At this point, unless you do not own/turn on a television, radio, or internet capable computer (and, if you don’t have that last, what ARE you doing reading this) you have no doubt, at the very least, heard that Lindsey Lohan posed nude for a photo shoot in this week’s New York Magazine…

and here’s your link…and yes you are welcome….

My initial reaction was, mostly, apathy. I mean, I like seeing naked girls as much as the next guy (unless that next guy happens to be gay, in which case I like seeing naked girls way more than him…), but other than that I really didn’t have a reaction.

Then I start reading stuff like this, an entire article devoted to a bunch of PR people saying what a bad career move it was. And then this, which I’d rather just excerpt…

Yes, it’s the height of taste for a young, reckless actress to imitate the patron saint of young, reckless actresses in a copy of that iconic last photo shoot before Monroe died of a drug overdose.

Now let us back up for just a moment.

The photo shoot in question, according to what I’ve read was actually Bert Stern’s idea. Bert Stern, by the way, was the man who took the original pictures (of Marilyn Monroe) that this new set is a recreation of. Stern was the one who approached Lohan.

And as she admits in the accompanying New York article, Lohan’s response was, basically, when will I ever get a chance like this again?

Never.

OK, so now we have the factors surrounding the shoot, what about the pictures themselves? If you read that Radar article, you might think she’d posed for Hustler. First off, any quasi-savy interwebz search will reveal both boob and crotch shots of Lohan, so it isn’t as if people all over the world didn’t already know Lohan’s anatomy in an intimate way.

Secondly, it’s a photo shoot with a well known and respected photographer appearing in a well known and respected publication. Why would that be a bad career move in any context? Oh, right, you can see her nipples. I forgot that, in this country, nakedness automatically equals bad.

The quality of the photos is another conversation. The originals are, without a doubt, amazing. These ones…maybe not so much. There is, I think, one good shot from those posted by NYM, and the best is actually one of the “behind the scenes” shots….

The Deciever post that I excerpted basically said, well, what it says. It was poor taste for a reckless celeb to “rehash” something already done by a reckless celeb. Well, I’d say that makes it more poignant, myself. Look, it would have been tasteless if, say, Mandy Moore (or some other, more squeaky clean celebrity) had done the shoot to “show off her Marilyn” side. Lohan, being who she is, was a much more inspired choice because of what she could bring to the shoot from her own experiences….didn’t really pan out that way, I don’t think, but hey they tried.

Basically, my point here is, can’t we just separate the tabloidy crap from the equation and really consider what is (I think) the important question; are the pictures good?

So thanks for the support Normalinauts! Some day my ship will come in (read: book will be published). Also, thanks to Mojo for the shout out and I think the phrase “book of complete win” may have to be the title of my second novel…

Because I am often looking for ways to “not work” while sitting at my desk all day, I have, inexplicably, joined Facebook and set up a Normality Restored group. If you are in any of my various e-mail address books, then you likely received an invitation to “be my friend.” So far, I have two friends…exsulis, because I badgered him on gchat yesterday and, oddly, Ze Frank. I guess the rest of you really don’t like me…no, that’s alright, I’m not going to cry…I mean, I did just get my novel rejected and everything…and now no one (et tu gilgrim?) wants to be my cyber-friend. Huh? That sounds a little dirty. So if you did get an invitation and haven’t replied, I want you to know you have wounded me deeply. If you haven’t received one, and you do want to be my friend, drop me the electronic style mail kilian.heap@gmail.com. As an added bonus, anyone who joins the NR facebook group will get a specially crafted, personalized, mediocre, officer title. Just ask exsulis, “Elite Dataz Haxor.”

OK, I have to bring this up because it bothers me on so many levels, but first, a bit of background.

I took three years of photography in high school. I would say, more then anything else, being in a dark room was the most important (at the time) aspect of my time in high school. For a few different reasons I did not end up majoring in photography in college. I did, however, start a photography club and was said club’s president for two years (admittedly, I did little the second year) while in college. My wife was a photo communications major, and spent six months in London studying photography beyond her degree. So let’s just say that photography is something we take pretty seriously in our house. That was part of the reason I previously brought up the Lindsey Lohan/New York Magazine “thing.”

So it should surprise no one that I am now interested in the Miley Cyrus/Vanity Fair “thing.” Long story short, Miley posed for a photo shoot for the upcoming Vanity Fair. She’s wearing a sheet. Here’s one picture from the shoot, and here’s some behind the scenes pictures. Here’s one other (very) important piece of information. The photographer was Annie Leibovitz. In case you are unfamiliar, Leibovitz is the premiere (and I mean that literally, there is no one bigger or more important) celebrity photographer in the world. There are others, of course, Mario Testino and Herb Ritts (though Ritts passed away a few years ago) come to mind. But no one else has the reputation or portfolio of Leibovitz.

This is important because, now that the “sheet” photo has appeared online, Cyrus has come out against the photos.

Here’s the thing. I get that Miley is 15. I do. I have a daughter, I get it. But how is a photo shoot, one that her family was at no less, with a world renowned photographer (Leibovitz was the photographer who last captured John Lennon, by the way) worse then, oh I don’t know, her showing her bra off?

You may disagree. I can see where someone might think that the Vanity Fair shoot was borderline child porn. I think that opinion is wrong, but I can respect it. The fact that this was a shoot with Annie f’ing Leibovitz, I think, instantly adds artistic credibility (much as I argued in regard to the Lohan shoot). So why doesn’t Miley and her family stand behind the photos? I mean, all they would really have to say is, “IT’S ANNIE LEIBOVITZ!” Sort of, god I cringe to say this, in the way that Lohan defended her photos.

My guess, and others have said this as well, is that Disney has put pressure on the clan Cyrus to distance themselves from the photos. I don’t really see why. In this context, I would say the pictures have a decidedly less sexual inclination then say, a red carpet or some other “hollywood” style event where 15 year old Cyrus is wearing an ultra revealing gown, thousands of dollars of jewelry, and is done up like it’s prom night.

Gogol Bordello - Immigrant Punk

Ok, for those that have been following the recent antics of NR, and our current…erm, struggle with our ‘faithful’ Coding Goblins (much despite the excellent efforts of our own Exsulis) have probably noticed some cosmetic changes to the old Normality. We ain’t done yet, but(!) I do have some new stuff to bring to everyone who is interested. And with this new stuff, I would like to apologize for not posting it on Friday as I originally intended, but so it goes. The long weekend is over, and for your patience, here we bestow: stuff! ^__^ Enjoy.

(more…)

Real Quick, here are some new WPs featuring the very first illustrious contributor to NR’s own buy me [Gilgrim] a Waccom tablet (to ensure and promote more active content updates, like webcomics and such): Tengu!

Some explanation might be in order for the copy (that’s “text” for those who don’t have to use these archaic terms on a regular basis) included in the WPs themselves. Much like other films which have been lent to Kilian to further expand his cinematic palette, someone (I don’t remember who exactly) was kind enough to lend him the entire series of Firefly. Now being that Kilian is a watcher of Buffy and the like, it would seem logical that he should fall deeply in love with what is arguably Joss Whedon’s much better property… but it is not so. Not only has Kilian not watched the whole (less than one season) box-set to my knowledge but after watching whatever amount he has (which I wager is less than 3 full ep’s) he’s come away with his decision on the show simply being, “well… meh.” This is a sad thing indeed, but it seems that Browncoat Pride is something that he can’t understand afterall.

800w

1024w

1280w

1360 widescreen

As an additional note: these are up in the Gallery Section as well, but for whatever reason, they seem to be automatically resized into the wrong aspect ratios. I might be missing something, but the above thumbnails should allow you to find the correct size and aspect ratios in the way in which they were originally designed.

I love you all,

–Aleister

Balzac

It’s been a long time coming, but the original run of the Cemeterians by yours truly, and published by the loving misfits of SLG Comics is now available in a collected trade paperback volume! Yep, all 4 issues in one convenient, almost-fits-in-your-back-pocket, bundle ^__^.

You should be able to find it at any major book retailer - and if they don’t have it they can order it!

Also, if it’s easier, and fits more to your personal shopping disposition, I’ve been able to track it through some regular online retailers as well, such as:

Amazon dot com

Barnes & Nobles

Borders Books

All Book Stores

My Comic Shop dot com

Tower Books

Comixology

Virgin Mega Stores

So there it is, Cemeterians Volume One fully collected trade edition all for under $10USD! Come on folks, Normalinauts and other assorted misfits, hooligans and beloved peoples, grab your copy wherever you can!

BONUS! Anyone who has a copy come SDCC 2008, I will gladly create a custom sketch for you at no cost - just come see me at the SLG Booth (Friday or Saturday), and have your copy of Cemeterians Volume 1 in hand (I’ll sign it as well, if you don’t mind me defacing it with my signature)!

I have a kid, the kid is expensive, I’m running out of things in my personal collections to sell to pay for him… I could use the money. And this will help spurn me into completing volume 2 that much faster ^__^ - thanks hugely, to everyone who’s picked up one (or two! or three!!!) already!

We love you all,

–Aleister

Gnarles Barkley - Odd Couple