Please believe me: I am sad. But in the end, he was mortal. Like the rest of us.

It’s hard not to think of this passage from Paint It Black by Janet Fitch, during all of the Michael Jackson hoopla:

Josie thought of Meredith’s life, the combination of great wealth and talent, with a black thread of tragedy running through. Was it worth having the one if you had to suffer the other? And yet, she reminded herself, poor people had tragedy too, and they didn’t get to play Carnegie Hall, travel the world with their picturesque agony, they didn’t have a beautiful gift. They acted out their tragedies in trailers and dingbat apartments, shacks and slums, everyday. Why were the tragedies of little people less profound than those of Meredith and Michael? What was it about having enormous advantage that made tragedy so much more tragic?

I have to weigh in with one thing that disturbed me. I don’t think I followed any tributes or man on the street quotes about MJ’s death, with the exception of any coverage played on NPR during my commute. But this morning, I was appalled by a woman’s comment that she cried more at his funeral than at any of her friends or family’s. Now, I get it that some people are just not close to their flesh and blood. And I understand feeling something, something strong, for someone who moves you with his work, his passion, his life. But friends too? Were they really? I can’t take this. This is just too crazy.

 

Working on September, Living in July

It’s hard to believe that I am working on the September issue of DAYSPA Magazine. Didn’t summer just begin? I have not taken in all those live shows I signed up for, or tended to my kid’s bruises after he takes off his training wheels, or shook enough sand from my bikini bottoms, or lost that last 5 pounds so I’ll feel really spectacular lying on a beach towel. Well, that last one’s pretty much not ever going to happen. I am female. There’s always 5 more pounds.

Hell, we’ve already had July 4th. We soaked up some sun at a pool party/BBQ/drink fest but never made it to fireworks. We still had an awesome time hogging the rafts and freaking out Jeff’s dog, Paisley. Kieran even got to try out a very lubed up slip-n-slide. I kept my nose in some Captain ‘n Coke, which is probably the real reason we didn’t hit the fireworks and nothing to do with one nervous Kieran.

Then there was The Hollywood Bowl. Figures my husband read “Show at 7″ as “Doors open at 7.” I nearly missed The New Pornographers, and actually did miss about 15 minutes of their set. They still amazed, though it was short, and I now I have a mission to see them as headliners. Ending the set with “The Bleeding Heart Show” was genius—our friends had to know the name of that song.

Next was Tegan & Sara. What can I say but, could I love these 2 anymore? They were the epitome of cute, bantering a bit between their songs, letting us all know how nervous they were to be playing such a large forum. I knew Rice loved them [I think he has a T & S marathon every few weeks] but he didn’t hesitate to buy a Tshirt and then wear it for the rest of the night. I just really want to hear them somewhere nice small. Guess that’s another mission.

Above: D, sad we missed some New Pornographers. Steve, Cindy, Jen, and Matt [Yokes] ready for a good time.

Death Cab For Cutie with the LA Philharmonic was the headlining act and though I’ve never given the band much of my time, it was a really great time. Of course, none of these bands I go out for put on “shows” like Brittany or Madonna, but the energy of the music was in full force, they were back and forth on that enormous stage totally lost in their groove. That’s what translates to me, gets me pumped, and the music turned out to be much more that I recognized than I’d originally thought.

The sad part? With three big bands [well, they are all big to me] we were home by 11:30. I know, right? maybe 3 hr. 45 tops for these insanely awesome bands? A travesty! Maybe there’s something to much lesser knowns opening up for you. TNP and T & S have 9 albums between them. NINE. And I know almost every one of them by heart.

But hey, atleast Death Cab went out with a bang. Rice and I got to see our fireworks.

 

Another evening with Jenny.

Just added Ray LaMontagne with the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra • Jenny Lewis • Blitzen Trapper to my hot hot summer music schedule. Of course, I’m really on there for the great time of picnicing and socializing [that the Hollywood Bowl is known for] and Jenny Lewis. But I’m open to hearing some new music as well.

Ye-haw!

 

LA School of Global Studies hosts College & Career Day

I was asked to volunteer for a College & Career Day event last week and I wasn’t sure of the reason I said yes, especially knowing I’d have to take off an entire day of work using my precious vacation or sick time. The selfish part of me probably thought I’d have a chance to tell really young kids what I do in the hopes it would sound extremely cool and glamorous; the exact opposite of what it really is. But I also felt this urge to do something good for these students, after finding out that this was a brand new school built in downtown LA to deal with overcrowding, but much more forward thinking than the usual public school. And many of these kids were to be the first in their family to go to college, or some kind of schooling after high school.

What I didn’t find out, until I started interviewing these students, is that for many of them, they were the first in their family to graduate high school. And the seniors I had the privilege to speak to, were so very proud of themselves to have achieved this.

The morning started off with some coffee and munchies in a classroom set up as a “break room” for all the professionals that came in to participate. Walking through the halls was strange—it was as if my high school days were creeping back in my mind even though this school looked nothing like the one I had attended. Kids were looking us up and down, smiling to help point us in the right direction, snickering to their friends to be cool. I’ll admit it, I was nervous to talk to them. It wasn’t any preconcieved notion of their behavior that frightened me. I could only think, what if I really blow this? What if I have no good advice for them? I’m a white girl from PA, who was taught that after high school comes college, and my family, although not rich, was able to set up a student loan for an inexpensive bachelors and masters degree state school. I rarely worked hard in any of my high school subjects, and my little ole SAT score, though embarrassing to me upon meeting other professionals, was enough to get me into my school of choice. I moved to LA on a whim and got lucky getting my first job at a magazine publishing company that wanted someone fresh out of school with no experience. What one thing did I even have in common with these intercity kids?

Frankly, I ended up asking them all the questions on the handout we were given, and tried to give them the advice I’d give anyone planning on going on to college. I found there was something that linked a few of us: they wanted to go to school but didn’t know yet what they wanted to do. Perfect, I thought. I hadn’t known a thing about what direction to take my schooling when I started so I worked on my gen-ed requirements and took a couple of classes that sounded interesting. Mass Communications is what hooked me into choosing a Comm/Journ major in Radio/TV. I had taken so many art and graphic design classes that I tacked on an Art Minor. My advice was go in there and try everything you can that you are interested in. Don’t make a decision right away, and don’t feel bad about it.

At the end of the day I was very exhausted from the interviews, the career panel I had also been on and the noise of youth. After parking the car in the garage, settling into the couch and putting my feet up, all I could think was, I’m so ready to do that again!

 

Summer of Love

Suddenly this year I feel like reliving how I wish my teen years were. Or my 20s even. Basically, I want a T-shirt in my closet from every concert I attend that I thoroughly enjoy. At present, it holds Rilo Kiley, Feist, The Airborne Toxic Event and Metric (freshly purchased at the Wiltern Monday night!) Really, I’m a sad excuse for a 33 year old mom. And one who wants to “appear” cool. But this summer has me excited with all I’ve crammed into it so far, with the potential for so much more to creep in. Next up:

• Thursday June 11 at the Henry Fonda: Camera Obscura
• Legoland trip with our good friends, the Malloys, and possibly my sister’s fam
• College and Career Day downtown at friend Amber’s school. I get to possibly “interview” students and talk about my college and job. Hot Dog!
• June 25th at Descanso Gardens: The Bird and The Bee
• a rockin’ Pool Party, BBQ Baby Shower
  
• July 5th at Hollywood Bowl: Tegan & Sara, The New Pornographers and Death Cab for Cutie
• Aug. 8th at the Ahmansen Theater: Spam-A-Lot
• Aug 21 at the El Rey: Los Campesinos! [jury still out on this one, though I'm gonna push hard to make it happen!]

Mix in a few visits from my parents, and plenty of lazy weekends at the beach, and I’m hoping this summer makes up for the crapfest that has pretty much been this year!

PS I just wanted to mention that the Metric Concert at the Wiltern on Monday was killer. I love Emily Haines SO MUCH now. Everybody, everybody: ilovemetric.com

 

something about genetics…

I love this quote from All About Eve. I can totally apply to my situation:

Margo Channing: Bill’s thirty-two. He looks thirty-two. He looked it five years ago, he’ll look it twenty years from now. I hate men.

D: Rice’s thirty-six. He looks twenty-one. He looked it five years ago, he’ll look it twenty years from now. I hate men.

I love Bette Davis.

 

Update (So totally fucked up)

So how’s this for a turn of events?

It turns out the School Board was having a problem releasing the statements/transcripts of the case against the boys accused of sexual harassment. Their parents finally get them, only to find out the accuser claims the boys placed their genitals on his face. No one but the accuser, his parents and the school board knew this. The two accused nor their parents were aware of these claims. As I said before in my long tirade, they were only called in to be told their children were being expelled for sexual harassment because a boy complained about the photo of the butt in his face.

The two accused, now hearing what they are really accused of, come out with their tale of the weekend in it’s entirety. It turns out, the night before the photo was taken, the “victim” was placing one of the other boys’ headphones on his scrotum and then rubbing them all over his face. These 2 boys decided, as retaliation, to take the infamous “butt in face” photo the next night. They had only told their parents they were “being stupid” when they got in trouble for the photo, possibly not wanting to revel the previous nights “activities” or not wanting to let on that they were taking revenge.

Whether any of this is true or not, the fact remains this: the school board never sat down with them all to hear the entire story, only relying on one side.

Yes, obviously one of the accused is someone I know, so you can take it all with a grain of salt because I have sympathy for one particular side here. But the hard facts are, that will all come out as different media &  lawyers have been contacted, is that only one side of this story was listened to and from that, harsh punishment was doled out to two young boys who are shaking in their shoes right now at the idea of starting this “Correctional school” on Monday.

 

Serious crime? Seriously?

Can I ask a minute of your time for an honest opinion about something?

Say there is this 13 year old boy. He’s a good student. He might be a little mouthy to his parents at times, nothing more than most kids his age. He’s not perfect, but deep down he is a very good kid, with a big heart who has excellent grades.
Now say he’s on a school trip that takes a group of students his age away from home for a couple days. The purpose of this trip is not what is important. Later that evening, this boy is sharing a hotel room with a few others. One of them falls asleep, and the others are still awake. And bored. They start taking stupid pictures with one kid’s camera phone. They are still bored and are feeling cheeky (gasp! a pun!). They decide to play a stupid prank by having this boy’s hindquarters photographed near the sleeping kid’s face. A very close moon caught on another teens camera phone.

Fast forward to after the trip when the sleeping kid tells his parents and the parents decide to press charges, causing a world of trouble for this boy and his parents. His parents look into a lawyer. Next thing we know, this boy is expelled from his school for sexual harassment. Yes, you read that right, sexual harassment for a stupid prank that there is evidence of because they idiotically took a picture. Oh, I did mention that they are 13, right?

My beef is this: I understand handing out punishment. If the sleeping kid who got pranked wanted to tell his parents because he didn’t want the photo to get out, didn’t want the embarrassment, I sympathize. And so I can visualize all the parents getting together and talking about some form of punishment for the two pranksters. But pressing charges? Has it really come to that? Involving wasted time and money over something that was just two teens being complete idiots? And what about the school board, who apparently didn’t listen to presented evidence, or hear from both sides of this story, just went ahead and expelled this boy, putting sexual harassment on his otherwise clean and academically sound school records. They also assigned him to some juvie-type detention school for kids that actually DID harmfully harass other kids along with sell drugs, etc. Does the punishment really fit the crime?

I guess it’s pretty obvious that for me, no it does not. I am deeply saddened to hear that the “pranked” boy has been getting harrassed and made fun of at school over all of this. But when our “prankster’s” mother asked the Principal if any action was taken against those kids, he had no response. Ah, well. I fear for the future of the “pranked” boy. I do hope if he goes to college he doesn’t plan to go out drinking much, or get too chummy with the guys in the dorms or, dearie me, join a fraternity!

To think of all the times in my own childhood I, or my friends, could have gotten others expelled! Feel bad for me, people, when I had to live with a rumor spread around about me involving “rubber gloves” and the nickname “jack handy” for an entire school year, and was subjected to finding actual rubber gloves left on my desk or near my locker. And pity the poor guy in college who, after a night of hard partying, awoke unknowingly to his face covered in lipsticks and eyeshadows, and walked past the party stragglers on his way to the bathroom. Oh the taunts! Or think of my girlfriend, who blossomed into a D cup at age, well, 13, and was branded with the name “Dolly” for many years of her high school life. Or the poor girl who was in a group photo documenting a band outing, perched on the back of a bus seat, legs askew, wearing white shorts and very obviously on her period! And that was published by the school! Oh the horror!

And what about you? Was your childhood perfect? Did you deal with a bit of teasing or being pranked yourself? My point is not that any of this is right, it’s not. These kids could use a bit of strict punishment and some poignant lessons about life. But is this punishment what this boy needs, a boy that I can’t stress enough has never been in trouble and is a very good student, someone you wouldn’t view as having “no potential”, but is only 13 and does not always use common sense? Because what 13 year old does?

 

heavy eyelids

Is it sad that instead of opting for taking a nap out in my car [heat, no breeze, san fernando valley, ugh] I grabbed a pillow and blankey from the prop closet and took a nap under my desk?

I could have stayed there all day. sigh.

 

My own Living Social [blabbery] Album List

Instead of putting everyone through it on facebook, I decided to make it a music blog for today:

THE 5 ALBUMS THAT SHAPED ME
(this way I can provide some sort of explanation for them. And can do more than 5)

THE 5 ALBUMS/BANDS THAT SHAPED ME: The Teen Years
and
THE 5 ALBUMS/BANDS THAT SHAPED ME: Adulthood

The Teen Years:
Let us not forget how old I am, [29] or what period in time I came from [neon 80s], or where I grew up [middle of BFE]. Thus begins my list of 5 from my youth

1) Michael Jackson ‘s Thriller
well, duh.
2) Madonna Like A Virgin
I asked my mom for this tape. She asked me,”Sweetie, do you know what a virgin is?” My completely truthful reply? “No.” I got the tape. And I wore out that tape. I grew up to hate Mads. But turn on ANY song from that album right now, I could sing every lyric.
3) Tiffany
Come on! You were either on board with Tiffany or Debbie. I chose the red head (surprise, surprise) and I played that pop shit over and over and over and she was my first concert. So she makes it in.
4) Pearl Jam Ten
At some point I graduated from poptarts to coffee grinds. And I could wear flannel not just because I lived in the middle of the woods in PA.
5) Billie Holiday
I suddenly had this appreciation for early jazz vocalists and spent a lot of time kicking around my attic bedroom or in my car taking in the voice of Billy. Maybe it was my first attempt to try and be “new and different” in the very unwavering and uninteresting small town I grew up in. Side note: My little sis jumped on board too….but of course, her fave singer was Ella Fitzgerald.

Adulthood:
So I went away to a small state college where I got exposed to a better array of tunage via the college station. From there I moved to Los Angeles, and ran with some people into good music, who opened my eyes to so many different worlds, that now I can say with satisfaction that my music collection is, indeed, eclectic.

1) Radiohead OK Computer
When they started to grow and change their sound yet at times (on this album) still hold on to some the past. It was my all time fave during some crucial years of my early 20s therefore it’s still my favorite album of theirs. And I refuse to tell the story of how I lost tix to their concert 1/2 hour after waiting in line to purchase them. No.
2) DJ Tiësto, In Search of Sunrise Vol 3
Lets face it, I’m into electronic music. And I do love me so good trance. I dig the repetition alongside beautiful melodies the build to a climax and breakdown. Give me Oakenfold, Sasha, Ferry Corsten, Armin Van Buren, Paul van Dyk and Christopher Lawrence as well, but Tiësto has time and time again wore me out (in a good way.) And I don’t take Ectasy. No. The worst I might do is have lots of drinks. I still love it.
3) Thievery Corporation The Mirror Conspiracy
Wiki says “their music style mixes elements of dub, acid jazz, Indian classical and Brazilian (such as bossa nova) with a lounge aesthetic.” I like it to chill the F out. My friend at the time, now husband, gave this album to me and I still dig it. Good for him or bad that he did?
4) The Beastie Boys
So I got into them a tad later (say 18) but I went gaga for them for years. My last car that I just replaced in 2007 had an actual Beastie Boys bumper sticker on it. I’ve definitely fallen out of any great love I had of these boys, but they sure had a funky repitoire and The In Sound from Way Out is killer.
5) Rilo Kiley
I don’t remember when I got so totally gung-ho about more indie bands and even alt-country, so I’m throwing down Rilo Kiley because I’ve had every album or song I could possibly have (legally) for years and I can still sit down and do a Rilo Kiley marathon for weeks. There is just something about them that is too hard for me to shake, and believe me, I could fall in and out of love with musicians like the wind changes. Here’s to hoping I just didn’t jinx my love of Jenny. Cheers!

Ahhh, lists.