February 2011
in which i lay out why i'm on the ke$ha train. →
get on board, everybody
Attn Mike Barthel:
jonathanbogart:
Erika gave one good response to your “Gaga-as-gay-icon” thing, and here are two more pieces on “Born This Way” to consider: Dave Holmes and Edward Okulicz.
Not that I’m any kind of authority, but it seems to me that Gaga’s relationship with gay culture is increasingly indistinguishable from Jenna Maroney’s.
Beyonce, Usher, Mariah Carey Accused of Taking... →
Hey so this story is going around in various forms, so I thought I’d link this one, not (just) because I wrote it, but because I got as close as I think anyone has to the “facts,” which was a challenge given all the misinformation out there (even in the diplomatic cables courtesy Wikileaks).
Feel free to delete this explanation if you reblog.
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Kesha "Blow (Cirkut Remix)" →
I reviewed this remix for Popdust yesterday. One amendment: I concluded that “dance floors will love it,” which is totally wishful thinking on my part. The song takes too many left turns to sustain a dance-floor groove.
To be honest I’m not sure any of you will even like this remix, because it’s practically a collection of easy targets: Ke$ha + Ed Banger + bro-step + Major...
Have Americans Heard About Rastamouse Yet?
name-redacted:
It’s a cutesy, hand animated Children’s TV show in the vein of classic BBC programming like The Clangers and Paddington Bear, except all the characters speak in Patois. Oh, and the main character looks like this:
From what I’ve seen, it looks like a genuinely sweet show for pre-school kids. As far as I’ve read it’s going down incredibly well and seems like a serious...
Julie Klausner gives romantic advice! →
tylercoates:
Obvs, I support this.
Ditto!
Being Female →
meghanagain:
barthel:
[…]
Myles focuses on the lesson the girl in this scenario learns, because that is more important, but the lesson the boy in this scenario learns is key, too. He sees that boys, not girls, are destined for greatness. And it’s a hard lesson to un-learn, not least because it’s so flattering! It’s not just that women internalize that idea, it’s also that men do. Because...
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Biannual text dump in response to someone who...
shitty:
The State of Current Musical Fame According to the Coachella Poster
Oh, look, the Coachella music festival lineup is announced! (The festival takes place in the desert in spring. Mostly indie-hippies attend.) And a good point is made: what conception of the fame and relevance of its performers does the festival seek to convey?
Because Coachella isn’t an iTunes playlist and is, in fact,...
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“Now, when every day the souls of men go up from Finance like smoke, we feel that...”
– Rebecca West, “The Duty Of Harsh Criticism” (November 7, 1914). douglaswolk:
Look, this is one of my favorite essays ever, and it’s been getting linked around a lot today, but for God’s sake, does anybody bother to proofread things that get scanned from old magazines? (I ...
lastbutnotleast:
Not to get all Boomer-ish, but you young ‘uns need a Jesus Jones for days like this.
Lady Gaga didn’t have this to sing about!
“Your argument only works is if you accept, a priori, the idea that a young woman...”
– girlboymusic on the fucking money. I don’t generally like to argue with internet feminists about popular culture, because they are usually right about everything else, and I don’t want to be oppositional to anyone who is otherwise such a force of good on the internet, but this sort of...
In which I write too many words about Ke$ha. →
katherinestasaph:
Specifically, on Ke$ha’s “Blow,” which isn’t even her best song. I get other things done too, I swear!
This is great. Also, for the record, I have yet to see “too many words about Ke$ha.”
“See, Spider-man isn’t really about Spider-man. It’s about an artist locked in a...”
– Stage Dive: Scott Brown Sees Spider-man: Turn Off the Dark — Vulture
This is a GREAT piece, and it is the first piece of writing about this show that actually makes me want to see it.
(via dyfl)
This piece makes Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark sound like Southland Tales! Are they doing rush...
A Revealing Fuss About Forests →
tomewing:
tomewing:
“For my print column this week, I went to talk to a bunch of volunteers in Buckinghamshire who are already living the Big Society, giving up six hours of their time every month to clear scrub, brambles and saplings from a wood near Wendover. The wood is currently owned by the Forestry Commission, and these volunteers rather liked it that way. They were, above all,...
