Casablancas performed Saturday, April 10 at the Beaumont Club with his traveling band

Saturday I went to the Julian Casablancas show at the Beaumont Club in Westport. Casablancas is/was the lead singer of the Strokes, probably one of my all-time favorite bands growing up.  They haven’t put out a new record in several years, so I’ve missed these guys… They each have come out with some solo albums, but nothing so far has been as good as the original band.  But last night, Julian could have given the Strokes a run for their money.

In this video of Julian playing one of the Strokes’ songs, Hard to Explain, you can see my head! I think…

His solo stiff is more pop-y, with more electronic instruments.  His album, Phrazes for the Young, is a nice combination of seriousness and silliness.

I also encountered a rare stroke of luck before the show too!  After waiting in line for about an hour, I realized that I didn’t have enough money to buy my ticket.  However, when I came to the woman selling the tickets, she took pity on me.  All I had to pay was the two dollar minor charge, as opposed to the $29 some of my friends had to pay for their tickets.  The night had begun well.

The night’s opening band, Funeral Party, were also very impressive.  The lead singer looked like a combination of Prince and the local band Ssion’s lead singer, Cody Critcheloe.

I hear through the grape vine that the Strokes are working on a new album, and hopefully this is the case.  I miss them too much for them to just quit making music together…

Don’t judge me! You’d like it too… if it were even in theaters in KC!!!  I’m pretty sure the movie comes out everywhere this Friday, so if you can, totally go. You won’t regret it.

It made me appreciate Joan Jett and her influence on music even more.  She was really a talented and ambitious female artist.  In the 70s, when she was in her late teens, she had to carve her own path in music, and the paths for girl musicians everywhere, not to mention.

The movie is about the inception of Jett’s first band, the Runaways.  She wanted to make an all-girls rock band and she did, with the help of a crazy agent and the beautiful image of the band, their lead singer, Cherie Curry. Their first hit: Cherry Bomb.

It is pretty nerve racking to see Dakota Fanning on stage as an angsty teenager trying to be a woman, but she plays the part really well.

I also felt OK about watching the movie because Joan Jett herself was the executive producer, and she helped Kristen Stewart with her role, her guitar style, her posture and her voice.  According to Jett, she wanted to be on set so that they would get all the facts straight.  This is comforting to me.  I’m glad the filmmakers didn’t exploit Joan Jett or Cherrie Curry for their story.

My favorite Joan Jett song from the movie: Crimson and Clover!

I liked the movie and the music so much, I think I’ll buy Joan Jett’s Greatest Hits album that’s coming out…

For those of you who have seen the movie “Whip It,” you know who this is.

This is a roller derby girl.  One of the Kansas City Roller Warriors, in fact.

The KC Roller Warriors is a derby league, comprised of only women, in ranks with other amateur leagues in more than 80 cities in the US.  The league includes approximately 70 members and owners, with four teams– The Black-Eye Susans, the Dreadnought Dorothys, the Knockouts and the Victory Vixens.  Clever names, I must say.

These tough women are competitive, and they want to win.  They definitely caused some damage Saturday at their season opener at the Municipal Auditorium.

According to their website, which also features a “Injury Archive Scrapebook” photo gallery,

The Kansas City Roller Warriors promise to capture your heart and then skate all over it – until it bleeds.

However, the Roller Warriors, despite their rough exteriors, have soft and compassionate interiors!  The Warriors committed their event Saturday, along with all their future events for the rest of the season, to raise money for the Mid-America Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.  In past years, the Roller Warriors have also supported organizations like the American Cancer Society, Rose Brooks Center for domestic violence and Sheffield Place.

The Kansas City Roller Warriors will also be participating in the Walk MS, to create a world free of multiple sclerosis, April 17.  The walk will begin on the Plaza at 8 a.m. So far, the event has received $45,000 in donations, but this amount is still short of their goal of $175,000.  So sign up if you’re interested!

Kansas City Roller Warriors: sophisticated, competitive, sassy women that can cause physical harm on roller skates, while supporting several charity organizations.  I wish I were a derby girl…

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say that this week. I went on college visits this spring break, in the Pacific Northwest, and everywhere I visited, there was that one lost yet naive boy or girl who thought that all their problems would be solved, if only they could just escape this worthless land and move to one of the Utopian coasts!

Oh, fickle children…

Sorry for the rude awakening, but no, all of your problems will not be solved, and you will not become cooler just by moving a few hundred miles away to either the Northeast or the West coast… This seems to have been the mistake that several of my fellow college visitors had. One (ignorant) guy, who claimed that Ohio, his home state, was the center of the Midwest, said, before one of our class visits started, “Ok, I’m having a dumb moment, but where is Missouri? I’m trying to picture it on a map…”

Sorry sir, but I don’t think you’re quite ready for college, let alone moving hundreds of miles away from your town, which is probably the only place you can identify on a map, might I add…

Also, please remember that the Midwest is NOT BORING! I know San Francisco, New York, LA, Seattle and every other city on either coast seem way cooler, but there’s not much in those places that you can’t find here. We do have something unique to the Midwest, however: nice people who live at a slower pace, usually with less stress…

In the words of a native Midwesterner, Bob Dylan:

“The country I come from is called the Midwest.”

What’s not to love?! Rep’ your home-country!!!

I love the Midwest…

Who am I talking about?  None other than the amazing Joanna Newsom.

She just released her third album, “Have One On Me,” and, as my friend put it,  you’d have to listen to this album about a thousand times to fully grasp her ideas and her lyrics.  With that kind of depth, what’s not to like?

New York Times Magazine published a huge article this sunday about her and how awesome she is.  Read the article, written by Jody Rosen, the music critic for Slate, here.

So listen to her new album, and stay busy for the next few days with Newsom’s harp, piano, beautiful voice and engaging lyrics floating through your head.

The UMKC Women’s Center is offering programs examining Barbie, from a mixture of perspectives, in conjunction with the Toy and Miniature Museum’s exhibit, Celebrating 50 Fabulous Years with America’s Favorite Doll, which is up until December. UMKC is also offering a class for its undergraduate students, called “Barbie, Consumer Culture, and Body Image.” The course will examine Barbie’s influence, particularly on gender and race.

Barbie then:

Barbie now:

Barbie’s body image is pretty skewed.  Technically, it is physically impossible for a woman to have the same body type as a barbie, because with Barbie’s body proportions, the woman would be 6 feet tall, with a 19 inch waist and 39 inch hips, a 35 inch bust, AND weigh 100 pounds…  My DOG weighs 100 pounds.

In other words, a real life barbie, compared to the average woman, would look like this:

Here is a list of programs, open to the public, about the history of Barbie and her influence. Learn something about your childhood’s best friend!

Wednesday, March 3

Lecture: “Femininity and Feminism: Barbie’s Ambiguities, Ruth Handler’s Ambivalences”

Location: The Toy & Miniature Museum, 5235 Oak St. 
Time: 6:30 p.m. Exhibit viewing; 7:00 p.m.

Program
: UMKC Professor of History, Miriam Forman-Brunell presents a lecture about Barbie and her creator, Ruth Handler. Refreshments served. Admission is $7 for adults; $6 for adults 65+ and students 12-17, and $5 for children 5-12. Free for UMKC students, staff, and faculty.
Co-sponsored by the Toy & Miniature Museum.

Thursday, March 11

Blaming Barbie: Has a Doll Become our Feminist Scapegoat?

Location: Truman Forum Auditorium, Plaza Branch Library, 4801 Main Street (KCMO)
Time: 6:00 p.m. Light Reception; 6:30 p.m.

Program: 
In this lecture, author and blogger Courtney E. Martin will take a hard look at the feminist inclination to demonize Barbie and argue for a renaissance of self-examination instead. She will touch on everything from body image to sex to work/life balance in this entertaining talk; followed by what she hopes will be a lively discussion. Read more about her work at www.courtneyemartin.com or check out her award-winning book, Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters: How the Quest for Perfection is Harming Young Women.

Co-sponsored by the Toy & Miniature Museum and the Kansas City Public Library.

Monday, March 15

Film Screening: Barbie Nation

Location: University Center, Room 106, 5000 Holmes St.
Time: 6:30 p.m.

Watch this documentary about America’s obsession with Barbie and participate in the discussion afterwards. Snacks provided.
Co-sponsored by the Toy & Miniature Museum.

Tuesday, March 23

Barbie: Love Her or Leave Her?

Location: Toy and Miniature Museum, 5235 Oak St.
Time: 11:30 Exhibit viewing; 12:00 p.m.

Program: 
Find out how the UMKC community feels about Barbie by watching a short documentary film produced by the Women’s Center student staff. Then join in the discussion about how our feelings about Barbie growing up influenced the way we played with her then, how we feel about her now, and how we feel about ourselves. Lunch provided. Admission is $7 for adults; $6 for adults 65+ and students 12-17, and $5 for children 5-12. Free for UMKC students, staff, and faculty.

Co-sponsored by the Toy and Miniature Museum.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t go to the show, even though my friends offered me a ride and tickets were only $12.

But nonetheless! Check out the singer/songwriter known as St. Vincent because she’s amazing.  And I heard she played a great show!!! Her new album “Actor” has been a major hit.  She was formerly a guitarist for Sufjan Stevens and the Polyphonic Spree.  She’s been compared to musical ladies like Joanna Newsom, Kate Bush and Feist.  Plus she’s super cute.

My solution: clear your brain, and listen to someone else’s troubles and stories! Escape in to another person’s life!  Try a podcast.

This American Life‘s Ira Glass has a calming voice, accompanied by a guest voice that narrates their story.   Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and listen to the most recent, or search their archives for what you’re in the mood for!

Today, my friend showed me a website that does virtually the same thing.  The Hood Internet mixes two or three songs together (usually completely different artists and genres) and creates one “bumpin” track, as my friend would say.

My favorites are…

Beastie Boys vs. Matt & Kim

Dead Prez vs. Grizzly Bear:

Modest Mouse vs. Kanye West:

Michael Jackson vs. Ratatat (liquid gold, I’m telling ya…)

And the best part about the Hood?  Free Downloads.

Find and download your own favorites here!

The titles that follow are documentaries that I highly recommend.  Some are political, some are about social issues, some are cultural, some of them are religious and all of them are heart-felt.  You don’t have to agree with the position they take or the issue they address to enjoy these films, which can change your opinion or open your eyes to a new perspective or argument.

Please enjoy! Put these on your netflix Queue or rent them from SRO, but remember to watch them with an open mind!

Jesus Camp
This Oscar-nominated documentary offers an unfiltered look at a revivalist subculture in which devout Christian kids are being primed to deliver the fundamentalist community’s religious and political messages. Building an evangelical army of tomorrow, the Kids on Fire summer camp in Devil’s Lake, N.D., is dedicated to deepening the preteens’ spirituality and sowing the seeds of political activism.

Born into Brothels
British filmmaker Zana Briski’s Oscar-winning documentary is a portrait of several unforgettable children who live in Calcutta, India’s red-light district, where their mothers work as prostitutes to ensure their survival. Spurred by the kids’ fascination with her camera, Briski decides to teach them photography. As they begin to look at and record their world through new eyes, the kids awaken to their own talents and sense of worth.  One talented boy, Ajivit, is invited to Amaterdaam to take and critique photos of other children.

Very Young Girls
Like an American version of Born into Brothels, this  startling documentary concerns prostitution in New York City.  The film captures the heartbreaking stories of underage girls — many as young as 13 — who’ve been forced into prostitution, exposing how pimps use isolation, violence and drugs to keep girls dependent. Many of the girls interviewed take part in GEMS, a shelter and mentoring program founded by activist Rachel Lloyd — once a prostitute herself — that helps them transition out of “the life.”

Unmistaken Child
Filmmaker Nati Baratz follows the spellbinding journey of Tibetan Buddhist monk Tenzin Zopa as he travels far and wide to identify the child who is the reincarnation of his deceased master, Lama Konchog.  (Zopa comes across some of the cutest babies you’ll ever see). Acting on instructions from the Dalai Lama, the shy Zopa relies on astrology, dreams and other signs to locate the child, knowing that if he succeeds, he must also convince the boy’s parents to release their child into his care.

At the Death House Door
This documentary examines the state of the death penalty in Texas, filmed from the perspective of a Hunstville “death house” chaplain who witnessed nearly 100 executions over the course of his career. The film also dissects the controversial execution of Hunstville inmate Carlos De Luna, who died by lethal injection in 1989, despite evidence that suggested his innocence.

The Cove

This riveting documentary, and winner of the Audience Award at Sundance, follows a group of animal activists to a scenic cove in Taijii, Japan, where they use surveillance equipment to capture footage of a secretive and heavily guarded operation run by the world’s largest supplier of dolphins. As the daring group risks their lives to expose the horrifying truths behind the capture of dolphins for the lucrative tourist industry, they also uncover an environmental catastrophe.  These “suppliers of dolphins” are extremely cruel to the dolphins when they capture them and, when they’re done selling the trapped dolphins to trainers and places like Sea World, they slowly and brutally kill them and sell the meat on the market, passing it as whale meat, despite its high level of mercury.

Sicko

I realize that not everyone is a flaming liberal like me, but Michael Moore makes some really good films– everyone could admit that. In this Oscar-nominated documentary, Moore sets his sights on the plight of the uninsured.  Moore asks the difficult questions and gets to the truth behind the health care crisis. In the United States, 50 million people have no health insurance, while those that do have to fight with their health insurance providers to acquire coverage.

Food, Inc.
Drawing on Erin Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation and Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma, director Robert Kenner’s documentary explores the food industry’s detrimental effects on our health and environment. Kenner spotlights the men and women who are working to reform an industry rife with monopolies, questionable interpretations of laws and subsidies, political ties and rising rates of E. coli outbreaks.

For the Bible Tells Me So

In this Sundance documentary, director Daniel Karslake goes to the Bible to examine the ways in which conservative Christian groups have used — and sometimes exploited — holy Scripture to deny human rights to gays and lesbians around the world. Highlights include interviews with V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Anglican Communion, and Chrisry Gephardt, the lesbian daughter of former U.S. Rep. Dick Gephardt.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon

Davis Leaf’s provocative documentary — produced in collaboration with Yoko Ono — examines John Lennon’s growing involvement in antiwar efforts from 1966 to 1976 and the U.S. government’s attempts to silence him. The film, which picks up Lennon’s story as he begins to shed his Beatles identity and adopt the role of a peace activist, features interviews with Carl Bernstein, Walter Cronkite, Mario Cuomo and Angela Davis, among others.

V-Day: Until the Violence Stops
This documentary follows the grassroots impact of the V-Day movement — whose goal is to end violence against women — in five international communities while exposing the pervasive and cultural forms of violence that women experience all over the world.

This is What Democracy Looks Like
During the 1999 World Trade Organization summit in Seattle, activists gathering to promote economic justice managed to shut down the WTO during a days-long demonstration. Violent clashes with police were broadcast from news outlets around the world. This powerful documentary tells the story from the hearts and lenses of more than 100 activists who turned their cameras on the police.

Tying the Knot
Director Jim de Sève’s documentary takes a concerted look at the heated and ongoing debate about same-sex marriage in the United States. Focusing on two gay couples who’ve become entangled in laws forbidding homosexual wedlock, the film puts a human face on the issue.