Dogged Blog

Just Politics

I blogged on Club Kingsnake about some of the songs on the  "Just Politics" playlist on my iPod -- I included only a few, and found video clips for each of them, too.

Here's the complete list. My musical taste doesn't include some genres that have a lot more political music than this, and I frequently snagged just a single song from an artist who has a huge political catalog. So I won't say these are the best, or even all my favorite, political songs. It's also a bit heavily weighted towards The Nightwatchman because he's new for me after SXSW this year. But yo, he's worth some heavy weight.

Just Politics:

Biko - Peter Gabriel
I wrote about this a lot of Club Kingsnake so I won't go into the whole thing here again, other than to say this may be the greatest political song of all time, and seeing it live is a religious experience.

In The Ghetto  - Joe Simon
Love, love, love love this version -- although the Elvis Presley one is, of course, much better known. It just always sound a little too over-polished to my ear -- although not remotely as much as the version by the song's writer, Mac Davis, which hurts me to listen to. But there are several   versions of this: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Dolly Parton (no, I'm not kidding), Natalie Merchant, the Cranberries... I'm sure there are several others I'm not thinking of. Great, great song.

Flesh Shapes The Day - The Nightwatchman
This is a profoundly poetic song about race and war. It gave me chills when I heard it live in Austin.

The Road I Must Travel - The Nightwatchman
I suppose this one might come off the playlist after I OD on Morello... maybe in ten years or so. This song evokes some of the feeling of old folk/populist songs with a dark, post-911 sensibility and a touch of WTF. Brilliant.

What's Up? - 4 Non Blondes
One of the least overtly political songs on here, but it always makes me want to change the world when I hear it. Plus you gotta love the words:

And I try, oh my God do I try
I try all the time
In this institution
And I pray, oh my God do I pray
I pray every single day
For a revolution

P!nk has never recorded this, but she performs it live... like here.

Democracy - Leonard Cohen
I love Leonard Cohen, and this is one of my favorite songs of his. It's idealistic, realistic, full of hope, aching with sadness... and despite the fact that he can't sing anymore, extremely beautiful.

It's coming from the sorrow in the street,
the holy places where the races meet;
from the homicidal bitchin'
that goes down in every kitchen
to determine who will serve and who will eat.
From the wells of disappointment
where the women kneel to pray
for the grace of God in the desert here
and the desert far away:
Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.

(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
I did, indeed, grow up in San Francisco in the 60s, but I was just a little girl and not a flower child. And you'd never know it from the crazy huge love I have for this song.

I Hope - Dixie Chicks
I heard this when they played it on a televised Hurricane Katrina benefit. It was the first time I ever heard the Dixie Chicks and it was instant love.

Sunday morning, I heard the preacher say
Thou shall not kill
I don't wanna, hear nothin' else, about killin'
And that it's God's will
Cuz our children are watching us
They put their trust in us
They're gonna be like us
So let's learn from our history
And do it differently

How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times and Live - Bruce Springsteen
Another Katrina benefit number that blew the top of my head off. View it here.

Streets of Sorrow / Birmingham Six - The Pogues
The Pogues have no shortage of songs that could have been on this list, but although it's about war, this one always reminded me of the early years of the AIDS epidemic:

Oh farewell you streets of sorrow
And farewell you streets of pain
I'll not return to feel more sorrow
Nor to see more young men slain
Through the last six years Ive lived through terror
And in the darkened streets the pain
Oh how I long to find some solace
In my mind I curse the strain

Which Side Are You On - Billy Bragg
I first heard this song in 1984 during the British miners' strike, when Bragg and other progressive British musicians toured the country raising money for their cause. Old-fashioned politics with a punk edge. I loved it then. I love it, and him, now.

Holiday In Cambodia - Dead Kennedys
I remember when the Dead Kennedys were just one of many local punk bands. I can't count the number of times I saw them play, and the band I managed opened for them a couple of times. And even given the embarrassment of riches that was the punk scene in San Francisco in the early 80s, the DKs are still one of the best things to ever come out of it.

Not Ready To Make Nice - Dixie Chicks
If "I Hope" hadn't already done it, this would have. Their non-apology for pointing out that Bush was wrong, wrong, wrong about the war in Iraq. You go, Chicks.

I Love A Man In A Uniform - Gang Of Four
More of my 80s self coming out. We used to dance to this one and changed the lyrics to, "I love a man in a Maidenform." Ah, the days when I thought this was dance music. But hey, it has a beat!

House Gone Up In Flames  - The Nightwatchman
Another one I suspect will stand the test of time with me. The incredible poetry -- I don't know what other word to use -- of Morello's lyrics, combined with the spare, hard delivery, just get me every time. If I quoted you every word, it would be hard to say why this is such a political song, but listening to it, and even more, seeing him perform it live, leaves you with absolutely no doubt.

Marvin Gaye - What's Goin' On?
Completely iconic anti-war song that I actually like more than, say, Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," which always hit me as just a little too sweet. I also love Cyndi Lauper's 80s cover, here.

He Thinks He'll Keep Her - Mary Chapin Carpenter
I'm sort of in an anti-war political mode these days (wonder why), but I'm a feminist nonetheless, and I love this song.

Stupid Girls - Pink
Feminism you can dance to. Play it for every little girl you know.

Anthem - Leonard Cohen
Apparently I'm a complete sucker for that place where politics and poetry intersect.

I can't run no more
with that lawless crowd
while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud.
But they've summoned, they've summoned up
a thundercloud
and they're going to hear from me. 

Dear Mr. President (Featuring Indigo Girls) - P!nk
This one needs absolutely no explanation. Video here (without the Indigo Girls, but great anyway.)

Jesus Walks - Kanye West
Another Katrina benefit song. I freely admit I don't listen to rap or hip hop. I am old; what can I say? But he performed this at the same benefit where I heard "I Hope," with some custom lyrics for the floods, and I was just staggered by it.

The Captain - Leonard Cohen
An oldie, from when Cohen could still sing. "There is no decent place to stand in a massacre."

Suffragette City - David Bowie
I really don't care what he meant by this song. It'll always be a feminist anthem for me. "Don't lean on me, man, cuz you can't afford the ticket."

Whine and Grine / Stand Down Margaret - The Beat
I imagine a lot of people reading this don't remember Margaret Thatcher, but I do. And seeing the Beat do this live in London when she was in her heyday? Nothing like it.

I see no joy
I see only sorrow
I see no chance of your bright new tomorrow
So stand down Margaret, stand down please
I said stand down Margaret

This Is Radio Clash - The Clash
I continue to be susceptible to the idea music can change the world. I know it can't, but still....

Pride (In The Name Of Love) - U2
Martin Luther King, Jr: Rest in Peace.

Early morning, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

Straight to Hell - The Clash
Talk about bitter.

Absolutely Not (Hex Hector/Mac Quayle Chanel Mix) - Deborah Cox
More feminism with a beat!

Should I wear my hair in a ponytail?
Should I dress myself up in chanel?
Do I measure me by what you think?
Absolutely not, absolutely not
If I go to work in a mini-skirt
Am I givin' you the right to flirt?
I won't compromise my point of view
Absolutely not, absolutely not

Silent Legacy - Melissa Etheridge
Breaks my heart every time. About growing up gay. Her "Nowhere to Go" does, too.

You are digging for the answers
Until your fingers bleed
To satisfy the hunger
To satiate the need
They feed you on the guilt
To keep you humble keep you low
Some man and myth they made up
A thousand years ago

And as you pray in your darkness
For wings to set you free
You are bound to your silent legacy

Mothers tell your children
Be quick you must be strong
Life is full of wonder
Love is never wrong
Remember how they taught you
How much of it was fear
Refuse to hand it down
The legacy stops here

Help Save the Youth of America - Billy Bragg

The cities of Europe have burned before
And they may yet burn again
But if they do I hope you understand
That Washington will burn with them
Omaha will burn with them
Los Alamos will burn with them

What's the Matter Here? - 10,000 Maniacs
I'm not a huge fan of this band, but this song, about child abuse, is incredible.

One Man Revolution - The Nightwatchman
Tired of him yet? I think this is the last one.

There Is Power In a Union - Billy Bragg
Do you know I have never, ever crossed a picket line? It's just how I was raised.

Money Can't Buy It - Annie Lennox
I'm not absolutely sure this is political, but it feels that way to me.

London Calling - The Clash
More of my 80s youth.

Free Nelson Mandela - The Specials & The Special A.K.A.
When I was young, Nelson Mandela was still in a South African jail.

Waiting for the Great Leap Forwards - Billy Bragg
This one always makes me happy, even if the lyrics are a bit rough. "You can be active with the activists or sleep in with the sleepers while you're waiting for the great leap forward." Also, "If no one out there understands, start your own revolution and cut out the middle man." You gotta love it.

Glad to Be Gay - Tom Robinson Band
This one's from the 70s, actually -- I have the single version on my iPod, but the live version from 1979's "Secret Policeman's Ball" to benefit Amnesty International is better and it's here.

Enola Gay -- Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark
Again, you can take the 80s out of the girl etc. A song about the bombing of Hiroshima from the dawn of the synthesizer age.

Man In Black - Johnny Cash
I love this song by Cash, which is about the Viet Nam war. And he took huge heat in the day for recording it, too. But if someone could find me an mp3 of Marc Almond's version, done on an 80s AIDS benefit album called "Man in Black," all of covers of Cash's songs, I'd love you forever. I own it on vinyl but I don't even have a record player anymore.

We're a civilized nation...

I'm a jaded bitch now, but once upon a time I believed the world would change. I even believed it might come about through music. And when I was 20 and a punk, and hating hard on Ronald Reagan, and about to be, but not yet, faced with the nightmare of AIDs burning its way across America while the government ignored it, I used to listen to a band called the Au Pairs.

Wikipedia tells me the Au Pairs were a bit in sound like Gang of Four and the Delta Five. Huh. At the time I'd have probably argued about that, but in retrospect, I guess it's true. They had an edgier sound than the Gang of Four, the lead vocal teased out in a different way, a bit more spare in their production.

But this isn't about their sound. It's about a song they wrote, and a news story I read last night, and how not only can't music seem to change the world for the better, but maybe nothing can.

The song is "Armagh," from the brilliant 1981 album "Playing With a Different Sex," and it was about a British prison for women in Northern Ireland:

We don't torture
We're a civilized nation...

This is the story, from ABC News:

The so-called Principals who participated in the meetings also approved the use of "combined" interrogation techniques -- using different techniques during interrogations, instead of using one method at a time -- on terrorist suspects who proved difficult to break, sources said.

Highly placed sources said a handful of top advisers signed off on how the CIA would interrogate top al Qaeda suspects -- whether they would be slapped, pushed, deprived of sleep or subjected to simulated drowning, called waterboarding.

The high-level discussions about these "enhanced interrogation techniques" were so detailed, these sources said, some of the interrogation sessions were almost choreographed -- down to the number of times CIA agents could use a specific tactic.

The advisers were members of the National Security Council's Principals Committee, a select group of senior officials who met frequently to advise President Bush on issues of national security policy.

At the time, the Principals Committee included Vice President Cheney, former National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Secretary of State Colin Powell, as well as CIA Director George Tenet and Attorney General John Ashcroft. 

Bush not only knew and approved, but he signed the authorization for the torture himself.

But we're a civilized nation.

LOU REED!

I'm liveblogging Lou Reed's keynote address at SXSW in the morning, but this afternoon I not only saw the U.S. premiere of Julian Schnabel's film of "Lou Reed's Berlin" here in Austin, but I sat three seats away from Reed!

My impressions of the film and my notes on the Q&A with Reed and Hal Wilner over on club kingsnake!

Yet more incomprehensible hodgepodge from Christie, Girl Reporter

Tuesday the second part of my article on the environmental impact of having pets ran... but don't read the comments section unless you're trying to have an aneurysm, because the pet haters are out in force over there.

I contributed to the Top 25 Gay TV Characters of All Time article over on AfterElton.com -- gold stars to anyone who can guess which profiles I wrote. ;)

Gina's and my article on the no-kill movement for our nationally syndicated pet feature ran this week... based on my interviews with Nathan Winograd ("Redemption") and Richard Avanzino (Maddie's Fund).

I reviewed some holiday music over on Club Kingsnake... old and new!

Things were different in the 90s...

Since getting my iPod, I've been slowly putting all my CDs on it, and this weekend, I put the first Red Hot + Blue compilation on it.

This was originally an album with a companion television show, a group of videos by different artists and directors to songs by Cole Porter. It was a benefit for AIDS research, and a number of follow-up albums were released.

This project was spearheaded by John Carlin, who commented in the notes for last May's DVD release that "Things were different in 1990."  They were; darker and far more frightening than they are today.

Each artist was paired with a director, and some of the best directors of the day were involved -- not just music video directors, but film as well. Wim Wenders, for instance, made U2's video to Cole Porter's "Night and Day." Derek Jarman, whose films were often really a bit too artsy and self-indulgent for me, was a director I thought might be best appreciated in music-video length. He was supposed to direct Annie Lennox singing "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye," but he was too ill; he died of AIDS in 1994.

More and lots and lots of YouTube vids under the jump....

Magical writing

It's amazing how much stuff I've written is just magically appearing even though I'm sick in bed and not capable of much more than these little intros to linkage.

I may have done permanent damage to my airways by going to the Rufus Wainwright concert in San Francisco last Friday, but damn he was good. But I did notice something a bit disconcerting about the audience:

Oh, Rufus Wainwright, how you sparkle.

Oh, audience who went to see Rufus Wainwright at the San Francisco Masonic Auditorium last Friday, what’s wrong with you?

I refer specifically to the absolute flat-boring way the audience was dressed. There were perhaps five of us wearing anything that could remotely be considered sparkly, except, of course, for Rufus and his band, who were appropriately blinding in their shininess.

And that’s why I want to know what’s wrong with the people of my city, especially my gay brothers who I once could count on not to go see a diva like Rufus wearing little zip-up track jackets and running shoes.

Full judgmental little rant and yes, a few words about the actual concert story here.

Friday iPod Challenge on Sunday: The maybe I should change the name of this challenge edition

I went to see Rufus Wainwright at San Francisco's Masonic Auditorium Friday night, and I'll have a review of that on Club Kingsnake Monday sometime. And I might have a few words about it on the AfterElton.com blog, too; I'm not sure yet. But for now, let's do a Rufus-inspired playlist of nothing but different versions of Leonard Cohen's song "Hallelujah" that are on my iPod:

• Hallelujah -- the original by Leonard Cohen, on Various Positions.   
• Hallelujah -- by U2's Bono  from Tower Of Song: The Songs Of Leonard Cohen, a tribute album. This one is odd and doesn't quite work for me, but he tried to do something different with it, and the background vocal is breathtaking.
• Hallelujah -- Jeff Buckley from Grace. This is the version that was played on West Wing.
• Hallelujah -- by John Cale. Rough, raw. Video here.      
• Hallelujah -- again by Leonard Cohen, a much later version with different lyrics, from Leonard Cohen Live In Concert. This is my favorite.   
• Hallelujah -- by k.d. lang, from Hymns Of The 49th Parallel, k.d.'s album of songs by Canadian songwriters.
• Hallelujah -- by Rufus Wainwright. Video here. Gorgeous. Someone told me this was on the Shrek    soundtrack, but I wouldn't know.  Also the Gray's Anatomy soundtrack, but again... wouldn't know. I hate that show. Rufus does a lot of Cohen covers.
• Hallelujah -- by Brandi Carlile. I saw her do this live in San Francisco . Her voice is beautiful, but the versions I found on YouTube were all pretty low quality.

There are a few other versions out there... did I miss one you like?

Friday iPod Challenge, the VIDEO EDITION, because I'm COMPLETELY INSANE

I have no spare time on my hands at all, and yet.... I did this. Enjoy. A whole new kind of random iPod ten.

I did what I always do, and set my iTunes to randomly shuffle my music -- and then this time, I posted each song with a video clip!

The list:

1. Melissa Etheridge and Jewel, "Foolish Games"
2. Marianne Faithful, "As Tears Go By"
3. Leonard Cohen, "Suzanne"
4. Kristine W, "Fly Again"
5. Gloria Gaynor, "I Will Survive"
6. Everything But the Girl, "When All's Well"
7. Dolly Parton and Melissa Etheridge, "Jolene" (Live)
8. Cocteau Twins, "Pearly Dewdrops Drops"
9. Caterina Caselli, "Perdono"
10. Erasure, "Gimme, Gimme, Gimme (A man after midnight)"

This is frighteningly addictive. Don't try it at home. Videos under the jump.

Friday iPod Challenge, on Saturday: How songful

I was ranting the other day on AfterElton.com that I have a thing against artsy films that don't tell a story or have compelling characters. I feel the same way about books. I certainly think filmmakers and writers should create whatever they want to create, and not worry about what I think; I'm all about the freedom of expression. But me and art films and literary fiction, not so much.

Along with liking stories, I like songs. When I interviewed him, I had to admit to Stephen Kijak, who made a brilliant and not at all "art film" biography of musician Scott Walker, that I, like other heathens among Walker's fans, don't care for his more experimental recent works. I suck. I freely admit it.

So, I have a playlist on my iPod called "Just Sing." It has a lot of songs that I love because they're, well, songful. So I set iTunes to randomly shuffle just that playlist, and here is a songful random ten:

1. Don't Let the Teardrops Rust Your Shining Heart by Everything but the Girl (ever so slightly biographical although I'm the "you"):

I used to drive all night for you
While the children were asleep
And as the dawn broke on your room
Back into my house I'd creep
Where my husband slept alone
Of course he must have known
But we always hide the truth
For fear of losing what we own

2. Deeper Well by Emmylou Harris (from the incredibly brilliant Wrecking Ball, an album Stephen Kijak turned me onto, so maybe he won't hate me forever):

I went to the river but the river was dry
I fell to my knees and I looked to the sky
I looked to the sky and the spring rain fell
I saw the water from a deeper well

3.  Angel of Harlem by U2:

Blue light on the avenue
God knows they got to you
An empty glass, the lady sings
Eyes swollen like a bee sting
Blinded you lost your way
Through the side streets and the alleyway
Like a star exploding in the night
Falling to the city in broad daylight
An angel in Devil's shoes
Salvation in the blues
You never looked like an angel
Yeah yeah...angel of Harlem

4. Hunter's Lullaby by Leonard Cohen

Your father's gone a-hunting
Through the silver and the glass
Where only greed can enter
But spirit, spirit cannot pass

5. Valentine's Day is Over by Billy Bragg

Thank you for the things you bought me
Thank you for the card
Thank you for the things you taught me when you hit me hard
That love between two people must be based on understanding
Until that's true you'll find your things
All stacked out on the landing
Surprise, surprise
Valentine's Day is over

6. Breakdown by Melissa Etheridge (lesbian couples never break up, we  just call each other at 3 am):

So you're having a breakdown
So you're losing the fight
So you're having a breakdown
And you need me tonight
I found my place in this downtown
Salt air and yellow street lights
So you're having a breakdown
And I'm driving and crying
Unraveled and flying
I'm coming to your breakdown tonight

7. The Moon and St. Christopher by Mary Chapin Carpenter:

Now I've paid my dues because I have owed them
But I've paid a price sometimes
For being such a stubborn woman in such stubborn times
Now I have run from the arms of lovers
I have run from the eyes of friends
I have run from the hands of kindness
I have run just because I can

8. Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez

Now I see you standing
With brown leaves falling around
And snow in your hair
Now you're smiling out the window
Of that crummy hotel
Over Washington Square
Our breath comes out white clouds
Mingles and hangs in the air
Speaking strictly for me
We both could have died then and there

9. Crying by Roy Orbison and kd lang

I thought that I was over you
But it's true, so true
I love you even more than I did before
But darling, what can I do?
For you don't love me
and I'll always be
Crying over you, crying over you

10. A Rainy Night in Soho by the Pogues (I have never listened to this without crying. Never):

I'm not singing for the future
I'm not dreaming of the past
I'm not talking of the first time
I never think about the last

Now the song is nearly over
We may never find out what it means
Still there's a light I hold before me
You're the measure of my dreams
The measure of my dreams

Okay. Ten songs. Not just music. SONGS. Gimme.

Friday iPod Challenge -- DID YOU MISS IT???

It's been a while since I did my iPod challenge, which requires an iPod not at all. Just use whatever program you have for managing your music files and get it to generate a list of ten entirely random songs and tell me what they are. The key is NO CHEATING.

I took the bottom ten, not the top ten, but it's totally random:

1. Nasty Girl (Peter's Reconstruction Radio Edit)  - Inaya Day
2. She's Lost Control - Joy Division
3. After All (Radio Pollution Mix by The Passengerz) - Delerium
4. Top of the World - Dixie Chicks
5. Ambition - Doves
6. Drive-In Saturday - David Bowie
7. The Sound Of Violence (Narcotic Thrust Remix) - Cassius
8. My Oklahoma Home - Bruce Springsteen & The Sessions Band
9. Let Him Fly - Dixie Chicks
10. Stupid Girls - Pink

Now your turn! Show me something I'm not expecting.

The big gay problem with the iPhone

I know everyone who reads this blog is aware that my love for my iPod is unhealthy knows no bounds. And it's probably my only entertainment-related obsession that Gina doesn't scold me about,  because Gina is the one who bought it for me.

Not long ago, I posted here that my dream electronic device was a combination of my cell phone, my iPod, and my laptop, and a number of people said, "Fear not! Such a device is at hand! It's called the iPhone and it will be all that and more!"

And it sort of is, except, you know, it's not, because this thing has EIGHT PATHETIC MISERABLE GIGS OF STORAGE SPACE ON IT.

Hello, Apple! Not only do I have 14 gigs of music on my 60 gig video iPod, I have 30 gigs... THIRTY GIGS ... of television shows on here! What exactly am I supposed to delete?

So, you can read my music woe review over here on club.kingsnake and my careful explanation of why this lack of storage on the iPod is a big anti-gay plot over here on AfterElton.com:

This is a serious issue, Apple. If I’m sitting in the waiting room at my vet’s office or getting a pedicure or on an airplane, and I’m struck with the sudden and uncontrollable urge to watch Xena and Gabrielle take a long, hot bath together, or Brian and Justin twirling around at the prom, I can’t do it.

Anything that interferes with the Xena is just wrong. So be very careful if you buy this thing.

Blues legend BB King

Clint over at club.kingsnake, who swore after SXSW that he was done, done with music blogging, caught BB King's Toronto show night before last. He got some incredible photos and reviewed the show:

B.B. sits down to play now, and this contributes to the intimate nature of his live show. He also spends a lot of time telling stories and interacting with the more jovial members of the audience. Between (and during!) songs we were treated to stories of boyhood trips to town, later trips where after a "beer and half" he'd venture across the tracks to see if the "white water" tasted different form the "colored water." B.B. can laugh now about the repercussions if he'd been caught on the wrong side of the tracks in the segregated south of the 1930s and 40s, but admits that at the time it was no laughing matter. The audience also sustained a good hearted ribbing when they failed to join in during "When Love Comes To Town," which was written for Mr. King by U2's Bono.

The evening's highlight for me was when the horn section left the stage and B.B., with the guitarist and bassist seated on either side of him, played some great blues and told more of his stories. The legend's guitar tone was to die for, and I loved watching him let loose on occasion with some delicious runs and his trademark otherworldly singing vibrato. "You Are My Sunshine" was incredible!

Full review and link to the photo gallery here. Show Clint he's doing the right thing to keep blogging about music.

Friday iPod Challenge, the "SHE LIVES!" edition

Let me make one thing perfectly clear: While I am indeed alive, I have no life whatsoever.

I don't even know how far behind I am on linking to stuff I've written, which I make at least some feeble attempt to keep track of here. I believe I wrote an article grading the cable networks on lesbian/gay visibility for AfterElton.com - I have the sole byline on it, but it was a collaborative effort with all the guys who are listed at the end as "contributing."

Then I boldy tread where no lesbian has gone before and wrote an article on the most groundbreaking gay male sex scenes on television. Apparently people actually like to read about sex, go figure.

So, I also blog over there on AfterElton... about the gaying of TV, about the glorious cheesy horribleness of Dante's Cove, about Hyatt Hotels not having the big gay love (I'm supposed to be following up on that story, but I had a three day headache and forgot),  about gay vampires on TV,  and a free movie about the history of queer cinema that you can download or watch online.

And next week I interview HGTV's David Bromstad.

So, that was the fluff. Now, for the substance. We had a live online panel discussion about the pet food recall with itchmo, petfoodtracker, thepetfoodlist, Gina, and me, over on pethobbyist.com. The transcript is here. It was wild, we had around 300 people come through.

If I listed all the blogging I've done on this subject at PetConnection in the last week, it would take up a lot of time I could spend more profitably shopping for shoes working, so I won't. Just believe me when I tell you, every time someone at the FDA speaks, my head explodes.

So, the iPod challenge. If you've actually read this far, well, just remember no good deed goes unpunished. Now I'm going to make you work.

You don't actually need an iPod. I just wanna know what you're listening to. I used to ask for a random playlist, but now I want the ten songs currently in heaviest rotation, or that you most recently played, on your mp3 or CD player, or heck, your tape deck or turntable, I am not a technological elitist.

Here are the last ten played songs on my iPod:

1. Baby's On Fire by Marc Almond (God, wasn't this on last week? I must like it)
2. Going to a Town by Rufus Wainwright
3. Caroline Says I by Lou Reed
4. Nessuno mi può giudicare by Caterina Caselli
5. Lover's Spit (Redux) by Broken Social Scene (this is the Bee Hives version with Leslie Feist singing)
6. Holiday in Cambodia by the Dead Kennedys
7. Coming Back to You by Leonard Cohen (I have no memory of listening to those two songs back to back; I can't believe I would have forgotten that)
8. Madam Butterfly (after "Un bel di vedremo" from "Madama Butterfly") by Malcolm McLaren
9. Glenview by Pansy Division
10. Boy (Acoustic) by Erasure

So, whatcha listening to these days?

Scott Walker article, review

On AfterElton, my interview with queer filmmaker Stephen Kijak and actor Gale Harold, about Kijak's new film, the music documentary Scott Walker: 30 Century Man:

You may never have heard of Scott Walker, but you've probably been under his spell — at least second-hand. After turning his back on U.K. pop stardom in the '60s when he split from his band, the Walker Brothers, at the height of their popularity, he started a solo career that moved ever deeper into experimentation and obscurity. Along the way, he brought the work of Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel into vogue and influenced artists including David Bowie (who executive produced the film), Brian Eno, Alison Goldfrapp, Sting, Dot Allison and a long list of other musical luminaries, most of whom couldn't agree fast enough to be interviewed for the documentary.

In a music-centric interview that lasted more than an hour, Kijak told AfterElton.com, "I read an article once that said Scott Walker is Judy Garland for the gays who grew up writing poetry and wearing black turtlenecks." He laughed, then went on more seriously: "Scott is the benchmark for living an alternative lifestyle. He is uncompromising against anyone telling him 'this is how it's supposed to be.' He has one vision of himself, and he's expressing it through music."

Walker's code isn't only for musicians, Kijak insists. "It holds for anybody, in any pursuit in life that you can in some way think of as creative — even the construction of your own identity."

Documentaries are my favorite kinds of films, just as non-fiction is my favorite kind of book, and I really loved this movie, which I reviewed for club.kingsnake after seeing it in Austin. Harold was the film's associate producer, which I believe is a technical film industry term for "obsessed Scott Walker fan who would do anything to see this project made." He's apparently in very good company - the list of musical luminaries who appear in this documentary is dazzling, and I'm just glad that I got to review the film for a music blog - although I'm still trying to figure out if the note I had from director Stephen Kijak calling me a "music nerd" was meant as a compliment or not:

(D)on’t see this film expecting an uber-cool alt/indie version of a VH-1 special. Scott Walker: 30 Century Man isn’t an industry “music bio.” It’s a film documenting what director (Stephen) Kijak called “the evolution of a songwriter over time.”

That evolution has covered a lot of territory, from his early years as a 60s UK boy band pop star, to his presence today as a composer of work so experimental and abstract it defies categorization. Scott Walker has crooned ballads to an orchestral accompaniment, and created percussion by thwacking a side of pork. He brought Belgian singer Jacque Brel into vogue with Scott Walker Sings Jacques Brel and his still-iconic performances of Mathilde and Jackie. He entered the consciousness of a new generation of listeners with the stunning compilation Boy Child: The Best of Scott Walker 1967-1970. He’s influenced everyone from Lulu to David Bowie (who executive produced and appears in the film) to Sting to the Smiths to Brian Eno to Marc Almond to Radiohead to Pulp (he produced We Love Life, and Jarvis Cocker is all over the film) to Dot Allison, and dozens, even hundreds, of other musicians. And once you’ve seen it, there’s something else anyone who has listened to alternative/indie music in the last forty years will quickly realize: Even if you didn’t know Walker’s name, you’ve been listening to musicians influenced by him all your life.

Full review here.

Friday iPod Challenge - something new

I was going to sit down and take stock of the last two and a half months, during which I have had an average of 4 hours sleep per night and had perhaps one full day off.

In those two and a half months I've put on my fifth Chat Week event over at PetHobbyist.com, gone to Austin for the South by Southwest Conference and Festival, judged my first (unofficial) dog show, and found out that the poison in pet food is not, at the moment, some metaphorical hyperbole from a raw food fanatic, but a literal statement of fact.

I've interviewed dozens of bloggers, actors, filmmakers, musicians, veterinarians, politicians, and researchers. I've even been on television three times, on the radio more times than I can count, and had the website I contribute to recognized in a Senate hearing.

I was told by someone I interviewed that I ought to write a book, and heard from a literary agent who offered to help me make that happen.

I also believe I've identified how long it is you can go on nothing but caffeine and adrenaline. I'm going to try to take the weekend off. (All my friends, editors, and colleagues are laughing at me now.)

Which brings us to this Friday's iPod challenge. I'm tired of the random thing. Please list the songs currently in heavy rotation on your mp3 or CD player, or hell, on your turntable or tapedeck. Embrace the low tech.

Ten songs I couldn't stop listening to this week:

1. Deeper Well by Emmylou Harris
2. Privilege (Set Me Free) by Patti Smith
3. If You Go Away by Marc Almond
4. Baby's on Fire by Marc Almond & T-Total
5. Angel (Live at Lillith Fair) by Sarah McLachlan and Emmylou Harris
6. Mathilde by Scott Walker (I'm clearly having a Jacques Brel kind of week)
7. Caroline Says 2 by Lou Reed
8. Oh Jim by Lou Reed
9. Pale Blue Eyes by the Velvet Underground (and a Lou Reed kind of week, too)
10. Is Your Love in Vain? by Bob Dylan

I showed you mine, now show me yours.

Sunday afternoon crashing

If I had known on March 16 when Gina and I were talking on the phone about some of the horror stories we were hearing from vets about pets sick from eating recalled foods, and said to each other that we needed to dig more deeply into this story than the mainstream media was doing, that it would completely consume my life for the next three weeks... well, I might have tried to get more sleep.

I'm utterly sleep-deprived, have been neglecting other work, and let's not discuss the loads and loads of laundry piled reproachfully around my washer and dryer. Or the abbreviated walks that my dogs have had to put up with on most days.

I'm not complaining. My dogs are healthy and happy, if a bit bored. We're much better off than those whose pets were sickened or killed, or those who had to worry about having fed recalled foods.

I do have two new, non-pet-related articles coming out tomorrow on AfterElton.com - I'll link when they're up. One is a review of Alan Cumming's new film Suffering Man's Charity, and the other is my interview with Cumming, which I did in Austin at the South by Southwest Film Festival, where the film premiered.

Sometime this week, or perhaps next weekend, my review of the music documentary Scott Walker: 30 Century Man, which I also saw at SXSW, will be going up on club.kingsnake.com, and an interview with some of the people involved with that project will be on AfterElton.com on April 16, or as we call it in America, TAX DAY. I did already blog my thanks to 30 Century Man director Stephen Kijak for turning me on to Emmylou Harris' 1995 album Wrecking Ball during our interview... it's totally brilliant and it was worth the entire trip to Austin just to hear it. You can read my fannish gushing here.

I also blogged the pet food recall story over at DKos, which earned me my first ever recommended diary over there. Thanks to everyone who recc'd me, and to the Kossaks who posted more than 500 comments on that diary. That this story is NOT "just a pet story" has been crystal clear to Gina and me from Day One, and one of the biggest frustrations we've had is seeing how many people chose to trivialize or ignore it.

Gina blogged on Pet Connection this morning about a CBS reporter who was complaining that too much time was being given to the pet food recall story at the expense of "real news" like the Iraq war:

No one’s denying the need for honest reporting on the war in Iraq, and I can’t imagine a person who doesn’t care about the sacrifices of our fellow citizens there, or indeed about the suffering of the Iraqis who are living and dying in a war zone.

[....]

This isn’t about 12, 14, 16 dead pets — or even, if you extrapolate from numbers such as Oregon’s, Michigan’s, Banfield’s, the Animal Medical Center, the Veterinary Information Network or even ours, hundreds or thousands dead. (The FDA has some 12,000 complaints to investigate, more than double in a month their two-year load on all other complaints combined. More on the numbers here.)

This is about our happenstance discovery of a vulnerability in our overall food-safety system, one that we’re fortunate to have found and to have a chance to fix before something else even bigger happens, either by accident (which this pet-food disaster may well surely end up being) or on purpose (at the hands of America’s enemies).

In a brilliant comment, MFEMFEM said the reporter "is being a bit disingenuous," and goes on to say:

As others have posted, if he had used the ridiculous coverage of Anna Nicole Smith’s death or the constant repetitive stories making light of dishonest, selfish, arrogant politicians prancing around Washington, or the constant diet of celebrity Pablum, I might have some empathy for his point of view.

The pet recall story involves corporate lies and deceit, woeful inaction by federal agencies, deception by major pet food manufacturers, the deaths of thousands of pets, the lack of security for food products entering our country, and the exposure of appalling production conditions in plants in China that export foodstuff to our country. The pet food story has NOTHING to do with lack of reporting about Iraq. I hope Mr. Pizzey is not upset because his own reporting may not be getting all the attention he feels it should. I hope he is not trying to subtly imply that what he sees as too much coverage of poisoned pet food is an example of lack of patriotism or lack of support for our armed forces (that card is getting a little old).

He may be right about the lack of reporting of the human suffering in Iraq, but his use of the pet food poisoning story to focus on that lack of coverage is way off base. He looks ridiculous for using the pet food poisonings as a basis for his complaints.

I’m willing to bet the coverage of Anna Nicole Smith was tens times that the pet food coverage, yet Mr. Pizzey is complaining about a REAL news story?

I should probably finish up with something that ties all these things together and impress you all with my writerly prowess, but I'm done.

Sunday iPod Challenge - it's back!

I'm up late and still kind of jet lagged, and trying to finish an article on pro sports and the gays. I stopped to update my iPod with a few things I found on the iTunes store damn you iTunes, and realized it's been months since I did the iPod challenge, and since I know you all missed it HORRIBLY, here we go again!

The challenge, which I stole from Rox Populi, where they may or may not still be playing it, is simple: Set whatever program you use to manage your music files to randomly shuffle your entire music library, and then post the first ten songs it comes up with. No cheating to up the coolness quotient.

Mine:

1. The Price I Pay - Billy Bragg
2. Downtown Train - Everything But The Girl
3. God Willing - Pet Shop Boys
4. In Bluer Skies - Echo & the Bunnymen
5. After The Gold Rush - k.d. lang
6. I'll Come Running - Brian Eno
7. New York City Boy (Remix) - Pet Shop Boys/Thunderpuss 2000
8. Freefall - Electronic
9. Stupid Girls - P!nk
10. To Hell With Poverty! - Gang of Four

Yours?

Lawless at the Roxy

I reviewed Lucy Lawless' Roxy concert over at club.kingsnake.com... yes, I am spreading my Xena love everywhere I go.

Lawless at the Roxy

Friday iPod Challenge, Happy New Year's Edition

Hmmm, last week I forgot to do this, and this Friday I'm doing it in lieu of genuine blogging. I did blog at Pet Connection Thursday, if you are dying to read a small rant about people who let their dogs run off leash.

The iPod challenge does not, actually, involve an iPod even if you have one. It's just a little thing where I tell you the first ten songs that come up on my iTunes playlist when I hit the "shuffle" button on my entire music library. You can do the same, with iTunes or whatever program you use to manage your music files. This is a non-denominational non-contest.

JeffB stole the idea from me and turned it into a real contest where you can actually win an iPod. Play with him after you've played with me.

I'm not mad at Jeff for stealing it because I stole it from Roxanne in the first place. She's doing a 70s theme today, because she's much cooler and harder working than I am.

Here is my random ten for today:

1. In My Arms - Erasure
2. Suzanne - Peter Gabriel
3. Long-Forgotten Fairytale - The Magnetic Fields
4. Seen And Not Seen - Talking Heads
5. When Love Comes To Town - U2
6. Should I Stay or Should I Go - The Clash
7. To the One I Love - R.E.M.
8. You Look So Fine - Garbage
9. Malaria - Shriekback
10. The Price I Pay - Billy Bragg

I showed you mine, now show me yours! Happy New Year!

History of Dog Food 101

Gina gets off a rant in the guise of a dog food history lesson over on the Pet Connection blog:

These days, though, there’s a wide diversity of thought and action when it comes to feeding dogs. Providing a home-prepared diet (sometimes raw, sometimes not, sometimes grain-free, sometimes not) is an option chosen by a small but dedicated population of pet-lovers, people who argue that if a single, processed product isn’t good for people, why would it work for pets? Others choose commercial products — everything from dehydrated whole foods to frozen grinds of meat and vegetables — that seek to appeal to people who want to feed a more “natural” diet but haven’t the time or confidence to prepare everything from scratch at home.

Check out the rest.

Also, I did some gratuitous Miss Kyrie Borzoi holiday blogging over there myself.

Let’s face it. They’re dogs. They wake up every single morning filled with the joyous anticipation that modern children mostly experience only on Dec. 25 at approximately 5 am. One of the things I love best about living with dogs is watching them wake up in the morning, seeing consciousness return to their eyes, their faces light up, and their tails start to thump. You can almost hear them thinking, “Oh! It’s today! And you! Yay!”

The rest is here.

I also saw Peaches, and reviewed her show here.

I'll be back in the morning to make you tell me what's on your iPod. Be ready. In the meantime, despite seriously not being a fan of hers, I've been listening to "Song for a Winter's Night" by Sarah McLachlan over and over and over.

And over.

The holidays make me soft.

Friday iPod Challenge, the Solstikwanzanukkamas Edition

I want to wish you all a very happy Solstikwanzanukkamas! It's my favorite holiday. :)

Gina made me a pretty new San Francisco banner for the blog... THANK YOU GINA! I love my city.

Yes, it's late. I've had a very busy week month six months, and I realized at some point yesterday that it's ME. I've been in a sort of emergency/triage mental condition since I put my house on the market this summer, and throughout my move and all the various traumas and dramas associated with it, and I've been managing (or not) my time and energy in that freakish hyper-adrenalinized state for months now.

It's not healthy. Just a little tip from me.

So I'm going to take this weekend to honestly try to decompress from the crazies. Please assist with that by amusing me with the Friday iPod Challenge!

I appropriated this challenge from the radiant Roxanne at Rox Populi, who now does a YouTube version which is a lot of work so give her some love. Then JeffB, who cannot be trusted, blatantly stole it from me, and made his even better because you might win an iPod if you play it, which you can do here (after you do mine).

Just set iTunes or whatever program you use to manage your music files, and pick the top random ten (no cheating). Sometimes the challenge has a theme, and today I'm going to restrict mine to holiday music... you can list ten random holiday songs, or just do your entire music collection, your call.

Here's mine:

1. Happy Xmas (War Is Over) - Sarah McLachlan
2. Hannukah, Oh Hannukah - Barenaked Ladies
3. Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow! - Lena Horne
4. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Ella Fitzgerald
5. The Holy City - The Irish Tenors
6. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day - Harry Belafonte
7. Silent Night - Sarah McLachlan
8. The First Noel - The Irish Tenors
9. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We Three Kings - Barenaked Ladies
10. Do They Know It's Christmas? - Band Aid

Now show me yours!

Friday iPod Challenge, These Boots Are Made for Walking Edition

I did try hard to get one of the two versions of "These Boots Are Made for Walking" (Nancy Sinatra and Gerri Halliwell) that are on my iPod to come up in my random shuffle, but no luck.

By "try hard" I mean mentally, I don't cheat.

On the right are my new boots. They make me feel all warm inside.

Below is my Friday iPod Random Ten, a little tradition stolen from Roxanne at Rox Populi (who currently does a YouTube version), and stolen by JeffB at Club Kingsnake (who gives away an iPod every month, so go post there right away!). Just set whatever software you use to manage your music files to generate ten randomly chosen songs, from your WHOLE music library, and I'm warning you, if you like I'll stomp you with my new boots!

My Random Ten:

1. Heartland - The The
2. So Long, Marianne - Leonard Cohen
3. Reaching - Jason Walker
4. It Came Upon a Midnight Clear - Ella Fitzgerald
5. Stretch Out And Wait - The Smiths
6. Lets Spend The Night Together - David Bowie
7. Piece of My Heart - Melissa Etheridge
8. Viva Columbia (Cha Cha) NamZip Club Mix - Namtrak vs. Chris Zippel
9. Stars and Sons - Broken Social Scene
10. Radiophonic - Pet Shop Boys

Your turn!

Friday iPod Challenge, Ask Me About the Internet Edition

I'm running out the door to talk about "The Internet" to the Dog and Cat Writers Associations of America at their annual joint conference... I think a little chat about blogging, a little chat about interactivity, a few sage words about Googleability, then I thought I might sing.

The Friday iPod Challenge is a little thing I stole from Roxanne at Rox Populi, one of the best blogs ever (and she has morphed it into a YouTube video version that's so very cool), and that was subsequently stolen by JeffB, who gives iPods away to people who post on his blog, so you know, post here then run quick over there and post on his and you might win one.

It works thusly: You set iTunes or whatever program you use to manage your music to randomly shuffle the songs on your player. You list the first ten that appear without any editing or creative interpretation of "the first ten." You suffer if you must, and let us know that you listen to Michael Bolton.

Hey, I have Abba's "Dancing Queen" on my iPod. I'm hard to shock.

Here's my completely random ten from today:

1. Can't Get Used to Losing You - The English Beat
2. Never Stop - Echo And The Bunnymen
3. I Should Tell You - Original Broadway Cast of "Rent"
4. You Can Sleep While I Drive - Melissa Etheridge
5. When Will I Be Loved - Linda Ronstadt
6. Need It - Johnny Marr & The Healers
7. Life During Wartime - Talking Heads
8. It's Only Time - The Magnetic Fields
9. Head Over Heels - Tears for Fears
10. Bird On A Wire - k.d. lang

Your turn!

Friday iPod Challenge, Live Edition

I saw two concerts this week, the Pet Shop Boys and the Indigo Girls.

The shared boys and girls theme is obvious.

Both members of both bands are gay.

In both cases, the audience for each was about 80 percent gay, although of a vastly different gender makeup.

All four of them dress very badly (I'm really sorry to all those who think Neal Tennant looked hot. He did not.)

I'll have reviews of both concerts at club.kingsnake on Friday sometime, so this mini-review will have to do:

Indigo Girls live = awesome
Pet Shop boys live = not really as good as their recordings but not at all bad

In the meantime, my Friday iPod challenge. Set iTunes or whatever program you use to manage your music to randomly shuffle songs, and list the first ten it gives you without editing, cheating, or gaming the system.

Here is mine:

1. Dust in the Wind - Gabriel & Dresden. I seriously adore this.
2. Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now - The Smiths. Of course you are, Stephen. We know.
3. Kundalini Express - Love and Rockets. 80s bliss.
4. Pumping (My Heart) - Patti Smith. From one of the greatest albums ever, Radio Ethiopia.
5. Fans (after "Nessun Dorma" from "Turandot") - Malcolm McLaren. My least favorite cut - in fact, I hate it - from an otherwise really weird but good album.
6. Never Stop - Echo And The Bunnymen. More 80s.
7. The Great Curve - Talking Heads. The world moves on a woman's hips. From the greatest album ever, Remain in Light.
8. I Feel Love / Johnny Remember Me - Bronski Beat And Marc Almond. So gay.
9. I'll Come Running - Brian Eno. Greatest lyrics in an obscure rock song: "I'll come running to tie your shoe."
10. Suzanne - Peter Gabriel. Brilliant and haunting cover of the Leonard Cohen classic.

Your turn!

Silver Lining

One of the first things that happened after I moved back to the city, I mean, after my sewer line needing to be replaced and my dog almost running away and ummm, bronchitis and having to sleep at my brother's, and you know, all that stuff.... I may have forgotten to mention that my car stereo got stolen. Sob.

So, guess what? My insurance company is paying for this, and they're actually being great about it. And today when I asked about getting my new stereo, I asked if it was possible to get it enabled to play my iPod.

The guy said, "Oh, all the new models are iPod enabled."

I'm so happy. Well, sort of. But yeah. I am.

Friday iPod Challenge, Rainy Day Edition

We've had our first real rain of the season, so I'm going to non-randomize my iPod Challenge and list ten songs about weather. It's not totally non-random, as I'm going to take the first ten weather-related songs that come up.

You can be a traditionalist and do the usual random challenge, which is: Using any MP3 player or software such as iTunes, shuffle your entire music collection and post the first ten songs that come up, no cheating. Or you can limit it to a weather theme, too.

Commentary is optional but loved.

My ten:

1. So. Central Rain - R.E.M.
2. Hurricane - Ani DiFranco
3. Purple Rain (live) - Tori Amos
4. Have You Ever Seen the Rain? - Joan Jett
5. In Bluer Skies - Echo and the Bunnymen
6. Rain - Erasure
7. Long Hot Summer - The Style Council
8. Waiting for the Rain to Fall - Chris Isaak
9. Home and Dry - Pet Shop Boys
10. Here Comes the Rain Again - Eurythmics

Your turn!

Friday iPod Challenge, the Darling You Look Fabulous Edition

The title of this week's challenge is meant as inspiration to me. I look far from fabulous, having sent my Rosie to dog heaven last weekend, and gotten Rebel through surgery on Tuesday. I'm sleep deprived and crabby and let's just charitably say I'm overdue for a hair cut.

Which I'm getting this afternoon, so at least that'll be fixed.

The iPod Challenge is simple, or if not simple, then at least, it's the same as it ever was: Set iTunes or whatever program you use to shuffle your entire music library, and post the first ten that it gives you without any attempt to thwart the gods of randomness in order to obscure the fact that you listen to Celine Dion.

I was less than diligent in posting the challenge during my traumatic move, and while you were all very kind with the nagging reminders, you've fallen down on the job of posting your playlists. That's enough of that. Tell me what's on your iPod! Then head over to club.kingsnake.com and tell them, because you can actually WIN stuff there.

My random ten this morning:

1. The Only Living Boy in New York - Everything but the Girl
The old Simon and Garfunkel classic given an atmoshpheric acoustic interpretation by Ben and Tracey. I love it.

2. Pop Song 89 - R.E.M.
I'll be reviewing their new "Greatest Hits" album this weekend at club.kingsnake... but in a nutshell, it's great. Of course.

3. Everybody Wants to Rule the World - Tears For Fears
The 80s. Love.

4. Extreme Ways - Moby
For a bald vegan he's kind of cute.

5. In A World Called Catastrophe - Matthew Good
Angsty rock.

6. All American Girl - Melissa Etheridge
I adore this song, tough girls, hard times, and that sexy growl.

7. Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On) - Talking Heads
From what I sometimes think is the best album ever recorded, Remain in Light.

8. Soviet - Electronic
Strange little tune from the Manchester crew.

9. Madam Butterfly (after "Un bel di vedremo" from "Madama Butterfly") - Malcolm McLaren
He's just weird but this song is purely brilliant.

10. Street Hassle - Lou Reed
I have no words. If you've never heard it, fix that immediately.

Your turn.

Friday iPod Challenge, The OMG She Remembered Edition

I didn't do it last week and no one complained, not one person! Not even the ones who normally complain when I'm even just LATE!

I'm doing it anyway.

The rules are simple: Shuffle your MP3 files using iTunes or any other program. Make sure it's shuffling your entire music library, and then tell me the first ten songs it gives you, no editing, no cheating, no increasing your coolness quotient.

Here's mine:

1. Fade Away (Tony Moran and Warren Rigg Mix) - Sarah Atereth
2. Lola - The Raincoats
3. Invisible - Alison Moyet
4. Sandstorm  - Darude
5. Dirty Old Town - Pogues
6. Tango to Evora - Loreena McKennitt
7. Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) - David Bowie
8. Down On the Corner - Johnny Marr & The Healers
9. Hide U (John Creamer and Stephane K Mix) - Kosheen
10. Welcome to the Occupation - R.E.M.

Your turn!

Friday iPod Challenge, City Slicker Edition

The dogs and I are settling into our new urban life. They love going to trendy cafes and all the great shopping. Oh wait, that's me. And I have bronchitis and have barely left the house.

Let's focus on the iPod challenge instead, shall we?

The rules never change. Okay, sometimes they change. But not today. Set iTunes or whatever program you use to manage your mp3 files to randomly shuffle your music, and gimme gimme the first ten that show up, no cheating editorializing allowed.

My random ten for today:

1. Dark Angel - Electronic
2. Come To My Window - Melissa Etheridge
3. All Along the Watchtower (Live) - U2
4. I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
5. The Long Way Around - Dixie Chicks
6. Never - The Roc Project & Tina Novak
7. When Doves Cry - Ani Difranco
8. Conversations With My 13 Year Old Self - P!nk
9. Oh Be Joyful - Matthew Good
10. Somebody Bring Me Some Water - Melissa Etheridge

Your turn!

Friday iPod Challenge, Yeah Yeah Shut Up Edition

You all whine when I'm even a little LATE with this thing, and yet last week no one played at all!

I'm moving on Wednesday. I want to die.

If you want to know, and I know you do, what I thought of last night's Celebrity Duets and the show in general, go here.

My iPod Challenge is a little something I stole from Roxanne at Rox Populi, and which was in turn stolen from me by JeffB at Club Kingsnake. You can play at his blog, too, and possibly win an iPod, so I can see why you can't be bothered with me anymore. Ungrateful bitches.

Do this: Set your MP3 player or music software to randomly shuffle all the music in your library. It has to be as random as it can possibly be in the sense that it needs to shuffle ALL your music, not just a specific playlist, and you don't get to edit the results, however, Gina has shared with me this Wall Street Journal article that clearly casts doubt on the genuine randomness of the iPod shuffle feature, so consider yourself disclaimed.

Here's mine:

1. Saddest Song - Pansy Division
2. Man In Black - Johnny Cash
3. You Are The Everything - R.E.M.
4. Poses - Rufus Wainwright
5. Coming Back To You - Martin Gore
6. Jean Genie - David Bowie
7. Crosseyed And Painless - Talking Heads
8. Waiting - The Style Council
9. Ode to Billy Joe - Phranc
10. Malaria - Shriekback

Now you show me  yours.

A Complex Ethical Dilemma

Once upon a time I liked this group called Dangerous Muse.

Then they gave an interview to the Advocate, who had them on the cover of their annual music issue. The cover said the article was going to feature "out  musicians," but then the band members said they were post-gay or something, or maybe just that they don't like labels, or I don't know, some sort of recycled 70s evasive OMG no we're not fags thing that made me go, huh?

And then, because as I feel has been well established prior to this, I'm very very susceptible to having my opinion of entertainers changed by finding out they do or don't share my political and social views, I didn't like them anymore.

Only they have a new song out and I really love it.

I so hate this.

Friday iPod Challenge, Gapfiller Edition

Today is the last day I own my life.

Yesterday I finished up a bunch of work, today I'm finishing up a bunch more, and this weekend I start to pack for my move, a week from Wednesday. So forgive me if I'm completely and utterly insane. As if you'd particularly notice a difference.

AND I FORGOT TO WATCH CELEBRITY DUETS LAST NIGHT AGAIN! I am the worst fan ever. Please don't tell Lucy Lawless?

So, you know the rules: You're going to go tell your MP3 player, or your music software such as iTunes, to shuffle your entire music library RANDOMLY, do you hear me RANDOMLY, and then tell me the first ten songs it lists. This challenge was stolen by me from Roxanne, and stolen from me by JeffB, where as you know you can win an iPod for playing so after you post your list here, you should dance on over there and post it again.

I love it when you post commentary with your list, but you don't have to. Here's mine:

1. Down at the Twist and Shout - Mary Chapin Carpenter
2. Hunter's Lullaby - Leonard Cohen
3. I Like It (Original Mix) - Narcotic Thrust
4. Stupid Girls (D-Bop at Crash Mix) - Pink
5. Fido, Your Leash Is Too Long - Magnetic Fields
6. Downtown Train - Everything But The Girl
7. Filthy Mind (Wicked Child Mix) - Amanda Ghost
8. I Love New York - Madonna
9. Enjoy the Silence - Depeche Mode
10. This Is Radio Clash - The Clash

Your turn!

Friday iPod Challenge, the Fandom is Exhausting Edition

Not sure I'll ever write about fandom-related topics again, it's really quite exhausting.

And I MISSED CELEBRITY DUETS LAST NIGHT  BECAUSE I WAS WRITING A MOVIE REVIEW! How can I live without seeing Xena Lucy Lawless sing again?

Oh wait, I was swearing off fandom forever. I'm not good at this, am I?

So, you know the story about the iPod challenge, which doesn't even require an iPod, but if it did, you might be able to win one! Yes, it's true, JeffB snatched this great iPod Challenge idea from me and  one-upped me big time by giving away a free iPod each month. Jerk.

Oh wait, I was telling you how it works.

Just set any mp3 player or software such as iTunes to shuffle all the music in your library and generate a completly random list of ten songs, no cheating allowed.

I love it when you do commentary on the songs, I find a lot of great music that way. But I'm barely keeping my eyes open right now, so for the moment I'll just have to post my random ten, the idea for which by the way I totally stole from Roxanne.

My Random Ten:

1. You Just Haven't Earned It Yet, Baby - The Smiths
2. Young Americans - David Bowie
3. Bring on the Dancing Horses - Ec