The best laid plans...

In the latest definition of "old," instead of going downtown last night to see Partyline (ex-Bratmobile, ex-Hott Beat), M. and I stayed home and watched a movie about Bobby Darin.

I put a picture of my hero up on my profile to inspire me, but it's not working...

08/20: Jenn's Going Away Party @ Lovejoy's

Jenn, longtime general manager of Lovejoy's, is moving to Skagway, Alaska with her husband. Her friends and family at Lovejoy's threw her a fabulous party with some of her favorite musicians and bands: Halo Rings Her Head, Heather Bishop, Charlie, and Honky.





Above: Halo Rings Her Head. Giving the Migas a run for their money when it comes to stoner rock. Below: Charlie rocked the house with his crowd-pleasing standards and wowed us all with the recently penned "Remember the Sabbath" (as in Black Sabbath) especially for Jenn.





Above: Heather Bishop. Lovejoy's needs to get her to play a regular gig. Below: The venerable Honky in all their Honkiness.



Jenn and Jeff Pinkus salute each other (with unidentified Honky fan):

The Maturation of Smoosh

by Joseph Riipi

Sitting alone at the Smoosh show at the Knitting Factory this past week, I watched and listened to people talk about the preteen headliners.

"They're how old?"

"I think they're from Seattle. They were on NPR or something."

"Sisters."

"You didn't see them? They were the two girls sitting in the front row during the first band's set."

"How old?"

"Keyboards and drums."

"The drummer from Death Cab for Cutie is like their coach or something."

"No, they're supposed to be good. Seriously. Someone said they opened for Modest Mouse."

full story from Three Imaginary Girls website

Enoteca Vespaio

Drop whatever you are doing right now (if it's between 7am and 9pm, that is), scoot on down to South Congress and check yourself into the new cafe next door to Vespaio, "Enoteca Vespaio." It is a casual deli and eat-in cafe, serving panini sandwiches, salads, appetizers, antipasti, pizza, and pasta. Open early, it also sports pastries made on the premises and rich coffee for a classic European breakfast. The first day we had Suppli, an appetizer dish of rissoto balls stuffed with fontina, and today we had a kick-ass salad with roasted red peppers, olives, salami, cheese, tiny little tomatoes...and a pressed panini with prosciutto and truffled egg. Holy crap. I want to go there everyday! And the prices are reasonable, too. Did I mention they have a full bar and an extensive wine collection? Enoteca means "wine library." Maybe the Hungry Marxist will review it soon!

The Electrifying Eight ! (Issue No. 2)

My current favorite comic strip, written by 12-year old Zoe (M.'s niece).

Issue No. 2


Here's Issue No. 1

Crawford Hubub

If you don't already have these, here is a fascinating blog from the scene at Crawford - including posts by Cindy Sheehan.

crawfordupdate.blogspot.com

If you're interested in going to Crawford, check this: gointocrawford.blogspot.com

Upcoming Crawford events I have heard about:

--Peace walk & women-based events Thursday night, Aug. 18
--Noon interfaith vigil (with solidarity vigils around the country) & CodePink slumber party Friday, Aug. 19
--Rallies and various events Saturday, Aug. 20 while Lance Armstrong is at Bush's ranch.
--Rumors of celebs coming in the next week from Oprah to Martin Sheen (President Bartlett!!!).

Sounds like quite the party.

The Test

A completely unanticipated situation has come up for me that will test my level of professionalism against my level of disgust that I have for the spawn of the anti-abortion movement that is the crisis pregnancy center. These are the places that take advantage of young, poor pregnant women and girls with no family support and try to talk them out of having an abortion by telling them it's a sin, all women who have them regret it (they even created a "syndrome" for this affliction), and that it probably causes cancer and who knows what else. "Pregnant? Scared? Alone?" You know the billboards. They masquerade as "clinics" but they are often run by christian ministries and don't really offer health services.

I often try to forget that I live in Texas, but I had a rude reminder yesterday when I got the list of folks who had signed up and paid to participate in a workshop I am giving. It has always been your run of the mill organizations who are trying to do good for all sorts of people. I mean, some programs are poorly run and aren't effecting change very well, but at least I never had any argument with what they were intending to do. So anyway a few people from these centers are coming to my workshop. Having cut my professional teeth in the nicely blue state of Washington, I never imagined this. Should be a growth experience for me.

I heart My Neighborhood

I'm back in the 78704 after a two-year absence, and I admit at first I was skeptical. The past three years has seen exponential gentrification as well as a DIY neighborhood party mutate into a humongous people-crawl (i.e., First Thursday). I liked the street-cred that came from living in East Austin, and it was a pretty self-sufficient little area. But, goddamn, living off of S. Congress has some serious perks. This morning we biked up the street to the new Farm to Market grocery, a little mom and pop independent grocery that sells locally-grown organic produce, and got a few items we needed for the day. Then we toodled down to Jo's for some coffee, where I must say they know how to consistently pour a good shot unlike many cafes around town who either under-or over-extract. We literally live around the corner from these places and it is unbelieveably pleasant to be able to walk or bike to everything (groceries, restaurants/cafes, Continental Club, pet supply store, shopping, post office, thrift store, etc.).

Austin doesn't have many self-sufficient urban neighborhoods - upon moving here from Seattle I was dismayed at the prospect of driving everywhere. I'm happy to have found an affordable spot in 78704, though I admit I'm benefitting from the gentrification (Gah!). But it's happening as we speak in East Austin as well, so pick your poison. It's getting harder and harder to think of reasons to travel north of downtown...maybe to go to Room Service and to feed my embarassing addiction to Crate and Barrel, but that's about it.

How Do We Forgive Our Fathers

by Dick Lourie

How do we forgive our Fathers?
Maybe in a dream
Do we forgive our Fathers for leaving us too often or forever
when we were little?

Maybe for scaring us with unexpected rage
or making us nervous
because there never seemed to be any rage there at all.

Do we forgive our Fathers for marrying or not marrying our Mothers?
For Divorcing or not divorcing our Mothers?

And shall we forgive them for their excesses of warmth or coldness?
Shall we forgive them for pushing or leaning
for shutting doors
for speaking through walls
or never speaking
or never being silent?

Do we forgive our Fathers in our age or in theirs
or their deaths
saying it to them or not saying it?

If we forgive our Fathers what is left?

This poem is read during the last scene in the movie Smoke Signals, written by Sherman Alexie. It was originally published in a longer version titled "Forgiving Our Fathers" in a book of poems titled Ghost Radio published by Hanging Loose Press in 1998.

The Briefs, 7/31/05

On an unassuming Sunday night at Emo's, the underage punk kids were out in full mohawk-force, in part thanks to the street-punk bands Street Dogs (Boston) and Complete Control who opened for The Briefs (Seattle). Those two bands were a little Green Day-ish, not that there's anything wrong with that, and got the kids all riled up and wanting to stand up to The Man. The Briefs came out and brought us back to reality with songs about legendary bartenders ("Sylvia"), the happiness of having new shoes ("New Shoes"), and the paltry excuse for a musician that is Bob Seeger ("Silver Bullet"). I rode home with last year's "Sex Objects" record tucked in my bike bag.

The marriage ideal - patriarchy's biggest snow job

Finally someone who shares my wonderment at the obsession over marriage, an institution based on an unequal distribution of power:

(copied shamefully from the I Blame the Patriarchy Blog) - I hope she'll forgive the transgression...

"Take the whole gay marriage dealio. Why the heck is Queerville so eager to invite the state into its relationships? I ask because hetero marriage--a condition for which the spinster aunt can have but little sympathy--is nothing to write home about; historically it has provided the infrastructure for applied misogyny, it continues to be disproportionately advantageous to the male partner, and its tendency is to morph into the Nuclear Family, the primary unit of modern serfdom. Is discrimination and bigotry asinine? Of course. It’s not that I think homos shouldn’t get married; it’s that I think nobody should get married. Of patriarchy’s many cornerstones, marriage is the cornerstoniest. So, c’mon, let’s abolish the whole thing! Who’s with me?"

Le Tigre, 7/28/05

The Le Tigre show was hot. I mean, literally hot. The sold-out crowd pressed up against each other and waited patiently through two opening bands and it took powers of meditation and momentary out-of-body experiences to get through it. I'll have a review up on Girlstown Productions shortly.

I Hope This Girl Runs for Office Someday

Rappers' Delight

Voices of protest are popping up here and there, ever so slowly, to register their complaints about the woman-hating lyrics and culture of some popular rap music. In the last year the protests have come from inside hip-hop culture, where it should have the most impact (no one is going to listen to a bunch of white middle class intellectuals, especially women, as a general rule).

This latest piece is by a teenage girl from Ohio, a rap fan and feminist struggling with this cultural conflict. This excerpt especially warmed my heart, because it is directly opposed to the idea that cultural expressions like art don't influence attitudes and behavior. You know, the folks who claim that watching violent movies 10 hours a day since age 5 doesn't affect them in any way.

'Instead of simply promoting fads like Lacoste shirts and Cristal, through their music, rappers are spreading their views on women to an audience of teenage boys larger than Fat Joe's waistline, and I feel the effects everywhere I go.

From the school hallway, where on more than one occasion I have heard comments about the way I fit in my jeans, to the mall parking lot where pick-up lines usually begin with "Ooh, sexy ... " teenage boys express the same misogynistic sentiments as their rapping idols. I know that music is not the only driving force behind their behavior, but I believe rap's influence on my peers is stronger than the light reflecting off Jay-Z's ice.'

Say it!! But I am bothered by the sense of hopelessness (she calls it her hope, but I think it's actually pretty defeatist) in her conclusion, though. I don't expect this 17-year-old to have a solution, but if feminist teens are feeling hopeless, what hope do we have? On the other hand, just the fact that she wrote this and that it appeared on Alternet gives me tons of hope. Hope shmope. Always hoping things will get better, aren't we.

'I'll just hope that one day in the spirit of MC Lyte and Ms. Melodie, the future of popular radio will include new songs that don't make me want to alert NOW.'

A bunch of people responded to her on Alternet with brilliant suggestions like "change the radio station," and "listen to other kinds of rap and/or musical genres that don't degrade women." Totally missing the point, they are.

Will this song become relevant again?

This is a song written by the New Haven Women's Liberation Rock Band and released on their only album, Mountain Moving Day, recorded with the Chicago Women's Liberation Rock Band in 1972. The album has recently been re-released with the addition of two songs by Le Tigre.

ABORTION SONG

We're talkin' about abortion, it's against the law

But we know that it's our right

Control of our bodies we are going to will

We've got to get together and fight

They tell us to get married and have three or four kids
Change the diapers, be a good wife
But we will decide how many children to bear
We've got to control our own life

(Chorus)

Free our sisters, abortion is our right

Free our sisters, abortion is our right

We're talkin' about abortion it's as old as time
Hidden in fear and pain
The witches began it, they were burned at the stake
For helping sisters break their chains

Next came the butchers with their blood-stained hands
We've lost too many sisters that way
Now you go to the doctors and ask them to help
They say come back another day

(Chorus)

We're talkin' about abortion, gonna change the law
And make a better way
Those men with the power got to bend or break
They've got some heavy dues to pay

(Chorus)

Words & music: New Haven Women's Liberation Rock Band (1972)

S-K disappears from ACL lineup

So did anyone notice that Sleater-Kinney is no longer playing at the ACL Festival? That was a rather silent cancellation there. And it makes the lineup even more skewed to the boys. Sigh. I think it's better than SXSW's record on the gender front though. Silver Zephyr and I were once going to painstakingly research the actual gender ratio of SXSW bands - oh how ambitious we once were.

I'm working on a review of Sleater-Kinney's new record, The Woods, right now. It's a bit scary to write but should be up on Girlstown Productions soon. There are actually several new reviews up on the site lately: Sick Bees, Lali Puna, Gang Gang Dance, and a live review of last weeks' The Willowz show by yours truly. Ok, ok, so I comment more on how people look than what they sound like...I never claimed to be a professional music critic. I am a music fan who has certain detailed knowledge of a very specific slice of the indie scene, that from the pacific northwest, and not much else. And I am especially a fan of the lady musicians who defy all barriers and play some mean rock and roll through the pathetic cries of 'show us your tits.' Sleater-Kinney used to sell tee shirts that said "Show Me Your Riffs."

Look out for my review of this Thursday's Le Tigre show! Hopefully I can get close enough for some pictures without greasy heads in the foreground.

New Territory

Just a quick update -- the last 10 days have been high drama and high anxiety for me. First, we made the move across town and have been dealing with unpacking and storing, sorting, cleaning, organizing, arranging, etc. and getting used to the new space. In the middle of that, Silver Zephyr had a C-section, and baby Frankie (not to be confused with doggie Frankie) had to have a complicated and fairly rare surgery the next day -- he seems to be doing much much better now, though!. And then in the middle of all that, I found out that my parents, in their 39th year of marriage, are getting divorced. I have been spending a lot of time on the phone with my family, and dealing with my own conflicted feelings, and not feeling like interacting too much socially. It's bizarre to be going through this in my 30s. It's really hard no matter the age. I never thought this would actually happen, but it's probably for the best. I hope my mom truly comes into her own and finds some peace.

Do I Really Need to Hang On to Those Skis?

The move went down on Sunday with the help of ATX Moving (highly recommended). It took 3 men four hours from start to finish, and they were a little peeved when they saw all the stairs at the Kirkwood place - apparently we technically lived in a third floor apartment rather than the second floor we thought we lived in. We gave them power-ade and when they were done they hosed themselves off and we all drank a lonestar. Moving always humbles me because I am forced to come to terms with the fact that I have a lot of crap. Boxes and boxes of random odds and ends that taunt me in their 88% uselessness. It's that 12% potential usefulness that keeps me hanging on. I did throw away and donate bags of stuff this time around, but I am trying to do more. This morning I left my downhill ski boots at the Salvation Army on S. Congress. I actually felt pangs as I drove away, and saw my boots receding in the distance. Where will they end up? Those boots took me down many a mountain, and I don't want them to end up on a scrap heap somewhere . Who in Texas could possibly appreciate them?

So now I'm left with a pair of downhill Rossignol and a pair of Karhu cross-country racing skis. I've had them since the late 1980s. Seriously. I also have a 17" computer monitor that I brought with me from Seattle, and haven't used or wanted to use it in three years. A perfectly good monitor, but it's humongous and in its original box takes up a lot of space. I'm sitting here staring at coffee-table cat books, an old fleece pillow, a broken cat toy, 10-pound hand weights, a piece of denim cloth that I thought would make good patch material (8 years ago), a beanie baby (a pug doggie) given to me by my mom about 10 years ago, a box of wool gloves, mittens, and hats, a bag of thick wool socks, and at least one box of greeting cards sent to me over the years by my parents and assorted close friends. And that's just what I can see from where I'm sitting. The personal mementos are the hardest. I've been pack-ratting this stuff around for 15 years at least, driven by the fear that when I'm an old woman I will forget everything that ever happened to me and thus will need 10 boxes (projected estimate) of reminders so I can go sift through it and remember that weekend trip I took to Boulder Colorado in 1994. Sigh.

One more day of cleaning the old apartment and then we're done. We're living out of boxes at the new place but the cable is all hooked up and I have my wireless internet again so all is well. Frankie has her very own fenced front yard all to herself (she's been sharing with 1 - 3 other dogs the last two years), and she wants to play ball all day. O.F. and Stella adjusted fairly quickly but Pepe needs some more time. The first thing he did is get himself stuck behind the refridgerator. He was able to get himself out though, but not before I panicked realizing there was no human way to move the fridge. When the cable person was here doing the hookup both Stella and Pepe hid behind the fridge for a couple of hours - I thought they were going to pass out from the heat and be too weak to jump back out -- Stella came out with some coaxing but Pepe stayed down in there for like two more hours. Weirdo.

Other than that I'm having trouble finding a place for the litter box. My bathroom hardware accessories from restoration hardware arrived today - I can't wait to install them. The front door area is festering with mosquitoes that attack even in broad sunlight - anyone know how to control them other than getting rid of standing water (which there is none). I am very scattered and overwhelmed! I am hoping no one at the Coww is missing me this week.

I'm packing, really, I am

Here I am knee-deep in boxes and random shit and I all of a sudden have time to post blog entries and update Girlstown Productions. Speaking of that, we're experiencing a bit of a lull while Return of the Silver Zephyr is in the hospital trying to keep the kid from being born prematurely and I take care of my move and my chronic laziness. We're working on recruiting new writers who will contribute music reviews and feature articles, so watch for that in the next few weeks!

More changes are in the works this Fall, as I am on track to re-join the world of the gainfully employed while I finish (uhhh, start) my dissertation. It's not official yet, but if it comes through I will certainly welcome the opportunity to leave a certain foundation (we'll call it the "Cow Foundation" ) which didn't live up to its potential for me. It's really too bad, because the potential is truly there. It just depends on what people/personalities occupy the positions of power and how they view graduate education, as well as the organizational upheaval going on. I'm being a little vague here, yes. It was better than being a T.A. though!

Here's to the many sushi dinners that may be in my future...

Punditry

So Jerry Springer and Al Franken don't think Bush is going to try to appoint an extremist judge to the supreme court (i.e. an anti-Roe judge). Jerry thinks it would be the "end of the Republican Party," and Al thinks it would create too much controversy and it would be a stupid decision politically. Jerry admits he may be a bit too optimistic, but really feels that the counter-revolution this would spark would be too much for the Republicorns. I tend to think that Bush isn't afraid of controversy, and likes to be seen as making the tough, unpopular, but "right" decisions. I also keep seeing in print that the current court is 6-3 for Roe, when all the pro-choice fundraising propaganda - whoops I mean literature - I get consistently says 5-4. So they would actually need Rhenquist and one other pro-Roe judge in addition to O'Connor to resign before it could be overturned.

Oh and can I just say I really like Jerry Springer's show on Air America? Plus he totally pokes fun at himself for his TV show.

So what have the other pundits and wonks been saying? Anyone watching Fox to see what their take is?

Wanted: one female centrist supreme court nominee

The New York Times has quickie profiles of eight potential nominees (how they arrived at these particular eight is not known) to replace O'Connor. To my horror, they are ALL men and almost all white. The fact that they're all conservative is a moot issue. Now we can only hope for some diversity.

We could be royally screwed here. Could we? It may be naive optimism, but I still have a hard time believing that Roe could be overturned. They've upheld it twice already, and the court does not like to take back prior decisions (the whole stare decisis thing). But I just know GW is going to express-lane an activist judge to the bench and so our only hope now is the Democrats' filibustering power, which can be taken away by the republicorn majority if they feel the democrats are being too stubborn.

Vancouver B.C. is looking veeeery good to me right now.