Author Archives: dogpossum

last night’s set

Last night I did the second set at CBD (as I mentioned), the first time I’ve done a second set in aaaages (since SEPTEMBER last year, and MLX last year in November), and I was a bit worried about it. I like going first because it’s like starting with a blank palette – you start at 0bpm and work the room to your comfort zone. I’ve been pretty successful getting the room really pumping – working from that 0 point (actually starting at about 130bpm and working the average tempo up to about 160bpm) – which can be tricky with a room that’s largely beginner dancers. But you know. Performance anxiety. But last night went well.
We are expecting a large event of our own next weekend, so the locals are getting a bit excited. Last night there were more experienced dancers in the room, and I heard a lot of “oh god, I HAVE to get fitter” and “shit, my charleston sucks” talk.
Basically, I went at it the way I would for a first set – get the tempos up high, regularly, and really pump the energy up. It was a bit tricky because it was pretty bloody hot and humid in that nasty skankpit of a venue, but people proved amenable to a little persuasion.
There’s a new mixer thingy, which proved a pain. Once again there were lines that didn’t work. Fiddling with the cords, I noticed that someone had plugged the CD players into the wrong lines (despite we lindy hoppers being lectured by some wanker sound guy about only using X plugs, etc – this time it wasn’t us), and then that the line I’d chosen was screwed. So I had to do some emergency unplugging/replugging mid-set. As per usual. Every single set, I’m lifting the fucker out of the desk (this new one is way heavier than the old one), pulling out plugs, inserting plugs and hunting down loose connections. The hairs on my arms stand on end.
So I start with a bit of hi-fi groove action to segue from Megger’s* set, and that goes ok. The second song? Long, hi-fi, supergroove – good for testing levels and shifting stylistic gears. There were some major technical issues, though (fucked if I know what was wrong – I didn’t touch the fucker!), so I had to change cords and plugs and so on. By that point the sound had cut out a couple of times and I was heartily sick of that bloody song. So I just thought ‘fuck it’, stopped the song mid-way, changed the cords over, and started again with something I actually liked.
It was very liberating to break all the rules like that – you’re not supposed to stop a song mid-way through, and you should make gentler transitions. But it was hot, the song had already been screwed by the tech issues and I just HATE that groover shit right now.
It was so nice to hear Buddy Johnson kicking on in. No bullshit organ crap. No fancy wank flourishes – just a kicking rhythm, some punchy brass and a nice clear melody. Bread and cheese action. A potato chip song that lets the dancers know what your action is all about. Once I had their attention I went to a crowd pleasing favourite – C-Jam Blues (that, even though it’s overplayed up the wazoo, is still a bitching song – buy that album if you’re interested in learning about lindy hop music). And we were off.
A third of the songs I played were over 160bpm, which is a bit of a shift for Melbournians – they like it slow. And the 120s were at the very beginning when I was still thinking about new dancers, or at the very end when people were starting to pass out from dehydration. But otherwise, we had quite a few more upper tempo songs than usual. I just kept dropping them in there, working up and down the tempos. And they kept dancing. It was really nice to work a crowd of more experienced dancers who were determined to dance like fools to decent tempos – I haven’t seen the experienced kids from different cliques so unified by dancing and enthusiasm in ages. I did, however, neglect the newer dancers a bit. But shit, just that one time, I wanted to play what I liked, and to really cater to more experienced dancers who often spend most of the night going through the motions rather than pushing themselves a bit.
I was still a bit clunky til about Four or Five Times (I didn’t really practice yesterday), but there were a couple of guys standing behind me talking shit and distracting me – I knew I’d hit my groove when they both said “ok, the music’s gotten good – I’m going to dance”, headed off in different directions to hit the floor. And I laughed at them. Man, my friends are big fat nerdy music snob nerds.
From there, though, things went really well.
I was actually happy with the songs preceding that point – I might have been a bit quick to get the Mora’s Modern Swingtet stuff in there, and did follow a combination of 3 or so songs I’d played with that afternoon rather than working the room thoroughly, but I was still finding my groove and beating off a case of weird nerves. When I’m nervy I just throw random songs on – sort of like the way I talk when I’m nervy. Lots of random comments rather than a coherent discussion.
I love Shout ’em Aunt Tillie (Ellington, of course, to follow on from the MMS verson of an Ellington track), but I should have left it til later in the night when the doods were ready for that sort of less familiar music. It was also a bit poor quality, which the crowd often can’t take so early in a set. Especially after a set of super hi-fi music. But I freakin’ love that song.
From Effervescent Blues, though, we were really cooking. Old Skool rules! Yee-haw!
I love Back Room Romp a great deal, and hope I don’t get sick of it soon. The dancers really like it too – it’s one of those songs where the floor starts off empty because it’s kind of lo-fi and a bit scratchy. But the beat is so insistent, the brass really rolls around and then gets up there with some nice spikey bits… the floor always ends up full and kicking. It’s almost painful to have to stand there watching people enjoying the music on the floor while I just have to be satisfied with a bit of bouncing on the spot.
Who Stole the Lock (On the Hen House Door?) was a bit of a punt. I wanted a high energy, old school lindy song. But people did charleston, which surprised me as it’s the song Todd and Naomi used in this routine (which I’ve talked about before). I’d thought the old school fans would think ‘Yee-haw! Lindy hop MUTHAFUCKAHS!’ but they thought ‘Yee-haw! Charleston MUTHAFUCKAHS!’ instead. Which was kind of a shame as I had some sweet Charleston Chasers and Vince Giordano lined up for later on. There’s only so much superfast music you can play on a hot night. And very few people actually dance 20s solo charleston, so it’ve been a bit exclusive to pound that theme to hard.
Because the quality of that recording is quite poor, I went for the Mora’s Modern Rhythmists version of A Viper’s Moan, because I wanted to stay old school, but needed to lift the sound quality a bit to change the mood and get the un-charleston people onto the floor again. It was a success. I’m almost really sick of that song (especially the MMR version), but it’s a useful potato chip song.
I’m also a bit over Savoy Blues. But I was going somewhere particular. And, weirdly, that New Orleans sound is really popular with Melbourne kiddies at the moment. It defies comprehension. But it’s very pleasing – I love that action, so it’s nice to play stuff for the kids that I really dig. But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised: it has stompy rhythms everyone can hear, it has a kind of uproarious, controlled-chaos approach to solos and parts. It’s not the sort of carefully unified and controlled stuff that Benny Goodman and Glen Miller are into. Nor is it the sort of wilder, yet still managed big band sound of Basie. It feels a bit crazy, but is still quite clear and easy to dance to.
But then I wanted to up the tempos a bit and change the mood. So I went with Stomp it Off by Lunceford, which is quite quick, but has a lovely light, energetic, fun feeling – it feels light hearted and fun. Which is quite a nice contrast to the New Orleans stuff which can be a bit heavy and lower and church-influenced (you can really hear the jesus gospel stuff and martial themes). I’m always delighted when people jump on the floor for uptempo stuff, people who don’t usually dance to quick stuff. I always figure it as a win if I’ve tricked them into dancing faster. But that version of Stomp it off is so fun and nice – it could almost be an Ellington recording, but it has that Lunceford naughtiness chugging along in there as well. And of course, it’s some nice Sy Oliver goodness (he wrote it).
Then I followed up with some mellower uptempo stuff. I’m almost over Good Queen Bess as well, but it’s a very effective tool for transitioning. At this point I was totally in the groove and thought I’d finally please the girl who wanted old school but really meant male vocal stuff. So I played a big fat bracket of chunky male vocal stuff. I say male vocal, but I’m actually thinking ‘silly songs with men talking about food, sex or both, accompanied by guitars’.
These songs always stump me, in terms of the sound quality, but Cammy was really nice and helpful and gave me some tips mid-way through to sort them out. They’re tricky because they’re not walls of sound like big band stuff – they’re really just a couple (or few) blokes singing along with a guitar, bass and possibly percussionist. Cam said they’re mostly sitting on about 220 somethings (I can’t remember the word), so we dumped the bass way down, upped the mids (or was it the opposite? I forget), and then fiddled with the highs. It was interesting to play with this stuff. And Cam encouraged me to get serious with my equalizer, which scares me. But heck, I’m all cowboy these days, so I might as well. It does bring home the drawbacks of itunes, though.
So I played a bunch of Slim and Slam, Cats and the Fiddle and Mills Brothers and peopel went NUTS. They really really dug it. Apparently the teachers at the Lismore camp in February played a lot of this action. It’s weird, because I learnt to dance on these guys, the Hot Shots use them a lot at Herrang for teaching and they really feel very familiar and kind of ‘overplayed’ in my mind – I love them, but I wouldn’t pack a set with them. But I had avoided playing them for a while as they’d not gone down well last year with CBD people, and I do actually adore Slim Gaillard in particular.
I almost added some Fats Waller in there, but I figured I needed to change the vibe a bit, so I went with a potato chip song (after the Potato Chips song), because I wanted to get to a request for the birthday boy – when someone requests For Dancers Only you hop to it. Particularly when they specifically request the higher tempo version I adore.
By this point people were looking really trashed. They were kind of euphoric and having a good time, but they were obviously not drinking enough water (arsehole venue manager won’t let people bring their own water and won’t turn on the air-con. Arsehole), so I figured I’d finish off this chunk then let it settle a bit. Savoy, one of my favourite songs, went down really well, and I thought I Want The Waiter (with the water) was a funny choice, a bit lower energy and a bit slower. And it also went down well. Jive at Five is such a nice song, and that version is slower again and kind of mellow, so people had a chance to chill.
It’s kind of a risk at that point in the evening (I started at 10.00 and it was about 11 by then), so this was a bit of a punt. But they were still nuts for dancing. So I built them up again. And played Minor Goes a’Muggin’ in honour of Trev. There was a protracted discussion about the meaning of the word ‘muggin’ at the DJ desk at this point, with some speculation that it could have something to do with smiling or a big face (kind of a British thing), or perhaps more to do with:

muggins |ˈməginz|
noun ( pl. same or mugginses ) Brit., informal a foolish and gullible person.
• humorous used to refer to oneself in order to suggest that one has been stupid, esp. in allowing oneself to be exploited : muggins has volunteered to do the catering.
ORIGIN mid 19th cent.: perhaps a use of the surname Muggins, with allusion to mug 1 .

(to use the dictionary on my computer).
People dug the song, though. By this point it was about 11.20 and I was getting tired. The last few songs were closers and I danced the last two (because it was after 11.30 and I wasn’t being paid any more and I WANTED TO). I should have ended at St James Infirmary rather than letting it peter out. Don’t Come Too Soon is a fairly lackluster attempt to construct a euphemism for the obvious. I like it.
It was a good set, I enjoyed it, and things went well.
Here’s the set list:
CBD set 2 1st March 2007
(title, artist, bpm, date, album, time)
Mumbles Oscar Peterson 188 1964 Ultimate Oscar Peterson As Selected By Ray Brown 2:02
Blues In Hoss’ Flat City Rhythm Orchestra 130 2004 Vibrant Tones 5:23
Shufflin’ And Rollin’ Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra 153 1952 Walk ‘Em 3:12
C-Jam Blues Lincoln Centre Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis 143 1999 Live In Swing City: Swingin’ With Duke 3:33
Krum Elbow Blues Mora’s Modern Swingtet 162 2004 20th Century Closet 2:45
Shout ‘Em Aunt Tillie Duke Ellington and His Orchestra 158 1930 Jazz Caravan 2:56
Effervescent Blues Mora’s Modern Swingtet 122 2004 20th Century Closet 3:07
B-Sharp Boston Duke Ellington and His Orchestra 126 1949 Duke Ellington and his Orchestra: 1949-1950 2:54
Four Or Five Times Woody Herman Orchestra 141 The Great Swing Bands (Disc 2) 3:09
Back Room Romp Duke Ellington and his Orchestra 155 2000 Ken Burns Jazz: Duke Ellington 2:49
Flying Home Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra 159 1940 Tempo And Swing 2:58
Who Stole the Lock (On the Hen House Door?) Jack Bland 245 2002 Golden Greats: Greatest Dixieland Jazz Disc 2 2:37
A Viper’s Moan Mora’s Modern Rhythmists 143 2000 Call Of The Freaks 3:30
Savoy Blues Kid Ory 134 2002 Golden Greats: Greatest Dixieland Jazz Disc 3 3:00
Perdido Street Blues Louis Armstrong and His Orchestra with Sidney Bechet 148 1940 Blues In Thirds 1940-41 3:00
Joshua Fit De Battle Of Jericho Kid Ory And His Creole Jazz Band 160 1946 Kid Ory and his Creole Jazz Band 1944-46 3:12
Stomp It Off Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra 190 1934 Swingsation – Jimmie Lunceford 3:08
Good Queen Bess Duke Ellington 160 1940 The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 10) 3:00
Laughing In Rhythm Slim Gaillard 140 2:52
Groove Juice Special Slim Gaillard And His Flat Foot Floogie Boys 170 1942 Big Ben – Disc 2 – All Too Soon 2:43
Stomp, Stomp The Cats and The Fiddle 203 1941 We Cats Will Swing For You Volume 2 1940-41 2:55
My Walking Stick The Mills Brothers 158 1938 The Mills Brothers Featuring Louis Armstrong vol4 (1937-1940) 2:43
Potato Chips Slim Gaillard 143 2004 Jazz For Kids – Sing, Clap, Wiggle, and Shake 3:04
Apollo Jump Lucky Millinder 143 Apollo Jump 3:26
For Dancers Only Jimmie Lunceford and His Harlem Express 178 1944 1944-Uncollected 2:22
Savoy Lucky Millinder 166 1993 Anthology Of Big Band Swing (Disc 2) 3:04
I Want The Waiter (with the water) Jimmie Lunceford and his Orchestra 151 1939 Lunceford Special 1939-40 2:44
Jive At Five Count Basie and His Orchestra 147 1960 The Count Basie Story (Disc 1) 3:02
Shoutin’ Blues Count Basie and His Orchestra 148 1949 Kansas City Powerhouse 2:38
Till Tom Special Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra 158 1940 Tempo And Swing 3:23
The Minor Goes Muggin’ Duke Ellington 176 1946 The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 15) 3:02
Cole Slaw Jesse Stone and His Orchestra 145 Original Swingers: Hipsters, Zoots and Wingtips vol 2 2:57
Yes, Indeed! Sy Oliver and Jo Stafford with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 134 1941 Yes, Indeed! 3:30
St. James Infirmary Hot Lips Page and his Orchestra 122 1949 Jump For Joy! 3:12
Black And Tan Fantasy Jimmie Lunceford 104 1997 Rhythm Is Our Business 2:44
New Style Baby Walter Brown with Jay McShann and His Kycee Stompers 120 1949 Kansas City Blues 1944-1949 (Disc 3) 2:37
Don’t Come Too Soon Julia Lee And Her Boyfriends 123 1949 Kansas City Blues 1944-1949 (Disc 2) 2:59
*Megs and I have very different taste in music, but we like each other and enjoy DJing together – she’s an arse kicker and we make each other laugh a lot. So it’s always good when we’re paired up for sets.

Mora’s Modern Swingtet’s 20th Century Closet

Mora’s Modern Swinget‘s 20th Century Closet.
A contemporary band who specialise in the sort of music I like most (earlier swinging jazz and 20s hot jazz), the Swingtet are a smaller version of the Rhythmists (they could be a completely different band that Mora runs, I haven’t checked – I have Dumb Brain right now). I was happy with the Rhythmists’ Call of the Freaks and have my eye on their latest album
This is fun stuff because the quality’s good, the songs are really neat (some of my favourites) and this sort of action is a great introduction to old school music for the more conservative/groover dancing crowd.
It’s nice to have a few songs by my favourite artists – I’ll list them below – my favourite small group artists:

The album contains 20 tracks of great swing of the 1930s and 1940s, originally performed by such bands as the John Kirby Orchestra, Artie Shaw’s Gramercy Five, Tommy Dorsey’s Clambake Seven, and the Duke Ellington small groups

And you know how I feel about Ellington. But I’m also a keen fan of John Kirby. I like that smaller, ‘chamber jazz’ sound. Maybe I need to explore Tommy Dorsey’s smaller groups?
Song highlights:
Hop, Skip and Jump – 191bpm – 2004 – 2:44
It’s interesting to compare this with the Campus Five version (which I talked about here). I might prefer the Campus 5 version, but I haven’t listened to them back to back yet, so I can’t be sure.
Krum Elbow Blues – 162bpm – 2004 – 2:45
I love the Ellington version of this song that I have (‘Krum Elbow Blues’ – Johnny Hodges and His Orchestra – 153bpm – 1938 – The Duke’s Men: The Small Groups, vol. 2 – 2:35), and I don’t have Mora’s liner notes in front of me, but he could have used that arrangement (that’s actually a big fat guess). It’s still a great song, and this is a decent version.
Effervescent Blues – 122bpm – 2004 – 3:07
Another ‘cover’ of one of my favourite songs (‘Effervescent Blues’ – John Kirby Sextet – 119bpm – 1939 – John Kirby Sextet: Complete Columbia and RCA Victor Recordings (disc 01) – 2:50), I do prefer Kirby’s version, but the quality of that version that I have is a bit dodgy. Not really up to places like CBD at all.
Jump Steady – 172bpm – 2004 – 2:39
I don’t have the liner notes in front of me, nor do I have another version of this in my itunes, so I’m not sure who the original’s by. But this is fun.
There are many other great tracks, but these are the ones at the front of my brain right now.
I do have some complaints about this album, though. I’m not struck on the vocalist, Kayre Morrison. She’s a bit… hoity toity. This band, all over, is a bit… uptight. Unhep.
I prefer the Willie Bryant versions of Rigamarole and A Viper’s Moan, for example, because they sound rawer, wilder and more emotionally authentic. The problem with some of these recreationist guys, is that they spend so much energy and effort on doing really careful reproductions of other artists’ work, they forget to put themselves into the music. I’ve written about this before here, so I needn’t say more than to repeat the last line of that post: “I like a little grunt, a little grit in my …music”.

Roy Eldridge’s After You’ve Gone

Roy Eldridge’s After You’ve Gone.
I’m feeling a bit tired and bashed about my the anithistamines I’ve had to take to save my sanity (I could, quite possibly, scratch my nose off my face otherwise), so I can’t write much.
Song highlights:
All the Cats Join In – Buster Harding with Roy Eldridge and his Orchestra – 176bpm – 1946 – 2:45
Jump Through The Window – Roy Eldridge and his Orchestra – 154bpm – 1943 – 2:42
Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip – Roy Eldridge and his Orchestra – 224bpm – 1946 – 2:45
Sometimes a bit too much squawky brass, but also some greatly fun dancing action.

manning-palooza


This is a lovely clip (URL) of Frankie Manning and Norma Miller Dawn Hampton dancing together at the The Jelly Roll 4th Anniversary Party in New York on the 10th February this year. Frankie is 93, Norma Dawn is 87 ??. Both of them can still dance like mofos. The song is Shiny Stockings (Basie, of course, but performed by the George Gee big band).
Manning_Australia_1938.jpg
I’m currently going through a big Frankie Manning phase. If I’m leading dumb I think to myself ‘what would Frankie do?’ Sure, he’d tell a long story about boobies, but then he’d do something silly to make the ladies laugh. I dig Norma Dawn, but this is a story about Frankie.
Manning has an autobiography coming out soon, which you can pre-order on amazon here.
There’s also an interesting interview with Manning (which you can download here, or grab via Yehoodi). At one point Manu asks Frankie about segregation. Manning’s answer is interesting, as he tells a number of stories which, while illustrating the nastiness of segregation, are also funny. They also – most interesting of all – make it clear that the best way of dealing with segregation if you didn’t want trouble was to quietly leave the room – to avoid conflict. It made me wonder if all those years of avoiding conflict has contributed to older African Americans metaphorically ‘leaving the room’ when segregation and race politics enter the discussion. Just quietly avoiding the issue or redirecting with a funny story. It’s fascinating, and something I’d like to find out more about.
—EDIT: to correct my not-paying-attention mistakes. Dawn Hampton and Norma Miller are two different people. Trev also pays more attention than I do —
—EDIT #2: Frankie Manning will be in Australia, in Sydney, in March/April (you can read the most unhelpful website here). I have no solid information on this gig, as it’s run by a woman/school who don’t do very good promotion. But of course, if you’re interested, this is one of the few chances you’ll get to hear/see Frankie teaching, talking and dancing in person in Australia—

nothing distracts like the frustration of being a very slow learner

I gots the email monkey. Each time the little red bubble thing pops up to let me know I have a new email I have to rush and check. If it’s come to my ‘official’ email address (ie not one that has anything to genetic engineering gone totally wacked) my heart rate jumps.
I’m waiting word on a postdoc I applied for that is ‘totally me’. In fact, so me it’s like they wrote the application with me in mind. The Squeeze said I should just have sent them my thesis with a short note: “I hear you have a position for me?”.
All this ‘it’s just so perfect for you!’ talk (which seems to have spread all over the continent – friends in Canberra, Perth, Brisbane and Tasmania have commented – the Ps are still being Proud Ps and blabbing my academic achievements to the world) only adds to the pressure. It’s entirely likely that I didn’t write a terribly great application letter, that my CV was crap and my discussion of my current research interests was dodgy. I don’t have enough experience with academic job applications to know what I’m supposed to do. And I’m not very good at being really serious and formal. It doesn’t help that this is a postdoc with a very flash American university. Pressure? What pressure?
Applications had to be in by the 13th February.

Finalists will be determined, appropriate visits to campus arranged, and a candidate selected by March, 2007.

So we’re looking at about two weeks til I hear, right?
God, this is killing me. I don’t really feel like I have a chance (though I look ok on paper, even though I don’t have millions of publications – I have about 5 waiting for paper incarnations but who cares about them when the chips are down?). But I’d really like the job – it’s a job where they want someone like this:

…a scholar in dance history/theory who examines dance forms as cultural practice with relationship to any of the following: international cultural exchange, globalization and globalizing practice, national and/or nationalist formations of embodied identities and cultures, and/or transnational and diasporic practice. We are open to the following geopolitical areas of specialization: Latin America (including the Caribbean, Central and South America), the African Subcontinent, the Middle East, East Asia, and South Asia.

See what I mean? Even the area of geopolitical specialisation applies, as I’m big on African vernacular dance history. It really is like they thought ‘hm, we want this girl. How can we get her?’ That, of course, makes it even worse. I really don’t feel positive about this application, but then, it is a perfect match. But did I communicate just how perfect? I mean, you have to be pretty crap to screw up a job application for which you are perfect, don’t you? I know it’s not helpful to think like that, but with the dentist thing dealt with and the thesis over, I need something on which to focus my irrational fears. Can’t undo all those years of tertiary programing education just like that, can we?
And it’s not like there are many of us thinking about dance as cultural practice, with an interest in dance history/theory (again, I’m both). And who’s talking about international cultural exchange? God, it’s like they read that paper on lindy exchanges and camps as un/national networks. Globalization? Well, more like localised globalisation, but what’s one letter? Embodied identities? Embodied cultures? National or Nationalised formations of said identities? Diaspora? Baby, I got your diaspora right here.
It’s scary. And so I can’t stop checking my email. This is one application I haven’t just forgotten about. It’s bothering me. And no amount of work or music-listening or sewing (three dresses in a weekend, folks – one house dress, two wearing-to-a-wedding options, only a couple of hems and one set of buttons to finish) can distract me.
I think I need some Big Apple time. Nothing distracts like the frustration of being a very slow learner.

24 sucks arse

I am up to episode 10 of the first season of 24 and I think I’m beginning to hate it. I can overlook the dumb story line. But now that the whole ‘real time’ thing has become more familiar than novelty (I was a bit interested in the way a meta story arc would develop over a season if we’re talking one hour at a time – a season one day long… though soap operas have been into that shit for years), I’ve had time to notice other things.
1. The black presidential candidate David Palmer. I’m sorry, but I’m just not accepting the idea that the US would have a black candidate as a realistic presidential hopeful. I certainly don’t dig the idea that he’d have so great a chance as to prompt a complex, expensive and utterly unrealistic assassination project. But perhaps there are other issues I haven’t yet met, seeing as how I’m only up to episode 10. But I’m afraid I’m just not buying it.
2. The gender stuff. Holy fuck. Rape, rape, rape. And then, most wonderfully, male vengeance for female victims. It’s beginning to make me insanely angry. I hated the Crow for this little narrative element. What is it with people writing media? Can’t they imagine a woman avenging her own rape? Can’t they imagine a woman who is not a victim, a potential victim or man-bitch-who-you-wouldn’t-fuck-but-can-kill?
While 24 no doubt thinks it’s being clever, it’s no I Spit On Your Grave – there are no ambiguous gender politics or opportunities for resistance here.
The rape stuff:
Let’s see. First we have Palmer’s daughter, who was raped seven years ago, but then avenged by her teen aged brother. Even more wonderfully, her mother Sherry colludes in covering up the brother’s vengeance. Sherry is increasingly painted as a deceitful, ambitious, nasty, emasculating harpy who doesn’t do as she’s told. There’s bad stuff in their family generally – a father with a secret (and inability to love his family properly, hence making him responsible for the daughter’s rape, the son’s having to avenge her and the mother’s having to take control of the family), a damaged daughter, an angry murdering son and a harpy mother. It’s not good. It’s certainly no Bartlet family.
Then we have the hero Jack Bauer’s daughter Kim’s friend who is apparently date raped, or at least drugged and drunked to the point where she’ll have sex in a furniture store (I’m not buying the ‘safe sex’ clue – the used condoms helping the mother figure out they were there. These are not condom boys). She ends up getting killed by someone the rest of the characters think is her father. Nice. No one punishes a whore like the patriarchy, right?
Then we have the daughter Kim’s ‘faked’ rape while held captive. The male abductor(who is now her ‘friend’) lies to his fellow guard, telling him he’s going to assault Kim, while really he uses this as a cover to sneak her out and help her escape (though she doesn’t escape).
This rape story then serves as a plot device, with the implication that this character’s story about having his way with Kim placed the idea in his fellow guard’s mind. This guard, apparently aroused by the daughter and mother’s terror as they’re on their knees with guns at their heads, awaiting execution, then decides to assault the daughter.
This is the bit that makes me fucking furious. The mother, Terri, volunteers to sub in for Kim and ‘allows’ the abductor to rape her. Though this is revealed as her using the chance to steal his mobile phone, she is later punished with some nasty cramps.
Meanwhile, Jack is rushing to save the ‘family’ – the vulnerable mother and daughter – save them from… whatever. And the point is repeatedly made in episode nine that all this is to preserve their family. Their nice little nuclear family.
This whole ‘mother subbing in for daughter as rape victim’ thing makes me so fucking angry. I just don’t see it serving any narrative purpose other than disturbing titillation. And the old ‘protect virgins’, ‘women who’ve had sex don’t mind being raped’ thing drives me wild.
I know that that the narrative relies on the mother and daughter needing rescuing (which sucks, but well, what can you do?), but why can’t they make Terri a dangerous captive whose actions mean that she is more likely to be killed, and so making Jack’s speedy completion of his mission all the more important?
2a. The gender stuff – general female characters.
Ok, so now I’m seeing some serious misogyny. What female characters do we have left?
1. Jamey. Asian/Latino (I’m not sure, though Latino is implied, and one of the dodgier characters, Tony, makes a muttered (and presumably racist) comment to her as she’s tied up in episode… eight or nine (I can’t remember which)). She’s a traitor, she ‘commits suicide’ (I haven’t seen enough to be sure of this – it looks like it was set up by Tony, who could be a baddy, but I don’t think he ends up being a baddy. I can’t actually predict this show, which tells me it’s either cutting edge, genre-bending plot action or just a bit messy. I suspect the latter), she’s a single mother. She has to die. Quite bloodily and nastily. She was a technical wizz as well, and of course, had to die.
2. Nina. Skinny, dark hair, the hero’s number 1. Is told by a nasty bloke that she used to have a good reputation, that she was ‘going somewhere’, but her affair with Jack has left her a low-status has-been lapdog for Jack. I’m not sure how or why, and while this male character is kind of unreliable, Nina apparently believes him.
Nina and Jack had an affair while Jack was estranged from his wife Terri. Nina is punished by Jack when he shoots her and shoves her down a hill (she’s not really dead or shot, but it’s suitably emblematic of their relationship). Nina is also continually jostling with the unreliable Tony for Jack’s attention/the number 1 position.
Nina sucks. She’s pathetic. She gets bossed around by Jack and Tony, refuses to think for herself and gets into deep shit.
3. Nina is pushed aside by the pale skinned black woman Alberta, Jack’s replacement as boss of the department. The pale skinned black woman thing is important – all the ‘black’ female characters are very pale skinned, while the black male characters are darker skinned. This shit is so fucking old school racist it’s like I’m at the Cotton Club watching the ‘tall, tanned and terrific’ show girls. Alberta is also painted as a bit of a ball-breaking vagina dentata. Lots of red lipstick and well-fitting suits, but nasty.
4. Lauren, the girl Jack kidnaps as a hostage.
I can’t even go into this one. But she’s the deceitful, morally bankrupt working class stooge character. And it makes me ANGRY because I just BET her weight (ie she’s not a super-skinny stick like all the other women) is deliberately intended as a signifier of her untrustworthiness.
5. Terri, Jack’s wife, Kim’s mother.
Dumb. It’s her fault she and Jack separated (she couldn’t deal with his post-traumatic stress syndrome after a nasty secret mission). She was sucked in by the pretend father of Kim’s friend. She couldn’t escape properly. She’s too skinny.
I really do think I hate 24. I will see out the season, though, to see if this stuff turns around. But I am really having trouble with the fact that the mother and daughter Terri and Kim are held captive in a barn (with bales of hay, no less), and there’s such a nasty undercurrent of sexual tension surrounding them. It really, really makes me angry that they’re just waiting there to be rescued.
There are no decent female characters in this show. It sucks.
In direct contrast, West Wing has interesting gender politics. We are up to episode five or six of season 2, and I had had some concerns about CJ’s character. She was the only character who doubted her abilities/appearance and her repeated stuff ups were given lots of plot time. But the most recent episode, The Lame Duck Congress deals with that in an interesting way. We see CJ deal with a difficult general – she nails his arse (though her decision is later countermanded by the president…which is a bit disturbing, but works within the context of the show’s premise – everyone has to kowtow to the president, not just chicks) and is super-clever and brilliant. I feel better about WW‘s handling of gender stuff because it’s more complex. It’s not cut and dried. I think I need to read and think more about it, because I haven’t made up my mind yet, but for now, it’s really interesting me and keeping me on board. It certainly kicks 24 arse.

she who dies with the most fabric wins

Bravery report
Ok, so I survived the dentist yesterday. The appointment took about 10 minutes, was absolutely painless and very effective. The dentist was all “Why didn’t you come in? There was no reason to suffer that pain for so long for such a little thing?” and I was all “I was scared,” and then he was “but I’m not scary, am I? You can talk to me” and then I went “it wasn’t rational. If it was rational I would have come in.”
But it didn’t hurt, he didn’t charge me and it doesn’t hurt any more. It was just a bit of sticky-out filling that was bumping out into my bite and needed filing down so it didn’t echo impact up into my jaw. So now it’s all nice and I am much braver about the dentist. He had to remind me: “But that last time was a root canal. That’s the most painful thing you can have done. Nothing else will hurt like that.” I can’t help these things.
I was pretty brave all up. I only teared up a bit when I told him I was scared. I don’t know what my problem is – I can get up in front of a few hundred people and do a bit of strutting and telling of shit. I can get up in front of zillions of people and dance like a fool (with authentic chicken steps and all*), do the worm and so on. I can deal with aggressive bullying blokes. I can teach groups of surly teenagers about the internet. I can run massive week-long dance events. I can play music to ensure a room full of picky dancers have a good time. But I can’t handle a bit of pain.
Sigh. Something to work on, I guess.
So I go back in a year for a regular check up. I’m sure I’ll be back to my pre-surprise-root-canal bravery by then.
Yoga update
On other fronts, I went to yoga again today. That’s two weeks since last time. I suck, because I love yoga, it makes me feel so good (though it’s hurting at the moment), it helps me avoid injuries and muscle strain in dance and it’s fun and social with lots of nice nannas. But I went, and that’s what counts.
Then I went to Sugardough and had a nice salad roll and a cup of tea followed by a nice brownie. Then I bought an olive bread thing (like a skinny french loaf, but not as skinny as those Italian bread stick things – help me out here, Galaxy, will you?) which I love eating toasted with fetta cheese on top.
Sewing news
Then I went to the-fabric-store-whose-name-we-cannot-speak and bought too much fabric. I will blog images if I can ever get them off The Squeeze’s camera (I have a backlog on there). I bought:

  • some black stuff to make a dress for The Squeeze’s sister’s wedding (two weeks away or something). It will have straps, a high waist (sort of empire-lined, but A-line skirt), a bodice that’s in three bits (I’ve forgotten the proper name, but it gives a more fitted look) and I’m going to make some little flower petals or some sort of shaped pieces to sew onto the front to add detail. I have a nice purple version I should also blog – I’m too fat for it these days, but it’s still one of my favourites. The shaped bits will be like petals (two pieces sewn together to give a bit of a 3D look) and are a black-on-purple paisley-esque print. Very tasteful.
  • some cream background craft fabric with nice green crocodiles printed. This will be a bodice for a dress with a high waist (again – it makes my body look longer), with the sirt made out of an interesting greeny patterned craft fabric. All crocodiles would have been fun, but perhaps a bit too unflattering. I like interesting prints, so I wouldn’t have minded the crocodiles all over. Just not the cream background. It will have the green as bias binding around the top of the bodice, and maybe the straps will be the green as well. I’m thinking a crocodile pocket as well. But I haven’t decided on the pattern yet. If I love this dress, it may be the wedding outfit. But it’s my first green dress ever and I usually don’t like any colour that’s not black, purple, pink, red, maroon or some other warm colour. I look shit in blues and greens and whites and yellows and oranges (because I am ‘olive’ coloured. Which means I look yellow when I don’t have a tan, which means I look a little jaundiced. I also have dark eyes and eyebrows)
  • two big pieces of white voile with black prints. One is a nice rose sort of pattern (like a line drawing – I know it has a real name but I’ve forgotten it). The other has a stronger black print and is William Morris-ish. I doubt I’ll ever make anything from them but I like looking them. And as we all know, she who dies with the most fabric wins.

Quilting news
Come on, summer, get over yourself. I have a new project to finish and it sucks to have to put the fan on so I can bear to work on it.
Remind me to post some pics of my latest (divine) job, will you? I am all about quilting using found or remnant fabrics, so most of my quilts are quite small, but also quite beautiful**. It’s nice to see vintage fabrics from which I made favourite dresses (which died ages ago) all matched up in one quilt.
Cinema review
Yesterday I saw Leonard Cohen: I’m Your Man and really enjoyed it. I’m a big fan of Cohen’s music and I really liked all the music in the film. It’s a doco, but a pretty arty farty one (not much useful knowledge in there), and it’s mostly footage of other people at a concert singing Cohen’s songs. Rufus Wainwright does a freaking amazing version of Everybody Knows which blew my brain and made the whole film worth the entry cost.
It does, however have fucking Bono and The Edge talking about Cohen and performing with him. I wanted to scream profanities at them. I fucking hate U2. I fucking hate Bono. He sucks arse. And can’t sing half as well as he thinks he can. And the Edge? Shit, I could play guitar better than him. It was so pathetic to see them playing with Cohen after people like the Wainwrights, the Handsome Family, Nick Cave and Jarvis Cocker doing these wonderful, interesting versions of Cohen’s music. And Bono is suck a wanker. I mean, Hallelujah is a wonderful song, but so freaking obvious.
But aside from thaose nasty little Irish moments, the film was neat. Go if you love Cohen, but don’t go if you don’t like him. It’d suck if you didn’t like him.
*the peck is a very Frankie Manning move. These days I am saying “what would Frankie do?” whenever I want to spice up a basic step. So I imagine I have a giant, 90-year-old-man arse, an interest in boobs and a really low centre of gravity. It really helps me get down off my toes and work it. Just like a dirty old man.
** not in a ‘man, you’re so talented! what a fabulous bit of patchwork/quilting!’ way, but in a ‘aren’t they nice fabrics?’ way.

one phrase. that’s 4 8s. or 16 bars. or about 4 seconds

Yesterday I spent an hour and fifteen minutes doing some dancing in dah house and managed to:

  • go over the Tranky Doo a few times
  • go over the Big Apple (FKP) bits I know
  • learn one phrase from the line bit of the BAFKP. That’s some difficult shit. But I am totally onto it. I should have this routine learnt in about… ten years. Or by the end of 2007

It’s still really difficult to learn the partner bits on my own. But I think I’m doing a pretty good job.
I need someone to help me style the Tranky Doo so I don’t look so honky. Or, as Sally kindly pointed out on Thursday night, so I don’t dance like my elbows are glued to my sides.
But the BAFKP taught me how to to do one of the difficult transitions in the Tranky Doo. Goddess Bless the internet.

Tommy Dorsey’s Yes Indeed!

I probably spent more on this baby than I should have (I have a $30 dollar limit for single CDs, including postage), but this is some sweet action.
Trev mentioned it eight days ago, I checked it out, did some late night impulse CD purchasing, and it arrived from somewhere foreign yesterday. How’s that for amazingly speedy gratification?
Ok so here’s what I think of it:
Some bits are a bit squawky. But that’s ok… well, I don’t like that squawk much because it sounds fucked at CBD, but it’s ok for this album. Some bits are a bit sweet, but, well, we can ignore that. Overall, there are at least six songs that I’d happily DJ, a couple that I’m very keen to DJ and some that probably need to be tested. There are also a good number of clappy/shouty songs, which is pleasing.
We’re looking at a spread of stuff from 1939 to 1945, reasonable sound quality (well, at home anyway) and some nice liner notes. Not amazing liner notes, but useful liner notes. It seems Sy Oliver is my man.
What tracks? Have a look down there below. But let’s look at some highlights.
What a coincidence – The Minor Goes Muggin’, as crapped on about here (and which I now realise I do like, have liked and have had a copy of for ages). Duke Ellington with Tommy Dorsey’s Orchestra in 1945.
Well, Git It!, made fairly famous with local dancers by the Mad Dog people in 2003 (check out that performance on youtube here). Mad Dog of course included a bunch of now-rockstar dancers. I had a couple of versions of this song, but this is the slower one and it’s decent quality. It’s less sweet than the version that’s on that Swingin’ in Hollywood, but not quite as good as the chunky fun version Mad Dog used.
I really like At the Fat Man’s (more clapping and talking about food) – nice, unscary tempo. Bit squawky, but fun. Fun lyrics, too.
There’s also a great version of Easy Does It (made famous by Basie and his versions are the ones I’ve heard mostly – kind of dull though goodish). This version chunks along and really makes me feel like dancing.
The version of Stomp It Off (a song originally written for Jimmie Lunceford by Sy Oliver and recorded in 1935) isn’t anywhere as good as the Lunceford versions I have. In fact, the Lunceford versions are ones I really adore – they make me dancing-crazy, clock in at about 190bpm and have a fun, upenergy, perky feel. This Dorsey one is a bit too sweet and kind of annoying. The tempo is a bit low as well, so it kind of drags. It doesn’t feel as ‘crisp’ either. But it’s a curiousity.
Swingin’ on Nothing is an old favourite, and I’m fond of it. It’s a trifle slow and draggy for me, but it’s a goody for newer/tireder dancers. Bit squawky, but you know, I can deal.
Well, All Right is fun, but I can’t decide if it’s the same song as the Lunceford Well Alright Then, which I’m fond of. There are vocals in this Dorsey one and they’re different tempos. I don’t think they’re the same. The Lunceford one is better, of course. But this is kind of fun. Reminds me of Calloway. But Calloway sung by a straighty-one-eighty chick.
There are songs like Opus #1 which everyone has a copy of and I don’t particularly like. It’s ok.
So What, Quiet Please and Swing High are fasty fun tracks (I prefer the last one, but there’s good shouting in Quiet Please). The rest are either a bit sweet, a bit slow or a bit dumb. Or I’ve just forgotten to talk about them.
But this is actually a good album if you want some good Dorsey action.
Lonesome Road, Part 1 Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 1939 Yes, Indeed! 2:36
Lonesome Road, Part 2 Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 129 1939 Yes, Indeed! 2:19
Well, All Right Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 150 1939 Yes, Indeed! 3:13
Night In Sudan Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 139 1939 Yes, Indeed! 3:14
Stomp It Off Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 160 1939 Yes, Indeed! 3:46
Easy Does It Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 155 1939 Yes, Indeed! 3:15
Quiet Please Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 292 1940 Yes, Indeed! 2:47
So What Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 301 1940 Yes, Indeed! 2:43
Swing High Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 251 1941 Yes, Indeed! 2:49
Swanee River Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 111 1941 Yes, Indeed! 3:14
Deep River Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 277 1941 Yes, Indeed! 3:59
Yes, Indeed! Sy Oliver and Jo Stafford with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 134 1941 Yes, Indeed! 3:30
Loose Lid Special Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 114 1941 Yes, Indeed! 2:47
Swingin’ On Nothin’ Sy Oliver and Jo Stafford with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 126 1941 Yes, Indeed! 3:17
Hallelujah Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 277 1941 Yes, Indeed! 3:04
Moonlight On The Ganges Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 136 1942 Yes, Indeed! 2:55
Well, Git It! Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 189 1942 Yes, Indeed! 3:03
Mandy, Make Up Your Mind Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 152 1942 Yes, Indeed! 2:59
Opus #1 Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 170 1944 Yes, Indeed! 2:55
Chloe Edythe Wright with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 1945 Yes, Indeed! 3:14
At The Fat Man’s Charlie Shavers with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 151 1945 Yes, Indeed! 3:11
The Minor Goes Muggin’ Duke Ellington with Tommy Dorsey and His Orchestra 177 1945 Yes, Indeed! 3:01