I love that Alex Winter is a total nerd in real life while Keanu never "breaks character"
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Monday, November 9, 2009
FLANNEL ON FLANNEL
A while back, Siobhan blogged about fashion on My So-Called Life, a show that's very dear to my angsty little heart. Because of it, I'm always living in my head and always falling for the Jordan Catalanos when I should be dating the Brian Krakows. THAT SAID, when I returned home from balmy San Francisco to 40 degree Philly weather, I had to get a little bit creative with keeping myself warm in a drafty Point Breeze/Newbold house from the 1930s. Refusing to turn the heat on (I'm holding out until December) and already wearing one flannel shirt, I decided to slip into another. With sweaters, coats, and hoodies, it can get a little constricting. Blankets are fine, but what happens if you want to move about the house? Snuggies may have solved that quandary, but maybe the cult leader look is not suiting you this evening. If you're having a day like I did, maybe you want to feel like a grunge princess and wallow around thinking about the difference between Liking Someone and LIKE Liking Someone while listening to the Cranberries or Buffalo Tom on repeat.
I know what you're thinking. Haven't we had enough of plaid all ready? It's the only thing that Urban Outfitters sells. It's all about high fashion goth/tailored tweed ensembles inspired by Sherlock Holmes/EXTREME GENDERBENDING. That's all fine if you pretend you take the L train to and fro the boroughs when you're really biking the East Passyunk-Frankford Ave Expressway (via 5th street tunnel and the Piazza roundabout). On the other hand, I happily live on the wrong side of Broad and can wear whatever the fuck I want. It ain't no fashion show when I'm chain smoking Pfunk 100s while nursing my 8th Kenzinger on my front stoop--wondering when my Jordan Catalano is going to pick me up and take me to the boiler room (in this case the alley behind Geno's) for a hot make out sesh.
In short, if you're going to do this fashion don't, do it with style. Always wear a thicker plaid (a real flannel shirt with padded lining) over a light weight (perhaps the one you got on sale at Urban). When mixing patterns, go for contrast. Look at the top for example: see how I put the darker purple one against the lighter white, yellow, and brown patterns. Never do Buffalo-on-Buffalo, research other tartans to experiment with. Are you feeling like a Macdonald-cum-Stewart today? With plaid on plaid, you can be anyone from Kurt Cobain to Mary Queen of Scots!
CHANNELING SOME WHITE BOY ANGST
Hey man, today I got held up at frustration station over some minor legal issues (no joke), and my only place of respite was recalling some mediocre soft alt bands.
This was the first song that came to my head:
I know, I KNOW. It's real bad. Listening to this once again, I noticed that I'm only fond of the first few measures, but then once the chorus arrives (too soon in my opinion), the lyrics and flat, whiney vocals are frankly unlistenable. What I'll call the bridge (bc I'm no music expert) is atrocious, probably because the singer starts belting out like a Hanson brother. Totally soured my bummer trip.
Then I noticed the featured videos on the side bar featured the Gin Blossoms' "Found About You"
Just as cheesy and mopey, but at least it's more melodic. Plus, the vocals are a hundred times better. Unlike "All I Want," the bridge is cleaner, which makes it more palatable for nostaglic staying power on soft rock radio.
As the 90s make its inevitable comeback, I'm sure there's people out that would like to talk shit on them. However, I bet if you play "Hey Jealously" at the end of party, 10 beers deep, they'll be crooning with the rest of us.
Oh, just for the record, I don't mind flat, whiney vocals. You just got crank the angst like Galaxie 500 does in "Blue Thunder." The "LAAAAAAAAAAAAAs" are absolutely tedious, but at least we can sing along when we're having a shitty day.
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