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BRITPOPCAST #6: THE GIRLS OF BRITPOP (wave 2)

Theaudience - Penis Size and Cars

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The show was actually longer, but I'm including more Jarvis-stalking festivities until next week. This week is all about the second wave of girls of Britpop (the first wave consists of Powder, Sleeper, Salad, Echobelly, Elastica). Since we've talked so much about them already, I thought talking about the second wave was a little more interesting.

Second wave:

• Kenickie (Lauren Laverne - all girls band)
• Kenickie, believe it or not, was the only all-girls Britpop band.  There was another band called Fluffy around this era, but they were more hard-rock than brit-pop.  While Fluffy's ultimate was branded with "eight tits no talent", Kenickie was more loved in general.  While their music is often more polished punk/pop early on, they shifted their sound to more lounge for their second album.  Obviously the band was still in their infancy ... but eventually broke up shortly after the second album.
  
• Lush (Miki Berenyi & Emma Anderson)
• In early Lush's history, they were two best friends, Miki Berenyi & Emma Anderson.  They were fanzine producers, and started their own band based on their love of shoegazing music with their EPs and debut album Spooky. You can hear their love of melodies as they sing in and out.  Of course, when you have two songwriters, they often clash if they have other interests.  In this case, at the time Split came out in 1994, some of the songs were clearly "britpop"esque.  Even the naming of the album (Split) was an indication, between aggressive pop songs like "Kiss Chase" and "Hypocrite" - the britpop songs would later continue with "Ladykiller" and their ultimate britpop moment with Jarvis Cocker on "Ciao!"  While I did tend to like the Miki songs, Emma did coin a few great pop gems like "Shake Baby Shake" (which is about the love of her car).
  
• When we heard that drummer, Chris Acland committed suicide by hanging himself, we all knew the band would be split up after this.  And it's true, they never quite recover.  I was lucky enough to catch them before the tragedy and continued to follow to see what the band's been up to.  The last I heard, Emma is in Sing-Sing, which had a great pop song called "Feels Like Summer".
  
• Catatonia (Cerys Matthews)
• Since we previously talked about Catatonia in our previous Welsh Britpop bands, I'll only briefly mention them here.  The thing with Catatonia for me was that each of their song was either a hit or miss... no inbetween feeling.  I either hated or love it. But the songs I really love, I really love, so that makes up for them.  I love the way Cerys sings, in fact, all Welsh people have a particularly weird accent to them and it's always a nice earful when you do hear them sing or talk.  It's like they're speaking English, but learned it from another planet.
• Favorite songs: "Mulder & Scully", "I Am the Mob", "Karaokee Queen",  "Road Rage", "Dead from the Waist Down"
  
• Theaudience (Sophie Ellis-Bextor)
• This was a very brief band from 97-99, fronted by Sophie Ellis-Bextor - who went on to have a series of very successful Eurodisco releases.  I must admit, I never followed the band that much - they arrived a little too late for me.  I didn't buy their debut album (it was never released in the US), but managed to get their debut single, "I Got the Wherewithal".  The song is quite good, and even their b-side "Penis Size and Cars" is amusingly catchy.
  
• Bis (Amanda MacKinnon)
• I love this Scottish band.  Although they were far too "kiddish" in their cute unreadable spellings and anime-influence, they were pretty damn cute and catchy.  Songs like "Kandy Pop" topped many playlist around this time, although in retrospect, looking back, it was a pretty mindless dum (dumb as in DUM) song.  Unfortunately, many people, including myself, didn't regard Bis as a Britpop band, but they're often grouped in.  My favorite song: "Action & Drama"!
  

Honorable mentions:

• Black Box Recorder (Sarah Nixey)
• Very catchy/dancey, but not Britpop.  Their bassist is Luke Haines, formerly of the Britpop band The Auteurs.
  
• Dubstar (Sarah Blackwood)
• This British act came out during the birth of Britpop, but they were far too alternative-dance/electronica to be considered Britpop.  The singer is Sarah Blackwood, who, I reckon the band ditched toward their later music releases.
  
• Sneaker Pimps (Kelli Dayton)
• Fluffy
  
• Republica (Saffron)
  
• Fat Les (Lily Allen sings on their last single???)
  

 12/30/2009 03:45:48 ♥ vu () ♥weheartmusic.com♥twitter.com/weheartmusic♥news.weheartmusic.com 

It's rare these words come outta my mouth but I'm fooded-out.

I'm a foodie and there's been plenty to enjoy visually and otherwise this time of year. Foods at gatherings. Bountiful displays at the markets and mall {gag}. Holiday food demos at Costco. Foods shipped to and fro and foods on tables, enough to feed a family of four in Asia for a week.

The two holiday parties to which I was invited fell on the same night -- that sorta sucked and what are the odds? {really. is there a statistician in the house?}

So I went to both. By the time I arrived at the second, there was no room left in the inn belly for a slice of salami, neither a kernel of corn. Besides, the dishes had been pretty well picked over into carcass condition. I was more than happy to receive a glass of red wine as sacrament of social graces.

We all know about the box of Godiva.

More goodies were floated my way, though none with the power punch of Godiva (thank god!). My blood sugar levels this past week have seen more spikes than a mistress at an S&M establishment.

Then yet another potluck last night. I hungered for the chicken and cole slaw and couldn't face half the offerings -- sweets including a cream pie, lemon cake, cookies, foil-wrapped chocolates, banana bread and (this one's for you, Beeeze) brownies with cream-cheese frosting.

Most of the goodies were store-bought and because I'm a baker they rarely hold much appeal and no truer was this than yesterday, a week into the Season of Gluttony and Bulge.

Don't misunderstand, I'm not judging. I'm guilty of overindulgence too. Heck, I'm battling a pound of Godiva that's seeking permanent residency at my waist. Point is, I've officially reached my quota of sweets and food food food everywhere.

Cookies and brownies were left over at the potluck so I hauled 'em home, not for me -- OK, guilty! I had a little -- but the crows I feed daily.

And this morning afternoon after I got up and tossed the cut-up cookies and brownies (sorry, Beeeze, that you got none), I was met with quite the surprising sight: a squirrel, who arrives daily to bogart the bird seed, ferociously feeding his fat little cheeks on what appeared to be cream-cheese brownie! And here I thought they had more sense than we do in regards to junk food! After munching a while, he bounded away at top speed, toting precious chocolate morsel in mouth, probably hopped up on sugar like the most of us.

I've had my fun, my overindulgences, my sweets and starches, my season of gluttony. 'Tis the time to return to the simple and nutritional: an egg and a slice of toast, a bowl of oatmeal topped with chopped walnuts and cinnamon sprinkles, roast chicken and green beans and, as the day's single indulgence, a late-night mug of hot cocoa (from scratch, not a mix).

Cabbage is calling.

Cabbage

Son is pretty sensitive to his privacy and I do respect that, but at the same time, he's careless in leaving things such has his Facebook page wide open for me, his mother or the dog (if she could read) to  skim through.

So, sometime last week, he left the PC and disappeared for a while without logging off from Facebook.  Saw he'd been chatting for a while with a girl who he met during the summer camp in Ohio.   I've seen this person in the flesh; she and her mother checked in for the camp immediately after we did, and from first impression and her subsequent profile pics on Facebook, I'm thankful a bit of distance  separates the 2. 

The impression I had/ still have is that of a flake. The girl's hair is dyed day-glo yellow, she uses very heavy eyeliner (to the point that she could be mistaken for having eye-black on) - reminds me of Cindy Lauper back in the day.  She appears interested in Anime, which I guess is the hook for her being at that camp.

There was another time, when he left his yearbook out, and flipping through it, saw a Korean girl in his Japanese class had left him a message of 'Hey give me a call over the summer' (she included phone number).  Son did ask her (again he left his 'stuff' up on the PC for anyone to look at) to come to one of the pro lacrosse games he was working at, but got I think the old 'Sorry, but I've got to wash my hair tonight'.  And again when he's left his Facebook page open, I've seen this Korean kid with a different profile pic, she clinging on to a different white dude in each one.

So I wonder about what son looks for in what he sees as attractive women.

A Japanese woman?  A resounding 'hell no' I think on that one.  Had a conversation in the car a few weeks ago and I was curious as he's had 3 different Japanese language instructors, 2 Japanese  women and one, his current instructor, an American man, as to who among them he's been the most comfortable with.  He said he liked his current instructor and when I asked why not either of the Japanese women, he said that all Japanese women can do is "scream and bitch at him".

Thank god that divine nightmare's over.

And by that, I do mean the box of incredibly tasty and pleasurable Godiva chocolates I received as a gift and of which 44.4% I consumed singlehandedly on Christmas Day.

Well, I no longer need fret about resisting the 55.6% that kept calling my name, if you get my drift.

Actually, one gargantuan piece with the pecans and caramel does remain, simply because my arm, paralyzed in last night's sugar coma, was unable to lift it to my mouth.

So gone, a box of fancy chocolates in just three days. This is why I can't, won't shouldn't, rarely keep sweet treats I really like around the house. My otherwise substantial self-discipline - pop! - flies out the window.

Speaking of popping, the next sound I hear will be the button on my jeans set free and sailing across the room. I remember when I needed a belt for the roomy waist {waxing sentimental}. Good thing those chocolates weighed in at about a pound and no more, I was well on my way to a pair of maternity pants.

Speaking of poundage, presently this is not my friend:

Scale

This is:

Carrot

blech

Gary Patterson's Cats 2010 Wall Calendar

Horray, we got a lovely dusting of snow! We actually got more than the day they were predicting a Nor'easter. It's a nice treat because I adore December and I miss it when it's gone. I have whole new ways to celebrate the winter now. I'm thinking about buying some snowshoes. I usually just use my heavy winter boots for the snow.

J got me a Panasonic camera, it's super lightweight and takes lovely photos. Almost everyone at the family gathering was trying to fight clutter - so most of the presents were pure necessity. Gloves. Winter boots and blankets. Datebooks. A few packages of hot chocolate and spices.

The one luxury item was books. Sweet cookbooks, fiction, bird books and art museums. Ah, I love books!! They're borderline necessity, in my mind - but I bought many new books - not good for the forests. I should be using the library or our used book store more often. I won't bore anyone with Resolutions (yet) but in past years I've focused on replacing plastic and meat, and wasteful packaging. This year I must focus on my passion: preserving habitat. Deforestation and cropland will be my focus.

I have the feeling that in the year 2010, we're going to see more Greenwashing than ever before. Businesses and product makers are getting saavy about how they present themselves. They are following the science and keeping up with terms that will impress the public.

Eco-friendly is not just a trend these days, it's a real concern that people have. I'm convinced that commercials will bombard us more than ever with messages that are designed to conceal and confuse. This drives me batty and I hope to debunk these dirty tricks and write (in a fun way) about the truth. So we can all benefit.

And hopefully, I'm going to keep this year light and cheerful, and rustic as well.  :D

Take a look at this photo of a present I received on Christmas.

Godiva

Anything strike you as remarkable? Other than that it's Godiva, a classy and pricey chocolate you'd never find in my home unless it were gifted, as this was.

Look closely. Notice the vacant squares. Notice that exactly 41.6% of the contents ... gone! Missing! Vanished!

By me. And me alone. In one day, Christmas.

Now, that figure of 41.6% is misleading. It under-reports actual quantity consumed by me and me alone in one day.

Yes, it's accurate to say I ate 10 of the 24 total pieces, equaling 41.6%.

However, the astute observer will notice that not all the pieces are of identical size. Two of the remaining are humongous. There used to be of those, four giant blobs of glorious chocolate covering crunchy pecan bits and golden gooey caramel.

One of those gargantuan pieces is the equivalent of four small ones.

So, painfully forced to recalculate actual quantity, I, and I alone, consumed 44.44% of the box on Christmas Day. Up from 41.6%.

In one day, I morphed from the girl on the left into the one on the right:

Before and after

Of course you know that's not me. I wouldn't be caught dead carrying a clutch, never mind one matching the dress.

But it does get the point across. Two days past Christmas and Godiva hasn't crossed these lips. I'm still burning off the sugar.

So if you need your snowy walkways shoveled, the shower regrouted, linoleum laid and walls repainted, all in a day, I'm your girl. The number's (555) SUGAR-HI (784-2744).

Disclaimer: None of my own piggery in any way alters the beauty and value of the gift and the thoughtfulness of the giver.

Had a short conversation that brings back to mind a joke a now deceased aunt told me once.

 I am loosely, very loosely actually, connected to a local Lions Club chapter here and today was lot cleanup after their annual Christmas tree sale.    Now a neighbor  also belongs, and he and his now in med school son came late, didn't bring tools of their own for disassembly, were constantly 'borrowing' mine, and then at the end, wanted to know why son had not come with me (he had come at the beginning of the tree sale to off load the trees).

Told both of them son was at home finalizing the remainder of his college applications.  Was ribbed that son was probably 'smoking me', and that is not a problem.  But then this neighbor turns to his son and asks, as if it had any bearing on anything, what schools he did not end up applying to. And his son, rattled out that oh, he did not follow up on his application  to Harvard,  but did follow up on his application to John Hopkins.

And now the joke goes like this.

Two old friends met after many years of not seeing one another.   The one woman stated on about how she now lives in a huge house, now owns much jewelry, has a handsome husband, etc. etc., etc.  To which the other woman simply replies to each  with a 'Marvelous'.

Now this puzzles the woman especially as many years ago, the other woman was apt to use fairly coarse language. And this woman noted that in the old days... Well the other woman replied that she had decided to improve herself and had gone to a finishing school.

One things she had learned while there she said was whenever she wanted to say bulls**t, to just say 'Marvelous'.

So guess what I thought as I was listening to these neighbors go on.  :-)