| big brother 10 |
[04 Jun 2009|11:56pm] |
As promised, for the benefit of certain people who are out of the country and unable to join us for the year’s greatest televisual spectacle, here are our first impressions of this year’s BB contestants. ( Read it or don't: you decide )
Savagexx
|
|
| stuff and nonsense |
[09 May 2008|11:21am] |
So much to report and not enough time to do it! But basically last Friday I went to speak at the Fat Studies UK seminar (along with ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) charlottecooper) which was really amazing. Every talk was interesting and different, which I think shows how dynamic fat studies is, and it was good to be in a room of people who didn't make a strange wincing face when you said the word fat. Like I'd been talling various people (colleagues, realtives) that I was going to speak at this thing and they look at you as if to say "it's bad enough you look like that and now you're going to draw attention to it by getting up in public and talking about it? Whatever for!?" Maybe I was being paranoid. Anyway, who cares what people think? Not me. Anyway the whole thing has fired me up intellectually and activistly which is what it's all about... And then at York station on the way home I saw a bus with a "public health" advert about the dangers of drinking on it which said "beer goggles last one night, but a beer belly lasts a lifetime" and it had a picture of a headless fatty pinching some belly flab. There is work to be done my friends...
Secondly, today tomorrow and the next day I am going to Ladyfest, or bits of it anyway. On sunday I am co-chairing a big discussion/panel on riot grrrl which I'm looking forward to. The format of it is a bit...err, experimental, but hopefully there will be some interesting people there. I have written an overly long and complicated article on the music press response to riot grrrl for the handout that accompanies the discussion. Mainly I am slagging off Steven Wells, always fun. I am also looking forward to seeing The Priscillas and the Actionettes and to the Bop on sunday and to some of the workshops and films. I haven't been to a Ladyfest since London 2002, and I didn't really get to go to anything at that as mostly I was selling t-shirts and attaching wristbands to people. I am strangely excited!
In popular culture news we are currently enjoying the new Long Blondes album on which they continue their damning critique of heterosexuality. I have many thoughts on this issue which I am planning to write out for the Pamzine. I bet you can't wait.
On the television we are concerned that CSI (Vegas) has jumped the shark. At the start of the series something odd was happening. In fanfic lingo when your fanfic storyline shows up in the show itself it's known as being 'inked' - well the start of this season felt like a million fanficcers would be sitting out there claiming to have been inked. The storylines were so...fanficcy... Then the worst thing happened: Sara Sidle left. Words cannot express the devastation in the Savage household. It was a dark day indeed. Since that time things have really gone downhill. Now, this may be due to the writers' strike disrupting proceedings, or it may be that without Sidle there is nothing left. Time will tell I suppose, but they need to introduce some new female characters sharpish or there'll be trouble.
We are also enjoying the Big Bang Theory which is a sitcom about David from Roseanne (only here he's called Leonard) and his band of nerdy geek friends. A sexy lady called Penny has moved in across the hall and Leonard wants to have sex with her EVEN THOUGH in this series he has had sex with Darlene (or whatever they're calling her in this, yes, marvel at the intertextual genius). Everyone thinks Leonard and his even nerdier/freak flatmate Sheldon are doing it, ha ha haaaaa oh the comedy. We've seen every episode, and we have some suggestions for season 2:
1. Leonard realises he would have nothing to talk about with Penny should they ever have a romantic relationship and that actually he is just fixated on her because really he knows it will never happen between them but it stops him from acknowledging he's gay. Eventually he does realise and he and Sheldon get it on. We quite like this scenario, but Sheldon finds social contact upsetting and disturbing, so it would be difficult to get him in a relationship that involved physical contact. So then we came up with scenario 2:
2. Penny moves out and a big butch lothario dyke moves in across the hall. Not only does she know as much about sci-fi/comics etc as the boy geeks but she gets loads of ladies too. She would then attempt to impart her knowledge to the geeks in a hi-lar-i-ous twist on the straight lady/fag friend tedium of most TV. I think it'd be a winner.
Well my washing machine has come to a stop so I'd best be off to get ready for Ladyfest. Maybe I will see some of you there.
love
Dr Savage
|
|
| wunderbar |
[17 Apr 2008|02:01pm] |
Hello!
We are back again – internet service has been restored here at the new Pam Savage HQ, and we have recently returned from a delightful tour of Hamburg (more of that in a minute). We are settling in to the new flat and most things are now unpacked. This morning (at 7.15am – thank you Ikea) we had a wardrobe delivered, so once we’ve assembled it we can stop living out of suitcases and bin bags and the place won’t look quite so much like we’re about to host a jumble sale. Apart from that we’re on the lookout for a small 1950s/60s style sideboard/cupboard thing and then I think everything will have a place to live! All we need now is some time to spend doing the fun stuff like painting, hanging the rest of the pictures, changing the light switches and so on. We did so much in the first couple of weeks, but since we both had to go back to work we’ve been too knackered in the evening to get down to anything DIY-y. Ah well, we’ve got plenty of time…and eventually this place is going to be quite the pad, let me tell you.
( Hamburg with photos! )
Finally I should just say that last night we went to see the Breeders and it made me very happy, as only the Breeders can. They were just so ace. I think Kim and Kelley could sing anything and it would lull me into a state of contentment and loveliness. I love that they look so comfy and friendly and when they talk they have those little peepsy voices which seem so incongruous. The new album is really good too, and better for having heard it live, though they really did all the hits last night. I think ‘I Just Want To Get Along’ was particularly fine, but really it was all good. I could sat through another hour of it at least. If you’re going tonight you’re in for a treat.
See you all at Saturday at the Bop (check out the new website if you haven’t already).
Love
Dr S
xxxx
|
|
| jesse marunde rip |
[08 Dec 2007|10:01am] |
Last night we forewent the opportunity to go out and see The Priscillas in favour of a pizza and the World's Strongest Man qualifiers on channel 5. Here at Savage HQ we enjoy the strongman competitions, just for the spectacle of the bodies and over-enthusiasm of the commentry, and the crazy events like the 'fingle's fingers'. What we particularly like is American Strongman Jesse Marunde - the showman of the current cohort. After every event he whips off his t-shirt and throws it to the crowd whilst flashing his shiny American teeth and flexing his muscles. His body is amazing, smooth yet huge. He's 6'5" and about 300lbs and has killer sideburns. Men aren't really my thing, but Jesse is really hott, not in a sex way exactly, but just like, woah.
Anyway, luckily he was on last night. He's been out of it for a while having knee surgery and last night managed to come third with much good grace and showing off, but then at the end of the programme there was an announcement. Jesse died from natural causes in July. He was 27 and his wife had just given birth to their child. We were stunned, it was so upsetting. We were both in tears all through Ugly Betty and our late-night game of Boggle. Even now I feel a bit weepy. The world's strongest man won't be watchable without him. Rest in peace Jesse.
|
|
| i'm holding out for an ambush |
[14 Oct 2007|11:46pm] |
It’s been a while since our last post, but rest assured, all is well in Savageworld. This Sunday night you find us listening to the Emma Pollock album and enjoying a cup of tea and a vanilla kipferl at home. Flamingo is doing some painting by numbers (a delightful panorama of London in purple and orange, it will make quite the addition to the gallery when it’s finished. I myself am about to embark on some particularly ill-composed cats grouped around a flower-pot, it’s stunning), and I am here typing to you.
I have just learnt that I have been cited in this new Riot Grrrl book (see big_trend) which is very pleasing (thank you Julia!). This and that free “Rock and Pop” book which came with the Observer today (don’t get me started on it, grrr) are just the kick up the bum I need to get on with getting something published properly. Those of you who are following my thrilling career trajectory will know that I have given up my day job in order to concentrate on being a proper academic. So far it is going…errr, slowly. I have teaching work at the moment (typical seminar interaction: me – "so when was feudal society?" student – "before World War II?" me – "earlier…" student – "before World War I?") but the rest of the time I’m trying to work on a couple of lectures, a couple of conference paper abstracts and "some" journal articles. I am not short of ideas, it’s just when I get down to it I can’t seem to get anything out. I am wavering wildly between total conviction in my abilities and heart-racing, inertia inducing panic. The latter is generally winning out at the moment and I have definitely been picking the low hanging fruit – the house is immaculate, filled with clean laundry and home-baked goodies – but I really need to get up to the top of the tree before the fruit rots. I hope that writing this will spur me on. We’ll see.
I also want to invite anyone who knows me along to the Bop on Satuday night to celebrate my 30th birthday which is this Friday. I know, 30. Good God.
That’s all, night night,
Dr Savage
|
|
| so what's your theory? |
[19 Jul 2007|01:12pm] |
|
In case anyone doesn't already know, tonight is the So What's Your Theory? night at Loom (formerly Needles - home of Homocrime). There's music from Drunk Granny, Husbands and Jean Genet, DJing from the Bops, and most excitingly Judith "Jack" Halberstam will be giving some kind of talk. It's all my favourite things together at last. Fun starts at 8pm, it's £6.50 and proceeds go to the Ladies Rock Camp. See you there.
|
|
| seven ages of cock |
[04 Jul 2007|12:25pm] |
Just to update you on the British Indie episode of the Seven Ages of Rock: it was shite. Although I was prepared for it this time, so it weirdly didn't upset me as much as I thought it would. Plus it was an hour and a half long and so by the end of it I was nearly comatose anyway.
So, yeah they didn't talk about any ladies, although they did play some Echobelly at one point, and flash up a millisecond of Elastica and Sleeper. There were no female artists or 'experts' interviewed. There was no critical discussion about the politics of independent record labels, sub vs mass culture, laddism, nationalism, class, race or gender, or anything of relevance to British Indie as a genre or indeed anything of any interest at all. I was bored.
Most of all I cannot understand how Pete Doherty has become hailed as some kind of national/rockandroll hero (atually I can understand it, because it's totally predictable) but I really cannot fathom why anyone has fallen for it. In the show they were trying to convince us that the Arctic Monkeys and the Libertines are the new re-indification of indie, but every time I see Doherty all I can think about is Kate Moss's Rimmel adverts when she says in her weakling junkie voice "get the London look" and I just think YOU ARE NOT INDIE. It will never be 1993 again, and that's just something we'll all have to get over.
love
Dr S
|
|
| seven ages of cack |
[24 Jun 2007|09:14am] |
Morning all,
I don't know if any of you have been fool enough to watch any of the BBC's Seven Ages of Rock series, but what a pile of crap it is. I've only seen two-and-a-half out of the six so far, but let me tell you it is the worst piece of rock "history" programming I've ever seen. I had really really low expectations of it, but even still I am disappointed. It isn't just about the almost total absence of female artists, but a general ill-conceived-ness that makes watching the shows irritating beyond the telling of it. Like, they've taken the time to define these seven "ages" but rather than talk about what is special about that particular time/genre they instead concentrate on the careers of about 3 prominent artists who we all already know everything about and proceed to tell us all the most tired anecdotes about those people over and over again. There is absolutely no breadth, no sense that this really was/is an "age". And then there's the almost total absence of female artists. When music is defined by genre or "age" it always sets alarm bells ringing in me because you can almost guarantee that such categorisations are based on what the boys are doing at the time and this is taken as universal. Thus female artists never really fit in to the grand scheme, and thus they get marginalised and forgotten. Yes, OK they did talk about Patti Smith in the punk show (but no mention of the existence of Debbie Harry?!), and Viv Albertine of the Slits got to talk about "women in punk" for about two minutes, but see how the women were sectioned off - punk "allowed" them to experiment etc etc, but the implication is: that wasn't what punk really was. No, what that was was the Sex Pistols swearing on TV. Honestly, the punk episode devoted more time to discussin Lydon's post-Pistols career (not strictly "punk") than it did to talking about female punk artists. I was cross about that, but I think last night's show on alternative American rock/grunge took the biscuit. The only woman featured on this show was good old Kim Deal. Seeing her was actually quite exciting because I've never seen her speak before, and her hair looked so cute and isn't she just the coolest person, like, ever (sigh). Apart from Kim there was nothing: no Courtney, no L7, no Babes in Toyland, no riot grrrl (pffft, wishful thinking), none of the other 4AD ladies (Tanya, Kristin), not even any Kim Gordon. I know I shouldn't have been surprised, but I was angry, especially about Courtney as most of the show was, of course, devoted to Saint Kurt (yawn) so it would have been easy to mention Hole, but they didn't even bother.
Sometimes I feel like the research I did for my PhD on exactly this kind of marginalisation of female artists was frivolous and unnecessary, but then I see shows like the Seven Ages of Rock and I think, well no, actually it is necessary because the contribution women make to culture (and thus the meaning of our lives) is so consistently erased and forgotten that it's like they don't exist, or at least they contribute absolutely nothing to the creative arts through which our society defines itself and its values. Anyway, I literally cannot wait for the show on British Indie Rock which is on next Saturday. Before last night I was pretty confident they would mention Justine Frischmann, but judging how they neglected Courtney, now I'm not too sure. I predict Smiths, Suede, Blur, Pulp, Oasis - nothing we can't hum there. I'm angry already, I think I will defintely write a letter to the BBC about it - I pay my licence fee for this shit.
Yours
Dr S
xxxxx
|
|
|
[13 Jun 2007|09:34am] |
Further to everything which I totally agree with that big_trend said about the Emily Big Brother race fracas can I just add my thoughts on Charley - I wrote these on Monday afternoon but nothing I saw on BB last night makes me think different...
( Big Brother musings )
|
|
| goberisation |
[07 Jun 2007|11:54pm] |
I'm all on my own tonight, watching Big Brother and eating spinach. All I can say about Emily is a) glad they kicked her out, and b) she was meant to be the clever one? God help us all. Flamingo is away on business. She's on a 2 day customer service training seminar in Oxford. She's learning something called the Gober Method which sounds terrifying. I'm worried they're brainwashing her - she said it's horrifying as they make you talk about your home life and she's having heterosexualised anecdotes forced down her throat. Apparently tomorrow they're learning how to say 'no'. Every single Blackwell's employee is going on this course, so next time you go in there and the staff are all American-automaton-like spare a thought for the poor dears.
Anyway, it's bedtime. Keep telling me about your legs, I am even more obsessed now I know about people's exciting habits.
Dr S
|
|
| legs |
[06 Jun 2007|07:36pm] |
I am currently nurturing a growing obsession with the popular western custom of leg shaving. It seems to be mostly practiced by the female of the species, and, if the advertisements for hair removal techniques are to be believed, allows women variously to unleash their inner goddess, feel the feeling of freedom (but not the actuality?), and distinguish themselves from men who are the "natural" possessors of body hair.
What I was wondering was whether anyone had ever read anything (other than Wikipedia) about the significance of shaving one's legs and also why not shaving legs has become one of the markers of an "ugly feminist". As an ugly feminist myself I don't shave my legs, but I am keen to hear from people who do about why they do, and from people who don't about whay they don't. One day my scientific findings/musings may appear in the mythical 8th issue of The Pamzine.
Thanks!
Dr S
|
|
| vanilla kipferl |
[29 May 2007|05:51pm] |
|
Following the intense weekend discussion about TBop's mum's "moon cakes" I promised to post the Savage family recipe for vanilla kipferl which are essentially the same thing I think. Anyway this is how I make them:
6oz flour
4oz butter
2oz caster sugar
2oz ground almonds
vanilla (caster) sugar for rolling biscuits in.
Rub the fat into the dry ingredients until it's like pastry. Form into crescent shapes and bake on a greased tray for 10-15 minutes at 180 degrees. When they come out they're still quite soft. Leave to cool and harden up a bit and then roll each biscuit in the vanilla sugar. They are so delicious, and something I associate with my German/Austrian grandmother and Christmas. Mine never come out as good as hers do, I think I handle the dough too much and it turns tough - so let that be a warning. T's mum's were also scrumptious, but much smaller than I'm used to. Mine look more like this:
This is from the Kipferl website which is London's only Austrian cafe/deli. If you can't be bothered to make your own you can go there and buy them! I will be happy to take part in any kind of kipferl/moon cake cook off if anyone wants to spend an afternoon stuffing their faces with biscuits.
Anyway thanks to T for an amazing weekend and we'll see you all thursday night.
Savages
xx
|
|
| oi, donut hands |
[04 Feb 2007|10:23am] |
|
Chubsters of the World, and anyone else who's interested: the issue of Bust with the Chubsters in is out now - Flamingo got it in Borders on Charing X Road, it's got Gwen Stefani on the cover (unfortunately...I mean, when did she become Bust-friendly?). Anyway, The Chubsters have got a whole page and we look mean as fuck (except me because my face seems incapable of that particular expression when there's a camera in the vicinity).
Chub-Chub-Chub-Chuuuuuuuub
Dr Savage
x
|
|
| we're back |
[15 Dec 2006|10:41pm] |
Oh my god, we're back on line, it is a MIRACLE. For nearly six weeks we have been without the internet. No slash, no grocery shopping, no ebay, no livejournal, it's barely been living at all. Even before that our dial-up was so painfully slow that just checking email took about 4 hours. Now though those days are behind us and we have a new computer and BROADBAND. Woo hoo.
So, can anyone tell me if it's possible to transfer my itunes to the new computer?
It's so exciting.
Savages
xxx
|
|
| oh, vienna |
[30 Sep 2006|05:31pm] |
Hello World,
It's been a while, I apologise - we've just been beset by a whirlwind of international jet-setting closely followed by an exhausting two weeks back at work. We've barely had enough time go the the pub or watch 6 episodes of Veronica Mars a night, so general computing activities have been off the menu. Anyway, here is what we got up to in Vienna, maybe tomorrow I'll tell you about New York.
( Oh, Vienna )
|
|
| leotard |
[30 Sep 2006|05:03pm] |
Dear Channel 4,
I see in the news today that Des Lynam is quitting Countdown. It's about bloody time - his constant patronising of female contestants and lack of chemistry with La Vord is most upsetting. Now that a new host will have to be found can I suggest Sandi Toksvig? As a veteran of both Call My Bluff and Countdown's own dictionary corner she is ideally qualified for the post, unlike Mr Lynam whose talents clearly lie outside the realm of wordsmithery. In addition, the fact Ms Toksvig is a giant lez will bring a delightful homoerotic frisson to an afternoon's telly viewing. If you take up my suggestion I for one will watch the show every single day.
Yours,
B. Savage
|
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
| [ |
go |
| |
earlier |
] |
|
|
|
|
