There's something about the epic Diva anthem that hinges on being made a victim... or in Cher's case a gypsy or a tramp. Yet I guess that's what makes them so great, instead of being the typical hero's tale, the ultimate diva song is based around being made vulnerable and then taking a stand about how you're not gonna take it anymore. As Candi Stanton puts it "encourage the babies every time they say 'self preservation is whats really going on today'".
Candi Stanton- Young Hearts Run Free This one has been a favorite of mine since the cross dressing Mercutio sang it in the 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet.
Tina Turner- Whats Love Got To Do With It I can't post the actual video of this for some reason but isn't it amazing how dull the Grammy's used to look. Whats more amazing is that everyone thought this was a totally acceptable "look" for Tina to be rocking. When my brother was in about third grade he wrote a report about Tina Turner, for some reason that remains really funny.
Sade - Sweetest Taboo I genuinely feel that this song and video and Sade are amazingly beautiful. Also note the fact that Sade does not do the "i will survive" thing. She's more plagued by sexiness and longing.
Cher- Believe This was one of our favorite dance party songs in art school. It came out when I was in 9th grade and had to keep my love for it on the down low so as to retain some dignity. But secretly I was loving it as well as crushing on that guy with dread locks who plays the video's love interest. Cher - Believe
Whitney Houston- Its Not Right, But Its Okay There are so many things! First, this song is great because it chronicles the detailed stuff, like looking up the area code of the person who called your crappy boyfriend and giving him shit about how it is totally not the person he said it was. Also, the outfits in this video are ridiculous- totally my new summer look!
Nineteen year old Q’orianka Kilcher appeared on Democracy Now this week after winning the Young Hollywood Green Award. Q’orianka, who you might remember from her role as Pocahontas in Terrence Malick's The New World, took the opportunity at the award ceremony to draw attention to the violent clash currently happening in Peru between Amazonian Indians and Peruvian police. She dedicated the award to "Alberto Pizango, AIDESEP, as well as over 30,000 people in Peru that are protesting right now, peacefully protesting". Q'orianka, who is half Peruvian, had this to say about her role as Pocahontas ... "And while The New World was an epic love story, it also showed the beginning of the colonizations of the Americas, which continues today, but it now has a new name, and it’s called “globalization.” And what multinational companies are doing in the Peruvian Amazon is a total disrespect to human life, as well as the environment."
I was impressed by how she managed to sound intelligent and yet still like a 19 year old in the was that she just wished she had Obama's cell number so she could give him a piece of her mind. "Part of what is happening in Peru is the free trade agreement with the United States. I wish I had Obama’s cell phone number or something, because, I mean, my people are getting massacred over there, and CNN had a report that they are worried that what happened on Friday in the Bagua region is going to happen within forty-eight hours in the cities of Yurimaguas and Tarapoto. And they’re worried that this is going to happen.
And can I just say that it’s really horrible there. They are dumping bodies to hide the actual count of how many are dead. They’re dumping bodies in plastic bags from helicopters into canyons and rivers. They’re just discarding them.
And, I mean, I would love President Obama to get involved. He is, you know, the hope for the future. He’s the hope for the young people. And I just urge him to step up, because part of what is happening is the free trade agreement with the United States. This is one of the laws passed which opens up the Peruvian Amazon to extractive companies to allow easy access. And, I mean, I’m not too involved with the political side. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it myself, because it’s so much."
Apparently Donna's Domainover on Metal Sludge has been around for a while but I just recently discovered it. Thanks to her list The Long And Short Of It we can keep track of what rock stars are worth going groupie for. Donna and her collection of gal pals have made an extensive list giving us the low down on rock star peen. They also throw in some tips about who will take you out for breakfast the next morning and who just won't shut up. I was going to post some examples but my parents read this blog and I'm just not in the mood to make them super uncomfortable. But everyone else should definitely check it out - there are 167 rock stars listed including Axl Rose, Marilyn Manson, The Red Hot Chili Pepper boys, Lars Ulrich, Steven Tyler, David Lee Roth, Brett Micheals, Trent Reznor, and any hair metal dude you can think of. I was pleased to note that Gavin Rossdale lived up to and beyond the expectations we all had for him. I think this whole list is an awesome project because when you think about it, none of these guys ever thought the words of a groupie would come back to get him. Its interesting to see how they treated girls who were in endless abundance.
Yesterday Obama announced his pick for the vacated Supreme Court position. Judge Sonia Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic and the third woman to sit on the Supreme Court. So now that you're all excited about that here's Rachel Maddow to give you the low down on the backlash....
Freaks and Geeks was one of the best shows of all time (on par perhaps only with My So Called Life). As with most of the best tv series' it only made it through one season. It was one of the few shows I cared about in high school so when I started dating Sam and he had the whole thing in a box set I was elated. Freaks and Geeks was created by Paul Feig who has since directed some of the best shows out there including The Office, Arrested Development, 30 Rock, and Mad Men. The show was produced by Judd Apatow who has since gone on to take over the modern comedy as we know it. Also writing, directing, and occasionally on screen was Mike White,,,who I'm going to write about in some future post because he deserves it. Also the casting job on the show was amazing in introducing the world to Linda Cardenelli, Seth Rogan, Jason Segal, Martin Starr, and the ever sexy and art collecting James Franco. Perhaps it was Mike White's influence (since Apatow has proven himself to give half a shit about females) but Freaks and Geeks is one of the few shows in history that gives us a main female character that is A HUMAN. I capitalize that because she is the most fair handed female character I've ever seen. The writers clearly put a lot of their own identities into her without worrying about her gender. Lindsay Weir (Linda Cardenelli) a high schooler in 1980 is an ex Mathlete who starts wearing her dad's old army jacket and experimenting with smoking, guys in bands, and coolness by hanging out with the school's "freaks". I once read an interview with Kim Gordon and Thurston Moore where they said that they encourage their daughter to view Lindsay Weir as a role model. She's similar to Angela from My So Called Life but without all the angst and hair dye. Freaks and Geeks managed to not only have a great lead female but Seth Rogan's character also had a healthy and caring relationship with a hermaphrodite band geek, and other characters dealt with death, adultery, Steve Martin, and your mom dating your gym teacher. All the biggies and yet it never turned into 90210 and stuffed a moral down your throat. Despite the fact that the show was ended abruptly they still managed to have an amazing conclusion to everything. James Franco starts playing Dungeons and Dragons giving him some structure to his life and making the geeks cool by association. Jason Segal gets into disco and everyone thinks he's lame, but its okay because so do we. And Lindsay ditches her academic summit summer program to follow The Grateful Dead with Kim Kelly who is just psyched to get out of her crappy town. This is kind of amazing because not only did Lindsay follow her guidance counselor's instruction and start listening to the Grateful Dead but its very rare to see girls actually learn and heal from their television friendships instead of going all Mean Girls on each other. Now that I've gotten all mushy here are some clips.
Here Lindsay and Sam's dad explains what happens when you cut corners, have sex, or smoke.
Lindsay goes to Kim Kelley's for dinner. I've so been in this situation before.
Patti Smith- Because the Night Thankyou Patti Smith for rocking so hard and for still being around.
Patra featuring Yo Yo - Romantic Call Patra wearing her short shorts and treating 2Pac like he's a cute lil' accessory, yeah, she makes the rest of us look like losers.
Janis Joplin -Summertime Its amazing that one song can be so heavy, sweaty, creepy, beautiful, and sexy. And its almost summertime!
The Cranberries- Dreams I have this video on a VHS tape of Woodstock '94. If my apartment were burning down I would probably try to save that video.
Skunk Anansie -Selling Jesus Ok I just discovered Skunk Anansie or singer Skin(Deborah Dyer). But everything about her is awesome. Her style is amazing and she's # 64 on the list of 100 greatest female vocalists.
Isabella Rossellini proves herself to be the coolest person ever with her series Green Porn. It's in its 2nd season of exposing the truth about insect intercourse. When the Sundance Channel approached Rosselini about making a series of shorts she knew she wanted to focus on the reproductive life of bugs and whales and whatnot. She co-writes, co-directs, and co-produces the series.
I forgot that I wanted to mention for Mothers Day that the holiday was actually started as an anti-war holiday. This video has a proclamation written by Julia Ward Howe, the founder of Mothers Day. The video is a little corny but the words really shine through.
And on a lighter note....here's another way to honor mothers, care of Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake.
Unconscious and Irrational is named for the media's common presentation of girls and women as being either "out of control" or simply "passed out". In movies there aren't many female roles that won't show the girl either passing out, being knocked unconscious, or going totally crazy (usually with a car, credit car, or depressed dude).
On this blog I want to show the zillions of other things we do - whether it be music, art, comedy, or politics. I aim to provide you with a variety of gals to look up to- from Romy and Michele to Shirley Chisholm and Bella Abzug.
