Pia Beck passes away at age 84

Just five months ago, I wrote an article for EurOut, a list of 10 Dutch out women you need to know. Topping that list was Pia Beck, Jazz singer and piano player extraordinaire.

Today, 26 November 2009, the sad news of Beck’s death went around the world. She died of a heart attack in the home in Torremolinos, Spain she used to share with her partner Marga Samsonowski. Samsonowski regrettably passed away in June of this year, leaving Beck behind for only a few short months. Beck passed away at age 84.

Beck was active in the jazz scene for 63 years, was an honorary citizen of New Orleans and Atlanta and was called the greatest Jazz pianist in history by deceased jazz legend Oscar Peterson.

Her website opened a condolence register for those who would like to say a few words.

May you rest calmly. You will not be forgotten.

When Feminism Went Nuts

Quiet recently I stumbled onto an article about the New Feminist. In this long, enlightening and detailed rant/account about the decline of the modern feminist, a writer at the Times Online reacts to the changing attitude towards sex, body image, pornography, feminism and empowerment. While the first wave feminists wanted nothing more than equality, feminism 2009, according to the article means ‘acting out male masturbation fantasies — because you want to’.

With the sexualized society we live in currently (a society where pornography and strip clubs are widely accepted, bisexuality is defined as a Katy Perry song and women derive their self worth from shoe shopping and the ability to pleasure a man in the bedroom), the author wonders what happened to the feminists. To the women (and even men) who fought for actual rights for women.

The author (and I, personally) were shocked to discover so few women call themselves feminists these days. Stepping away from the article for a moment, I must quote songwriter Ani DiFranco here: ‘Why can’t all decent men and women call themselves feminists? Out of respect for those who fought for this.’ (Grand Canyon, 2004)

More troubling, even, is the twisted image of a Feminist. ‘Feminism means no fun or make-up, anger and hating men.’, the article states. Apparently in the global society of 2009, we have forgotten Gloria Steinem, Alice Walker, Susan B. Anthony, Angela Davis and all the other women who fought so women had the right to go to the police when they were raped, so women could vote, get educated, have a job that paid and have abortions and sex only when they wanted to.

“All the battles are won.” one of the interviewees in the article says. It’s one of the saddest things I have heard in a long time. As a woman who’s subjected daily to the sexualized view on women that is so very, very active these days, I’d say that the war is just beginning. As Ani Difranco states; ‘feminism ain’t about equality, it’s about reprieve’.

My own rant aside, this article offers a wonderful inside into a changing, global, society that’s influenced greatly by mass media that defines behavior for every target group. After the loss of religion and its rules and regulations and even after the first, second and maybe even after the third wave feminists, we are left with the society described in the article. A society that could benefit greatly by having the female (and dare I say it—feminist) view on it more publicly proclaimed.

Quizzzz Time!!!

-------------> Now closed <--------------

Hello friends, family and tweeple!

I know this is not exactly where you ought to use a blog for but well... 

eff it :P As some of you may know, I'm in college and right now 

I need everyone's help! I have a report to turn in and part of the report 

means a round of questions to everyone I can bother.

So right now I'm bothering you. Sorry. ;)

It'll only take a minute or two and it would help me greatly. 

So please, read through the questions and either:

a) leave a comment with your answers

b) Twitter me @faithfulchosen 

('1:a, 2:Fallout3, 3:g, 4:d, 5:c' is absolutely fine & perfect!)

Question 1:

Do you have a favorite computer game?

a) yes (please go to question 2)

b) no (thank you for participating! you are done now ;) )

Question 2:

What is your favorite computer game?

Answer:...........................................................

Question 3:

Which type of computer games do you favor?

a) Action                          (Mortal Combat, Grand Theft Auto, etc.)

b) Party Game                (Guitar Hero, Buzz!, Mario Party, etc.)

c) Puzzle                          (Tetris, the Incredible Machine, Sweeper, etc.)

d) Shooter                       (Doom, half-Life, Space Invaders, etc.)

e) Sport                           (Golf, Soccer, Football, etc.)

f) Strategy                       (Civilization, Empire Total War, etc.)

g) Simulation                 (SimCity, Sims, Nintendogs, etc.)

h) Simulators                 (Flight Simulator, Gran Turismo, etc.)

i) Role Playing Game   (World of Warcraft, Diablo, etc.)

Question 4:

What age category are you in?

a) 6-11

b) 12-15

c) 16-20

d) 21-26

e) 27-35

f) 36-45

g) 46-59

h) 60  and up

Question 5:

Please select one of the images below by finding the one speaks 

to you the most. This is a very subjective question so just look 

at the shapes, composition and colors.

a)  b)  

c)  d)  

e)  f) 

g)  h)  

i) 

Thank you very much!!

The Oprah Generation

Yesterday  I went shopping. The regular every day/week/month kind of grocery shopping. I hadn't really eaten before hand and everyone who's gone grocery shopping on an empty stomach knows how that goes. I got through the vegetable isle quiet alright but then I found myself surrounded by cookies and candy. I'm not sure if this commercial carries across the globe but trust me, I have one inside me as well. It's green and it has yellow afro hair. Don't believe me? Tempt it with anything which consists primarily of sugars and it'll come out.

So there I was with the little monster tugging at my stomach-strings. And then the unthinkable happened. A famous black woman appeared on my shoulder and bazooka-ed my little monster to smithereens. No kidding!

Oprah and me have always had an understanding. She would make shows about heath and I would ignore them. It has always worked so well for us. But something changed and I think it's my own fault. Well, not totally true. I think it's the media's fault that every time I even look at a cookie I feel my thighs expanding. 

Really, I get all the 'rules'. If you wanna be healthy, you have to eat healthy and the crap that's added to our food is not the crap that was added to our food when we still slept in caves. Still, I don't think that should mean that every time I eat anything after eight o'clock in the evening I should hear Oprah's voice or that, when I want a bottle of water, I check to see which contains the least amount of salt. Because Oprah told me that we ingest way too much salt as it is. 

I can think up about a million small crimes against my self-image I have committed over the last month alone. My primary one being exercise and how I do way too little of it. It's true that every time I go to bed, the though flashes through my head. Still, I think the biggest crime against my self-worth, self-image and self-love is the fact that I am made to feel bad about myself when I 'sin'. Even the fact that eating a cookie after eight constitutes as a sin in my head is making me depressed.

You have to take care of yourself. It's a simple fact. As is the fact that being overweight is really bad for you. Still, what's wrong with being a regular size and weight? Why do I, when I open a magazine, have to be confronted with this:

I know it's a bit of an exaggerated picture but the fact is, I'm not model thin. I personally have always believed I don't have to be in order to be beautiful. No one should be model-thin in order to be seen as beautiful. I can think of about a dozen women right now that are 'slightly' heavier than the woman above and whom I think are way more attractive. Carmen Ferarra, Nikki Blonsky, Jennifer Hudson, Queen Latifah, America Ferrera... I can go on but I had a point in here somewhere.

Oh yes, here it is. Oprah, you can suck it. If I wanna eat a cookie, I should be allowed to and if I wanna eat my way through an entire can of salt, I should. I should take good care of me and if I can't enjoy what I eat, I'm not taking good care of me. 

So women (and men), listen up. Listen to yourself and your body. I think our bodies know quiet well what they want to eat and what they don't. And if our bodies want a cookie, they should get a cookie. 

They deserve it.

Live Music, Yay Or Nay?

I love music. It fills my life, gives me meaning, a way to express myself, calms me, makes me cry, laugh, think, rejoice and so much more. And honestly, all music does that. Even the bad. Even genres which well... don't really go with my musical taste move me. I'm generally talking about the CD versions of songs though. I have a big love/hate thing going with live music. Maxime of Eurout fame reminded me today that there are some live performances I love. Just today I was listening to a live performance of Unsung by Vanessa Carlton.

The movie quality is for crap but Goddess, her voice! There are so many great examples of live performances and it truly does add another dimension to a song. At least sometimes. And with some artists. 

Does anyone remember the days when music was about the music and in order to make music, you needed the ability to sing? I mean, I'm only 23 now and even I remember it. I have a radio show that I do once a week. It's a 90's show but I do get to hear an awfully big amount of 'new music'. Some of it is good like this:

and then there is this:

Look, I have nothing against Taylor Swift and if you like it, be my guest. Love it, listen to it, buy albums and go to concerts. But then, don't expect me to ever be there. Besides the fact that she sounds like an Avril Lavigne ripoff there is also this:

and that is just awful. Sorry to say.

So there is my problem. Music nowadays hardly fits my standards, at least not when it comes to live performances. And I have to say that a bad live performance can totally ruin a song for me. All I can think about (yes, using TS as an example again) is that awful performance with that awful voice and that lackluster face. I will never be able to listen to said song again. And that is fine if I didn't like the song to begin with but if it's a song I like/love... it can really mess up my day to watch a live performance.

I therefor steer clear of live performances unless they are recommended to me. Still, it saddens me because I know what a good live performance can do to me emotionally. So to answer my topic title: Live music: Yay if you can sing else just lip sync. Please. Don't embarrass yourself by trying to sing while you can't. It only ruins the song and that, in my humble and honest opinion is what music is about: the song. Not the singer. 

'Lesbian Vampire Killers' Kills

Reviews are in for the movie I first heard about and already dreaded months ago. 'Lesbian Vampire Killers' apparently killed, and not in a good way. That sound you're hearing? The collective 'duh's' of lesbians all over the globe.

Alright, alright. I know I'm not supposed to judge until I've seen it. And normally I wouldn't. Really. I know you guys don't know me all that well yet but I wouldn't. But sometimes something comes along that you just can't ignore. Or watch. So seeing as I'm absolutely not planning to see 'Lesbian Vampire Killers' and I can't ignore the gleeful feeling I got today when reading the reviews for it, I'm talking about it anyway. 

For the quote/unquote plot of this movie, check somewhere else. I'm not doing it and it's a waste of time anyway because there hardly is one from what I could gather. What I wanted to share with you all is the following, put up by Times Online.

'Phil Claydon’s instantly forgettable lad’s mag farce Lesbian Vampire Killers is an appalling waste of a perfectly decent title. James Corden and Mathew Horne are two witless slobs who go for a hike in Norfolk with an industrial quantity of condoms and end up being savaged by a posse of groaning 18-year-olds with plastic teeth, few clothes, pneumatic breasts and three brain cells between the lot of them. It’s profoundly awful.'

And that basically says all I wanted to say about this movie. Thank you for reading.

Welcome To The Dollhouse

I am a fan of Joss Whedon. Ever since Buffy I've had a place in my heart for the very, very talented writer/director/producer. It's in his strong female characters, his quirky writing and his wonderful way of making Monsters of the Week that are so much more than that. In defeating the MotW, Joss's characters generally fight something in themselves that needs fighting. 

I've followed Joss's every move and needless to say I was thrilled with the news of Dollhouse. I was even more thrilled with the news that Eliza Dushku (or better known as Faith) would play an important part in it. I've quiet recently watched Tru Calling and became an even bigger fan of Eliza. Alright, granted, she has a rather limited acting range but that has never stopped me from enjoying anything she plays in.

Anxiously awaiting the first episode of Dollhouse, I took the time to read up on the premise. The idea is (at first glance) rather simple. Someone somewhere has discovered the technology to erase a person's own personality (creating Dolls) and replace it with (mixed) personalties that used to belong to other people or which serve a specific purpose. This is a package deal, unfortunately, which means the newly created Actives also get the not-so-fortunate character traits of the person they have been imprinted with. This technology boils down to one thing: people for hire. For anything. 

When the first episode eventually aired I liked it but I wasn't hooked. Honestly, I would watch anything by Joss and Eliza could read me the phonebook and I wouldn't get bored but still. There are only so many bad one-liners and forced story lines one can ignore and only for so long. Episode two came and went and then came episode 3 and I was officially hooked. And I'm ashamed to say it wasn't Eliza that roped me in. Or Joss because hell, nothing in the writing even indicates Joss was in the same room as the writers at the time the episodes were written. No, two people pulled me in. 

First off Adele DeWitt (Olivia Williams). She's the boss with a lovely English accent and killer instincts. Keeping a tight reign on her empire you get the feeling she is well aware of the moral complications of the operation she runs but truly believes there is a greater good to it. 

And then there is Sierra (Dichen Lachman), new addition to the Dollhouse and played by an actress whom I hope to hear a lot more of. In the few episodes that anyone but Eliza Dushku's Echo got some screen time Lachman has already shown me she has a wide acting range.

Now episode six has aired, the episode on which all involved have reported Dollhouse should be getting better, and damn. I am officially hooked on Dollhouse. I finally saw some Joss, some great acting from all involved and some interesting, organic story lines. And not to mention some awesome fighting.  

I was kind of worried Dollhouse wasn't going to last longer than one season. Now I have hope it will. Alright, okay, it's still touch and go but with Joss at the wheel again, Dollhouse could finally live up to everyone's expectations.

Here's to Dollhouse and hope. May it be enough to give long life to this amazing series.