I'm excited that the New England Revolution have made it past Chicago in the Major League Soccer's Eastern Conference semifinals.
It came down to the wire. Chicago won the first game (in Chicago) 1-0. Game 2's official time ended with the Revs leading 2-1, but tied in aggregate goals for the series 2-2. There were fantastic goals by Taylor Twellman and Pat Noonan. After a scoreless overtime, it came down to penalty kicks. Among New England's successful kicks the goalie, Matt Reis managed to get one in, and the clincher came from Taylor Twellman in a picture-perfect moment at Foxboro as the Revs won on the penalty kicks 4-2.
Nice. For yet another year, the Revs move on to the Eastern Conference championship. I'm glad we have a soccer team of this calibre in New England.
Unfortunately for me, I wasn't able to attend this game. Which sucks because all the games (Eastern Conference Championship, possible MLS Cup) left are away. All this due to lack of a car (you try and help out the planet, and for what?) and the unexpected crapping out of the tailgating crew.
Aside from the whining:
the Eastern Conference championship between the Revs and DC United will be Sunday, November 5. 4pm on ESPN2. I'll be watching.
Currently I'm dealing with my first semester at Tufts Urban and Environmental Planning and Policy Program (which is UEP, and not UEPP, so stop giggling you skoolkids) (oh wait, that was just me).
It's a lot of work. I'm not such a good student. It's a good thing I managed to acquire a brain somewhere. It helps a little. but.
Why did I never learn how to budget time? Write a paper with enough time to edit and review? Learn how to search databases properly? If anyone knows the answer, please tell me. I'm so disorganized, I would call it an Obsessive Disorganized Disorder (ODD). I think I would crack if things actually went smoothly.
(By the way, if yr having some serious life problems, which I do also deal with [just not here], this is not the post for you. This is the post that people like you wanna kill people like me for writing. Wah.)
What makes things easier? In the little time between reading (I can't fool myself into thinking I can listen to music while studying)?
Listening to Fuzzbox's "Love is the Slug" repeatedly. important.
Discovering a lost song and video from around when i was 10. Christopher Williams "I talk to myself". Classic New Jack Swing, so much so you'll swear your listening to Bobby Brown's "My Prerogative". See for yourself:
Christopher Williams - "I Talk to Myself":
Bobby Brown - "My Prerogative"
Its kinda messed up that "I talk to myself" was a big song for me when i was 10 (11?). I was realizing that my future was going to be one of antisocialness. Thanks to 7th grade and up, I was right. I identified with the isolation that I was forced into. It would be cooler if it was Joy Division or something that got me into that mode of thinking, or at least if i was some nihilist into hardcore or something. but no. Christopher Williams.
Just look at how he sneers at the TVs when he's talking to himself. Or when he says "People think I'm crazy, they say i'm strange, cuz my attitude has taken a change, but it really doesn't matter, i really don't care, cuz all of them can GO TO HELL!"
ahhh.
i had a dream involving the rapper at the end. i was in some sort of gigantic college in the middle of mountains in the desert. and i was rounded up with a bunch of people to hear this guy give us some tough "scared straight" talk. but it devolved into incoherent ramblings and something "no one callin me on the phone" much in the same way the rapper does. that rapper is probably dead. or sad.
speaking of, and i hate s*it like this, but apparently there was a rumour that Christopher Williams died in 2005. He had to come out and tell people it wasn't true. That just sucks. That's when people wanna know what's up with you? When they think you're dead?
In the neverending task of finding out what happened to my childhood, I found a key piece that was stored in the back of my mind. From a childhood that consisted of waking up Saturday mornings at 5am to catch all the cartoons I could want. But those bastards stuck PSAs into my brain:
Zack of All Trades - "Future Blob"
What bugs me is that (among so many things) is that even after Zack turns the Future Blob into a sewing machine (ugh) it TURNS BACK INTO THE FUTURE BLOB! Even tho he turns it back into a sewing machine, how does this girl know it won't happen again? Ah well. Its funny that so many of us are still running from the Future Blob. "I am the Blob, the Future Blob!"
But lets get out of the negative. As a treat, and because my life is nothing but an embedded YouTube video, here is an essential part of my life. 1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11-12 !
Sesame Street pinball countdown compendium
They've just released old school Sesame Street as "Sesame Street: Old School" http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/reviews/dvd/sesame_old_school_1.shtml
There is also a documentary out now called "The World According to Sesame Street" that focuses on Sesame Workshop developing co-productions in places like Kosovo, South Africa, and Bangladesh. It raises some interesting questions about cultural sovereignty, teaching tolerance, reaching children, and also just how do you manage to wrangle international production teams to make it all happen? Its all interesting to me how they sort of export this model of production. There are moral issues, but I can deal with Sesame Street rather than Nike exporting globalization models. http://www.participantproductions.com/films/Coming+soon+on+DVD/63/TheWorldAccordingtoSesameStreet
Check out the Electric Company as well. I think that's where a lot of animated segments from Sesame Street came from. http://www.muppetcentral.com/articles/reviews/dvd/electric_company.shtml
i was perusing Stylus Magazine's top videos list when i came upon images of lace, hairspray, crazy colored hair and layers of clashing clothes. an 80s video.
I learnt to dance in the indie clubs of Birmingham, and the main thing I learnt was this: don’t dance like nobody’s watching. Dance like everybody’s watching and you are, in fact, really good at dancing. The best way to do this is to make up a dance routine all of your very own for each individual song, including moves pertaining to the lyrics wherever possible. The video for “Love Is the Slug” takes this noble concept and bases an entire video around it, and films it in An Actual Indie Club In Birmingham In The Late 1980’s, resplendent with craply mirrored walls, a drunk guy who either isn’t with anyone or is with some people who have long since dissociated themselves from him, and first-hand evidence of what happens when you take STUDIO LINE hairspray and six-inch heels out of the hands of trained professionals. The high point: probably the bit where Fuzzbox illustrate “I feel emotion, I feel pain” by stumbling backward into a wall and going “Ow.” [William B. Swygart]
"
i thought this sounded great, i love the aspect of the 80s informed by both a sort of DIY and a love of pop.
Here is the video for "Love is the Slug":
"Love is the Slug" is an excellent song. the harmonies traded by Vickie Perks and Maggie Dunne are stupendous and remind me a little of Sleater-Kinney and the B-52s. In accordance to their name, they also use a fuzzbox and it sounds like the beats are being attacks by some determined hornets. Going back to the harmonies, the lyrics are pretty much from the view of a jilted girl talking about a guy and his new, possibly overpowering new girl. "i feel emotion / i feel pain" sounds ridiculous, but the whole package makes you want to believe. The vocals are super-serious, the dance moves home-grown, the hair super-ridiculous. beautiful.
Then i decided to do a little research.
Their beginnings are similar to the Go-Go's. Four girls decide, regardless of the fact that they don't know how to play anything, that they must be a band. The early days are full of the craziness of a indie/punk scene-inspired eclectic group of friends. they seemed to have fun. (Then on to total pop domination).
They had a run in the indie scene, had some great singles in the same fashion. (Fantastich videos for "Rules and Regulations" and "What's the Point" are at the bottom of this post). Their sense of humor had them name their first album "Bostin' Steve Austin". All of this around 1986.
But then they signed to a major and the producer of the Bangles and in 1989 released "Big Bang". It was a super slick dance pop record. The flip side to the 80s dancepop sound. one could say its devoid of anything real. you may not be completely wrong. in this period, its been alleged that the girls did not play their instruments. one thing thats clear is the DIY and edge are gone.
The vocal interplay and replaced by more traditional backup vocals. Vicki is put up front and apparently given a makeover into a sex symbol.
You can judge for yourself here with the video for "International Rescue", which plays tribute to the Thunderbirds show and Barbarella.
International Rescue:
I find it a little embarassing that Jo Dunne (guitar) and Tina O'Neill (drums) are relegated to being the Thunderbirds marionettes and Vickie is all super-sexy up front.
The song is catchy as hell though, as corny as it is.
So I've come away from the experience with two songs constantly stuck in my head.
After that album, they broke up. Vickie tried a solo career as Vix, which i believe is still going on. and she's still rather fit. Here's her site: http://www.vix.uk.com/
and it was rumored that they may reunite after the recent release of a horrendously named Fuzzbox cd/dvd compilation called "Look at the Hits on That!" Vix has recently said "no".
Still, i'm glad i found out about this Fuzzbox. I had those moments of staying up late so i could hear a song (Love is the Slug or International Rescue) one more time.
a review.
early = "What's the Point"
late = "Self"
an really early punky one = "Rules and Regulations"
You can also check out this video they did with their (indie label) Vindaloo labelmates The Nightingales and Ted Chippington in this song "Rockin with Rita (Head to Toe)". Its like everything BBC 6 tells me that the indie scene in England was like. Fuzzbox does backing vocals and clown around.
Rockin with Rita:
In "Big Bang" they also cover a Yoko Ono song, which i thought was an odd choice with the slick direction, but perhaps they kept a little of their edge somewhere:
They attempted some sort of nostalgia comeback a few years ago..
i heart.
a fan myspace site: http://www.myspace.com/fuzzboxsex
