hey, way to go chapel hill/carrboro city schools! finally someone in north carolina has the guts to teach kids how to properly use the condoms they've had stashed in their wallets since they turned eleven.

i really like that the featured teacher advises kids to stay away from lesser-known brands, like the kind you can get at truck stops. i've never shopped for condoms at a truck stop, so i'm wondering what these lesser-known brands are. and aren't truck stops supposed to be centers of sex and iniquity? or is that rest stops? are they the same?

(i also like that the classroom pictured features a poster for the o.c. it makes me feel a little nostalgic for last season, that special time before the show made that final transition into total trash.)

i'll never be elected state pride princess or anything, but i do get excited when north carolina is positively represented at the national level for something other than not being dead last in end of course testing or whatever. i was happy to find the link to this article in my new favorite blog, salon.com's
broadsheet. it's a women's issues blog (get it? BROADsheet??????) with a good sense of humor. so check that out. you might learn something that you didn't already know about, say, elective vaginal reconstructive surgery.

isn't it fascinating that, now that i'm done with my semester, there's nothing new on television? i'm stuck with more old episodes of 90210, where donna steals this other girl's designs and then takes an overdose, and the new guy's brother "rufed" valerie and then let the new guy take the blame for it.

it's been sort of emotional for me.

i desperately wanted some donna martin graduates merchandise for christmas, but i don't think that's going to happen. i may have to break down and buy some myself.

instead of television, matt and i have been taking full advantage of 3-at-a-time netflix. we've got an excellent turnover rate right now.

we watched the first disc of the cancelled television show wonderfalls, and i was disappointed. actually, matt was the one who was really disappointed, because the show came so highly recommended to him. i don't usually go for the whole inanimate objects suddenly starting to talk and then ordering people around. it's a little too joan of arcadia for me. except that actual people spoke to joan, and she often wore really great sweaters.

we got the second disc, but sent it back without even opening it. that's how discouraged we felt.

the real gem was mad hot ballroom, which we watched last night. those kids were awesome. my favorite quote, from this really annoying white girl:

i read in this book, it's called why it's great to be a girl, that scientists actually say that women are the more advanced civilization.

that's not exact, but you get the gist of it.

i don't think anything new is coming today, so i may actually have to, like, read or something tonight.


i'm off now to start my newest professional endeavor- (hopefully) designing a website for the duke's sallie bingham center for women's history and culture. there's talk of my actually getting to correspond with sarah dyer, whose zine collection is the focus of this project.

oooooohhhhhh.

aaaaaahhhhhh.

i know that this is going to make every single one of you sad, but this blog is going on hiatus until at least december 14th, 2005.

please try to stay strong. think about little kevin, and how he outsmarted those nasty thieves!

music from the uk and some other stuff

yo!

that's right, i'm blogging!

broadcast is awesome. their show on sunday at cat's cradle was fantastic (and virtually pain-free, thanks to matt's gifting me with a brand new set of earplugs) AND they were really nice.



that's right!

i said they were nice!


and i would know because....

i met trish and james.



again, it's all thanks to matt.

let me tell you a little story:
see, broadcast went to the comic store on sunday while they were exploring chapel hill. and james likes jim woodring, so matt sold him a crazy newt, and then later dug out the rest of a set and took it to him at the show. he was eternally grateful, and showed it by giving matt a free t-shirt and the second microtronics. they even offered to put us on the guest list.

also, trish winked at me when she shook my hand.


i know! WHOA!


we stayed after to hobknob with the band. and matt gave the lead singer of gravenhurst (who has a blog) a nice list of comic book recommendations.

***********

on a very tenuously related note, i got my hands on lady sovereign's vertically challenged ep. i've been waiting for it since the spring, when i first heard lady sovereign on the first run the road compilation. the ep is really fun, though i think i have the edited version because there are all of these weird things where swear words are supposed to be. like "ish" instead of shit. it feels like watching an R-rated movie that's been heavily edited so that they can show it on usa or something.

***********

let me say a quick word about television here.

sarah and i had a very lengthy discussion over dinner last night and we still haven't been able to come to any kind of conclusion as to whether or not we're supposed to hate that bitch, rory gilmore. of course, regardless, i hate her, and i'd rather be locked in a room with paris hilton that watch her suck face with that logan douchebag for one more second. but whatever, she's back now, all is right with the world in stars hollow, etc. but they're really coming dangerously close to ruining luke, one of the few redeemable characters on the show these days, with this whole kid thing. matt called it out as a cheap way to make luke identify with christopher, and, after some serious thought, i think i must concur.

it's a good thing i've got 90210 to keep me grounded. update: kelly just got shot, and there's some guy on the show that i've never even seen before. i think he's sleeping with valerie, and that's usually a safe bet because, really, who isn't?

night fisher

check out this awesome new graphic novel from fantagraphics.

it's about this smart, kind of geeky kid who lives in hawaii with his father. his best friend, who's been acting distant, invites him out one night and introduces him to crystal meth. and then, of course, shit all goes wrong. there's more to it, but i don't want to spoilt things.

it's not really the story itself that i liked so much, though it's fine. the feel of it is what impressed me. the writing seems really natural, and the pace is just right. i also like this little line from the blurb on the back - "a mature depiction of immature lives."

the art is really nice too. very simple, all black ink.

it was also a very approrpiate read because i've fallen off the wagon and gotten involved in beverly hills, 90210 again, and i just watched those episodes where they're in college and it's finals and david gets addicted to crystal meth and then he's coming down and he steals codeine sulfate from mel's office and takes it right before baby-sitting and then he loses baby erin.

right. but, back to night fisher, i highly recommend it.

EDITS!

matt has pointed out several egregious errors in my most recent post.

i will address those now.

1. the second opener for adult. was simply called genders. i mistakenly added that article.

2. the bear that appeared on stage was made of cardboard.

3. janice radway's new research is on the "girls at risk discourse," NOT the "girls at risk movement."

i'm sure those things were quite bothersome to both of you.

rest assured that i am now fully committed to a type of accuracy that i will henceforth refer to as "blogurracy."

a quick update on a number of things.

adult.

it's a good thing that i don't keep up with music journalism, because if i did, i'd never really be surprised. who knew that adult. added a third member for their current album/tour? everyone? well, not me.

i really enjoyed the show, which is saying a lot because i was just getting involved in the throes of a deep and disgusting head cold/sinus infection thing. the first band (fashion design? clothing design? something like that) had four members, and the stage was really cluttered, so i spent their entire set laughing to myself about how funny they looked all packed up there. also, the lead singer/guitarist moved in a way that i don't really like, so i was able to dismiss them early on and i took a little nap. the next band, the genders, was pretty entertaining. again, i had movement issues, something about people doing this sort of sensual pogo thing really gets on my nerves. but there were hats and props and a really big bear, so that was fun.

the adult. set was great, i really liked their new stuff even more than i expected. but i'm a lyrics person, and i hated that the music overpowered nicola kuperus' vocals. still, they played some old stuff, some newer stuff, and some super brand new stuff, and it was a short but statisfying set. good merchandise, too. matt and i both came away with nice t-shirts. no tote bags, but that's okay, because i got a FREE ONE earlier that day at....

Sisterhood, Riot Grrrl, and the Next Wave: Feminst Generations/Generating Feminisms

which was this awesome symposium at Duke's Sally Bingham Center. in addition to the sweet tote bag, i got a notepad, a folder, some free magazines, and a brush with greatness in the form of sarah dyer. they have her zine collection in their archives over there, and i've never been to see it before. it's really pretty awesome, i recommend checking it out.

i was also excited to see janice radway in the flesh. she's got that whole formidable scholar thing going on, and she briefly discussed her current work on the "girls at risk movement," which is her awesome way of describing the whole thing that happened in the nineties when everyone's mom suddenly bought reviving ophelia.

anyway, good stuff there. on a side note, evan dorkin was there with sarah dyer and their small daughter, and all three of them made a trek to chapel hill comics later that day. you can read all about it here.

AND,

i finally read girl sleuth, which was fun, but not exactly what i was expecting. something about the organization seemed a little off to me, but the story is definitely interesting, and i'm glad to finally know the 'truth' about carolyn keene. i wanted to know more about the implications of nancy drew on feminism and the women's liberation movement, but maybe i was just still all fired up from that symposium.


next up, when my head stops pounding and i get back to single-vision: the new berlin by karen e. till. i'll let you know.

girl sleuth

i just put this gem on hold. hopefully it will be in my hands by fall break so that i can actually spend a few days reading something other than reference articles and picture books.

i have yet to read a really solid review of this, which is why i'm a little reluctant to buy it. everything i've seen is all "oh i just loved to read nancy drew when i was little! and then once i went to costco and they had all the yellow nancy drew books in a big set and i bought them! oh and this book about nancy drew is fun, too!"

still, i think i'd be willing to read anything that has to do with nancy drew. after all, i did spend nearly all my waking childhood hours plowing through the original nancy drews, the "updated" nancy drew case files, and of course, the always awesome nancy drew/hardy boys team-ups. and then there were the videos...

gang of four (and more!)

i know i must seem like a terrible blogger, but there's more here than meets the eye.

in addition to my being a bad blogger, this hosting service apparently has it out for me, and every time i try to post, something mysterious and catastrophic happens.

so i'm tentatively going to tell you about the gang of four show...


IT WAS AWESOME! matt and i got there early enough to secure seats by the wall (from which post i was able to see this guy DRAGGED OUT IN A CHOKEHOLD near the end of the show). we missed most of the first act (men, women and children), but they seemed pretty much like your average dudes with guitars and tight polo shirts. the second act, morningwood, was pretty lively. the band reminded me of battershell, with less clever lyrics. the mighty gang of four performed a pretty phenomenal set, complete with straight faces, suits, sweat, and the demolition of a microwave oven. gang of four has some super-attentive roadies, i must say. there was always somebody darting out of the wings to fix a microphone stand. there was also this one guy whose sole purpose was to swing a microphone in front of the drummer's face for about twelve nanoseconds while he sang one word, and then to quickly swing it back out of harm's way.

but someone should really talk to cat's cradle about quieting things down a little bit. i really felt like i was having a string ear-hemorrhages throughout the show, and matt's ears were still ringing two days after the show. and, of course, they were out of earplugs.

nevertheless, this was a very welcome show after the relative drought during the 2004-2005 school year. next up: adult. and broadcast. remind me to buy some fancy earplugs before then. or, at the very least, to carry some cotton balls with me.

imagine my excitement when this finally came in at the comic store. that's right, it's the manga on which the world's most awesome movie was based. it's done by at least one of the guys who did lone wolf and cub, so obviously, it's sweet. there's lots of blood, gore, corruption, and intense violent freak outs. also present: exciting cultural tensions between the east and west (resulting in death!), conflicted feminist undertones (resulting in numerous deaths!!), and a few trips to the japanese yakuza underworld (yes, even more deaths!!!). she's more of a freelance assassin here than in the movie, and there's a nice episodic quality. the chapters also have awesome names, like "dead cherry blossoms and the dance of short sleeve with white blade, part 2."

AND she hasn't even really started taking her revenge, so hopefully this series will have a nice long run.

some notes about tv, in alphabetical order.

abc world news tonight.
so my niece finally had her television debut on world news tonight last week. her part in the peanut segment was shatteringly short, but she delivered her single line ("it makes me really happy") with style and flair. she's apparently really proud that she was on tv, but simultaneously mortified that she was captured on camera a) eating at the peanut-free geek table and b) sitting next to a boy.

it's tough to be six.

beverly hills, 90210
this show comes on way too much and it's slowly taking over my life.

gilmore girls.
rory is such a little bitch, i swear to god. it's ALMOST enough to make me give up on this show, but, let's face it, i just have too much invested. plus, lorelai's really standing out so far this season (and i'm not just talking about her sudden extreme propensity for wearing tops that show a large amount of cleavage). really, the only entertaining thing that rory has this season was getting into that sweet fight with her fellow community service inmate. if they could just remove rory from the show entirely and then have lorelai adopt paris, it might be perfect.

the o.c.
i've completely given up on the o.c. it really went downhill during season two. all the drugs and attempted rapes and near-deaths and stuff. but, i'm an open-minded person, so i gave the season three premiere a chance. bad idea. significant amounts of superfluous drama. if i wanted that, i'd watch laguna beach or my super sweet sixteen or something. and, by the way, i'd really appreciate it if someone could tell me how frequently people actually get up and leave their hospital beds after being shot in the back and being in a coma for a presumably substantial amount of time? because i thought that could only happen on daytime television.

veronica mars
and now for some television news that is actually timely and exciting: THE SECOND SEASON OF THE BEST SHOW ON EARTH, VERONICA MARS, STARTS WEDNESDAY. as a hardcore fan, it's hard for me to admit this, but here goes: i'm not sure how good this show is going to be now that the big mystery has been solved. and really, i don't know about you guys, but i didn't spend my entire summer ruminating on the "cliffhanger" from the end of the season one finale. but season one is coming out on dvd on october 11, so i can always relive those fond memories if season two doesn't quite stack up.

grlz: women ahead of their time

i really have to recommend this awesome album. ------------------------------->
it's been in rotation at wxyc, so i've had a few chances to listen to it during matt's show. it's a compilation of all female or female-fronted new wave/no wave bands. i was only familiar with two of the included bands before hearing this album (the slits and delta 5), so i feel like i'm getting a good musical education. and even though the picture is really blurry, hopefully you can tell how hot the cover art is.

my favorite songs: anna domino- zanna; slits- i heard it through the grapevine; delta 5- mind your own business; bow wow wow- c-30, c-60, c-90.

it's out on crippled dick hot wax! check it out.

new toys

new toys
Originally uploaded by missmarvel.

check out these awesome toys designed by david horvath, co-creator of my beloved line of uglydolls. these little guys are from the "noupa" line, and i think i got the best two. you can't tell, but they have sweet little rocket packs on their backs.

new (and exciting) books.

<-- i've been excited about this book since i saw it profiled in entertainment weekly a few issues ago. i usually don't trust their book reviews, but this seems pretty solid. if you click on the link you can see some of the awesome covers featured in the text (my personal favorite is the girl beneath the lion).

i love books about book covers because i once wanted to be a cover designer. this was right after i discovered that the profession existed and right before i realized that i have no artistic talent.


here's one that's already out. it's a collection of ellen gilchrist's old nora jane stories and a new novella featuring her as well. i love ellen gilchrist. and nora jane.

i saved the most exciting book for last: myla goldberg's second novel. her first one, bee season, was my favorite book of 2001. i'm glad that i only have a few weeks to wait for this one, because otherwise i'd run the risk of building it up to much in my mind. a difficult lesson i learned after waiting five years for donna tartt's second novel to come out and realizing that even the most staggeringly brilliant book in the world couldn't live up to my inflated expectations.

katrina links.

read this blog if you haven't already. matt showed it to me a few days ago, and i'm amazed every time there's a new entry. from what i understand, it's maintained primarily by a guy who lives in new orleans, and it's currently dedicated to chronicling the events that occur in the city itself.

watch a visibly upset kanye west go off script during the concert for hurricane relief.

listen to an interview with the mayor of new orleans. really powerful stuff. i immediately made a donation to the red cross (interview link via crooks and liars, pointed out to us by matt's dad).

the good news, though, is that more than fifty countries have offered assistance, most recently qatar.

even if you don't quite have $100 million to give, anything helps, and hopefully the donations that are pouring in will jumpstart the relief effort. the people behind gofugyourself have compiled an awesome list of places to donate. and if you're particularly into libraries, consider giving something to the louisiana library association disaster relief fund.

abc world news tonight.

yesterday my six-year-old niece was interviewed by abc world news tonight for a special report that's supposed to run sometime in the next few days. so if you see an awesome little blonde person talking to an interviewer about how she's deathly allergic to peanuts, you should know that she's related to me. i'm not sure when they'll have time to run a peanut allergy segment with all of the other stuff that's been going on (hurricanes, evacuations, gas prices, alligators, snipers, and so forth), but hopefully she'll have her moment in the spotlight soon.

i hope that her first brush with television fame and fortune was more pleasant than my own. i imagine that it must have been, since she probably wasn't a) required to wear her full girl scout uniform AND pantyhose; b) forced to roast marshmallows over a fire in the staggering heat of august; or c) forever captured on film wearing a very embarrassing early-nineties white puffy headband.

not that my experience was all bad. after it was over, they let me ride back and forth on the dolly.