Pop Culture | voxygen.net

Currently viewing the category: "Pop Culture"

Women in rock: some things never change

By ~LS~ On February 17, 2010 · 2 Comments · In Feminism, Generations, Pop Culture and tagged Tagged With: Baton Rouge, Feminism, Gender, Generations, Music, Pop Culture, Sexism

Baton Rouge has a new radio station: 103.3. Well, not a new radio station but an old station with a new format. The new format is “Music for Generation X.” That’s me, of course. The old format was “Divas” — not for me.

I listened to the station for several hours today and it’s quite a Frankenstein’s monster in terms of genre. They played everything from Nirvana and Guns-n-Roses to C+C Music Factory, with pit stops at Salt – n- Peppa, and REM, not to mention mid to late 80s disco, hip hop, rock, and the weird, bad music that I forgot existed. Funny, though, I recognized every song I heard, which demonstrates the way that our (my!) listening in the 80s and 90s was rather homogeneous despite the generic differences that existed.

Still, after about four hours of listening, guess what…no women in rock. Ok, [...]

Read Full Article →

Top 20 off the beaten path movies of the 2000s

By ~LS~ On December 31, 2009 · Add Comment · In Pop Culture and tagged Tagged With: Movies, Pop Culture

These are not my top ten movies of the decade. I don’t think I could pick such a list. I’m glad it’s not a job requirement. The following list includes movies that I thought were different and interesting. Not all were critically acclaimed, either. Still, something about each one stuck with me over the decade. I’m an action
pic junkie and some of these are action pics, but they are not your standard shoot ‘em up style. They have something unique about them. Not all the films listed here were overlooked, but many were. I did not include major movies. The list is in no particular order.

1. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)

A strange man with an amazing sense of smell learns how to make perfume and then murders women in search of the elusive perfect scent. It’s a disturbing, dirty, compelling movie. Alan [...]

Read Full Article →

Mix tape obsolescence

By ~LS~ On December 29, 2009 · Add Comment · In Pop Culture, Technology, The Web and tagged Tagged With: Consumption, Media Ecology, Music, Pop Culture, Technoculture

As the decade draws to a close, many commentators are remarking on the demise of various technologies. I am sometimes rueful and sometimes relieved by the disappearance of the technologies, of their associated objects and habits.

Think of letter writing. Often, the only clues to women’s history or insights into the thoughts and emotions of previous generations lie in their letters. Writing letters was a habitus, a way of being and doing. Today, our digital documentation is excessive and often thin and shallow. A constant stream of 140 characters doesn’t seem to me to capture the nuances of a traditional letter. I suppose that 19th century upper-class women writing about their tea service (see Veblen on spoons; there is no spoon?) could be considered shallow too. Both Twitter and high tea are reflections in “taste” in its fullest sense of the [...]

Read Full Article →

More Suzuki Beane

By ~LS~ On December 10, 2009 · Add Comment · In Pop Culture and tagged Tagged With: Generations

Read Full Article →

Whoopi and Disney

By ~LS~ On November 21, 2009 · Add Comment · In Humor, Pop Culture, Race and Racism and tagged Tagged With: Humor, Pop Culture, The View, Whoopi

I adore Whoopi. Ever since I saw her Direct From Broadway show on HBO many years ago. I haven’t seen the 2oth anniversary version, though I would really like to. In the orignal HBO special, her character Fontaine, who is a junkie, goes to the Anne Frank house. It is a profound piece about race and humanity that I wish I could see again.

I was excited to see Whoopi join The View, which is one of my favorite shows to watch when I’m not really watching TV. I was terribly disappointed in her “rape rape” comment about Roman Polanski, for which she’s being skewered all over the net, and deservedly so. Still, I think she’s got an incredible talent for raising people’s consciousness through comedy.

I remember when she was filming in Sister Act and she was at war with Disney over the script. [...]

Read Full Article →

Suzuki Beane

By ~LS~ On November 17, 2009 · 2 Comments · In Generations, Pop Culture, This is my life? and tagged Tagged With: Books, Chelsea, Family, Generations, New York City

When I was a child, my nickname was Binie. This is a huge confession on my part. Still, the net has become everyone’s confessional, so I have permission to do so. Binie was short for my middle name, which I will in no way repeat out loud to any living soul. In addition, according to family stories, I somewhat resembled the character “Suzuki Beane” (1961). Apparently, I wore jeans with the cuffs turned up and I had an attitude somewhat similar to hers. So the nickname stuck. Suzuki Beane, who lived on Bleeker Street in Greenwich Village, was the child of hipster parents. She befriended a square named Henry and the two of them ditched school to adventure far and wide through New York City. It’s a charming book. In a fit of reminiscence, I searched for it and discovered it’s going for $100-200 these days. I [...]

Read Full Article →

Women in rock: some things never change

Top 20 off the beaten path movies of the 2000s

Mix tape obsolescence

More Suzuki Beane

Whoopi and Disney

Suzuki Beane

Categories

Archives

Blogroll

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Meta

Catch me if you can!

Women in rock: some things never change

Top 20 off the beaten path movies of the 2000s

Mix tape obsolescence

More Suzuki Beane

Whoopi and Disney

Suzuki Beane

Categories

Archives

Tags

Blogroll

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Meta

Catch me if you can!