Think I better prance now

[Image via Prancing Maura]

They’re baaaack! Yes, kittens, the Rizzoli & Isles Subtext Recaps are back. Please express your joy in numbers of Prancing Mauras. I have to say, three weeks after the season finale and I still get a hankering every Monday night for fresh, sizzling Rizzles subtext. But, as your faithful blog monkey, I am here to service your needs. OK, wait, that came out wrong. Or very, very right. Know what I mean? Nudge-nudge, wink-wink. Right, I need to sleep more. Speaking of sleep, it’s a good thing I can’t make fanvids. Because, for serious you guys, if I could I’d never get anything else done ever. Not even sleep. As is, what little sleep I get is being eaten alive by my return to recapping (i.e. those 8 hours of my life I spent obsessing about that single hour of television). But for you, my pretties, it’s a pleasure. Enjoy these (blessedly not made by me, but other more talented and hopefully less sleep deprived people) Rizzles fanvids as an appetizer. And then prance on over to AfterEllen for the main course, the first installment of the Rizzoli & Isles Retro Subtext Recaps.

One Week

Because I get to use the term Barenaked Ladies and Rizzoli & Isles in close proximity.

Everytime We Touch

Because they touch. A lot. A lot a lot.

I’m a Pirate, You’re a Princess

Because Jane is so a pirate for Maura.

Who’s your mamma?

So, I had this wondrously wicked rant planned on ageism in Hollywood. I mentioned the space-time continuum and wormholes and the very fabric of the universe. Heck, I even did a little math. I went all out. But then, well, then I actually did the research on the object of my rage and I had to scrap the whole damn thing. Pity really, I got off quite a ripper.

So, here is what got me so steamed, initially. News came out over the weekend that Olivia Wilde had signed on to play Justin Timberlake’s mother in an upcoming movie. Olivia’s age: 26. Justin’s age: 29. Um, I’m no math whiz but those numbers just don’t pencil out.

I had seen this news tidbit in headlines and in some harrumphy tweets the last few days. Hollywood’s ass-backwards view on aging! She is three years younger than him! What the fuckity fuck!?!

But then those pesky facts got in the way. Because, you see, Olivia is playing Justin’s mom in a futuristic thriller about a society where all aging stops at age 25. So, um, that whole crazy age conundrum where she could never, given the laws of physics and basic math, be his mother thing now actually works. But I still have all this anger? What will I do with it?

Of course, almost any anger at the entertainment industry’s obsession with youth – particularly female youth – is justified. Women are past their prime by 40 while men are still happily headlining into their 60s. And May-December romances are just part of the everyday lexicon. Try to think of five recent adult dramas where the male and female romantic leads were the same age. Or give me one where the woman was older and it wasn’t used as a gimmick. Keep thinking, I’ll go make a sandwich.

While Olivia’s age non-disparity with her supposed son makes sense within the confines of the story, this Oedipal Aging Complex is actually also nothing new. Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft) was only six years older than dear, sweet Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) in “The Graduate.” And Alexander the Great (Colin Farrell) was a year older than his mama Queen Olympias (Angelina Jolie) in “Alexander.”

Though, if you really want to get into the serious math of the situation, Olivia’s newest as-yet-untitled project actually still follows in the same ageist footsteps as always – though on a slightly smaller scale. Now stay with me here: Olivia is three years younger than Justin, who is playing her son. Justin is five years older than Amanda Seyfried, who is playing his girlfriend. And Amanda is seven years younger than Vincent Kartheiser, who is playing her father. So a guy can have a mom that is three years younger than him and a girlfriend who is five years younger, but a gal still needs to have a guy be older than her to play her dad, if only by seven years. Whew, math.

OK, at this point you’ve probably glazed over what with the numbers and the physics and math. But my point, and I do have one, is that even if my meticulous rant didn’t work out in this instance, it wouldn’t kill Hollywood to have the math work out in the ladies favor for a change. Age is just a number, but numbers doesn’t lie. Well, that and everyone loves looking at pictures of Olivia Wilde, right? Right.

Griff says; The woods are lovely, dark and deep

The woods are lovely, dark and deep, indeed. But on this occasion I'm not referring to Robert Frost's 'Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening' (and if you recognised the quote then award yourself 100 lovely 'Streetlamp' intellectual pretension points) but to 'Through the woods, divided', Mellow Dramatic Avenue's sixth album on the Kakadua Partnership label officially released today (October 4th).
Mellow Dramatic Avenue was formed in 1996 in Lund, Southern Sweden and their fine blend of down-tempo, organic, indie-folk/rock is available to hear and to download for free at their own band website and also at last.fm.

'Through the woods, divided' was recorded in the Rönnehill Studio during 2009/2010. The band state that; "The music will lead you right into the woods of heard and unheard stories".

The album features 11 songs, all with a melancholy, Autumnal vibe which makes it perfect listening for a dark, rainy evening's listening (and tonight in Scotland it's very wet and dark indeed). If you like your music slow, reflective and wistful; think Great lake Swimmers, Horse Feathers or Blind Pilot, then this lot should be right up your street.
In honour of the release of 'Through the woods, divided' , Ray has given track 8, 'Now That You're Gone', an appropriately arboreal video treatment.




Hope you liked that as much as we do. Now head over to the band's myspace or last.fm pages to hear the rest of the tracks and to leave the band a shout.


Griff
xx

Make it a better place

Kids can be cruel. This is nothing new. Human can be cruel, period. Bullies have been around since the beginning of time. But that doesn’t mean we have to tolerate them. What has happened in the past month with five high-profile suicides of gay teens is as tragic as it is unacceptable. This must stop. No young person should feel like ending his or her life is the only option. Ever.

The statistics on GLBT youth harassment could not be more stark or sobering:

• 9 out of 10 LGBT kids get harassed at school.
• LGBT kids are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight counterparts.
• A third — A THIRD – of all LGBT kids have attempted suicide.

The suicides of these five young men make me sad beyond words. How can we live in a world where this keeps happening? Thankfully there is a lot of justifiable public outcry right now about bullying. The unfettered harassment of GLBT youth must be addressed in schools across the country. Curriculum must be created, bills must be passed. But this isn’t just a classroom issue. GLBT bullying doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Sure, kids have always picked on other kids they think are “different.” Yet we live in a country that still allows for the wholesale discrimination against GLBT people.

Gays and lesbians are not allowed to legally marry. Gays and lesbians are not allowed to openly serve in the military. Gays and lesbians are not protected from being fired for their sexual orientation across all 50 states. None of these rights and protections exist on a federal level.

So, then, why are we so surprised when teens pick on gay kids? When a government says it is OK to discriminate against gay people, kids think it's OK to hate them. All politics are personal, and nothing is more personal than being treated like a second-class citizen.

So this, this is why Prop. 8, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, etc. all matter so much. While on the surface they may seem like they’re about a single issue — marriage, military service, employment — they’re a gauge of what we as a people believe is important to protect. They’re the legal harbingers of our overall acceptance and, ultimately, full equality.

And they’re also why it is so very important to vote come November. Will the repeal of DADT or Prop. 8 end GLBT bullying overnight? No, of course not. Are they are an important step to creating a culture of tolerance? You'd better fucking believe it.

Whatever disappointments we might have in this administration, in this congress (and, believe me, there are many), think long and hard about the alternative. We’re up against an extreme opposition that hates us. I am so fucking disappointed that President Obama hasn't been more proactive on DADT and Prop. 8 and all the rest. But if you think not voting is a way of showing him, then I hope you enjoy that bullet hole in your own foot. Change comes slowly and painfully and is never perfect. But sitting idly by will ensure it never happens. It won’t make life better for you and me, and it won’t make life easier for the gay teen getting picked on every day at school.

When something like this makes the headlines, we often feel helpless. How can we reach out to these kids? How can we tell them they aren’t alone? How can we encourage them to hold on? Things like the It Gets Better Project are wonderful. Things like The Trevor Project are essential. But we can, and we must, help in other ways, too. That means calling out homophobia when we see it, whether by the teen on the street or the pop starlet on the stage who uses “so gay” as a put down. That means electing people who, at the very least, don’t think we’re an abomination. That means continuing to push our leaders to give us the same basic rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness as everyone else. That means reaching out if you see an LGBT kid struggling.

They say sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. But that simply isn’t true. Words can do as much damage as a fist and, as we’ve sadly seen these last few weeks, sometimes even more. While the bullies of the world, be they in the school hallways or the political pulpit, will continue using words as weapons, we can use them as a shield.

If you need help, feel alone, want someone to talk to, call The Trevor Lifeline toll-free any time of day or night: 866-488-7386.

Believe me when I say this, things do get better. Kids can be cruel, but you are not alone. We are with you. We are doing everything we can to make sure it gets better. We want you to be alongside us when it does.

~Kitten Wine~#20: Clouds Of Tranquility

"A Typical Day At The Streetlamp HQ":

So here's what we did yesterday(2nd October 2010).....

Griff, Ray and I convened at the Streetlamp HQ on a beautiful, if a little wet, Autumnal Saturday with nothing in mind but to listen to some old Sha-La-La and Sarah flexidiscs, some classic Indiepop singles, devise new videos for our Blog, trawl the Internet for new bands to listen to and basically discuss and work on the Blog in general.
Fuelled by the twin drugs of soup and tea we beavered away in a world so irrefutably Tweepop, whilst Jill worked away in the other room scanning images and record sleeves for us. An almost idyllic setting. If we could do it full time, you can bet we wouldn't hesitate to do so.

And so it was that amongst the pile of 7" goodies that we listened to that afternoon, we stumbled upon 'Tranquil' by The Clouds. This is a record that is almost PURE 'Streetlamp', it practically symbolises EVERYTHING that we stand for, represent and love.
It's a 7" single, the only proper release The Clouds ever made(although they did have a track called 'Jenny Nowhere' on a flexidisc but sadly we've never seen or heard it), it's on Subway Records and was recorded in Edinburgh in 1987. It's a vibrant and essential slice of pure Scottish Indiepop, and despite the obscurity of both the band and the single itself, it is very much treasured amongst the Indiepop community....check out Sean Forbes' comments about the single in the booklet that accompanies Rough Trade's Indiepop 1 CD compilation.
Of course, being this was the Streetlamp, we also felt the nostalgic pull back to more innocent days when the single was still a current release and when the world felt like a good place to be a part of and our lives still had a long way to unfold. And in the golden glow of a beautiful Saturday afternoon in October, the giddy wondrous music made us grin madly and forget the shittier things in life like our jobs and the Cameron/Clegg Utopia!

Take it away...




As we sat listening, glowing with contentment, it occurred to me that what motivates us is the very passion with which all of the records we write about are created. And it made me wonder about the people out there who only listen to, say, Level 42, Simply Red, Dire Straits or UB40....bland, turgid music with lyrics bereft of any sentiment or emotion, and I came to the conclusion that the people who listen to this kind of music are probably people who never really feel any true emotions, never really feel anything resembling passion or drama, people for whom music is simply wallpaper. How empty their lives must feel. I know that people tend to slag of trainspotters, stamp collectors or those who go angling, but I can understand that desire much more than I can people who simply use music as a garnish for their dinner parties.

We've never stood for it, and we never will. For us, music is everything and the bands, record labels and individuals that we champion all have that same hunger, desire and madness that we have. The music we write about and promote here is so full of passion, so full of life that it has become a full time job for us to keep banging on about it.

But for once....it's a job that we love!!

~Gordon~

Melanie Iglesias Hot

 

http://lumosuicidegirl.blogspot.com/

Vacation Vixen: Sasha Alexander

Hot, fresh, steaming Rizzoli & Isles Retro Subtext Recaps start up next week at AfterEllen. Until then, just imagine how quickly Jane could get that last button undone.