there is band called 'the transplants' featuring tim armstrong (from rancid), travis barker (from blink 182) and 'skin head' rob aston
i LOVED their last (and first) album.
last night i heard the first single from their new album. the song is called 'gangsters and thugs' and ladies and gentlemen i am disheartened to mention that this song is...
so bad it made me vomit and shit blood. i'm not kidding.
it's sad.
michelle.
Thursday, April 28, 2005
you're my inspiration
well actually i am my own inspiration...
or I'M not but this week has been...
or...fuck, i dunno...i am just so THRILLED right now.
a new project is in the works!
i will say no more in order not to jinx it before it's off the ground but...YEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!
c'est tout!
michelle.
or I'M not but this week has been...
or...fuck, i dunno...i am just so THRILLED right now.
a new project is in the works!
i will say no more in order not to jinx it before it's off the ground but...YEEEEEEEEEEEEAH!
c'est tout!
michelle.
Monday, April 25, 2005
this is some scary shit!
yesturday i had to work from about 3pm until 6pm with my dad, his fiancee, her mom and her sister.
after working we went for dinner.
sitting at dinner i came to a frightening revelation:
my future step-mother and her sister are jessica and ashlee simpson.
which one is which varies moment to moment but put them together and they are idiots. it is scary...
mtv produced horror movie scary!
m.
after working we went for dinner.
sitting at dinner i came to a frightening revelation:
my future step-mother and her sister are jessica and ashlee simpson.
which one is which varies moment to moment but put them together and they are idiots. it is scary...
mtv produced horror movie scary!
m.
"it's such an enormous thing...
...to walk and to listen" (from 'my favourite chords' by the weakerthans)
re: april 21 and 22 concerts at the powerplant in edmonton, alberta, canada
dear weakerthans,
people often ask me why i insist on being up front for concerts when i listen with my eyes closed.
i tell them the following: because when the band is really good i can feel it and i don't need to see it.
then they ask me why i bother going at all if all i want to do is 'feel' it.
i tell them the following: because when a band is really good i am lifted up and taken to somewhere else entirely...somewhere that i can't go when i am at home or in my car with a record.
that, weakerthans, is what i felt on thursday and friday night. i stood there, my sweat mingling with anticipation, and you took to that place where music is suppose to take you. if i was peter pan it would be my neverland.
so thank you, weakerthans, for rocking my blue suede shoes right off my feet and taking me far far away from the powerplant; from the dude singing off key behind me; from edmonton; from a world at war; from...the big picture.
and even i do want to forget about the big picture for a few moments and get lost in the story; i know it's there, you know it's there, and you won't less us forget it. so, thanks for that as well...
this is sort of rambling and random. i just wanted to express my appreciation for all you do and for all you did for me this past weekend. the weakerthans, in any capacity, are an experience not to be missed.
with thanks and affection,
michelle
re: april 21 and 22 concerts at the powerplant in edmonton, alberta, canada
dear weakerthans,
people often ask me why i insist on being up front for concerts when i listen with my eyes closed.
i tell them the following: because when the band is really good i can feel it and i don't need to see it.
then they ask me why i bother going at all if all i want to do is 'feel' it.
i tell them the following: because when a band is really good i am lifted up and taken to somewhere else entirely...somewhere that i can't go when i am at home or in my car with a record.
that, weakerthans, is what i felt on thursday and friday night. i stood there, my sweat mingling with anticipation, and you took to that place where music is suppose to take you. if i was peter pan it would be my neverland.
so thank you, weakerthans, for rocking my blue suede shoes right off my feet and taking me far far away from the powerplant; from the dude singing off key behind me; from edmonton; from a world at war; from...the big picture.
and even i do want to forget about the big picture for a few moments and get lost in the story; i know it's there, you know it's there, and you won't less us forget it. so, thanks for that as well...
this is sort of rambling and random. i just wanted to express my appreciation for all you do and for all you did for me this past weekend. the weakerthans, in any capacity, are an experience not to be missed.
with thanks and affection,
michelle
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
my response is in italics
so, kevin and i appear to be continuing our debate...publicly of course because i don't want to make kevin have to root through old entries to hear what i have to say and i don't like commenting, unless it's something small, in my own blog...call me crazy but..
so, here we go:
oh...and here is a p.s. before i even begin.
p.s. kevin...are you mad at me for not being alice? is anyone? sorry i lied a little...
Kevin said...
Wow. Sounds challenging. Lots of writing indeed! Should be really interesting too. I hope you keep us all updated as to what you're reading, etc. my guess: a lot of really dry and dense theory...sweet baby jesus i can't wait!!
What exactly is "open studies"? 'open studies' means i can go to school, take what i want, give them $500/class and not be working towards anything...i think it's actually set for people 'testing the water' or who are just interested in going to school part time...it means i can take whatever i want and am not bound by degree requirements...ie: no mandatory statistics class!! whoo hoo!
So I've been thinking about your comments about feminism and how the success of some women in a sexist system just makes things worse. Have you read anything by Julia Kristeva? i don't know much about Kristeva and she's a lacanian isn't she? if she is- doesn't psychoanalysis run counter to feminism?...but yeah...
The point you bring up is a really important one - in my opinion, one of the fundamental questions of our generation. Which is the right route to a more just society: internal change or external revolution? Punk and Marxism say external; but there are strong arguments the other way too. For example, if one woman out of a thousand can succeed in our society, are we justified in asking her to give up her success for the benefit of the others? American culture says no; everyone must fend for themselves. I don't believe these arguments or buy into the "culture of personal responsibility" that Bush wants me to eat, but I call these arguments strong because they work on millions of people. i don't think that it's about asking people to give up what they have worked for years to achieve. i think it's about recognizing that ONE person's success does not an equal society make...it's about recognizing that the 'culture of personal responsibility' is set up to take the onus off of the collective need to look out for each other..."you can't afford to eat, not my problem...no doctor? well, why don't you just get a better job?" personal responsibility if course important but it cannot exist in lieu of social responsibility...
I'm going off on a tangent here, but I suppose if you mind you can just delete this. NEVER...i am loving this discussion!
I think that this "culture of personal responsibility" and the reduction of state provided services it entails is really just code for a return to feudalism and the breakdown of modern social ethics (what precious little we do have). yep...and i fear we are heading along this path in alberta as well...herr bush and herr ralphie would probably get along great. the amount of cuts that continue to be made in the face of the ridiculous wealth of this province blows my mind
The truth is that the "other" simply doesn't have the political or economic power to be "responsible" for themselves; this is due in large part the forces of sexism, racism, and ethnocentrism in our society. uh huh! By allowing one in a thousand women succeed, we delude ourselves into thinking that those women who do not are simply not working hard enough, or are not "morally fit" to succeed. and this is what i mean when i say that the old rules of feminism...or progressive, egalitarian thinking no longer apply. we've allowed ourselves to be tricked into believing that the "other" is no longer the "other"...
Sick shit. Sick. again i say (and rather inarticulately...) uh huh
Wow, that was depressing. And probably poorly written, but what the hell. I wish I could take some of those classes you're signed up for; maybe then I would actually be able to figure out if I'm full of shit or not. It always seems strange not sign my name at the end of a comment, but it's already at the top. kevin, you rock! this is so rad! and as if this isn't well written! are you full of shit? depends on who your asking...georgie w. would say yes...i say HELLS NO! i may be but that is a discussion for another time!
kevin, this is so rad. i am so glad that all this blogging started something...i think i am going to start posting my thesis in chunks...subsections and probably edit as i go a bit...just to tighten and clean it up! please comment like crazy!
alright kids that's all for now...there will be more because as you can tell i fucking love this thing!
xx michelle.
so, here we go:
oh...and here is a p.s. before i even begin.
p.s. kevin...are you mad at me for not being alice? is anyone? sorry i lied a little...
Kevin said...
Wow. Sounds challenging. Lots of writing indeed! Should be really interesting too. I hope you keep us all updated as to what you're reading, etc. my guess: a lot of really dry and dense theory...sweet baby jesus i can't wait!!
What exactly is "open studies"? 'open studies' means i can go to school, take what i want, give them $500/class and not be working towards anything...i think it's actually set for people 'testing the water' or who are just interested in going to school part time...it means i can take whatever i want and am not bound by degree requirements...ie: no mandatory statistics class!! whoo hoo!
So I've been thinking about your comments about feminism and how the success of some women in a sexist system just makes things worse. Have you read anything by Julia Kristeva? i don't know much about Kristeva and she's a lacanian isn't she? if she is- doesn't psychoanalysis run counter to feminism?...but yeah...
The point you bring up is a really important one - in my opinion, one of the fundamental questions of our generation. Which is the right route to a more just society: internal change or external revolution? Punk and Marxism say external; but there are strong arguments the other way too. For example, if one woman out of a thousand can succeed in our society, are we justified in asking her to give up her success for the benefit of the others? American culture says no; everyone must fend for themselves. I don't believe these arguments or buy into the "culture of personal responsibility" that Bush wants me to eat, but I call these arguments strong because they work on millions of people. i don't think that it's about asking people to give up what they have worked for years to achieve. i think it's about recognizing that ONE person's success does not an equal society make...it's about recognizing that the 'culture of personal responsibility' is set up to take the onus off of the collective need to look out for each other..."you can't afford to eat, not my problem...no doctor? well, why don't you just get a better job?" personal responsibility if course important but it cannot exist in lieu of social responsibility...
I'm going off on a tangent here, but I suppose if you mind you can just delete this. NEVER...i am loving this discussion!
I think that this "culture of personal responsibility" and the reduction of state provided services it entails is really just code for a return to feudalism and the breakdown of modern social ethics (what precious little we do have). yep...and i fear we are heading along this path in alberta as well...herr bush and herr ralphie would probably get along great. the amount of cuts that continue to be made in the face of the ridiculous wealth of this province blows my mind
The truth is that the "other" simply doesn't have the political or economic power to be "responsible" for themselves; this is due in large part the forces of sexism, racism, and ethnocentrism in our society. uh huh! By allowing one in a thousand women succeed, we delude ourselves into thinking that those women who do not are simply not working hard enough, or are not "morally fit" to succeed. and this is what i mean when i say that the old rules of feminism...or progressive, egalitarian thinking no longer apply. we've allowed ourselves to be tricked into believing that the "other" is no longer the "other"...
Sick shit. Sick. again i say (and rather inarticulately...) uh huh
Wow, that was depressing. And probably poorly written, but what the hell. I wish I could take some of those classes you're signed up for; maybe then I would actually be able to figure out if I'm full of shit or not. It always seems strange not sign my name at the end of a comment, but it's already at the top. kevin, you rock! this is so rad! and as if this isn't well written! are you full of shit? depends on who your asking...georgie w. would say yes...i say HELLS NO! i may be but that is a discussion for another time!
kevin, this is so rad. i am so glad that all this blogging started something...i think i am going to start posting my thesis in chunks...subsections and probably edit as i go a bit...just to tighten and clean it up! please comment like crazy!
alright kids that's all for now...there will be more because as you can tell i fucking love this thing!
xx michelle.
Monday, April 18, 2005
something for nigel
nigel.
i hope this fulfills your request for something profound and happy making
i often come to this when things just aren't.
Everything Will Be Okay
It's always surprising, this sense
of relief. When you kiss me
unexpectedly, I'm reminded of
the time I left a shoe-box containing
ten or eleven thousand dollars on a
coffee table in a hotel lobby in Northern Italy.
I was between floors in the elevator,
staring at my reflection knowing something
was missing when I remembered what was,
and pushed every button and rolled through
the doors, sprinted hallways in search of the
universal symbol for stairs, barreled
down six flights, and found it
waiting there, untouched,
and haloed by the light
of late-afternoon.
©2004 John K Samson
that man never ceases to amaze.
with love,
michelle
and, with luck i will be meeting mr. samson on the weekend, having insane sex with him and then going on tour with the weakerthans before returning to winnipeg for a life of activism and rock star sex!!
i hope this fulfills your request for something profound and happy making
i often come to this when things just aren't.
Everything Will Be Okay
It's always surprising, this sense
of relief. When you kiss me
unexpectedly, I'm reminded of
the time I left a shoe-box containing
ten or eleven thousand dollars on a
coffee table in a hotel lobby in Northern Italy.
I was between floors in the elevator,
staring at my reflection knowing something
was missing when I remembered what was,
and pushed every button and rolled through
the doors, sprinted hallways in search of the
universal symbol for stairs, barreled
down six flights, and found it
waiting there, untouched,
and haloed by the light
of late-afternoon.
©2004 John K Samson
that man never ceases to amaze.
with love,
michelle
and, with luck i will be meeting mr. samson on the weekend, having insane sex with him and then going on tour with the weakerthans before returning to winnipeg for a life of activism and rock star sex!!
the truth
ladies and gents.
this is both an apology and an admission.
i have decided to give up my anonymity...aside from my name it's all true anyways...and i just can't do it anymore. i don't know who it helps. it doesn't help me. the internet takes care of the impersonal for us right?
don't worry though...everything besides my name has been the truth but here we are...FULL DISCLOSURE:
my name is michelle nancy kennedy
i was born september 11, 1981 at foothills hospital in calgary alberta
my mom is maureen and my dad is stephen. they are divorced. i have a sister, rachel, who is 21.
i have an honours arts degree in drama from the university of alberta and am SERIOUSLY underemployed as my father's secretary.
so that's it. that's me and that is the truth...
michelle.
this is both an apology and an admission.
i have decided to give up my anonymity...aside from my name it's all true anyways...and i just can't do it anymore. i don't know who it helps. it doesn't help me. the internet takes care of the impersonal for us right?
don't worry though...everything besides my name has been the truth but here we are...FULL DISCLOSURE:
my name is michelle nancy kennedy
i was born september 11, 1981 at foothills hospital in calgary alberta
my mom is maureen and my dad is stephen. they are divorced. i have a sister, rachel, who is 21.
i have an honours arts degree in drama from the university of alberta and am SERIOUSLY underemployed as my father's secretary.
so that's it. that's me and that is the truth...
michelle.
Sunday, April 17, 2005
five posts in one complete with coloured sub-headings
the first is simply to let you all know that i will be doing a five in one today complete with coloured subheadings...you should be excited...and hopefully there will be something to make nigel smile. also...you may notice i am using a new font...times new roman just isn't doing it for me anymore...
2.
gushing with pride
april 7th, 1951 was my mom's birthday.
april 7th, 2004 was the day that my parents divorce was finalized and my mom recieved the papers
april 7th, 2005 was my mom's birthday and the one year anniversary of her divorce, and the first time she didn't think about it!
god, i love my mom more than anyone else in the world!
3.
the return of the choir boy
so i was at the 'power plant' this evening and who did i see but the choir boy billy...he didn't know it was me, i am sure he's erased me from his memory since i am so boring, snobby, inarticulate and...what was the forth thing? whatever...
he didn't know it was me because we never met but i recognized his tattoos...i had drooled over them at one point...
the tattoos are nice but i am mad because billy IS NOT CUTE...first of all, and mainly, he shorter than me and i am not that tall...also, and i know this is going to make me sound really bad but the girl he was with...yeah, i am WAY hotter than her...that may not be saying much but...
fuck it made me mad to see him and remember how mad i was...i was mad for THAT? ugh...
4.
i have a date tomorrow
that is all!
5.
he's just so ridiculously unassuming
the spring concert tour continued this evening.
adam, keri and i went to see greg macpherson (see links) at the powerplant this evening and i can say nothing except that this may have been one of the greatest shows i have EVER seen in edmonton. i can't explain how all the pieces of this amazing performers set fit together to be just so...
there were two things that really struck me though...aside from how fucking wickedly awesome he is:
1) why are there like 1100 people at a mediocre to good show like hot hot heat and there are only 110 (at the busiest) to see mr. macpherson. he should be playing for 10 000 people...although, i don't want him to play for 10 000 people because then it wouldn't be as special...odd paradox...amazing performer deserves audience but too many people would ruin the intimacy of it. seriously, this guy doesn't even need a mic.
2) as i sat there watching him i was mezmorized...completely but then i started thinking...WHY CAN'T THEATRE DO THIS? i want to do THIS to people in a theatre. i want to see people's mind's being blown! and it just cements it for me. the type of theatre i am meant to be making is not meant for theatre people exclusively...i have to get it out of the theatre building and convention and...
jesus...i am all fired up! who wants to help?!??!!?
so there it is...the 5 post post!
alice excited.
2.
gushing with pride
april 7th, 1951 was my mom's birthday.
april 7th, 2004 was the day that my parents divorce was finalized and my mom recieved the papers
april 7th, 2005 was my mom's birthday and the one year anniversary of her divorce, and the first time she didn't think about it!
god, i love my mom more than anyone else in the world!
3.
the return of the choir boy
so i was at the 'power plant' this evening and who did i see but the choir boy billy...he didn't know it was me, i am sure he's erased me from his memory since i am so boring, snobby, inarticulate and...what was the forth thing? whatever...
he didn't know it was me because we never met but i recognized his tattoos...i had drooled over them at one point...
the tattoos are nice but i am mad because billy IS NOT CUTE...first of all, and mainly, he shorter than me and i am not that tall...also, and i know this is going to make me sound really bad but the girl he was with...yeah, i am WAY hotter than her...that may not be saying much but...
fuck it made me mad to see him and remember how mad i was...i was mad for THAT? ugh...
4.
i have a date tomorrow
that is all!
5.
he's just so ridiculously unassuming
the spring concert tour continued this evening.
adam, keri and i went to see greg macpherson (see links) at the powerplant this evening and i can say nothing except that this may have been one of the greatest shows i have EVER seen in edmonton. i can't explain how all the pieces of this amazing performers set fit together to be just so...
there were two things that really struck me though...aside from how fucking wickedly awesome he is:
1) why are there like 1100 people at a mediocre to good show like hot hot heat and there are only 110 (at the busiest) to see mr. macpherson. he should be playing for 10 000 people...although, i don't want him to play for 10 000 people because then it wouldn't be as special...odd paradox...amazing performer deserves audience but too many people would ruin the intimacy of it. seriously, this guy doesn't even need a mic.
2) as i sat there watching him i was mezmorized...completely but then i started thinking...WHY CAN'T THEATRE DO THIS? i want to do THIS to people in a theatre. i want to see people's mind's being blown! and it just cements it for me. the type of theatre i am meant to be making is not meant for theatre people exclusively...i have to get it out of the theatre building and convention and...
jesus...i am all fired up! who wants to help?!??!!?
so there it is...the 5 post post!
alice excited.
Saturday, April 16, 2005
i have been to hell and danced with the devil
and damn is he a good dancer. he tricks you into thinking you're in heaven, that all is right with the world and things are as they should be.
have you met the devil? you may have and not even known it was him...or her. the devil's real gender was of no consequence as we danced together this evening...
but, curiosity killed the cat, as they say so i will tell you all about it:
today, the devil takes the female form. she is young, fresh faced and in love...she is a bride to be and she is planning her wedding...
*cue sinister music and the sound of babies crying, children screaming and puppies dying*
whether or not i ever want to get married is still up for debate...but i will tell you this much, dear friends (and you can hold me to this...) there will be NO wedding. there will be NO money spent on favours, there will be NO countless hours spent wondering if the chosen purple and green ribbons are the appropriate purple and green ribbons for the event...there will be NO debating over guest lists, double-sided tape or mardi-gras themed showers, there will be NO forced tattoo or peircing stoppages, NO dresses, NO mother-in-laws or mothers, and NO making my VERY pasty friends go tanning...
and the list could go on...
don't get me wrong. i love sheila and i want her to be happy and have the wedding of her dreams but it's four months away and i am already feeling the maid of honour stress fest kicking into full swing...and i haven't even seen my "too light for jet black hair and pasty skin" dress yet...
oh, and i can only imagine the day when she realises you WILL be able to see my tattoo and tries to make me cover it...i am conceeding enough by putting a stud in my nose...
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
god love her (and i do...i REALLY do) but i am going to put a stick in my eye...
oh...and did i mention they are beginning to reach an upward cost of $32-33K
yep!
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
alice, screaming, etc...
have you met the devil? you may have and not even known it was him...or her. the devil's real gender was of no consequence as we danced together this evening...
but, curiosity killed the cat, as they say so i will tell you all about it:
today, the devil takes the female form. she is young, fresh faced and in love...she is a bride to be and she is planning her wedding...
*cue sinister music and the sound of babies crying, children screaming and puppies dying*
whether or not i ever want to get married is still up for debate...but i will tell you this much, dear friends (and you can hold me to this...) there will be NO wedding. there will be NO money spent on favours, there will be NO countless hours spent wondering if the chosen purple and green ribbons are the appropriate purple and green ribbons for the event...there will be NO debating over guest lists, double-sided tape or mardi-gras themed showers, there will be NO forced tattoo or peircing stoppages, NO dresses, NO mother-in-laws or mothers, and NO making my VERY pasty friends go tanning...
and the list could go on...
don't get me wrong. i love sheila and i want her to be happy and have the wedding of her dreams but it's four months away and i am already feeling the maid of honour stress fest kicking into full swing...and i haven't even seen my "too light for jet black hair and pasty skin" dress yet...
oh, and i can only imagine the day when she realises you WILL be able to see my tattoo and tries to make me cover it...i am conceeding enough by putting a stud in my nose...
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
god love her (and i do...i REALLY do) but i am going to put a stick in my eye...
oh...and did i mention they are beginning to reach an upward cost of $32-33K
yep!
fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!
alice, screaming, etc...
Friday, April 15, 2005
if i was an elitist snob before this won't help...
i registered today for 'open studies' at the university of alberta...
that's right kids. it's official.
mostly i am proud of how decisive i was because that's rare...thank god all the classes i wanted to take weren't offered...it made the choice a LOT easier.
so, what did i choose?
in the fall:
women's studies 201: introduction to women's studies
theoretical foundations of feminist analysis and diversity of debates within feminism.
english 302: critical theories in literature
studies in critical and theorectical currents within literary studies. Context and period focus may vary.
in the winter:
comparative literature 256: introduction to colonial and post-colonial literature
introduction to the comparative study of the modern literatures of asia, africa and latin america (includes the carribbean)
english 221: reading politics: class and ideology
an introduction to the dynamics of class and ideology in literary and other cultural texts; and to the critical texts and the critical concepts and methods key to their study.
go me! i picked rad shit. lots of work and lots of paper writin'
i can hardly wait!!
alice the nerd.
that's right kids. it's official.
mostly i am proud of how decisive i was because that's rare...thank god all the classes i wanted to take weren't offered...it made the choice a LOT easier.
so, what did i choose?
in the fall:
women's studies 201: introduction to women's studies
theoretical foundations of feminist analysis and diversity of debates within feminism.
english 302: critical theories in literature
studies in critical and theorectical currents within literary studies. Context and period focus may vary.
in the winter:
comparative literature 256: introduction to colonial and post-colonial literature
introduction to the comparative study of the modern literatures of asia, africa and latin america (includes the carribbean)
english 221: reading politics: class and ideology
an introduction to the dynamics of class and ideology in literary and other cultural texts; and to the critical texts and the critical concepts and methods key to their study.
go me! i picked rad shit. lots of work and lots of paper writin'
i can hardly wait!!
alice the nerd.
whoops.
i fucked up. i'll admit it...i was overzealous in my posting...
beth ditto: the gossip
beth orton: singer too but not in the gossip.
sorry for not being super on the ball with the names...both beth's will rock your socks off...through your shoes (thanks for that one jeff...)
stupid alice. (red with shame...)
beth ditto: the gossip
beth orton: singer too but not in the gossip.
sorry for not being super on the ball with the names...both beth's will rock your socks off...through your shoes (thanks for that one jeff...)
stupid alice. (red with shame...)
Thursday, April 14, 2005
something i forgot to mention
and this is weirder than 'red's entertainment complex' and west edmonton mall combined.
the dude that introduced the futureheads was PEDRO from napoleon dynamite.
it was lame.
alice, etc...
the dude that introduced the futureheads was PEDRO from napoleon dynamite.
it was lame.
alice, etc...
well, they want me back.
the university of alberta has accepted me back into their fray as an open studies student...
not that i'm surprised...in case you haven't figured it out or my bad grammar deceived you, i'm pretty smart.
i just can't believe i was only away for a year before i got bored and wanted to go back. i thought i was sick of the whole academic hoop-jumping adventure for a little while...guess not...i wonder if i am on the path to academia? i doubt it...i think i like being a sketchy artist and acting like a bum way too much!
but get this, i can take whatever i want!
whatever i want...
the idea of the possibilities being almost endless is pretty damn daunting. thank god prerequisites and a loathing of all things math or science related (due to an inability to even add) will keep me reigned in. this semester i am looking at women's studies and the philosophy of art criticism or some cool-ass comparative lit class...
i'll keep you posted since i know you're all waiting with baited breath!
and it's raining like a motherfucker right now and it's making me more tired then i think i actually am...is that possible?
i don't care though because LCD soundsystem is on the radio right now and i am going to have a solo-dance-party in the office. score!!
alice, etc...
p.s. the spell check want to change motherfucker to motorbike!!!
not that i'm surprised...in case you haven't figured it out or my bad grammar deceived you, i'm pretty smart.
i just can't believe i was only away for a year before i got bored and wanted to go back. i thought i was sick of the whole academic hoop-jumping adventure for a little while...guess not...i wonder if i am on the path to academia? i doubt it...i think i like being a sketchy artist and acting like a bum way too much!
but get this, i can take whatever i want!
whatever i want...
the idea of the possibilities being almost endless is pretty damn daunting. thank god prerequisites and a loathing of all things math or science related (due to an inability to even add) will keep me reigned in. this semester i am looking at women's studies and the philosophy of art criticism or some cool-ass comparative lit class...
i'll keep you posted since i know you're all waiting with baited breath!
and it's raining like a motherfucker right now and it's making me more tired then i think i actually am...is that possible?
i don't care though because LCD soundsystem is on the radio right now and i am going to have a solo-dance-party in the office. score!!
alice, etc...
p.s. the spell check want to change motherfucker to motorbike!!!
i forgot what it felt like
tonight was the beginning of a long concert season for yours truly and damn did it start with a bang!
HOT HOT HEAT at red's april 13, 2005
we arrive at the venue- just past 8- rachel, kevin and i and as we walk to the back of the line we check out and are checked out by all the scenesters and pseudo-scenesters already there. as i pass by i hope that my purple eye-liner and black shoes are acceptable. or i don't...but i feel like i should care and so i pretend to...i can tell from the others that they're all thinking the same thing...am i ironic and cool enough tonight?
imagine what it must feel like to enter 'red's entertainment complex'...it's one of those places that has a restuarant, arcade, bowling, pool and, on occasion, concerts. and it's always a weird time. the acoustics suck and the venue is nothing more than a poorly laid out cave but it's the only 1000-ish seat venue in the city so it has to suit...the worst part of this cave is that it's in 'THE MALL'...and the mall is the definition of both gong show and ridiculous excess in edmonton...anyhow, we enter the venue, amdist the swarms of kids who for some of them this is probably their first show. and goddamn do i remember how that felt...
the first band is already playing and sadly i was already bored...louis XIV they're called and yet i feel like i am watching jet...the american version of jet...and i want to vomit. luckily it doesn't last too long and someone else takes care of the vomitting...all over some chick standing two feet away from me. thank christ it wasn't on me.
i'm bored again 20 minutes later by the futureheads who flew all the way from england to play 10 songs and make damn sure they all sound EXACTLY the same.
it's funny because i think i'm spoiled living in edmonton. the bands here are good and they set up quickly and they aren't afraid to give everything they have...not for a moment. i suppose when you have nothing to lose you'll play with your heart...the futureheads apparently have a lot to lose because they don't seem to give a shit or they give too much of a shit but not enough of a shit what the people who paid money to see them think...or some other shit.
then suddenly but without surprise the night is saved. i dance and i sing and sweat from every pore until i am tired, my throat is raw and my ears are ringing...i don't ever want it to end.
that's what it's all about kids!
alice, etc...
HOT HOT HEAT at red's april 13, 2005
we arrive at the venue- just past 8- rachel, kevin and i and as we walk to the back of the line we check out and are checked out by all the scenesters and pseudo-scenesters already there. as i pass by i hope that my purple eye-liner and black shoes are acceptable. or i don't...but i feel like i should care and so i pretend to...i can tell from the others that they're all thinking the same thing...am i ironic and cool enough tonight?
imagine what it must feel like to enter 'red's entertainment complex'...it's one of those places that has a restuarant, arcade, bowling, pool and, on occasion, concerts. and it's always a weird time. the acoustics suck and the venue is nothing more than a poorly laid out cave but it's the only 1000-ish seat venue in the city so it has to suit...the worst part of this cave is that it's in 'THE MALL'...and the mall is the definition of both gong show and ridiculous excess in edmonton...anyhow, we enter the venue, amdist the swarms of kids who for some of them this is probably their first show. and goddamn do i remember how that felt...
the first band is already playing and sadly i was already bored...louis XIV they're called and yet i feel like i am watching jet...the american version of jet...and i want to vomit. luckily it doesn't last too long and someone else takes care of the vomitting...all over some chick standing two feet away from me. thank christ it wasn't on me.
i'm bored again 20 minutes later by the futureheads who flew all the way from england to play 10 songs and make damn sure they all sound EXACTLY the same.
it's funny because i think i'm spoiled living in edmonton. the bands here are good and they set up quickly and they aren't afraid to give everything they have...not for a moment. i suppose when you have nothing to lose you'll play with your heart...the futureheads apparently have a lot to lose because they don't seem to give a shit or they give too much of a shit but not enough of a shit what the people who paid money to see them think...or some other shit.
then suddenly but without surprise the night is saved. i dance and i sing and sweat from every pore until i am tired, my throat is raw and my ears are ringing...i don't ever want it to end.
that's what it's all about kids!
alice, etc...
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
kevin said...
alright. i know most of you dear readers are not interested in this discussion kevin and i are having and are wondering why i feel compelled to post this as an actual post but i HATE making long comments in the comment section in response...i want to have the space to think it out. i know i can make my comments as long as i please but i just feel restricted by that tiny looking space...besides, people don't read comments...
that being said: (my comments are NOT in italics)
Kevin said...
Your comment about men objectifying themselves is interesting. That idea gives an interesting reading of the "cash, booze, women" hip-hop stereotype; here men are required to provide commodity-based evidence of self-worth. This valuation loses sight of basic worth of humanity and disenfranchises the "everyman". (or 'everyperson' because i feel that in a lot of ways we as woman are also asked to identify with these men...or at least identify the bravado as a desirable trait in a mate...)
It highlights a huge problem in our society - people on the bottom seek to become oppressors rather than to eliminate oppression. (i think this is really at the core of a lot of contemporary societal issue-'can't beat 'em join 'em-instead of distancing oneself from the desire to be somehow 'better' we forget to value all the things we currently have. in striving for more money or shit or whatever we blind ourselves to what we already have: passion, good friends, a roof over our heads...whatever...) if lives were measured on a scale other than some ridiculous dollar value for commodity i think we'd all be happier...ahh...sweet, sweet idealism...
I'm also interested in this "madonna/whore" dichotomy. I hadn't thought of it until you mentioned it, but our society devalues anyone who strays too far in either of these directions. It's either "ice queen" or "queen slut". In essence, our society has no acceptable place for female expression of sexuality; the only way we view female sexuality is in its relationship to male perception. as evident in every aspect of marketing, mainstream cultural production...you name it...the male gaze transfixes even women...
Perhaps this is starting to change with programs like "The Vagina Monologues". While I've never seen this performed, I'm under the impression that it is intended as a female discourse of female sexuality. i'm sure that was the original intention but it's since become a product of the socially acceptable (ie: ok by men) commodified version of feminism. it's a-ok because it doesn't really challenge anything. it doesn't offer up any kind of alternative and it doesn't offer an alternative perspective for men either...which i think is a huge problem with a lot of contemporary feminism...not all men are creeps and not all men are oppressive and simply loving your vagina doesn't change shit.
On a more music related note; I've noticed that in the past many male performers valued "intellect" as musical skill; e.g. jazz musicians value complicated harmonies, rappers value complex rhyme schemes. However, these "intellect" based musics have been traditionally male-dominated. I'd be interested in learning about "intellect" based music performed and created by women. Any suggestions? musically...hmm...i think it's just a matter of finding artists who aren't concerned with 'the industry'. i am a huge fan of joanna newsom who is an experimental folk-harpist who is amazingly talented. there are a lot of girls working in post-rock and experimental electronic stuff. there are girls everywhere but when i think hard about it the bands that are truly good, in an industry still amazingly dominated by men, the gender of the performers isn't an issue...they're just musicians and in no way qualify themselves as 'female musicians' or 'male musicians' (not that would EVER happen)
perfomance artist wise you should look up karen finley...she'll blow your mind...theory wise: bell hooks is always cool!
I'll see if I can find some Kathleen Hanna and Beth Orton, too. You were right - I've never heard of either. kathleen hanna plays with le tigre now and is a pioneer of riot grrrl (she was in bikini kill) and beth orton plays in the gossip (one of my current favourite punk bands!)
it's funny because obviously i am weird feminist...i AM a feminist for sure but at some other point i abhor the way feminism is used an excuse not to stand up for the rights of all people in general. there are an amazing amount of men (of all races and sexual orientations...) just as marginalized (and for the same reasons as women)...no, frat boy lawyers aren't, but artists, activists... etc...whatever...not the point. traditional definitions of feminism break down for me because the old rules no longer apply. there are now women in positions of power who add to the marginalization of women because they support and work within the system of oppression (can anyone say condeleeza rice...for example). the problem is now not only the patriarchy but the way in which capitalism informs the patriarchy and the way in which LARGE parts of society, not only men, buy into the notions of equality that capitalism has set up to trick us. yes, women still make less money but when they have a title like CEO no one cares, we think equality has been achieved. feminism has become a slogan for corporate woman to convince the rest of that the office tower is where we all want to aspire. 'up here, in our power suits, we're all equal...and we can still be feminine and shave our legs...' since when was feminism about NOT being feminine...
bah, that was a tangent. but this is fun!
alice, etc...
that being said: (my comments are NOT in italics)
Kevin said...
Your comment about men objectifying themselves is interesting. That idea gives an interesting reading of the "cash, booze, women" hip-hop stereotype; here men are required to provide commodity-based evidence of self-worth. This valuation loses sight of basic worth of humanity and disenfranchises the "everyman". (or 'everyperson' because i feel that in a lot of ways we as woman are also asked to identify with these men...or at least identify the bravado as a desirable trait in a mate...)
It highlights a huge problem in our society - people on the bottom seek to become oppressors rather than to eliminate oppression. (i think this is really at the core of a lot of contemporary societal issue-'can't beat 'em join 'em-instead of distancing oneself from the desire to be somehow 'better' we forget to value all the things we currently have. in striving for more money or shit or whatever we blind ourselves to what we already have: passion, good friends, a roof over our heads...whatever...) if lives were measured on a scale other than some ridiculous dollar value for commodity i think we'd all be happier...ahh...sweet, sweet idealism...
I'm also interested in this "madonna/whore" dichotomy. I hadn't thought of it until you mentioned it, but our society devalues anyone who strays too far in either of these directions. It's either "ice queen" or "queen slut". In essence, our society has no acceptable place for female expression of sexuality; the only way we view female sexuality is in its relationship to male perception. as evident in every aspect of marketing, mainstream cultural production...you name it...the male gaze transfixes even women...
Perhaps this is starting to change with programs like "The Vagina Monologues". While I've never seen this performed, I'm under the impression that it is intended as a female discourse of female sexuality. i'm sure that was the original intention but it's since become a product of the socially acceptable (ie: ok by men) commodified version of feminism. it's a-ok because it doesn't really challenge anything. it doesn't offer up any kind of alternative and it doesn't offer an alternative perspective for men either...which i think is a huge problem with a lot of contemporary feminism...not all men are creeps and not all men are oppressive and simply loving your vagina doesn't change shit.
On a more music related note; I've noticed that in the past many male performers valued "intellect" as musical skill; e.g. jazz musicians value complicated harmonies, rappers value complex rhyme schemes. However, these "intellect" based musics have been traditionally male-dominated. I'd be interested in learning about "intellect" based music performed and created by women. Any suggestions? musically...hmm...i think it's just a matter of finding artists who aren't concerned with 'the industry'. i am a huge fan of joanna newsom who is an experimental folk-harpist who is amazingly talented. there are a lot of girls working in post-rock and experimental electronic stuff. there are girls everywhere but when i think hard about it the bands that are truly good, in an industry still amazingly dominated by men, the gender of the performers isn't an issue...they're just musicians and in no way qualify themselves as 'female musicians' or 'male musicians' (not that would EVER happen)
perfomance artist wise you should look up karen finley...she'll blow your mind...theory wise: bell hooks is always cool!
I'll see if I can find some Kathleen Hanna and Beth Orton, too. You were right - I've never heard of either. kathleen hanna plays with le tigre now and is a pioneer of riot grrrl (she was in bikini kill) and beth orton plays in the gossip (one of my current favourite punk bands!)
it's funny because obviously i am weird feminist...i AM a feminist for sure but at some other point i abhor the way feminism is used an excuse not to stand up for the rights of all people in general. there are an amazing amount of men (of all races and sexual orientations...) just as marginalized (and for the same reasons as women)...no, frat boy lawyers aren't, but artists, activists... etc...whatever...not the point. traditional definitions of feminism break down for me because the old rules no longer apply. there are now women in positions of power who add to the marginalization of women because they support and work within the system of oppression (can anyone say condeleeza rice...for example). the problem is now not only the patriarchy but the way in which capitalism informs the patriarchy and the way in which LARGE parts of society, not only men, buy into the notions of equality that capitalism has set up to trick us. yes, women still make less money but when they have a title like CEO no one cares, we think equality has been achieved. feminism has become a slogan for corporate woman to convince the rest of that the office tower is where we all want to aspire. 'up here, in our power suits, we're all equal...and we can still be feminine and shave our legs...' since when was feminism about NOT being feminine...
bah, that was a tangent. but this is fun!
alice, etc...
irresponsible
not to get all up on my high-horse or anything but...
this dude just came into work to purchase some tire dressing (don't ask because i don't know...) and he reeked of booze...
y'know that oozing from the pours because ALL my body cavaties are already to full smell? that was him.
and not only did he reek of booze but he was also obviously drunk.
the worst part, and the high horse part...after he signed his bill he took off in a CAR and went back to WORK...
christ!
alice, etc...
this dude just came into work to purchase some tire dressing (don't ask because i don't know...) and he reeked of booze...
y'know that oozing from the pours because ALL my body cavaties are already to full smell? that was him.
and not only did he reek of booze but he was also obviously drunk.
the worst part, and the high horse part...after he signed his bill he took off in a CAR and went back to WORK...
christ!
alice, etc...
boo
that was a sad boo...like boo hoo or boo-URNS
not a scary boo.
there was a chance for penetration on friday and now it's not going to happen...
at least not this weekend.
boo...and dammit!
alice, etc...
not a scary boo.
there was a chance for penetration on friday and now it's not going to happen...
at least not this weekend.
boo...and dammit!
alice, etc...
Monday, April 11, 2005
upon further investigation
in response to my last post kevin posted the following and i have chosen to reply publicly:
I haven't seen to much TV lately, but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on female performers music videos. I seem to recall an outrage over Madonna's videos; perhaps the idea of a woman objectifying men as sexual objects is more taboo than vice-versa? Do you know of any contemporary female performers whose sexual identity isn't based on submission? From the little I've seen of B. Spears, I think she doesn't qualify here (c.f. the schoolgirl outfit). What ever happened to Gwen Stefani (sp?) ? Not that I ever particularly enjoyed there music, but she at least seemed to have a strong sexual personality. Thoughts?
my reply:
of course i have thoughts on this...i haven't done much actual research into this topic but i would be willing to bet money that the majority of these videos where women are 'objectified' are directed by men and directed with a specific message in mind. to me it says the following:
'woman, if you look like this and act like this you can have any man at your service and you can treat him however you please...you must first however, rope him in with feigned innocence and well placed breasts; men, these women are hot, you should go jerk off keeping the madonna/whore fantasy in mind (pigtails always help) and then go buy her album for your girlfriend!"
it seems to me to be not about woman dominating men or objectifying them it seems to be reconfirming that men want that madonna/whore dichotomy...'a lady on the street but a freak in the bed' (and i think it was usher said that one...)
also, the majority of these teen pop idols' songs are written by men...or co-written with professional song writers to guarantee big hits. Even, miss avril 'i'm so punk and write all my own songs' is co-writing with some of these professional pop writers now...
are there any contemporary female performers whose sexual identity isn't based on submission?
if there are they are few and far between. i racked my brain this afternoon trying to think of someone in the mainstream who doesn't seem to be afraid to express herself simply the way she is and all i could think of was nelly furtado because she made a video when she was pregnant.
Gwen Stefan? Five years ago i might have agreed but now that she divides her time selling clothes, makeup and sex while (co-)writing some of the worst songs in recent memory i would have to disagree...
it's too bad that a good majority of people will never hear about Kathleen Hanna or Beth Orton or...whomever...even ani difranco...it's not like she's a household name yet either.
the other thing that strikes me funny about all of this is that no one seems concerned that men are objectifying themselves in the same way. Only they're reinforcing, through the images they present, the misogynistic stereotype of the 20-ish year old male. It isn't cool just to be a nice guy who treats women well and doesn't feel compelled to write songs about gang bangs or money...
this is only a small chunk of the reason why i think traditionally defined gender roles are bullshit...
tip of the iceberg Kevin, but this is great fun!
I haven't seen to much TV lately, but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on female performers music videos. I seem to recall an outrage over Madonna's videos; perhaps the idea of a woman objectifying men as sexual objects is more taboo than vice-versa? Do you know of any contemporary female performers whose sexual identity isn't based on submission? From the little I've seen of B. Spears, I think she doesn't qualify here (c.f. the schoolgirl outfit). What ever happened to Gwen Stefani (sp?) ? Not that I ever particularly enjoyed there music, but she at least seemed to have a strong sexual personality. Thoughts?
my reply:
of course i have thoughts on this...i haven't done much actual research into this topic but i would be willing to bet money that the majority of these videos where women are 'objectified' are directed by men and directed with a specific message in mind. to me it says the following:
'woman, if you look like this and act like this you can have any man at your service and you can treat him however you please...you must first however, rope him in with feigned innocence and well placed breasts; men, these women are hot, you should go jerk off keeping the madonna/whore fantasy in mind (pigtails always help) and then go buy her album for your girlfriend!"
it seems to me to be not about woman dominating men or objectifying them it seems to be reconfirming that men want that madonna/whore dichotomy...'a lady on the street but a freak in the bed' (and i think it was usher said that one...)
also, the majority of these teen pop idols' songs are written by men...or co-written with professional song writers to guarantee big hits. Even, miss avril 'i'm so punk and write all my own songs' is co-writing with some of these professional pop writers now...
are there any contemporary female performers whose sexual identity isn't based on submission?
if there are they are few and far between. i racked my brain this afternoon trying to think of someone in the mainstream who doesn't seem to be afraid to express herself simply the way she is and all i could think of was nelly furtado because she made a video when she was pregnant.
Gwen Stefan? Five years ago i might have agreed but now that she divides her time selling clothes, makeup and sex while (co-)writing some of the worst songs in recent memory i would have to disagree...
it's too bad that a good majority of people will never hear about Kathleen Hanna or Beth Orton or...whomever...even ani difranco...it's not like she's a household name yet either.
the other thing that strikes me funny about all of this is that no one seems concerned that men are objectifying themselves in the same way. Only they're reinforcing, through the images they present, the misogynistic stereotype of the 20-ish year old male. It isn't cool just to be a nice guy who treats women well and doesn't feel compelled to write songs about gang bangs or money...
this is only a small chunk of the reason why i think traditionally defined gender roles are bullshit...
tip of the iceberg Kevin, but this is great fun!
alice, etc...
Sunday, April 10, 2005
why duran duran actually sucks
first i just want to point out that i IN NO WAY support censorship of any kind i just think there that needs to be some more discussion and honest criticism of what we are exposed to by the media...especially through the music media...
hangover sundays mean two things for yours truly: sleep and music television. i had to have lunch with my dad so sleep was out of the question...bring on muchmusic and muchmoremusic...
on muchmusic i decided to watch a biteen of the billboard music awards. the billboard music awards are VERY boring ...i really just wanted to see green day perform and then move on from there...
but before green day performed i had to see usher and despite the fact that that boy can dance like a motherfucker his performance-or his performance compared to green day's subsequent performance-pissed me right off...
we all know about 'nipple-gate' so i won't get into it but now we have the misfortune of watching live television with a three second delay.
nearing the end of 'boulevard of broken dreams' billy joe just happens to say a little fuck word...ok so fine you wanna make sure the kids out there frying their brains with television aren't exposed to foul language...they've heard it all before, but fine.
cut to two minutes earlier and we see usher, sans three second delay, stroking the ass of one of his female dancers and pretending to fuck her doggy style...
i assume i don't need to point out the glaring contradictions apparent in the censorship of profanity while allowing this to be seen by millions...
whatever. i've said this all before and i've seen it a million times and i'll see it a million more...
but folks here's the kicker:
...moments later i flip to much more music and duran duran is on television talking about whether or not there is ever too much objectification of women and how much is too much in the context of videos
...simon le bon says the following (and i paraphrase of course)"...as long as they aren't engaged in pornographic activity than it's never too much and i really think it's another good way for women to learn about their own sexuality..."
forgive me...i smoked too much weed last night so perhaps i am a little slow but...
what the fuck?!??!?? i'm suppose to learn about my sexuality by watching a backup dancer have her ass caressed by a washed up british pop star?
interesting.
in conclusion duran duran and usher can kiss my ass. when i have kids i'd rather have them watching old green day videos and hear the occasional swear then watch a single second of a ludacris video...and goddammit if they get into that shit...there will be some DISCOURSE!
xo alice.
hangover sundays mean two things for yours truly: sleep and music television. i had to have lunch with my dad so sleep was out of the question...bring on muchmusic and muchmoremusic...
on muchmusic i decided to watch a biteen of the billboard music awards. the billboard music awards are VERY boring ...i really just wanted to see green day perform and then move on from there...
but before green day performed i had to see usher and despite the fact that that boy can dance like a motherfucker his performance-or his performance compared to green day's subsequent performance-pissed me right off...
we all know about 'nipple-gate' so i won't get into it but now we have the misfortune of watching live television with a three second delay.
nearing the end of 'boulevard of broken dreams' billy joe just happens to say a little fuck word...ok so fine you wanna make sure the kids out there frying their brains with television aren't exposed to foul language...they've heard it all before, but fine.
cut to two minutes earlier and we see usher, sans three second delay, stroking the ass of one of his female dancers and pretending to fuck her doggy style...
i assume i don't need to point out the glaring contradictions apparent in the censorship of profanity while allowing this to be seen by millions...
whatever. i've said this all before and i've seen it a million times and i'll see it a million more...
but folks here's the kicker:
...moments later i flip to much more music and duran duran is on television talking about whether or not there is ever too much objectification of women and how much is too much in the context of videos
...simon le bon says the following (and i paraphrase of course)"...as long as they aren't engaged in pornographic activity than it's never too much and i really think it's another good way for women to learn about their own sexuality..."
forgive me...i smoked too much weed last night so perhaps i am a little slow but...
what the fuck?!??!?? i'm suppose to learn about my sexuality by watching a backup dancer have her ass caressed by a washed up british pop star?
interesting.
in conclusion duran duran and usher can kiss my ass. when i have kids i'd rather have them watching old green day videos and hear the occasional swear then watch a single second of a ludacris video...and goddammit if they get into that shit...there will be some DISCOURSE!
xo alice.
Saturday, April 09, 2005
dear kevin
kevin:
don't feel like a jerk but i wrote a semi-largeish section (15+ pages) of my honours essay (undergrad thesis) that was a saussurian reading of punk fashion and how, through a revamp of the sign systems it has become co-opted into mainstream conciousness and is no longer subversive...
not to be a snob but it just made me laugh because i LOVE semiotic theory! hee hee...
xo alice.
don't feel like a jerk but i wrote a semi-largeish section (15+ pages) of my honours essay (undergrad thesis) that was a saussurian reading of punk fashion and how, through a revamp of the sign systems it has become co-opted into mainstream conciousness and is no longer subversive...
not to be a snob but it just made me laugh because i LOVE semiotic theory! hee hee...
xo alice.
Wednesday, April 06, 2005
have we become silent silouettes
twice in the past two days i felt as if conversation was failing me.
as if i had nothing left to say.
is it possible to wake up one day simply having said it all?
i sure hope not.
xo alice.
as if i had nothing left to say.
is it possible to wake up one day simply having said it all?
i sure hope not.
xo alice.
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
do what you want with your pubes
you'll be free child, once you have died, from the shackles of language and measurable time...
from 'land locked blue' written by conor oberst from the bright eyes album: 'i'm wide awake it's morning' (saddle creek 2005)
last night i was chatting on msn with louise and she asked me if i'd ever heard of peaches. i have and i to be honest i just don't get it.
so, she says cunt and asked people to take pictures of her ungroomed genitalia...i know at first glance something like that can seem amazingly shocking and controversial but look closer...is it really? we live in such a sexualized time and i wonder if we are truly able to be shocked to by the language and visuals of sex anymore...ok, maybe visually...a photo of a girl getting cum shot all over her face may still be a shock.
but words? how many times, on average, do you think the average person hears or says the word fuck, or hears a sexual innuendo in a song? even the evil 'c' word (cunt) no longer holds the power it used to. sure, we think it means something empowering when we hear a woman talk about her cunt, describe in graphic detail how she enjoys being fucked and penetrated and how she loves sucking cock or eating pussy...
did those words even do anything to you? maybe they turned you on but did they offend...i'd be willing to bet, assuming no religious or moral opposition to such language, that you may have flinched a little but probably read most of that they way you're reading this sentence here...am i wrong?
back to what i was saying...is it more subversive for a woman to say such things? do we as women feel empowered by peaches saying the word cunt? i don't.
i think somewhere along the line we've all become victims of language. if a woman says cunt it's empowering; if a man says it it's misogynistic...i heard on the radio the other day a man say the following: (and i paraphrase liberally here) lynching still exists only it isn't called lynching anymore...rodney king was lynched. the only reason we think slavery doesn't exist is because we don't call it that anymore.
so at what point have we been convinced that we as woman are empowered against the patriarchy by using the word cunt? it's acceptable to the mainstream for woman to use that word and is therefore NOT genuinely subversive...at least not anymore.
if you don't like my peaches example think of something a LOT more mainstream then...eminem. when he came out people were mad because he swore a lot and talked about beating up women, blah, blah, blah...right? so, think of eminem now, 5+ years later what's he doing? he's the first rapper to win an oscar, he's one of the most famous people and his 'offensive and subversive' records are FUCKING HUGE HITS! so the christian right hates him...the christian right hates a lot of people! the christian right hates shrek and spongebob...
so, what's my point? is there anything actually and truly subversive in music?
yes!
is it crazy-ass anarchist punk rock? nope.
it's the music that subverts language itself. it's the music that denies language it's believed cultural importance.
we cannot be referred to as anything if we are free of language. we cannot be men, women, gay, straight, smart, dumb, pretty, ugly, fat, skinny...you get the idea. we cannot be negative binary opposites if language doesn't define us as such.
ok...so are there examples of this...i think so...even the fiery furnaces who make up as many words as they use real words and have almost NO structural composition for their words. it can't mean anything when it doesn't mean anything right?
i think this idea that we are so tied to and crippled by language is part of the reason for a general fear in music of all things ambient and free of words. we'll allow nelly or ludacris to sell 500 billion copies of an album that degrades EVERYONE, or at least everyone that isn't a heterosexual male, and yet an amazing group of artists like the dead texan wallow in obscurity and campus radio...or 'noise'...i am listening to a noise set on the radio right now...that'll mind fuck you more than anything i can think of, musically, i mean...
stepping aside from music for a second. we try to capture 'love' with words too...go to the I N T I M A C Y link on the left there and look at the photos (some are explicit) and tell me that love and intimacy isn't made clearer in some of these photos then it could ever be with words...
that's what i got...argue with me. prove me wrong. and peaches, who cares if you don't shave your cunt?
xo alice.
Monday, April 04, 2005
irony est amusant, n'est pas?
i shouldn't laugh at this but...meh.
i was heading home today and got stuck in a mini-traffic jam at 170th street and 93rd avenue this afternoon. i was to soon discover that this was an accident site...not a bad accident so it's ok for me to laugh...
a black and white painted school bus had bumped into a semi. the damage was not apparent although i'd be willing to be that law suits will be quick to follow...
anyhow, the thing that's so funny about the whole thing is that across the back of the bus was the following:
safety is our first concern!
i was heading home today and got stuck in a mini-traffic jam at 170th street and 93rd avenue this afternoon. i was to soon discover that this was an accident site...not a bad accident so it's ok for me to laugh...
a black and white painted school bus had bumped into a semi. the damage was not apparent although i'd be willing to be that law suits will be quick to follow...
anyhow, the thing that's so funny about the whole thing is that across the back of the bus was the following:
safety is our first concern!
xo alice.
socks on their cocks
i want some sweet candy that slowly dissolves in my mouth while mixing with all my juices and becoming part of me; or something so chewy that it makes my jaw ache and i have to pick my teeth gratuitously in public allowing all those who watch a truly visceral experience.
you should check out nigel: he's trying to work the phrase 'anarcho-hipster' into conversation and having trouble...maybe you can help him out. (www.aharshwind.blogspot.com). he a one-post wonder at present but except the best. he bought me a cactus so i know good things are on their way!
damn car alarms...one is going off right now and adding to my snow-mold induced head-ache.
i think when my payment goes through on my credit card i am going to buy a new vibrator and some pornographic magazines...you think i'm kidding but...
i was just remembering that i saw mike watt and the minute men open for the red hot chilli peppers. that was a weird show...mike watt's tiny band on this ginormous stage playing for a bunch of people who just wanted to see anthony kiedis and flea with socks on their cocks.
so lately i have become pretty defensive of alberta and the prairies. i think it's all a DIRECT result of my relationship with fuckface john. he hated it here and he took every possible opportunity to slam alberta. i will admit that we have some pretty major problems here none of which are helped by our redneck-neo-fascist-alcoholic-privatize-first-ask-questions-later premier...but I didn't vote for him. in fact, a lot of people didn't vote for him. he was elected by a small minority of rich business men in a province with lame-ass voter turnout. shit, if they ran a communist party of canada candidate provincially in my riding i'd vote for him just to take one step further from the ruling oil barron right...i digress. the point is that we are NOT all rednecks or making money from oil in alberta...
i also started to get really defensive about edmonton in general. i will admit to hating it here and always really wanting to leave but the more john raved about their being nothing cool to do here and how vancouver was so much better...blah blah blah the more annoyed i got so i began to search out cool things to do JUST to contradict him...now, some of my favourite bands are local...and all in attempt just to have something to argue with john about!
the rhythm method: no babies allowed.
so, this is probably the most disjointed fifteen feet of pure white snow has ever been...maybe it's the lack of sleep and the mainlining of highly caffeinated aspartamed liquid...meh! we can't all be perfect all the time...
xo alice.
p.s. i still want candy
you should check out nigel: he's trying to work the phrase 'anarcho-hipster' into conversation and having trouble...maybe you can help him out. (www.aharshwind.blogspot.com). he a one-post wonder at present but except the best. he bought me a cactus so i know good things are on their way!
damn car alarms...one is going off right now and adding to my snow-mold induced head-ache.
i think when my payment goes through on my credit card i am going to buy a new vibrator and some pornographic magazines...you think i'm kidding but...
i was just remembering that i saw mike watt and the minute men open for the red hot chilli peppers. that was a weird show...mike watt's tiny band on this ginormous stage playing for a bunch of people who just wanted to see anthony kiedis and flea with socks on their cocks.
so lately i have become pretty defensive of alberta and the prairies. i think it's all a DIRECT result of my relationship with fuckface john. he hated it here and he took every possible opportunity to slam alberta. i will admit that we have some pretty major problems here none of which are helped by our redneck-neo-fascist-alcoholic-privatize-first-ask-questions-later premier...but I didn't vote for him. in fact, a lot of people didn't vote for him. he was elected by a small minority of rich business men in a province with lame-ass voter turnout. shit, if they ran a communist party of canada candidate provincially in my riding i'd vote for him just to take one step further from the ruling oil barron right...i digress. the point is that we are NOT all rednecks or making money from oil in alberta...
i also started to get really defensive about edmonton in general. i will admit to hating it here and always really wanting to leave but the more john raved about their being nothing cool to do here and how vancouver was so much better...blah blah blah the more annoyed i got so i began to search out cool things to do JUST to contradict him...now, some of my favourite bands are local...and all in attempt just to have something to argue with john about!
the rhythm method: no babies allowed.
so, this is probably the most disjointed fifteen feet of pure white snow has ever been...maybe it's the lack of sleep and the mainlining of highly caffeinated aspartamed liquid...meh! we can't all be perfect all the time...
xo alice.
p.s. i still want candy
the pope is dead; condoms for all!
of anarchy...
here is something interesting in light of the recent death of the pope.
this is some pretty radical shit people, i warn you it may offend.
personally i agree with the stance it takes against the catholic church but i have respect for the fact that a human being died what i imagine to be a fairly painful death...
http://ainfos.ca/ainfos29794.html
A man is dead. We anarchists love life and we can't dislike that.Especially for the unspeakable cruelty of an agony indecently exhibitedon the world by the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Anyway, this day that seesall politicians, from Fausto Bertinotti [PRC] to Alessandra Mussolini[ex-AN, "neo-fascists"], bow down in front of the "throne of Peter" wewant to remember the man who was at the head of an absolute monarchydistinguished for centuries in its barbarity. The church that hasperpetuated and blessed the massacre of millions and millions of men andwomen, tortured, burned, killed in the name of the cross isn't the memoryof a now disowned past, but found in Wojtila, its deserving descendent.
Karol Wojtila, for 27 years, has made a name for his reactionarychoices.
Karol Wojtila has been responsible for the diffusion of AIDS inAfrica, where the publicity and the use of condoms could havesaved millions of people from the illness, among which were lots of children.
Karol Wojtila gave cover for dictatorships, the torturer and ChileanAssassin Augusto Pinochet, who shook hands during his trip to thetortured south american country, in whose prisons thousands frompolitical opposition have been tormented. Not a word for the victimsbut only the benediction for the executioner and his family.
Karol Wojtila has dressed in sheep's clothing and that of the wolfaccording to the interests of the organization of which he wassovereign. The left sing hymns for his pacifism in Iraq, but forgetthat he sustained and justified the war that bloodied ex-Yugoslavia.With the catholic cross, against muslims and the orthodox, thepope of religious "ecumenicism" made a saint of Stepinac, thecardinal who with the croatian fascists that lined up with Hitler,said they were "sent by God" and blessed the innumerable atrocitiesperpetrated by the croatian Ustase regime with the complicity of theoccupying italian troops.
Karol Wojtila has protected and supported the cardinal Pio Laghi,already a papal apostolic in Argentina at the time of the dictatorshipthat massacred 30,000 people. Laghi blessed and covered thetorturers and the assassins.
Karol Wojtila was the head of a multinational company withfar-reaching interests in the whole world and a huge income in aplanet where the majority of the population survives on less thentwo dollars a day.
Karol Wojtila, a "champion of life" that has maintained aambiguous attitude towards capital punishment, wasstandard-bearer for a culture of oppression. A culture that wouldlike the humiliation of the women's lives, one that condemned atany cost the birth of babies malformed or destined to famine. Aculture that prefers a life of pain to one of joy and health, a culturethat criminalized gays, that transformed desire and love into guilt,that defends those who haven't been born and persecutes those that live.
Karol Wojtila has sanctified the spanish priests that line up witharms with the catholic-fascist troops of Franco. These martyredsaints wanted to revive the glories of the church of Torquemada andof the Quemaderos, the "collective ovens" where the heretics werecooked at a low simmer.
Just like the anarchists and libertarians of '36 that fought for lifeand liberty against fascism and the clerical oppression, we,anarchists and libertarians today, even with respect for a dead man,we won't bow, we won't join in the chorus of many, that from theright as well as from the left bow to their knees in front of thefuneral of the head of the most ferocious, bloody, andfreedom-destroying organization that history can remember. Ourfight against religion and the church nourishes itself on theunderstanding that only the emancipation from religious stupidityand from priests, that in nourishing can allow men and women afull, joyous life, lived in liberty and respect for diversity, in solidaritybetween equals.
The correspondance commission of the Italian AnarchistFederation -- FAI
www.federazioneanarchica.org
i recieved this from www.resist.ca
xo alice.
here is something interesting in light of the recent death of the pope.
this is some pretty radical shit people, i warn you it may offend.
personally i agree with the stance it takes against the catholic church but i have respect for the fact that a human being died what i imagine to be a fairly painful death...
http://ainfos.ca/ainfos29794.html
A man is dead. We anarchists love life and we can't dislike that.Especially for the unspeakable cruelty of an agony indecently exhibitedon the world by the ecclesiastical hierarchy. Anyway, this day that seesall politicians, from Fausto Bertinotti [PRC] to Alessandra Mussolini[ex-AN, "neo-fascists"], bow down in front of the "throne of Peter" wewant to remember the man who was at the head of an absolute monarchydistinguished for centuries in its barbarity. The church that hasperpetuated and blessed the massacre of millions and millions of men andwomen, tortured, burned, killed in the name of the cross isn't the memoryof a now disowned past, but found in Wojtila, its deserving descendent.
Karol Wojtila, for 27 years, has made a name for his reactionarychoices.
Karol Wojtila has been responsible for the diffusion of AIDS inAfrica, where the publicity and the use of condoms could havesaved millions of people from the illness, among which were lots of children.
Karol Wojtila gave cover for dictatorships, the torturer and ChileanAssassin Augusto Pinochet, who shook hands during his trip to thetortured south american country, in whose prisons thousands frompolitical opposition have been tormented. Not a word for the victimsbut only the benediction for the executioner and his family.
Karol Wojtila has dressed in sheep's clothing and that of the wolfaccording to the interests of the organization of which he wassovereign. The left sing hymns for his pacifism in Iraq, but forgetthat he sustained and justified the war that bloodied ex-Yugoslavia.With the catholic cross, against muslims and the orthodox, thepope of religious "ecumenicism" made a saint of Stepinac, thecardinal who with the croatian fascists that lined up with Hitler,said they were "sent by God" and blessed the innumerable atrocitiesperpetrated by the croatian Ustase regime with the complicity of theoccupying italian troops.
Karol Wojtila has protected and supported the cardinal Pio Laghi,already a papal apostolic in Argentina at the time of the dictatorshipthat massacred 30,000 people. Laghi blessed and covered thetorturers and the assassins.
Karol Wojtila was the head of a multinational company withfar-reaching interests in the whole world and a huge income in aplanet where the majority of the population survives on less thentwo dollars a day.
Karol Wojtila, a "champion of life" that has maintained aambiguous attitude towards capital punishment, wasstandard-bearer for a culture of oppression. A culture that wouldlike the humiliation of the women's lives, one that condemned atany cost the birth of babies malformed or destined to famine. Aculture that prefers a life of pain to one of joy and health, a culturethat criminalized gays, that transformed desire and love into guilt,that defends those who haven't been born and persecutes those that live.
Karol Wojtila has sanctified the spanish priests that line up witharms with the catholic-fascist troops of Franco. These martyredsaints wanted to revive the glories of the church of Torquemada andof the Quemaderos, the "collective ovens" where the heretics werecooked at a low simmer.
Just like the anarchists and libertarians of '36 that fought for lifeand liberty against fascism and the clerical oppression, we,anarchists and libertarians today, even with respect for a dead man,we won't bow, we won't join in the chorus of many, that from theright as well as from the left bow to their knees in front of thefuneral of the head of the most ferocious, bloody, andfreedom-destroying organization that history can remember. Ourfight against religion and the church nourishes itself on theunderstanding that only the emancipation from religious stupidityand from priests, that in nourishing can allow men and women afull, joyous life, lived in liberty and respect for diversity, in solidaritybetween equals.
The correspondance commission of the Italian AnarchistFederation -- FAI
www.federazioneanarchica.org
i recieved this from www.resist.ca
xo alice.
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