quotes. The first two on the lotusflow3r site are > mine, the third quote is is Amor's, the fourth quote is Mrs. RD, the > fifth ("fif"-Chapelle) quote is Pej's). I ended up doing the soul > train line up with Shelby, Liv, Marva, the hairdressers, and my > babygirl . I did the splits in tribute to him and the fuse blew out. > We laughed and went upstairs with the others where we mingled. > > Prince was in the kitchen, walking around us mingling. Let me say that > for all the mystery folks believe of him, he is nothing short of normal. > Talking, eating, mingling. There was no man behind the curtain vibe. > He was open and gracious. Everyone, band, designers, guests, were just > chilling around the kitchen block center or on the couch as if we were > just at a barbeque. Desserts were served. Even at this point after all > had happened, I still felt like it was not happening. Prince was > eating a dessert, I talked more to his head designer Scott and > Anthony. Special thanks to Princes drink/wait staff who was always > gracious to the point I felt like I needed to give a tip. > > About 90 minutes (4 a.m.) later I was in a Denny's with the dreaded > nightshift crew and patrons. As I sat there shaking my head at two > drunken club hoes who literally carried each other from the facilities > to the car I was thinking to myself "30 minutes ago I was at Princes > mansion with him playing, watching a website presentation, mingling. > Now I'm here eating a Moons Over My-Hammy with the oddest wait staff > and patrons. Let me keep my Eyes Wide Shut." > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- NewPowerNewYork Mailing List website: Www.NPNY.Org ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Unsubscribe? Email: majord...@*remove*lists.panix.com, in body place npny ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Questions/Help?: visio...@*remove*panix.com
