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green pajamasone of my live-music highlights of 2000 was seeing seattle's very own green pajamas at terrastock. i never thought i'd experience the passion and beauty of their music in a live setting...but there i was, and there they were. since they didn't have a webpage i figured i'd extend my knowledge of html by putting together a fanpage for their music. if you like swooningly melodic fairytale power pop that splits the difference btwn nick drake and the nuggets compilations, this is the band for you. let it blurt prior to the golden compass (see below), my prior spot of reading was jim derogatis's new biography of lester bangs. lordy. the book itself is amazing, and derogatis has a very clear affection for his subject, but let it blurt might well become my personal self-help tome of 2001. lester was a genius, to be sure -- his writing was crazy and insightful, and i would be lying if i said he didn't influence me. that said, the man was obsessive and posessed a missionary's fervor for art he loved, was addicted to stimulating substances, went to any length (some of them harmful) to get what he wanted, and was a really bad houseguest. sound familiar? the next sound you hear will be me pulling my head from my ass. philip pullman & his dark materials we interrupt the political content of this blog to bring you the following message: the his dark materials trilogy by philip pullman is way rad. or, more specifically, the golden compass. my dear friend mr f gave me a hardcover copy of the golden compass as part of my christmas gift this year, and i haven't been able to put it down. it's that great. the best shorthand way to describe it is harry potter by way of hayao miyazaki, but it's so much more than that...compass deals with a young girl coming into her destiny while finding her past shrouded in mystery. the writing is lush and detailed while also easy to read, the villians are charming and magnetic in their evil, and the gadgets and daemons are fascinating and irresistable. what are you waiting for? SCUM manifesto while i consider myself one of those pro-girl, anti-asshole feminists who would rather hate the patriarchy than men themselves, sometimes men do things that make me a little cranky. the year-end music lists by dumb white boy rock critics that laud the marshall mathers lp (no link given or necessary) while burying more worthy and more prescient female artists like pj harvey and sleater-kinney to the lower ranks is one such happenstance. all this attention lavished upon eminem makes a well-read grrrl like myself wonder: is valerie solanas "the most intriguing (literary) offering" in the canon of feminist literature? is she "among the cleverest wordsmiths in the (gender equality) game"? sure, her "words might be reprehensible, but that doesn't mean (the scum manifesto) is a bad piece of writing". (ad nauseum) would someone please get these idiots a copy of the scum manifesto posthaste and see how that ugly shoe looks on the other foot? theenks. massachusetts buffer zone laws challenged so-called non-"activist" judge edward harrington ruled that the recent buffer zone laws instated in massachusetts are a violation of the first amendment, because they don't allow sidewalk preachers contact with women entering abortion clinics, but they do let clinic-appointed escorts help them into the building. let's bear in mind that not all those who use the services of a free clinic are necessarily getting an abortion, a fact that many anti-choice zealots (excuse me, "sidewalk activists") seem to miss. additionally, planned parenthood was the site of a gruesome bloodbath by an anti-choice religious fanatic in 1994 and the murderer of buffalo, new york-area gynecologist bernard slepian is still at large. whence last i checked, the first amendment didn't cover the use of violence through bullets or threatening doctors. my advice to these anti-choice activists is to work peacefully, the way many of your pro-choice counterparts do. why not devote your energy to helping the millions of children whose lives are a living hell, by working towards making a stronger school system and reforming the adoption system? maybe my fears are unfounded, but i'm just scared this is a sign of things to come... my top albums for 2000 geez, it's been way too long since the last time i updated this. i was getting rather embarrassed by the mash note to "dori bangs" that i last posted and really wanted to change this. so: this was only a slightly better year for me with music than with film, but i'm still amazed that i made a list of eight albums that made the earwax dance in my auditory canal in the short corridor to the millenium. this list is subject to change, since the year hasn't ended yet and i still haven't heard a lot of stuff...got any suggestions? cute to be there, sad to leave so. terrastock. i had a fantastic time, first off. this was my first terrastock, my first trip to the west coast, my first flight, the first time i publicly screened any of my films, and my first time on 'shrooms. (i hope my mother's not reading this...) i also heard some amazing music, met some wonderful people, and pitched woo to a cute rock star. unfortunately, my social calendar cut back on the amount of sightseeing i got to do, and i wish i'd hung around more with my cool galpal shiloh (and potential cool galpal kathy with a k) whose company i eschewed for my new best friends. still, it was a fantastic experience, and i know to arrive in austin (rumoured home of t4) a week in advance so as to fulfill my social obligations. in the meantime, i hope to rectify my other grave error of not seeing enough of seattle by coming back for a return engagement as part of a possible west coast swing this winter. if anyone has photos of abunai! or the green pajamas, or of me in my tulle wings and tiara on friday, email me. confidential to my little chap: if you were here right now and i could play guitar, i would be serenading you with "you said something" by pj harvey. |