All the recent Portlandia references (“Cacao!”) got me thinking about this music video. It uses thunderAnt‘s old Feminist Bookstore skit to poke fun at terrible in-store gigs. It also features St. Vincent, aka the gorgeous & talented Annie Clark. Song is from her 2009 album, Actor
Oscars Party Links
Things have been a little dreary here, so we’re throwing a mini-Oscars celebration Sunday, complete with ancho chili cake & sparkling wine (any excuse). Good Oscars links to get you in the mood:
Neil Gaiman went to the Oscars & wrote about it for the Guardian: “A Nobody’s Guide to the Oscars.”
- How About Orange has been knocking out the Oscars posts. She linked to a great Sydney Morning Herald Oscars fashion quiz (I got 9 out of 14), created another DIY tuxedo t-shirt download, and made a beautiful set of Oscar bingo boards.
- Bakerella engineered amazing Oscar-themed cookies.
- The official Oscars site has a party kit, complete with printable ballots.
- Mid-Century Living found Oscars party tips from the 1950s.
- Finally, check out Project Rungay for fashion commentary leading up to & after the awards.
Pop Culture Round-up: 02/14/09
Happy Saturday! A few good links:
MANGA
- Plus, Viz has a nice pack of new licenses, including Fumi Yoshinaga’s Ooku & All My Darling Daughters, Taiyo Matsumoto’s GoGo Monster, and Natsume Ono’s Not Simple. Same Hat! has gorgeous scans of GoGo to whet your appetite.
- Pink Tentacle translated Tatsuyuki Tanaka’s beautiful, trippy short, Fifth-Dimension Treatment (excerpt below):
DRAMAS & FILM
- Lee Min Ki’s new film Oishii Man, a Japanese-Korean production, looks charming. Lee plays musician who’s developed hearing problems, and ends up falling in love with a local in Hokkaido. Official release date is February 19th.
- As for the current Korean adaptation, Dramabeans uploaded & analyzed the scripts for episodes 1-4.
- Finally, someone Simpson-ized the leads:
To See: Persuasion
I’m deep in Austenland again, after discovering the 1995 adaptation of Persuasion. Why did no one tell me it was so good? I mean, Emma Thompson’s Sense & Sensibility level of good.
. Why did no one tell me it was so good? I mean, Emma Thompson’s Sense & Sensibility level of good.If you’re a Jane Austen fan and haven’t seen it, watch it asap. It’s even on YouTube, so you’ve no excuses (I watched it there first, then promptly bought the DVD & the book).
That said, I wouldn’t recommend it for people who preferred the Keira Knightley Pride & Prejudice to the BBC version with Colin Firth (I like to pretend these people do not exist, but I know they must). It’s exquisite, but in a subtle, quiet (that is, very Jane Austen) way.
Music Finds: The Jazz Age
Image via Vintage Lulu, found in Flappers & the Jazz Era photo pool.
Jazz Era music is fun. A little goes a long way (some songs were only meant for dog’s ears), but when it’s good, it’s really good–and the lyrics can be v. amusing (e.g. “You Gonna Look Like a Monkey When You Get Old“). Four online sources for Jazz Age swing:
- One good bet is the WFUV’s The Big Broadcast, a weekly radio show featuring music from the ’20s & ’30s. Hosted by Rich Conaty, the show plays every Sunday from 8 pm to midnight; the last two broadcasts are available online as streaming audio. Conaty also has a nice set of web recommendations (via getTRIO).
- One commenter recommended the similar WAMU 88.5’s Hot Jazz Saturday Night, which features jazz from the 1920s through ’40s.
- Fans of Bertie Wooster’s singing will appreciate this set of links. Unfortunately, the official Jeeves & Wooster soundtrack has been removed, but you can still catch some of the songs on YouTube (e.g. “47 Ginger Headed Sailors“).
- Metafilter also has a good set of pre-1950s music links.