Ignite your spirit – change your world

That is the motto of an amazing cheer squad that I will be following in the lead-up to the Mardi Gras parade. To me, Ignite Spirit Australasia represents everything that the parade stands for and I couldn’t be more inspired by what they set out to achieve. The group is part of a larger entity called the international Pride Cheer Association, comprising squads all around the world with one common ideal.

These squads Cheer For Life. They raise money for charity and encourage their team-members to empower their freedom, inspire their community and be proud of who they are.

Well, they have certainly inspired me. In the short time I have been a member of Ignite, I have become very passionate about their goals and developed some very cool stunt skills. Or in the words of one Ignite cheerleader, I have done “elevator to prep, single base assisted hands – all girl and was flying in her own elevator to prep”.

Basically, those awesome stunts that the cheerleaders in Bring it On manage to pull off are now within my grasp!

I will be keeping a regular Fame Monster cheer-diary, so that everyone can follow my progress but in the meantime, I want you to set the 19th of February aside to come and meet my squad and help us raise funds for our Mardi Gras float. You may even get the chance to shake some ‘poms’.

Click on the following Facebook link for more details: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=191015257583794

Wanna cheer with me? Email phoenix_all_stars@hotmail.com for more details!

Love and kisses,

Nicky Bryson

The Dirty Princess girl knows that love is the answer, she wears her heart on her vintage-inspired sleeve and feels the potential for fun and laughter emanating from every aspect of her life. DP’s Dirty Love collection (debuting for Autumn/Winter) reflects this passionate woman with a line of print tees, singlets and jumpers that team soft, sensual fabrics with a range of graphics that exude the unmistakable Dirty Princess character. These unique designs conjure a happy sense of nostalgia for those moments that make life beautiful, like first kisses, sunset cocktails and endless summer road trips.

Recently featured in NW, Dirty Princess is a label to watch out for. It was created by the absolutely sublime Patricia Wade, a woman who radiates everything her label stands for. She is beautiful but doesn’t seem to know it and she welcomes people into her heart with such joy that it is impossible to spend time with her and not feel uplifted.

Patricia says that DP was created “after a few too many cocktails on a long Sydney summer evening”. The label then spent time developing at the markets, where Patricia listened to what girls loved and what they hated before she was discovered by investors who wanted to take her label to the next level.

At this point, Patricia is confident through her design ethic that she know how to deliver what women desire.

“I wanted to create tee-shirts that were feminine, sexy and fun. I wanted graphics that were bold and bright and I wanted a style that would flatter women’s bodies every day of the month. I spent a huge amount of time trying to source the softest and most luxurious fabrics. I am so proud of these designs. They are unique – the feel of a top but casual and loose like a tee”.

This obvious understanding of how to make women feel comfortable and beautiful is going to propel Patricia’s baby to great heights. I can’t wait for the collection to launch and I will definitely be first in line for my own Dirty Princess piece. Keep an eye out for this determined woman and her delicious label – I know I will keep profiling her on the road to success.

Meet the new face of Dirty Princess, Camille Yi

Love and kisses, Nicky Bryson

For more brand info, fan the Dirty Princess Facebook page:

http://www.facebook.com/dirtyprincessxo

As anyone could tell from the date of my last post, I have neglected this website for several months. The last posts dealt with Sleaze Ball 2010 parties and recoveries. They were so incredibly difficult to write that in some cases, I simply resorted to posting press releases. Those posts have been deleted now because I cannot bear to look at them.

For me, it was a very dark time. The terminal cancer my ‘adopted’ mother, Cayte Latta, had been diagnosed with had reached the downward spiral. Writing anything was difficult but writing about celebrity gossip or dance parties was pretty much impossible. Since her death on the 22nd of October, I haven’t been able to bring myself to do a single post. I find that I can’t give even the smallest damn about Lindsay Lohan’s latest exploits or what nightclub we should all be at when the weekend rolls around.

I’ve been thinking of shutting Fame Monster down but Cayte loved this site. She had the post I wrote about her (before she became sick) printed out and stuck up on her hospital wall. She was so proud of me and the things I have achieved since we first met, way back when Cayte was tending bar and I was an underage street-kid up to all sorts of crazy business.

God, I just miss her so much. She wasn’t just a mother to me, she was the most fabulous mentor. She lifted me up and made me believe in myself. Cayte always read my work and always had something to say about it. More than that, Cayte pointed me toward her new discoveries, proteges with talent. People she wanted me to write about or encourage the way she encouraged me.

Instead of shutting this site down, I have decided to take it in a new direction. One that honours my beautiful mother in the best way I know how. I am going to do my very best to carry on the joy she found in encouraging emerging talent and sharing exciting artists or creative endeavours. Cayte never lost an opportunity to share the things that made her happy, so I am going to follow in those footsteps.

I am crying my eyes out as I type this because in a way it feels like I am finally acknowledging the fact that she is never coming back. It’s one hundred times harder than the City Voice column I wrote immediately after her death because now I have had more than enough time to know what missing Cayte Latta really feels like. It’s not just a hole in my chest, like I first thought, it’s a great big, ragged hole in my life. I realise now that in my secret self, I didn’t really believe a woman who took up so much space in the universe really could die. Certainly not that she could be gone forever.

I know I have to let go of that hope that she is coming back to me and find a way that I can somehow get to her. The more I have thought about what I could do with Fame Monster over the past week, the more I found myself talking to Cayte and almost feeling her near me again.

The next post I will put up will be a profile of a gorgeous designer who is about to launch the label Dirty Princess. The bold romance and vintage inspiration of the label would appeal to Cayte as much as the the beautiful woman behind the designs would. From there on in, that is the sort of thing this site will focus on. Anyone who would like to contact me about the things that excite them can do so via the email at the top of this page. I am absolutely open to any creative endeavour or talent discovery that readers of this site would like to see profiled.

I don’t even really know how to end this post. It is the closest I have felt to Cayte since since she breathed her last and I’m so afraid of letting that feeling go. All I can do is hit ‘publish’, I guess and pray carrying on in Cayte’s example will be enough to keep her near me.

Nicky Bryson

I’m sitting on the couch with my dear friend Maynard, trading gossip about Village People. Not just idle gossip either, serious stories. Why? It’s just been confirmed that Maynard’s Madd Club will be the support act when V People tour Oz in October.

Maynard says that Madd Club hasn’t been on this kind of stage setting since the Hordern parties of the 90’s and I can tell that he is quietly excited. The gig came about in the most unlikely way too. A guy who was a Tom Jones impersonator once at a Madd Club is now booking artists and when he needed a performer to go before the Village People he immediately thought “Maynard of course’.

It is too perfect when you think about it. Who is more straight-camp than Village People? Maynard of course!

Madd Club can often be a crazy, messy experience to be a part of. Several venues of recent times have been none too pleased with Maynard’s show plans. When he enquired of the Enmore Theatre what their limits might be, they said he could do whatever he wanted. This totally leads us to believe that they probably haven’t seen Madd Club in action before.

Out of respect for the Enmore, Maynard assured me that if they make a mess he will deploy a drop sheets andthat  they probably won’t use fire. What a comfort that is going to be for the venue!

Village People & Madd Club, October 16 @ Enmore Theatre

http://www.enmoretheatre.com.au/events/2010/10/16/village-people-cant-stop-the-music

Click here for Maynard’s podcast: http://www.maynard.com.au/maynards_malaise/

When the Imperial first closed I was bereft. Then I began to heal and as the renovations dragged on I learned to love again. Found other venues, got up to non-Erskineville mischief and moved on with my life. All that is over now. My local site of debauchery is back with the best Botox and facelift money can buy.

Going back there last night was like a high school reunion. The launch was hilarious in so many ways. The people falling all over each other and screeching “remember when” everywhere I went was my greatest amusement for the evening. Even funnier were the confused queens looking around and saying “it still looks the same”. No wait! Even better than that was the all-out war for alcohol as a nightclub full of queers tried to make the most out of a two hour open bar.

I have to say I will be going back sometime. Who am I kidding? I’m going back tonight. My bestie Neil Hume is gonna be making the music happen for a few hours. Oh, plus I have to check out downstairs. I never quite made it last night what with how many people I had screech “remember when” to.

Invitations went out to the ‘final monthly session of Bitch’ on Friday and Crackbook has been abuzz with gossip ever since. I have sat down with Renee Schembri, Bitch promoter, twice to get the scoop on this final Bitch. We did one interview out on the town and one good girl interview at the Tropicana café.

Turns out it was really lucky we did the sober interview ‘cos the tape file from the from the night out was corrupted when I tried to transfer it. In retrospect the corrupt tape was a good thing because now there is no incriminating evidence. It did end in us twittering about 5am cheeseburgers and me discovering (once I got all the way home) that I had lost my keys. Also it was a weekday.

Thanks to the miracle of sobriety and the new keyboard docking station I just got for my iPhone, I managed to get the actual details of these “ Bitch” shennanigans on the record.

After 5 years and some 194 nights as the girl’s club on the block, Renee has decided to take a breather. In typical Renee style, this doesn’t mean she is actually taking a break. It means that she will be embarking on “Super Bitch” parties instead. I’ll just say that it was Renee’s habit of dealing with big projects by creating even bigger ones to worry about that finally made me decide I liked the girl. For years I was a cold, little mean girl to Renee over some harsh words at one of her events. Once I really took a good look at everything she does and bothered to get to know her, I felt like such dumb ass about it.

So now comes the next phase of Bitch and the evolution from monthly club night to special event party. Renee thinks it will give her more time to focus on quality in production and talent. The international dj’s are now knocking on the Bitch door, instead of the other way ‘round, so Miss Schembri is planning on big show case events being part of the next step for her brand.

Talks are under way for an L.A deal that I’m not supposed to talk about but I will say it involves Dinah Shore!!! And I totally promised I wouldn’t spill the Black Label Bitch plans but I never actually said I wouldn’t print the words Black Label Bitch. That is as far as I can go because one of my readers has called me out for unprofessionalism already this week. I’m trying to show ‘Anonymous’ that I do have some kind of moral code.

The final monthly Bitch session is on the 6^th of August and then you get nothing until November. Which is just in time for my birthday. Please send all cards and flowers to the back stage of the venue. It is where I like to sit and watch Renee lose it over mike systems that suddenly don’t work and require her to crawl around under dirty stages in clean clothes. It’s also where I secretly smoke until I get in trouble.

 Bitch @ The Oxford Art Factory, August 6^th (pm – til late.

Dear Anonymous,

I have neglected my site for 16 days, which is super unprofessional. At first  I thought I must be sick because I wasn’t complaining about anything. I’ve ruled out all major medical conditions, which must be relief as you seem to read my work much more intently than anyone else. In the process I missed your crtitique of my website, for which I apologise. As people rarely take the time to comment on my nonsense, I thought I should address some of your concerns regarding the following post http://famemonster.com.au/?p=1434#comments

I was already a little bit annoyed by the whole “Jesus wept.” I thought it was done in bad taste,and a offensive insensitive way to began a news story. It proceeded by profanity which was even more vulgar and unclassy.

While I am flattered that you would refer to anything on Fame Monster as a news story, I am afraid you have given me more credit than I deserve. This blog is simply the lunatic ravings of a terrible person with nothing better to do. Any actual news that may filter through is ony by coincidence. I have to use ‘unclassy’ profanity because I have nothing else.

By the time I got to “I believe the woprst about everything ” I then realized to make matters worse that you are a semi-literate writer which is a normal paradox often especially when theres editors now adays and spell check etc. but I think you really should consider using one of them since you obviously can’t spell.

You will be pleased to know that the magic of the internet allowed me to go back and change that typo just for you. It’s hard to believe that I let such a glaring error slip through but then, I was drunk when I wrote that post so I didn’t notice that ‘p’ lurking around in there.

Now I sincerely hope this is just some hobby,and not supposed to be professional because if it is you are unprofessional,and with all due respect this sucks!

Thank you so much for thinking about what a negative influence vulgar language and errant typos could have on my career path. If only you realised that those things are just the tip of the iceberg, you probably wouldn’t have bothered with all the helpful advice. On the other hand, you did read all the way to the end of the article without abandoning the site for one of my many talented competitors, so the lack of professionalism doesn’t seem to hurt me all that much.

In conclusion, while I appreciate your generous attempt to provide constructive criticism, I am far too lazy, wicked and generally hung-over, to start subbing throw-away gossip on an internet site. Did that seem like a lot of redundant commas to you?

Sincerely yours,

Fame Monster

Only a few months back, I would have said if you were tired of Lindsay Lohan, you were tired of life. I followed her every move. There was a Lilo stalker site that gave hourly updates on her every shoe purchase or fight with Samantha Ronson and I was an avid reader. I prided myself on being the first person in the country to know when her hair had changed colour. When I realised she would be going to gaol, I imagined I would have to start a Lohan-watch blow-by-blow of her time in the pokey. But I just can’t do it. I didn’t even know she was in her cell until two days after the fact.

If even I can’t be bothered anymore, all that remains for the Linds to do is be a good girl when she gets out.

Since we are Facebook friends, I figure me and Miss Lohan must be super close. So here is my friendly advice: for god’s sake girl, stop doing bad things in public. Better yet don’t go out at all, unless it’s to watch your brother play basket ball or to build habitats for the homeless. Wait at a year before you even try to act again. Oh and at least pretend prison changed your life. I mean, it worked for Robert Downey Junior.

Jesus wept, I know I am a cynical bitch. I believe the worst about everything but I really believed Lindsay and her scram brcalet would last longer than this…

How could it already be going off? Maybe she should have abstained from the MTV movie awards? Now her bail has been doubled after yet another warrant is issued for her arrest. I think homegirl actually wants to end up in the big house.

Maybe it will be a relief for her. Not having to endlessly keep up this dumbass image. What’s more, she’ll probably find a hot butch girlfriend like Helena did in the L Word!

Nana chic has been threatening to make a comeback for the last few seasons. I’m not exactly opposed to the the floral prints or sturdy brogue-esqe shoes. I wouldn’t wear them but if people have a desire to look like celibate librarians, I see no reason to make a fuss.

However, when the blue rinse starts making the rounds on women under 60, I draw the line. I’ve been mocking Ruby Rose’s sliver fox job since it debuted, naively assuming it was a one-off piece of stupidity. Then I saw a Supre fashion victim trying to rock the look at a nightclub and now Kelly Osbourne hammers the final nail into the coffin.

Yes ladies and gentleman, that is a blue rinse and a set. My only question now is, how much does it cost without the pensioner discount?