Trois: Oh, the Bittersweet Truth...and a Reference to Minnesota!

I love music. Almost as much as I love reading. One of my favorite bands, although not top ten, is the Dresden Dolls. It's a boy and a girl, and I'm sure if they're related and incestuous, or a couple, or maybe they just like being dirty with eachother. But the songs they right are simply amazing. Intelligent and funny, but not boring like they think they're all that. Well I'll let you see for yourself. 

http://www.dresdendolls.com/downloads_n_lyrics/lyrics/shoresofcalifornia.htm

The song is called Shores of California, and not all of the lyrics are 'appropriate' so I won't post them all here, but the link is above. Now the gist of the song is that boys are always going after girls, and girls are always leading on boys. Like a twisted love story, except it is THE love story. The one that happens everyday, unlike Romeo and Juliet which is simply unrealistic. One of the reasons I love this song is that they aren't taking a side in the battle of the sexes, they don't think highly of either gender. 'And that is why a girl is called a tease, and that is why a guy is called a sleaze, and that is why god made escort agencies.' As you can read, they're equally rude! Sorry if this offends you because you don't believe in god. But this song is not just about making fun of boys and girls. It also points out a valid reason for these messes we get ourselves in to. 'Why all these conflicting specifications, maybe to prevent overpopulation.' A good point! Love is not simple, so as not to overpopulate the world. Very intriguing. It obviously didn't work, and I think everyone know that making babies is not always about love. Not that I know from firsthand experience. It's just what the cynics say, which isn't me of course! And here's another bonus point for me. 'That's the way Aristophanes and Homer wrote the Iliad and Lysistrata (not in that order).' That's a genuine quote ladies and gentleman, look it up. 

Deux! Alternative Press, Written by My Idols

Whose Future is it Anyway?-The AP Election Special

This election, more than most elections, is generating a lot of publicity and it seems everybody has an opinion. Just as a warning, I will not be stating an opinion in this blog. Because I don't like either candidate. In this article, they are mostly asking musicians and people around our age what there opinions are in the upcoming election. Not about which candidate the would vote for, but what they think is important and what they think their president should do, whoever it may be. The general consensus seemed to be, and here's where I agree, that America needs change. And its not necessarily one party or another that can do that, but the people themselves who need to be involved. Like that purple group at school! Connection skills. Another thing that seems to be different about this election, is that party lines are blurring. People who normally vote one way, are starting to think that maybe the other side is on the right track. Personally, I think this is better, that the party system is stupid. It gets people into labels, thinking 'I can only vote republican.' or whatever it may be. If parties were abolished, than maybe people would starting voting off of which candidate they though would be a better president and which issues they thought were important. Of course for people to grow intelligent enough to do that it would take more than party abolishment. I'm sorry, was that cynicism? 

'We need a president who favors diplomacy over war; who seeks to compromise with opponents instead of bully them; who values science and cares about the environment, who respects the opinions of our allies; who doesn't use fear to whip up support; who isn't beholden to the oil industry or big business; who works for all of us (not just the rich); and who attacks problems with intelligence, not bluster And it wouldn't hurt to have someone who isn't, like, 180 years old.' Most definitely my favorite quote, and really who knew unshaven, dirty rock men were so intelligent!

Un! My plan for the rest of my life and then some...

I love historical fiction, by all types of authors. But Philippa Gregory is one of my favorites. I do have to say I hate that everyone only know her as the woman who wrote The Other Boleyn Girl when really her other books were much better. I also heard the movie sucked. The book I just finished by her is called Wideacre. It's set around 17th century England, and its the tale of this family who owns a private estate deep in the country. Now the mom and the dad have two children. One of them the girl, is crazily power hungry and will do everything she can to ensure that the estate lives on and that her children will be the ones to receive it. The boy on the other hand, happens to be the weakling of the family as well as a masochist. So the girl, Lacey, falls in love with this farm boy, and starts sleeping with him. She tells him how she wants to own Wideacre, and he wacks her pop so she can do that. But it turns out that that's not what she meant, and she gets all pissy and decides to chop the farm boys legs off. But before that her brother catches the two of them going at it, and hes not very happy to say the least. So anyway. The brother gets married, and the sister gets married, and the mom is just a widow. Did I mention that this whole time the brother and sister are sleeping together? Well they are, and one day the mom catches THEM going at it, and again, she;s not very happy and is going to tell the spouses. So of course Lacey has to kill her mom. Now I don't want to give away the ending, but I will tell you that everybody dies and Lacey doesn't end up getting what she wanted. :D Now my thoughts on this whole shenanigans is this: Power hungry women suffer and make sacrafices, occasionally human sacrafices, but rarely get what they want. Elizabeth 1 became one of the most powerful queens in the history of history, but she was also known as the Virgin Queen. Cleopatra was another powerful queen, and she ends up commiting suicide at a ripe young age. What is with all of these successful young women and dying! Hilary Clinton had to be humiliated and go through an extremely public scandal, because of a man's mistake I might add, all so she could not be elected president! I realize she isn't dead yet, but one day.... My point is, when she dies, who are we supposed to look up to? Where are the powerful women role models? Although impressive, I don't think Madonna and Cher really count. Which is why one day I plan to take over the world.