The VHS tape I wish I could find

The 90s were a great time for comedy. SNL was awesome, stand-up was prevelant, and movies weren't all directed toward the same "the whole family will love it" market that they are today. Yet the thing thats been bugging me for a while is that most of the comedic movies from the time (and its even worse today) focus on the guy comedians. Please if you know about a movie that has Janeane Garofolo, Wanda Sykes, Margaret Cho, and Kathy Griffin in it let me know. And yeah, I know they have roles by themselves but why don't they ever put more than one female comedian in a movie. Like how Pauly Shore and Andy Dick (or Stephen Baldwin back when he was funny) got to make movies together. Or Adam Sandler and Norm McDonald. Or David Spade and Chris Farley. Or Will Farrell and every comedian ever. I love BioDome and Billy Madison but where the hell are the female comedies. Like where is the Janeane Garofolo and Margaret Cho crazy roadtrip movie. Why the hell was The Truth about Cats and Dogs even made.
Well at least these days most of these gals have their own tv shows or huge HBO stand up routine. And Sarah Silverman is ruling. And Tina Fey and Amy Poehler pretty much made the first female comedian buddy movie with Baby Mama.

Well here are some stand up clips from the 90s and 2000s to keep you all entertained.

Janeane Garofalo on Gen-X and the beauty industry.


Wanda Sykes on detachable vaginas


Kathy Griffin on performing for the troops in Afganistan


Margaret Cho on if guys had periods and her childhood career aspirations

Art School Girls of Doom

So a while ago Sam turned me on to these old videos on youtube called
The Art School Girls of Doom


And so in memory of the girls of doom here is a mini art show of what some of my art school girl friends have been up to....

Together by Veronica Gelbaum


Earthquake Wrap Theme by Kayla Guthrie


Canopy by Emilie Bosworth Clemens


Flower Bunch 1 by Jessica Williams


By Whitney Claflin


Everywhere remixed and music video by Alexandra Gorczynski

Bitches and Gits

Here's a rockin tune from one of my favorite bands 7 Year Bitch

Also if you get a chance check out the movie "The Gits". 7 Year Bitch was super influenced by them and the movie is a totally moving story about a punk band's rise to fame and the horribly tragic rape and murder of their singer, Mia Zapata.
Fortunatly, we still have their music around and in her memory the anti-violence organization Home Alive was founded. Check out the trailer for the movie below.

Wanda

Wanda : Career Girl - A Special Person
She Twists! She Bends!

Rhymes with voice?

Thankyou Samantha Bee for ruling.

Rachel Maddow

A couple weeks ago I got really excited thinking about how maybe in my lifetime Rachel Maddow could be president. Now I realize that's a long shot, but these days that's the kind of thing that's keeping me going. Some people out there (crazies) really like Sarah Palin because they like looking at her face and they like how she says things. Those are kind of my starting off points with Rachel Maddow (I know, can you believe I just compared the two!).
Anyhow, here's some background info.....Rachel grew up in the Bay Area and attended Stanford Univ. She later went on the become the first openly gay Rhodes Scholar and attended Oxford University. Before and after Oxford, Rachel was an AIDS activist working to help people in prison attain treatment. She also did some odd jobs like being a handyman and cleaning buckets at a coffee bean factory before she landed her first job as the "News Girl" on her local radio station. She then moved up to Air America and well one thing lead to another and now she has her own show on MSNBC. Her ratings are soaring as she beats the amount of viewers pulled in by either Keith Olbermann or Larry King. I think this shows that Americans are ready to hear and see something different. She's a breath of fresh air in the current media frenzy. I also really admire the way she so genuinely loves debating - she knows her shit and is having fun while dealing with all these old white dudes.
Here's a clip from when she was a guest on the Chris Matthews Show. Watch her school Pat Buchanan.....

Unbought and Unbossed

I found out about Shirley Chisholm a little while ago when reading a book about Bella Abzug (I'll probably get to that in another post). But anyhow, I kept wondering why during the Democratic Primaries when everyone was picking between Barack and Hilary no one was mentioning Shirley Chisholm the African American woman who ran for president in 1972.
Shirley was born in 1924 in Brooklyn to immigrant parents. She grew up primarily in Brooklyn though she spent a few years in Barbados. Although she was accepted to Vassar, Shirley chose to stay in Brooklyn and attend Brooklyn College and then Columbia Teachers College. She worked for a time at the Hamilton-Madison Childcare Center, moving up to become the director, and eventually became very active in local politics. In 1960 she founded the Unity Democratic Club which worked to mobilize black and Hispanic voters.
In 1964 she ran for and won a spot on the New York General Assembly. After her term there she ran in 1968 to represent New York's Twelfth Congressional District. She won and became the first African American woman to be elected to Congress. She hired an all female staff and championed equal rights for blacks, women, and the poor. She was also vocally against the Vietnam war. She co-founded the National Organization for Women (NOW) and won a second term in 1970.
In 1972 she became the first African American ever to run for President of the United States. She was also the first female candidate to be recognized by the Democratic National Convention. I find it interesting that although women had run for president before, Shirley said "Of my two "handicaps" being female put more obstacles in my path than being black."
Although the nomination went to McGovern, Shirley received 151 of the delegates votes. She served in Congress till 1982 making incredible progress by fighting for the minimum wage and against the draft as well as for the rights of underrepresented people everywhere. When she retired from Congress she taught at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts for four years and eventually passed away in 2005.
There is obviously a great deal that both Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton (not to mention the rest of us) owe to Shirley and I think in this heated election moment its really helpful to look back and recognize those who made the path a little easier. Shirley's campaign slogan was "Fighting Shirley Chisholm--Unbought and Unbossed". There's a cool movie made about her run for president that's also called Unbought and Unbossed. Here's a clip.....

And I leave you with this

This just came on MTV classics and its too beautiful not to share.

Sinead O'Connor featuring MC Lyte - I Want Your Hands On Me

This Week In The News

A few news worthy things from this week that I wanted to share with you all........

Connecticut legalized gay marriage! Yay! I'm so proud of my home state.
Michelle Obama was on the Daily Show.
The second presidential debate happened.
I know a lot of other things happened but I'm too tired to think of them right now.

A little something to look forward to.....

Look forward to a future post for tips on how to dress for success!

Workin' Girls #1

Unconscious and Irrational takes its name from the way women are presented to us -especially in the movies. There aren't many female roles that won't show the girl either passing out, being knocked ununconscious, or going totally crazy (usually with a car, credit card or depressed dude).
In this blog I'll be exploring the full gammit of roles we actually play - whether its along the lines of Romy and Michele or a little more Shirley Chisholm and Bella Abzug. I'll also be exploring the fascinating symbol of "career girls" and all their blazer wearing glory.