BAD GIRLS DO IT WELL

This coming week I'm guest lecturing at the university on my favourite thing: grrrls who make media. It's only one hour and with all the pre-amble about the male gaze, media ownership, and what feminism means to me, I'll only get to show a handful of videos (and then talk about them). It's really important to me that when talking about women who make visual media that the content be representational and include a number of intersectional voices: queers, women of colour, women who live or have lived in poverty, women doing it on their own, women who experience colonization. The walls of academia are so white washed and popular feminist media is exceptionally racist I have no interest in furthering heteronormative white voices in these forums. Over it.

LINKS: 
Mary Lambert interview on Q (http://www.cbc.ca/q/popupaudio.html?clipIds=2407370855 - 15:01)
Grimes manifesto (http://actuallygrimes.tumblr.com/post/48744769552/i-dont-want-to-have-to-compromise-my-morals-in-order)
MIA documentary leak (http://www.stereogum.com/?p=1399922)
Lauren Mayberry of Chvrches statement (http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2013/sep/30/chvrches-lauren-mayberry-online-misogyny)


Jeepneys & Low Leaf ::::: We Are Mangos from Jeepneys AnnaLuisa on Vimeo.

Life During Wartime

I often feel like the lyrics for this song were written for me, right now. Every time I'm reminded why I resist and how fucked the world is.

Heard of a van that is loaded with weapons
Packed up and ready to go
Heard of some grave sites, out by the highway
A place where nobody knows

The sound of gunfire, off in the distance
I'm getting used to it now
Lived in a brownstone, I lived in the ghetto
I've lived all over this town

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
This ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey dovey
I ain't got time for that now

Transmit the message, to the receiver
Hope for an answer some day
I got three passports, couple of visas
Don't even know my real name

High on a hillside, trucks are loading
Everything's ready to roll, I,
I sleep in the daytime, I work in the night time
I might not ever get home

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
This ain't no fooling around
This ain't no mud club, or C. B. G. B.
I ain't got time for that now

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
This ain't no fooling around
No time for dancing, or lovey dovey
I ain't got time for that now

Heard about Houston? Heard about Detroit?
Heard about Pittsburgh, PA?
You ought to know not to stand by the window
Somebody see you up there

I got some groceries, some peanut butter
To last a couple of days
But I ain't got no speakers
Ain't got no headphones
Ain't got no records to play

Why stay in college? Why go to night school?
Gonna be different this time?
Can't write a letter, can't send a postcard
I can't write nothing at all

This ain't no party, this ain't no disco
This ain't no fooling around
I'd love you hold you, I'd like to kiss you
But I ain't got no time for that now

Trouble in transit, got through the roadblock
We blended in with the crowd
We got computers, we're tapping phone lines
I know that ain't allowed

We dress like students, we dress like housewives
Or in a suit and a tie
I changed my hairstyle so many times now
Don't know what I look like

You make me shiver, I feel so tender
We make a pretty good team
Don't get exhausted, I'll do some driving
You ought to get you some sleep

Burned all my notebooks, what good are notebooks?
They won't help me survive
My chest is aching, and it burns like a furnace
The burning keeps me alive

The Best Mix CD Ever

The other day I pulled out a CD holder wallet thingy that had a pile of CDs that lived with me between 2002-2005. The wallet is full of CDS made for me ages ago that I hadn't listened to in years. Recently in an interview, Tegan & Sara said something so perfectly apt: making a mix cd and giving it to someone is how you tell them how you feel. (What do kids these days do?). Anyway, a fine fellow I was disasterously in love with would trade CDs with me. We'd also drive around in his honda civic and harmonize to the sound of settling as the sun went down. Back then I wasn't confident to call ppl out when I KNEW they liked me (and I pined and pined) but listening to this mix CD over the weekend it totally dawned on me: he was totally into me, maybe? haha. Stupid young kids in their 20s. We should've been making out. Anyway, it's a fantastic mix and I love it. There's a theme to it that doesn't matter at this point, except that it was special. OH MAN.

Headlines - Neon Blonde

Alex Chilton - The Replacements

Palmcorder Yanja - The Mountain Goats

Parallel or Together? - Ted Leo & The Pharmacists

As Your Ghost Takes Flight - Saves the Day

Believing is Art - Spoon

I-E-A-I-A-I-O - System of a Down

Rooftops - Alkaline Trio

Te Como Vivo - The Causey Way

Hallelujah - Rufus Wainwright

Destroy Rock and Roll - Mylo

AM 180 - Granddaddy

You Can't Hurry Love - The Concretes

Divorce Song - Liz Phair

I Don't Know What I Can Save You From - Kings of Convenience

Aqualung - Jethro Tull

Naive Melody - Talking Heads

Dragostea Din Tea - O-zone

Rest My Head Against the Wall - Heatmiser

A Smile That Explodes - Joseph Arthur

hotties with short hair (and good jams)

My Favourite Music of 2011

It was a great year for the music I love.









Midnight City is by far my favourite track of the year. XO

Rifflandia IV

Here are some of my favourite shots from Rifflandia IV. What an incredible incredible way to spend a weekend. No child. Drinking all day. Going to lots of shows. Midnight meals at the Joint, dinner at noodle box, Pizza Primastrada in the morning in Royal Athletic Park, dancing my face off and getting contact high at Lance Herbstrong, and getting down with my boys De La Soul. Highlights of the weekend include running into Pete from Cave Singers outside the venue and talking about his show and how amazing they were and how he patted Stewart's back and held my elbow the whole time. Or watching J Mascis transition from acoustic to flat out electric with his old beat up acoustic guitar. Or the unexpected and overwhelming rain and wind storm to hit Royal Athletic Park on Sunday morning and sitting snuggled up on a couch under rugs and knitting to wait out the storm. VIP for LYFE !! I'm starting to go to Victoria as much as possible. I'm loving it there more and more. I see a move there in the next few years for sure.

sometimes i want to kill my husband.

but most of the time i don't. and then i'm reminded why i wanted to marry a 14 year old skateboarder who likes fat chicks. yesterday he introduced me to RVIVR. and i died.

they're on rumbletown records.

i give you someting you never even knew you missed.

friends, pocket knife, break my heart everytime.

"make no mistake"

i can't believe it's almost 7pm on Sunday! I'm heading to pick Stew-dog up from work in about 5 minutes and we're going to sit down and eat the wonderful above (with miso soup!) and probably watch a movie (Going the Distance?), cuddle with helvetica, and eat the last of my brown rice ice cream. YUMs. rainy days are awesome.

this weekend went by pretty fast. my cold cleared up. i've been knitting non-stop. our house was/is still a disaster (I think we're settling into life with a child really well as stewart doesn't make as much of a mess as he could and i just deal with the disaster). the earthquake in japan has struck a chord with me much more than the one in christchurch. on thursday night on twitter about 20 minutes after the quake someone in my list tweet'd about it. and then i checked it out and news hadn't really begun to roll in. i emailed a friend who lives back in akayu and she said it was crazy and so huge and she was OK. this was all before the nuclear reactor and the whole tsunami aftermath started to show up on the news. i had been to sendai a few times and it's just crazy to think of that whole portion of the east coast devestated. i'm so curious to know what we would do if that happened here and also very aware of how underprepared we are/i am.

totally unrelated:

stewart made me a girl power cd a month or so ago and it had super wild horses on it. i'm kind of in love with them. and want their hair.

"and the leg bone is connected to the one in the thigh"

seth and i spent a whirlwind 24 hours between here and victoria and got to see my sis and my papa. it was good times though i was sick as a dog and so cranky, exhausted, and impatient. i was also sad/pissed that i had no money to buy yarn or seeds b/c my work forgot to print me a paycheck. thanks guys!

since christmas i've had ups and downs of being motivated and not being motivated/in a slump/depressed. i blame a mix of working more/at all and just a general malaise, but it has felt exacerbated these past two weeks and then getting sick (we were all sick) just sunk the ship on that one. i'm going to make more lists. start getting excited about more projects. and just doing more things. seth is slowly starting to sleep better and having even one night away from stewart made me not want to get rid of him so quick (oh marriage!) and it's been nice and cuddly and just chill. i'm denying my expectations of myself re: the state of our house and only doing what is necessary. i'm also working at putting the computer down. so this ends here as i'll put the computer down and knit and watch the goonies listen to my audiobook and go to sleeeep! XO

happy vagina day!

today was pretty much amazing. stewart went to vancouver yesterday to see cradle of filth and i'm almost at 36 hours alone with the babe (who had the worst sleep ever last night bleck) and am working really hard to not go crazy. so i pretty much took a third weekend day off and hung out with s. all day. we got out of the house and went for a visit and rented a movie (that we're probably going to watch right quick). i also found out my bff had her baby (a girl!!). and i've really enjoyed following all of this arcade fire winning the grammy fun! (and here). (cbc news story here). (youtube clip here of their performance). them winning has totally made me cry a few times over the past day. so exciting! go indie rock!

XO

January Birthday

Here's a mix for all you January babies out there.....there's a lot of you! XO

JANUARY BIRTHDAY

clementine – washington
awkward silence – total bummer
rill rill – sleigh bells
heart full of pentagons – film school
almighty moon – sondre lerche
go outside – cults
blue and gold print – mates of state
bad communication – sufjan stevens
trash paintings – maple you know
for the last time – bella
babay (eat a critter, feel its wrath) – the blow
o ye coffee tables – boats
solitaire – preston school of industry
two hearts – ryan adams
shelter – the xx
the lord – young people
trace a line – au revoir simone
mama – coconut records
sold – dan mangan
these roads don't move – jay farrar + ben gibbard

love is a hunter

Rae Spoon was on CBC's Q today. YAY!

Have you seen this? Supermarket Sarah? I heard about it from MEET ME AT MIKE'S! It's incredible. and Genius.

And, Port Alberni-based crafter and antiques collector, Eben Lemon, is hosting a sweet giveaway over at the Dainty Squid! (Me, my sister, and Kalinhop are going to be making soap over the holidaze, so I'll be sure to take pictures of that!).

Oh! and this Harry Potter plush tutorial from My Paper Crane? OMG! I think that I'll make one into a puppet for the puppet theatre I'm making seth (it's baby sized, so when he's like one and half he'll be into it).


i made this embroidered nesting doll for the lovely e with purple and blue floss and put it in a purple frame. i didn't take any complete pics or WIPS, but i love it. so nice. here's the pattern from sublime stitching if you're so inclined!


this is the lame little garland i made for hanukkah. i used the star cutout tutorial from martha stewart (and i finally got my first issue of living that i subscribed for in the mail, yay!)


MMMM, hanukkah leftovers. we had 20 people here (including 7 kids under 7) in our tiny little itty bitty basement suite. it was GREAT! i made SO MUCH food and it was all devoured minus this crock of marinated mushrooms, borscht salad, a tablespoon or so of vegetarian chopped liver, and a bunch of rye bread (we had another loaf left too). it was the most fun i've had in a while and so great to have all these wonderful people in one space.

helvetica's best of 2010

well, this year is close to over and there's albums and bands we still haven't gotten our hands on (ahem, downloaded), but this is as close to on-time-accurate we'll get to this year. highlights? for me obviously robyn and her onslaught of sweeeeedish ness..it transformed my year; stewart says, "the new comeback kid album was a lot better than i expected and it's amazing" (even though he picked a bleeding through track instead); "i found my love of garage rock through no bunny" (stew); and i think the two of us together fell face flat onto the hipster trend of the year lo fi jangly guitars and songs about the beach. honourable mentions that didn't make it here are obviously best coast, kill the client, beach house, kid cudi, willow, belle and sebastien, etc. below are our tracks! i've worked hard to get youtube links for most of the songs. but, surely everything you can find on a torrent site (or even splurge and get them through itunes!). or you can send me an email and beg for one.

HELVETICA'S BEST OF 2010
every town has an elm street – iron chic (link)
include me out – robyn (link)
ambling alp – yeasayer (link)
this shit getz old – nevershoutnever! (link)
city with no children – arcade fire (link)
heart is hard to find – jimmy eat world (link)
laughing hieroglyphic – avey tare (link)
odessa – caribou (link)
i can’t believe you – matt skiba (link)
tighten up – black keys (link)
let’s go surfing – the drums (link)
pretty please me – no bunny (link)
post acid - wavves (link)
twin peaks – surfer blood (link)
shake it out – manchester orchestra (link)
summertime – my chemical romance (link)
anti-hero – bleeding through (link)
xxxo – m.i.a. (link)
we’ve got a situation here – the damned things (link)
back and forth – operator please (link)

"so much pain for someone so young"

oh life without facebook! it's absolutely incredible. and awesome. and my internet experience is just, well, more specific and less droll. more blogs, more communicating about important things, and more flickr. ravelry. and apartment therapy blogs. this is the life i much more prefer. well, and that "big brother" isn't pilfering my shit and thinks they own it. i was surprised at how difficult it was to delete my account and it's actually not deleted for 2 weeks. they sure try to keep you!

i intend to blog a bit more now that i'm not on facebook so much. i think what i'll do is find specific things to blog about a few days a week and then blog others as they happen. i'm a fan of friday favourites but not sure i'm organized enough. i will, however, definitely do work-in-progress (W.I.P) wednesdays. there was another one that's assigned to Mondays but I can't remember what it is. I'll also try to do a recipe a week. So we'll see how it goes.

lately i've been listening to a few tracks on repeat, namely the new Cee Lo Green single, "Fuck You" (1:50 i die) and the new-ish arcade fire song, "Month of May". my summer has been without a doubt dominated by Robyn and Body Talk Pt. 1, and the Hang With Me single. on repeat. i've also just stumbled upon new Kelis (i <3 kelis). yes!

before this becomes a run on post here's some photos from the awesomeness of august. i'm gonna run and watch last week's true blood and knit a shawl for my midwife (a little overdue).


our potatoes have been so good! the local deer ate all the nightshade on top but the potatoes we got are still so yummy and milky and just so clean and dirty tasting at the same time. we've made homefries a few times, and potato-based soups, and hashbrowns with them. just so good. i still have just over a bed left to dig out, which i should do soon, so we should have potatoes right up until xmas! woop!


stewart's mom was here and i took her to cathedral grove. we tried to walk the long side of the trail but it was closed for whatever reason. it wasn't even a week day and there were so many tourists. but, no complaining about tourists as they're the left's answer to coal mines and copper mines and clear cuts.


we made a garlic-havarti stuffed crust pizza with nickolas. it was to DIE FOR.


blackberries! we picked pound after pound of blackberries from right by our house. all for free. and they've been canned into jam and drunken blackberries (with brandy) as well as frozen in the freezer by the bag full. we also picked a bunch of blueberries at my family's farm and i'm still plowing through them. so. good.


i canned a lot with my sister. well, pretty much every time i saw her we canned. it was so nice to spend the summer with her! it's been so long that we've been so apart, geographically anyway.


knitting! i knit two pairs of socks in august. this really nice pair for me and an anniversary pair for stewart. having a baby obviously means not so much knitting time, which is heartbreaking, but august was so full with putting away for winter that i didn't get to knit so much. i can't believe how little time i'll have when i go back to working. blarg.

"if you're real and not pretend i guess you can hang with me"

today was one of those days...things are just so fucking awesome!! i have felt a cold coming on so i slept every single nap with seth until the afternoon when i ran out to get aaron a belated birthday deep and delicious (and put and icing penis on it, that's the way it is!). the we all went for dinner at the clam bucket (it was a wash, nice interior, overcrowded menu, expensive entree but only So-So). and then swimming at fucking cameron lake. i didn't plan to go swimming but it was so nice and so warm i stripped down to my skivvies/tank and jumped in. it was glorious and refreshing. i feel anew. then the boyz came over for cake. and we had a laugh fest. today basically reaffirmed to me that life is awesome.

and to top it off? NEW ROBYN SINGLE!! egads! i'm listening it to repeat on my itunes. just getting it ingrained into my brain. so beautiful. she's so killer. it just gets better and better. i'm happy the wait was worth it <3

Robyn - Hang With Me official video from Robyn on Vimeo.

"holy moly, mi oh my, you're the apple of my eye"

Today I finally got to make Calzones! It was my plan last Saturday but the yeast was bad. Bah! I used this recipe for the dough, doubled it (5 cups white flour, 2 cups whole wheat), and let it rise for 40 minutes and as you can see it just exploded out of the bowl! So, that's what dough looks like when the yeast works?! YES! I'm definitely a yeasty-convert now. For the filling I managed to get my hands on some LOCAL pork hot pepperoni from Hilliers Sausage on my way back on Hwy 4. I sliced it up with crimini mushrooms and shallots. We had some marble cheese that I put small bits of inside. I used canned spaghetti sauce I scored at Safeway (it's so delicious, my new favourite canned anything) and ended up making only 7 calzones and a pizza roll. I think next time (there will be a next time!!) I'll make them 1/2 the size and do pineapple (I love pineapple in pizza) or spinach and ricotta.

On top of all this I also made a bizarre bean/lentil filling with spinach and chipotle for burritos (paired with brown rice). They're currently freezing and will probably get wrapped up in the morning and get ready to be eaten for lunch. I also made two quarts of iced lady grey tea and bought the stuff to make tzatziki tomorrow. YUM. My week is definitely going to be filled with yummy lunches and not at all with instant noodles (which now make me so sick, bleck).

Aside from today's insane cooking projects this week has also been busy. We finally got on the floor and I spent most of my week troubleshooting network issues and picture messaging problems for mobile users in the US. oi! The fun part was talking about the snowstorm that hit the east coast and wishing for snow. Here = cherry blossoms and green grass. It's weird. This is my first winter ever where I've experienced growth so early in the year. I don't know how to comprehend it, really. I've also been knitting socks, working on wrist warmers for Loki, and am almost done Stewart's vday giftie. LOVE the knitting. Love it.

Oh! And check out Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. They rock my everything right now.

my top 10 albums of the 2000s

So, a few people, including Pitchfork and all the rock mags in the world have done a best of 2000s list. Some have hundreds of albums, some are not restricted by number, but here are my top 10. I thought keeping it a short list would be easier to manage and leave lots of room for wondering, what was better? regardless, these 10, for me, are the shit of the 2000s. now, i'm not sure if i would readily put them on (I mean, I did play give up to death!!) but they marked times in my life! and made this decade better. they're not in order. (and in the manner from bryndis, they've got youtube videos attached for fun).

-robyn - robyn
-postal service - give up
-cut copy - bright like neon love
-death from above 1979 - you're a woman i'm a machine
-tegan and sara - so jealous
-julie doiron - goodnight nobody
-the blow - paper television
-mirah - you think it's like this, but really it's like this
-the organ - grab that gun
-the gossip - standing in the way of control

spring is in the air!: new music.

the snow is officially gone off our lawn which means it's almost time to start raking up the leaves from last fall that we missed and finish digging out our garden box. and with the onset of spring comes the pile of new music to carry me through the new season. i spent 3 hours downloading music, buying itunes music, and searching stewart's most recent downloads to compile a list of stuff i love right now. so love it. and enjoy it! off to write, and go to the camelot! and then to the Y and then stitch n bitch. such a good sunday! xo

metric - fantasies. i haven't really liked metric in the past. i mean, some songs like combat baby and dead disco were fun, dancy, and a wall of sound, but fantasies has a good mix of haines' solo sound and a wall of synth. favourite tracks: gold guns girls, help i'm alive.

mstrkrft - fist of god. woop! more vocal oriented than the looks but the beats are solid and generally a riot. favourite tracks: click click, it ain't love, and heartbreaker.

TEETH!!! i found teeth!!! after trolling pitchfork for an hour. it's a raw electro thrash noise. love it. you can download them here (Free Willy) and here (Free Jamz 4 evr).

Chew Lips - SOLO. a single released on kitsune and an album better be coming. poppy with epic vocals. makes my feet bounce and wish for summer dance parties.

Harlem Shakes - Technicolor Health. kind of feels like pop where peter bjorn and john left off. summer acoustic rock. who knew i'd actually like this sound again. maybe it's because some of the harmonies remind me of blue rodeo? haha. favourite tracks: strictly game, sunlight.

handsome furs - face control. duh. dan beckner is my lover. and my boyfriend. favourite tracks: all of them? but really: i'm confused, talking hotel arbat blues, legal tender.

fever ray - fever ray. i've never been a die-hard fan of the knife, but fever ray has a little more siouxie as stewart says. and i love it. favourite tracks: triangle walks, now's the only time i know.

as good as i could possibly imagine my life getting, it did, after i met you..

i haven't really ever been a fan of mt. eerie. mainly because i never made space in my heart for them. i find that i have all these bands and artists that i love and they just fill my heart but i find it hard to replace any thing in there. as if my heart has no more room to add some other music or book, etc. i guess i could say i'm somewhat "full" culturally. which is ridiculous. but that's definitely how i feel. so, to my happiness mt. eerie joined up with julie doiron. who is officially one of my favourites. i have loved her since back in the days when i got my hands on that purple blue tape at the subpop store and sang my heart out. i'm pretty sure her solo stuff got me through japan, too. their collaborative effort, "Lost Wisdom", is exactly what i've been looking for to fill that "fall's here" void i was feeling. time to put the robyn and the yelle away. it's cuddle up with tea and popcorn and knitting music that's needed.

another wonderful person that's never really made their way into my heart, and i always was in awe of girl of the north country's love of him since i didnt really get it, is ryan adams. i just got my hands on the new ryan adams and the cardinals and immediately got it going in the car. and just love it. yay! i get it now!!



today stitch n bitch was really great. it reminded me how much i love my snb and the lovely ladies who come and knit. it gave me hope and energy. i worked on a project that's not only a custom order but the pattern will hopefully be published very soon! in print! and sported my brand new hat made from this pattern.

okay, must run and make popcorn and wait for stewart to get home so we can have dinner! i just started not eating as much wheat again so it's rice every day and he's sick of it. no matter how hard i work it. but i say, bring on the rice! yum!