Jamie’s Brain

You can tell a little tale of your life by figuring out what the most influential band was to you each year of your life.

first song I remember hearing : I Love Rock ‘n Roll, Joan Jett

1985 : Cyndi Lauper
1986 : Madonna
1987 : Michael Jackson
1988 : Paula Abdul
1989 : MC Hammer
1990 : Guns ‘n Roses
1991 : Metallica
1992 : Pearl Jam
1993 : Nirvana
1994 : Nine Inch Nails
1995 : Alice in Chains
1996 : Korn
1997 : Rage Against the Machine
1998 : Limp Bizkit (hey, I’m being honest here…)
1999 : Nine Inch Nails
2000 : A Perfect Circle
2001 : Radiohead
2002 : Eminem
2003 : Outkast
2004 : Audioslave
2005 : Gorillaz/Nine Inch Nails
2006 : She Wants Revenge (so far)

It was much easier to pick the older ones than the newer ones - could be that I branched out into more music, or perhaps time has given me more perspective. Or, I just forgot…

A lot of the bands were picked because that was what I remember dancing to most. And by that I mean dance classes and, later on, dance clubs, too. Looking at it you can see I was heavily swept into the grunge movement, but after that, it was all piece by piece. And, realistically, while I have been into many ‘under the radar’ bands, the ones that have been the most influential to me have also been pretty popular. I love new music, but I hate it when people get wrapped up in this ‘I know the most obscure band’ thing. Please, get real.

Sprite and 7UP, the once seemingly interchangeable lemon-lime soft drinks, have decided to differentiate big time. While 7UP has jumped on the natural foods bandwagon, Sprite has gone for the post MTV gen treatment with out there ‘wha’ ads. Change my perception? It’s still what I order when I don’t want a Coke. But interseting, nonetheless…

sprite - subLYMONal

7UP - Natural

I think it was a random blurb in Sassy magazine in 1990 that introduced me to John Waters. Or maybe it was Johnny Depp’s pouty face in Cry Baby. Either way, I was hooked. I am always surprised when people say they haven’t heard of John Waters, and when I try to explain him, his movies, and his style, they start to look at me funny.

John Waters has been dubbed ‘The Pope of Trash’. Pushing limits that others dare try (nor do they want to try), Waters has combined sex, humor and good bad acting into some of the most entertaining movies of our time.

Waters has several signature moves : every film is set in his hometown of Baltimore. He uses a base cast in all of his films which, most famously, consisted of Divine, and still features Mink Stole, Patricia Hearst, and sometimes Ricki Lake and Traci Lords. Waters is a master at choosing actors who are infamous in their own way, and having them bring part of that into the movie.

Somewhere in Water’s absurd storylines you can see the basis of a very traditional plot. A neighborhood is worried about new people moving in and making it change for the worse (Pink Flamingos). The good girl and the bad boy fall in love (Cry Baby). A boy’s photography makes him famous and his family gets in the way (Pecker). A team of actors try to make a big splash with a controversial movie (Cecil B. Demented). And a lady suffers a personality changes after hitting her head (A Dirty Shame).

But, as we know, Waters makes these stories much more perverse at a fundamental level. You laugh, you get nauseaous, you wonder if that slang term is real…The best thing is that there is not real message that he is trying to get across in his films other than that everyone should stop taking themselves so seriously. And that’s a good message to get.

shoreline amphitheater, july 8th 2006

yeah, i’m in the fan club, so i get 7th row tix. *gloat*

it’s still light when peaches comes on, and there is something not right about that. she plays mostly new stuff, and considering her album wasn’t coming out for a few more days, it was hard to jam along. but i dug it. she is such a fun performer to watch, and i really get a kick watching my manfriend be the only straight guy pumping his fist at her. it was a much tamer show than the first time i saw her. but, again, it was light outside.

then came bauhaus. while i am wallowing in a cloud of awe, donnie elbows me to point out that Peter Murphy had a tag hanging from the armpit of his shirt. This being their last show…not only of the tour but maybe their like last last show ever….I thought it might be some kind of practical joke that bands do sometimes. But they’re not that kind of band. Then I start thinking about this stage manager getting fired after the show and why isn’t somebody coming and yanking the damn tag off. I am distracted by this for a good 20 minutes. Peter Murphy….strut….strut….tag blowing in the wind. I get over it when I hear She’s In Parties. They were really fun to watch.

Then NIN. What can I say that I haven’t already? It was awesome, even in seats. I was a bit buzzy, so my memory is fuzzy. They played Dead Souls, which was hella cool. That damn metal curtain came down for too long again. I couldn’t see Jeordie well enough. And as usual, no encore. But you could tell they were all so amped up for this last show. It was a really great experience knowing that everyone up close deserved to be there - it was all fanclub. And that rocks more than anything.

link to flickr photos

every move a picture was the band that I missed at this year’s BFD, due to long food lines and a hungry belly. So when I saw that they were playing at The Great American Music Hall, a venue I hadn’t checked out yet, and it only cost $13, I was floored. Even better, I checked out The Rakes and they seemed like a fun live band. And it was easy convincing my ‘partner in music’ Eryn to come along.

every move a picture is a San Francisco band that has a Cinderella story of a background. Still pretty much working normal jobs and living normal lives, they are right at tipping point. Catchy dance tunes, well written lyrics, and a lead singer that is very easy on the eyes makes me feel like they will be seeing a lot of success.

The Great American Music Hall is a fun venue (thoughm in the middle of the ghetto); it has great sound, and this fun side bar - the fast bar - where you can get a shot and a beer. Jameson and Pabst, couldn’t get better than that!

This was one of those magical timing shows where we found a parking spot right out front, got in the door, got our beer and shot, and EMAP goes on. Just like clockwork. So you can see very well from just about anywhere in this venue. That is until, attack of the psycho hipsters, who seem to travel in boyfriend, girlfriend, + third wheel packs, who stand right in front of you and dance so that they try to knock you out with their elbows. When did hipster become synonymous with asshole?

So EMAP was great, I will definitely see them again…The Rakes, sure, they were fun but I found the music to be a bit less ‘moving’.

I took a class in college called ‘film and folklore’ where we discussed interesting topics such as why popular movies are popular, motifs in film, genre classifications, and humor. Needless to say, it was a fun class. The text accompaniment for this class was a book by Mikhail Bakhtin called Rabelais and His World. Bakhtin, a mid 20th century Russian intellectual, discusses the work of Rabelais, a French renaissance writer. The topics at hand are carnival and the grotesque. Confused yet?

The idea of carnival and lent used to be a foundation of society - a duality that allowed for a cyclical abstain and release periods that many say helped to provide a general balance to society. Lent was the period of refraining from desires, contemplation, and reflection. During carnival, there were no rules, and I mean this is the most basic sense. The text describes ‘activities’ that would occur during carnival, and some of them would make me blush when we were asked to read the passages aloud in class. From perverse sexual acts, to potty humor, gorging on decandent forbidden fruits, to public killings - carnival knew no boundaries. It is theorized that this period allowed people to get these ‘deeds’ out of their systems, in order to exist without conflict during lent, if they made it our of carnival in one piece, that is! It is through the descriptions of carnival that the notion of the grotesque is discussed. In short, the grotesque is discussed as the collective participation during carnival, reflecting the idea of death and renewal. The are expressed through the trifecta of bodily changes termed ‘eating, evacuation, and sex’. Going back to the idea of carnival being the period of fun and letting go, we can see how these carnivalian activities are closely linked to what we find humorous.

To bring us back to real life, our professor discussed popular shows that operate in their own sort of modernized carnival. Jackass was the prime example of a show that embraces these ‘principles’ - public humiliation, lots of evacuation humor, and purposefully inflicted pain. Punk’d was another example, finding humor in pranks and embarassing others as Candid Camera has done in the past.

One of the most basic elements of humor that we discussed was repetition. Sometimes something isn’t funny when you say it once. But when it is repeated over and over again until you think it will never stop, the ho-hum can become hilarious. There are many current comedians and television shows that have mastered this. Here are some of the best examples that I could find.

1. Dave Chapelle, Chapelle Show

2. Louis C.K., Lucky Louie

3. Drawn Together

4. South Park

5. The Daily Show

6. Saturday Night Live

Cork Soaker

7. Ali G

8. Mad TV

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Forget 15 minutes of fame. Paul newman has been charming hollywood for 50 years! The Long, Hot Summer, Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, The Color of Money, and Road to Perdition just cover a few of his career high points.

But the reason that I bring up Paul Newman for is not his acting. It is for his successful and admirable efforts at philanthropy.

Newman’s Own food products was founded in 1982. All profits after taxes are donated to various charities, which has totaled more than $200 million since the company’s inception. Products range from salad dressings, cookies, salsas, popcorns, and lemonade to dog and cat food, fig ‘newmans’, and an organic line.

Many celebrities use their fame and fortune for philanthropical causes. forming charities, donating large sums of money, and acting as a spokesperson for a cause tend to be the methods in which a celebrity ‘gives back’. However, I feel that Newman’s Own is by far the best effort that I’ve heard of. (yes, better than Oprah.)

Newman’s Own, first and foremost, reaches people in the smallest of towns in the U.S. One can shop at Walmart and buy Newman’s salad dressing and be contributing to a cause. While red carpet charity events have a short scope and high monetary yield, selling a product whose proceeds go to charity presents a long term, gradual build of donations with a platform that has seemingly endless extension possibilities. And the effect on the paul newman, actor, brand is very positive. Rather than read a blurb in us weekly about a star studded fundraiser, grocery shoppers can see Paul Newman’s face (usually adorned by a thematic hat, i.e. a sombrero for his salsas) on their grocery store aisles.

Nell Newman, Paul’s daughter, started the organic line extension to the brand in 1993. Obviously, the family has a passion for food, and they are sharing it with all of us for a great cause.

stan, kyle, cartman, and kenny…….

while many tv shows have come and gone in my life, south park has been a long time staple in my schedule. it has been on comedy central since 1997, and it continues to blend gross out humor with cultural commentary and political commentary and somehow make it work in the context of these elementary school kids.

Truth be told, I actually started watching the show because I kept hearing people say that there was this character named Kenny that got killed every episode….and that was my awful boyfriend’s name at the time. Needless to say, I still enjoy hearing that line. But what has kept me watching it is the creators, Matt Stone and Trey Parker, ability to constantly push boundaries, poke fun at America, and do it all in a way that makes you think. Sometimes the best way to think about an issue and discuss it in a new light is to take it slightly out of context. And what better way to put thinkgs into perspective than to bring it to a small Colorado town and hand it to some elementary school kids!

here is the college film that Parker and Stone made that led to South Park.

Between South Park and Team America : World Police, I have often wondered what exactly they are wanting their political message to be. They aren’t conservative, obviously, but they aren’t really very liberal. I have come to the understanding that first off, they probably aren’t trying to make a political statement other than to make people think about what is going on. Also, I think that the stance taken in their work is reflective of our generation - we don’t feel a strong connection with either ’side’; we find them both equally ridiculous. Thus, they cater to that third, unclaimed party out there.

Here are some of my most favorite South Park moments :

Casa Bonita : a real place! my manfriend has actually been there…

Fat Butt and Pancake Head : taco flavored kisses, full episode

Raisins : hi guys welcome to raisins

Stupid Spoiled Whore :

Smug Alert :

All About Mormons :

Satan and Saddam :

Bebe’s Boobs Destroy Society :

i have a personal rule that before i see a movie that is based on a book, i must read the book first. however, this inevitably sets me up for disappointment.

i recently read The Devil Wears Prada (its summer, ok…) and saw the movie. While not particularly blown away by the book, except for its parallels to my last job, I was taken aback by the changes that were made in the movie. it is through this metamorphosis of book to movie that you can see the effects of ‘hollywood’.

DWP the book portrays Miranda Priestly as an unfaltering evil character, unhuman in most qualities. the movie gives her instances of compassion and attempts to drive home some sort of feminist point. also, no matter how much detail goes into the atmosphere of runway, it is never really glamorized in the book, where it definitely is in the movie. other characters that gave additional meaning to the plot are changed : where Alex the boyfriend in the book was a preschool teacher that served as a contrasting character to everyone at Runway by being saintly and meaningful, and a voice of reason, he becomes Nate the annoying complaining loser chef boyfriend. Lily the friend has no bout with alcoholism in the movie that ended up playing so much into ending of the book.

this said, i cannot break myself of this habit, even though i know that i am just setting myself up for disappointment. few movies have ever satisfied me after completing the process : the lord of the rings, silence of the lambs, and charlie and the chocolate factory, to a certain extent. but, these are exceptional pieces of work. nonetheless, i will still continue to live by this rule, and expectedly, continue to be disappointed.