The problem lies in the fact that Mrs Lebeis has been very certain to point out that she represents Axl as a Personal Assistant, instead of a family member of any kind. This means, whatever public comments she chooses to make regarding Axl/GNR should be taken within that context.

Therefore, while supporting Axl, dispelling errors and explaining away certain decisions is all well and good, degradatory personal remarks aimed at fans at public forums are well beyond any hint of professionalism.

Furthermore, such statements may also be considered unethical in the sense Mrs Lebeis could be seen to abuse her position in such situations. If she cannot differentiate the stance acceptable for a Personal Assistant from that of a family member, she should study the posting policies underneath both monikers until she does.

Beta Lebeis' stature within the GNR business entity is a well-known secret amongst those who either worked closely with the band during the CD recording process or had the connections to find out about it when investigative journalists were still interested on the album. Long story short: Beta and Axl hooked up immediately following Axl's breakup with Stephanie Seymour; Beta was the Seymour babysitter and, apparently, got to know Axl rather well, given his strong affinity towards the child. Initially, Beta was the housekeeper, personal ear to lend and shoulder to cry on.

However, things started changing within the GNR infrastructure following the UYI tour. Axl, Slash and Duff went their separate ways after an attempt to record a follow-up album in '94. Duff had health problems, Slash turned into his once-ditched, would-be Snakepit album, Gilby was fired, Axl secluded to his mansion and was likely visiting his spiritual advisor in Sedona every now and then. Progressively, things kept turning worse, leading to Axl disbanding the partnership and with a bit of legal juggling, turned everyone else in contractees.

By late 1997, Axl was alone. All he had from the UYI days were Dizzy and Beta. He'd already put Dizzy in the studio with Paul Huge, and Beta slowly grew to be a more influential character in Axl's realm; the main thing to understand here is that Axl's seclusion meant someone needed to attend to his daily matters, arrange things for him, etc. Beta was the one person Axl trusted the regulation of the majority of his interaction with the outside world. A practical decision at the time, undoubtedly, but power has a funny way with people.

By 2001, Beta had - in eight years - gone from Axl's housekeeper to his closest confidant, and as she was the one person who had regular contact with Axl, you can imagine how significant a figure she was. There was a multi-million dollar recording project, and no-one at the label, the band or the studio crew was allowed to approach Axl with the same All Access pass as Beta. This is not demonizing Beta, simply stating the facts around the situation.

Here's where it gets controversial. Beta's personal agendas or opinions regarding some other people related to the project, the band or Axl himself have never been proven one way or the other. But different parties maintain that by surrendering his public relations to one channel, Axl relinquished a part of his personal freedom of thought by sufficing to second-hand accounts. Obviously, when not meeting someone personally, rather than taking a third person's word on what's really going on, you get different results.

A certain A&R man has insinuated that Beta deliberately sabotaged his working relationship with Axl, which alone, consequently, hindered the work on CD for months if not years. When looking at the situation as a whole, I personally have to admit such a scenario is not completely far-fetched. Of course, nothing can be proven, but Mrs Lebeis' personal conduct in online conversations with the fans - reacting only to negative comments - leaves a lot to be desired and sends shivers down my spine as I wonder how such an attitude would translate into working as a middle-woman in between Axl and others.

Axl, naturally, is to blame in the sense that it's him who choose to be pampered and left into his mansion, as opposed to taking a hands-on approach to all things GNR. But as they say, when the cat is gone...

Saw the trailer and knowing that Cameron's been shepherding this project on an on/off basis since the 90's, I was mildly interested, albeit not sinking under the excessive hype machine already churning gullible fanboys into demented drones; not taking away from those simply interested in seeing the film, as I'm referring to the lost souls who gleefully proclaim Avatar as the greatest film ever based on some screenshots, the teaser and the off-hand technical remarks Cameron and his crew have made in the course of the years.

To me, that's part of the problem: Avatar is a 'Hype' film in every common sense of the word, and it's not even out yet. This is unfortunate, as I personally wish to give the film a fair shot when I do eventually get around to seeing it (hint: might not be down for the opening weekend). To further accentuate the problem, my personal relationship to Cameron's filmography has always been a troubled one. I grew with films like The Terminator, The Abyss and, obviously, T2: Judgment Day. Never really cared for Aliens, even though friends on- and offline keep telling me there's an emotional spark buried underneath the truncated dialog of gung-ho would-be marines, whose base camp appears to be a nameless casting office in LA.

When looking at the Avatar teaser, I made the immediate mental leap: Finally, Jim, you've pulled it off. The video game antics that made T2 move so slenderly with ever-increasingly difficult 'boss' moments in every T800/John/Sarah vs T1000 scene came to an impressive climax with a Super Mario Brosian lava level as the setting for the ultimate comeuppance. If you were set to make a film in the standard arcade format - an impression further emphasized by John's penchant for the coin bandits early into the film, you certainly succeeded.

What is Avatar then, but the next level of the escapism of the video game experience? It's like World of Warcraft set against the early 90's platform - the technology has advanced in leaps and bounds, but the basic premise persists; be someone else somewhere else. The chance to assume a completely new physical outlook and thus alternate your identity to  a more heroic pattern and set out to carve yourself a brand new destiny in the outworlds is appealing to anyone who wants to cherish his/hers childish imagination and spirit of adventure, or just prefers to have a temporary lease on the banes of everyday existence. Nothing wrong with that.

However, that's what Avatar is selling, the opportunity to experience life vicariously, a life never intended for you to be led under such circumstances to begin with. An idea Cameron first goofed around with during his scripting duties of Kathryn Bigelow's Strange Days, turning it into a less mainstream appealing plot element of second-hand rape and murder. This may very well be the future hybrid of man and machine Cameron has so obsessively studied ever since The Terminator, elements of which can be found in varying degrees in most, if not even all of his films. The birth of a superior intelligence, freeing the mind from its physical constraints, creating a no-death situation in which a new body can be whenever necessary, where - obviously - nations need saving and damsels seek comfort in their distress.

Therefore, it will be very interesting to actually see the film and learn where Cameron's ultimate motivations and ethical stance in regards to the storyline eventually fall: Will he be saying the otherworldly Messiah figure (who just happened to adopt a shape familiar to the natives) is better off with them - implying our own world has simply become too dull to be considered a platform of similar ventures by its own right - or will the Messiah die, or leave from his own accord, after man has satisfied his primal fascination towards imperialism long enough and realized the next stage of evolution, which would span beyond the mere will to survive, reaching a point where one could simply 'be', as an omnipotent deity? Or will he become like the eponymous leading man in Mark Twain's A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, where the stranger from a strange land, after solving various issues through his superior technological knowledge and alternate worldview, stayed around to discover the terrible toll world finally set upon him?

I kind of doubt the last one, but I'm curious nonetheless. Props for Cameron for being honest even with the title - the logical alternative of which would've probably faced slightly more scrutiny.

That would've been "1UP".

I'm simply pointing out a few things.

1) DJ running his mouth to Vince Neil (of all people) isn't exactly going to make Axl happy. This equals DJ's stock decreasing somewhat in the Rose household.

2) If Robin would be ready and willing to return to the GNR camp (of which we can't be sure), Axl could be interested in having a chat and seeing whether that'd be a good idea.

3) If Axl gets disenchanted by DJ's comments, the chance of reacquiring Robin would be all the more appealing.

Feel of the players aside, I'd respect Axl more if he would go with Robin, provided he'd actually have a chance to pick between the two.