Grace Zabriski is Fucking Awesome or I've Started Rewatching 'Twin Peaks' by Alex Snider

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Sunday Songs - RIP Gladys Horton 1945-2011

Gladys Horton was the original lead singer and co-founder of The Marvelettes, the pioneering girl group who gave Motown it's first #1 Billboard pop hit in 1961 with the single "Please Mr. Postman." The Marvelettes were instrumental in putting Motown on the map, paving the way for all-female vocal groups like The Supremes, The Ronettes, and Martha and the Vandellas. Horton passed away earlier this week at the age of 65 (not 66, as some sources have reported) from complications due to a stroke she suffered last year. In honour of this marvellous Marvelette, this week's sunday song's is dedicated to Gladys Horton and her sassy, upbeat vocals.

Teena Marie, 1956-2010

I'm sitting in the living room with my Poppa.  I'm on my computer,  he's watching The View.  Whoopi mentions the recent passing of R&B legend Teena Marie, so my ears perk up.   I'm a fan, and her death was a tragic loss, but I don’t expect my grandparents to know who she was, which is why I’m so confused when Poppa calls Nanny into the room...

Poppa: “Margaret, come here for a sec!”

Nanny: “What is it, what do you want?”

Poppa:  “What was the name of that singer you liked?  The one who had her own show? The one who was gay? With the raspy voice?”

Nanny: “Who?”

Poppa: “What was the name of that show.. Beyond, something?”

Nanny: “Beyond Reason?  Beyond...”

Me: “Do you mean Melissa Etheridge?  That wasn’t-”

Poppa: “Yeah, yeah. She looks like the woman who just died.”

Nanny: “Beyond Belief.”*

Me: “Wait, Melissa Etheridge had a TV show?”

Nanny: “Who died?”

Poppa: “That singer, Tina Louise.”

Me: “No, not-”

Nanny: “Oh, she was getting on...”

Poppa: “She was only 53.”

Me:“No, it was Teena Ma-”

Nanny: “No, she was older than that... she was on that old show...”

Poppa: “Gilligan’s...

Me: “No, Tina Louise didn’t die,  it was Teena Marie.”

Nanny: “ Gilligan’s Island.”

Poppa: “Oh? Who’s that, what did she do?

Nanny: “Who?”

Me: “She was a singer.”

Poppa: “Oh.”

Nanny: “Don’t call me in here again!”

Poppa: (to me) “You’ll be old one day too, you know.”


Yeah, so that's the kind of conversation that happens several times a day.  I've got dozens more where that came from...


But seriously, Teena Marie was an enormously talented singer, songwriter, and producer, and we lost her far too soon.  

*The TV show in question, which I was not familiar with, was in fact called Beyond Chance.  It starred Melissa Etheridge and ran from 1999-2002 on Lifetime. Yeah, I had to do some Googling to find that out.

Portraits of Women, 1974-1977.

Jackie Burroughs, Actress

The University of Saskatchewan archives are home to a fascinating collection of portraits by photographer John Reeves.  Commissioned by Lorraine Monk in 1975 for the International Year of the Woman, the photos document Canadian women of achievement from various walks of life.  While the arts, authors, and performance galleries are fun to browse for all of the familiar faces they contain (including the lovely Jackie Burroughs, above, who passed away recently and was a familiar face in our neighbourhood, as well), I also enjoy looking through the portraits of judges, scientists, clairvoyants, and manicurists in the other "less glamourous"  galleries.  These women look at the camera like they would an old friend, about to share their deepest secrets.  Some are humorous, others haunting, but all have the power to entrance and capture the imagination.

Constance Nozzolio, Scientist

Vicky Crowe, Craft Manufacturer and Retailer

Karen Kain, Ballerina

Beryl Fox,  Documentary Film Maker

Buffy Sainte-Marie, Singer

Dorothy Wyatt, Mayor

Margaret Laurence, Writer

Joan Fox, Film Historian

 All photos courtesy of John Reeves and The University of Saskatchewan Archives.

2010 Habitat For Humanity Toronto Polar Bear Dip

This year I'm going to be doing the polar bear swim (I will be submerging, willingly, my bathing suit clad body into Lake Ontario on January first)

to raise money for Habitat for Humanity's Toronto branch. Best hangover cure ever! Donate and win my admiration -- a priceless commodity!

2010 Habitat For Humanity Toronto Polar Bear Dip

20 Things You Can Do To Transform Rape Culture

If you're unfamiliar with the concept of rape culture, Shakesville has an excellent primer which I urge you to read.

Given the so-called "frenzy" we've been watching (and participating in) on Twitter in the last few days,  when even so-called progressive liberals like Micheal Moore and Keith Olberman are willing to contribute to and perpetuate an environment of apologism and denial, it's easy to feel frustrated or even defeated.  That's why I'm so grateful we have bloggers like Sady who aren't backing down, even when faced with threats, harassment, and the continued silence of a Stupid White Man.  Inspired by Sady's mission to raise money for RAINN, Alex and I are both donating to the TRCC this Christmas.  I'm also sharing this guide from the Toronto Rape Crisis Centre:

20 Things You Can Do To Transform Rape Culture

1. Speak up. Don't listen quietly to sexist jokes or comments. Tell your friends you're uncomfortable with how they portray woman.

2. Teach your children to respect children of the opposite gender. Model for them that each sex has an immeasurable value and that neither should be seen as better, more powerful, smarter, than the other.

3. Talk to boys about their sexuality. Tell them about their responsibility, too.

4. Talk to girls about their sexuality. Give them the information that will enable them to make intelligent, thoughtful, responsible decisions about their sexually. Tell them their body is their own and is for their pleasure.

5. Support your daughters, nieces, and neighbours. Encourage them to relish their mental and physical strength.

6. Don't be silent when you see a T-shirt, sign, poster, movie, or anything you find offensive to women. Say something.

7. Insist that your clergy talk about ending violence against women in your church or synagogue.

8. Don't use words that perpetuate the language of the rape culture. Ask yourself if you would use the same word for a man. Ask yourself what the word you want to use implies.

9. Call your public officials. Find out what they're doing to transform the rape culture. Insist on their involvement.

10. Boycott movies that show women being sold, raped, and hurt by men. Help send a message that these portrayals of women will no longer be commercially successful.

11. Ask your child's school if they have a sexual harassment policy. If not, volunteer to serve on a committee to develop.

12. Encourage men you know to explore and then act upon what it means to be anti-rapist and non-violent. Insist they have the courage to behave in ways that promote a safer society.

13. Make you home free from violence and sexism. Don't watch or allow your children to watch television, movies or read magazines that perpetuate violence and the rape culture.

14. Ask your employer if your firm or organization has a sexual harassment policy. Have they provided or will they provide training for employees on harassment? If not, form an employee committee to advocate for a policy and training.

15. Write letters to establishments you find offensive and tell your friends and colleagues to do the same. Write to advertise on offensive. If there is no response, be prepared to take more direct (non-violent) action through information picketing, flyering, etc.

16. Have conversations of consent with a potential sexual partner. Verbally explore each other's comfort level with the activities taking place.

17. Learn to say "no". Learn that it is okay to be assertive. Know that it is possible to be respectful of others while asserting your feelings.

18. Support and promote women who provide positive role models. Celebrate the accomplishments of women with your children, partners, and friends. Teach others that the best women to look up to are the ones who are making a difference, not the ones who are the most famous, beautiful, and wealthy.

19. Remember: the rape culture is one for which we're all responsible, but don't blame the victim.

20. Dare to dream of a culture free of sexual and all other forms of violence... a rape culture transformed.

VIA Toronto Rape Crisis Centre 

One of A Kind by Rebekah Hakkenberg

Katie Jung, I'm Outta Here, 101.6 x 152.4 cm jacquard weaving, 2009
via

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Lady Writers

In light of the recent hubbub over Jonathan Franzen's Time cover and the unanimous excellent reviews for his new book, Freedom and the well-placed but misrepresented anger on behalf of female writers I have come up with a list of ten contemporary female written novels. These are authors that men, women, everyone should read because they're really fucking good.

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