Monday, August 23, 2004
Art Attack
What horrible news! Armed thieves burst into an Oslo museum in bold daylight on Sunday and stole two paintings by Edvard Munch, one of which was the famous painting The Scream. Sarah sent me this news yesterday afternoon:
Two masked robbers ran into the Munch Museum, threatened staff with a handgun and forced people to lie down before grabbing "The Scream," an icon of existential angst showing a waif-like figure against a blood-red sky, and "Madonna" ... Some stunned visitors said they feared they were victims of a terror attack. The men simply walked out the front door -- with one painting bumping on the ground -- and escaped in a stolen black Audi car driven by a third man, police said ... Worth millions of dollars, the pictures are among Munch's best-known, even though he produced several versions of both 1893 works. "Madonna" shows a mysterious bare-breasted woman with flowing black hair.
I am at a complete loss for words. I cannot believe the brazenness of these horrible art thieves. I hope the paintings are recovered safely and are returned to their rightful place. The Scream is the first piece of art that I have ever had a fondness for. In college, I had a framed print of the painting hanging in my room. Sarah and I took a week-long trip to Toronto and were able to see original Munch sketches for The Scream -- the closest I've ever been to the real thing.
In other news:
- Bitch! Xtina is talking shizz about Britney: Christina says, "I can't believe that girl bought her own engagement ring! I've seen it, up close. It looks like she got it on QVC. I know Britney. She's not trailer trash, but she sure acts that way." Them's fightin' words.
- It turns out that Paul Hamm won his gold medal in the Men's Gymnastic Overall event by mistake -- he gets to keep the gold medal; the judges who made the error were suspended. Eh, it wasn't his fault the error was made so I say good call. Man, if it were me there would be no way they'd take my medal from me!
- Exorcist: The Beginning was the #1 movie at the box office this weekend. Someone made a deal with the devil, that's for sure.
- Did you know that Jada Pinkett Smith fronts a band? Did you know that she was the opening act for a few Britney Spears concert dates in Europe? Did you know that she counts Tori Amos as a musical influence? Strange, but true.
- There are rumors going around that George Lucas is going to make 3 Star Wars sequels that will pick up where Return of the Jedi left off. The news comes from a fan site called TheForce.net so who knows how reliable the news is. I for one think that Episodes 7 through 9 are not necessary but if there is money to be had, well, I think it's a safe bet that the movies will eventually be made.
- Gwen Stefani talks about her solo album in a new interview but still gives no release date. Stefani's solo debut is a dance-floor celebration of her newfound artistic freedom and fame. Her primary inspiration was Prince, but she's clear on just how far she can push it: "If you're not Prince, you're never going to sound like Prince," she says. "Especially if you're a white girl from Orange County." She also has an impressive list of producers and guest musicians, including: Andre 3000 (of OutKast), Pharrell Williams (of the Neptunes), Dr. Dre, Nelle Hooper (of Soul II Soul), Dallas Austin, Wendy and Lisa (from Prince's band The Revolution) and Martin Gore (from Depeche Mode). Sounds like a kick-ass record. Hopefully it will come out sometime this year.
- John Stamos finally files for divorce. Good job guy, it's about time you faced the truth.
- Jai Rodriguez (from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy) and Drew Lachey (from 98°) will both be starring on Broadway in Rent. Jai returns to his role as Angel and Drew takes over for Joey Fat-One as Mark (check out THIS PHOTO). And people think that Broadway is gay.
- MTV tells you what you need for Back to School. The shoes are effing ugly ...
Gotta love these two.
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