Tommy Tutone photo pic

Griff says; All aboard the 8-bit data bus

Now, I'm hoping you'll indulge me tonight as, first of all, I want to talk a bit about non-musical art of a most unusual nature. Stick with me though and you'll be pleasantly surprised (and there's some good free music at the end).
My good friend, The Big Chap, is something of a video-gamer and it was he who first introduced the concept of video games as an art-form to me. Initially, I was sceptical, not being fully immersed in that culture I hadn't realised just how much the boundaries had been pushed over the last few years. However, by careful exposure, on his part, to some beautifully crafted and philosphically-rich games I slowly began to realise that video games had developed from the simple 'shooting at badly-rendered alien craft' view that I had formed into something altogether more intellectually satisfying. The clincher, however, probably came a couple of years ago when he and I attended a concert of the entire Royal Scottish National Orchestra providing live on-stage accompaniment to screened video games at the Royal Concert Hall in Glasgow. I've never mentioned this on the blog before, but I'm a huge fan of live orchestras and this particular night was excellent, musically and visually. Shortly after this The Culture Show ran a piece on video games as 'art' and I was able to nod along sagely, claiming that; "Yeah, I've always said that."

Anyway, tonight's artist was a recommendation from The Big Chap and I liked it so much I wanted to share it on The Streetlamp. The artist is Emily Carmichael from New York, USA. A graduate of Harvard University, Emily earned her B.A. with honours in Painting and Literature and continues to distinguish herself as an artist, playwright, and theatre director. In 2006, she entered the MFA film program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts and in the past two years has written and directed five narrative short films and an animated short in addition to two short documentaries. In 2008, she founded Kid Can Drive, an independent company committed to the production of creative content across media platforms. It is one of the Kid Can Drive projects that I want to bring to your attention tonight, namely, The Adventures of Ledo and Ix.

The Adventures of Ledo and Ix is a series of animated short films that uses the visual vocabulary of retro video games to explore the human fear of both the unknown and the known. The genius of the concept is that Ledo and Ix are 8-bit fantasy adventurers in the style of the early NES-type video games familiar to so many. However, Ledo and Ix display sentience and a measure of free-will, unlike the automaton-like behaviour of the stock characters they encounter, and after each episodic adventure they muse, wonder, dream and despair. Here's the trailer, for a taste of what to expect:



The Kid Can Drive website describes The Adventures of Ledo and Ix as "a sort of eight-bit tribute to Waiting for Godot", and that, whilst undoubtedly a bold claim to make, is a perfect description. The 8 episodes so far released can all be seen on Penny Arcade TV and I strongly urge you to check it out. I guarantee that you will find yourself thrown into a state of empathy with, and worry for the future of, Ix; who with his winning combination of innocence and growing unease is all humanity reduced to an 8-bit figure. This is a truly wonderful piece of art, please do have a look and let me know what you think.

Now, for some nicely themed music (and some more visual art, now that I've got you in the mood). Firstly, Raquel Meyers is a Spanish video artist, often using low-res graphics to create surreal imagery and eerie atmospheres. She has made video clips and VJ sets for many of the more prominent 8-bit musicians (Glomag, Bubblyfish, Goto80) and also worked with indie, electro and noise acts. Meyers has also worked with print design, installations, and websites. She is perhaps one of the more consistent pixel artists, although she is currently exploring other expressions to create confusion and delight. Check out her website 'here' for more madness. Tonight, I'd like to feature one of her amazing 8-bit videos. This is Dos Policías by Spanish indie-poppers Los Punsetes:



Excellent!You'll be pleased to learn that Los Punsetes have several free MP3s available for download on their last.fm page.

Next up is a video by twee, and sweet as candy-floss, Japanese chiptune exponents YMCK. This is J-pop done using the sound chip technology of early computer and video consoles. I find it rather charming. This is their version of La La is Love, a song originally by Thai experimental-pop musician June Somsiri Sangkaew, recording as Bear-Garden:



If you liked that, you can find download links to the entire YMCK back catalogue 'here'.

Finally, director Aaron Novak took the Dealership song, Forest, which the band contrived as a paean to the Nintendo game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and has crafted for it a video of 8-bit inspired fun. The video is a loving homage to early Nintendo game design. It even uses the screen resolution and colour palette of the old NES system. Have a look, and listen, below:



Great song, too. The MP3 of Forest can be freely downloaded on the Dealership website.


Hope that was fun (and thought-provoking too)!

Griff
xx

Swan Queen

Right, so I should probably tell you who won the “Black Swan” Blu-ray. Contests are always fun until I have to do the actual work of contest administering. But enough with the suspense; I promised prizes. And the winner, thanks to my friend the random number generator thingie, is … drum roll … Amanda aka jazzytrumpet[at]gmail.com. Honest to blog, the random thingie doesn’t lie. Please email me to collect your winnings, Amanda.

For everyone else, thank you for entering and thank you even more for your ridiculously kind words about my blogiversary. I should make you guys tell me how long you’ve been hanging around here more often. Makes it feel like old-home week or something. Actually, that so many of you have been around for so long makes me feel almost bashful. Like, you know so much about me yet I know so little about you. What’s your favorite color? How do you take your coffee? Who was the first pershttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifon to call you beautiful who wasn’t a family member? I’ll start. Blue, but it used to be red. Black, with one sugar. Pam, but that’s another story for another day.

While we’re in a sharing mood, I’ve been wondering if there’s anything more you’d like from me. Yes, I know – a picture. But that’s just not going to happen until certain pre-determined conditions occur. (Your move, Jodie.) Plus, you’ve already seen plenty of my thumb. And that’s probably my fifth best feature anyway. But I mean more like topics, interactions, community atmosphere. I’ve long had an insanely strict policy about not replying in comments. This is partially due to my lack of time, but also because I believe it’s your space and not mine. I get the whole top of the post to pontificate. But if you feel that’s something you’d really, really like to see, I’ll consider it.

I’ve noticed that while traffic has about remained the same there’s been a slow down on comments the last couple of weeks, which happens. I’ve been doing this for long enough to see the ebbs and flows. Or perhaps you’ve all got finals right now or – you know – full and complete lives outside of the internet. But I’m always open to suggestion to make things more interactive. The not-so-secret secret about us online writer types is that comments are to bloggers as applause is to Tinkerbell. Fine, we don’t need them to live exactly. But they sure help us feel like we exist.

Oh, and speaking of existential crises, just in case you’re still feeling blue about not having won the “Black Swan” Blu-ray, you can still enjoy some of the mindfuckery here. I share because I care. There, now doesn’t everyone feel like a winner?

Wedding Stuff in Power Rangers

MMPR
How could I forget Rita and Zedd's wedding?

Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie
Divatox's big evil plot was to marry Maligore.

Lost Galaxy
Kai had a crush on a girl that he thought she had a groom but she was just a bridesmaid.

Lightspeed
Joela dn Angela were married and said to be returning from their honeymoon in PRTF.

Time Force
Alex and Jen were engaged and Jen saw a wedding in one ep but they never did marry, she broke up the engagement.

Wild Force
Wedding Dress Org turned brides and women into mannequins in "Three's A Crowd."

RPM
Summer almost got married in "Ranger Yellow Part 2."

Samurai
Jayden and Mia pretend to get married to stop a plot by Dayu. Emily also dressed as a bride.

Weddings or Marriage Discussion in Sentai

In order of the wedding of Kate and William, I was gonna do this post but I ended up busy. But here it is, wedding themed episodes or episodes featuring a wedding dress or some sort of wedding discussion. I might have forgotten some of these, please add them at the comments.

Jetman
Red and White got married at the end of the series.

Gaoranger
In a Gaoranger episode, wedding dress monster attacked brides and Gao Black dressed as a bride.

Hurricanger
Nanami and Yosuke help a man get an engagement ring to his lady love in Episode 13.

Magiranger
In 15, Green thought that his sister wanted to get married, she had the dress and everything, but ultimately it was a modeling shoot with her 'boyfriend.'

Ultimately Urara and Hikaru married at the end of Magiranger. Kai's lady love was hypnotized to marry a monster named Glum in the movie.

Gekiranger
In Epsiode 37, Ran's mom arrived to show Ran potential husbands but no actual marriage or wedding was done.

Go-Onger
In Episode 6, Sosuke mistakenly thought Saki was thinking of marriage.

Shinkenger
Even though Mako always thought of being a bride, Episode 8 was mainly about brides. Mako and Ryunousuke dressed as Brides.

That blessed arrangement

I’ll admit it. I like weddings. I like the idea of standing up in front of the people who matter most in your life and pledging a lifetime of love and commitment to one person. I’m a not-so-secret sap in that way. I also like the open bar and inevitable vat of meatballs in the buffet.

I’m somewhat more ambivalent about having a wedding myself. I’m not diametrically opposed to marriage, and I am absolutely adamant that we should have the legal right to get married. But I’m just not sure if I’ll ever do it myself. I came from a two-parent home where my mom and dad were happily married until the day he died six years ago. So it’s not like I am wary of the institution. I was just never the kid who dreamed about her wedding day. And you know I wasn’t dreaming about the big white dress. (White suit? Maybe.)

But liking weddings and wanting to get married are kind of different things, if you really think about it. Which is why I also like wedding scenes. And movies and TV are really good at wedding scenes. Like, really good. So I’m pretty excited about seeing the Callie and Arizona wedding this Thursday on “Grey’s Anatomy.” I’m excited on a number of levels. One, I like them as a couple (even if I don’t really like their show). Two, I already know they look beautiful in their dresses (seriously, get a load of those dresses – spoilers).

But more importantly, lesbian weddings don’t happen every day on TV. “The Simpsons,” when gay marriage became a Springfield industry. “All My Children,” I think – I don’t watch soaps. And that episode of “Friends” with the crazy hats. So, yeah, we’re due.

It matters seeing our lives reflected back to us with the full range of possibilities. Married, dating. Parents, single. Just like everyone else, we deserve the choices. Too often we’re just background decoration or token friend. Even if I may not necessarily dream about walking down the aisle, some little girl somewhere does. She deserves to see a beautiful bride look over at her beautiful bride on primetime television. So bring on the happily ever after for a change – especially since that ever after won’t be the end of the story.

And, if there’s anything I learned from accidentally staying up and watching the entire royal wedding last week, it’s that as happy as you are for the happy couple, there’s always the possibility that a Hot Sister will show up out of the blue and make you even happier. Like I said, I like weddings – a lot.

Where Are You? Let's Be 'Avin' You!!

~Failing to get in touch with our Feminine side~

It seems sadly ironic that in a week where we lost a truly inspirational and confrontational female spirit in Poly Styrene, we should also pay witness to the rise of Kate Middleton whose anorexic body image and ludicrous, farcical, fictional life-goal, i.e. marrying a Prince, could not send out a more risible and belittling message to young British women.
So with that in mind, I felt it only right that we should address the issue of the lack of positive role models for young women within music or indeed culture itself these days, and ask 'Where have all the strong feminist Pop/Rock icons gone?"

Looking back at the ghastly, sexist, misogynist 1970s, it seems only right that, from the original explosion of Punk, strong independent women would arise who simply weren't going to take any of the bullshit dished out by the media, the advertisers and the entertainment industry any more. Women like Poly, Ari Up, Siouxsie Sioux and Pauline Murray (from Penetration) were too much for some to handle, tackling the male dominated media without having to 'glam-up' to do so.
But if Punk gave Women a head start, it was Post-Punk where we would find true Feminist ideals again, not sugar-coated in a layer of tawdry make-up, but drenched in anger, vitriol, piss and vinegar!

The Post-Punk era gave us some of Feminist-Pop's greatest voices; from Lesley Woods of Griff's beloved Au Pairs, Julz Sale of The Delta 5, Eve Libertine and Joy De Vivre from Crass, Honey Bane from The Fatal Microbes, Vi Subversa of the Poison Girls, Zillah from Rubella Ballet, Annie Anxiety, and of course Linder Sterling from Ludus who, it should be noted, was wearing dresses comprised of rotten meat and chicken heads before Lady Gaga was even born, and for far more salient reasons.



You could also throw into the mix Punk singers like Beki Bondage (of Vice Squad) and George Cheex (from Action Pact) as examples of strong female singers not pandering to the Boys Own mentality that hung around rock music like the stink of the Rolling Stones dressing room.

The 1980s, that horrid Me-Generation of Big Hair, False Smiles and Yuppies, gave us precious little as the original Punk and Post Punk bands faded. There was Alison Statton of Young Marble Giants and Weekend, and Jayne Casey of Pink Military/Pink Industry (and allegedly once Morrissey's fiancee....no, seriously!), and of course there was Kim Gordon (of Sonic Youth) over in the US.


But it would be in the cultural wasteland that we now call the 1990s that Radical Feminist ideologies would arise. Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the world of Riot Grrrl!



Sure, the Riot Grrrl movement was sadly under-represented in the UK, but what we had was more than enough. The mighty Huggy Bear genuinely frightened people, for the first time since the Punks had crept on to Top Of The Pops. Some more right-wing music papers simply didn't even cover them, many buried their heads in the sand and tried to assure it was Grunge and Brit-Pop that we wanted. Oh no it wasn't!

The Revolution Will Not Be Televised they tell us, but on dreadful Scum-athon TV show 'The Word' we saw the nearest thing to it as Huggy Bear ran through 'Her Jazz' to a befuddled and bewildered audience. It was almost TOO good, it was almost TOO powerful. Things reached an apogee when, after a sleazily sexist article, a member of the Huggy Bear entourage jumped from the crowd and slapped host Terry Christian's smug face. If you see the clip, watch as a startled Christian lashes out with his foot to try and kick her.
(Sadly the video clip has now been removed from Youtube!!)

Huggy Bear were GENUINELY exciting in an era of bland faceless mediocrity, but apart from friends Blood Sausage, the Riot Grrrl movement didn't have much of a voice over here.
In America, however, Riot Grrrl became a phenomenon with bands like Bikini Kill, Heavens To Betsy, Bratmobile, Slant 6, Babes In Toyland, Cheesecake, Excuse 17 and Team Dresch to name but a few.

Some of my friends (though not Griff and Ray, I should point out) HATED the whole Riot Grrrl thing, but we loved it. In an era before the Internet, the whole cut-and-paste, fanzine culture, DIY ethic coupled with some of the spikiest, most scattershot music imaginable was a pure and honest thrill at a time of utter complacency.




The decade would end with the Spice Girls proclaiming 'Girl Power'.....but that was a decidedly Thatcherite brand of so-called 'Girl Power' and should be swept away into the nearest litter bin.

The 2000s saw ex-members of now defunct Riot Grrrl bands continue the cause; Kathleen Hannah of Bikini Kill now made music as Le Tigre and Julie Ruin, while members of Excuse 17 and Heavens To Betsy became Sleater-Kinney, and Kat Bjelland of Babes In Toyland continued as Katastrophy Wife.
Britain, however, became rather barren on the Feminist Pop front, sadly.


(Sleater-Kinney above)

The rise of dreadful TV Talent Shows and Reality TV guaranteeing microcelebrity has once again brainwashed the masses. Why make a splash and rock the boat when you can make yourself financially safe for a few minutes of televisual ridicule. It's horrific.
The ideal British Woman now seems to be a grotesque hybrid of Katie Price and Kate Middleton; a pornographicised caricature with no life goals other than sitting around on their pampered arses, unaware of the dangers of their own objectification. Piffle and Poppycock my friends!
Yesterday the three of us ~Streetlampers~ found ourselves questioning where the new Feminist Pop/Rock icons were. Lady Gaga? Katie Perry?? Madonna??? Do us a favour!! Face it, Madonna may be held up as some Feminist icon but this is a woman who promoted and created objectified pornography. Yeah, right on Sister!
Sadly we couldn't come up with too many of our own; Shrag and Vile Vile Creatures were about it, although there is a Manchester band called (hooker) who I'm very fond of and who do seem to be blazing a Feminist trail....but that's it!
Unless, of course, you can tell us differently!



That is the whole point of this Blog. Away from our usual smug, we-know-everything twattery, we hope we are proven wrong here. We really hope that readers will get in touch and tell us of some Radical Feminist bands that we are unaware of. Hell, we even hope some of the said bands will get in touch so we can write about them and enjoy their music.
Please prove us wrong, Friends!

The buck stops with you!

~Gordon~