just a couple of thoughts about cold, hot and va-va-voom

Kate’s been thinking about the relationship between cool, hot and va-va-voom here and here. She writes:

I was reaching towards a difference between ‘I am hot because I am 17 and thin and blonde-haired and look like a model in my designer clothes’ and ‘I am hot because I enjoy sex and good food and music and many other pleasurable things’. Is there a difference? I think it’s the difference between being considered sexually attractive, and enjoying sex. It’s the difference between someone who people say is ‘beautiful’ and someone who people say is ‘fun to be with’.

BessieSmith.jpeg I did start to write a really long comment on her post, but then thought ‘dood, you have your own blog’, so here are a words about ‘the blues’ from the 20s, 30s and 40s, and the awesome chicks who sang it.
I’ve done dance classes with ladies from the 40s who sing about making your partner want it/you. In a kind of ‘power’ way: no namby pamby lady-like rubbish. Get him to come get you, or go get him yourself.
Or, as Velma Middleton said (in her 60s), “Daddy… oooh, Daddy, momma wants some lovin'”.
And to quote Rosetta Howard (in Rosetta’s Blues):
I’ll bet my money,
I can take any woman’s man in town,
I’ll bet my money,
I can take any woman’s man in town,
I can take your man,
and I won’t have to run him down.
… followed by…
oh,
oh,
what’s the matter now?
oh,
oh,
what’s the matter now?
I took your man,
and how.
…
I ain’t got no future,
but lord, lord, what a past,
I ain’t got no future,
but lord, lord, what a past,
if the Rosetta blues don’t get you,
no tellin’ how long you’ll last.
AlbertaHunter.jpegBut my favourite is Rosetta Crawford in My Man Jumped Salty on Me where she sings about her ‘viper’ (ie junky) man who jumped salty (ie, he got a bit stroppy with her) on her:

I’m gonna get me a razor,
and a gun,
cut him if he stands still,
shoot him if he runs.
’cause that man
jumped salty on me.
youngAlbertaHunter.jpegThe good thing about all this blues stuff is that ‘singing the blues’ isn’t necesarily about being sad. It’s about singing (and dancing) to get rid of your blues. And because we’re talking 20s/30s, the lyrics are explicit (dang, do a search for ‘Shave ’em Dry’ here for an example), usually really funny, and very sassy. And these chicks kick arse.
And blokes like Louis Jordan (not to mention Fats Waller – who just loooved women. All of them and of course sang the line “Fish is my favourite dish, yeah!”) sang songs like You’re my Meat (which is about 200bpm, high energy and really fun), whose lyrics are as followed:
Outside in and inside out
you’re my meat,
ah, you’re fat and forty,
but lordy,
you’re my meat.
From your feet to your head,
you knock me dead,
you’re my meat,
ah, I got you covered,
but baby,
you’re my meat.
In the days of old
when knights were bold
they were pious and modest i’m told,
don’t you see
that could never be me
I have to talk about your yams
and your big fat hams,
[and we build to a musical climax here. Of course]
It excites me so
because I know
you’re my meat,
fat and forty,
but lordy,
you’re my meat.
[bridge]
Fat and forty,
but lordy,
you’re my meat.
Fat and forty
but lordy, lordy
you are my meat.
FatsWaller.jpegNow it sounds pretty grotty. Because it is. This sort of enthusiasm for generously proportioned women, and the association between sex and food pretty much characterises a fair bit of jazz and blues from the 20s, 30s and 40s. Sometimes it’s subtle, sometimes it’s not.
There is, for example, a version of Hold Tight made famous by the Andrews Sisters which completely ignores the rudeness of Fats’ version. Where he sings “I want some seafood, mamma” and you know exactly what he’s talking about.
There’s a fair number of songs singing about big, fat (and healthy) women, though Lucky Millinder’s Big Fat Mamma is pretty much the clearest: “I want a big fat mamma”.
One of the nicest parts is the way the call and response structure of these blues-rooted songs effectively has the instruments (and vocal chorus, if there is one) saying ‘yes, yes, tell me more’ and often ‘oh yes, I know what you’re talking about’. Incidentally, most of this stuff is sung by black artists. The white doods were much cleaner. Coyer.
And while songs like the Jordan one above might make you cringe with its heterocentrism, there are plenty of songs by women, about women and involving extremely dirty sentiments. The song Sweet Georgia Brown, especially as sung by Alberta Hunter, makes it very clear that this is a woman who can (and does) have anyone she wants. Anyone.
The humour of it all prevents it slipping into painfulness. And if you avoid people like Jimmy Witherspoon (who makes me gag – he quite happily sings about wanting a woman he doesn’t have to beat to get her to behave), it’s all good.
All of this is the sentiment to keep in mind when you watch clips like this:

…ok, I have to go the shops now, but I want to talk about ‘cool’ and ‘hot’ later. There’s some really interesting stuff on the relationship between having a ‘cool’ (ie impassive or just plain cool and laid back) face and ‘hot’ body (ie a body that’s going at mega speeds, or workin’ it old school). There are some interesting things written about people like Snake Hips Tucker, who kept a ‘cool’ face while his body was doing crazy shit.
…but I have to go.
[Edit: Hello there – if you’re interested in this sort of stuff, you might also like to read the (more intelligible) follow-up posts on this topic: a long story about blues, women, feminism and dance and hot and cool.]

djing for lindy hoppers at the speegs

DJingAtSpiegeltent.gifI also played a set at the Spiegeltent during MLX. It was very exciting – a well paid gig, where I finally had the chance to play kicking lindy hop songs for a kicking lindy hop crowd. I was also lucky enough to share the set with Trev (thank the goddess for his generousity – I’d never have made it through three and a half hours on my own that night).
So the set was a combination of ‘crazy exchange lindy’ (dancers at exchanges are notoriously? famously? infamously? enthusiastic and open minded about music (compared to when they’re at home)), Trev-inspired old school lindy stuff (ie things I dig but don’t get to play very often here in my regular gigs), stuff that’s just plain old good fun and a few other odds and ends.
It was an interesting set because I had to move from the disco/funk they were playing on the house stereo (I loath nasty transitions), allow for the juggling performance (I regret not getting the energy up before his act so I could get the crowd in the mood), take into account the fact that many of the lindy hoppers would be tired from the previous gig where (for example) Trev DJed an awesome set – the Gangbusters bracket where his tempos averaged 180 – 200 bpm. That’s frickin’ fast. And it was frickin’ fun. I also had to take into account the fact that there were lots of non-dancers jiggling about on the dance floor.
There are a few rules for DJing at the Spiegeltent (so I’ve noticed):
1. Saucy = bad idea. The punters just feel uncomfortable. The guys don’t dance, the girls feel silly.
2. Food songs = fun. Kids love them. Adults love them.
3. Upenergy = go. It’s a fun place, so the energy needs to be fun.
The below list is the set I played that night. I started off with some unswing to segue into my set, then played some ‘necrophiliac blues’ because I wasn’t sure how to get to the main lindy hopping event and was kind of finding my groove (I’m also a bit out of practice). In retrospect, I should have gotten the bpms up higher earlier.
CountBasie.jpgThere were a few bits that I really liked – the shift from Shouting Blues (1949) by Basie to Ridin’ on the L&N by Hamp (1946) to Vine Street Boogie (1941) by Jay McShann (extra meaningful in light of his recent death) was really pleasing. Basie has a kicking rhythm section, of course at the piano himself. JayMcShann.jpgRidin’ on the L&N has a really chunking piano/base/percussion section (of course – this is Hamp), but it really sounds like a train chunking along the track. The vocals (with funny ‘uh-oh, is that a train at the other end of the tunnel?’ stories) are typically Hamp-humour. And of course, the McShann boogiewoogie (slower than uberboogie, but with a nice chunker piano sound) brings us back to Kansas (where Basie got his first go), and had that nice, heavy base feeling, but with the lighter, move-yo-feet! feel that I really like. LionelHampton.jpgI’m a bit over Lavender Coffin, the ‘gospel’ track which followed, but it had the right funny-dark-humour feel I like. The Witherspoon track was a bit of a stylistic jump (to a bit of hi-fi, power-groove), but it seemed appropriate, as Witherspoon (most sexist man alive dead) got his start with McShann. It’s also a great energy upper, and I thought that we’d gotten a bit low-tempo there with those other songs.
I quite like playing that version of A Smo-o-oth One by Cab Calloway because it has no vocals and people always ask me who it’s by. The most common version of that song is one by Benny Goodman (1941) which sits on 126bpm, is nice, but kind of draggy. There’s also a version by Junior Mance (not sure of the year, sorry), which is 125bpm and a big groover song – meaning, kind of dull. I like the Calloway version (181bpm, again I’m not sure of the year, sorry – stupid compilations) because it’s great fun for dancing and pretty punchy.
SpiegeltentJamMLX6.gif
Overall, I was happy with the set, especially with the fact that I played my first ‘jam’ – Jumpin’ at the Woodside. The energy just felt high and good, and I just wanted to hear that song. The generally higher tempos feel of the night generally (and Trev’s influence) helped me take the risk. And of course, I should have realised that such an iconic track would get the kids jammin’. I deliberately chose the later era Basie recording (1960), from The Count Basie Story CountBasieStory.jpg (where he re-recorded the seminal hits from his earlier band with his ‘new testament’ (and arguably better) late testament band) because the quality is sweet. The song before was hi-fi, and I thought a nice, clear hi-fi recording would work best in this situation.
Unfortunately, the base-controlling thingy on the sound desk (which automatically cuts in when the base gets too high, lowers the volume, then slowly lets it back up over a few seconds) cut in near the end and the volume was crappily low. But it meant that I could just move from that to a new, non-jam song without flogging a dead horse. It was a really fun jam, actually, and The Squeeze caught a few amazing photos.
So here’s the set list:
(title-artist-bpm-year-album)
Think-Aretha Franklin-109-Greatest Hits – Disc 1
Please Please Please-James Brown-74-1991-Sex Machine
Hamp’s Salty Blues-Lionel Hampton and His Quartet-86-1946-Lionel Hampton Story 3: Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop
Amtrak Blues-Alberta Hunter-95-1978-Amtrak Blues
Why Don’t You Right-Jonathan Stout And His Campus Five Featuring Hilary Alexander-118-2004
St. James Infirmary-Hot Lips Page and his Orchestra-122-1949-Jump For Joy!
Minnie The Moocher-Cab Calloway and His Orchestra-112-1931-The Early Years 1930-1934 Disc A
Every Day I Have The Blues-Count Basie-116-1959-Breakfast Dance And Barbecue
Drinkin’ Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee-Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra-130-1949-Lionel Hampton Story 4: Midnight Sun
Flying Home-Lionel Hampton and His Orchestra-159-1940-Tempo And Swing
Good Queen Bess-Duke Ellington-160-1940-The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 10)
Stomp It Off-Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra-190-1934-Swingsation – Jimmie Lunceford
Squatty Roo-Duke Ellington-202-1941-The Duke Ellington Centennial Edition: Complete RCA Victor Recordings (disc 12)
A Viper’s Moan-Willie Bryant And His Orchestra-153 -Willie Bryant 1935-1936
A Smo-o-oth One-Cab Calloway-181-2000-Jungle King
For Dancers Only-Jimmie Lunceford and His Orchestra-154-1937-Swingsation – Jimmie Lunceford
Shoutin’ Blues-Count Basie and His Orchestra-148-1949-Kansas City Powerhouse
Ridin’ On The L&N-Lionel Hampton and His Quartet-170-1946-Lionel Hampton Story 3: Hey! Ba-Ba-Re-Bop
Vine Street Boogie-Jay McShann and His Orchestra-153-1941-Jumpin’ The Blues (Disc 1)
Lavender Coffin -Lionel Hampton, etc-138-1949-Lionel Hampton Story 4: Midnight Sun
Good Rockin’ Tonight-Jimmy Witherspoon-155-1998-Jazz Me Blues: the Best of Jimmy Witherspoon
Jumpin’ At The Woodside-Count Basie and His Orchestra-278-1960-The Count Basie Story (Disc 1)
Sent For You Yesterday-Count Basie and His Orchestra with Joe Williams-163-1960-The Count Basie Story (Disc 2)
Apollo Jump-Lucky Millinder-143-Apollo Jump
Savoy Blues-Kid Ory-134-2002-Golden Greats: Greatest Dixieland Jazz Disc 3
Are You Hep To The Jive?-Cab Calloway-160-1994-Are You Hep To The Jive?
…I have to admit. I did play that bluesier stuff hoping to see a couple of the prissy lindy purists dance de olden dayes blues dancing. Ain’t nothing finer than the power of the Pad o Plastic. I really feel that you can’t dance lindy with any sort of serious cred if don’t also know the blues with your body as well – the sort of blues that was getting around at the same time as this uptempo ‘lindy’ music.
And some lindy hoppers are just so precious.

crazed and manic jubilation

I just found out that my thesis was passed WITHOUT CORRECTIONS!!
I have done the crazy happy dance about 10 times already (lots of high kicks up into the air, a few twirly spin-arounds, some random jiggling).
If I hurry I can do the graduation thing in March/April.
So I am now Dr dogpossum (mostly)! Hoorah!
…remind me to write about the dance conference, will you? I met some lovely (and awe-inspiring) young dancers who work with companies like Bangarra (and how did I introduce myself? “You guys rock!” – I am all about cool. But they did – their mini-performance blew me away!), networked like a crazy person, discovered someone who has Graybags for a supes (and knows Galaxy), told some inappropriate jokes, shared Frida and the Whitey’s Lindy Hoppers with a bunch of doods who understood what I’ve been trying to say about them and ate some of the best conference food EVER.
[and hoorah for the markers – the thesis was sent to them at the end of September, and they had the marks to me by today – that’s under 3 months turnaround time]

rock on, canberra

Dang, homies, I have so much to blog. But that’s the deal when you’re busy – plenty to blog about, no time to do the actual blogging.
Since my last post, I have come to Canberra and been at the CSAA conference where I gave my paper to what amounted to a bunch of my friends. There were some rockingly good parallel sessions, including some terribly cool ones on computers. Dance sounds really naff in the program (and that’s what it was called – ‘Dance’. Mmm, appealing. And in the final session of the conference no less). There were 3 of us presenting, then an assortment of our mates and one guy* who I suspect wandered in by accident (and actually ended up having all 3 of us presenters address a few ideas and comments to his paper in the preceding (and absolutely world-rocking) session which was called something like ‘Asian – the UnAustralian?’). I don’t think he was ready for 3 dance nerds on speed, feeling the love and ready to Give Cooperative Paper.
We three are always in the same session, even though we don’t really work on the same material. It’s like when you have ‘women’ in your thesis title – you’re popped in the gender studies department. But with us, when you have ‘dance’ in your title, you’re popped in the dance session. Even when you’re not really talking about dance so much as the relationship between online and embodied networks.
Ah well. We enjoy ourselves more and more each year. And this year I felt so comfortable with this crew (as did the other 2), I could direct particular points to the other presenters or ask them questions mid-paper. Not cool, in the world of ‘serious’ ackadackas, but far more fun. I think I break the ackadacka paper presentation rules every time I present. Too many dance clips. Too much fun. Too much to say. I’m also adverse to using impenetrable ackadacka language, so I’m sure I come off sounding ignorant. Or at least misinformed. I do write papers and intend to read them, verbatim, but I can never resist adding in comments. Especially when I’m showing clips.
In other conference news, it was really nice to catch up with old Brisvegas buddies. Shout out to the Gunders, Laurie Townsville, Sue, Andrea and everyone else – the sorts of people who feel comfortable in shorts and thongs and aren’t afraid to show it… though admittedly, Sue’s would be uber-chic, and not the Kmart variety.
I also developed a smarting crush on one of the Sydney pgrads (my lips are sealed)**, and my deep and abiding love for John Frow… abides. I was not the only one to admit to a serious crush on that tall, unusual and enduringly shy hawty acka. I am also smitten by (or should that be with?) Larissa Barendt: two top key note talks (missed all the others, and have heard mixed reports about them. Sorry I missed the unusual European with fascinating body language – the dancers on-crew gave very excellent reviews).
Tomorrow I do the cultural studies in dance seminar. It’s not as well organised as the CSAA doo, so I’m not feeling terribly confident. Also, there are a few too many concert dance types in the schedule, so…
I’ve been haranguing KLK about high and low culture and why the only option for me (as a cultural studies stooge), really, is to look at vernacular dance.
Meanwhile, we’re watching Back to the Future on telly, discussing our teenage years (during which this film was released), eating chocolate and sending each other to the kitchen for cups of tea.
I pay particular attention to Michael J Fox’s sneakers – the sort of adidas that are tres chic with the kids today.
Rock on Canberra.
*He was on my list of conference-crushes, actually. Dang he gave good paper.
**Unfortunately, all my crushes are for people’s brains. All my physical desires are reserved for The Squeeze. Because he gives good chop-and-freckle.

the Great Barbeque Effort of 2006

I had considered blogging each of the photos from the cooking efforts last week, but decided flickr was the appropriate tool for this job.

I suggest beginning with this photo in flickr, then following the ‘more’ arrows to the right.
Duh me for uploading in the wrong order.
NB: for recipes consult the Gastropod Wednesday entry.
NB2: Thai sent me an email with the following:

This cookbook that has all the recipes that I made on Wed:
How to Grill: The Complete Illustrated Book of Barbecue Techniques (Paperback)
by Steven Raichlen
http://www.amazon.com/How-Grill-Illustrated-Barbecue-Techniques/dp/0761120149
Via Amazon’s search-inside-the-book feature, I believe you can just
search for “asparagus rafts”, “corn on the cob”, and “portobello
mushrooms” to see the recipes in the book without needing to buy it:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0761120149/ref=sib_dp_pt/#reader-link

Sneaky googlers.
NB3: I believe Thai is mistaken.