That was then

Be Free

Rihanna

Janelle Monae

Shingai Shoniwa

Hear Boys! (Talk)

The new Licks album, "Hear Boys Talk," is almost complete.

Check out some of the prereleased tracks on The Galaxist.

Jenny Lewis

Fading Out

I have this miraculous way of missing important trends. One of the biggest things I missed out on was the Amy Winehouse craze. I mean, you know, her music, not her going crazy. I caught that part. Of course, pop music can be so ubiquitous, that a lot of it I absorb simply through osmosis (or you know, I'll hear it in a store, or blaring from car radios). I'll find myself humming songs not knowing where I've heard it, who it's by, only to discover that it's been the number one song on the charts for weeks and weeks. "Rehab" and "Back to Black" were two songs like this. I vaguely knew them, could utter a couple of words of the choruses, but knew nothing about them for quite some time.

On the tail of spending a couple of days listening to Nina Simone, Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday, and a few other soulful greats, I found myself itching to listen to "Back to Black" again. There's really something extraordinarily special about this...her voice, the words. I don't know if it's possible for anyone who does not feel some deep sense of authentic pain could sing this song the way she does.

I'm suddenly feeling very naive

I was going to write this a couple of weeks ago...when it became obvious the National Enquirer was in fact not bullshit. But I couldn't bring myself to do it. Because somewhere, deep down, I wanted it to not be true. Ok, it was not so deep down. I still want it to not be true.

When the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal broke, my thoughts were: that's fucked up. He's an asshole. He shouldn't have lied. I don't care what happens in his private life, though, as long as he does his job. So why is this different for me? Because I was actually stupid enough to believe in John Edwards as a person and a politician. How often does that happen? How often do we have 100% decent people working hard and making strides in politics? A part of me needed to believe that someone in Washington could make a difference...and live with the same idealism they spit at the public. To walk the walk, so to speak.

The thing is, most politicians are self-centered, self-important, slicksters. But I truly believe that any person who pursues politics with any sort of sincerity must realize that he or she now has obligations to his or her constituents...examples to set in lifestyle that reflect one's political agendas. This means sacrificing selfish desires, just as parents have to do, just as couples have to do. Sure, people make mistakes, and I am not judging Edwards for his mistake. I am just disappointed that he could not look in the face of temptation and walk away for the sake of the American people, if not for the sake of his family who should have been enough.

Also, the lack of coverage of this by the media prior to Edwards' confession is very suspicious. See:

• Bias
• Edwards affair: Was media part of a 'conspiracy of silence'?

A politician by any other name is just as sleazy

Can We Do That?

[At a Thurston Moore solo show]
Girl in front of crowd: Thurston, who are you going to vote for?
Thurston Moore: The black dude or the chick. ... Actually, fuck 'em all.

--Knitting Factory

via Overheard in New York, May 12, 2008

Ramble, ramble, mumble, mumble

Sometimes I am thinking of a word but I can not think of the word itself, its letters or syllables, but merely its definition and its implications and so I ramble and ramble, go on and on spouting minutes (hours?) of thoughts that all add up to one word.

"What I'm Trying to Say" by Stars

Live a Life of No Regrets

"Gerry, I'm a woman! We don't say what we WANT! But we reserve the right to get pissed off if we don't get it. That's what makes us so fascinating! And not a little bit scary."
-Lydia in Sliding Doors

Keep Looking....

"Who am I when I am not with you?"

Creating labels for ourselves limits us and impedes upon our ability to live up to our full potential.

Defining ourselves by, or revolving our lives around other people is also dangerous and destructive.

But it is so very easy to do.

Each man or woman will forever be lost to himself. We must find comfort in our inability to find ourselves. For the moment we decide that we have been found, we become officially imprisoned in our own fortress of mediocrity, no matter how grand we think ourselves to be.

What I Hoped For

What I wanted most was for you to say what I hoped you were thinking. And so what I said was what I hoped you didn't want to hear.

"Sometimes we don't do the things we want to do so that others won't know we want to do them." -from M. Night Shyamalan's The Village

This is for Naomi, Jessica, and Renita who would all listen to Avril Lavigne with me.

Sometimes, I'm Unwell

Rob Thomas wears a t-shirt, with "Love Me" haphazardly written across the chest, while singing about temporary insanity.

I once stood in the middle of a road screaming to a newly-ex-boyfriend. "I hate you so much right now!" (I can think of maybe 3 other instances in my life when I've raised my voice in anger at someone...and no other instance in my life when I've used the "h" word in any non-playful way towards a person.)

"Madness is tonic and invigorating. It makes the sane more sane. The only ones who are unable to profit by it are the insane." -Henry Miller

A certain pleasure can be found from moments of madness. Liberating oneself from one's own sense of normality can be enlightening and refreshing. It breaks up the monotony of life and awakens emotions that might otherwise have been ignored or eternally repressed. It can boost creativity and create a new appreciation for life's intricacies. Most importantly, it helps exercise all of the mental and spiritual muscles one needs in order to feel.

Music Video of the Day: Acoustic Cover of Paula Abdul's "Straight Up"

I've always loved this song. I kinda love Paula Abdul. But there's something about paring it down from a dance song to this more raw, simplistic interpretation that really lays bare the emotional vulnerability expressed in the lyrics.

Music Video of the Day - "Your Ex-Lover is Dead" by Stars

A shout out to VH1's 40 Least Hip Hop Moments List*

Um, I Created a Life.

Stuffy white lady pushing stroller, to friend: I can't believe people are actually taking Justin Timberlake seriously these days.
Hipster crossing East: He brought sexy back, bitch! What the hell did you do?

--Central Park West

Overheard by: Zora Zero

via Overheard in New York, Jan 15, 2008

*Justin Timberlake made the list