I’ve a Reason to Believe We all Shall Be Received

I come down to find that the Butcher has left me a note to put the camera in the car and my first thought is “You’re emptying an attic.  What do you need a camera for?”
But, of course, my friends, he’s taking his own journey.  It hadn’t occured to me that he didn’t want to [...]

Good for You, Miley Cyrus

Folks, here’s why I can’t get too worked up about Miley Cyrus posing for supposedly scandalous candid pictures: Miley Cyrus is being marketed as that weird sex-tarty “good” girl crap thing that we seem to require of our young pop stars.  She’s dressed up in skimpy shirts and tight pants and good bras and make-up [...]

I’m Sorry To Say That This Indicates the Death of Publishing

Over at Rex Hammock’s, he’s reporting that Harper Collins is launching an inprint with a “new” business model, where they won’t offer advances and they won’t take returns.
Yeah, we call that “academic publishing” and we can’t make that model financially feasible either.

Ole Hank and Lefty and Willie and Waylon and the Boys

The best/worst element of country music–best in that when it’s done well it gives you a real sense of how an artist understands herself as a part of a larger artistic tradition and worst in that when it’s done poorly it’s hilariously bad–is the constant references to other artists in a list in a song.
Here’s [...]

Ten 20th Century Artists

I was thinking about, again, how one would go about introducing people to something like, say, the blues, basically because I like thinking about music.  Music, to me, is a funny thing.  Or maybe it’s just writing about music that I find funny.  Because the cool thing about music is that it’s such a populist [...]

A Collosal Game of Chicken

Amazon v. small publishers or Amazon v. Ingram?

“But Aunt B., I Don’t Want to Put on Good Music and Dance Around My Office!”

Tough.
Good lord, people.
Go over, shut your office door, come back around here and press play on these puppies.
“No, I hate old blues. No, don’t make me listen to old blues!”
Look, we can ease into it.
We’ll start with Zeppelin. See, that wasn’t so bad. It was even kind of fun, wasn’t it?
Or the [...]

That’s Not Her Arm, That’s Not an Arm that Exists in Nature

I found this over at Perez Hilton’s–a photo of Britney Spears from the new TV Guide.

You can, if you like, head over there to read all the comments about how good Spears looks.  I, myself, feel like screaming, “That’s not her arm!”  Because, it’s not her arm.
That’s not what Spears’ arm looks like and that’s [...]

What Shall We Dance Around the Office to Today?

Today, I bring you a song so delicious you know before I even tell you that it’s Charlie Robison. This song… this song… what can I say? I would marry the man who had the balls to suggest it as the song we dance to at our wedding as much as I also [...]

I Should Be Goofing Off But I’m Working Instead

Bleh, who wants to spend Friday afternoon working? Not me. I want to put on some medium old country music and sing along–Take my ha-and and you’ll feel that feeling. I said, yes, just lead me on.
Woo.
I always thought that that song should always be paired with this song. When you [...]

See, It’s Okay Because They’re Only Talking About Folks from the Holler, Not Everybody from West Virginia

Yes, it’s true, the Appalachians are full of quaint little hollers filled with deformed blind witches and inbred abnormalities due to all the incest.  And what’s even scarier is that they don’t have the cable tv or the internet or radios or even phonographs.  Why, they don’t even know there’s an outside world, except when [...]

Return to Paranormal State

Did you ever see a TV show so bad that you thought, “Who in the world is stupid enough to watch this shit?” 
I feel that way about Paranormal State and yet, I must tell you, America, it’s me.  I’m watching it.
I don’t know why.
It’s terrible.  I mean, really, terrible. 
If you have a problem with ghosts [...]

What’s With that ‘Procreant Urge’?

So, today I’ve received over a hundred hits for folks looking for some variation of Walt Whitman’s procreant urge. I assume some large U.S. lit class must have just gotten an assignment.
I thought I’d mull it over, too (wink, wink, spoilers ahead for those of you who haven’t read ‘Song of Myself’).
This ‘procreant urge’ [...]

I Looked. I Regret It.

Why did I look?  Because some small part of me wants to believe that having sex with a rock star who claims to have had sex with thousands of people would be something.  I don’t know what that something would be, but I didn’t imagine it would involve something that starts out so very perfunctory [...]

African American Lives 2

I forgot that they were starting Skip Gates’s next round of African American Lives until I was half-way through Criminal Minds last night, so I missed some stuff.
But, damn, I love this series.
If you aren’t watching it (because it’s public television, and who thinks to watch public television?), the basic premise is that Gates takes [...]

Aunt B! We Never Get to Dance Around Our Offices Anymore!

I know, I know. It’s been ages since I encouraged you to shut your office door and dance around like there’s nobody looking.
Sorry.
I’ve been remiss.
But, to make up for it, I bring you a song which contains a line that makes me blush like a school girl when I hear it. There are [...]

In What Ends Up Not Being a Defense of Elvis

I saw this post by Donna over at The Silence of Our Friendsand was about ready to launch into a spirited defense of Elvis when I followed on of her links back to Theriomorph’s and read this comment by Kai:
More importantly, however, I just want to note that POC and/or anti-racists hear this kind of [...]

Song of America

I’ve got “Song of America” on my iPod, which I am both really enjoying and kind of frustrated with.  On the one hand, I want to be introduced to songs I’m not familiar with when I listen to something like this.  On the other hand, there are songs I just would expect to hear, no [...]

Reason Number 104 Why I Love Ghosthunters

On an episode last night, the new girl was sent down to check out a creepy basement, to act as a lure for any spirits that, I guess, wanted to see a pretty girl in a creepy basement.
And she snarkily said that she was going to get a t-shirt that said “Bait.”
And then she climbed [...]

Fellow Book Nerds, I Have Seen the Future!

And, I’m sorry to say, it wil be brought to you by Microsoft.
I’ll give you a moment for weeping and gnashing of teeth.  I know, but what can you do?  Some corporate giant is going to own your butt one way or another and unless the anarchists can consolodate power (ha), there’s not much you [...]

Law & Order

I happened to catch the original Law & Order last night.  They’ve made some changes.  Fontana’s gone.  Good riddance, really.  Some dude who looks familiar but I can’t place him is in.  He’s like a less genius eccentric Bobby and they tried to give him some backstory, but it’s Law & Order so who cares?
The [...]

“Life lived with poetry in mind is itself an art.”

Via Jill over at the Poetry Hut, we learn that Lawrence Ferlinghetti is still convinced that poetry can save the world.
I cannot tell you how happy this article makes me.  Ideas like this are why I live my life. 
How often do you sit around asking “What can we do?  What can we do?”
The world’s problems [...]

Funny v. Unfunny

Okay, America, I have to ask you a question so dumb it might result in some of you leaving Tiny Cat Pants in disgust and never coming back, but here goes:
Is it not painfully obvious that, while LOLcats are hilarious, LOLdogs are stupid?

The Spears Girls

As you probably heard by now, Britney Spears’s little sister and star of Zoey 101, Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant.  GoldnI can give you the run-down.
I go back and forth about the Spears family and whether they’re appropriate fodder for discussion.  I mean, to me, it’s obvious that Brittney is deeply screwed up in a [...]

Paranormal State Week 2

Oh, Paranormal State, where even the pagans are Catholic.
 Well, that was a hot mess.
I remain convinced that this is anti-Catholic propeganda, because, really, I can’t believe the Church would let priests participate in the banishment of demons as sidekicks to some Captain Kirk wannabe.  What terrible PR.
I mean, I’m not Catholic, but I assumed that [...]