(&VAN SANT MEETS MADONNA_=

I don't care about Madonna, but her cover for the upcoming Interview magazine is pretty cool, plus, she's interviewed by none other than Gus Van Sant whom I happen to care a bout A LOT :DD

Here it is, READ

GUS VAN SANT: Hey, Madonna.

MADONNA: Gus, is that you?

VAN SANT: Yes. I'm at my house in L.A., just reading the paper.

MADONNA: Are you living in L.A. now?

VAN SANT: I still live in Portland [Oregon], but I have a place in L.A., and I'm starting to work on this film down here.

MADONNA: You're always working on a film.

VAN SANT: Usually.

MADONNA: But that's what you do.

VAN SANT: It's my habit. [laughs] I heard you're going to Africa.

MADONNA: Yeah. I go to Malawi twice a year. It's where two of my children were adopted from, and I have a lot of projects there that I go and check up on and children who I look after. It's sort of a commitment that I've made to this country and the hundreds of thousands of children there who have been orphaned by AIDS. I made a documentary about it [I Am Because We Are, 2008], and it's just become part of my life. I'm going to meet with Jeffrey Sachs [the economist]. I'm sure you've heard of him. He's starting a global education initiative, and I'm going to be his Girl Friday, so to speak. We're going to hold a press conference to talk about the school for girls that I'm building in Malawi. It's kind of our way of making sure that every kid has a chance to have an education-more specifically girls, but boys as well. Girls, though, in a lot of developing countries don't have the opportunity to go to school, nor are they encouraged to go to school, so what we're doing is the beginning of a dream. But I'm going to Malawi for lots of reasons.

VAN SANT: You've done a lot of work with Jeffrey Sachs already, haven't you?

MADONNA: Yeah. We've been supporting each other for years now. I've worked on some Millennium Villages with him. We have two Millennium Village sites in Malawi, and they're both doing very well. He's an incredible human being.

VAN SANT: I've never met him, but I've heard he's very charismatic.

MADONNA: He's extremely charismatic. Very well-spoken and charming. He's one of the few people I know who talks the talk and also walks the walk. He thinks very big.

VAN SANT: What's the economic theory behind the Millennium Villages?

MADONNA: Well, his work is primarily focused on ending poverty, but you know, there are lots of ways to skin the cat. Millennium Villages are an experiment that he has tried all over the world. It costs a certain amount of money, and it takes a certain number of years for them to work, but he's got it down almost to a science, where for $1.5 million over a five-year period, you can make a series of interconnected villages self-sustainable through education and prepping and diversifying their crops and giving them agricultural tools and medicine and knowledge. Jeffrey has been really supportive of all the work I've done in Malawi. So, yeah, we'll be drinking a gin and tonic and swatting away the mosquitoes down there. By the way, Milk [2008] was such a brilliant film. I cried and cried. I loved it.

VAN SANT: Oh, great. Thanks.

MADONNA: Did you like working with my ex-husband? [laughs]

VAN SANT: I did. Sean [Penn] was amazing.

MADONNA: He is amazing.

VAN SANT: I haven't really caught up with Sean since he's been going to Haiti. I mean, it's incredible, what he's been doing.

To read the rest of the interview ('cause it's way too long to post all of it here) go here


Both the cover and this picture up here are shot by Marcus Piggott and Mert Alas

%=A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!!!!!(}

Metric was WILD!! I went all Wolf Parade kind of crazy. I was full of sweat and my hair was a mess! Kind of unexpected. I guess I noticed before going that their songs were very good for banging your head and jumping, 'cause their songs have a good build up leading to a nice rock out climax. But I didn't expect this at all. So next time if they're here again I'll be at the gig at 8 pm when the doors open so I can stand at the front instead of behind two lame girls who just stand unmoving looking up at the stage as if they're waiting for the F^CKING bus to arrive. I'm sorry but I can not stand those people. There are things you can sit on and they're called seats and you find them upstairs at the balcony! Go there and join those who really come to WATCH the show, to look, and see it happen while sitting in silence. Leave the space downstairs for those like me who just want to go wild and dance to the music coming from the speakers. Emily Haines, wow, she's a goddess. Sometimes she kind of looks like Madonna. She has great on stage persona and those people who were standing next to me later on in the line to get their jackets need to just go and shit themselves or something telling each other how they're not really into people who go wild on the stage, thus having lots of energy and showing the crowd that they can have a good time and enjoy playing for all the people who came to see them. Next time read the memo, this is not a gig for you. Please STAY AWAY. But again, I was surprised. This was insane. It was so good. Their music is perfect. This gig comes second to Wolf Parade based on how crazy I go at a concert. Of course not everyone was as stiff as those two girls in front of me. I was surrounded by some other people who knew how to go wild on the music as well. So that was real nice and made me not feel bad for one single moment for not standing at the front row. 'Cause there you'll always find the diehards. Those people who go crazy like me. But oh they were good. The sound was perfect. Emily's voice sounds just as clear as on the CDs (read: downloaded mp3s). The rest of the band, Emily's three guys were great as well. One of the guys on guitar even sang a bit and has a really good voice. Songs like Stadium Love which is a nice track, but not one that seems to really standout was turned into one of the highlights. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! I mean, Beirut yesterday was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G as well and I had waited to see them for quite a long time. But sometimes I just want to rock out and go to a gig were you can jump at almost every song and just dance to the beat and lose yourself in the crowd. So it was a nice balance. Metric, wow, such a revelation. When they play again I'll be the first to buy tickets. It's something I would not want to miss. Such a great night. I could do this every day :))