A Place to Crash

Feel Good Friday: ‘Angels’ and ‘God’, On High

I was going to not post anything today, because I am completely and utterly obsessed with tomorrow’s DW finale, and I’m trying not to put my Twitter readers through more. But the folks at Robbie Williams News reminded me that it’s the 10th anniversary of Robbie Williams doing “Angels” at Glastonbury.

For everyone who hasn’t read his quasi-autobio, “Feel”, Rob was pretty much Amy Winehouse-gone when he recorded this song, which came from a fragment Rob thought up whilst looking at a waterfall in Ireland during a major bender. Unlike Amy, Rob had great management that made him stay in rehab long enough to stick eventually. But before he appeared at Glastonbury and sang this, he was basically known for getting kicked outta his band, a la Doherty.

It’s a credit to him as a performer that he made one great performance into the career he’s achieved everywhere but the U.S. And that’s what I love about festivals, even though I don’t really go to many anymore. You get everyone who has at least a couple of monster hits and lots of the folks on their way there. Like Tori at Glastonbury in ‘98, who I’ve been listening to also. Wow, the same year. And if you’re an old-school Tori fan (Fox, Brittney, Matt…) you need to hear this. So today you get two.

Actually, watch this one too. And this. Heck, watch the whole search results.

Now I’m going to fight off the urge to learn how to make fanvids so that I won’t make a Ten/Donna fanvid for this song, who is @mikeschmid on Twitter, one of those folks I friended and admire from afar. There’s a lot of indie artists on there like that. Check out @thehighwaygirl, too.

And that’s it, unless anyone wants to hear my new theory about what’s going to happen to Donna tomorrow. No? Really?

Edit: I lied. I have to add this fanvid, because 1) it’s incredibly awesome if you’re a TW/Doc slasher (as far as I’m concerned, they should move the show to Cinemax and let them all go for it. Kidding!) 2) Who doesn’t want to watch three hot men and a TARDIS? 3) Captain Jack’s got the most prolific scorecard ever, and 4) This is secretly one of my very favorite songs ever.

It is the one and only song Pete Wentz had association with that I can listen to, and I know this is going to ruin my rock cred worse than the fact that I ADORE Miley Cyrus’ cover of “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun”. Okay, that’s it. I’m not sure that anyone will ever listen to me seriously about music again, ever. *wanders off to listen to The Cribs to help self-esteem*

Tags: 1998, doctor who, glastonbury, robbie williams, tori amos

Feel Good Friday: Something Beautiful

Thanks to my Twitter buds GingerSnaps and Newscoma, I have found out about the Feel Good Friday thing. And it’s very cool, because I knew exactly what my first one would be, and it seems appropriate since we’re only a couple of weeks removed from Britain’s Got Talent.

As with most Robbie songs, this song and video have a story. This song was originally written by Rob and his former writing partner for Tom Jones, but he passed on it and Rob decided to stick it on my favourite album of his, Escapology.

Rob was in the middle of touring and couldn’t appear in a video, so his management and MTV-UK teamed up and did a reality show where people could try out to “be” Robbie. They weren’t going on physical resemblance, but were looking for the person who embodied his spirit and enthusiasm onstage.

The top three performed on the show and the public picked out the winner. In the extended version (which has disappered from YouTube) the winner leaves the studio to catch a bus, sits down on the bus bench and discovers that Robbie’s sitting next to him. Pretty neat.

In any case, this is one of Rob’s few truly cheerful songs. It’s a nice listen. And I dare you to even try to be depressed after playing this.

Tags: british, britpop, feel good friday, music, robbie williams

Possibly the Best British Show Americans Will Never See

I’ve rarely been a huge fan of performance reality shows, at least since the season that Carrie Underwood won American Idol. But my new exception is Britain’s Got Talent. I’m not sure why this show kicks America’s Got Talent in the ass. It’s possible that America’s got no talent, but I doubt it.

Part of it are the presenters, Ant and Dec (Ant’s always on the left, and Dec’s on the right.) I’ve found few people who agree with me (at least out loud), but I find them endlessly entertaining. Dec can just waggle his eyebrows and he’s got me. This has nothing to do with them being big buddies of Robbie Williams, I swear. They’re just funny. They’re developing a show for the U.S., and they’re destined to be huge stars with the older set here. Younger folks will love to hate them.

Speaking of loving to hate, if you love to hate Simon Cowell, Britain’s Got Talent is like crack. Bitchy, snarky crack. He’s not afraid to roll his eyes or buzz any act, no matter how cute or like your grandparents they look. He’s also a complete horndog (as are Ant and Dec) and that’s become a running side gag. I guess he’s allowed to do that in the UK. He dresses better in the UK, too.

Piers Morgan, who was supposedly as mean as Cowell on America’s Got Talent, is the Randy Jackson of the group, minus the “Hey Dawg” every couple of minutes. He’s probably a lot like Stephen Fry would be if he judged a reality show. And Amanda Holden is Botoxed but sweet and sane. She’s the one who cries every time a hard-luck story comes up. But unlike Paula Abdul, she doesn’t mix up the acts while doing it. If you’re into such things, she’s got great breasts and doesn’t seem to know where her bra is.

The one weakness of the show is that the cute kids kinda take over. No one is not going to vote for the cute blonde kids who bebopped their way through the Tuesday night show (they were, appropriately, called the Cheeky Monkeys) or the little choir boy who had been bullied who won the viewer’s vote Tuesday. And the kid who streetdanced in the fake rain. Against that, it’s impossible for the equally talented adults to complete. Such as this contortionist, who had an accident during rehearsals and still competed with a busted-up face.

There are also the novelty acts. Some are quite good, like this really shy girl and her awesome dog, named Gin (he drank his owner’s gin once as a puppy.)

Some are very, very bad, like this couple’s weird magic act (notable because they’re clearly kinky and the woman wears awesome boots.) But half of the fun is figuring out how quickly they’ll be buzzed.

And this hoola-hoop trio, which might be my favorite act ever.

Finally, there are the kids who clearly honed their talents making YouTube videos. For some female eye candy, here’s Strike.

And because fair’s fair, here’s a belly dancer for the guys.

The semifinals are airing live every night across the pond. Thanks to the absolute IDIOTS who shut down LiveUKTV.com this week, I’m a day behind on watching this (note to UK networks — try getting American syndication before shutting down our access to your shows. We generate good buzz for y’all over here.) I will try to highlight more acts before the finals this weekend. In the meantime, follow them on Twitter.

Tags: ant and dec, britain's got talent, british television, simon cowell

In Defense of Miley

I know people are already getting sick of the uproar over the “Hannah Montana is nekkid!” stories and posts. On one level, I’m one of them. It infuriates me to see various TV and news outlets writing their stories proclaiming outrage and horror but then showing the picture for at least 15 seconds. If it’s so horrible or outrageous, why are you showing it in the midday news? Do you think parents were shielding their kids’ eyes when it popped up?

C’mon people, all you see is her back. In the outtake photos, she’s wearing clothes underneath. And does anyone else remember those graduation photos where girls wear drapes? It’s really the same thing as this, just a side view.

I have no inside scoop on this, but my assumption is that Miley took all those candid photos that leaked last week with the ex-boyfriend and showing the bra because she was in serious like with this guy and possibly gave them to him as a momento. Not great stuff, but it’s a typical teenager thing.

And now you’re saying “Well, it looks like she’s just got out of bed after (insert dirty hypothetical activity.) Sorry to tell you this, but this is your dirty mind at work. The Vanity Fair photo is an artsy shot not unlike something you’d see at a portrait exhibit, not her spread eagled on a bed wearing next to nothing (i.e. Britney’s RS cover when she was 17.) Even the candids do no more than show her bra and stomach. The purpose of art and photography is to make you think and interpret, and a lot of us (myself included) can find something dirty to see out of the simple act of eating a sandwich. But that’s not her fault. She might not have a dirty mind yet, so don’t blame her for yours.

Which leads to my list of things that we as adults should remember before we forbid our kids to watch “Hannah Montana” anymore and destroy her CDs (and this is mostly in reference to the personal photos that leak, since I’ve already established the VF spread contoversy is BS):

1) Teenagers are sexual: Yes, they are, and that’s normal. Don’t believe me? Have some of your friends come over, drink a few beers and then bring up the subject of their proms. Chances are that most of the stories will involve a bed or a backseat somewhere. After a few more, start the “losing my virginity” stories and also find out how far your buddies got in the years before they actually did the deed. Unless you hang out with members of Catholic religious orders, you’re not going to get a lot of “I saved everything but closed-mouth kissing until my wedding night” tales. Lots of dorm room beds will probably be involved.

Is it great for young kids to have sex? It’s not perfect. But if you stick your head in the sand, forbid kids from seeing anything that might give them any ideas and do the whole “purity only” thing, you’re only ensuring that they won’t feel comfortable in coming to you if and when they’re dealing with the issue themselves. And they’re going to get ideas whether you like it or not. Would you rather face the facts now, or in a much more painful way later?

2) Young (and old) people also make bad choices, especially where the heart’s concerned: This is something we all know from experience, but it hasn’t stopped folks from throwing stones. How many times have we done something with or for an ex to make them happy ourselves and seen that backfire in a big way? If the videos on XTube are any indication, a LOT. We’re just lucky enough not to be multimillionaire music stars when we do them.

How many times have we, as adults, thought back and wished that we hadn’t done certain things of our own? Our impulse is to make sure that our own kids never follow in our footsteps. But no matter now much we yell “Make good choices!” at them as they walk out the door to school, it’s a lesson they’ve gotta learn for themselves. So if anything, Miley can be an example of someone who has learned the hard way that you can’t always trust people that you care for. Because somewhere along the line, someone she trusted leaked the photos.

3. Don’t assume that Miley is going to become another Britney: This is a big one, because yes, Britney did say and do many things comparable to Miley when she was 17. She also professed to be a virgin (and lied through her teeth while doing it) and that she was churchgoing and moral when the truth was a little more dubious.

But one reason we’ve all been enthralled by Britney’s breakdown because it’s an anomoly, not the norm. Plus Miley is 15 and her hangouts, look, etc. seem to be mostly stuff suited for her age. And her parents are fairly strict. (Britney, by most accounts, pretty much raised herself) As much as some of the celebrity press want to see her become a mini-Amy Winehouse, no matter how much she wants, she’s not going to be able to get into Villa for a few more years.

By the time she’s old enough to really get into trouble, she’ll might be less famous and have fewer cameras waiting to snap a shot of her drinking a beer. Or she maybe she’ll have learned the lessons of #2 and just live her life on her terms and with no apologies. She’s probably learned what not to do from Britney and Lindsay Lohan.

If she’s smart, she’ll focus on being herself in her work and devote her time to that. Britney’s problem is that she never got that chance and lost herself along the way, so when she rebelled she had no “herself” to work with. That’s the threat of early fame. But there are others like Jodie Foster who were also young adults but managed to preserve an identity and turned out fine. And in rare cases (like Drew Barrymore) you can even screw up big time as a teen and still be a great adult.

I’m not saying Miley and the people attached to her are completely innocent or blameless. I’ve said more than once on Twitter that I can’t understand why they make such a big production out of keeping her stomach covered at all costs when she wears jeans at least two sizes too small. As driven as she is, it would be good to see her stick to her Disney role for awhile and not try for the huge solo career yet. And my personal opinion on the Vanity Fair photos is that she just doesn’t look comfortable.

Miley acts like she’s 21 and hangs out with older folks, but she is young and she should keep acting young and having a good time. I can’t stand to watch the “Miley and Mandy Show” most of the time, but I like it because it shows Miley is still a goofy kid. That’s the Miley who plays Hannah Montana, and that’s the role model. I think the best thing she could do — for herself and her fans — is just be herself.

Tags: disney, entertainment, hannah montana, miley cyrus, music, vanity fair

8 Weird Things About Me — Part 1

I realized today that only a couple of people previous to this knew I studied Mormonism at all (note, “studied” does not mean “followed”; just fascinated by its culture.) It’s kind of a random thing with me. And unless you’re reading this on LJ and have had me friended since at least 2004 or so, you wouldn’t really know because I stopped posting about personal and random things on there after I started working full-time in new media. And I wasn’t exactly someone who spilled her soul before that. So most of you probably only know that I work in journalism somehow, have lots of really random thoughts on Twitter, watch far too much telly and like Robbie Williams just a tiny bit. So I’ll do that “8 Things” meme I’ve been tagged for a million times.

1. I watch CNN. A LOT of CNN. If I’m trying to sleep, I’ve almost always got it on. Ever since I was in college and working on Clinton/Gore’s TYD campaign in west Tennessee, I have always been a bit obsessed about missing breaking news. I would nap in the afternoon between classes and dream about the stories Bernard Shaw was talking about.

My ex-husband (yes, for the newbies, I’ve got one and we’re still friends) will tell you many a story about me waking up randomly and turning the TV on because I dreamed of something happening, and finding stuff breaking. Or the nights he would call me from Hartsville or San Fransisco, because he’s nocturnal, to tell me something was breaking. Like the night he and my friend Joe called to tell me about Saddam Hussein being captured and found me awake and in the throes of food poisoning.

That’s the big thing I miss about my old job at WRAL.com — doing big nationwide breaking news like we did that was completely awesome. My best professional memories revolve around horrible events that had us working under really tight turnaround and in front of a lot of eyeballs. I still do as much of that as I can, but Huntsville doesn’t seem to have many huge and horrible things happening around it, or at least the things that attract national interest. And no national sports teams. Still a good place, tho.

- I have really random and strange musical taste. I mean, some stuff is standard (I’m told I have classic country radio likes and dislikes) but the genres are either obscure or downright cheesy. I went through some candy kid days in the ’90s (in the trancy and dancy way, not necessarily in the way portrayed on national press at the time — it was almost like flower-child ways with trance music and responsible jobs) and I still love trance — Armin van Buuren, Tiesto, Hybrid in a BIG way, and yes, BT — his music had a huge impact during a really difficult period during and after my divorce. You’re never going to tell me Brian doesn’t have an awesome soul, haters. But I also like classic country and have seen Reba McEntire live six times (but not since the ’90s, alas.) And you might have gotten the idea that I’ve listened to Virgin Radio a time or two. I always try to watch Jools live, if possible. And I adore artists like Ben Folds and Matthew Sweet and old-school Tori and Liz Phair and all the stuff that used to play on Nashville’s Thunder 92, which was the closest to indie I’ve heard outside of 99X in Atlanta (RIP FM station version, which is greatly missed.) The South will never be as hipster as LA (I think that aspect was the part of my LA experience that freaked me out the most) but we sure had fun trying in the ’90s.

I also like jazz of pretty much all types, anything called U2, atmospheric chill music, random LA artists I kinda stumbled upon during my jaunts to used CD shops during my very short time there and have recently rediscovered, the odd Celtic tune, lyrical Broadway musicals, some of the pop songs that some of you would love to strangle me for, and for some strange reason the scores of Craig Armstrong (check out “The Bone Collector” score — just lovely.) I want to pretend that I’m cynical, but I think I’ve got a romantic soul. I like happy music or very ironically cutting music — no in-between, really.

Since Twitter’s robbed my ability to blog beyond random related chain thoughts, I’ll supply a couple more later. I’m about to watch my favorite, Anderson Cooper, talk about the FLDS.

“I hope you’re happy, feel really holy…”

I promised a Britpop and Brit rock review, and here it is. I’m very inspired, because I am listening to…

The Guillemots: Red — Please note that the fact I have a copy of this album does not imply that I have obtained this illegally. See, my secret, hunky UK boyfriend works for a label and is playing this over his iPhone for me whilst feeding me chocolate McVities. Really!

Anyway, this album has been very, very anticipated and has lived up to every bit of the hype. The first track, “Kriss Kross”, alone is enough to make it a success. It’s pure barnburner, tightly produced, guitar-driven electro-rock. This is probably what Zeppelin would sound like if they were formed today and had a stronger singer. I hope that makes sense.

But the album is unique in its diversity. The next track, “Big Dog”, is more funk and pop and synth, and the third track is the lead singer’s attempt to channel David Gray. Sorry, I didn’t say this album is perfect. But it is worth a LEGAL purchase.

Adele and Duffy: I said in my last post that there are two female British artists who aren’t Amy Winehouse you should be listening to. Amy’s fine, but half of her appeal is the tragedy, and I prefer promise. So these women deserve some praise for being talented and not trainwrecks (at least not yet.)

Watch the above video. It’s actually a real video, not a concert clip. Fall in love with the lyrics. Marvel over the fact that Brit music fans can completely love a singer who’s not plastic and blonde. And check out the rest of her album “19″.

I saw Duffy on “Later…With Jools Holland,” which is the ultimate musical variety show. If you love it already, it’s now showing on Fuse on digital cable. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a show where about six bands are arranged in a circle and perform songs right after each other. It’s usually got at least one NYC hipster band, some sort of American act with indie cred (I think Steve Earle was on this ep), the UK pop star with a new album and at least a couple of UK indie acts. It’s a great way to learn what pop groups have albums dropping soon, or what you’d be hearing in Camden clubs if you (or I) were there. *sighs*

Duffy is being called the “new Dusty Springfield.” She hates that. I kinda do too, since I’m not as big into Dusty as I should be, I suspect. But it is obvious that she’s going completely retro, which has become slightly fashionable with the Winehouse/Ronson/Allen set.

Hers is different, at least on the surface. There’s less focus on the production and more on her voice. And she has such soulful delivery. This is a very good “girlie” album, because it’s the kind of stuff you like to play when you’re mad at your man.

This is another “Later…” performance, but the artist Estelle piqued my interest tonight on “The Friday Night Project” (which my boytoy Rhys was so kind as to bring over to play on the iPhone.) She’s a London hip-hop artist who has done a song with Kanye West and might give Mary J. Blige a run for her artist. Her song on FNP was much more retro than the track above, tho.

…And It’s All Because Of You

I think it would be remiss if I were the only 30-something female blogger in America who did not blog about Patrick Swayze’s cancer diagnosis. Because as jaded and cynical and snobbish as I would like to pretend to be sometimes, I am deep-down as much of a girl as any other woman out there. And like Rebecca (the powerful, polished hotel manager on “Hotel Babylon” who showed her “womanly side” when she hosted a party for her high school chums) I am a Swayze. I grew up in just about every way imaginable when he swiveled his hips through “Dirty Dancing.” And I’m not the only woman who would say this.

In my case, I grew up in Pleasantville (reference the Reese Witherspoon flick to understand what I’m talking about) and was completely and totally naive about men and sex and anything resembling lust. I grew up as sheltered as Baby in the film. Heck, my aunt tried to ban me from reading Mama’s back issues of Ladies Home Journal because they had words like “penis” and “orgasm” in them and were unfit for a young person. I knew nothing. Previous to this, I thought procreation was something akin to the scene in “Moonlighting” where Maddie and David roll around the house. I thought that was why people needed king-sized and round beds — so they’d have room to roll. You can stop laughing now.

Then I went to see this movie, and I saw people, um, dancing. Really dancing. My parents and grandparents are Church of Christ, so I’d never seen much of that either. But they were kissing and touching and wearing those jean shorts that were knee-length but about four sizes smaller than their real pants size. And it talked about abortion. I had secretly been pro-choice since getting into my first real philosophical debate at Governor’s School that year, but I had never actually known anything about them. There was Baby, who was so much like me in the way she tried to make everyone happy with her intelligence and sweetness but who really just wanted to sneak out and find some real fun. But then there was Johnny. And how he showed Baby the ropes in a BIG way, and went on to teach me and the other girls a thing or two.

My favorite scene in “Dirty Dancing” was always “You’re the One” — where Johnny and Baby are dancing in his studio when it was raining outside and Johnny was all hot to trot and Baby kept teasing him along. Not only was it totally and completely hot, but it was the scene where Baby finally gets her groove. She had control. And for some of us, those who are too shy to tell someone what we want to do with them and that we want it NOW, that’s a pretty cool thing to happen. Rare, but cool.

So thank you Patrick for your role in one girl’s awakening of sorts. And for your contribution to the “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack — I always did like “She’s Like the Rain”. Oh, and your pottery scenes in “Ghost” were also enlightening, of sorts, but that’s an even dirtier post.

Listen to Me Be a Slacker

I’ve been searching long and hard for really good streaming radio options all the way back to building my own stations at Live365, before they started charging and cracked down on copyrights. Most of what’s out there buffers like crazy, doesn’t play anything resembling a hit because they can’t pay for the rights, or has commercials between every other song. Last.FM is great for scrobbling my iTunes recently-played list to show on my blog, and that’s about it.

Slacker Radio is one of my new favorite things online. It has several dozen stations set up that can be accessed for free, in every genre from your typical Top 40s format to “Party Country” (hey, just turn it on at your next redneck wedding and go to town) to “Tropical” to “Toddlers”. Everything has a segmented audience, and it fits. One of my favorite things is to turn on the “Non-Vocal Smooth Jazz” station to listen to as I go to sleep. And amazingly, I’ll wake up six hours later and it’ll still be playing. No buffering and no freezing and no fuss.

My compadre Joe is a radio programmer extraordinaire. He actually “gets” stuff like tempo and retention and all of the lingo that leaves everyone else befuddled. He introduced me to Slacker and has been programming stations for it using their premium service. Not only does Slacker let you pick out artists to be featured on a premium channel, but they also let you set a level of “discovery” (i.e. how many times they play artists not on your list) and what years you want to listen to music from.

Thanks to Joe, I now introduce you to Ariedana FM — “All Britpop, All the Time”

Get your own Slacker station now.

This is a station that I’ve now listened to for a number of hours and I don’t get tired of it. Sure, Joe will probably keep adding artists (how many albums does Catatonia have, anyway?) and somehow I’ve gotta fake it into playing more Robbie. But it’s a fun station that completely meets my needs and gives you a snapshot of what interests me. And isn’t that the point of interactive media?

Also, Joe’s primary station is called Jumpers for Goalposts. If you like alt-radio, you’ll love that station. It’s much more eclectic than mine, but I’m much less of a music snob than he is. Check it out and bookmark it, and maybe even try programming your own. After all, you know what you like to listen to more than even the best radio station you could imagine would.