Pink Is The New Blueberry Girl

As we reported last weekend, Neil Gaiman mentioned at a recent reading in Santa Monica that he had seen his first pre-print copy of the Blueberry Girl picturebook, illustrated by Charles Vess, and also read the poem of the same title that he had wrote for Tori’s as-yet-unborn daughter back in 2000. Well, Trent from Pink Is The New Blog got to go backstage before the reading and delivers the goods: a photograph of the book’s cover and a video of Neil reading “Blueberry Girl”. Check out the latter after the jump.

Thanks to Adam Connie for the tip!

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Comic Book Tat-TWO

On November 19th, a new special hardcover edition of Comic Book Tattoo will be published. While it will not be limited or numbered or signed, it will come in a frosted matte black slipcase with silver foil accents and logos. The suggested retail price for this edition is $74.95 but bargain-hunters should be able to find it for a nice discount at many of the usual retailers and e-tailers. We’re told that the original hardcover is close to sold out so the special edition will soon be the only hardcover of the anthology in print and, as the latest ToriAmos.com newsletter points out, though we hesitate to repeat it in these uncertain economic times, it would make a nifty gift for the Toriphile in your life during the upcoming holiday season.

A Piano Firesale at Amazon

A Piano is Amazon.com’s Deal of the Day for today, Sunday, October 12th! Normally, carrying a hefty $74.98 price tag, they are offering it for 51% off at $36.99. Not a bad deal at all. So, if you’ve been holding off on adding the collection to your collection, this is a pretty good time to do so.

"Blueberry" Coming Soon(ish)

Progress is slow sometimes in the publishing world, and some of you may recall that we reported nearly a year ago that Blueberry Girl, the Neil Gaiman poem written for Tash and illustrated by Charles Vess, was “almost done.” Alex F. told us that he saw Neil live in Seattle last night, where he read the poem and told the crowd he had seen his first pre-print copy of the book. So, it must be on its way! Amazon is listing it with a release date of March 10, 2009 — though you can pre-order it now for the curious price of $12.23.

Little Blue World Fall 2008 Issue

The Fall issue of the fanzine Little Blue World will ship in mid-October. Here’s what’s included in the issue:

• Interviews: In “A Sorta Fairytale,” Samuel Adamson talks about collaborating with Tori on The Light Princess. In “Mack Attack,” David Mack discusses this year’s RAINN calendar and his contribution to Comic Book Tattoo.
• Feature articles: The conclusion of “Covered Girls: Tori and the Art of Reinterpretation.” “Independence Day,” a look at some of the other recording artists who’ve seized control over their own creativity and the distribution of their own music. “Bite the Hand,” Trent and Tori warn listeners to Fight the Power in Year Zero and American Doll Posse.
• Analysis and reviews: “Parental Advisory,” Tori’s take on “97 Bonnie & Clyde.” Also an overview of the remarkable career of Leonard Cohen and a review of Monica Richards, solo and with the duo Faith and Muse.
• PLUS regular features like news, reader pictures & a reader poem.

For more information about back issues, this issue, or how to subscribe, visit Little-Blue-World.org.

Upcoming Interview on The Interval

As many probably have noticed, the interview Everything Tori indicated would be aired during The Interval on BBC Radio 2 last Friday, September 26th was not broadcast (if you tuned in though, you were treated to an excellent piece on Nick Drake). We checked with BBC Radio 2 and just received confirmation that Tori will be the subject of the next Interval, this coming Friday, October 3rd around 8:15 PM BST. Fingers crossed that third time is a charm! If you miss the segment, it’ll be available for streaming on demand for the following week.

Live at Montreux Hits The Streets

Live at Montreux 1991/1992 was released last week in Europe and this week in North America.

For those who have somehow missed the boat, this release presents Tori’s first two performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival: 1991’s pre-stardom concert and the following year’s appearance when Tori’s name had sky-rocketed to much greater heights. The release is available on both CD, DVD and, according to Amazon.co.uk at least, a Region B Blu-ray DVD due December 1st.

The DVD issues are identical in North America and Europe, including the entirety of both performances (the only difference being the region encoding).

However, the CDs are a bit different: while the European issue is a double-disc set containing all of both concerts, the North American edition is a single CD with all of the 1991 concert and all but 3 tracks from the 1992 concert. The 3 missing songs from the North American edition are exclusively available on this side of the Atlantic from Amazon’s digital music store to those who purchase the complete album download from Amazon.

The DVD or CD can be ordered from all the usual places, though be advised to make sure you are purchasing the appropriate region DVD for your DVD player. If you’d like to support Tori directly, the Tori Store is offering the region 1 DVD for sale.

Cornflake Girl: Singing Out For Change

Christoff notes that “Cornflake Girl” is one of three songs singled out in a September 21st Observer article discussing the role of arts and music in broadcasting a message of social justice and human rights to listeners and viewers. The Observer’s pop critic, Kitty Empire, singles out three songs that fit the theme, saying the following about one of Tori’s biggest hits:

At Number Three, Tori Amos with ‘Cornflake Girl’. Amos’s 1994 single made it to No 4 in the UK charts. To this day, few realise that it is about the horrors of female circumcision, and the betrayal of daughters by their own mothers in the name of tradition and social cohesion.

The other two songs she singles out are “Strange Fruit,” most famously performed by Billie Holiday but also covered by Tori, and Woody Guthrie’s “This Land Is Your Land.”

The Dress That Wouldn't Die

Proving yet again that hell hath no fury like haute coture scorned, People’s annual Best (and Worst) Dressed issue is out and Tori made the (you guessed it) Worst Dressed list for (you guessed it) the San Diego Comic-Con dress. The article won’t be on People.com for a few weeks but you can pick up a copy of the September 29th issue at your local newsstand — or just browse it in line at the grocery store.

Thanks to Robert Schrader for pointing out Access Hollywood’s early article about the issue, Jill for the scan and Mary Curran for the tip.

BBC Dazed and Confused Rebroadcast

The BBC’s Dazed and Confused – The Led Zeppelin Legacy, Johnnie Walker’s evaluation of the appeal and influence of the legendary band to which Tori contributed some commentary, will be aired again on Radio 2 at 10:30 PM BST on September 30th (that’s 5:30 PM Eastern and 2:30 PM Pacific for the Americans). The program should be available for a week on the BBC’s media player for a week after the airing if you miss the rebroadcast and want to hear what she has to say…or if you just want to fill in the gaps of your Zep knowledge.