THE HOLYWOOD VIDEOS, reviewed

1. DISPOSABLE TEENS
Single Release Date: Nov 7th 2000
Directed by: Samuel Bayer



On the opening sequence Manson emerges from a black lagoon possibly signifying the birth of a new identity, as this one was already stated with the inclusion of the Mercury symbol. For those of us who aren't highly familiarized with the Occult and Alchemy, Mercury is the conjunction of both male and female forces, an idea already explored during the Mechanical Animals era and reinforced by the usage of Marilyn (Hollywood actress) and Manson (notorious serial killer).


The singer adopts several other characters during this video, such as a pope (compare to the Hierophant Card in the Holywood booklet), Manson sporting a rare two-headed sheep skin, a scene with policemen and many other rich symbolism reminiscent of the Last Supper that surpasses the meaning of the song.


2.  THE FIGHT SONG
Single Release Date: February 2, 2001
Directed by: W.I.Z and MM



A football riot in a goth high school? Hell yeah. The opening scene  features a billboard that reads, "Happy to Live In America" injecting sarcasm into the mood. Two teams, Holywood and Death beat the Hell out of each other while the 'band´ plays along the chant or "fight song" with the same name. Notice how Manson and the rest of the football players have the number "00" on their backs. In the original Holywood booklet is a Tarot Card, The Fool which bears the 0 meaning the beginning of a journey or cycle, yet another hidden meaning is ignorance.

3. THE NOBODIES
Single Release Date: October 6, 2001
Directed by: Paul Fedor




Resembling a darker fairytale ambient two children escape from the clutches of white clerical characters only to be seek refuge in a Manson dressed as a sort of witch or sorcerer who later turns the captors into a pie. One of the most symbolic representations is the Wood or Tree Demon in the middle of a snowy forest. In fact, Manson has used this element for a long time, including one of his oldest tattoos which is a scary tree.

FURTHER INTO HOLYWOOD

by Beli Cantu.

July 3rd, 2001.

I was out of luck and left alone to die. I was struggling through my last year of college and still lived with my parents. I had taken a modest job to gain experience as an industrial designer; a career that I still don't know what the Hell it means, and because of that I wasn't doing exactly that well. Just when I felt that I had nothing to hold on to a beacon of hope arrived when I found out about the upcoming Ozzfest featuring my dearest rock and roll crush Marilyn Manson. That summer would be my first encounter with the infamous shock rocker so I set my mind to it and fulfilled my wish.

Now did I mind that I was pissing my dad off? No, I told him a while later about my mischievous journey. He was the only one who never really got my passion for Manson, probably because he had never been that involved into that kind of music. My mom, on the other hand openly admitted that I adored him: in fact she once said he was "very creative" after having watched The Beautiful People video.

So there I went all by myself with a bunch of metalheads I hardly knew all the way up to San Antonio, Texas, more specifically in a small town named Selma.

Without bluffing you could perceive very clearly that there was a lot of expectation to see Manson despite all the controversy generated after Columbine as this time they were part of a new tour called God, Guns And Government, inspired by the The Love Song lyrics:

"Do you love your guns, yeah, your god, yeah, your government? Fuck yeah!"

We were also highly interested in seeing Ozzy Osbourne's reunion with Black Sabbath and all the other nü metal bands that were just starting out there such as Linkin Park, Mudvayne, Slipknot, Papa Roach and many more. There was one other band that rock awesomely hard though, Otep, lead by Otep Shamaya that caught my eye.

But that was only the beginning. Everywhere I turned around there were Manson fans who openly expressed their passion by simple things such as sporting the ever so scandalous tees or even dressing up like him. To my surprise I even saw an old lady with a tattoo on her back that resembled a bald-headed Manson with wings on each side. I just thought to myself; "Alright!"

It took Slipknot's frontman Corey Taylor to introduce Marilyn Manson as the next act. The stage went completely dark and the crowds swarmed in to take their seats. One by one the members emerged out of a foggy stage, starting with Madonna Wayne Gacy, aka Pogo with a sort of bouncing, deranged keyboard, lead guitarist (at that time) John 5 , bassist Twiggy, Ginger Fish and in the end the man of the hour. The crowd roared as he paraded wearing an over the top outfit consisting of a leather tight corset, high platform army boots, a sort of black war painting that resemble a thick black streak underneath his nightmarish eyes and the tail of a dead horse hanging from his left arm.

He acted liked he owned the place, no doubt about that. One of the most impressive acts was him rising attached through a crane to the tune of Cruci-fiction In Space. A rusty sign HOLYWOOD stood in the background. It became awfully hard to stop looking as one moment suddenly got more exciting than the last one. A medley of all his best eras was flawlessly performed including The Antichrist Superstar, the decadent glam sound of Mechanical Animals...The closing  number The Beautiful People, an all-time favorite featuring Manson standing on an orange colored podium with the emblem that they had at the time; a cross made out guns and rifles. And as he swung from side to side like a broken doll in the heat of the moment I screamed my heart out and called out his name. For a while he stopped and so did the beating of my heart for I truly thought that there was a response.

He came confident and vanished triumphantly but exhausted; so was I, but pleased. I had never experienced someone so devoted to his performance. We enjoyed every single moment of it and proved once and felt demystified and I gladly encouraged others who had the chance to go without prejudice. Because, at the end of the day, wasn't that just entertainment? I believe it was...

Of course, this experience only did wonders for one thing; to stay more and more engaged with the Manson universe.This wouldn't be my first time and it certainly wouldn't be the last one...

INTO HOLYWOOD...

"When I wrote Antichrist Superstar, it came from some dreams that I had of where I might be in the future, and it was a sort of, obviously, grandiose vision of my world to come," Manson said. "As a person, I felt the need to live that out. So I started down a path of self-destruction, trial by fire, seeing if I could put myself through any test to become a stronger person. And luckily, I feel like I made it out alive from that." 

         (Marilyn Manson).

Well, the shape of the music industry had certainly changed since the rise of downloadable media for it seemed that it became decentralized and represented a tougher challenge to grab attention, and fans, especially for rockstars. New channels opened up for small independant bands and got wide promotion through social networks. Even music videos needed to have a different approach; less artsy and more commercial.

And amongst this crisis that would forever turn things around for modern entertainment we also found another huge cultural phenomenon taking place: violence in the media going mainstream. While MTV and its peers opened up their doors for grunge later on it would become a mindscape for the X and Y generations. Marilyn Manson helped in a way to revamp the concept of theatricality in rock that began to wash down since the early 1990s and while others acts adhered successfully to it such as Slipknot, Korn, Insane Clown Posse, Rammstein the concept was already mastered by the likes of Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne and KISS just to name a few.

But was shock rock taken a little bit way too far? Technically the battle of the influence of the violence in teens won't  be entirely proven, just controlled. However there were several accusations  upon Manson's eerie music, such as the case of 15 year old Richard Kuntz, who committed suicide back in December 1997 while playing one of the last tracks of the album Antichrist Superstar, The Reflecting God.

"there is an exit here, I say an instant is true..."

"There is a dream inside a dream,

I'm wide awake the more I sleep
You'll understand when I'm dead."

It was later known that Kuntz was just making an essay about the shock rocker.

Did these events lacerate Manson's image and hurt its credibility on its faithful followers? No, not really, yet it still left some kind of invisible scar that caused family and Christian organizations and the government to keep an eye on whatever the band spawned next. Thus, the controversy continued in the next chapter of his album trilogy, Mechanical Animals in 1998. Visually futuristic and at the same time with Bowie-esque feel to it taking us back to the days of Ziggy Stardust. The imagery of MA was more based upon the concept of the androgynous alien Omega who descends upon Earth to be later manufactured as ultra glam rockstar. It continued to have worldwide success jumping quickly into the mainstream and even taking part in the box office cyber-apocalyptic smash hit The Matrix featuring Rock Is Dead.

But it wasn´t until the middle of the The Last Tour On Earth when Marilyn Manson was threatened to cancel several concerts in Denver due to the school shootings that took place in Columbine High School on April 1999. Two senior students  Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold gunned down 12 students and one teacher, and hurting other people until they finally committed suicide. The event went under the media spotlight shaking people´s as to wonder who was to blame, and the speculation came about with such factors as drugs, depression, psychopathy, videogames, literature and the most vulnerable spot became the goth subculture, since it was known that the killers formed a secret society dubbed The Trenchcoat Mafia. It was later found that they weren´t Manson fans at all.


Columbine had to be the biggest wound that the band suffered which was in a way healed by Manson coming out and backfiring on a Rolling Stone article on May 1999. The shock rocker was later interviewed by documentary filmmaker Michael Moore for the award winning Bowling For Columbine, which heavily discussed the origins of the American ultra violence.

This taped speech showed a more down to earth Manson highlighting his response to Moore:

"I wouldn't say a single word to them; I would listen to what they have to say, and that's what no one did." (Bowling For Columbine).

The conflict was settled ´peacefully´ in a way with the inclusion of The Nobodies as part of Holywood (in the shadow of the valley of death).

"We´re the Nobodies, we wanna be somebodies, when we´re dead they´ll know just who we are."

(continued)...

Back To Holywood: 10th Anniversary

While the Delorean time machine may not be available yet, we still have the power to go back to the past and rescue a beloved record from the Marilyn Manson vault; 2000's Holywood. Why? Because it has been already ten years since its debut on November 13th.

While the 90s X Generation may have been highly familiarized with Mr. Manson's ultra shocking imagery and music we wonder how these latter generation perceives him with all the Lady Gaga craze (mind you, we're not comparing them).

Originally titled as Holywood (in the shadow of the valley of death) it was a conceptual album intended to be the final (or in Manson's words initial) chapter of the Triptych which began with 1996's Antichrist Superstar. It emerged on an America overpowered by media violence and let's not forget that the Columbine massacre of 1999 turned into the thorn in the band's side.

The tenth track, The Nobodies was also included in some of the footage shown in Michael Moore's Bowling For Columbine, along with an introspective interview with Manson himself demystifying most of the bad press fed by angry parents and Christians worldwide. However, as one recent song cleverly suggests;

"whatever doesn't kill you is gonna leave a scar."

Soon after these tragic events the music industry had a radical the face lift. MTV's generation of doomed, grunge-infused teenagers was replaced by a swarm of reality shows, mega pop stars and the internet counterculture of downloadable media. The mid 90s batch of cinematographic quality video directors such as Samuel Bayer, Spike Jonze, Michel Gondry, Mark Romanek, Darren Aronofsky to name a few slowly fled to the movie business having even greater success. The following music genres became softened and with less and less shock value, threatening the old-school rockstars yet they didn't perish; they were just removed from the mainstream opposite to what occurred during the era of Nirvana-esque bands.

But the question is; was Manson prepared to make a successful transition to this new decade without being crucified? Yes Risk of being labeled and narrowed as a goth icon? Probably yes. This was well proven with the following records of The Golden Age Of Grotesque, EAT ME, DRINK ME, and the 2009's, The High End Of Low. Although they haven't been considered as the loudest and most important productions of the last decade in Manson's catalogue according to some music critics, they still remind us he's still an unkillable monster.

The cover song "Tainted Love" and video proved to be a parody of the modern goth culture and rap artists.

Hence, let's keep out chins up for the future. In the meantime let's take a walk around The Valley Of Death and remember what made so such a badass piece of modern rock, shall we?

"Jesus was the first rock star. The cross is the biggest, greatest piece of merchandise in history, bigger than any concert T-shirt. And Jesus was the first dead rock star. Like Jim Morrison and Kurt Cobain and Jimi Hendrix, he became immortal by dying. A dead rock star becomes perfect, and he'll be that forever. He'll never change, never get old, never turn into something less great than at his peak, at the moment of his death. "

(The Dead Rock Star, Rolling Stone interview, 1999).

7 Horribly Scary Manson Videos...

Ah, Halloween Night is upon us again, but before you go to off to the land of dreams there´s not better thing than a good scare.

Over the past sixteen years we´ve seen some very disturbing scene in Marilyn Manson´s universe, but can you recall the most mind-blowing, creepiest and spookiest experiences ever?

1. Dope Hat, Smells Like Children, 1995.



What starts off as an innocent tribute to Willy Wonka´s legendary boat ride turns into a horrible nightmare. Come to think of it, the boat ride was already super creepy.

 2. Sweet Dreams (are made of these), Smells Like Children, 1995.

Oh dear, who ever thought the new wave 80s  Eurythmics hit could turn into a modern goth anthem? Only Manson knew better. Here´s one of our personal favorites featuring ghouly makeup, Manson in drag and an overgrown cute pig.



3.  The Beautiful People, Antichrist Superstar, 1996.

There´s nothing beautiful about this video, and that´s the greatest thing about it. What seems like a silent protest to cosmetic surgery obsessed Hollywood and Christianity has become one of Manson´s best videos of all time.



4. Disposable Teens, Holywood, 2000.

"A rebel from the waist down."

These lyrics did lift some eyebrows back in the days. The opening sequence of this videos features an in incredibly tall Manson emerging from a black lagoon and powerful esoteric imagery.




5.  The Nobodies, Holywood, 2000.

Based loosely on The City Of Lost Children (or so they say)  this is one that tots might find incredibly scary.



6. mOBSCENE, The Golden Age Of Grostesque, 2003.

Think a 30s Burlesque inspired video isn´t scary? Think again.



7. Putting Holes In Happiness, EAT ME, DRINK ME, 2007

Inspired by the imagery from Fritz Lang´s "M", the video also explores the everlasting subject of vampirism that we all love, but kiddies beware...

"Sweet Dreams" among Billboard's Scariest Music Videos Ever

Check out Marilyn Manson's twisted version of Eurythmics Sweet Dreams featured in number three of Billboard´s Scariest Music Videos Ever. Among some amazing finds is Aphex Twins´Come To Daddy.

Let´s get freaked out, shall we?

More disturbing videos:

http://www.billboard.com/#/features/the-15-scariest-music-videos-ever-1004124428.story?tag=hpflash2

"Grey Daisy" Up For Auction

According to contactmusic.com:

MARILYN MANSON fans can buy a piece of the shock rocker's original artwork this Halloween (31Oct10) - his famed Grey Daisy painting is set for auction.

The watercolor painting, one of his most documented and widely-recognised artworks, is set to be sold at The Gods 'n Metal Monsters Auction, which will showcase over 500 rare pieces of rock memorabilia.

It was originally unveiled and sold to a private collector at the rocker's very first art exhibit in 2002, called The Golden Age of Grotesque.

Manson previously called the painting his only "nice" artwork, telling MTV News: "Someone said, 'Why don't you ever paint something nice like a flower?' so I painted one, but I ended up using only the dirty water from another painting. If I wasn't me, I would probably want this one."

Manson's art has proved popular among private collectors and celebrities. His Harlequin Jack and the Absinthe Bunny was purchased by Jack Osbourne and Red Hot Chili Peppers' bassist Flea picked up Elizabeth Short as Snow White at the 2002 exhibit.

The Grey Daisy auction, held online at BackStageAuctions.com, will run through 7 November (10).

They might be referring to this little cute painting:

Who wants it?

Preview of Marilyn Manson´s Episode on "Celebrity Ghost Stories"

THE NEW DIRECTION

My, my, my, how long has it been since we haven´t posted anything?

We snatched these brand new studio photographs taken by Perou, who has become one of Marilyn Manson´s best allies when it comes to style. The UK based photographer has worked previously in promos made for The Golden Age Of Grotesque, EAT ME, DRINK ME, and now for this new untitled album.

What has changed in these last few years for Marilyn Manson since 1996 when Christians roared at his provocative concerts? Well, the makeup´s still there, however this recent pic shows a very interesting effect that resembles body art. It seems like part of Manson´s face looks literally like it was hand painted.

 This next one displays some white wave patterns very similar to the ones used for the poster art for Magic Vs Science; a past event where Manson appeared briefly as The Evil Magician.

Poster art for "Magic Vs Science, 2010"

Do these waves represent anything in particular, or is just a graphic design coincidence?

This next one is visually beautiful, reminiscent of some pics done by Delaney Bishop for The High End Of Low.

Notice how Manson carries a neon light in hand.

So how can we possibly label this new style? A long time ago the term heavy metal was said to be fashioned by a critic after listening to a Jimi Hendrix concert quoting,

  "listening to heavy metal falling from the sky." 

Judging from the latest pictures there certainly seems to be an impressive level of minimalism compared to the mid-90s and 2000s eras where glam and shocking imagery invaded MTV and rock magazines. We hopes that this goes hand in hand with the new sound.


More to come...

"And while the world was tempted to cellebrate Halloween they missed one other celebration that came earlier...the rabbit´s out of the hole and he´s got lots of nasty tricks..."

marilynmanson.com has launched with a new interface and an exclusive blog. Go check it out, etc.

A NEW BEGINNING...right behind the Sun.

"New beginning..." this seems to be a phrase reminiscent of the song "Running To The Edge Of The World", from "The High End Of Low".

You can watch the controversial video here.

New Status Update!

Sounds sad, but that rings a bell, the quote also comes from one of the many random phrases that apparently make no sense in the short film "Doppleherz". Apparently now they are supposed to mean something.

Go ahead and watch!

New Status Update!

Album-related activity? Let´s put our heads together and say "Hell yeah!"

New Promo Pic...

Mysterious studio pics keep rolling and rolling. This time we have a new one from MM´s newest member, Fred Sablan.

Fred is on fire. And an internet sensation-in-the- making. photo by the icon (MM)

Compare the style to this previous pic:

Thus, from the looks of it we are beginning to have something solid...

Coincidences, Coincidences, or Influences?

By looking at this recent picture Manson just uploaded it reminded us of this other album cover. It's "For A Lack Of A Better Name" by Deadmau 5, a well known progressive house and electro house musician.

However, judging by style used it's reminiscent of the cover art for the "mOBSCENE" launched back in 2003 with photography by Gottfried Helnwein. This included a molded metalic mask and a predominantly black background, probably to increase the "grotesque" effect.

Let's hope this a huge attempt to come up with a richer concept for the new album.

New Pics...

Rare appearance in shower for MM

This came a few hours ago from MM´s Facebook pics. From the looks of it , I think the make up´s back. Some people never change...

New Status Update!

New Status Update!

Sounds deep, very deep. Happy weekend to us all!

Great Expectations...

Sometimes waiting is the hardest part in life, and so we showed you many of the aspects that are involved in the music, art and even poetry of Marilyn Manson.

What´s for the near future? Well, for sure it ain´t written in stone, however there is one particular card in the Tarot that reminds of the concept of waiting for better things to come and that is Number 12, The Hanged Man.

The Hanged Man, in an upside down position is tied to a tree shaped like a "T", the man in question crosses his legs in the form of the number 4 or Tau Cross and has a halo around his head.

The first that one could possibly get is that it suggests a burden, a sacrifice or a death sentence. However one must understand that the tree has sprouts or leaves and the face of the individual is calm and serene and awaits for life, not death.

Some keywords while reading this card are:

• Sacrifice ----- Letting go ----- Surrendering ----- Passivity

• Suspension ----- Acceptance ----- Renunciation ----- Patience

• New point of view ----- Contemplation ----- Inner harmony

• Conformism ----- Nonaction ----- Waiting ----- Giving up

The Hanged Man in The Egyptian Deck

The Hanged Man in the Marseilles Deck

The Hanged Man in the Rider-Waite Deck

Other Names for The Hanged Man: 

Hanging Man, Lo impichato (hanging man), L'impiccato, Traditore (traitor), Pendu (hanged man), Le Pendu, Le Pendut, Lependu, La prudence (prudence), l'Appeso

In Literature:

An excerpt from a poem by T.S. Eliot, "The Wasteland":

Madame Sosostris, famous clairvoyante,
Had a bad cold, nevertheless
Is known to be the wisest woman in Europe,
With a wicked pack of cards. Here, said she,
Is your card, the drowned Phoenician Sailor,
(Those are pearls that were his eyes. Look!)
Here is Belladonna, the Lady of the Rocks,
The lady of situations.
Here is the man with three staves, and here the Wheel,
And here is the one-eyed merchant, and this card,
Which is blank, is something he carries on his back,
Which I am forbidden to see. I do not find
The Hanged Man. Fear death by water.
I see crowds of people, walking round in a ring.
Thank you. If you see dear Mrs. Equitone,
Tell her I bring the horoscope myself:
One must be so careful these days.

The Hanged Man,  reinvented by
MM, it bears more resemblance with
Christ in the Cross, this one hangs in
space.

Another "hanged man",
Christ of Saint John of the Cross by
Salvador Dali.

From The Grave...

Never eat from the grave...

Some very deep thoughts from Manson´s Facebook just a few moments ago. Any thoughts?

New Status Update!

This could be in reference to the song "Just A Car Crash Away". Remember how we compared the element of the car to relationships? Sometimes you´re in control of it, sometimes you´re not.

Best wishes and good luck, we´re patiently wait for the next album...

Waking Eyes (Part 2 of Bitter End).

"I refuse to be a Queen, I refuse to control even the smallest of creatures, let them be in control of themselves, specially you, White Rabbit, " These were Alice´s last words. "Break up, break up, wake up, wake up...

...wake up, wake up!"

1. Monologue from Manson.

"All these visions, what a hell of a storm. Damn, how long was I dozed off?  Almost twenty minutes. 6:19 A.M on the grandfather´s clock. The roof of the house looked so huge and I, I was so small to jump....the full Moon filled me. I feel nourished now, my senses are highlighted.

I am normally not a man of faith but I kept a Bible opened by my night table in a passage, Matthew 6:19:

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

I possessed her, but I didn´t want her to be another one of my possessions.

What´s today, I hate keeping a notion of time, I always feel like the goddam White Rabbit...

CHRISTMAS. Of course, another chance, a time for rebirth. The ghosts are no longer lurking around the corners of the house. But there´s one I still remember:

"Still she haunts me, phantomwise,

Alice moving under skies

Never seen by waking eyes."

I smiled. Something tells me I will see her with waking eyes soon."

This story hasn´t ended yet...

2. EPILOGUE:

Looking for literary and visual parallels between  Alice In Wonderland, EAT ME, DRINK ME and vampirism was amazing. It shows us that imagination soars whenever you have the chance to listen to the record.

We gladly put it out of the vault because it was somewhat underrated and it deserved to have a second look. Manson´s music has always been filled with tons of references, including symbolism. If you have it, treasure it, it´s not just a possession. The order in which the songs were reviewed was arranged to fit more or less the storyline of Alice In Wonderland and here´s how it ended:

1. If I Was Your Vampire (Chapter I: Down the Rabbit-Hole)
2. Putting Holes In Happiness (Chapter I: Down the Rabbit-Hole, Chapter II: The Pool of Tears)
3. Just A Car Crash Away (Chapter II: The Pool of Tears, Chapter III: A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale)
4. They Say That Hell´s Not Hot (Chapter III: A Caucus-Race and a Long Tale, Chapter IV: The Rabbit Sends in a Little Bill)
5. "Are You The Rabbit?" (Chapter V: Advice from a Caterpillar, Chapter VI: Pig and Pepper)
6. Heart-Shaped Glasses (Chapter VII: A Mad Tea-Party)
7. Evidence (Chapter VIII: The Queen's Croquet-Ground)
8. The Red Carpet Grave (Chapter XI: Who Stole the Tarts?)
9. Mutilation Is The Most Sincere Form Of Flattery (none)
10. You And Me And The Devil Makes Three (Chapter 2 - The Garden of Live Flowers)
11. EAT ME, DRINK ME (Chapter 2 - The Garden of Live Flowers, A boat beneath a sunny sky)

Of course, not all the chapters were included, while other characters were not mentioned. Thus, there are other similarities:

- Did you know that Alice In Wonderland  and Through The Looking Glass consist of twelve chapters each, while EAT ME, DRINK ME has eleven studio songs and an extra track, making that 12.

- 11 is a very symbolic number as well.  In "Through The Looking Glass" Alice beats the Red Queen in eleven moves (see: http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/books/2chess.html) while in Chapter 11  and 12 of "Alice In Wonderland" Alice is put into a trial and comes out victorious of Wonderland? Plus, the album ends in Track 11: EAT ME, DRINK ME, which mentions:


    But then our star rushes in,
    feeling like a child and looking
    like a woman...
    She has been forecast with an
    attempt to kill ourself,
    but the ending didn't test well.
    
    She has been forecast with an
    attempt to kill ourself,
    but the ending didn't test well.


This was just an experiment for inspirational purposes, thanks for reading More to come soon!

Queen Alice? (Part 1 of Bitter End).

EAT ME, DRINK ME
This is only a game,
This is only a game

"I survived the garden of the flowers of evil exactly like you wanted," said Alice to the White Rabbit as she crushed the carcasses of the poppies, knife in hand. "But how much farther?"

"Not much now," as the fields die the road to the palace reveals itself slowly.

The young girl with eyes so blue felt a sudden rush of adrenaline and triggered her heart. "How curious," she said softly. "It feels as if I had sipped some very exotic tea; not too hot to burn your tongue, not too cold to make it tasteless."

"It´s in her blood now, I can feel it," the rabbit thought to himself as he rubbed his furry paws.

"But then our star rushes in,
Feeling like a child and looking
Like a woman...
She has been forecast with an
Attempt to kill herself,
But the ending didn't test well."

Alice didn´t like very much what she saw next, but she moved on anyway...her heart was pounding faster than ever, almost at the same rate as a rabbit´s heartbeat...

" I see HER!" Alice shouted, her voice sounded raspy, "But she´s even bigger than me! Whatever will I do?"

" She might appear bigger and stronger, but certainly not faster..." whispered The White Rabbit in her ear. "The Red Queen once said:

"Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!' 


(from "Through The Looking Glass And What Alice Found There).

Ans so she did, she ran twice as fast until she could see her face to face. And then Alice with he wind against  her hair lifted the blade, "OFF WITH HER HEAD!"

The scene faded away, gone with the winter breeze and then she woke up in a very wide but elegant place. The throne room where the "Her Majesty" was once.

Alice´s eyes turned to a funny, man made chair made of glass.

"That´s impossible!" she said. "I´ve seen chairs made of wood, probably metal, or even stone like the cavemen used to have, but a throne made of glass is so very fragile that it should shatter into tiny crystals if anyone sat there!"

"But dear girl," replied the White Rabbit. "How will you know that it breaks if you haven´t even tried it yet?"

"I have heard, you see," continued Alice. "Cups when they fall on the ground, windows when they get accidentally smashed, and also, looking-glasses..."

"That´s what you have learned so far, my dear," said the cottontail ." Down here, the strength of things is measured by your own. If now you think you´re as fragile as that chair then go ahead and sit on it and watch it become something irreparable."

"I am strong, I sure am." said Alice. "But this chair doesn´t belong to me, if I´m destined to be queen then I shall be Queen Alice. Furthermore, it means that I shall rule over you and you´ll become my servant, then our work will never be done. I may have destroyed your demons, but I shall not become another one of them."

The White Rabbit grew puzzled and his tiny knees were shaking.

"This throne is for you, but this is the symbol of what you had with the Queen, it was a mockery of a kingdom. It means NOTHING."

"Word witchcraft again, word witchcraft again," muttered the rabbit as he covered his long, velvet-like ears.

Alice approached the magnificently crafted chair. "Thank you for carrying me all the way up to here, you silly little thing, and then she talked out loud as she sat:

    "This is where it starts.

    This is where it will end.

    Here comes the moon again."

"Watch this, you need to," she continued and got up. Single-handedly she lifted the glass throne with such ease. The White Rabbit saw dozens and dozens AND DOZENS of shards fly across the room, were they diamonds? No, but it seemed like they were...

The diamond storm turned now into a big fire:

New Status Update!

This reminds me of a rather unusual situation into which I ran some days ago. As I walked down a street an very skinny old woman passed by carrying a poodle in her arm and as soon as I made eye contact she shouted, "the mouth of the wolf." She must have been a schizophrenic, I´m not sure. Supernatural things happen everyday, that´s what makes life extra special.

And by the way you may have heard some stories about Manson´s personal life right now, but this is absolutely not the place to bring that up; the so-called news are elsewhere. In the meantime we´re almost done devouring EAT ME, DRINK ME, we´re at the last track, how does this story end?

    "This is where it starts.

    This is where it will end.

    Here comes the moon again."

  

The Flowers Of Evil...

WARNING:  This part might still be nonsense, but it´s inspired from the previous post and other things, we´re almost near the Queen Of Hearts´ palace


                                     

The White Rabbit began a new transformation as his symbolic "birthday" arrived revealing the shape of a full-fledged blood-thirsty killer. But it seems facing the Queen wouldn´t be that simple; the way was paved by a garden of evil flowers...

"I should see the garden far better,' said Alice to herself, `if I could get to the top of that hill: and here's a path that leads straight to it -- at least, no, it doesn't do that -- ' (after going a few yards along the path, and turning several sharp corners), `but I suppose it will at last. But how curiously it twists! It's more like a corkscrew than a path! Well, this turn goes to the hill, I suppose -- no, it doesn't! This goes straight back to the house! Well then, I'll try it the other way.' 

(from "Through The Looking Glass And What Alice Found There"). 

How very curious, for "You And Me And The Devil Makes Three" begins:

     " I'm just like rolling a stone up

    a hill in the Hades

    if you want to lie with me

    you're going to be a liar."

For all we know Alice stepped into a garden of live flowers. She saw this new wonder as well: a live white rose.

Another example of the white rose, a connection
with the Mystic Rose.

But as she bravely approached the badlands with Mr. Rabbit on her back, she encountered a seductive crimson field with a rather queer looking flower.

Untitled picture by Perou depicting the garden of poppies,
flowers of evil?

Les Fleurs Du Mal, a watercolor painting by MM.

An example of an actual opium flower.

Artwork for EAT ME, DRINK ME´s booklet,
adopting a more vampiric image.

I found it very curious that in another world called Oz the Wicked Witch Of The West had the similar kind of weaponry:

Dorothy falls asleep in the field of poppies.

"Watch out, watch out, dear Alice!" shouted The White Rabbit. " I should have told you about this earlier.  As soon as you lay your head on this bed of crimson flowers the Queen shall have you beheaded in an instant!"

"My, then Her Majesty is playing a rather deadly game, isn´t she? I´m not afraid," said Alice quite confident. "You always led the way, now I ask you once again, what shall we do this time?"

The White Rabbit jumped into Alice´s arms and whispered softly as he intentionally started at her with gleaming eyes, 

EAT ME, DRINK ME, this is only a game...

"I beg you pardon?" she responded.

Scene from Disney´s "Alice In Wonderland". In the original story
Alice drank from the DRINK ME bottle to grow larger...
However the cookie jar resembles a chalice.

"Remember the day you went to my house? When you EAT ME you shrink, when you DRINK ME you grow. A wise man like most of the folk stuck down this hole once said :

"This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me."

"I am life and death as well, love and hate, drink from my blood and you shall grow just enough to take this bouquet of knives and slay the Queen."

At this point Alice stopped feeling like a child, but when she stared at those big round eyes from that cuddly furball she just couldn´t say no.

"Murdercute happyrape, murdercute happy, happy, happyrape killer."

 `It was much pleasanter at home,' thought poor Alice, `when one wasn't always growing larger and smaller, and being ordered about by mice and rabbits. I almost wish I hadn't gone down that rabbit-hole--and yet--and yet--it's rather curious, you know, this sort of life! 


(from Chapter 4: The Rabbit Sends In A Little Bill)




With blood-shot eyes Alice felt ready to take on the wicked Queen and her insignificant pack of cards, but something inside of her was growing and growing besides her size...


"Soon, my dear Rabbit soon, these knives look like sharp teeth..."

Today Is My Birthday...

WARNING: These next lines are inspired by the evidence found recently by comparing the album EAT ME, DRINK ME with Alice In Wonderland.


"No more unbirthdays for me!", shouted the White Rabbit jumping with joy.

"I dreamed I stopped by a forest and as I walked through I saw a bunch of rabbits, of all shapes and sizes, but most of them were golden brown.

I tried to reach them but I was stopped by a small snake. It's one of those that's usually striped in it was poisonous. I grabbed the beast and I attempted to kill it not caring whether it bit me. A while later I discovered it wasn't real, it was mechanical; a pathetic mechanical animal. Why would an insignificant slithering creature have such a huge strength?

And then I remembered, that was no snake! It's the Queen Of Hearts in disguise, she always does this! How I wanted to behead her, I felt that I could do it so easily."

Alice woke up and said smiling, "I felt it too, but in a different way!"

I had a dream, this dream I feel the need to mention, I was happy for a while and I stopped being scared.

And The White Rabbit continued sobbing, "And as I watched that I heard this song:

"Hush now baby, baby, dont you cry.
Mother's gonna make all your nightmares come true.
Mother's gonna put all her fears into you.
Mother's gonna keep you right here under her wing.
She wont let you fly, but she might let you sing.
Mama will keep baby cozy and warm.
Ooooh baby ooooh baby oooooh baby,
Of course mama'll help to build the wall."


(Mother, from Pink Floyd´s The Wall)


"She wouldn't hurt me, but she'll never let me go, she's got me in her clutches. Do you honestly think I can get rid of her for good?" asked The White Rabbit quite timidly.

"Not really, in a way she'll always haunt us," answered Alice. But for now we can only remove one of her many heads, specially the one that you fear the most.

"Absolutely! Today we celebrate, since is her unbirthday."

The unbirthday is the opposite of the celebration of being born. While it's an apparent nonsense and a chance for more fun, it has a terrible darkside, it's like turning back time, in other words, something worse than Death.

When the Death Tarot Card is upside down it's quite clear that this means being caught in the inescapable, not being born, which means the unbirthdays shouldn't be happening in the real world.

Death Card in right position. The white rose is
drawn in the manner of the Rosacrucian symbol,
which explains Alice In Wonderland´s connection with
the world of the Occult. 

Example of a Rosacrucian symbol.
As a matter of fact it has been said that
Lewis Carroll belong to these secret orders.

Death Card, upside down. When it´s shown in this position
means lack of progress or awareness, interrupting the natural course of life,
exposing why the Victorian era in which the Alice book were written
could have been repressive for the artists and thinkers of the time.

"We planted the white roses by mistake", but then again it could
have meant a symbol of their faith

The Rosa Mystica applied in "Rozen Maiden" a popular anime that is
heavily inspired by Alice In Wonderland. The rose is the element that
keeps the dolls alive.

"The white roses the Clovers planted, was that really a mistake dear Rabbit?" asked Alice.

"I hardly believe so..."

If you notice The Death Tarot Card carries a flag with a White Rose on it. The origin comes from the Mystic Rose, which means life or rebirth.

"But then how are we to give birth by killing?"

"Isn't it obvious, she doesn't give death..." said The White Rabbit.

Soon, we will be able to plant as many White Roses as we want then, what a curious afternoon this has turned out to be!

Notice how at this point Alice/Lolita and The White Rabbit/Manson characters and their universe have found a common ground:

- Both agree that a change is needed against a society which has failed to evolve.


- Both have hidden messages and inspire to research occult themes.


- They are free spirited and are determined to speak their minds. They want to wake up, they want to be born.
 

From "Phantasmagoria". Observe that so-called White Rabbit has
a black band around his eyes, like eyeliner.They are actually born this way.
It remains caged. Do you see if it resembles anybody you know?

Artwork for EAT ME, DRINK ME´s booklet which shows Manson
below the lyrics to "Are You The Rabbit?", coincidence?

Alice and The White Rabbit reunite. Thus, a new journey begins...

"Yesterday everything, I thought I believed in died,  but today is my birthday,"  

(from "15" in The High End Of Low)

Work Is Never Done...

WARNING: This song has very little to do with the Alice universe, however it´s another chance to spill some blood...

As I flipped through the pages of a  Lady Gaga dedicated magazine this afternoon, this next song came to mind. Some of the lyrics are referring to a group of girls mentioned in "The Long Hard Road Out Of Hell" nicknamed The Slashers. They carved the words "Marilyn Manson" in their chests and a picture of them was included in the Lest We Forget Booklet. It seemed that self-mutilation is an alarming matter, but if you do it to please someone then I guess it has a different meaning. We could even consider it as an improvised tattoo.

Manson was also mocking the music industry, specially My Chemical Romance because it was believed that the band was copycatting the notorious shock rocker. The feud faded away, though.

Nevertheless, these new generations think they got all figured out generating controversy. But the truth is there can only be one Marilyn Manson, as well Lady Gaga. So let´s end the comparisons just for one day.

"Mutilation's the most sincere form of flattery, if you wanna be me, stand in line like the rest, if you know what I mean..."

Now let´s go back to another mutilation, the beheading of the queen...