Some friends and I had a bit of a rant last night on Facebook about the intense gender imbalance and lack of female acts represented in the 'Hottest 100 of All Time' list. Not one solo female came up in the whole 100 list, and only six females featured, that I could find, in bands (Massive Attack, The White Stripes, Pixies, Smashing Pumpkins, Pulp, The Dandy Warhols), in the whole thing, amongst hundreds of males. I wasn't so much upset or annoyed, as I was puzzled as to why some of the biggest names in (alt.) music didn't show up?

No Nina Simone, no PJ Harvey, no Patti Smith, no Joni Mitchell, no Fiona Apple, no Tori Amos, no kd Lang, no Tracy Chapman, no Bjork, no Kate Bush, no Aretha Franklin, no Sinead O'Connor, no Peaches, no Annie Lennox, no Ani Difranco, no Blondie, no Divinyls, no Breeders, no Portishead, no Amy Winehouse, no Madonna, etc, etc, not even a meagre Missy Higgins in there.

Although it was disappointing, it wasn't entirely unexpected. Whose fault is it that not one of these artists came up? Do women not sing, play or write good songs? Of course they do. It's not hard to feel like the music industry is patriarchal and generally excluding of females, do we not have the encouragement or support to create music in the same way as our male counterparts? Is this our fault? The lack of women on the list is just a reflection of the people who voted in it and perhaps is just a sign of our times.

C said "I knew I was going to find the 'Hottest 100 of all time' lame and a cop out but I didn't realise I was going to be offended by it!" and my friend Chris said "Is it the list that's stupid or the people who voted?". Some forums I saw suggested that there be a women's hottest 100 of all time, but it feels like that just goes further towards highlighting and creating separation and tokenism.

I felt like the list was basically full of the highlights/worst of the 90's, one hit wonders and the 'breakthrough tracks' by artists. Although I feel a little ashamed by the list, when it comes down to it, I didn't vote, and 'THE LIST' is totally meaningless and irrelevant. The fact that we spent so long bantering backwards and forwards about it was basically the point of the list; to incite argument and discussion and general dissatisfaction (this should have been in it, this shouldn't have been in it, this should have been higher up, this should have been lower, that was a cover, too few Australians, too many Australians, lack of folk/gospel/punk/etc), get Triple J a bit of talk and attention, and none of us actually voted, which was kind of ironic. Nobody is ever happy with the outcome of those lists, Rollingstone publish them repeatedly, though theirs at least seem to be somewhat more well rounded. I'm pleased others are becoming aware of the 'cock forest' that is The Hottest 100 Of All Time, and quite a few blogs and articles have sprouted up about it.

Apparently Hack will be talking about the gender imbalance in the list today at 5.30, but I'm skeptical about it's outcome. I hate to think that there will be underpinning elements of sexism and misogyny, as I felt there were in our Facebook discussion, and I couldn't help but read into Nick's; "Generally, the people that will vote, will not vote for such alt. music, which is what these girls are known for. Also, to be honest, a lot of these people lack the continuity of celebrity, or in cases like Missy Higgins, the string of hits over a prolonged period of time. I don't want to beat around the bush here too much, some of them just don't write the kind of music that lasts through the ages".

Good to see somebody else was concerned about those excluded by the list:


Today I have to write/post some letters and postcards and maybe go to the doctor's (still veeeery sick, drowning in my own body fluids, I think I've eaten at least five bulbs of garlic since I got sick). And as it turned out, attempting to install Linux on C's computer was a very BAD idea, he's having a friend come around and try to fix the whole mess this afternoon.

Unrelated to anything, here are some pretty pictures of my lounge room/desk:










Also, here are some old pictures I turned into polaroids via Poladroid:

It's a very lazy day. So far I've done a bit of internetting, washed and hung out washing, watched the kitten clamber over the shed roof, listened to some Neko Case and eaten some mashed potato/sweet potato/chili/garlic/Parmesan that C made. At the end of the day, no computer in our house will have Microsoft in it (except my defunct old one in the shed). C is finally taking the plunge and installing Ubuntu/Linux on his computer, overriding Windows. He's very nervous about it. I'm sure he won't regret it.

I'm going to a friend's 'Independence Day' (1 year since she left home) party this evening, should be pleasant.

Since I discovered her website several years ago, I have been very fond of zine writer Vanessa Berry. I bought her book at the This Is Not Art zine fair two years ago, and I don't think I've even read it all, because I read a chapter at a time, and then I read it again, and I don't want to feel like I've finished it, I want it to keep going. It's inscribed with; "To Bianca, All the best ruffley red things to you, xx Vanessa 30.9.07", referring to the ruffled red shirt I was wearing. Ordinary Magazine has featured a little story she wrote about a shopkeeper which is lovely (and a little sad).

Here are a few stray links that might be of some interest:
Awkward Family Photos; Gotham Chopra's Writing Songs With My Friend Mike; Emerald Arts blog from the Renew Newcastle Project; the sketchbook of Stephanie Davidson; Justin Heazelwood aka The Bedroom Philosohpher; 5 Myths About Sleep and Insomnia; the Barcode turns 35; an article about how an indie musician, Amanda Palmer, can make $19,000 in 10 hours using Twitter; 10 Very Good Reasons Why You Should Grow A Giant Beard;

Happy weekend.

I just had my mum over for dinner. Which, sadly, I pretty much used just as a time to bombard her with my (one) problems and make her sort out ways to deal with them. She is good at it, and always has easy solutions. She did have quite a few cigarettes while she was here though (she hides them under the couch cushion on our front veranda and when she drops in she grabs one), and I stressed her out a bit. I didn't bite my nails at all (her pet hate), but she kept correcting my stressed out posture. She's a bit like my conscious, or reasoning, when she's around, she generally knows best. C made us delicious pumpkin/garlic/parsley spaghetti and then we had some store bought mediocre apple pie.

C and I caught the bus to Kotara today as we had to purchase a new router for the interwebz. On the bus to Kotara there were some colourful types, namely, a very bogan ocker-tongued fellow behind us who spoke unconceivably loudly on his mobile phone and utilised just about every cliched Australian slang phrase imaginable with lots of "maaaate" and "tell ya old girl". I was under the impression that 'old girl' meant your mother, but the way he was using it made me think otherwise. There was also this woman and a baby who were getting off at their stop and as they walked past the baby grabbed C's hair. Everyone involved found it quite humorous.
While there I also checked out a pair of shoes I've been admiring at a shoe shop and to my surprise, and my wallet's dismay, they were half price ($45), so they're ordering them in my size and will apparently call me tomorrow and I'll go get them. They look like this, but red, so cute;


I'm just about headed to bed.

I need to stress less. I think I let my 'ideals' get in the way of logic sometimes. I think that everyone and everything should be equal and fair and on the same level, and people are all good, and things should be discussed and problems worked through logically - and I'm starting to find that people aren't like that, and despite what I'd like to think, I'm probably not like that. It's so frustrating when someone isn't behaving the way that is expected, the way you think they should, and when you just want things to be 'fair' and 'equal', but people have different feelings or definitons (or lack of definitons) about what that is. I hate passive agression and back stabbing and I don't want to behave that way. I just want things to be 'better' (better for everyone involved), but I'm impatient. C says I need to learn to be patient. He said I'd probably say "But I want to know how to be patient now!". Regardless, three deep breaths and no frowns. (Definitions of words in italics are of course very subjective to personal opinion)

I hope you enjoyed the mundanities of my day.

C and I are going to go watch a documentary called 'Fuck'. Also, as a rule, never Google the word 'fuck'.

I knew this would happen sooner or later. Here is a whole bunch of stationery I am obsessing over and will never get.









1. Unicorn Wishes Mix & Match Stationery, 2. Cath Kidston's Blooms and Berries Mix & Match Stationery Kit, 3. Faun Mandala Mix & Match Stationery, 4. French General Stationery Kit, 5. Grady McFerrin Stationery Box 4, 6. The Perfect Note, 7. Dumpling Dynasty Mix & Match Stationery, 8. Wonder Woman Mix and Match Stationery, 9. Miso Pretty Mix & Match Stationery, 10. Correspondent's Delight, 11. Cath Kidston Stationery Box, 12. Cath Kidston Birds & Blooms Stationery Box, 13. Sunblooms Stationery Box, 14. Emily's Mixed-Up Stationery
15. Goldfish I Have Loved (too much?) Mix & Match Stationery, 16. The Bad Girl's Mix & Match Stationery, 17. Oh Boy Mix & Match Stationery, 18. Andy Warhol Fashion Mix & Match Stationery, 19. Hemlines Mix & Match Stationery, 20. Sushi-nery Mix & Match Stationery, 21. Retrodepot Folk and Flora Mix & Match Stationery