Girls Rock: Kathleen Hanna & The Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls

As some of you may or may not know, I am currently on the Advisory Board of the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls and an alumni of their inaugural Ladies Rock Camp. I don't think I could ever express how amazing I think this camp is and the awesome experiences that come out of Rock Camp.

Check out Kathleen Hanna and rock camp volunteers talking about the camp on Current TV.

Also, mark you calendars for the premier of the film documenting the Portland Rock Camp for Girls, Girls Rock! The Movie. It comes out March 7th and the Willie Mae Rock Camp for Girls will be holding a Mini-Rock camp in honor of the movie.

Count Your Blessings Now ...

Do you ever find a song that you need to listen to over and over and over again? It's catchy and speaks to you ... in an abstract way. It expresses a universal, undying truth or emotion - but you can't relate it specifically to an event in your life.

Than, suddenly, something happens and that song is it. The song is happening to you right now.

When someone said count your blessings now
'fore they're long gone
I guess I just didn't know how
I was all wrong
They knew better
Still you said forever
And ever
Who knew

Who Knew?

Who hearts Pink? I heart Pink!

I believe Pink has been listening to a lot of Freddie Mercury lately. There are certain moments in her new album, I'm Not Dead, that caused me to furrow my brow and rewind in case I'd heard wrong. First, it was the chorus to the title track, I'm Not Dead: "I'm not dead just floating." The punctuated, tentative high pitch of the delivery screamed Freddie Mercury to me but then I thought maybe I was just crazy. On comes "'Cuz I Can" with high pitched faux-Classical style backing vocals that include "Ice Cream Ice Cream We All Want Ice Cream" and "Ruff Ruff Ruff" (which was preceded by the line "I'm trying to school you dog." Now I know I'm not crazy ... and I know I freakin' ♥heart♥ Pink.

My love of Pink is not new it's true but I really thought I had gotten over it. I came reluctantly to Mizunderstood. At the time I saw Pink as another R&B Britney wanna-be ... with cooler hair. But the more I learned about her - the fact that she actually skateboarded - and the more songs that came off Mizunderstood, the more I was hooked. It's catchy shit y'all ... and more importantly, the lyrics had a sense of integrity that no one was getting from Britney or Christina or Jessica Simpson. "Everyday I fight a war against the mirror" - hello? what teenager girl hasn't?

Then Pink came out with Try This - which was partially produced and written by none other than Mr. Hot Influential Punk Rocker with a Chipped Tooth, Tim Armstrong. I could hear the Tim Armstrong influence in the ska guitar strums on "Last to Know" and the rock beat (and rockness) on many of the other songs. That really solidified things for me. Pink freakin' knew who Tim Armstrong was! And wanted to work with him! (Something tells me that Baby Face - owner of her record label - wasn't standing in line to work with Tim Armstrong.) Plus she was dating MotoCrosser Carrie Hart. All this added up to cool in my book. And I got myself and many a friend through break ups with "Walk Away."

But then Pink disappeared and aside from the occasional listen to "Walk Away" on Break-Up mixes I'd made for others , I didn't really notice. At one point, I think I saw the video for her first single off I'm Not Dead, "Stupid Girls," and heard the first booty shaking beats and thought "ugg." Then I saw a live performance of "Dear Mr. President" on Fuse and it was amazing. "What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?" Who hasn't asked that question? (Besides Dubya of course) However, the straw that broke the camel's back was, while standing in line at the grocery store, hearing a familiar catchy song ("Who Knew") and realizing that Pink was singing it. That was it. Three strikes, I'm hooked so I bought the record off iTunes.

The first thing I noticed when the songs downloaded was that "Dear Mr. President" featured the Indigo Girls. The Indigo Girls. How amazingly awesome is that? In fact, on Pink's Official MySpace page she lists the Indigo Girls as an influence ... as well as Bad Religion!

I accidentally had my iPod on shuffle for my first listen to I'm Not Dead and the first song to come on was "I Have Seen the Rain" featuring none other than her father! She introduces the song by saying her father brought it back from Vietnam and it was the first song she learned how to sing and harmonize with. See? Awesome.

I gave "Stupid Girls" another try too and it surprised me. It's beat is booty-shakingly catchy - which I can handle some of the time - but it's the lyrics that were so pleasantly unexpected. It half parodizes the Paris Hilton-esque female celebrity ("They travel in packs of two or three with their itsy bitsy doggies and teeny weeny tees") and expresses a desire for something better ("Outcasts and girls with ambition that's what I want to see.") And the video is hilarious! Seriously, though, it gives me hope to see celebrities - especially celebrities who are speaking directly to young girls - expressing their political beliefs in general and these particular beliefs.

Mostly, I give Pink a lot of credit for honestly expressing relationship issues from a female perspective. Too often us ladies are the spoken too not speaking. A while ago I had a conversation with a friend and it turned to the politics of our relationships with liberal (and awesome) guys. She related an incident in which they went out to a club and her guy pointed out a girl dressed to the nines. He said he hated girls like that because they never talked to him. She looked at him quizzically, "She's just here to have a good time with her friends." Perhaps Pink says it best in her song "U + Ur Hand:"

I'm not here for your entertainment
You don't really want to mess with me tonight
Just stop and take a second
I was fine before you walked into my life
Cause you know it's over
Before it began
Keep your drink just give me the money
It's just you and your hand tonight

Amen to that.

After listening to the whole album I really felt a kinship with Pink. I wanted to go out and have a drink with her ... even though I'm pretty sure that she could drink me under the table.* So who ♥hearts♥ Pink? Me!



*Note: This is not a good litmus test for electing a president ...

The definition of Irony?

Irony - when there is a gap between what a speaker says and what is generally understood.

While working out at the gym the other day, I saw Good Charlotte's video for Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous.

Is it just me or is the fact that someone who sang, if not, wrote these words:

Lifestyles of the rich and the famous
They're always complainin'
Always complainin'
If money is such a problem
Well they got mansions
Think we should rob them

is now having a kid with Nicole Ritchie the exact definition of irony???

Is Nicole Ritchie not the definition of :

Celebrities who want sympathy
All they do is piss and moan
Inside the Rolling Stone
Talking about
How hard life can Be

I really liked him better when he was robbing the cradle with Hilary Duff ...

Grammies & Druggies: A night with Paramore (Nov 28, 2007, Roseland Ballroom, NYC)

So Hayley Williams, the lead singer of Paramore, has an adorable grandmother. Adorable.

I ran into her very proud grams in line for the ladies bathroom at the Roseland Ballroom, NYC on November 28, 2007. I wanted to tell Gramma Williams that Hayley had quite a voice but she was busy chatting it up with the girls behind me. So instead I'll tell you.

Hayley Williams has quite a voice.

I first saw Paramore on Steven's Untitled Rock Show on Fuse in their video for Pressure off their Fueled By Ramen debut, All We Know Is Falling. Hayley's amazing voice and coveted red hair coupled with their unexpected rhythmic changes sold me immediately. (Adam would call those unexpected rhythmic changes 'their drummer is too good for his own good' changes but as someone who can't stick to one rhythm when writing a song, I say: whatever.) In fact, I continued to flip to Fuse - a station which, until then, I rarely watched - to try to catch a glimpse of that video and the name of the band in it. Finally, I found it and out to the record store I went.

All We Know Is Falling is addictive. Addictive like pop rocks. Sometimes you don't even want it but you need to have it anyway.

And I'll admit it. Hayley and her 'I'm 15 and a rock star' life is living my dream. And then there's the hair. The fact that she's now 19 doesn't subdue my jealousy at all either. Me and my dishwater blonde are totally, completely jealous.

Hayley and Paramore lived up to my expectations at the show too. I'll admit my expectations weren't that high considering my love-hate relationship with the current pop-emo-rock trend going on. Nonetheless, Hayley rocked herself just like she does in the video and it was awesome to see a female up there head banging and dancing around like she fucking owns that stage. And she did own that stage ... and like the gracious hostess she is, Hayley would step aside during musical interludes to let the boys shine too. And shine they did.

Paramore is definitely a talented band. Perhaps, as Adam says, a little too talented for their own good but talented none the less. They are also a fun band - the kind of band that brings energy to the crowd not just the other way around. I think the place would be "tickin' like a clock", as Paramore says, even with a generally apathetic crowd.

The part of the show that really endeared me to Paramore, though, was when they covered a Sunny Day Real Estate song and attributed the band's formation to one of the boys putting the song on a mix tape for Hayley back in the day. Their intro to the song was, like all their stage banter, a little contrived. Nonetheless, I love it when bands share the history of their music with their audience. It's how underground music propagated and it's an important tradition to continue.

An another important tradition that was alive and well at the Paramore was one that I've harped on more than a few times here: punk rock community.

Everywhere I looked at the Roseland Ballroom that night I saw kids wearing t-shirts proclaiming "To Write Love on Her Arm." I thought: What the hell? Is this a new band I've never heard of? If so, that name is quite a mouthful. Am I really so out of the loop that I've never even heard of the band let alone heard it?

When I got home I googled "To Write Love on Her Arm." And no, as the cool kids reading this know, To Write Love on Her Arm is not a band at all. Instead it's a grassroots organization dedicated to alleviating the self-destruction behaviors tormenting youth or, in their own words,

TWLOHA is a non-profit movement dedicated to presenting hope and finding help for those struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide. TWLOHA exists to encourage, inform, inspire, and also to invest directly into treatment and recovery.

I think that is awesome. The phrase "To Write Love on Her Arm" comes from a story the founder wrote about helping a friend overcome addiction. Read the story here. Now, they have a little bit of a religious bent which I'm not into, but they are open about their beliefs and have stated that their mission is to help everyone:

Identifying something (such as a band, store, venue or project) as "Christian" often alienates those outside of the church/Christian culture, and we don't want to do that. TWLOHA aims to be inclusive and inviting. This is a project for all people. This is a project for broken people, and it is led by broken people.

Like I said, awesome. Donation to TWLOHA can be made via paypal at www.twloha.com and 25% of all money goes to the following organizations:

NATIONAL HOPELINE NETWORK (1-800-SUICIDE) - WWW.HOPELINE.COM
The National Hopeline is a non-profit organization that fights suicide at the front lines. Their toll-free call line is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and links the caller to the nearest crisis hotline in their area. To date, they have received over 2 million calls from individuals struggling with thoughts of suicide.

TEEN CHALLENGE - WWW.TEENCHALLENGEUSA.COM
Teen Challenge is a rehab program with locations in 70 different countries. "Teen Challenge endeavors to help people become mentally sound, emotionally balanced, socially adjusted, physically well, and spiritually alive." Many Teen Challenge centers offer treatment for free, and that is made possible through donations.

MERCY MINISTRIES - WWW.MERCYMINISTRIES.ORG
Mercy is a non-profit organization for young women who face life-controlling issues. They provide residential programs free of charge designed to address the whole person: spiritual, physical and emotional. Mercy homes are located in the USA, Australia, and the UK.
Construction is underway for Mercy's first home in Canada.

S.A.F.E. (Self-Abuse Finally Ends) - WWW.SELFINJURY.COM / 1-800-DONT-CUT
"S.A.F.E. Alternatives is a nationally recognized treatment approach, professional network and educational resource base, which is committed to helping you and others achieve an end to self-injurious behavior."

KIDS HELP LINE (Australia) - WWW.KIDSHELP.COM.AU / 1-800-55-1800
Offers free, confidential, anonymous 24-hour phone and online counseling for young people (5-25) in Australia.

INDIA:
Back in January, three of us traveled to Kolkata, India, as part of a group there to experience the work being done in the fight against human slavery. We partnered with two different organizations, and as part of our commitment to the children we met and the work we experienced, 5% of the money we give away will go to those
organizations:
Apne Aap - WWW.APNEAAP.ORG
Sanlaap - WWW.SANLAAPINDIA.ORG


***


Fucking A. Who said that kids today are apathetic and uninformed?

Not me. Not Hayley either.

Well, there's a million other girls who do it just like you
Looking as innocent as possible to get to who
They want and what they like it's easy if you do it right

Well I refuse, I refuse, I refuse!

Stroke your emo - Dashboard Confessional at the House of Blues, Atlantic City, November 10, 2007

Dashboard Confessional is not one of my favorite bands. I'm not sure Dashboard would even break the top 20. Dashboard Confessional is, however, a band full of memories. From my initial rash, un-informed hatred of their emoness to certain friends to good times and bad. Their music makes me especially nostalgic for my time in St. Louis singing at the top of my lungs to songs from 'A mark, a mission, a brand, a scar' in my nice, big apartment dreaming of a certainly impossible man who would write those dreamy words for me:

I'll be true I'll be useful I'll be cavalier I'll be yours my dear And I'll belong to you ... if you'll just let me through ...

Those same words that I sang into Adam's ear while he stood begrudgingly next to me at the Dashboard Confessional show at the House of Blues in Atlantic City on November 10, 2007. That song, 'As Lovers Go,' is especially poignant for me since I see myself as the antagonist of the song. But enough about me, on to the show.

Chris Carraba is adorable ... and tiny. He came out - to roaring applause - to sing with each of the opening bands (neither of which, in my opinion, are worth mentioning ... or remembering for that matter) which, aside from being a rousing endorsement, gave him a badge of integrity in my book ... and proved that he has quite the voice. When he finally arrived on stage for his own set, he was effectively naked - it was just him and his guitar. For most of the show, the mic effects blurred his vocals, but the onstage banter i made out was amusing. For all I've read about his stage fright, he seemed at comfortable, at home on stage. Despite the obnoxious, collar-popping crowd, I enjoyed the quiet, graceful momentum built up and torn down with each song.

I may not rush to see Dashboard Confessional again but the show, like the songs, will hold a special place in my heart for a long time. Which, I suppose, brings this blog post back to me again. This is what connects me, reluctantly, to those other kids at the show - the deeply personal and private way I think about Dashboard Confessional.

I read an excellent (albeit pray to the glorifying, mythical talk of music fan turned journalist) book, Nothing Feels Good: Punk Rock, Teenagers, and Emo. Dashboard Confessional comprises an entire section. For good reason. Despite the debatable history of emo - from Rites of Spring and Sunny Day Real Estate to Face to Face to the Get Up Kids and Saves the Day, Dashboard Confessional is probably the band most widely associated with emo. I came to terms with my love of poppy punk/rock long ago; yet it was this book, tracing the history of emo and describing the intense - familiar - way the fan's feel about the music, that allowed me to admit that I, too, have an emo place in my heart. It is not a large space - I need more rock than Rites of Spring or Sunny Day or many of the new wave of emo bands can provide - but it is there nonetheless.

Motion City Soundtrack at the Roseland Ballroom NYC 11/9/2007

Motion City Soundtrack is the first band that my sister introduced me to. This fact makes me simultaneously sad and proud.

Truthfully, the first time I heard Motion City, I was going through my sister's iTunes copying songs onto my computer. Her AIM away message has sported Motion City lyrics a few times so I took a listen to The Future Freaks Me Out. I have come to deeply adore that song but at the time I thought it was kind of wierd and hipster - probably because I skipped through it too quickly. Eventually (I'm not sure when), I came around and became addicted. So when I found out Motion City was coming to town I was stoked. Recently, on a long drive with my cousin, he played me Anberlin and Mae. Both bands made it on my list of bands to check out so I was doubly stoked to see them opening for Motion City.

Prior to the show I went out and bought all the bands' new albums. Motion City's was, of course, awesome. Aberlin and Mae got a few good listens with no complaints.

We arrived at the show - Roseland shows start so damn early - around 7:30. Just in time to see Anberlin play. There was a lot of the singer standing with one foot on an amp and screaming about how "this show is for YOU." The songs were filled with excessive and unnecessary keyboards. I was less than impressed.

Next up was Mae - I was hoping for the best. In a review I read, Mae's set was described as one 30 minute long song. That's about right.

Finally (after taking a bit of their sweet rockstar time), Motion City took the stage. After the angering experience of the Lawrence Arms show, I am almost at a loss for words in describing Motion City Soundtrack's set. It was amazing. It gave me hope. It made me nostalgic. All at once.

The minute the band hit the stage that intangible it was there. Everyone in the band was into it - I thought the keyboardist might do some serious brain damage he was head banging so hard. Each member was sining along to themselves and all seemed to be having a genuinely good time. Even better, the minute the band hit the stage the crowd brought it. You could feel the collective energy starting with the first note of the first song. I thought: This is a punk rock show. I don't care how un-punk rock you think Motion City Soundtrack is; this show is what punk rock is about.

Up front, the jersey & long island kids got going the typical east coast circle pit. Justin (the lead singer) was quick to ask all those running around to turn around and give each other 'a big hug.' He told the crowd that they can rock out and dance but 'no [making elbowing motion].' About 60 seconds into the next song, he stops. Some crowd-surfer had gone down and Justin was distraught: 'Is everyone ok? I saw a big hole ... ok, sorry, just wanted to be sure.' I thought: I love you. I take comfort in knowing that somewhere, somehow the punk rock ethics and etiquette that so effected my life are alive and well ...