Just Call Them Slash/Bach
We can hear it now, the inevitable “Youth Gone Wild in the Paradise City” medley.
Sebastian Bach has revealed that former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash has contacted him “out of the blue” about collaborating on a top-secret project.
The erstwhile Skid Row frontman tells Billboard he was invited by Slash to team up on a musical odyssey, which Bach is predicting will be absolutely “mind-blowing.”
However, he couldn’t say much more about it, claiming he’s been sworn him to secrecy.
The one thing Bach did say is that he won’t be joining Slash’s current outfit, Velvet Revolver, as a replacement for fired vocalist Scott Weiland, who has since reunited with his old mates in Stone Temple Pilots.
Bach said joining Revolver would be “awkward” because he’s pals with Slash’s old partner Axl Rose. Skid Row opened for the Gunners in the early ’90s, and Bach contributed vocals to the eternally delayed Chinese Democracy.
According to Bach, he and Slash are expected to get together soon.
As for Weiland, after getting tossed out of Revolver for “increasingly erratic onstage behavior and personal problems,” he gave his blessing to the idea of Bach replacing him, saying he would be “fantastic.”
Deborah Gibson Tries to Shake Fan’s Love
Deborah Gibson apparently doesn't appreciate strange men showing up on her doorstep out of the blue.
The singer, who went by "Debbie" in the Electric Youth era, filed Tuesday for a temporary restraining order against a Spanish-born man who she claims has been tracking her across the country on and off for six years, showing up backstage at her shows, at her hotels and, most recently, at her house. (View the notice.)
Per documents filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Gibson says that, on Sunday afternoon, she returned to her L.A. home to find a three-day-old note placed under her door by Bassas Jorge Puigdollers, who had requested she meet him in El Paso, Texas, where she had just spent time performing.
By the time she found the note, Puigdollerswho identified himself in his letter as a "debhead"had already driven to Texas and back to see her, Gibson claims.
About 30 minutes later, her declaration continues, she heard a knock at the front door and, upon recognizing Puigdollers, Gibson became frightened and feared for her life. She called 911, after which LAPD Officers Marmale and Carona detained the subject and issued an emergency protective order.
Gibson maintains she first encountered the Barcelona resident in 2002, when he would show up backstage at her concerts to ask for autographs and face time with the popstera hobby he practiced for the next six years, she says.
"The subject would sit in the front row making 'himself' very conspicuous while I performed for the public" and continue his "aggressive behavior" outside her hotel rooms, Gibson states, adding that she would frequently have to alert security to Puigdollers' presence in the crowd.
The order, which still needs a judge's signature, would require Puigdollers to stay at least 100 yards away from Gibson. A hearing on her request is scheduled for May 28.
Gibson, 37, who appeared alongside fellow '80s-era star Corey Feldman on an episode of Deal or No Deal in January, has a three-week engagement coming up next month at Harrah's in Atlantic City.
In Treatment: Paul and Gina-Week One
(S01E05) “I think this was a mistake coming here today.” - Paul Weston
Now this is what I was waiting for. Sure, it was still essentially a single therapy session in real time for thirty minutes, but it was Gabriel Byrne on the patient side and the always brilliant Dianne Wiest as his therapist Gina. Only it’s been nearly ten years since he’s seen her due to some kind of bad history, and their professional relationship was more complicated than simply patient/therapist. So out of the blue he called her and she agreed to see him, but was he wanting to see her as a friend, a colleague, a therapist? Gina had no idea what Paul wanted, and I don’t think Paul did either.
As I expected, the Friday episodes will be the fulcrum on which the entire series balances, and if this episode is any indication, I officially think the series is going to be amazing. So much of the history of these two characters and the bad blood was hinted at, but thank god we weren’t spoon fed information through awkward dialogue, and the acting on both sides to capture all those buried feelings bubbling near the surface was stellar.
In the time since they’ve seen one another, Gina has retired her practice, and Paul’s son was conceived and born. All that we’re given about the end of their relationship is that it ended when David died. Based on dialogue, David could have been Gina’s husband, child; she referred to how she “came back home without him”? Paul didn’t go to the funeral and they lost touch. At that time Gina acted as Paul’s supervisor and they had a falling out when she felt she needed to step in over something, though we’re not given what happened there either. The bottom line was their was some professional friction, and it looks like Paul shut her out and hasn’t spoken to her since.
So it’s understandable how apprehensive she was when he called, but she agreed to see him. Through their conversation, you can see Gina uncomfortable as to what to do. Should she try and help him work through the issues he’s bringing up as a therapist, advise him professionally regarding how to handle his patients, be a friend for him to lean on? But no matter what she tried she kept hitting a wall of anger and resistance from Paul.
Especially when he talked about the frictions at home and the revelation of erotic transference with Laura that happened in his Monday session. Gina thinks that incredibly significant, and now that we know more about how he’s struggling in his own marriage with issues of trust, she may be right. So what was originally the least interesting session of the bunch now may just be the most compelling, but not because of anything Laura says or does but due to how Paul will react to it.
It was very interesting to see the other side of the earlier sessions. For example, in the “Jake and Amy” episode, when Jake badgered Paul to make a decision on whether or not they should have an abortion, Paul said that yes they should. He then went on to explain that Jake had pushed him into a corner so the only answer he could give was what Jake least wanted to hear. He used it to correlate how Jake pushes Amy and she reacts in the same way, as if his answer had been a calculated step in getting to that point.
Now we learn that Jake really had pissed him off and he’d finally caved and given an answer. “Were you insulted when you were called a murderer.” Gina asked him. “Yes. I know I’m a good therapist.” Paul’s been getting anxious before sessions and more frustrated with his patients than he should be. And as for Laura, he’s been seeing her for a year now, but suddenly the erotic transference is the only issue that they’re discussing.
When Gina told him she thought he’d called due to home issues, he said he hadn’t and then proceeded to go into detail about his home life, his lack of trust when his wife is at the gym but her gym clothes and shows are at the office, his sex life, or lack thereof. His main point of contention is in how Kate, his wife, is going behind his back to get their son, Max, enrolled in gifted programs and classes which he is against on principal. Kate’s mani ponit of contention is that he has no perspective in their marriage and she feels he doesn’t love her any more.
When she started to ask him about Kate, trying to bring out more information, Paul got extremely defensive but then started talking about her again. Gina again focused on the erotic transference issue with Laura and Paul accuses her: “You twist everything into your preconceived notion.” Gina asks, “Was there physical contact?” “No.” But he hesitated before answering so her suspicion grew. But while Gina thinks the issue with Laura may be the central issue bothering Paul, he thinks it’s not a big deal. She also advised him to come right out and ask Kate if she was having an affair.
Paul leaves abruptly and we don’t know if he’ll come back. Okay, well of course we know because we know this is the Friday sessions, but within the show he doesn’t even know. But I think given some distance he’ll come to realize that Gina was right on a lot of things. Personally, given the additional background we’ve just been given, I think it would be interesting to go back and watch the first four episodes again. And it definitely sets up some interesting background thoughts for his upcoming sessions as well. Particularly Laura’s session on Monday.
In Treatment started out as a pretty different experiment on television that piquied my curiosity. As the week progressed I saw some potential in it but wondered how it would all hold together. After this episode, it’s set up to be a fanastic run and I’m looking forward to every episode now.
Movie Review: Sunshine
Sunshine takes place 50 years in the future, and follows a crew of astronauts aboard a spaceship named the Icarus II. The characters are venturing into space to deliver a payload to reignite the sun which is about to burn out, obliterating all mankind. The entire film takes place away from earth as the small crew fights technical difficulties, human error, and nature’s wrath to reach the sun intact and in time to save humanity.
Have you ever gone to a restaurant that says they serve sushi, Italian, Greek, and Indian food? I usually avoid those places because I don’t really believe that one place can do all those vastly different things well. That was pretty much why I wasn’t too sure about going to see Danny Boyle’s Sunshine. It was a huge departure from Boyle’s other successful works, including drug film Trainspotting, thriller 28 Days Later, and the family-friendly Millions, but here’s the deal, when free food and drinks are offered at a press screening, I cannot refuse. Several mini grilled cheeses, tequila shrimp skewers and quarter-sized hamburgers later, I bring you this review. This movie surprised me. It was well-shot, suspenseful, and best of all, pretty scientifically accurate for a space sci-fi film.
This is a good film because of the realistic portrayal of human reaction and interaction within a trapped space. It starts out like the intergalactic Breakfast Club, only with a purpose much bigger than teenage angst and Saturday morning detention, and also with a near impossible escape.
The ending however, is completely unexpected and out of the blue. It was the only thing that I wasn’t too sure if I liked. There was very little setup for the finale (which I cannot explain beyond the fact that there was an abrupt genre change in the third act), but I must say, it was one of the scariest films I have ever seen. I’m sure everyone sitting around me at the screening probably got a good laugh at me peeking through my fingers that were covering my eyes, and listening to the muffled audio through my thumbs in my ears throughout the last 15 minutes of the film, but it was really that scary. I actually considered walking out at some point because I was afraid of the nightmares that I would have all night, but the suspense forced me to stay.
Overall, Sunshine is a good film with mesmerizing views of outer space from your very own seat aboard the claustrophobic Icarus II. The film has a fun website too. Check that out if you get a chance.