Tina's two new songs!

Tina Turner will be releasing a new greatest hits album entitled "Tina!" on Septemeber 30th - it contains many of her greatest hits plus two new recordings: I'm Ready and It Would Be a Crime.
Here they are :)

I'm Ready

It Would Be a Crime

Kinda sad ... :(

So if you know me you know how much I love Tina Turner ...
So imagine my excitement when I found out that this morning TicketMaster was putting onsale VIP packages to Meet and Greet Tina before some of her shows!!!
I was up at 8am ready to max out my credit card to finally meet my idol!
...
Then I found out that
- These packages were selling for $1500 each
- They had to be bought in pairs (meaning it would cost $3000 and I know no one I know would pay $1500 to go with me)
- They are only offered at the Michigan, Florida and Toronto concerts

I was so disappointed!!! I guess I could have spent $3000 and flown to one of these places, but the rational adult part of me just had to say no. No to meeting Tina after all of these years :(

Adding to this frustration is that I have learned that she is holding rehearsals for her tour not just in California, not just in Los Angeles, but somewhere in Studio City - my town - at an undisclosed location. She is within miles of me all week long and I have no idea where :(

The only bright spot of this situation is that the bartender at my local bar knows the owner of the Staples Center here in LA and has a backstage pass to see Tina there, and is now trying to work on getting me one too. So there's still hope ...

In the meantime, I am still very excited and blessed to be able to see her
Oct. 1st in Kansas City (opening night of the tour)
Oct. 13th and 16th in Los Angeles
Oct. 14th in Anaheim
Oct. 22nd in Sacramento
Nov. 26th in Newark
Dec. 1st in New York City
and Dec. 3rd on Long Island
(plus I'm trying to work out a whirlwind tour to Amsterdam, Paris and London in the spring!)

Summer Movies

I have seen a ton of movies lately. I find it so much more fun to go to an actual theater than to watch a DVD at home. At home I always get distracted or sleepy, and its so easy to hit the pause button that my investment flies out the window. That's why I've sold most of the DVDs in my collection this summer. But at the theater, you feel like its an event, and while some of the movies I've seen kinda blew (Disaster Movie chief among those), some were great.
Top prizes go to Tropic Thunder (so fulfillingly funny all the way through) and The Dark Knight (beautiful shot, darkly creepy, and brilliantly acted). I even saw the Dark Knight a second time (in IMAX). Being a fan of comedies, I also loved The House Bunny and Hamlet 2. I think Sex and the City was captivating and a tribute to the show (while X Files was almost torture, I was so fidgety and oculdn't wait to leave the theater - I was THAT bored!) The Happening and The Strangers both excited me with their premises and while both delivered great thrills and some moments of genius, btoh fell flat ultimately from being truly good movies. Mamma Mia was so beautiful to look at, and there were moments that were so fun. There were also painful moments (like pretty much anything involving Pierce Brosnnan making a pass at musicality) Thank god I was in the back row making out with my boyfriend during the bad parts - if I had left and missed Meryl Streep singing Winner Takes All I would've missed out on another truly brilliant performance moment from one of the best actresses of our time! Indiana Jones was kitschy but missed the mark; What Happens in Vegas was really funny, but kinda predictable; Forgetting Sarah Marshall was really enjoyable and even includes real live penis on film!! WALL - E was way better than I had expected and made the perfect date movie of the summer!! Burn After Reading got some of the biggest laughs out of me, but I think the movie will fall flat with a lot of people - I loved its left of centerness, but I think most people will leave confused and disappointed.

Now I'm looking forward to Julianne Moore in Blindness!!

My first exhibition ... of sorts

So after my photos of a certain "adult entertainer" were a hit at our local gay bar yesterday, they've asked for a more PG-13 set that they can actually display legitimately ... and there should be some money in it for me!! So here are some examples of what I'm come up with so far ...

Momentum with photography ...

I've only just recently started playing around with my new digital camera, but I've been getting some practice, interest, and exposure already!!

- I was approved for a portfolio adddition to the Model Mayhem website, where I can network with models and photographers around the world (I already have a request from a guy in Madrid to shoot him when he comes to LA)
http://www.modelmayhem.com/804238

- I am setting up a shoot with a half black, half Indian girl whose beauty is remarkable, and we are going to be showcasing her cultural influences on the beach

- My roommate Paul was selected to be featured on New York's Best Models website, and guess who has two photos featured? (scroll to the right to see the thumbnails)
http://www.newyorkbestmodels.com/paulhoward

And today I did my first shoot with an up and coming porn star - an edited photo from this shoot can be found below:

some of my digital photography

Paul in Blue ............................. Mike as George Michael

Jamie's Gone Country ......................... Paul by Candlelight

























Paul in the jungle .............. Perhaps an album cover?

Jamie the bad girl in the alley........... and in the woods

The last 6 months ... an update

It's been so long since I posted! I guess now that Britney is getting her shit together, there's less opportunity for me to lord my successes over her. Good for her, though!

It has been a crazy couple of months since that last post, and I have definitely embarked upon my own journey of healing, self-discovery, and whirlwind change:
- I quit my job (that I had held for 6 1/2 years!!)

- I have seen Cher and George Michael in concert, I met Carly Simon and watched her perform live for the first time, plus had the opportunity to see Tina Turner live again for the first time in 8 years (at a special Oprah Winfrey taping in Las Vegas [pictured at right] two days before my birthday!!)

- I moved out of an apartment that had stifled me almost the entire time I was there into a beautiful house at the bottom of the Hollywood hills with two great friends who support and inspire me.

- I have taken vacations to Las Vegas, Santa Barbara, Palm Springs, Lake Tahoe and more.

- I also met a very special guy (pictured at right) that I think earns the title of first official relationship in my more than ten years of dating the menz. He has brought me a new kind of happiness, and we've shared so many amazing experiences that are brand new and so thrilling (perhaps the best so far has been being cuddled up on the beach in Santa Monica watching the 4th of July fireworks - what a night!!)

- I also have shorn off my locks of blond that I hid behind for
years and for awhile wore a very tight dark buzz cut that made my social presence about me not about my fabulous hair - although by now I've reintroduced some blonde into a faux-hawk that I have dubbed my skunk stripe.

- I have renewed my interest in photography and have bought a new camera and have been taking pictures and signing up for classes and trying to see if there's any future for me in a more creative field than I've ever tried before as a way to earn a living. (I'll have to post some of my efforts in an upcoming blog post)

- I've begun doing a steady regimen of cardio fir the first time in my life, alternating between tennis and hiking up Runyan Canyon (a beautiful vista set between two mountains that kick my ass every time I climb them!!) And the pounds are just falling off as my endurance continually increases and I keep surprising myself with what I can do.

- I've also tried to cleanse my life by selling off 10 huge boxes of my clothes, and more than 1,000 of my CDs and DVDs - having stuff is no longer a source of pride, it became a burden and an obsession nowhere near as fulfilling as the freedom I am experiencing now.

There are many more "small victories" that I could fill this page with, but I love that I don't have to. I have nothing to prove, and am so satisfied to know that I feel for the first time in ages that I am on a path towards happiness and a fuller, healthier life