Stacyverb

RIP Amy Winehouse

The music world lost a huge talent yesterday with the passing of Amy Winehouse.  How sad to see someone with so much ability just self-destruct from drug addiction.  I always hoped Amy would get herself together and put out another fantastic album.  Frank and Back To Black have pretty much been in my rotation constantly since they came out, and now I guess I'll have to settle for that (in fact, I played my first CD copy of Back To Black so much I actually wore it out and had to replace it a few years ago!).

When I first heard Amy, she blew me away with her big soulful voice and modern twist on old-style R&B, which I've always loved.  It made me hungry for more of that kind of music, and when I created an Amy Winehouse station on Pandora, I became exposed to the new soul music that was coming out of the UK, which we weren't getting over here yet.  Noisettes, Florence + The Machine, Imelda May, Adele, Joss Stone...all these artists I first discovered via Pandora because Amy's voice made me want to seek out their kind of music.  Ditto snarky British songstresses like Lily Allen and Kate Nash. 

It also must be said that I loved Amy's over-the-top stylized 60s look.  The exaggerated beehive hair and cat-eye make-up mixed up with vintage and random modern clothes created an instantly recognizable style that fit her music perfectly.

A few years ago, a friend made me a mix of outtakes and rare recordings of Amy, and this cover of the Zutons' "Valerie" is one of my favorites.  I was glad to find this video version; it really shows off the big voice coming out of her small body and highlights her incredibly soulful phrasing.

 

It's not the end of the world

Well, look at that.  It's past 6:00 pm in New Zealand already, and they haven't been swallowed up by an earthquake or flood over there yet.  Although it's only early morning here, I'm optimistically thinking it's safe to make plans for tomorrow. 

That's the thing: optimistically making plans.  In the normal course of things (i.e., times when people aren't waiting to see if the world's going to end this weekend), there are a lot of clichés about people who live each day as if it were their last, never putting anything off for the future, and what a life-affirming attitude that is for them.  And that's great.  I'm a big fan of spontaneous, let's-see-what-happens kinds of fun.  But when I think of adopting that live-like-you're-dying philosophy into my own life, the feelings it conjures up aren't joy or excitement.  More like panic.  Desperation.  Sadness at the thought that no way will I ever do everything I want to do.

You what seems much more life-affirming to me?  Procrastination.  Daydreaming about the future. Taking my time.

I'm not saying that's actually how I live most of the time.  Far from it.  My point is that life has thrown us some major curveballs here at Stacyverb HQ in the past year or two, and in such times, when the panic and the desperation set in, it feels like the most devil-may-care, optimistic thing we can do is make plans for the future. 

These days, it takes a huge leap of faith for me to, say, RSVP to an event that's a month away.  It feels crazily optimistic to think that something won't happen to ruin those plans.  There have been times in the past couple of years that something as small as shopping has felt like a life-affirming act.  Buying a new outfit assumes I'll have somewhere to wear it.  Stocking up on cat food or buying the jumbo-size bottle of anything means, I believe I will need this.  It means, I believe I will be around to need this.

So today, as the world doesn't come to an end, I hope you'll all celebrate by spontaneously doing something you've been meaning to do for a long time, whatever that may be.  But I also hope you'll celebrate by buying mass quantities of your favorite shampoo, and reserving your seats for some fun thing that happens in, say, August.  And I sincerely hope you'll be around to enjoy all of it. ♥

LOST finale party

Sunday, our LOST-watching gang celebrated the series finale in style with a tropical-themed party.  The TV coverage didn't start until 7:00, but we gathered around 3:00 for food, drinks and general merriment. :)

Here are some of the delicious refreshments everybody prepared.  Our hosts had ordered the Dharma Initiative Party Kit, which included hilarious labels for everything, in true Dharma fashion.

By popular demand, I made my famous "Dharma Brand" salsa.  Adverb designed the logo. :)

Monica's "fish biscuits" didn't travel very well, but they sure were tasty and everyone got a kick out of them.

Speaking of things with a kick, let me tell you, that Dharma Punch really packed a wallop!

Belinda, Russell and Raphael were feeling the island spirit.  (Lost fans, check out Russell's cool T-shirt he got from Threadless.com.)

Kerri and Brannon mugged it up for the camera.  Everybody had a really fun time.

Here's me, Monica and Adverb gearing up for the show.  Notice the Dharma balloon (conveniently labeled, in case of confusion) in the background.  Adverb cracked everyone up with his jump suit.  He already had these coveralls at home, which he wears while painting.  He just printed out a Dharma logo on some iron-on paper and transferred it to the suit.  Awesome.

And so we bid farewell to Craphole Island.  We'll miss you, you crazy electromagnetic, time-traveling mystery, you.  Namaste, everyone!!!

Weekend countdown: Things I've loved about LOST

The LOST series finale airs tomorrow night.  I've watched every episode of the show, many of them multiple times.  As we say goodbye to a great program, here are my top reasons for tuning in week after week, season after season.

5. It's pretty.  Okay, maybe that's superficial, but let's face it: gorgeous scenery + attractive (frequently shirtless) people = eye candy!  In HD, some of the shots on the beach are truly breathtaking.

4. The writing and storytelling have raised the bar for network TV.  For the first time in a long time, I really got invested in a television show.  The adventures, the mysteries...yeah, a lot of it's very weird, but it all comes down to well-written characters and their stories.

3. Everything is always at stake for the characters--and the viewers--because anything can happen.  Unlike most network shows, major characters on LOST can and do die.  (The flip-side of this is that dead characters can still re-appear as a ghost, or in a flashback, or in a flash-sideways.  You just never know who might turn up!)

2. This is a show that assumes you're smart.  The writers give the viewers credit for having at least a casual knowledge of literature, history, religion, pop culture, physics, mythology, etc.  Sure, I guess you could just let the action and the strangeness flow over you, but it's so much more fun to let your brain engage with some entertainment that doesn't insult your intelligence.

1. Bonding with fellow viewers.  Adverb and I have had a standing date for dinner and LOST with a group of friends for years now.  Even during long hiatus times, we'd still meet and re-watch some of our favorite episodes on DVD.  It's given us a chance to rant and rave about the show, but also to talk about our week and generally just enjoy each other's company.  At work, some of my customers are also fans of the show, and they might come in to shop, but first they'd ask me, "Did you see it?  What did you think?"  I'll miss all that, and I don't see how any TV show could ever replace it.

Weekend countdown: Eye candy

First of all, if you've newly found your way to my blog because of Me-Made-May, WELCOME!  M-M-M outfit photos will be forthcoming.  But in the meantime, please enjoy a little regular feature here at Stacyverb called Weekend Countdown.  This week's list highlights images I just can't stop looking at.

5. Marco Grob's photo of Lady Gaga for Time's 100 Most Influential People list.  I love how stylized this portrait is.  Her pose, the colors...she looks like a living piece of sculpture.  (Plus, duh, a bra that shoots fireworks is just plain awesome.)  In her write-up about Gaga for Time, Cyndi Lauper wrote, "Being around her, I felt like the dust was shaken off of me."  I love that quote.  Don't we all need more things that make us feel that way?

4. Smitten Kitchen's Cabbage and Lime Salad with Roasted Peanuts.  With the warming weather, I've been craving fresh, crunchy veggies.  These photos from Smitten Kitchen had me salivating this week.  Following Deb's links, I found a passage on her blog in which she neatly describes her relationship with coleslaw: "I’ve never been a fan of coleslaw, as nearly every one I had ever tried was god-awful. I thought it was because I didn’t like cabbage, but this has turned out not to be the case. Then I thought it was because I didn’t like mayonnaise, but this, too, turned out to be a farce.[...].As it turned out, it was coleslaw, the way it is typically prepared (read: scooped from bucket of mysterious origin and packing date), that I loathed."  I feel exactly the same way!  It's like we're slaw twins.

3. This dress by Seth Aaron Henderson for the season finale of Project Runway.  When I saw this dress come down the runway, I literally gasped.  I think I also might have yelled, "Stop it!  You're killing me!"  He took gingham (gingham, of all things!) and made it look edgy.  I would love to find a way to make something for myself inspired by this dress.  It's chic, fun, sexy, and doesn't look a bit like a tablecloth. 

2. Images of the "deadliest place in the solar system."  Go here to see more images sent back to earth from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory.  They're jaw-droppingly scary and undeniably gorgeous.  Make sure you watch the video for some hot solar prominence action!

1. Amy Polcyn's Marigold Sweater from the Summer 2010 issue of Interweave Knits.  As soon as I turned the page and saw this, I knew I was in trouble.  Helloooo, this whole outfit is screaming my name, right?  The shape of the sweater, the shirtdress, the headband, the colors...I'm a goner.  Time to rearrange the project queue yet again.  Sweater?  Yes.  Shirtdress?  Yup.  Oh, and sometime soon I need to tell you about the first time I ever made a shirtdress.  It's an epic tale involving Grace Kelly, Chattanooga, and hot dogs.  Stay tuned!

Shopping for banned books and more in Asheville

September 26-October 3 is Banned Books Week, a "national celebration of the freedom to read."  Libraries and book stores around the country are holding events this week to raise awareness of the fact that each year, individuals and groups attempt to have hundreds of books removed from schools and libraries.

According to the American Library Association, the most frequently challenged "classic" book in America is The Great Gatsby.  With this in mind, I bought a copy of it while I was in Asheville.  I've read it before, but did not own my own copy.  I got this one at Downtown Books & News, a great used book store on North Lexington.

Celebrate Banned Books Week by buying a frequently challenged book at your favorite local book store.  Share your favorite challenged books with young readers!  Check out this link for more ideas on fighting censorship in your community.

While I'm giving a shout-out to Downtown Books & News, I'd also like to mention some other businesses I recommend in downtown Asheville:

Beads and Beyond - gorgeous gemstones and lots more, in the cute little Wall Street neighborhood.

Chevron Trading Post & Bead Co. - also on N. Lexington, this bead shop had (among other things) probably the best selection of seed beads I've ever seen outside of a catalog.  They also had a comfy couch by a fireplace, great music playing, and a big, fat, friendly cat.  I did not want to leave!

Earth Guild - For the more esoteric crafts, this store on Haywood has lots of supplies that are hard to find anywhere else.  Spinning, candlemaking, basketry, rugmaking...just to name a few.  I bought some wool dye there.

Flying Frog Cafe - It's a fine dining establishment downstairs, but upstairs (where we ate) the Flying Frog Bar serves drinks and lighter meals.  It's on Battery Park Ave. and has a very eclectic menu.  The food was delicious and they made a really good mimosa (at dinner--how decadent!).

Malaprops - If you don't want to buy your books used from DB & N, buy them new at Malaprops!  A great little store on Haywood, just up the hill from Earth Guild, they also have a cafe.

Support small businesses at home and when you travel!

Don't you forget about him

And so it seems we've lost another icon of my youth.  Director John Hughes died yesterday.  He was only 59 years old.

For those of us who came of age in the 1980s, it's hard to imagine our teen years without the work of John Hughes.  Although he was closer to our parents' ages than ours, he completely "got" what it was like to be a teen in the 80s.  Brains, athletes, basket cases, princesses, criminals...somehow he understood us all.  And he gave us credit for being more complicated than most adults did. 

Were his movies always realistic?  Would Jake Ryan really have showed up in his Porsche to whisk Samantha Baker off for a romantic birthday cake?  Maybe not.  But these movies were hilarious without being condescending, sensitive without being sappy, and hopeful without being schlocky.  That's no mean feat, especially when your target audience consists of hard-to-impress adolescents.

For people my age--and those who came up behind us--John Hughes movies became part of the fabric of our lives.  I think I've probably quoted his movies at least once a day for the past 25 years.  His words are just part of our vocabulary.  "Bueller?  Bueller?"  "What's happenin', hot stuff?"  "Screws fall out all the time.  The world's an imperfect place."  I could go on and on. 

Hughes movies also had great soundtracks.  As a teen in a midwestern small town/suburb of a city that wasn't exactly a cultural center, these movies introduced me to bands like The Smiths, New Order, Jesus and Mary Chain, and the Psychedelic Furs--bands that got zero airplay where I was.

Farewell, John Hughes, and thank you.  Those of us who continue to cherish your movies would do well to remember the wise words of the great Ferris Bueller: "Life moves pretty fast.  If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you might miss it."

Michael Jackson memories

Playing my parents' vinyl copy of the Jackson 5's Greatest Hits on the console stereo...

Doing the Hustle to "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough" in fifth grade music class...

Hearing "Beat It" for the first time at my first junior high dance...

Watching the "Thriller" video with my brother in our wood-panelled basement...

Listening to "Bad" in a convenience store during a late-night college munchie run...

Dancing to "Billie Jean" in a disco in Mexico...

Hearing the news of MJ's death on the radio while riding in a car with Adverb on the way to a play on a hot summer night.

Earth Hour

On Saturday night, March 28, millions of people turned out their lights for one hour (from 8:30-9:30 pm, in each time zone) in observance of Earth Hour.

Was this effort enough to save any significant amount of energy around the globe?  Hard to say.  Somehow I doubt it.  Has it raised any awareness about the human role in climate change?  Again, it's hard to tell.  But hopefully it will serve as a gentle reminder that we could all get by just fine on less than we currently consume.

I'm a big believer in not being wasteful.  Turn off the lights when you leave a room, don't throw things in the trash that could be re-used or recycled or composted, and so on.  Plus, I just plain like candlelight!  So Earth Hour was no hardship for us here at Boogaloo Acres.  We drank coffee and played cards, and when the hour was up, we weren't in a big hurry to turn the lights back on.  Along with the sound of the rain outside, it was all quite a cozy scene.

The only thing that suffered during Earth Hour was my photography, apparently.  The evening really wasn't this blurry.

The Big Tease at Eyedrum

Blog entries are getting back-logged here.  I need to catch up.

A huge crowd packed into Eyedrum last Saturday for The Big Tease, a burlesque event to benefit Twinhead Theatre.  I've never seen Eyedrum so full.  I brought my camera, but frankly was too busy trying not to get squished to take any photos.  Besides, part of my view was blocked by a load-bearing pole (and no, that's not a stripping-related euphemism).  Someone else has posted some nice shots of the show here.

Events like this always get my wheels turning.  On one hand, I'm definitely attracted to the glamorous costumes, the artistry of the dance, and yes, the nudity.  Women in a range of shapes, sizes, and skin tones can truly celebrate the beauty and variety of the female body, as can their audiences, and that's fabulous.  Neo-burlesque offers independent performers a chance to strut their stuff,  because they're not subjected to the narrow beauty standards typical of run-of-the-mill stripping venues.

On the other hand, there's something self-consciously ironic in both the performing and the watching that makes the whole burlesque experience seem a bit detached, like a performance of a performance.  It's definitely complicated.  Where is that line between celebrating and objectifying?  Between empowering and co-opting?  Is burlesque just a bourgeois version of stripping--a raunchy pastime without the raunch?  Or is it a way of pointing out that sex should not be considered raunchy in the first place?  Is the point that today's culture is so permeated with sex that even the average woman has to sleaze herself up?  Or is it that the average woman always has a sleazy side living inside her, and it's become more acceptable to let it out?  Does burlesque perpetuate the virgin/whore dichotomy, or break it down?

Maybe it all comes down to the issue of need and luxury.  It's like those of us who enjoy making our own clothes.  Because it's a hobby, a creative outlet, we have the luxury of enjoying the aesthetics of it, the sensual aspects of it.  No doubt we would feel differently if we had to make our own garments because that was the only way to clothe ourselves.  Likewise, if the performers of the neo-burlesque culture had to take their clothes off to make a living, their aesthetic and sensual experience of it would certainly be different.  When you get right down to it, this might be the most interesting idea of all--the things people choose to do when they have plenty of other options.