[Miscellany]
Monday, July 29, 2013
Sugar Water
Sometimes a song gets stuck in your head, you know how it is. This one has been swanning around in there for about a week now and I'm not sure why. I *know* I didn't hear it anywhere because, quite frankly this song is nowhere to be heard. It just appeared one day like a disembodied birdie voice singing in my ear and has been nesting there ever since. Perhaps it's the catchy la la la and the lullaby quality of the tune but I played it until I fell asleep last night and it worked a treat. I've needed a lullaby lately.
I know next to nothing about Cibo Matto. I've come across a few of their songs but none I like so much as Sugar Water. I never, never, never play it only once. Never. I first came upon it accidentally when seeing the video clip on Rage TV and loved it at first glance. Love does happen at first sight... well in the music world anyway - even if it is your ears doing the viewing (though I suppose the line is blurred with video clips these days). I can't think of anything I dislike about the song - even the slightly ESLness of the lyrics is a joy. The lyric A woman in the Moon is singing to the Earth promotes very evocative imagery to me and after hearing the song I'm often left wondering why or who or what that is and why indeed Cibo Matto have taken the pains to include that particular line in there.
One of my favourite things about the song is the video clip and I was remiss not to include it in my favourite video clips of all time post because it truly is one of my favourites. I would have seen the clip dozens of times but I still can't quite figure it out in my head. It's supposed to be a bit surreal, I get that much but things get hazy with the mailing of the letter and the writing on the window.
Come to think of it I probably like not knowing. Some riddles don't need to be figured out.
Sugar Water - Cibo Matto
I know next to nothing about Cibo Matto. I've come across a few of their songs but none I like so much as Sugar Water. I never, never, never play it only once. Never. I first came upon it accidentally when seeing the video clip on Rage TV and loved it at first glance. Love does happen at first sight... well in the music world anyway - even if it is your ears doing the viewing (though I suppose the line is blurred with video clips these days). I can't think of anything I dislike about the song - even the slightly ESLness of the lyrics is a joy. The lyric A woman in the Moon is singing to the Earth promotes very evocative imagery to me and after hearing the song I'm often left wondering why or who or what that is and why indeed Cibo Matto have taken the pains to include that particular line in there.
One of my favourite things about the song is the video clip and I was remiss not to include it in my favourite video clips of all time post because it truly is one of my favourites. I would have seen the clip dozens of times but I still can't quite figure it out in my head. It's supposed to be a bit surreal, I get that much but things get hazy with the mailing of the letter and the writing on the window.
Come to think of it I probably like not knowing. Some riddles don't need to be figured out.
Sugar Water - Cibo Matto
Labels: music, musical monday, musings, pop culture, wonderings
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Movie Review
I am the proud owner of a "Hoyts Reward Card", that feckless piece of plastic that you hand over so that 19 year old popcorn machine operators can monitor the movies you watch. Every so often you accumulate enough points to warrant a free popcorn from the Candy Bar or (joy!) a $10 movie. Since going to the movies costs about $19 these days this is a quite welcome present.
The other day I decided to log on to my account for the first time since I got the card. My first thought was "wow, I go to the movies a lot". My second thought was "wow, I pay to see a lot of shitty movies". Since I have a rather self-inflated perspective on what you think about the pop culture I consume I thought I might share them in a completely inept move review format for you.
Okay, okay so it's not as funny, genuine or even as interesting as Bridesmaids. Sorry folk, but that comedy ship has sailed. Now that we've seen a bride defecating in the middle of a busy road the land of girl comedy has changed forever. I like a buddy flick. I like a female buddy flick and this one pushed a lot of boundaries and I like that about it. It fell short on a lot of different levels and perhaps Bullock isn't quite up to the task of handling this kind of comedy and that unfortunately made the acting feel a little forced. This wasn't the best thing I've ever seen but I laughed... like... a lot.
3.5 stars.
If the merit of cinema was based on rape jokes, pissing and vomit then this movie would win all the Academy Awards and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. In the real world however the CGI Angels of Death in this POS film do a more believable job of conveying a semblance of real emotion than the actors do.
1 star.
How can two guys who've had more barely legal pussy than Ron Jeremy and Bieber combined be so far removed from what the young hipsters are into? Apparently they are hazy on what www.google.com actually does. Well boys, in case you didn't know Google is the search engine you use to find that mountain of midget porn you've been watching. Uh huh. That hole in the storyline aside it wasn't that bad. It wasn't that good, but... it wasn't that bad.
2.5 stars.
Henry Cavill is hot. The movie is shite but he is hot. That's all you need to know.
2 stars.
I'd actually forgotten I'd gone to see this THAT'S how forgettable this movie was.
2 stars.
It's visual eye candy. Pity about the lack of an interesting and cohesive storyline though. It had some funny/exciting moments but ultimately this movie falls down as the typical 3rd movie in an overcooked series that should have begun and ended at the supremely awesome #1.
3 stars.
I liked it. Somehow that little kid from About a Boy (Nicholas Hoult) makes zombies seem sweet and lovely. After all, they're really just misunderstood, socially awkward people stuck in the bodies of decaying brain eaters. You just want him to stop being so Autistic and just get the girl (just like in any other Rom Com). Cute movie, lots of funny bits - it doesn't take itself too seriously and neither should you. Don't be dick and start comparing it to Shaun of the Dead and realising it comes up short - duhhhh - no, it's not even in the same league, get over it. Just enjoy.
3.5 stars.
Brilliant! Bravo! Edge of your seat kind of storyline. A movie that is not quite as it seems. Very clever and will charm the pants off you.
4 stars.
I'd love to say it was so bad that it was good (that was my aim in seeing it) but I'd be lying. It was so bad that I actually took out my phone and started playing Candy Crush Saga about a quarter way through it. The whole movie was a WTF moment. The "climax" takes place in Cernobyl. Yes, THE Chernobyl. Explosions happen a the power plant. Seriously? Yes, seriously.
I doubt they let any human anywhere near that place even 27 years on. Meanwhile all the characters are parading about in t-shirts and swimming in the radio-active water. At the same time (nuclear? Does it matter?) bombs are being detonated left, right and centre. Surely someone should have let the costume department know about including 'protective suits' in the wardrobe.
They really should have all gotten the "Yippie Kay Oh" out of there, as I wish I had about 20 minutes in.
1 star.
Meh
2 Stars.
And now for some non Hoyts movies...
Dark as hell but also incredibly touching (How? Who the fuck knows, just go with it). Loved it! What's his face can actually act... okay, the jury is still out on that but he did a fine job. Fine job indeed.
4.5 stars.
Like watching the dream sequence from Twin Peaks without any of the other storyline. David Lynch WISHES he could dream up something this fucked up. Visually stunning and stylistically wonderful. As always, the mood is in the silences and lack of dialogue, but WTF man? I seriously felt like I was on shrooms watching it. In fact I wish I'd had some shrooms.
2.5 stars.
I loved this book. I've loved the movies that came before. I liked this movie. All performances were excellent. The direction was okay. DiCraprio was really good as Gatsby. I think it tried too hard to be "roaring twenties". We get it. The Great War was over and everyone was set to party. No need to shove it in our faces Baz, I'm sure we can figure it out on our own, we're not retarded.
2.5 stars.
Really good. Really, really, REALLY good. The only thing I need to fault is Cianfrance slipping too much in with too much detail into a movie that already felt a little long. Usually when people say that movies feel a little long they mean that it was boring but I don't mean that. It wasn't boring AT ALL, it was brilliant, beautiful, shocking etc. but there were three generational stories here that all felt a little short changed in the transition of story lines - even though I can't think of how else you'd do it and give them all justice. But now I'm nitpicking. You'll love it.
4 stars.
So what have you seen lately?
The other day I decided to log on to my account for the first time since I got the card. My first thought was "wow, I go to the movies a lot". My second thought was "wow, I pay to see a lot of shitty movies". Since I have a rather self-inflated perspective on what you think about the pop culture I consume I thought I might share them in a completely inept move review format for you.
The Heat
Okay, okay so it's not as funny, genuine or even as interesting as Bridesmaids. Sorry folk, but that comedy ship has sailed. Now that we've seen a bride defecating in the middle of a busy road the land of girl comedy has changed forever. I like a buddy flick. I like a female buddy flick and this one pushed a lot of boundaries and I like that about it. It fell short on a lot of different levels and perhaps Bullock isn't quite up to the task of handling this kind of comedy and that unfortunately made the acting feel a little forced. This wasn't the best thing I've ever seen but I laughed... like... a lot.
3.5 stars.
This Is The End
If the merit of cinema was based on rape jokes, pissing and vomit then this movie would win all the Academy Awards and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance. In the real world however the CGI Angels of Death in this POS film do a more believable job of conveying a semblance of real emotion than the actors do.
1 star.
The Internship
How can two guys who've had more barely legal pussy than Ron Jeremy and Bieber combined be so far removed from what the young hipsters are into? Apparently they are hazy on what www.google.com actually does. Well boys, in case you didn't know Google is the search engine you use to find that mountain of midget porn you've been watching. Uh huh. That hole in the storyline aside it wasn't that bad. It wasn't that good, but... it wasn't that bad.
2.5 stars.
Man of Steel
Henry Cavill is hot. The movie is shite but he is hot. That's all you need to know.
2 stars.
The Big Wedding
I'd actually forgotten I'd gone to see this THAT'S how forgettable this movie was.
2 stars.
Iron Man 3
It's visual eye candy. Pity about the lack of an interesting and cohesive storyline though. It had some funny/exciting moments but ultimately this movie falls down as the typical 3rd movie in an overcooked series that should have begun and ended at the supremely awesome #1.
3 stars.
Warm Bodies
I liked it. Somehow that little kid from About a Boy (Nicholas Hoult) makes zombies seem sweet and lovely. After all, they're really just misunderstood, socially awkward people stuck in the bodies of decaying brain eaters. You just want him to stop being so Autistic and just get the girl (just like in any other Rom Com). Cute movie, lots of funny bits - it doesn't take itself too seriously and neither should you. Don't be dick and start comparing it to Shaun of the Dead and realising it comes up short - duhhhh - no, it's not even in the same league, get over it. Just enjoy.
3.5 stars.
Trance
Brilliant! Bravo! Edge of your seat kind of storyline. A movie that is not quite as it seems. Very clever and will charm the pants off you.
4 stars.
A Good Day to Die Hard
I'd love to say it was so bad that it was good (that was my aim in seeing it) but I'd be lying. It was so bad that I actually took out my phone and started playing Candy Crush Saga about a quarter way through it. The whole movie was a WTF moment. The "climax" takes place in Cernobyl. Yes, THE Chernobyl. Explosions happen a the power plant. Seriously? Yes, seriously.
I doubt they let any human anywhere near that place even 27 years on. Meanwhile all the characters are parading about in t-shirts and swimming in the radio-active water. At the same time (nuclear? Does it matter?) bombs are being detonated left, right and centre. Surely someone should have let the costume department know about including 'protective suits' in the wardrobe.
They really should have all gotten the "Yippie Kay Oh" out of there, as I wish I had about 20 minutes in.
1 star.
The Incredible Burt Wonderstone
Meh
2 Stars.
And now for some non Hoyts movies...
Mud
Dark as hell but also incredibly touching (How? Who the fuck knows, just go with it). Loved it! What's his face can actually act... okay, the jury is still out on that but he did a fine job. Fine job indeed.
4.5 stars.
Only God Forgives
Like watching the dream sequence from Twin Peaks without any of the other storyline. David Lynch WISHES he could dream up something this fucked up. Visually stunning and stylistically wonderful. As always, the mood is in the silences and lack of dialogue, but WTF man? I seriously felt like I was on shrooms watching it. In fact I wish I'd had some shrooms.
2.5 stars.
The Great Gatsby
I loved this book. I've loved the movies that came before. I liked this movie. All performances were excellent. The direction was okay. DiCraprio was really good as Gatsby. I think it tried too hard to be "roaring twenties". We get it. The Great War was over and everyone was set to party. No need to shove it in our faces Baz, I'm sure we can figure it out on our own, we're not retarded.
2.5 stars.
The Place Beyond the Pines
Really good. Really, really, REALLY good. The only thing I need to fault is Cianfrance slipping too much in with too much detail into a movie that already felt a little long. Usually when people say that movies feel a little long they mean that it was boring but I don't mean that. It wasn't boring AT ALL, it was brilliant, beautiful, shocking etc. but there were three generational stories here that all felt a little short changed in the transition of story lines - even though I can't think of how else you'd do it and give them all justice. But now I'm nitpicking. You'll love it.
4 stars.
So what have you seen lately?
Labels: cinema, film, movies, opinions, pop culture, review, scopophilia
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Do You Want Whale Sperm With That?
The truth is sometimes being young is less fun than being dead.
If that old adage "you are what you eat" holds any truth at all, then it must also be true that you are what you watch and listen to as well. If I could go back to 2006 and redo that old blog post in the link there I'd add the movie Pump Up the Volume to the "Recipe of Me" list. I'm not quite sure why I didn't include it in there in the first place. I remember much of my teenage years was spent watching this movie while sighing every time Christian Slater spoke (as you do when you're about 15) and I did so, over and over, week after week until the tape literally broke.
I haven't got the movie on DVD (and clearly not on VHS either) but the other night I happened to find it randomly online and re-watched it for the first time in about 15 or so years and was delighted from opening scene to end credits. I could still recite about 80% of it verbatim and it still rang true. I'm many years out of my teens now and I'm amazed that I could still relate so willingly to these feelings of hurt, betrayal and injustice that are so fundamentally teenage. It's a credit to the writing and direction but also perhaps speaks a lot of me and where I'm at during this time in my life.
I'm not sure whether this is true and FFS I can't be fucked researching it but PUTV feels like the first movie of its time to truly be a voice of the emergent Generation X especially in the face of teen cinema that had, (until that time) been thoughtful but also too "pretty" to really explore issues of how difficult it is to be young. Pump Up the Volume isn't a pretty teen movie. Sure, Samantha Mathis is gorgeous and Christian Slater isn't exactly hard on the eye but when you compare it to the John Hughes movies that typified teen angst in the 80s it's like looking at two opposites. PUTV is basically a big "fuck you" to the 80s and the Baby Boomers for that matter. It's Generation Xs first real voice, that is when they were still deciding whether they had a voice angry enough to be heard in the first place.
Were Generation X ever really heard I wonder?
Sure they were written about, notably by the brilliant Douglas Coupland and in numerous essays of the time. Many songs and books and theories were pontificated (probably on the end of a joint) about Gen-X. Certainly the Baby Boomers and (consequently) Yuppies complained about their lack of willpower, their disaffected attitude, their slacker tendencies, their over-educated cynicism and their moodiness but were they ever really heard?
A lot of what writer/director Allan Moyle examines in his movie Pump Up the Volume I think explains the fears and worries that affected Generation X before we moved the spotlight onto Gen Y and forgot there ever really was a problem. Namely, control by large corporations over the way we live our lives, how money influences greed and corruption, that adults in positions of power are mostly untrustworthy, an inexplicable need to fuck shit up, a fear that society does not support humanity in humans, fear that our mental and physical well-being is being subverted by a machine running on corruption and greed, a feeling that perhaps anarchy is better than capitalism and of course a deep mistrust in government and all authority associated with it etc.
Let's fact it folk, aren't these the things we are still worried about? Weren't the hippies worried about that before they turned into yuppies? And if we aren't, why the hell not? This is why the movie is still so relevant and why it still works. These issues never went away in fact if anything they are more hopeless than ever, and Generation X, no matter now ineffective in changing the world they were had a bloody good point. They may not have invented the plight or were the first to voice their concerns but they did take on these issues personally. If we didn't listen then, why aren't we listening now?
What I love about Pump Up the Volume is the idea that idea that the voice is so powerful that it creates its own persona. As a lowly teenager, main protagonist Mark is vulnerable; he is young and as we all know being young is hard and being young also means being powerless. Young people who speak up or who are different are often beaten down by authority figures and of course since we are so afraid of 'otherness' by their peers too, but a voice can go anywhere and transcends cliques, class and race. It can penetrate deep and reach out to a humanity that exists in commonality within us all.
I like the idea that a voice can just go somewhere uninvited and just kind of hang out like a dirty thought in a nice, clean mind. To me a thought is like a virus you know, it can just kill all the healthy thoughts and just take over. ~ DJ. Happy Harry Hard-OnSo in the movie the voice does go uninvited into the psyche of this small town and creates a virus that causes an epidemic of thought and eventually anarchy and change in this small community and this makes me wonder, what it will take for us humans to do the same on a grander scale? While most of us humans step in time almost mindlessly to the job and the mortgage and hot sex (or endless supply of chocolate) there is a group of us who has been infected by the virus and is currently sitting very uneasily with it pulsating deep knowing that change must happen but not knowing how.
If Generation X were unheard or... ignored when they took it on then what will happen this time around?
I would be remiss to mention the fact that the soundtrack for Pump Up the Volume is just brilliant. The released soundtrack is good but the actual soundtrack from the movie is some of the best music of its time. Leonard Cohen, Sonic Youth, Concrete Blonde, Pixies, MC5, Beastie Boys, etc.
Here's one little gem by Richard Hell and the Voidoids. Love Comes in Spurts.
Labels: cinema, film theory, generation x, movies, musical monday, political musings, pop culture, punk, voice, yes I am taking politics, youth
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Things That Make You Go Hmmm
I have a sinking feeling that "the 90s" is coming back - and not the good part Brit pop indie bit either. I'm getting a vision of fluro-hypercolour board shorts teemed with ankle boot sneakers, short orange jackets with shoulder pads worn over tiny vests.... lots and lots of floral patterned vests...everywhere. That's right - I'm talking Vanilla Ice 90s.
Undeniable Evidence:
* Three years ago C+C Music Factory sounded like nails down the blackboard. Today, I got through "Gonna Make you Sweat" without blinking an eyelid. I'm like a barometer for cultural shift and I'm telling you - if it isn't already here, it's coming.
* I saw a pair of high top sneakers in the shops the other day. HIGH TOP SNEAKERS! Not in a St. Vinnies either - I'm taking never been worn before high tops disguised as the new thing sitting pretty along side the yoga stuff.
* Jeannie Garth is back on our television screens via....90210!
* Hair has been getting straighter for a while. The 90s was aaaaall about straight (though, a boofy kind of straight).
* I also heard Two Princes by Spin Doctors on the radio a couple of days ago. It wasn't played in irony either. I totally sang along. I still knew all the words.
* ...and who can deny big earrings? Big earrings have been making a come back for a while ladies. Am I right?
I'm just sayin' - lock up all your good taste folks: THE 90's ARE SOOOO BACK.
What is Love? - Haddaway
Have you come across any evidence? Are you excited or filled with dread?
update - 2/10/08
90s spotting of the day
Hoddle street, Melbs
Male, early 30s.
Ray bans, black blazer worn over "groovy" t-shirt, high waisted light blue denim, hair combed back, BOAT SHOES.
I promise I did not make that up.
Flipped the radio station - "Horny" by Mousse T. and Hot 'N' Juicy was playing.
update - 4/9/08
90s spotting of the day.
Riva, St Kilda
Female, early 20s
multicoloured MC HAMMER PANTS!
I'm talking crotch at the knee here.
Undeniable Evidence:
* Three years ago C+C Music Factory sounded like nails down the blackboard. Today, I got through "Gonna Make you Sweat" without blinking an eyelid. I'm like a barometer for cultural shift and I'm telling you - if it isn't already here, it's coming.
* I saw a pair of high top sneakers in the shops the other day. HIGH TOP SNEAKERS! Not in a St. Vinnies either - I'm taking never been worn before high tops disguised as the new thing sitting pretty along side the yoga stuff.
* Jeannie Garth is back on our television screens via....90210!
* Hair has been getting straighter for a while. The 90s was aaaaall about straight (though, a boofy kind of straight).
* I also heard Two Princes by Spin Doctors on the radio a couple of days ago. It wasn't played in irony either. I totally sang along. I still knew all the words.
* ...and who can deny big earrings? Big earrings have been making a come back for a while ladies. Am I right?
I'm just sayin' - lock up all your good taste folks: THE 90's ARE SOOOO BACK.
What is Love? - Haddaway
Have you come across any evidence? Are you excited or filled with dread?
update - 2/10/08
90s spotting of the day
Hoddle street, Melbs
Male, early 30s.
Ray bans, black blazer worn over "groovy" t-shirt, high waisted light blue denim, hair combed back, BOAT SHOES.
I promise I did not make that up.
Flipped the radio station - "Horny" by Mousse T. and Hot 'N' Juicy was playing.
update - 4/9/08
90s spotting of the day.
Riva, St Kilda
Female, early 20s
multicoloured MC HAMMER PANTS!
I'm talking crotch at the knee here.
Labels: 90s, defining moments in musical history, media, pop culture, retro, scared
Monday, March 10, 2008
McLovin'
Stuff I'm just loving right now.
Innovative Internets:
Wainy Days
(That link takes you straight to the site mydamnchannel which has all the episodes - is better quality than below - YouTube version)
This is a new internet channel show (actually it's been around for a while) created by the masterful and hilarious David Wain (whom I am going to go on record right now as LOVING and wanting to have his babies). The show takes a look at the dating dos and do nots of a perpetually single guy in his late 30s living in NYC. So far there are 20 episodes of completely inappropriate humour that often goes way too far and answers the eternal question: So THAT'S what they're really thinking. Okay, not really but it's HILARIOUS. Love how all the friends work in a sweat shop. What's with that?
Many special guest stars - mostly from old projects like The State, Stella and Wet Hot American Summer.
I love this show so much it hurts <3<3<3
(If you're over at MyDamnChannel I also highly recommend the soap opera spoof "Horrible People" and "You Suck at Photoshop" which are both also HILARIOUS!)
US Cable TV
Dexter.
This one is old news but for those who have not been initiated yet Dexter is the nicest sociopathic serial killer you could ever hope to meet. He's on the Miami Police Force payroll as a blood splatter expert and he only kills people who really deserve it. Honest. No one has a clue that he's a serial killer...well not yet anyway. His adopted father (a cop) taught him how to cover his tracks and Dexter has been following his golden rules to great success so far. The problem is that his sister's also on the force and she's getting a little too close for comfort...
A must see, definitely one of the best shows coming out of the US.
Superficial TV
Greek
Only a few people are really going to appreciate this one but I'm putting it out there anyway. Take one big Geek from high school and put him in college (sounding a little like Undeclared so far eh?) where his geekiness shines on like a crazy diamond. The problem is that his sister is the most popular girl on campus - uh oh. Bro comes along and makes friends with his sister's secret ex boyfriend who is not exactly the kind of clean cut all American boy that sis wants to be associated with anymore. Things start to get a little complicated for all concerned when it turns out that sis still has a thing for the bad boy ...which is probably not a good idea, since she's going out with Mr Big Man on Campus.
Seriously much less superficial than I've made it sound. No really it is. Okay not that much less superficial, but still good tele.
The lead guy is also in the show "Quarterlife", which started out like Wainy Days, as an internet short. It centers around a 20-something girl who blogs all day about her friends and housemates. Unfortunately they all discover her blog and she has to explain herself.
Reality TV
Project Runway.
I have been loving this show for years now. It never gets old. Take a bunch of struggling fashion designers and give them horrendously early deadlines by which to finish major pieces of fashion extravaganza that are challenging to make (ie: using only materials from the Hersey's chocolate store??). Then they all parade their models down the catwalk and the worst outfit is eliminated with a swift auf Wiedersehen from host; Heidi Klum. Brilliant and engaging reality TV! The contestants are amazingly talented people with a desire to succeed. The prize is a show at New York Fashion week and money to start your own business. As someone related to a fashion designer I know how difficult this industry is. The real star of the show however is Tim Gunn who is the contestant's mentor and father figure.
"Make it work!" <3
Retro Love
You know how back in the old days you'd make a mix tape for the people you love? Do you feel that a mix CD is a bit ...I dunno; sterile? Do you actually know anyone who still plays tapes with any kind of regularity?
I love me a mix tape and here you have all the joy of a mix tape without the fuss of actually dealing with rewinding and fast forwarding through the songs you hate (for youngies...yes that's what we used to do back in the old days). It's a USB stick of around 60minutes of playing time that fits nicely into the tape for packaging purposes. You get to scribble all over the liner card and the gift recipient gets to keep a lovely keepsake while still enjoying the convenience of plugging that sucker into the laptop and downloading all those songs onto his/her ipod. Seriously, cool AND filled with squishy retro love.
Oz TV
Underbelly
click link to go to a video news story about the show and murders
All this killing and stuff went right on in my backyard (so to speak). Makes ya proud don't it? Yeah, okay maybe not. Carl Williams is apparently unhappy with his portrayal on the show. Christ, beggars can't be choosers mate.
Oz Blog
The Breakfast Blog
Right now he's in Boston so it's all a bit pointless and boring, but once he gets back to Melbourne it'll be full steam ahead for The Breakfast Blog. The thing I love about this site, besides the fact that it details one of my favourite things (a good breakie ...that I don't have to cook) the site is remarkably easy to navigate and just all round informative. It gives you details on the price (with the nifty price index tag), tells you where the place is, indexes in alphabetical order, location AND by top scores. I love it. I use it. It's brilliant and Jamie is rarely wrong. The man knows a good breakfast!
Bless!
Games:
Scrabulous
I know I should somehow feel ashamed but actually I don't. I am, for the record the world's WORST scrabble player. I did not grow up playing scrabble on Sunday evenings and drinking chocolate milk while my parents played footsies with each other under the coffee table while listening to Tapestry on the record player. Sorry, you must have be mixed up with the Keatons or the Seavers. I think I must be trying to relive the youth I never had or something because I'm totally into the scrabble revival!
Yes, I totally look up words online and cheat. pfcha! Course!
Magazines
Nylon. It's quirky, it's Rock N Roll, it's totally fashion oriented but in a completely approachable way (finally!). It's just fun. It doesn't feel like it's only for girls though I suppose girls mostly read it. It's a little on the expensive side though.
There is an Australian magazine which I love just as much: Frankie - and REALLY love the fact that it comes with a rip out poster that I always put aside and use as wrapping paper. I like a mag that provides a little something extra.
Poster - dude, because Ro edits it and because it's swish and glam and makes me wish I was about a million times more stylish than I actually am. It's art, fashion, it's a city scape all in one - it's not your usual kind of magazine. This one is seriously going to go places. It already has in fact. <3
Book
Quirkyalone: A Manifesto for Uncompromising Romantics - Sasha Cagen
Reading To-Do List recently made me go back and re-read this old gem which Cagen wrote first. I'm more convinced now than ever that I'm a bona fide quirkyalone. It's a manifesto for all those eternally single people - not just girls mind you. Read the essay here. It explains a lot.
Movie
The King Of Kong
I recently went to see this little documentary for a laugh but I became so emotionally involved that I almost scared myself. In fact the whole cinema was booing and cheering a long with it - unheard of in Melbourne!
If you go see one thing at the cinema this year make it this movie - go RIGHT NOW. You will not regret it - you can not make this stuff up. This is a documentary about playing the arcade game Donkey Kong - remember that one? Anyone who was a kid in the 80s would remember the game, it's a classic. This documentary shows the seedy underbelly of video gaming - a side of gaming that is run by manipulation, threat and a man frightened of losing his world record score to a newcomer.
It's so very good. <3<3
And there you have the stuff I'm loving right now.
What are you loving? Share!
Innovative Internets:
Wainy Days
(That link takes you straight to the site mydamnchannel which has all the episodes - is better quality than below - YouTube version)
This is a new internet channel show (actually it's been around for a while) created by the masterful and hilarious David Wain (whom I am going to go on record right now as LOVING and wanting to have his babies). The show takes a look at the dating dos and do nots of a perpetually single guy in his late 30s living in NYC. So far there are 20 episodes of completely inappropriate humour that often goes way too far and answers the eternal question: So THAT'S what they're really thinking. Okay, not really but it's HILARIOUS. Love how all the friends work in a sweat shop. What's with that?
Many special guest stars - mostly from old projects like The State, Stella and Wet Hot American Summer.
I love this show so much it hurts <3<3<3
(If you're over at MyDamnChannel I also highly recommend the soap opera spoof "Horrible People" and "You Suck at Photoshop" which are both also HILARIOUS!)
US Cable TV
Dexter.This one is old news but for those who have not been initiated yet Dexter is the nicest sociopathic serial killer you could ever hope to meet. He's on the Miami Police Force payroll as a blood splatter expert and he only kills people who really deserve it. Honest. No one has a clue that he's a serial killer...well not yet anyway. His adopted father (a cop) taught him how to cover his tracks and Dexter has been following his golden rules to great success so far. The problem is that his sister's also on the force and she's getting a little too close for comfort...
A must see, definitely one of the best shows coming out of the US.
Superficial TV
GreekOnly a few people are really going to appreciate this one but I'm putting it out there anyway. Take one big Geek from high school and put him in college (sounding a little like Undeclared so far eh?) where his geekiness shines on like a crazy diamond. The problem is that his sister is the most popular girl on campus - uh oh. Bro comes along and makes friends with his sister's secret ex boyfriend who is not exactly the kind of clean cut all American boy that sis wants to be associated with anymore. Things start to get a little complicated for all concerned when it turns out that sis still has a thing for the bad boy ...which is probably not a good idea, since she's going out with Mr Big Man on Campus.
Seriously much less superficial than I've made it sound. No really it is. Okay not that much less superficial, but still good tele.
The lead guy is also in the show "Quarterlife", which started out like Wainy Days, as an internet short. It centers around a 20-something girl who blogs all day about her friends and housemates. Unfortunately they all discover her blog and she has to explain herself.
Reality TV
Project Runway.I have been loving this show for years now. It never gets old. Take a bunch of struggling fashion designers and give them horrendously early deadlines by which to finish major pieces of fashion extravaganza that are challenging to make (ie: using only materials from the Hersey's chocolate store??). Then they all parade their models down the catwalk and the worst outfit is eliminated with a swift auf Wiedersehen from host; Heidi Klum. Brilliant and engaging reality TV! The contestants are amazingly talented people with a desire to succeed. The prize is a show at New York Fashion week and money to start your own business. As someone related to a fashion designer I know how difficult this industry is. The real star of the show however is Tim Gunn who is the contestant's mentor and father figure.
"Make it work!" <3
Retro Love
You know how back in the old days you'd make a mix tape for the people you love? Do you feel that a mix CD is a bit ...I dunno; sterile? Do you actually know anyone who still plays tapes with any kind of regularity?I love me a mix tape and here you have all the joy of a mix tape without the fuss of actually dealing with rewinding and fast forwarding through the songs you hate (for youngies...yes that's what we used to do back in the old days). It's a USB stick of around 60minutes of playing time that fits nicely into the tape for packaging purposes. You get to scribble all over the liner card and the gift recipient gets to keep a lovely keepsake while still enjoying the convenience of plugging that sucker into the laptop and downloading all those songs onto his/her ipod. Seriously, cool AND filled with squishy retro love.
Oz TV
Underbellyclick link to go to a video news story about the show and murders
All this killing and stuff went right on in my backyard (so to speak). Makes ya proud don't it? Yeah, okay maybe not. Carl Williams is apparently unhappy with his portrayal on the show. Christ, beggars can't be choosers mate.
Oz Blog
The Breakfast BlogRight now he's in Boston so it's all a bit pointless and boring, but once he gets back to Melbourne it'll be full steam ahead for The Breakfast Blog. The thing I love about this site, besides the fact that it details one of my favourite things (a good breakie ...that I don't have to cook) the site is remarkably easy to navigate and just all round informative. It gives you details on the price (with the nifty price index tag), tells you where the place is, indexes in alphabetical order, location AND by top scores. I love it. I use it. It's brilliant and Jamie is rarely wrong. The man knows a good breakfast!
Bless!
Games:
ScrabulousI know I should somehow feel ashamed but actually I don't. I am, for the record the world's WORST scrabble player. I did not grow up playing scrabble on Sunday evenings and drinking chocolate milk while my parents played footsies with each other under the coffee table while listening to Tapestry on the record player. Sorry, you must have be mixed up with the Keatons or the Seavers. I think I must be trying to relive the youth I never had or something because I'm totally into the scrabble revival!
Yes, I totally look up words online and cheat. pfcha! Course!
Magazines
Nylon. It's quirky, it's Rock N Roll, it's totally fashion oriented but in a completely approachable way (finally!). It's just fun. It doesn't feel like it's only for girls though I suppose girls mostly read it. It's a little on the expensive side though.
There is an Australian magazine which I love just as much: Frankie - and REALLY love the fact that it comes with a rip out poster that I always put aside and use as wrapping paper. I like a mag that provides a little something extra.
Poster - dude, because Ro edits it and because it's swish and glam and makes me wish I was about a million times more stylish than I actually am. It's art, fashion, it's a city scape all in one - it's not your usual kind of magazine. This one is seriously going to go places. It already has in fact. <3
Book
Quirkyalone: A Manifesto for Uncompromising Romantics - Sasha CagenReading To-Do List recently made me go back and re-read this old gem which Cagen wrote first. I'm more convinced now than ever that I'm a bona fide quirkyalone. It's a manifesto for all those eternally single people - not just girls mind you. Read the essay here. It explains a lot.
Movie
The King Of Kong
I recently went to see this little documentary for a laugh but I became so emotionally involved that I almost scared myself. In fact the whole cinema was booing and cheering a long with it - unheard of in Melbourne!
If you go see one thing at the cinema this year make it this movie - go RIGHT NOW. You will not regret it - you can not make this stuff up. This is a documentary about playing the arcade game Donkey Kong - remember that one? Anyone who was a kid in the 80s would remember the game, it's a classic. This documentary shows the seedy underbelly of video gaming - a side of gaming that is run by manipulation, threat and a man frightened of losing his world record score to a newcomer.
It's so very good. <3<3
And there you have the stuff I'm loving right now.
What are you loving? Share!
Labels: love, media, music, pop culture, stuff, TV, weird things
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
They Keep Pulling Me Back In!
The other day I serendipitously found a discarded DVD from unknown origins on the street, which I immediately popped into my player and discovered it was that new gangland inspired Aussie mini-series (my story and I'm sticking to it). You see, due to the fact that all this mafia malarky happened not that far from where I'm sitting right now and is still being trialled in this fair city us Melbournians are yet to see the show on our television screens this is despite the fact that the rest of you sods have seen it. Seems a little unfair but hey, whaddya gonna do? (find a copy on a street, probably).
Anyway the discarded DVD from unknown origins held about three episodes of the show and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with it. As a fan of The Sopranos I expected our version to be well not quite right. It's different, and it should be - but it's real and gritty, which is exactly how things are. It's well made, well acted and fucking scary. Not scary in the horror movie sense but scary in that it's all true - or near enough anyway - to be a worry. Killing people because of "business" or just because you didn't like their face is a truth that happens in this world. I can't imagine a world more far removed from my own but it exists right outside my door anyway. I guess I never really had to think about it because it never actually involved the likes of me but thinking about it further I realise that maybe we are all affected, even if we don't realise it.
The mini-series takes a bit of a 'play by play' account of what went on in the hey day of the gangland murders in Melbourne. It starts with the origins and then moves into how things got out of hand and with whom. What interests me aside from the details is the innocent bystanders that get suckered into the vortex of organised crime without actually meaning to. I mean, the people who happen to be standing nearby on a bad day, but more so the people that fall in love with the criminals themselves and then somehow are implicated into all the violence and lawlessness.
Many of the storylines about these mafia men also focus on the women around them. So far there's been the friend of the girl who is sleeping with the gangster who witnesses a cold blooded murder. She decides to testify but immediately it becomes apparent that actually she's not going to testify at all, she's going to go on a long trip to London with her friend and hopefully never be seen again.
Then there's the Stripper - the ex wife of a bikie who washes her hands clean of the bloke but he says he's with her at the time he commits a murder she decides to testify that actually no he wasn't with her at all and so she's gunned down in bed, after the trial has been said and done. A revenge killing.
I'm sure there are many more similar stories of people who have gotten involved on the outskirts of crime but who are affected - simply because they fell in love with the people committing the crimes. Maybe they knew they were criminals before they got involved with them - maybe it became apparent later - but in any case these people are involved without directly being involved (if you know what I mean). I wonder if there are stories of men who marry women who are either in the crime world or who are daughters of crime figures - who then do something wrong (by the girl) but are then killed ...you know just because they can be.
I wonder about these people who fall in love with criminals or people associated with criminals. I think that if I came across a bloke who had dubious connections I would run a country mile - at least I hope I would. But who knows how the heart will react?
I guess you could say that if you get involved with crime then you suffer the implications but I wonder if the heart really has a stronger say in the matter.
What if you fell in love, I mean real love, with a man/woman who was involved in crime somehow? Would you ignore your heart and walk away or would you take your chances and stay with them? Can your heart ever really be ignored? And if your heart CAN be ignored, then is anyone who ever gets involved with a no hoper of some kind ever really a victim?
Also, what I'm dying to ask but not sure if I should is; would you ever testify against your ex/current if they did something unlawful? What if they threatened your kid or you if you testified? Would you testify anyway? Is this too explosive a question to ask?
Anyway the discarded DVD from unknown origins held about three episodes of the show and I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with it. As a fan of The Sopranos I expected our version to be well not quite right. It's different, and it should be - but it's real and gritty, which is exactly how things are. It's well made, well acted and fucking scary. Not scary in the horror movie sense but scary in that it's all true - or near enough anyway - to be a worry. Killing people because of "business" or just because you didn't like their face is a truth that happens in this world. I can't imagine a world more far removed from my own but it exists right outside my door anyway. I guess I never really had to think about it because it never actually involved the likes of me but thinking about it further I realise that maybe we are all affected, even if we don't realise it.
The mini-series takes a bit of a 'play by play' account of what went on in the hey day of the gangland murders in Melbourne. It starts with the origins and then moves into how things got out of hand and with whom. What interests me aside from the details is the innocent bystanders that get suckered into the vortex of organised crime without actually meaning to. I mean, the people who happen to be standing nearby on a bad day, but more so the people that fall in love with the criminals themselves and then somehow are implicated into all the violence and lawlessness.
Many of the storylines about these mafia men also focus on the women around them. So far there's been the friend of the girl who is sleeping with the gangster who witnesses a cold blooded murder. She decides to testify but immediately it becomes apparent that actually she's not going to testify at all, she's going to go on a long trip to London with her friend and hopefully never be seen again.
Then there's the Stripper - the ex wife of a bikie who washes her hands clean of the bloke but he says he's with her at the time he commits a murder she decides to testify that actually no he wasn't with her at all and so she's gunned down in bed, after the trial has been said and done. A revenge killing.
I'm sure there are many more similar stories of people who have gotten involved on the outskirts of crime but who are affected - simply because they fell in love with the people committing the crimes. Maybe they knew they were criminals before they got involved with them - maybe it became apparent later - but in any case these people are involved without directly being involved (if you know what I mean). I wonder if there are stories of men who marry women who are either in the crime world or who are daughters of crime figures - who then do something wrong (by the girl) but are then killed ...you know just because they can be.
I wonder about these people who fall in love with criminals or people associated with criminals. I think that if I came across a bloke who had dubious connections I would run a country mile - at least I hope I would. But who knows how the heart will react?
I guess you could say that if you get involved with crime then you suffer the implications but I wonder if the heart really has a stronger say in the matter.
What if you fell in love, I mean real love, with a man/woman who was involved in crime somehow? Would you ignore your heart and walk away or would you take your chances and stay with them? Can your heart ever really be ignored? And if your heart CAN be ignored, then is anyone who ever gets involved with a no hoper of some kind ever really a victim?
Also, what I'm dying to ask but not sure if I should is; would you ever testify against your ex/current if they did something unlawful? What if they threatened your kid or you if you testified? Would you testify anyway? Is this too explosive a question to ask?
Labels: Crazy Nutters, law, loony loony loony, love, news, pop culture, relationships, TV
Friday, February 08, 2008
Hang up the Chick Habit.
A few months ago I saw the Tarantino movie Death Proof and it got me thinking. For the record, I am a fan of his work - mostly for his brilliant use of quick dialogue but also for the blur that exists in his depicting a concrete era. I like the fact that Pulp Fiction is 50s influenced however also very much a contemporary look at the culture at the time. It's like all of his work, not quite retro, not quite a homage but very much flavourful of a genre or era without being overpowered by it. I also happen to think he has flawless taste in music and so, no matter the film I know that the soundtrack will be a killer.
I remember though when PF came out. Tarantino got a lot of flack for
a) language.
b) violence.
c) lack of strong female characters in his work.
Personally I think all three were bogus complaints all based in truth of course, but bogus nevertheless. I enjoyed the language and violence and if a man can't make a boy centered movie with a bit of grit then I don't want to know him. Yes, he uses excessive language and yes some of the scenes in all of his movies are disgusting. So what? Deal with it.
Tarantino was a smart cookie though, he saw how popular his character Mrs Mia Wallace (from PF) was among both ladies and gents that he addressed his lack of strong female leads quick smart and made one of the most kickarse lady movies ever - Kill Bill vol 1 and 2. Death Proof once again looks at female leads, however, he also adds in a strong male character to mix it up: Stuntman Mike.
The movie Death Proof has two parts within the movie - and this is going to be full of spoilers folks... The first part - three girls who think they are "badass" take to the road, visit a bar meet Stuntman Mike and end up dead. The second part - another group of girls, take to the road, visit a diner, meet Stuntman Mike and kick the shit out of him.
What was different? And just how did the second lot of girls outsmart and out kick Stuntman Mike? I mean, this guy had his sadist act down. He has a death proof car folks and he was not afraid to use it to kill women of his choosing.
Let's just have a little look see at wider society and women. One could argue in this era of post-feminism we have two kinds of women - women who don't take any shit and women who do. Of course, the reality is that there are many kinds of women, all individual - but this is a MOVIE guys, let's be serious - plus, we're looking at generalities here and in terms of a generality this would be right. Shit takers and shit givers. One could argue the same for men as well. People. People are shit takers or shit givers.
The shit takers in this movie would be seen in the first part of the movie. They are the hot, sexy girls who flirt with any man that moves. Why? Well just because they can folks, just because they can. For the record, no man complains about this fact. Who doesn't want a hot girl dressing sexy and flirting with them? Hell, did I mention they are hot? The guys are lining up to buy them drinks and the girls accept the drinks, give the boys a little sugar by way of kisses and flirting and then leave. Hell, that's their prerogative, girls don't have to put out if they don't want to do they? These girls in part one, in no uncertain terms know what they want. They are not stepford wives. They are not on a hunt for a husband. They are not gold diggers or any of that. They have careers and their own minds. This is very important to the plot because in no way are we to think of these girls as traditionally "weak".
Things for these girls seem pretty peachy. Everyone thinks they are a lovely, and they are. In the land of successful females they go very far. The thing is though, even though they seem so in control of their lives they are not. All men's interactions with these girls are only based on sex. The men buy drinks for them because they want sex. The girls promise lap dances for a certain password from men. In fact they are much more crude than the men in the film - they would see themselves as the type of women who are empowered by their sexuality. Watching the movie, you get that impression too. Their "careers" (or just the way they live their lives) are based around sex, or being sexy. Now, sex is a powerful tool and it has been theorised ad nauseum that sex is the most powerful tool that a woman can have in this world. I'm inclined to agree that it IS but I also happen to think that this SUCKS. It means that our options are quite limited if we want to be successful doesn't it? Here's what I think about these kinds of women: women who use sex to their advantage in dealings with men (by sex I mean flirting, being sexy to get what they want etc) are not the kind of women I like. I think they are selling all of us short and quite frankly demeaning themselves. HOWEVER, I do think that women who do use sex as power get very far. Mostly because our society rewards this kind of behaviour from women, rather than from men.
So why then do these women die if they have all the power? Well because like all people with only one source of power they are easy targets. These are the girls who are watched and while there is power in being 'beheld' there is absolutely no autonomy. All their power is based in sex and so when you take that away - ie: you're not interested in their sex then you render them completely powerless and useless. They don't matter any more. They are nothing. And Stuntman Mike, he's a sadist from way back, he doesn't care about the sex - only the cruelty that comes with exploiting that. They have no power when it comes to him and rightly so; they all die. Now you see why I think those girls who base all their power in sex sell the rest of us short. They don't really prosper in dire situations - and life itself is one dire situation after another really.
Enter part 2; 14 months after the part 1 girls have been brutally murdered by Stuntman Mike. Life has changed dramatically in this time. The opening shot, of a cheerleader makes you think that these are going to be yet another bunch of archetypal females that make male fantasies churn, and yet it is realised immediately that this is a big joke on us. These girls might be watched but they also do the looking, and the choosing. These girls are nothing like the ones that came before. It feels like one decade has gone by, socially speaking, rather than only a year. Enter our four main protagonists - again, all sexy/pretty girls who hang out in a male dominated world. They talk about their boyfriends, they talk about their jobs - but they pay their own way. These girls are lovely as well, but they just do their own thing. Their power is based somewhere outside the realm of sex, though it is apparent that they are not abstaining from sex, nor from men. They are just not concerned with flirting it up with randoms. Stuntman Mike notices them though and he's getting ready to kill again but something happens: The girls won't be bullied. He can't take away their sexual power by hating them, because their power isn't based in sex. They've got something different going on.
1) They stick together when it counts.
2) They make their own fun.
3) They are not afraid to get down and dirty.
This is extremely different from the girls in part 1. Both sets of girls have their own jobs and have lives and their own money. On the surface they are poster children for 'new woman' - but as always it's the inside that counts. The part two girls aren't basing their power in sex. They don't need their sexuality reaffirmed everywhere they go. And so, when Stuntman Mike approaches them, they aren't scared into a corner by him, nor are they titillated or charmed like the part 1 girls were. Sure the circumstances were different in part 2, but in the end the part 2 girls were not to be beaten down and killed. They got back on the horse and chased the man down and then beat him until he died. As in, with their bare hands. I have to make the distinction that they're not targeting normal everyday guys - they aren't the perpetrators of violence but they can turn it on when someone else starts it - I love that.
In the second part, the twist is that the girls win. Which comes as a surprise because actually no one expects that to happen - it's so rare in a movie of this sort (slasher/car movie - incidentally movies I grew up watching - especially car movies which I had major nightmares about). These women also stick together and this is an important point. When women base their power in sex then you can easily tear them apart - you don't even have to try. This is because when you have a group of women who all base their power in the reaffirmation of their sexuality and you add one man into the mix then that group of women will immediately begin tearing each other down in order to get to the man. I've seen it a million times before with girlfriends. In the case of the movie you have the part one girls arguing about whether to take the guys home with them, even though they all agreed not to. And you also have them exchange rivalries with each other over men. This isn't good when you're trying to make it out alive. The part two girls stick together and don't have any interest in being rivals at all. It's why they come out alive.
I guess what I'm saying is, and Tarantino touches on it to, that there are girls who look to men to reaffirm their sexuality and those girls are always going to be beaten down because not only does that not last forever but also there will always be people who will want to exploit that. Hell society exploits that all the time. It may be a HUGE power source to be perpetually sexy - but it's also one of the EASIEST to exploit and manipulate. A girl who is thought of only as a sum of body parts (only praised because she has a great arse or great legs or whatever it is that is admired at the time) is easily cut down into body parts when it comes down to it. She's never whole, she's just legs, or neck, or lips etc. That kind of blows. If a girl only has that going for her then she doesn't really have all that much at all and if that's all she's admired for then it says little about those doing the admiring. You see these kinds of girls everywhere, in life and in blog-land too funnily enough. Sometimes words are enough without pictures even. Everything comes back to sex - or rather to the odd comment or entry that screams; 'remember, I'm sexy!'. Couple that with being ultra competitive with other women and you have someone who is easily dismantled, humiliated and left alone without backup. Not a good position to be in when being hunted down (aka, life)
Girls, keep your girlfriends close and your interests varied. Girlfriends will back your shit up with the chips are down and if you're not afraid to smudge the mascara a bit then you can kick some major arse! Don't worry, you can always keep a makeup compact in your purse, for the touch up afterwards.
Should girls kick arses or are they better off just using sex to get what they want? Is not using sex too utopian for the society we live in - do women HAVE to use their sexuality to their advantage in order to get ahead, not just in work but in life, generally speaking?
How do men use their sexuality to get what THEY want - and why doesn't anyone ever call them on it?
I remember though when PF came out. Tarantino got a lot of flack for
a) language.
b) violence.
c) lack of strong female characters in his work.
Personally I think all three were bogus complaints all based in truth of course, but bogus nevertheless. I enjoyed the language and violence and if a man can't make a boy centered movie with a bit of grit then I don't want to know him. Yes, he uses excessive language and yes some of the scenes in all of his movies are disgusting. So what? Deal with it.
Tarantino was a smart cookie though, he saw how popular his character Mrs Mia Wallace (from PF) was among both ladies and gents that he addressed his lack of strong female leads quick smart and made one of the most kickarse lady movies ever - Kill Bill vol 1 and 2. Death Proof once again looks at female leads, however, he also adds in a strong male character to mix it up: Stuntman Mike.
The movie Death Proof has two parts within the movie - and this is going to be full of spoilers folks... The first part - three girls who think they are "badass" take to the road, visit a bar meet Stuntman Mike and end up dead. The second part - another group of girls, take to the road, visit a diner, meet Stuntman Mike and kick the shit out of him.
What was different? And just how did the second lot of girls outsmart and out kick Stuntman Mike? I mean, this guy had his sadist act down. He has a death proof car folks and he was not afraid to use it to kill women of his choosing.
Let's just have a little look see at wider society and women. One could argue in this era of post-feminism we have two kinds of women - women who don't take any shit and women who do. Of course, the reality is that there are many kinds of women, all individual - but this is a MOVIE guys, let's be serious - plus, we're looking at generalities here and in terms of a generality this would be right. Shit takers and shit givers. One could argue the same for men as well. People. People are shit takers or shit givers.
The shit takers in this movie would be seen in the first part of the movie. They are the hot, sexy girls who flirt with any man that moves. Why? Well just because they can folks, just because they can. For the record, no man complains about this fact. Who doesn't want a hot girl dressing sexy and flirting with them? Hell, did I mention they are hot? The guys are lining up to buy them drinks and the girls accept the drinks, give the boys a little sugar by way of kisses and flirting and then leave. Hell, that's their prerogative, girls don't have to put out if they don't want to do they? These girls in part one, in no uncertain terms know what they want. They are not stepford wives. They are not on a hunt for a husband. They are not gold diggers or any of that. They have careers and their own minds. This is very important to the plot because in no way are we to think of these girls as traditionally "weak".Things for these girls seem pretty peachy. Everyone thinks they are a lovely, and they are. In the land of successful females they go very far. The thing is though, even though they seem so in control of their lives they are not. All men's interactions with these girls are only based on sex. The men buy drinks for them because they want sex. The girls promise lap dances for a certain password from men. In fact they are much more crude than the men in the film - they would see themselves as the type of women who are empowered by their sexuality. Watching the movie, you get that impression too. Their "careers" (or just the way they live their lives) are based around sex, or being sexy. Now, sex is a powerful tool and it has been theorised ad nauseum that sex is the most powerful tool that a woman can have in this world. I'm inclined to agree that it IS but I also happen to think that this SUCKS. It means that our options are quite limited if we want to be successful doesn't it? Here's what I think about these kinds of women: women who use sex to their advantage in dealings with men (by sex I mean flirting, being sexy to get what they want etc) are not the kind of women I like. I think they are selling all of us short and quite frankly demeaning themselves. HOWEVER, I do think that women who do use sex as power get very far. Mostly because our society rewards this kind of behaviour from women, rather than from men.
So why then do these women die if they have all the power? Well because like all people with only one source of power they are easy targets. These are the girls who are watched and while there is power in being 'beheld' there is absolutely no autonomy. All their power is based in sex and so when you take that away - ie: you're not interested in their sex then you render them completely powerless and useless. They don't matter any more. They are nothing. And Stuntman Mike, he's a sadist from way back, he doesn't care about the sex - only the cruelty that comes with exploiting that. They have no power when it comes to him and rightly so; they all die. Now you see why I think those girls who base all their power in sex sell the rest of us short. They don't really prosper in dire situations - and life itself is one dire situation after another really.
Enter part 2; 14 months after the part 1 girls have been brutally murdered by Stuntman Mike. Life has changed dramatically in this time. The opening shot, of a cheerleader makes you think that these are going to be yet another bunch of archetypal females that make male fantasies churn, and yet it is realised immediately that this is a big joke on us. These girls might be watched but they also do the looking, and the choosing. These girls are nothing like the ones that came before. It feels like one decade has gone by, socially speaking, rather than only a year. Enter our four main protagonists - again, all sexy/pretty girls who hang out in a male dominated world. They talk about their boyfriends, they talk about their jobs - but they pay their own way. These girls are lovely as well, but they just do their own thing. Their power is based somewhere outside the realm of sex, though it is apparent that they are not abstaining from sex, nor from men. They are just not concerned with flirting it up with randoms. Stuntman Mike notices them though and he's getting ready to kill again but something happens: The girls won't be bullied. He can't take away their sexual power by hating them, because their power isn't based in sex. They've got something different going on.1) They stick together when it counts.
2) They make their own fun.
3) They are not afraid to get down and dirty.
This is extremely different from the girls in part 1. Both sets of girls have their own jobs and have lives and their own money. On the surface they are poster children for 'new woman' - but as always it's the inside that counts. The part two girls aren't basing their power in sex. They don't need their sexuality reaffirmed everywhere they go. And so, when Stuntman Mike approaches them, they aren't scared into a corner by him, nor are they titillated or charmed like the part 1 girls were. Sure the circumstances were different in part 2, but in the end the part 2 girls were not to be beaten down and killed. They got back on the horse and chased the man down and then beat him until he died. As in, with their bare hands. I have to make the distinction that they're not targeting normal everyday guys - they aren't the perpetrators of violence but they can turn it on when someone else starts it - I love that.
In the second part, the twist is that the girls win. Which comes as a surprise because actually no one expects that to happen - it's so rare in a movie of this sort (slasher/car movie - incidentally movies I grew up watching - especially car movies which I had major nightmares about). These women also stick together and this is an important point. When women base their power in sex then you can easily tear them apart - you don't even have to try. This is because when you have a group of women who all base their power in the reaffirmation of their sexuality and you add one man into the mix then that group of women will immediately begin tearing each other down in order to get to the man. I've seen it a million times before with girlfriends. In the case of the movie you have the part one girls arguing about whether to take the guys home with them, even though they all agreed not to. And you also have them exchange rivalries with each other over men. This isn't good when you're trying to make it out alive. The part two girls stick together and don't have any interest in being rivals at all. It's why they come out alive.
I guess what I'm saying is, and Tarantino touches on it to, that there are girls who look to men to reaffirm their sexuality and those girls are always going to be beaten down because not only does that not last forever but also there will always be people who will want to exploit that. Hell society exploits that all the time. It may be a HUGE power source to be perpetually sexy - but it's also one of the EASIEST to exploit and manipulate. A girl who is thought of only as a sum of body parts (only praised because she has a great arse or great legs or whatever it is that is admired at the time) is easily cut down into body parts when it comes down to it. She's never whole, she's just legs, or neck, or lips etc. That kind of blows. If a girl only has that going for her then she doesn't really have all that much at all and if that's all she's admired for then it says little about those doing the admiring. You see these kinds of girls everywhere, in life and in blog-land too funnily enough. Sometimes words are enough without pictures even. Everything comes back to sex - or rather to the odd comment or entry that screams; 'remember, I'm sexy!'. Couple that with being ultra competitive with other women and you have someone who is easily dismantled, humiliated and left alone without backup. Not a good position to be in when being hunted down (aka, life)
Girls, keep your girlfriends close and your interests varied. Girlfriends will back your shit up with the chips are down and if you're not afraid to smudge the mascara a bit then you can kick some major arse! Don't worry, you can always keep a makeup compact in your purse, for the touch up afterwards.
Should girls kick arses or are they better off just using sex to get what they want? Is not using sex too utopian for the society we live in - do women HAVE to use their sexuality to their advantage in order to get ahead, not just in work but in life, generally speaking?
How do men use their sexuality to get what THEY want - and why doesn't anyone ever call them on it?
Labels: dirty femmo, gender stuff, generalisations, hang it up daddy, men, movies, pop culture, women
Saturday, January 26, 2008
A squishy list of Australian things.
Australia day was served up to me this morning via a smallish flag atop a lovely dish of breakfast in North Melbourne as the sun beat down from the bluest sky. My post today is actually one that was from the old blog. I wrote it a few years ago but haven't posted it here and it's one of my favourite posts I've written about Australia day.
You might not get all the references and you know what? That's a good thing.
As Australian as..
a pot of cold beer (letting the kids drink the head), sunday cricket in the street, licking sunny boy dribble from down your arm on a 40 degree day, the insriparional words of Dorothea McKellar, fractured conversation in broken English from migrant women wearing black mourning clothes, souvlaki on the beach, Ned Kelly's last stand, the stolen generation, drinking good Italian coffee outside a busy trattoria, fluro zinc on the tip of your nose, drunken singing along to the Hunters and Collectors, fear of red backs, slip slop slap, playing under the sprinklers while the sky turns pink above you, stubby holders in your football team's colours, water bomb fights in the school yard, good yum cha, Cathy Freeman's two Australian flags, free settlers, European Migrants, Bloody stupid wogs, Indian accented Australians, Indigenous to the land, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.. oi oi oi, a friendly smile, a rude joke, heavy rain after a scorching day, Bert Newton's hair piece, Ray Martin's hair piece, Aboriginal Art in New York City, "My home lies wide a thousand miles in the Never Never land", Tim Winton's famous waves breaking on the West Coast, Uluru; sacred heart of the red centre, the dichotomy of Steve Irwin; both ridiculous and knowledgeable, picnics by the Yarra, having a bet on the horses, staying up late to watch the world cup, watching the 7.30 report on Auntie, revering Parkinson as god of interviews, holidays in Bali, drug running in Indonesia, American sitcoms on the telly, listening to the crickets loud song reverberate well into the night, Australia shaped car aerials on a VWs, vegemite on toast for breakfast, matzah ball soup for dinner, Burka's adourned with beautiful broaches, duty free Bundy, coupling with GW, lamington drives, Dawn Fraser's magnificent trifecta, Foreign News on free to air telly, The First Fleet, swatting the flies from your face, "you call that a knife?", Holocaust survivors settling in Bondi, Whispering Jack, Kamahl, beaurocracy, Kylie Minogue's fake British accent, Jason Donovan gone bad, Greek Greengrocers who know their shit, really bad perm jobs, Fashion Week, bush fires leaving a black trail across the parched land, twisted gum trees reaching their spidery fingers towards the sky, Kebabs outside night clubs, the gay and lesbian mardi gras, Making fun of American reality television, Opera House tea cosies, Eiffel tower calendars, learning another language, watching old men play bocce at the local park, blogging, David Helfgott's mastery of classical piano, Baz Luhrman's quirky reappropriations on celluloid, leaving European history behind for prosperity in a new country, Mabo, Mambo, surfing, skate parks, homeboys holding their pants up yo!, Koala Bear (but it's not a bear!), embarrassed at ourselves, race riots at the beach, moshing at The Big Day Out 'till you pass out from heat exhaustion, Making fun of the politicians, men in suits wearing Burberry, men in stubbies wearing metho, arse not ass, shiraz, "Australia don't become America", a Maccas run at 3am, roast on the spit in the backyard, Buon Natale!, Happy Hannuka, a gift of dyed red eggs on Greek Easter from your neighbour, The Southern Cross; mother to us all, Waltzing Matilda; father to our theiving hearts, "not happy Jan", Pauline Hanson picking at the scab, the myth of Australian ethnicity?, performing ethnicity Helen Demidenko style, drinking Grappa and singing loudly until the neighbours call the cops, weird busking spacesuit guy on the corner of Burke and Swanston, Bluey, the Packer media empire, 8-up doc martins with pink laces, gothic babes in pleather, plumber's cleavage, Carlotta, Germaine Greer, Asian-Australian football league, Midnight Oil's heartfelt political diatribes, Schindler's List (yes Australian!), click go the sheers boy, "Hello Possums!", fighting against conscription, beatlemania, ABBA Down Under, John "bloody" Laws, Making fun of the Eurovision Song Contest, playing Scopa while drinking Fosters, absolutely refusing to go near Fosters, Molly Meldrum's hat, of course I can use chopsticks!, Multiculturalism, White Australia Policy, dole bludgers, Mandawuy Yunupingu, "I say Arthur", tai chi on the beach, raves at the docklands, muck up day, Truganini's determination, Rolf Harris' wobble board, Come on Aussie come on!, Fish and Chips, suishi in a classy restaurant, Aussie battlers, bloody whinging pomms, the reclaiming of the word 'wog' in order to make fun of Skippys, Shakespeare in the park, Sidney Nolan's historical accounts without using words, The big Pineapple, bush polka, ballet recitals, Macedonean wedding dances, the Japanese Gold Coast, still a Monarchy?, "you little beauty!", making and bottling your own spaghetti sauce for the year, "there was movement at the station for the word had passed around..", the Amercians poisoning Phar Lap?, Bicentenial coins for Australian children in 1988, take away curry, dim sims, The Rainbow Serpent creates land and life, bi-lingual families, European roots planted firmly at home (everywhere), working visa, dual citizenship, detention centre hunger strikes, diaspora; "from all the lands we come".
It was never really one thing, was it?
You might not get all the references and you know what? That's a good thing.
As Australian as..
a pot of cold beer (letting the kids drink the head), sunday cricket in the street, licking sunny boy dribble from down your arm on a 40 degree day, the insriparional words of Dorothea McKellar, fractured conversation in broken English from migrant women wearing black mourning clothes, souvlaki on the beach, Ned Kelly's last stand, the stolen generation, drinking good Italian coffee outside a busy trattoria, fluro zinc on the tip of your nose, drunken singing along to the Hunters and Collectors, fear of red backs, slip slop slap, playing under the sprinklers while the sky turns pink above you, stubby holders in your football team's colours, water bomb fights in the school yard, good yum cha, Cathy Freeman's two Australian flags, free settlers, European Migrants, Bloody stupid wogs, Indian accented Australians, Indigenous to the land, Aussie, Aussie, Aussie.. oi oi oi, a friendly smile, a rude joke, heavy rain after a scorching day, Bert Newton's hair piece, Ray Martin's hair piece, Aboriginal Art in New York City, "My home lies wide a thousand miles in the Never Never land", Tim Winton's famous waves breaking on the West Coast, Uluru; sacred heart of the red centre, the dichotomy of Steve Irwin; both ridiculous and knowledgeable, picnics by the Yarra, having a bet on the horses, staying up late to watch the world cup, watching the 7.30 report on Auntie, revering Parkinson as god of interviews, holidays in Bali, drug running in Indonesia, American sitcoms on the telly, listening to the crickets loud song reverberate well into the night, Australia shaped car aerials on a VWs, vegemite on toast for breakfast, matzah ball soup for dinner, Burka's adourned with beautiful broaches, duty free Bundy, coupling with GW, lamington drives, Dawn Fraser's magnificent trifecta, Foreign News on free to air telly, The First Fleet, swatting the flies from your face, "you call that a knife?", Holocaust survivors settling in Bondi, Whispering Jack, Kamahl, beaurocracy, Kylie Minogue's fake British accent, Jason Donovan gone bad, Greek Greengrocers who know their shit, really bad perm jobs, Fashion Week, bush fires leaving a black trail across the parched land, twisted gum trees reaching their spidery fingers towards the sky, Kebabs outside night clubs, the gay and lesbian mardi gras, Making fun of American reality television, Opera House tea cosies, Eiffel tower calendars, learning another language, watching old men play bocce at the local park, blogging, David Helfgott's mastery of classical piano, Baz Luhrman's quirky reappropriations on celluloid, leaving European history behind for prosperity in a new country, Mabo, Mambo, surfing, skate parks, homeboys holding their pants up yo!, Koala Bear (but it's not a bear!), embarrassed at ourselves, race riots at the beach, moshing at The Big Day Out 'till you pass out from heat exhaustion, Making fun of the politicians, men in suits wearing Burberry, men in stubbies wearing metho, arse not ass, shiraz, "Australia don't become America", a Maccas run at 3am, roast on the spit in the backyard, Buon Natale!, Happy Hannuka, a gift of dyed red eggs on Greek Easter from your neighbour, The Southern Cross; mother to us all, Waltzing Matilda; father to our theiving hearts, "not happy Jan", Pauline Hanson picking at the scab, the myth of Australian ethnicity?, performing ethnicity Helen Demidenko style, drinking Grappa and singing loudly until the neighbours call the cops, weird busking spacesuit guy on the corner of Burke and Swanston, Bluey, the Packer media empire, 8-up doc martins with pink laces, gothic babes in pleather, plumber's cleavage, Carlotta, Germaine Greer, Asian-Australian football league, Midnight Oil's heartfelt political diatribes, Schindler's List (yes Australian!), click go the sheers boy, "Hello Possums!", fighting against conscription, beatlemania, ABBA Down Under, John "bloody" Laws, Making fun of the Eurovision Song Contest, playing Scopa while drinking Fosters, absolutely refusing to go near Fosters, Molly Meldrum's hat, of course I can use chopsticks!, Multiculturalism, White Australia Policy, dole bludgers, Mandawuy Yunupingu, "I say Arthur", tai chi on the beach, raves at the docklands, muck up day, Truganini's determination, Rolf Harris' wobble board, Come on Aussie come on!, Fish and Chips, suishi in a classy restaurant, Aussie battlers, bloody whinging pomms, the reclaiming of the word 'wog' in order to make fun of Skippys, Shakespeare in the park, Sidney Nolan's historical accounts without using words, The big Pineapple, bush polka, ballet recitals, Macedonean wedding dances, the Japanese Gold Coast, still a Monarchy?, "you little beauty!", making and bottling your own spaghetti sauce for the year, "there was movement at the station for the word had passed around..", the Amercians poisoning Phar Lap?, Bicentenial coins for Australian children in 1988, take away curry, dim sims, The Rainbow Serpent creates land and life, bi-lingual families, European roots planted firmly at home (everywhere), working visa, dual citizenship, detention centre hunger strikes, diaspora; "from all the lands we come".
It was never really one thing, was it?
Labels: memories, oz, pop culture, the list
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Again with the letters thing.
Dear Corey,
How can I put this?
You make me want to tear out my womb and feed it to the German Shepherds who live down the road.
love,
Sick of the Yellow Sunglasses from Supre.
Dear Babied up people of the world,
Do not ring your spinster friend and then spend that time on the phone talking to your child instead. Spinster friend has got a shitlist.
It's getting longer.
Love
Spinster Friend.
Dear Creators of the show "Ready Steady Cook"
I'm going to miss watching you when I go back to work next week. Yes I really am that pathetic. I do have one question though. Does it REALLY count when you create a dish and use the contestant's "special ingredient" only as a garnish? Surely this is cheating!
Love,
Uptight Viewer.
Dear Girl sitting near me at the Cinemas the other day,
Your BO was so bad I couldn't concentrate on the movie! I COULDN'T CONCENTRATE! I actually took out my peppermint flavoured MIGRANE STICK and pretty much stuffed it up my nose just so I didn't have to smell YOU.
I don't think people need to smell flower fresh every second of the day but why sit near me when the cinema was practically empty. SO many other seats! A VAST NUMBER OF SEATS AAAAALLLL OVER THE PLACE. But hey, sure, sit right near me, no worries.
Love,
Very Serious About Having Good Movie Experience.
Dear Mother on the Beach with her Toddler the other day,
When your little boy pointed at that young, muscle bound dude who had just come in from his swim and exclaimed "Daddy" I smiled. You see, I had seen "daddy" when your family arrived earlier. He was middle aged, pudgy, was wearing full zinc on his nose and had a Gilligan bucket hat on his head. But when you looked down at your boy and said (complete with dead pan delivery) - "nooooooope, Daddy's body looks nothing like that" I laughed out loud.
Thanks for the laugh.
Girl Hiding Behind Book.
Dear Tom Cruise,
Listen here you little FREAK. What the fuck is up? I mean dude, WHAT IS UP with your threads? Is Xenu making you wear turtlenecks? Are you channeling an 8 year old circa 1986 for your hair style? Are you fucking mental? I DO NOT UNDERSTAND HOW SOMEONE WITH SQUIlLLIONS OF DOLLARS AND PERSONAL ASSISTANTS WHO DO EVERYTHING FOR YOU, (PROBABLY EVEN WIPING YOUR ARSE), CAN MAKE SUCH GRAVE MISTAKES REGARDING FASHION LATELY! THIS IS NO TIME FOR PLAYING AROUND WITH SKIVVIES UNDER DRESS JACKETS - PEOPLE ALREADY THINK THAT YOU ARE A FREAKSHOW BONANZA AND THIS ISN'T HELPING MATTERS ANY.CLEAN IT UP TOP GUN!
SORRY ABOUT THE CAPS BUT YOU MAKE ME VERY ANGRY FOR SOME REASON!
Love,
Not a Fan.
Dear Beastie Boys,
I'm a long time fan. You make me want to grab my womb back from the German Shepherds and put it right back in.
Seriously, I can't say this enough; you are fabulous.
Love
Me.
An Open Letter to NYC - Beastie Boys
Sabotage - Beastie Boys
*EDIT*
Here's a crappy meme - as you will soon see it's scarily accurate..
The rules were
1) Put ipod on shuffle
2) every answer = a shuffled song.
3) the song that randomly comes up is the answer.
I tag all of you to do it!
1. IF SOMEONE SAYS “IS THIS OKAY” YOU SAY?
saturday's night's alright for fighting - elton john
Yes, well - you see sometimes it's good to fight.
2. WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
Tame - Pixies
Depends on the person - however maybe this is a consequence of #3.
3. WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Licking Stick - James Brown
Ipod has done it again! I plead the fifth.
4. HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Hanky Panky - Madonna
um, can I plead the 5th again? Oh look, there's a lovely butterfly over there..look! *run*
5. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE’S PURPOSE?
where the wild roses grow - nick cave
Oh goody, my life purpose is to die at the hands of a blood thirsty murderer. I will however look absolutely smashing while floating face up in a filthy lake.
6. WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Mayfair song - air
yes...well I have no idea what that is about. Perhaps I like playing monopoly a little TOO much
7. WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
c'etait toi (you were the one) - billy joel
Why thank you! (Though I suppose the question is what do you REALLY think of me now that you know I have this song on my ipod?)
8. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR PARENTS?
holiday - madonna
quite. I always did wish for an extended holiday from them.
9. WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
tu quieres volver - gipsy kings
I agree. I do think in other languages I don't understand very often.
10. WHAT IS 2+2?
soul bossa nova - quincy jones
Is it any wonder I almost failed stats in uni?
11. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
I can't make it on time - The Ramones
Ipod knows I'm often late when meeting friends.
12. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
women - the easybeats
You see, ipod is also hinting that the end of my spinsterhood will be through lesbianism. Good one ipod, I shall look into it!
13. WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
Let it Be - The Beatles
lordy, this thing is good.
14. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
put your head on my shoulder - paul anka
ahhh, yes. You see this harks back to the days in my early teens when I actually wanted to be a disembodied head atop of someone elses shoulders. It was a short lived dream really - not a lot of money in it. Glad I went into teaching instead.
15. WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
courage - sarah polly
absolutely. Lots and lots of courage pounding through my veins... Then I run like hell.
16. WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
gave up - nin
yes, hence the needing of a holiday.
17. WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
I say a little prayer - dion warwick
good lord, I'm thinking the poor sod will be the one saying prayers but anyway.
18. WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
psycho therapy - the ramones
hahahhaha, of course!
19. WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
an american trilogy - elvis presley
Indeed, you see I'm much into popular culture, bad food and taking over small developing nations simply by using economic manipulation and brute force. Very American of me.
20. WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
stuck on you - lionel ritchie
Apparently my biggest secret is actually the fact that I have Lionel Ritchie on my ipod but anyway. Aren't I glad to have that one out of the bag?
21. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR FRIENDS?
waiting - elizabeth daily
Currently waiting for their babies to grow up so that I get my friends back actually. Good one ipod - clever clogs!
22. WHAT WOULD YOU DO FOR LOVE?
China - tori amos
hm, ipod is being quite obscure here. Has it got something to do with giving up my current life and moving overseas to China where I will be showered with many diamonds and treated like a queen? Yes, I think that's what Ipod might be saying.
oh wait, this is what *I'd* do for love, isn't it? um, well maybe I will move to china and ...start selling china goods for cheap prices to the foreign market - maybe my future love is in trade of some kind. Yesss. The more I think about it the more sense it makes.
23. WHAT IS YOUR STANCE ON RELIGION?
I don't like it like this - The Radio Dept.
Ipod obviously knows I was raised a catholic and now am disgruntled and confused.
24. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR JOB?
Cold Hearted Snake - Paula Abdul
Christ, ipod not only have you outed that I have Paula Abdul on my ipod but you've really hit the nail on the head about my workplace too!
25. OTHER BLOGGERS THINK THIS ABOUT YOU.
Release - pearl jam
From the looney bin I suppose.
You smug bastards!
Labels: crap cook, Crazy Nutters, crazy people, letters, media, meme, musical monday, pop culture, rant
Friday, January 04, 2008
Where the Boys Are
Man #1: Funny thing about women. If you don't make big a pitch for them they get mad. If you do...they get mad. How can you win?
Man #2: You can't - they're not playing for the same stakes.
Where the Boys Are (1960).
I was watching this old 1960s classic about women, men sex and Fort Lauderdale during Spring Break. While the women grapple with whether they should or shouldn't..go all the way. The men are busy trying to convince them that there's only one option. After all cats it's the 1960s, what are we antiquated or something? Get with it!
The problem with all this perfectly outlined by the dialogue above is that men and women in 1960 aren't playing for the same stakes. The stakes being - virtue, love and marriage versus lust, fun and immediacy. Both wonderful in their own way - just very different. It makes for interesting viewing. The boys are trying to persuade the girls to give it up and the girls are trying to convince the boys to give up something too: their bachelorhood. It seems that they'll never quite get it together - either the boys need a little convincing or the girls do.
So a lot has changed, right?
Just a few short years later the sexual revolution was in full swing. Girls didn't have to wait for marriage in order to explore their sexuality anymore. Indeed, women were exploring a lot of things, including being the bread winner as well as cooking that bread and exploring for the first time a decision about the bun in the oven .
One didn't have to get married anymore to do anything they wanted, but that didn't mean that people didn't get married young. It still happened. In fact most women I know from that era DID get married, very very young - this is despite their "options".
Nowadays girls give it up big time and some even proclaim (and personally I hate this saying) that they can "have sex like a man". Waiting to get married until after one fulfills their personal dreams is something that happens more often. In fact every single woman I know who has gotten married in the last..oh say 20 years (since I started noticing that people actually got married) has had not only a career but earning on par or beyond their husbands. Yes things have certainly changed since 1960.
You'd think though, that things had changed so much that marriage would have been made redundant. Certainly one doesn't "need" to get married like one did in the old days. However, marriage is vibrantly alive. The truth of the matter is that people are still running down the isle, one, two even three times isn't uncommon. Just because we're breaking up more often hasn't actually affected the marriage game. Let's not forget that those who decide not to make it legal are still engaging in married like behaviour - making a home, having children, monogamy - defacto. While the cost of a ring has been spared, in the eyes of the law these people are as good as married, so the point still stands. Marriage is not dead. Far from it.
Has the concept of men being trapped by marriage (by women) changed though? Surely, since remember we don't *have* to get married anymore but you know what? No, it hasn't. If men needed to be convinced back in the 60s then they still have to be convinced now.
Has the concept of the fallen woman versus the healthy bachelor changed? Well, yes and no. Men who sleep around are still thought of as playboys which hasn't changed much since the 60s. Women who sleep around certainly aren't considered fallen anymore. However, there is a rather nasty stigma attached to women who decide to have frequent sexual liaisons with numerous men - and indeed women who specifically decide not to turn the sex into a relationship.
So things in that regard have changed in some ways but not in all ways.
The stakes you'd think would be evened out. But at the core of it all there's still that old struggle between wanting to get married versus (and we all know one) - the commitment-phobe. And there's still the struggle in cultural opinion of the slut versus the bachelor.
It's been 48 years since the 1960s dawned and in 48 years of enormous social, political and technological change. We have all the earmarks of change happening around us ... but when it comes down to the big things what has actually changed? I keep coming up with nothing significant except ...underwear. Women's underwear has definitely changed.
Labels: dirty femmo, gender stuff, men, movies, pop culture, women
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
chronicles of a serial love rat dater.
You know what Kylie Minogue? I just don't get it. I just don't get you. You've got money, you have a bazillion gay fans, you can wear hot pants without a hint of irony and still make it work and you beat the big C over the head with spiky stick but you are still a magnet for deadbeat men.
There have been many though these were the lucky, lucky, lucky few that lasted longer than a few weeks.
1) Jason Donovan. Okay, there was nothing wrong with him except that he had a mullet but then again YOU had a mullet TOO! You were MFEO, goddamn you I'm still waiting for you two to walk down the isle while Suddenly plays in the background in a quaint little church in the Dandenong Mountains...fer real this time. I fully blame you for his addiction to drugs and foray into reeeeeally bad sappy pop music and finally into ugly land. Lady before you fucked with him he was every nice Smash Hits magazine reading young lass' wet dream. That is all.
2) Michael Hutchence. I totally get it - he was completely fucked up but sexy as hell. Maybe even being fucked up made him sexy as hell. It's a hard thing for a girl in her early 20s to resist, I know. Then again, he was a serial womanizer who was totally seeing other women the whole time he was with you. Then after dumping you the next thing you know he's married to a wacko and then...bam! Dead. I'm not saying you were to blame however, Jase up at #1 didn't fare so well after dealing with you either. Did I mention the words "serial womanizer"?
3) James Gooding - dude used you for sex and then sold your story to the tabloids in a simultaneous dump/humiliation move. Yeah, he was a real keeper. Again - serial womanizer
4) Pauly Shore - well I don't think he hurt YOU at all but my god woman it's PAULY SHORE, even Brendan Fraser in that cracker of a moive Encino Man was more articulate and 'human' like than him - what the fuck were you thinking? I mean jeez, I don't understand.
5) Olivier Martinez. Two words: Love Rat. Here's another two words: serial womanizer. Lady, every single person who has ever picked up a copy of NW while waiting in the check out line at Safeway knew that he was cheating on you and we all groaned simultaneously when we found out that you took him back...again..and again..and again. Okay, Frenchy stayed by your side during your battle with cancer but I'm a cynical bitch and I'm going to say what we we've all been thinking but were too nice to say: The man didn't want to be publicly known as the bastard who dumped Kylie while she had cancer. So..he stayed with you through that and then waited until you were well again before he took up with some young thing..just like he always meant to (or always was). This doesn't make him a "good person for being by your side" but instead a "dickhead that needs his nuts kicked in good and proper".
(honorable mention: That married guy who took you out on hit yacht for a "friendly" trip. Yes, married. No, no one actually believed you were 'just friends').
Girlfriend do I really have to remind you that you are rich, famous, gorgeous and un-wrinkly? What more could a man want in a woman (well so they keep saying anyway)? And this is coming from someone who doesn't even like you. I think you're a vapid attention whore who sings shit songs that are only good for a bout of retro dancing and nostalgia - but even I; a member of the ever hurtful Kylie critics can see that you are automatically five thousand per cent better than any guy out there that has the privilege of being on your arm.
Honey, it's time to go lez.
What is it with fabulous girls who can manage mammoth careers and have it all but can't resist the charms of dead beat idiots? I know so, so many absolutely wonderful (and conventionally beautiful) women who are surrounded by deadbeats! What the hell is going on?
There have been many though these were the lucky, lucky, lucky few that lasted longer than a few weeks.
1) Jason Donovan. Okay, there was nothing wrong with him except that he had a mullet but then again YOU had a mullet TOO! You were MFEO, goddamn you I'm still waiting for you two to walk down the isle while Suddenly plays in the background in a quaint little church in the Dandenong Mountains...fer real this time. I fully blame you for his addiction to drugs and foray into reeeeeally bad sappy pop music and finally into ugly land. Lady before you fucked with him he was every nice Smash Hits magazine reading young lass' wet dream. That is all.
2) Michael Hutchence. I totally get it - he was completely fucked up but sexy as hell. Maybe even being fucked up made him sexy as hell. It's a hard thing for a girl in her early 20s to resist, I know. Then again, he was a serial womanizer who was totally seeing other women the whole time he was with you. Then after dumping you the next thing you know he's married to a wacko and then...bam! Dead. I'm not saying you were to blame however, Jase up at #1 didn't fare so well after dealing with you either. Did I mention the words "serial womanizer"?
3) James Gooding - dude used you for sex and then sold your story to the tabloids in a simultaneous dump/humiliation move. Yeah, he was a real keeper. Again - serial womanizer
4) Pauly Shore - well I don't think he hurt YOU at all but my god woman it's PAULY SHORE, even Brendan Fraser in that cracker of a moive Encino Man was more articulate and 'human' like than him - what the fuck were you thinking? I mean jeez, I don't understand.
5) Olivier Martinez. Two words: Love Rat. Here's another two words: serial womanizer. Lady, every single person who has ever picked up a copy of NW while waiting in the check out line at Safeway knew that he was cheating on you and we all groaned simultaneously when we found out that you took him back...again..and again..and again. Okay, Frenchy stayed by your side during your battle with cancer but I'm a cynical bitch and I'm going to say what we we've all been thinking but were too nice to say: The man didn't want to be publicly known as the bastard who dumped Kylie while she had cancer. So..he stayed with you through that and then waited until you were well again before he took up with some young thing..just like he always meant to (or always was). This doesn't make him a "good person for being by your side" but instead a "dickhead that needs his nuts kicked in good and proper".(honorable mention: That married guy who took you out on hit yacht for a "friendly" trip. Yes, married. No, no one actually believed you were 'just friends').
Girlfriend do I really have to remind you that you are rich, famous, gorgeous and un-wrinkly? What more could a man want in a woman (well so they keep saying anyway)? And this is coming from someone who doesn't even like you. I think you're a vapid attention whore who sings shit songs that are only good for a bout of retro dancing and nostalgia - but even I; a member of the ever hurtful Kylie critics can see that you are automatically five thousand per cent better than any guy out there that has the privilege of being on your arm.
Honey, it's time to go lez.
What is it with fabulous girls who can manage mammoth careers and have it all but can't resist the charms of dead beat idiots? I know so, so many absolutely wonderful (and conventionally beautiful) women who are surrounded by deadbeats! What the hell is going on?
Labels: mean men, messy women, pop culture, relationships, what women want, wonderings
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Who's gonna save me?
What with all the political hoopla going on in Oz-land at the moment I thought I'd turn my attention to politics in music. By some strange coincidence this afternoon I was listening to drive time radio where Aussie musician Ben Lee was being interviewed about this very thing. Maybe he's not the best authority but he's young, he's outspoken and he's a musician - okay maybe he IS the best authority. He said that art and politics were inextricably linked, but that good political music will first and foremost appeal to the compassion within people and that people who have compassion in their hearts WILL vote accordingly: They WILL vote to aid education and health, they WILL vote for measures to help the environment, they WILL NOT vote for war etc - Compassionate people will vote for compassionate causes. It's a loaded statement but you know, I can't fault it. It's true, our real responsibilities are in building a future that goes beyond us - trusting that will happen is the hard bit - trusting that pouring money into money pits such as education and health will have good results is hard. Accepting that losing money will eventually help us be better people, smarter people, healthier people is difficult but is it worth it?. For me, no question, yes, yes, yes and I don't quite understand any other way to build a stable future to tell you the truth.
Anyway, I digress - there are people who will disagree with politics and art mixing but I'm not one of them. I like my art a tad controversial - not all my art of course - some of it I love purely for it's aesthetic value. Obviously disco gives me nothing in terms of thought but damn those dance beats get me every time. Other music I love purely because it brings up a question or challenges the way things are. I think music is an extremely powerful platform to which people can use to have their say. Have a look at gospel and old slave music and the importance it has in those cultures. What about how the Aboriginal people told their history through art and music? It's powerful. Looking through history you'd be hard pressed to find a time when politics and music were not linked in some way. Classical music is often likened to specific political figures. There were many war propoganda songs in the early 20th Century and then as time went on we grew into folk, punk and anarchist, riot grrl, grunge and music which generally had a social conscience. It's always been around.
The question keeps getting asked though: Are musicians qualified to make political statements?
Well, it seems to me we're stepping down a tretcherous road if we're saying that only certain kinds of people get to speak their mind while others have to shut up. So yes, IMO they are qualified. They are qualified simply because they are human, they live in society and they have an opinion. By that token I think that anyone with a voice is qualified to have their say - even the people I (or you) don't agree with. Hell, I might disagree quite strongly and loudly but that's the point in a society that advocates free speech - you're allowed to do that, it's encouraged even. Guess what? Life isn't one big tea party where everyone chews like they have a secret and smiles sweetly over Turkish Delight. Life is messy and political and more importantly in our own hands. I really do believe that people not standing up for their beliefs and the beliefs of others who have no voice has resulted in a society that is too scared to change. Change is important for (r)evolution and if no one is saying anything then you can bet we're all going to be stuck in a rut for a while yet. It amazes me, the amount of people who do not advocate passivity in their personal life but are extremely passive when it comes to speaking out on political matters. Things don't change on their own, we have to change them.
So yes, I do think that musicians are qualified to have their say - they also speak to an audience that the politicians and academics do not - that is youth. Youth are oft forgotten when it comes to politics - swept under the carpet because they are too young to vote and spend and there fore not seen as important to include in the debate. I beg to differ - they are the most important resource we have. They'll also be running the nursing homes we'll be living in, so you know..we'd better be nice.
The other reason why I enjoy the odd political song is that musicians are artists and there is integrity in standing by the art you create that goes far beyond it being "just a job". Why can I listen to a piece of music and find it more relevant than some kind of political debate on the television? Well, because said artist has put their heart and soul into the things I listen to. No I don't give the same consideration to music that is mass produced, fuck no, that has little soul. I might like elements of that kind of music but not the message. So unless an artist is being held under the thumb of an overly inflated conservative record label (or are created BY a label) they can say whatever the fuck they want. I LOVE that. There's a reason we don't trust politicians - they never say what they mean - ever. They also lie to get votes. Musicians don't have to do this - not if they're writing their own music (ie: not Milli Vanilli). There's enough variety in the music industry to sustain the boy bands who say nothing AS WELL AS the Dixie Chicks, who haven't stopped talking for years now and that's good. There's something for everyone. I know that when I listen to a piece of music I'm listening to an opinion that I can either take or leave - I don't have to like it and if I don't I can go elsewhere - but if someone takes the time to say it then good on them.
However, what happens when musicians move into politics? Do they maintain their political integrity?
Peter Garrett - Aussie muso turned politician can be used as an example. I can't think of any other mainstream musician apart from perhaps Bob Dylan in the early days and Eddie Vedder during the grunge era who have been more outspoken and explicit in their political ideologies. Whether you agree with their political musings or not, Midnight Oil were an amazing band and an Australian institution - you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would disagree with that. I was excited when Peter Garrett first announced his political candidacy because I thought he would immediately stir things up - but this wasn't to be. Politics means existing inside a box where one has to conduct themselves in a certain way. We live in an era of political conservatism - even the liberal left aren't as left leaning as they used to be. People are scared to say what they think and unfortunately (maybe ironically) it's the politicians who have to zip it most of all.
Rock musicians don't live by these constricting rules, they can be as liberal or conservative as they like. They can even live a rather unclean type of lifestyle and still say what they want. Maybe we take what they say with a grain of salt but that's okay too - context does matter. I'd be less likely to agree with someone who was coked out for most of their career than someone who was clean but anyway the point is both musician and politician have a ready audience. Who would you rather listen to though? Liar, activist or artist? Peter Garrett may be pushing his agenda through other avenues now - there's a lot to be said for the act of subversion - moving with the mainstream while slowly chipping a secret tunnel and I support that too - but I have to say: I miss the old Peter Garrett, wonky dancing and all.
Not all musical artists are explicit though - not everyone is a Billy Bragg or Bikini Kill. Musical artists have been lending themselves to causes for many years now in the form of, Live 8, Live Aid, Rock the Vote, Free Tibet, RAIN, Race Rights, the surf rider foundation, live earth, United Farm Workers, earth first, animal rights, Sweet Relief, Home Alive and so many more. They are out there, even if they don't hold interviews that project an explicit point of view.
Following are a few of my favourite songs which have a political edge. What are your favourite political songs and why (if any)?
Masters of War - Bob Dylan (This song is an explicit reminder of exactly how war works: Top down - and who loses: the plebs. The song was written in the early 60s and every single word is still relevant today. Scary.).
stand out lyrics:
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain
The Message - Grandmaster Flash and the furious five (This is an important song and has been much referenced by other artists through the years. Deals with the struggles of being black in a ghetto neighbourhood in the US. Something tells me not that much has changed).
standout lyrics:
Bill collectors they ring my phone
And scare my wife when I'm not home
Got a bum education, double-digit inflation
Cant take the train to the job, theres a strike
At the station
Me on King Kong standin' on my back
Can't stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac
Midrange, migraine, cancered membrane
Sometimes I think I'm going insane, I swear I might
Hijack a plane!
Don't push me, cause I'm close to the edge
I'm trying not to loose my head
21st Century Digital Boy - Bad Religion (Social commentary on consumerist society that has no soul - with particular regard to how baby boomers have fucked things up for their Gen X/Y offspring. You know...typical Bad Religion music :P)
Stand out lyrics:
Cuz I'm a 21st century digital boy
I don't know how to live but I've got a lot of toys
My daddy's a lazy middle class intellectual
My mommy's on valium, so ineffectual
Blue Sky Mine - Midnight Oil (Miners and visitors to CSR mines in WA exposed to lethal levels of Blue Asbestos. The company continued to act negligently even after health warnings - people are still dying today and many will continue to die in the future from fatal illnesses as a direct result of this exposure. The song gave voice to many people who didn't - and still don't - have a voice).
stand out lyrics:
The candy store paupers lie to the share holders
They're crossing their fingers they pay the truth makers
The balance sheet is breaking up the sky
So I'm caught at the junction still waiting for medicine
The sweat of my brow keeps on feeding the engine
Hope the crumbs in my pocket can keep me for another night
And if the blue sky mining company wont come to my rescue
If the sugar refining company wont save me
Who's gonna save me?
Blue Sky Mine - Midnight Oil
Dear God - XTC (It's been described as an Atheist's anthem. It's an incredibly brave song - and also a wonderful piece of music in its own right).
stand out lyrics
Did you make disease, and the diamond blue?
Did you make mankind after we made you?
And the devil too
Dear God - XTC
Double Dare Ya - Bikini Kill (Kathleen Hanna was pretty much responsible for the riot grrl feminist movement of the 90s. She started her zines and band as a reaction to the rampant sexism going on in punk music at the time. Ian MacKaye (punk god) was supportive of this venture and engineered some of BK's stuff. Kathleen Hanna is hated and loved at the same time, which seems to happen a lot to women who speak out. She screams, she swears and for a while there she wore a ski mask during her performances so you couldn't even see her face. She does not beat around the bush - she's very outspoken and thank fuck for that. How often do you see girls really rocking it like boys, potty mouth and all? Not in the mainstream that's for sure. There's a lot of girls in skimpy bikini type outfits though - hence - Bikini Kill. Definitely not pretty music).
stand out lyrics:
Hey girlfriend
I got a proposition goes something like this:
Dare ya to do what you want
Dare ya to be who you will
Dare ya to cry right outloud
"You get so emotional baby"
Double dare ya, double dare ya, double dare ya
Girl fuckin friend yeah
Double Dare Ya - Bikini Kill
Anyway, I digress - there are people who will disagree with politics and art mixing but I'm not one of them. I like my art a tad controversial - not all my art of course - some of it I love purely for it's aesthetic value. Obviously disco gives me nothing in terms of thought but damn those dance beats get me every time. Other music I love purely because it brings up a question or challenges the way things are. I think music is an extremely powerful platform to which people can use to have their say. Have a look at gospel and old slave music and the importance it has in those cultures. What about how the Aboriginal people told their history through art and music? It's powerful. Looking through history you'd be hard pressed to find a time when politics and music were not linked in some way. Classical music is often likened to specific political figures. There were many war propoganda songs in the early 20th Century and then as time went on we grew into folk, punk and anarchist, riot grrl, grunge and music which generally had a social conscience. It's always been around.
The question keeps getting asked though: Are musicians qualified to make political statements?
Well, it seems to me we're stepping down a tretcherous road if we're saying that only certain kinds of people get to speak their mind while others have to shut up. So yes, IMO they are qualified. They are qualified simply because they are human, they live in society and they have an opinion. By that token I think that anyone with a voice is qualified to have their say - even the people I (or you) don't agree with. Hell, I might disagree quite strongly and loudly but that's the point in a society that advocates free speech - you're allowed to do that, it's encouraged even. Guess what? Life isn't one big tea party where everyone chews like they have a secret and smiles sweetly over Turkish Delight. Life is messy and political and more importantly in our own hands. I really do believe that people not standing up for their beliefs and the beliefs of others who have no voice has resulted in a society that is too scared to change. Change is important for (r)evolution and if no one is saying anything then you can bet we're all going to be stuck in a rut for a while yet. It amazes me, the amount of people who do not advocate passivity in their personal life but are extremely passive when it comes to speaking out on political matters. Things don't change on their own, we have to change them.
So yes, I do think that musicians are qualified to have their say - they also speak to an audience that the politicians and academics do not - that is youth. Youth are oft forgotten when it comes to politics - swept under the carpet because they are too young to vote and spend and there fore not seen as important to include in the debate. I beg to differ - they are the most important resource we have. They'll also be running the nursing homes we'll be living in, so you know..we'd better be nice.
The other reason why I enjoy the odd political song is that musicians are artists and there is integrity in standing by the art you create that goes far beyond it being "just a job". Why can I listen to a piece of music and find it more relevant than some kind of political debate on the television? Well, because said artist has put their heart and soul into the things I listen to. No I don't give the same consideration to music that is mass produced, fuck no, that has little soul. I might like elements of that kind of music but not the message. So unless an artist is being held under the thumb of an overly inflated conservative record label (or are created BY a label) they can say whatever the fuck they want. I LOVE that. There's a reason we don't trust politicians - they never say what they mean - ever. They also lie to get votes. Musicians don't have to do this - not if they're writing their own music (ie: not Milli Vanilli). There's enough variety in the music industry to sustain the boy bands who say nothing AS WELL AS the Dixie Chicks, who haven't stopped talking for years now and that's good. There's something for everyone. I know that when I listen to a piece of music I'm listening to an opinion that I can either take or leave - I don't have to like it and if I don't I can go elsewhere - but if someone takes the time to say it then good on them.
However, what happens when musicians move into politics? Do they maintain their political integrity?
Peter Garrett - Aussie muso turned politician can be used as an example. I can't think of any other mainstream musician apart from perhaps Bob Dylan in the early days and Eddie Vedder during the grunge era who have been more outspoken and explicit in their political ideologies. Whether you agree with their political musings or not, Midnight Oil were an amazing band and an Australian institution - you'd be hard pressed to find anyone who would disagree with that. I was excited when Peter Garrett first announced his political candidacy because I thought he would immediately stir things up - but this wasn't to be. Politics means existing inside a box where one has to conduct themselves in a certain way. We live in an era of political conservatism - even the liberal left aren't as left leaning as they used to be. People are scared to say what they think and unfortunately (maybe ironically) it's the politicians who have to zip it most of all.
Rock musicians don't live by these constricting rules, they can be as liberal or conservative as they like. They can even live a rather unclean type of lifestyle and still say what they want. Maybe we take what they say with a grain of salt but that's okay too - context does matter. I'd be less likely to agree with someone who was coked out for most of their career than someone who was clean but anyway the point is both musician and politician have a ready audience. Who would you rather listen to though? Liar, activist or artist? Peter Garrett may be pushing his agenda through other avenues now - there's a lot to be said for the act of subversion - moving with the mainstream while slowly chipping a secret tunnel and I support that too - but I have to say: I miss the old Peter Garrett, wonky dancing and all.
Not all musical artists are explicit though - not everyone is a Billy Bragg or Bikini Kill. Musical artists have been lending themselves to causes for many years now in the form of, Live 8, Live Aid, Rock the Vote, Free Tibet, RAIN, Race Rights, the surf rider foundation, live earth, United Farm Workers, earth first, animal rights, Sweet Relief, Home Alive and so many more. They are out there, even if they don't hold interviews that project an explicit point of view.
Following are a few of my favourite songs which have a political edge. What are your favourite political songs and why (if any)?
Masters of War - Bob Dylan (This song is an explicit reminder of exactly how war works: Top down - and who loses: the plebs. The song was written in the early 60s and every single word is still relevant today. Scary.).
stand out lyrics:
Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain
The Message - Grandmaster Flash and the furious five (This is an important song and has been much referenced by other artists through the years. Deals with the struggles of being black in a ghetto neighbourhood in the US. Something tells me not that much has changed).
standout lyrics:
Bill collectors they ring my phone
And scare my wife when I'm not home
Got a bum education, double-digit inflation
Cant take the train to the job, theres a strike
At the station
Me on King Kong standin' on my back
Can't stop to turn around, broke my sacroiliac
Midrange, migraine, cancered membrane
Sometimes I think I'm going insane, I swear I might
Hijack a plane!
Don't push me, cause I'm close to the edge
I'm trying not to loose my head
21st Century Digital Boy - Bad Religion (Social commentary on consumerist society that has no soul - with particular regard to how baby boomers have fucked things up for their Gen X/Y offspring. You know...typical Bad Religion music :P)
Stand out lyrics:
Cuz I'm a 21st century digital boy
I don't know how to live but I've got a lot of toys
My daddy's a lazy middle class intellectual
My mommy's on valium, so ineffectual
Blue Sky Mine - Midnight Oil (Miners and visitors to CSR mines in WA exposed to lethal levels of Blue Asbestos. The company continued to act negligently even after health warnings - people are still dying today and many will continue to die in the future from fatal illnesses as a direct result of this exposure. The song gave voice to many people who didn't - and still don't - have a voice).
stand out lyrics:
The candy store paupers lie to the share holders
They're crossing their fingers they pay the truth makers
The balance sheet is breaking up the sky
So I'm caught at the junction still waiting for medicine
The sweat of my brow keeps on feeding the engine
Hope the crumbs in my pocket can keep me for another night
And if the blue sky mining company wont come to my rescue
If the sugar refining company wont save me
Who's gonna save me?
Blue Sky Mine - Midnight Oil
Dear God - XTC (It's been described as an Atheist's anthem. It's an incredibly brave song - and also a wonderful piece of music in its own right).
stand out lyrics
Did you make disease, and the diamond blue?
Did you make mankind after we made you?
And the devil too
Dear God - XTC
Double Dare Ya - Bikini Kill (Kathleen Hanna was pretty much responsible for the riot grrl feminist movement of the 90s. She started her zines and band as a reaction to the rampant sexism going on in punk music at the time. Ian MacKaye (punk god) was supportive of this venture and engineered some of BK's stuff. Kathleen Hanna is hated and loved at the same time, which seems to happen a lot to women who speak out. She screams, she swears and for a while there she wore a ski mask during her performances so you couldn't even see her face. She does not beat around the bush - she's very outspoken and thank fuck for that. How often do you see girls really rocking it like boys, potty mouth and all? Not in the mainstream that's for sure. There's a lot of girls in skimpy bikini type outfits though - hence - Bikini Kill. Definitely not pretty music).
stand out lyrics:
Hey girlfriend
I got a proposition goes something like this:
Dare ya to do what you want
Dare ya to be who you will
Dare ya to cry right outloud
"You get so emotional baby"
Double dare ya, double dare ya, double dare ya
Girl fuckin friend yeah
Double Dare Ya - Bikini Kill
Labels: dirty femmo, musical monday, political musings, pop culture, voice, why do people get so touchy when it comes to talking about these things?
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