And in this corner...

I mentioned the other day that Madonna season was upon us. I couldn't have been more right. Besides her new single 4 Minutes to Save the World being leaked to the internet, Madonna is also featured on the cover of Interview Magazine. She was shot by her friend and frequent creative partner Steven Klein. She just appeared on the cover of UK mag Dazed and Confused last week. Yummy. The new shot is off the hook. I love it. In the new magazine, Madonna talks openly to Ingrid Sischy about Malawi, her newly adopted son David, Mr. Justin Timberlake and so much more.

On writing music with Justin:
I really enjoy writing with Justin….We had psychoanalytic sessions whenever we wrote songs first. We'd sit down and we'd start talking about situations. And then we'd start talking about issues or problems or relationships with people. That was the only way, because you know, writing together with somebody is very intimate….that was fun, because he's open and he's got talent. He's a songwriter. I haven't worked with a lot of songwriters where I'm instantly connected and start riffing and playing with the rhythm of the words. He's as interested in the rhythm of the words as the meaning of the words.

On adopting her son David:
He wouldn't have lived if I hadn't taken him. It's not even a possibility.

On gaining perspective:
We live very comfortable lives, and unfortunately, we have to have our noses rubbed in other people's pain and suffering to realize how much we have and how much we have to be grateful for.

On taking her daughter Lourdes to Malawi:
She spent several weeks working in the orphanages, particularly one with newborn children, and most of them were HIV-positive. She so came into her own and was so responsible and stayed for eight hours every day and worked tirelessly. I thought, why am I babying her so much? She's capable of so much more. We don't let kids do anything. We think, Oh, they're kids - they can't take care of other kids; they can't do this; they can't do that. And after you go to Africa, you drop all that silliness.

On freedom:
Freedom is a funny word because when we think we're free, we're not really. I think freedom is quite illusory….When I stop thinking about myself all the time and put other people before me on a regular basis, that's real freedom. When I can love unconditionally….then that's real freedom. So it's something to strive for, but I'm not free.

In other Madge news - Mrs. Ciccone is scheduled to be inducted in to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on Monday night at New York's Waldorf-Astoria. She will be inducted by none other than her friend Justin Timberlake. There has been quite a lot of controversy around whether Madonna deserves to be inducted in to the Hall of Fame since her roots sit firmly in the land of pop but Jim Henke, vice president of exhibitions and curatorial affairs at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, said that "To me, it's the same issue as last year with Grandmaster Flash and 'does hip-hop belong in?' I think here at the museum and among other inductees, we've always defined rock and roll pretty broadly. It's not just about four guys with guitars or something like that. Madonna certainly had a huge impact on popular music and rock and roll throughout the '80s and '90s and she's certainly deserving of being honored." Amen! Congrats go out to Madonna. Here is to another 25 years. xox.