Shutting Down My Life

That's what packing up to move feels like. The actual move takes a few hours (at least that's my hope), but replanting your life after uprooting it takes weeks, even months. Moving day is tomorrow and every time I think about it, my stomach churns violently.

Anyway, as a result, I'm probably going to be offline for the next week or so. At least then I'll have an excuse for not blogging.

My latest article on Consequence of Sound is really just an excuse to gush about one of my all-time favorite albums, The Roots' Things Fall Apart.

The Hatred of Moving

It is strong. It is constant. I'd been stalling on starting to pack, because I wanted to delay for as long as I could the act of turning my house into a war zone. But that's kind of what has to happen when moving. So I bit the bullet and got packing in earnest yesterday and today. It's flippin' exhausting, but whatever. It must be done, and there's no packing fairy who's going to come do it for me. I think after every move, I've blocked how difficult it is to uproot my existence from one place and move it to another. Well, I'm remembering now.

Writing Project and More

My latest articles for Consequence of Sound are up. You can read my review of the Garden State soundtrack here as well as my snarky take on Michael Jackson's "Liberian Girl" video.

I have been remiss in blogging over the last week because I've begun preparing for my move at the end of the month. For a while, I had been in denial that it was actually happening. No, that's not exactly true. I wasn't in denial that the move was happening; it was more a refusal to accept that I alone would be doing the packing. But in the last week, I've had to buckle down (which has meant packing a total of maybe 6 boxes - but it's better than nothing).

In other news, my dear friend and fellow blogger, GardeningJo have decided to try a co-writing project. I'd love to describe what that entails, but si nce we ourselves don't yet know, that would be a bit difficult.

Happy Wednesday, y'all!

On Susan Boyle's Makeover

Cuz God forbid the woman walk around the world looking like she always has. UGH, right? After being deemed to ugly to sing well and debunking that bullshit assumption, she was deemed to ugly to be in the entertainment business. So, for the feature on her in Harper's, she's been made over to be made palatable to the rest of the world. Just in case we needed further reminders that being yourself isn't enough, that you must outsource your beauty and self-worth in order to be deemed acceptable. And we need such reminders, don't we? After all, it's not like we're not inundated with them every. fucking. day. I mean, if we're not reminded that we were all born ugly and need a stylist and a trainer and a nutritionist to make us look good, we might actually cultivate self-esteem for more than 5 fucking minutes.

[/sarcastic rant over]

Last Word on The Raveonettes

My review of their Saturday night show at the Empty Bottle.

The Raveonettes at the Empty Bottle

As I mentioned in my Lollapalooza post below, I had the chance to see Denmark's Phil Spector-meets-Velvet-Underground group, The Raveonettes both at Lollapalooza and at the Empty Bottle, a local Chicago club. I preferred the gig at Empty Bottle because it was more intimate. Here they are doing "Attack of the Ghost Riders" from 2002's Whip It On EP.

Lollapalooza 2009: A Big Ass Mess of Fucking People

That's a direct quote from a festivalgoer, and trust me when I say it was no exaggeration. The first three pictures tell the whole story: a sweaty, dusty sea of humanity and scorching heat. In the midst of a summer that hasn't felt like summer, Mother Nature decided to save the two hottest days of the year for the Saturday and Sunday of this year's Lollapalooza festival. It's probably a good thing that I didn't know there was a heat advisory in effect for most of the day. That certainly wouldn't have helped my heat coma or my dehydration headache. It was one of those sticky hot days where everything that blows on you stays on you - all day long. About 4 hours into the festivities, I started dreaming about when I'd be able to take a shower.

That said, my friends and I still had fun. The best part of the day for me was seeing Danish rockers The Raveonettes at the PlayStation stage. They rocked as hard as they had the night before at the Empty Bottle. I managed to get a couple of photos (#3 and #4 below).

Inexplicably, it began to get windy and cool in the interval between Snoop Dogg's set and The Killers' show-closing performance (The crowd for Snoop Dogg and The Killers was INSANE. I don't remember it being as crowded last year for Kanye West's performance - and he's a native Chicagoan.) The sun was replaced by dark clouds and I felt a couple of rain drops. Though I would have welcomed some rain, my cloth bag and blanket would not. In any event, the rain never materialized and I ended up leaving half an hour into The Killers' performance. Not that it wasn't good, but by that point, my heat headache was overpowering.

Anyhoo, if you want more in depth info on this year's Lolla, check out Consequence of Sound, which had great Lolla coverage all weekend along.

The Pre-Move Purge Has Begun

This morning, I started going through some of my stuff in preparation for my move at the end of the month. I hate moving. I hate going through the stuff I put away so I wouldn't have to deal with it. It takes hours and always exhausts me. I only got through two shelves in one closet and started packing some books. That exercise yielded THREE bags of garbage. After taking those bags down, I was too tired to go on-lol. This is gonna be a pain in the ass.

I hate moving.

Album Review

Hey all. Here's my latest article - an album review - for Consequence of Sound. Enjoy!

Good Hair?

Below is the trailer for Chris Rock's documentary Good Hair. The film purports to take a comedic look at black women's hair - the perms, the weaves, the angst. I'm simultaneously intrigued by and wary of this film. On the one hand, it'll be interesting to see an issue that affects millions of black women addressed in a film. On the other hand, I'm getting a whiff of more stereotypes being perpetuated in this trailer. "Oooh, let's point and laugh at the women who are obsessed with their hair. Hardy har har." Yes, let's laugh without unpacking the why.

That said, I'm reserving final judgment till I see the movie. Watch the trailer and judge for yourself.

The Latest So-Called National Conversation on Race

Frank Rich says it best in his latest NYT column:

THE comforting thing about each “national conversation on race” is that the “teachable moment” passes before any serious conversation can get going.

The one thing Frank doesn't say in this column and the one thing I keep thinking every time we have one of these "national conversations on race" is that until everyone is ready to have an honest conversation about race, everyone can shut up about it. Until everyone can start the conversation from the premise that structural inequality, institutional racism and skin privilege exist and govern much of what happens in this society, everyone can shut the fuck up about it. Seriously SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP.

Because trying to prove to a disbelieving person that these things exist and exert influence over everyone's lives every. single. day. is like trying to reason with the birthers. It is an exercise in futility and a good way to drive oneself insane.