I haven’t done one of these music blog posts in quite a while, but as I was watching everyone Tweet about Geekend, I felt compelled and inspired to wipe the dust off the ole blog and actually do some blogging!

These are some of my favorite songs at the moment. Take a listen and let me know what you like. My hope is that you’ll find something you haven’t heard before. It’s all about discovering new music. So enjoy. :)

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Anya Marina – Satellite Heart

I’ve always liked Anya Marina, so when I discovered that she was a part of the “New Moon” soundtrack, I became very giddy..and then a little sad that she and other beloved Indie darlings had sold out to the hormonally crazed teenage wasteland that is the Twilight saga. Don’t get me wrong, I love the books just as much as the next 30’something mother, but I’m officially over the hype. I get it…Rob Pattinson is hot and merely looking at his hair impregnates girls. I get it…Kristin Stewart hates all of you and thinks you’re all stupid and she couldn’t act her way out of a wet paper sack…but she’s gonna take your money anyway. I get it…anyone over 16 who likes the books or the movie are considered losers by the snotty teenage girls who spend Mommy and Daddy’s money on Edward Cullen panties and go around begging him to bite them on the neck…then accuse us older ladies of being weirdos. Gotcha. I’m…over…the…hype! Just let me enjoy the books, don’t ruin the movies, and keep all those angry little teenage girls away from me, okay?

So yeah, back to Anya. I love the raw emotion she puts into her songs. Her voice is so amazing and unique. And despite the fact that she has this little Twilight stain against her, I still adore her because of songs like this.

Fefe Dobson – I Want You

You know, I’ve never been a fan of Fefe Dobson. It’s not that I didn’t like her music, I just sort of looked over it and could never really get into it. But when I heard this song in a commercial for the movie “Whip It”, I was like, “Ohhh…must have precious”. Now I’m the biggest Fefe Dobson fan. Girl can rock! I’m such a Johnny-Come-Lately at times.

I should add that the “Whip It” soundtrack is going to go down as one of my favorite movie soundtracks of all time. There’s a lot of really great music, so if you get a chance, check it out. Also, I took one of those Facebook quizzes and my Roller Derby name is: BRAWLY VENDETTA. How badass is that?

Franz Ferdinand – Bite Hard

Those of you who listened to Episode 103 of Sound Check with CK will recognize this as the song that started out the Dizzy Girl episode. I’ve always been a big FF fan and the song was sort of perfect for the episode. It rocks my socks. Oh and if you haven’t listened to Episode 103, then you really need to. I picked some really great songs, if I do say so myself. *grins* And while you’re over there, check out all of the past shows. If you’re a fan of good music and you’re not listening to it, then you’re really missing out. Sound Check is the best music podcast on the net…period. I tell no lies. ;)

Holly Conlan – You Are Goodbye

I’ve been singing this song for weeks now, so it only made sense to include it.

The Brooke – Under the Milky Way

There’s been a lot of covers of this song over the years, and while none of them come close to the original by The Church, I will say that this is probably my favorite of the covers. The Brooke is a fairly new discovery for me, but I have to say, I’m loving her covers, especially “Stray Cat Strut” and “Landslide”.

Sia – Under the Milky Way

Heard this a couple months back in a commercial for Lincoln MKT and got really excited. I love Sia, I love this song, and oddly enough, I love car commercials that feature Indie goodness. It’s the small things in life, ya know? :)

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I think it’s only fair that I throw The Church into this post, seeing as two covers of “Under the Milky Way” are included. Here’s the video for the original, full of bad 80’s music video effects, Aqua Net, and cheesy hipster sunglasses. God, I miss the 80’s.

About a month ago, my long time blog buddy CK asked me to put together a playlist of 10 songs for his music podcast Sound Check. If you follow me at all over on Twitter, you’ll know that I’m a huge supporter of the show. So of course, I said “yes”.

If you love good music, then you really need to check out the show. CK does a lot of classic rock, music from the 80’s and 90’s, and he throws in some new stuff from time to time. There’s a lot of listener involvement in the show and requests make up a good portion of the show, and CK encourages everyone to take part. In short, it’s really the best music podcast around and I encourage you all to take a listen.

So back to the playlist…

I started adding all of these songs that I wanted others to hear. Seeing as my episode – Episode 103 – was going to be in October, I thought, “Okay, I’m going to find 10 of my favorite spooky songs” to add a theme to the episode.

That list lasted about five minutes.

So I scrapped that last and decided that I was going to put together a list of my all-time favorites. So I started adding songs and the list got to 10…then 20…then 30…then 32 songs! Um…yeah, this was going to be a problem. You see, I can’t just pick ONE favorite song, I’m just not capable of doing it. And yes, I have a core group of favorites, but there were other songs that I wanted to share. And some of the songs I wanted to share had already been played in previous episodes, and seeing as I didn’t want to repeat myself, I had to take them out. Hmm…that’s a problem.

This list last lasted about five days.

That’s when I decided that I was going to add some of my favorite songs, some of my favorite artists, and some songs that I love that Sound Check listeners may not have heard before. Twenty or thirty revisions later, I finalized a list and sent them in and here we are…Episode 103 of Sound Check, the very first installment of the Check List series. Huzzah!

The songs below the cut are all of the songs that you’re going to hear in the episode. I’ve given an explanation of why I picked each song. You’ll also find a list of songs that didn’t make the cut that I REALLY wanted in the episode, but had to cut them for one reason or another. There were a lot of my all-time favorite songs that I didn’t add. I started out with these songs, but I have to say, the entire process was organic and it really took a life of it’s own. I plan on doing a blog post here in the next few with my list of all-time favorite songs, so if you’re interested to know the ones I cherish more than anything else, you can keep checking back. A few songs from this list are included in this episode, but like I said, I either didn’t add them because they had appeared in a previous Sound Check episode or I took them out because I didn’t want to disrupt the “flow” of the show.

So I hope you all enjoy the episode. I’d love your feedback on the music and the show in general. You can leave one here or over at the Sound Check homepage. And thanks again to CK for inviting me to do this. It was a blast!

Click the cut below to see more about the songs I picked…and didn’t pick.

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You know what? I refuse to watch ANY movies by ANY actor, actress or director who signs this petition. Any movies I own will be thrown in the trash. Better yet, I have half a mind to mail the movies back to the studios with a note telling them that I refuse to give a single penny to anyone who defends a man who thinks sex with a 13 year old girl is alright.

There is something very wrong about the petition and I think we all need to take a good look at it and remember the names of those who sign it. Personally, I’m really disappointed to see some of my favorites – Wes Anderson, Terry Gilliam, David Lynch. My husband and I were talking earlier about the fact that I’m very good at separating a person’s politics and their art. I can disagree with someone so vehemently and still be a fan of their movies or music or what have you.

To tell you the truth, I don’t know if I’ll enjoy watching movies by any of those people knowing that they think it’s alright for a man to drug and force himself on a child. What does that say about them? Do they think this is cool? That by signing the petition that it’ll win them over in anyone’s favor? Because if they are, then they are mightily delusional.

The fact that there are WOMEN who signed their names to that petition is equally disturbing. Monica Bellucci, who I’ve admired for years, is another disappointment. Have any of you ever seen “Irreversible”? There is a nine minute rape scene in the movie that is so real and so disturbing that you almost have to turn away. I had to actually stop the movie and wait a couple of days before I could finish the scene just to see the rest of the movie. You really feel like you’re watching a woman get raped.

And then there’s Tilda Swinton, who is such an amazing actress, and a strong woman in real life. Have you ever seen “The War Zone”? It took me a week to finish it. The father in the movie has been raping his daughter since she was a young girl and there’s a very graphic scene towards the middle of the movie where the son actually witnesses it. It’s so disturbing to watch. Afterward, you feel like you should take a hot shower and scrub the movie off of you. Brilliant movie, but hard to watch.

And now, to see these two women add their names on that list, I’m just without words. You can’t be a strong woman, fighting for feminist causes, and then add your name to something like that. They’ve both made movies that deal with sexual assault, you’d think they’d know better and stand up and say something!

At this point, it’s just the principal of the fact. I say let Hollyweird and their ilk stand up for the man. I expected nothing less than from a bunch of scumbags. Who are they to the rest of us who know right from wrong and live in the real world where if you do horrible things, there are consequences? They’re used to having everything handed to them and never hearing the word “no” and believing they are never wrong. They are above the law apparently. How many celebrities are in jail for DUI, manslaughter, drugs? Not many. They get a slap on the wrist while the rest of us get thrown under the jail. At this point, it’s expected that they’ll get off the hook for their little “indiscretions”. There’s no justice in the land of excess. Taking advantage of young girls is common place…just ask Woody Allen, who is throwing his support behind his buddy Polanski. Shocker there.

Well, we are better than that and we need to start sending a message that we just won’t put up with their shit anymore. And there’s no better way than with our wallets.

If this were the real world and he wasn’t a big name celebrity, he would be sitting in jail, and EVERY celebrity in the world would be outraged. But he’s their pal…and don’t forget the fact that he’s a “genius”…so it’s alright. And how dare we ignorant, mean Americans do this to him? Hasn’t he paid for his crimes enough already? I mean, he hasn’t been able to step back on American soil for years. Poor thing. He’s been living in France with his wife and children, tucked away from civilization for all these years, repenting and thinking about what he did with no-one to talk to or confide in and no-one to stand up for him. And he lost so much work. I mean, look at all he’s suffered because of that little Lolita!

Er…wait a second, that’s not how it happened at all! But don’t tell, Hollyweird. They’re under the illusion he’s been cast down all these years and that he’s the victim.

Are you kidding me?

Recommended Reading:
Hot Air: Name ‘em and shame ‘em
The Anchoress: A Study in Contrasts

Someone needs to tell Whoopi Goldberg to read this and this before she says something stupid like a 40 year old man having sex with a 13 year old girl isn’t rape. Not “rape-rape”, eh? Are you serious, Whoopi? Disgusting.

Stop defending the man! That goes for the rest of you morons who think that Roman Polanski is some sort of genius who shouldn’t have to pay for his crimes. Read the two links I provided and you tell me what is rape and what isn’t. She said “no” more than once and she was afraid. This is all a matter of public record. But it isn’t “rape” because her mother knew she was with him.

*brain explodes*

I was a 13 year old girl once and I can tell you right now, if a 40 year old man had encouraged me to take photos without clothes off, then gave me champagne and drugs, and had sex with me, I would be scared. And yes, it would be rape.

You know, there’s a lot of personal things that I don’t share on this blog. As much as I love sharing my life, I don’t feel like there are things that you all need to know. I have strong opinions about a lot of things and I don’t mind throwing them out there, but there’s a lot of things that I keep closed up, because I still enjoy my privacy and I want my family to have theirs.

That said, there have been many times over the last nine years when I’ve wanted to share what I’m about to share. I haven’t, because I didn’t feel like I was ready to just throw it out there for everyone to read and to judge me. But this Roman Polanski business has been the breaking point for me and now I’m going to share something that happened to me, so maybe you’ll understand why I’m so upset about it and why all of these Polanski defenders have me past the boiling point.

I was sexually molested when I was maybe nine or ten years old by someone in my family. I have family that reads this blog, some of whom know what I’m speaking of, but some who don’t. I won’t go into the identity of this person on this blog, but I will say that this person is someone in my immediate sphere. Not blood-related, but a constant the whole time I was growing up.

This person did not rape me or have intercourse with me – thank God, but he did do things to me that were inappropriate. He touched me in places that he shouldn’t have. He tried to get me to do things to him. He kissed me in a way that he shouldn’t have, even after I told him “no” and that I didn’t like it.

He told me not to tell anyone and that if I did, everyone would be mad at me. He told me that my father, who was very abusive and beat us regularly as it was, would beat me more if he found out. He did this to me twice while we were alone. After that, I was never alone with him again. Even at that age, I knew that what he was doing was wrong and I made sure that he wasn’t going to do it again.

I remember feeling scared and helpless. I didn’t tell anyone at first, though I did finally mention it to the wife of the man, and she accused me of lying and I never brought it up with her again. I was too afraid to go to my father, because I knew that I would get the bloody hell beat out of me. My father would’ve killed me and I am not joking about that. He would’ve killed me. I was also afraid of people being mad at me. I felt like I had done something to make this person do these things to me. I was just a child, unable to defend myself out of fear, and with no-one to stand up for me.

But the abuse didn’t stop there. Unable to do anything else to me physically, this person would rub up against me if he saw me alone. He would whisper to me in passing that he had thought of me while he was having sex with his wife. I heard those words more times than I care to count. He also told me that he wanted to have sex with me. I would stand there uncomfortable, no words coming from my mouth, and praying to be out of his presence. There were times I had to be in the same car with him alone and he would always make me sit in the front seat, where he would tell me disgusting things and try to feel my leg.

I refused to be alone with this person if I possibly could, because he made me feel dirty and uncomfortable and I knew that given the opportunity, he would try to have sex with me and I was afraid he wouldn’t take “no” for an answer. Do I believe he would’ve raped me? No, I don’t think he would’ve, but I have NO DOUBT in my mind that he would’ve tried to talk me into sex.

This happened until was maybe 17 years old, when it stopped for the most part. I don’t know if it’s because I had gotten older and able to defend myself against his words or because he had lost interest in his little game. In any event, I’m glad it stopped. Even now, I feel very uncomfortable in his presence. My husband knows about this person and what he did to me and he won’t get around him, and that’s probably a good thing, because I imagine the man would come out worse for wear from it.

I have lived with this guilt and this “smudge” on my innocence my whole life. Granted, I’m luckier than a lot of children who’ve been molested and my story isn’t nearly horrific, but I share this to make a point. And the point is, a child is a child, whether they are 10 or 13. And when a grown man takes advantage of a child and uses guilt or fear to have sex with them, then it’s rape. I’m sorry, but it is. Roman Polanski raped that girl, and while I appreciate her stance on it now, the fact remains that she was scared, she said “no”, and he didn’t stop. He took advantage of her. And everyone defending him and saying this isn’t “rape-rape” or that because somehow he’s a brilliant director that he should be forgiven are spitting in not only my face, but the faces of children everywhere who’ve had someone take advantage of them. Theses morons don’t know what it’s like to have this done and the impact it has on you, even into adulthood. I could go into how I feel about sex and why I still don’t like for people to touch me, but I won’t. That’s as personal as I’m going to get.

And yes, I called all of you Polanski defenders morons. Own it. Stop being morons and I’ll stop calling you out for it. The girl was 13 years old. He took advantage of her. He got her drunk, gave her drugs, and then had sex with her. There’s a word for what he did…it’s called rape. If he weren’t a celebrity, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. He’d be in jail right now…period. And the only reason he isn’t in jail is because he fled the country instead of being a man and paying for his crimes. It could’ve happened 100 years ago and it still wouldn’t excuse what he did, and just because he was so yellow that he hasn’t set a foot back in the country during all these years means that what he did should be thrown aside and that justice shouldn’t be rendered.

Yes, he’s a fantastic director. I don’t think anyone is denying this. But does that really give him a pass for what he did? And it begs to question, how many times did this happen that no-one knew about? I have a hard time believing this is the ONLY time he had sex with an underage girl. I’m not saying this as truth, it’s just an opinion, but it’s one to think about.

You look at YOUR 13 year old daughter or niece and you tell me what YOU would call it if a grown ass man did that to her. Would it be okay if he was a celebrity? Come on people, common sense. Parents, protect your children and NEVER give them a reason not to be able to come to you if something like this happens. Do not throw them out for the lions like this girl’s mother did. She’s as much to blame as Polanski.

I’d like to warn anyone who even thinks of defending that man in a comment to go ahead and click the little red “x” in the top right hand corner of the page. I don’t want to read it. And if you’ve come here to judge me, I suggest you do the same.

Recommended Reading:
My Bottle’s Up: “rape rape”

Instead I threw together some music that I’m currently listening to. Have a great weekend!

Just found out about this contest via Twitter and wanted to pass it along. I have to have that action figure. I’ve wanted one for ages!

The Book Girl: Jane Austen Week Grand Prize:

Today is the first day of my Jane Austen week and I’m very excited. I have read a lot of great books in preparation for this weeks reviews. Plus, I have lots of fun giveaways planned.

There will be something you can win everyday, but today’s the day for the Grand Prize listing.

All contests will be open until midnight on Saturday 9/25.

Comments from all posts will be gathered for the grand prize. Extra ways to earn entries are to post a facebook or blog post about the book girl’s Austen week, or tweet about the contest. (Please put link to post or tweet in separate comment)

Make sure to come back everyday for the Jane Austen and Austen inspired reviews and giveaways!!

Here is the GRAND PRIZE:

Jane Austen Action Figure

Pride & Prejudice DVD/Book

Assorted Jane Austen buttons and stickers

I Love Mr. Darcy coffee mug

Good luck, everyone. And if any of you win that action figure, let me know so I can give you my snail mail…because you will be sending it to me, right? Right! :)

Before I begin my tribute, I wanted to explain what Project 2,996 is for those of you who’ve never heard of it.

Project 2,996 in an internet memorial project honoring the victims of September 11th. It began in 2006, with over 3,000 bloggers signing up to honor one victim. Now in it’s third year, Project 2,996 is still going strong and remembering those who died and those who heroically gave their lives.

This year, I was assigned the name of John A. Cooper, an accountant manager at SunGard Trading Systems/BRASS. After a little research I found that Mr. Cooper was just 40 years old when he died on 9/11 in the World Trade Center attacks. He grew up in Brooklyn, excelled in sports, and called Bayonne, NJ home at the time of his death. He was a graduate of Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn and was described by co-workers and friends as someone who always had a big smile on his face when you saw him and someone with an amazing sense of humor who never had an unkind word for anyone he met.

School friend Mike Anagnostakis reiterated John’s kind and good nature and says that “he could not help but to bring happiness into peoples lives that he touched.”

Mike also had this to say about John:

Many a spring day, we would forsake the bus ride home from school, in favor of an hours walk home – talking all the way about sports, as young boys would do. I always thought he would become a baseball star – but, you know, he was always a star, a star in life!!

John was also known as a big hockey fan. He held season tickets at Madison Square Garden for the NY Rangers, and it was at one of these games in the early 80’s where he took Cathy DeCicco on their very first date. It was in the rowdiest section of the Garden where Cathy became a fan of hockey herself and the two fell in love. They married in 1993 and had two sons: Jefferey and Adam. Adam, the youngest was just three months old when his father was killed.

On the morning of September 11th, he was visiting a friend at Sandler O’Neill on the 104th floor of One WTC. He, along with so many innocent people, were killed in the worst acts of terrorism this country has ever seen, and hopefully ever will.

Eight years on and it’s still hard to fathom the pure hatred behind the attacks. How can one person or a group of individuals have so much evil in their hearts to kill so many innocent people? To think of all the mothers and fathers and sisters and brothers and children and grandparents and grandchildren and best friends and husbands and wives who died for what? What did they die for? Hate and intolerance and evil.

It breaks my heart…it literally shatters it into a million tiny pieces when I think of all the people who died for nothing. Nothing was gained from these attacks. Thousands more have died as a direct result of 9/11. There are those who were lucky enough to survive the WTC attacks, especially our brave firefighters, police officers, and military, have died because of illnesses attributed to Ground Zero. And those still alive today still bare the scars, both physically and mentally.

Our brave men and women have left their families and have given their lives to defend us overseas in Iraq and Afghanistan. My own brave nephew was one of those who felt compelled to do his duty to his country after 9/11. He joined the Marines, leaving behind his wife and young children at home in Illinois. He was killed in May of 2004 Iraq. This is just one of the ripple effects of 9/11. We’re all being affected by what happened eight years ago, directly and indirectly.

And at the end of the day, it all amounts to nothing. Absolutely nothing. Nothing was gained, but so many precious things were lost. Our loved ones. Our faith in humanity. Our ability to trust others. All of these have been fractured by people who were martyrs for nothing.

But you know something? In all of that nothing, it’s important to remember the very important something from 9/11. That something is the bond we all felt as Americans in the days and weeks and months following the attacks. When we looked upon our neighbors and friends and complete strangers and said, “I love you, my friend. Be safe.” When we took a moment to reflect on what was really important in our lives – our loved ones and those we held most dear. When we stopped looking at people as “them” or “the other side” and accepted everyone as “us”. Democrats and Republicans didn’t exist. We were all just Americans, holding on to each other and trying to make sense of the world around us and feeling like if we just loved each other enough and respected each other enough, we could make it through anything.

And we did. And we’ll continue to if we never forget 9/11 and all the people like John Cooper who were once just like us. Living their lives, loving their families, and trying to live the American dream. We can’t forget these people. We can’t forget their names. We can’t forget their faces. We owe it to them to continue paying tribute. We owe it to their families. And we owe it to ourselves. Because if we forget for even just one second what it was like to be united, we’ve lost the battle for nothing. And in that, we lose ourselves.

So please, let’s all take a second to just love one another today. And to make an effort to love each other EVERY day and to start respecting each other. We need to start looking past the political lines that separate us and working towards a common goal of making this country the best it can be. We need to stop, before we degrade each other in disagreement, and work our differences out like rational human beings. And love…the world is begging for more love. It’s starving for it. Can’t we show more of it? Because in the end, we’re all we’ve got, and that truly is something.

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9-11 Victim Memorial: John A Cooper
Voices of September 11th: John A. Cooper, Jr
Hudson Reporter: Bayonne Remembers: Candlelight Ceremony Marks Fourth Anniversary of 9/11
American Memorials: John A. Cooper