Whatcha reading?

[Dr. Medulla]

37) The Bedwetter - Sarah Silverman. Kindle. 2009. Gotta enjoy a light comedian's memoir now and again. She spends far too much time defending a joke that got complaints from the Chinese community on Conan and name checks the activist who complained numerous times. She wrote that whole section from a position of immense privilege. The rest is the kind of fun book you'd expect from Silverman and laugh out loud at times.

I enjoyed it when it came out. I suspect she'd probably reconsider her position on that joke now, as I understand she now regrets a lot of the satirical bigotry in past material. But it was from that book that I learned Steve Perry of Journey is probably a racist, so there is that.

[revbob]

37) The Bedwetter - Sarah Silverman. Kindle. 2009. Gotta enjoy a light comedian's memoir now and again. She spends far too much time defending a joke that got complaints from the Chinese community on Conan and name checks the activist who complained numerous times. She wrote that whole section from a position of immense privilege. The rest is the kind of fun book you'd expect from Silverman and laugh out loud at times.

I enjoyed it when it came out. I suspect she'd probably reconsider her position on that joke now, as I understand she now regrets a lot of the satirical bigotry in past material. But it was from that book that I learned Steve Perry of Journey is probably a racist, so there is that.

As if a person needs another reason to hate Journey

[Dr. Medulla]

37) The Bedwetter - Sarah Silverman. Kindle. 2009. Gotta enjoy a light comedian's memoir now and again. She spends far too much time defending a joke that got complaints from the Chinese community on Conan and name checks the activist who complained numerous times. She wrote that whole section from a position of immense privilege. The rest is the kind of fun book you'd expect from Silverman and laugh out loud at times.

I enjoyed it when it came out. I suspect she'd probably reconsider her position on that joke now, as I understand she now regrets a lot of the satirical bigotry in past material. But it was from that book that I learned Steve Perry of Journey is probably a racist, so there is that.

As if a person needs another reason to hate Journey

This way, tho, you're not confined to aesthetic reasons. Sure, that should be enough, but you'll still encounter weirdos who cite charts and sales to prove that Journey doesn't suck.

[Wolter]

37) The Bedwetter - Sarah Silverman. Kindle. 2009. Gotta enjoy a light comedian's memoir now and again. She spends far too much time defending a joke that got complaints from the Chinese community on Conan and name checks the activist who complained numerous times. She wrote that whole section from a position of immense privilege. The rest is the kind of fun book you'd expect from Silverman and laugh out loud at times.

I enjoyed it when it came out. I suspect she'd probably reconsider her position on that joke now, as I understand she now regrets a lot of the satirical bigotry in past material. But it was from that book that I learned Steve Perry of Journey is probably a racist, so there is that.

As if a person needs another reason to hate Journey

This way, tho, you're not confined to aesthetic reasons. Sure, that should be enough, but you'll still encounter weirdos who cite charts and sales to prove that Journey doesn't suck.

Ah yes. The Heston Gambit.

[Silent Majority]

37) The Bedwetter - Sarah Silverman. Kindle. 2009. Gotta enjoy a light comedian's memoir now and again. She spends far too much time defending a joke that got complaints from the Chinese community on Conan and name checks the activist who complained numerous times. She wrote that whole section from a position of immense privilege. The rest is the kind of fun book you'd expect from Silverman and laugh out loud at times.

I enjoyed it when it came out. I suspect she'd probably reconsider her position on that joke now, as I understand she now regrets a lot of the satirical bigotry in past material. But it was from that book that I learned Steve Perry of Journey is probably a racist, so there is that.

Oh, bet her stand up's better now.

[Dr. Medulla]

Finished Burning Down the Haus this morning. A curious story about a heretofore unexplored group of people—East German punks—but I'm not persuaded it's as significant as the author wants us to believe. The claim that there's a direct line between punk troublemakers and the fall of Communism is … not that direct. It has a certain honour's thesis quality of taking a small story and making it the hidden centre of a big story. But this story does deserve being told and heard, but then applied by other scholars in a more critical and involved way.

Starting tomorrow:

I'm certain I read this in the 90s yet I've retained absolutely nothing, so it's basically new to me.

Bedtime reading:

Former student told me about this, so I'm reading to see if it's good for my punk class. So far, doesn't seem like it.

[Silent Majority]

Finished Burning Down the Haus this morning. A curious story about a heretofore unexplored group of people—East German punks—but I'm not persuaded it's as significant as the author wants us to believe. The claim that there's a direct line between punk troublemakers and the fall of Communism is … not that direct. It has a certain honour's thesis quality of taking a small story and making it the hidden centre of a big story. But this story does deserve being told and heard, but then applied by other scholars in a more critical and involved way.

I listened to the first hour and the specificity didn't appeal to me. Give me a wider story, not just individuals fucking about.

Starting tomorrow:

I'm certain I read this in the 90s yet I've retained absolutely nothing, so it's basically new to me.

Read it recently, it's great of course.

[Dr. Medulla]

I listened to the first hour and the specificity didn't appeal to me. Give me a wider story, not just individuals fucking about.

It's a common feature (and, to me, shortcoming) of popular history, especially that written by journalists. The emphasis on the human is admirable, of course, but it gets lost in thinking the actions of the humans necessarily justify the story and demonstrate significance. No, all it is is the relating of a bunch of shit that happened. It's the tension between the human and abstract that we can find the good stuff. But that requires a lot more contextual research and hopefully theory, which loses those audiences who just want a non-fiction story.

[JennyB]

Oh no, the Viv Goldman book isn't good? That's disappointing. I love her.

[Dr. Medulla]

Oh no, the Viv Goldman book isn't good? That's disappointing. I love her.

No, just not good (I think) for generating a discussion. It's so far just celebratory of women in punk, but unless you have strong opponents, cheerleading books run out of discussion steam after a half hour.

[Silent Majority]

Speaking of punks named Viv.

38) Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys by Viv Albertine. Kindle. 2014. A little difficult to read, as all truly honest books are. The Slits are just one thing that happened to her in a life full of emotional struggle and incident, but she's good on the sights, sounds and smells of all your favourite punk rockers. Difficulty conceiving, cancer, grown up issues are the heart of the book. Her passion really flies off the page as she rediscovers herself amidst a collapsing marriage in Hastings, picking the guitar back up. Written in an immediate present tense with occasional italicised editorialising from the present day. A triumphant book, human and real.

[Dr. Medulla]

Speaking of punks named Viv.

38) Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys by Viv Albertine. Kindle. 2014. A little difficult to read, as all truly honest books are. The Slits are just one thing that happened to her in a life full of emotional struggle and incident, but she's good on the sights, sounds and smells of all your favourite punk rockers. Difficulty conceiving, cancer, grown up issues are the heart of the book. Her passion really flies off the page as she rediscovers herself amidst a collapsing marriage in Hastings, picking the guitar back up. Written in an immediate present tense with occasional italicised editorialising from the present day. A triumphant book, human and real.

I haven't read it yet. Would you say it worth considering for a unit (i.e., three-hour discussion) on punk and women?

[JennyB]

Oh no, the Viv Goldman book isn't good? That's disappointing. I love her.

No, just not good (I think) for generating a discussion. It's so far just celebratory of women in punk, but unless you have strong opponents, cheerleading books run out of discussion steam after a half hour.

Ahhh, OK. Makes sense.

[Silent Majority]

Speaking of punks named Viv.

38) Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys by Viv Albertine. Kindle. 2014. A little difficult to read, as all truly honest books are. The Slits are just one thing that happened to her in a life full of emotional struggle and incident, but she's good on the sights, sounds and smells of all your favourite punk rockers. Difficulty conceiving, cancer, grown up issues are the heart of the book. Her passion really flies off the page as she rediscovers herself amidst a collapsing marriage in Hastings, picking the guitar back up. Written in an immediate present tense with occasional italicised editorialising from the present day. A triumphant book, human and real.

I haven't read it yet. Would you say it worth considering for a unit (i.e., three-hour discussion) on punk and women?

I would, with the proviso that, as I've said, the Slits only take up as much a percentage of the book as they did Viv's life. A couple questions it might raise for a seminar would be

A) to what extent does punk's claim to be egalitarian between sexes borne out by the behaviour of the young men in the bands?

B) What is a punk attitude and how does it manifest for a woman over 40?

A Clash fan should read it for her take on Bernie's insane behaviour at McLaren's funeral.

[Dr. Medulla]

Speaking of punks named Viv.

38) Clothes, Clothes, Clothes. Music, Music, Music. Boys, Boys, Boys by Viv Albertine. Kindle. 2014. A little difficult to read, as all truly honest books are. The Slits are just one thing that happened to her in a life full of emotional struggle and incident, but she's good on the sights, sounds and smells of all your favourite punk rockers. Difficulty conceiving, cancer, grown up issues are the heart of the book. Her passion really flies off the page as she rediscovers herself amidst a collapsing marriage in Hastings, picking the guitar back up. Written in an immediate present tense with occasional italicised editorialising from the present day. A triumphant book, human and real.

I haven't read it yet. Would you say it worth considering for a unit (i.e., three-hour discussion) on punk and women?

I would, with the proviso that, as I've said, the Slits only take up as much a percentage of the book as they did Viv's life. A couple questions it might raise for a seminar would be

A) to what extent does punk's claim to be egalitarian between sexes borne out by the behaviour of the young men in the bands?

B) What is a punk attitude and how does it manifest for a woman over 40?

Okay, thanks very much. I'll give it a quick read this summer.

A Clash fan should read it for her take on Bernie's insane behaviour at McLaren's funeral.

But I might have to read that immediately.