Eternal-Liz yours

As a huge admirer of the late Michael Jackson, inevitably I also admire Elizabeth “Liz” Taylor too, who remained as an idol for MJ until his death. Now that Liz died last week, and here I am alone in my hotel room in Madrid for a concert of Santiago Lanchares’ piano music on Sunday, March 27th, I feel like blogging on my thoughts on the American diva, though this is through the ideas of the absolute, irreplaceable idol of mine, Andy Warhol.

Liz Taylor, Marilyn Monroe & Jacqueline Onassis/Kennedy were the 3 icons of the 20th century, and Warhol had immortalized them in his creations. There are no royalties in the USA, but if there were, those 3 would be bestowed with those royal titles. The 3 divas achieved their aim to acclaim independence & equality of the female sex in a world of male domination. We all, with great intensity, love and hate those 3 divas, and they were the prelude of what Warhol called “the 15 minutes of fame”. Their struggle can best described in that catchy Pet Shop Boys song: “We’re shameless, we would do anything to get our 15 minutes of fame”. In case of the 3 divas, those 15 minutes were repeated constantly until the moment of their death. It was more difficult for them then, since there were no facebook and twitter as instruments to achieve popularity. Without them there would be no such madnesses of today’s Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and now it’s Justin Bieber. The iconic (if not fakely ridiculous) couples of today such as the Beckhams, Brangelina and Penelope/Javier (and even Cruise/Kidman tried, but failed) would not have existed if not modeled on Richard Burton-Liz Taylor, perhaps the most fascinating couple of the last century. Liz defied everything, from gossips to gravity with her numerous plastic surgeries, both on her face and on the story of her life.

Nothing went incalculated in the life of Liz Taylor; she planned every minute detail except her death. What will stay in our memories will be her natural ability to survive and flourish as a woman in a world of men, and as a celebrity unlike Beethoven, Van Gogh or Shakespeare we will remember her as who she was instead of what she had done. Shakespeare created great works of art, Liz Taylor was and will remain the work of art herself. Requiescat in Pace, Liz.

Being Beauteous

Well, well, airlines can (although they’re not supposed to) take passengers wherever they like, with whatever delays. And politicians can invade countries. But, surely, you don't expect that just by having a pretty face, you can mess up the schedules of hundreds of fellow passengers and be able to get away with it. Right? WRONG! My first thought on reading this Penelope Cruz fuss was: “Why doesn't she buy her own f***ing airplane?” Or, would it deprive her of the satisfaction of playing The Superstar and of feeling that everybody else is less important than she is? Read the following from the Daily Mail (London) of today :

Penelope Cruz panic attack allegedly delays plane by two hours
By Martin Delgado - More by this author »
Comments (5)

Actress Cruz alledgedly suffers from panic attacks

Penelope Cruz is reported to have suffered a panic attack on an aeroplane moments before take -off.
The actress had boarded a Continental flight from Newark to Barcelona, where she is due to make a Woody Allen film.
Seated in first class and apparently travelling alone, she initially appeared to be alright.

But as the plane started taxi-ing onto the runway, she became agitated, according to fellow passengers.
After a brief conversation between Cruz and a flight attendant, the aircraft returned to the departure gate and she disembarked.
To the consternation of others on the flight, all the luggage was removed from the hold and placed on the runway in driving rain while airport staff searched for the actress's suitcases.
One passenger said: "She was freaking out and refused to fly."
Flight 120 eventually took off nearly two hours late on Thursday evening.
It is not the first time Cruz has had problems flying. Three years ago she was on trip to Mexico with her friend Salma Hayek when their plane was forced to make an emergency landing.
Last night Ms Cruz's publicist Carrie Gordon denied the Oscar-nominated actress had been overcome by nerves. "There was no panic attack", she said.
"The airline let her know there was going to be a three or four hour delay due to the storm. She had work so she figured she'd deplane and fly when the storm had passed."