Hemlock B Bootsalotta

My gf shared this with me the other day, and I just love it unreservedly.

Women Rock! Day: From the Supremes to Janis Joplin to Tori Amos to Billie Eilish, women have made their mark in the world of music. If you were putting together an all-female play list, list five performers who would absolutely have to be on it.

I could only narrow it down to seven and I have to stop now because I keep thinking of new names.

• Skin (Skunk Anasie)
• Maggie Estep
• Debora Iyall (Romeo Void)
  
• Niva Chow (Dearly Beloved)
• Susanne Jonsson (Red Mecca)
• Poly Styrene (X-Ray Spex)
  
• Kim Deal (The Pixies)

(Almost all singers, so it's a good thing they didn't ask me to put together a band.)

Ask me again tomorrow I'll probably have thought of about 50 more.

ETA: HOW COULD I FORGET Maria Del Mar, I saw this band 50 friggin' times in the 80s.

ETA Again: I knew this was a bad idea, I kept waking up every 30 minutes last night HOW DID I NOT INCLUDE PJ HARVEY OR PATTI SMITH OR MONICA RICHARDS OR TRACY TRACY OR THE ENTIRE LINEUP OF L7 OR OR OR....

We finally have a new hire starting tomorrow at work, which means this is the last week of overtime for me. I will miss the healthy paycheques but I have to say it's been getting harder and harder to force myself to put in the long hours day after day (after day after day...). I swear that going back to having 8-hour workdays will feel like a semi-vacation.

I managed to work long enough days last week that I hit the max allowed hours on Thursday and was able to take an actual weekend. I used that time to get my plants into the ground. I may have murdered my cucumbers with neglect in the meantime, but I planted them anyway and we'll see if they recover.

In spite of the provinces complete and utter incompetence at setting up a vaccination schedule, most people have managed to get their jabs, in part because we have a lot of supply right now. Daily new cases keep dropping and there appears to be a light at the end of the tunnel. Patios opened as of Friday - I'm not in any hurry to join the hoards, but it's encouraging to think that some day I'll be able to walk into a pub like it's all normal or something. (Will I even remember what to do when I get there?)

It occurs to me that I don't know what will happen to the clinical trial at this point - I guess they'll have to un-blind the study at some point? Having to end it early because nobody is getting sick is far from the worst outcome I can think of.

Bandcamp is having a fundraiser on Friday for the NAACP Legal Defence Fund. What albums do I need to own?

If I need cheering up the best way to do it is punk rock.

So last night the lovely D took me to see Stiff Little Fingers at the Horseshoe. Their shows are always notable for being one of the few gigs I go to where I'm not the oldest person there by a long shot. Somebody was rolling around on top of the mosh pit and I'm standing at the back calling, "That's how you break a hip!"

I spent most of the night talking to two women who sat down next to us and started comparing who-we-knew-back-in-the-day stories. D always says he is constantly flummoxed by how often perfect strangers will just walk up to me and start talking. Apparently people never do that to him, I tell him it's because he has resting murder face.

So today I am feeling decidedly underslept. Fortunately I'm pretty much caught up with all the stuff I have to get done before next week so it's OK if I'm a little disorganized.

Monday is Halloween so my co-workers decided to decorate the command centre. I made the mistake of telling them I had bones at home, so that's why I rode the streetcar to work this morning with two big bags packed full of dead things. I am now getting quizzical looks from many many people.

Tomorrow's schedule is bill paying and listing things for sale. Tonight it's video games and a bottle of wine, because I am taking the night off.

1. If you'd like to play along, reply to this post and I'll assign you a letter.
2. You then list at least five songs that start with that letter.
3. Then, as I'm doing here, you'll post the list to your journal with the instructions.

sabotabby gave me C. So here you go.

Crazy Little Girl - Kevin Quain
Change of Ideas - Bad Religion
(The) Cause - Broomfiller
Chocolate Jesus - Tom Waits
Catharsis - Anthrax
(The) Criminal - Sons of Freedom
Clarissa - Mindless Self Indulgence
Cutting - Consolidated
Catholic Boy - Jim Carroll Band
Charity - Skunk Anansi

[ETA] I'm adding Connie I Found The Door - Chainsaw Kittens to the list. For bcholmes.

Some interesting bands playing here next month

Left Spine Down, Kathedral: November 5
The Creepshow, Rivoli: November 6
Band Of Skulls, El Mocambo: November 13
The Mad Caddies, Opera House: November 13
Genitorturers, The Mod Club Theatre: November 15
Lacuna Coil, Sound Academy: November 17
Dropkick Murphys, Sound Academy: November 19
Less Than Jake, Sound Academy: November 22
Devo, Phoenix Concert Theatre: November 23
International Pop Overthrow Festival at the Rivoli: November 25-28

Oh yeah, and the Roller Derby championship bout is on the November 26. I've been meaning to go to another game forever.

We never got the chance to geek about music so I don't know if he would have liked this.

But Miss J, this is for him. And for you.

Ocean Rising

There comes a time in every relationship when you have to let the skeleton out of the closet. When you realize that things are getting pretty, well, serious and that you cannot in all good conscience go any further without revealing the awful truth.

"Honey," I said, "We have to talk."

We sat down together and his face was quiet and serious as I struggled to make my confession. Finally I blurted out the secret shame that I had been keeping from him for all these months.

"I like Tom Waits better than Nick Cave."



















(He forgave me.)