Well, this one is really less of a rant and more of a "rave." While I was publishing this issue of the zine, I discovered two websites that I think are cool, and I want to share my discoveries with the rest of the world.

The first site is what I am listening to right now, and have listened to for most of the publication of this zine issue. In the past I always stuck a CD in the computer when I felt like music, or cranked the stereo from the other room. But recently, having gotten a cable modem which makes things download quickly, I looked around the Internet for some good internet radio and found this site: Choice Radio. The station I listen to most frequently is Voices of Women, which the site's creator described to me in an email as her "own baby and personal passion" and it plays some great music. The site has other programming choices though, for those who aren't quite as estrogen-oriented.

Val Starr includes a personal message about the women artists she programs on the site:

So many womderful women with beautiful voices. How can I hope to give each and every one of the hundreds of incredible singers...from Barbra Streisand to Sarah McLaughlin...from Diana Ross to Annie Lennox...from Joni Mitchell to Janis Joplin a much deserved place in this radio format. Programming this channel gives me so much joy as I bear my heart and soul and love for all the women that have dared to dream and soar in music.

I don't know if the "womderful" is intentional, or a typo, but I like it either way-- as long as it doesn't get overused like the old "herstory"....

I've been jamming along with the station for about two weeks, and usually, I get great streaming sound, with the option of rating the music I like or don't like. The idea is that if I hate something, it won't show up on my personalized stream again... I've only "hated" two songs so far-- one, which is playing right this minute-- and one other which I rated and haven't heard since I dissed it, so presumably I won't have to suffer through this young bubble gum singer again either.... we'll see. I've heard music from Bonnie Raitt (loved it) Annie Lennox (loved it) Madonna (loved) Ani DiFranco (finally! I have heard of her music but never heard it before on 'regular' radio). I've fallen madly in love with the music of Lucinda Williams, and have ordered one of her CD's, "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road" from Amazon. I checked out her website after hearing "Can't Let Go" a couple of times and really just being blown away. I've also heard, and enjoyed, other artists I had never heard of, like Jill Sobule, Shelby Lynn, Sandy Knox-- the list goes on.

So the point, finally, is that this station is something I think we ought to support. Val Starr is having some trouble with advertisement-- the choice of having it on the site and actually continuing to exist, or to have subscriptions (to which many listeners object) or of folding up shop and letting the big commercial interests keep the airwaves (netwaves?)... which would mean that I would probably NEVER have heard Ani DiFranco short of buying a CD unsampled... I will admit that I'm not certain the radio experience would be great for people with slower modems. Sometimes, as today, my radio play is a little choppy, and gets cut off frequently. The site notes that this week they are upgrading servers, which makes me hope this is a temporary problem-- but it could also be web traffic-- but it is the equivalent of the snow that drives me crazy on "regular radio." It usually makes me pop in that CD (at least now I have some cool new ones to listen to). But the fact is I generally hate commercial radio, which has a short, short play list, DJ's that talk too much, contests that I never win, and too much pop music that I don't want to hear. So choices, like Choice Radio, are great, and part of what makes the Internet such a fabulous place to be.

The other "Rave" I have is for a movie critic's site. I have to admit that usually, when I go to the movies, I turn the literary critic off in my head (I've said this before, but it bears repeating.) I like to just sit back and let my "willing-suspension-of-disbelief" take over, and my Pollyanna movie-going makes me generally like most movies (at least for a while). In fact, I get really, really annoyed with people with whom I attend movies when they take the plot holes (that sometimes pop up in even our favorite movies) so seriously that they comment on them DURING the movie. (Now, if they wait till after the movie to point out that the aliens in Independence Day would clearly not have the same kind of computer operating system, and might even not be on a binary code, then I'll hash it out... just don't interrupt my bought-and-paid-for moment of story-listening!@#%!) But because of this, in order to not sound like a dolt all the time ("Really? You didn't like Very Bad Things? Why ever not?") I need a critic to make me turn that critic in my own head back on.

Generally, movies have to be awful, really really awful, for me to hate them. But this means that sometimes I miss some of the issues that I usually would notice about the story, and the messages beneath the main action. For example, I recently watched a quite popular slapsticky movie, on video, with my husband. I liked the movie while I was watching it-- but when I went to the website below and read her reviews of the movie, where she pointed out that the movie's running gags are: 1. sexist jokes about the male protagonist's traditionally female job 2. racist jokes about his religion, 3. homophobia about his name. Then, what jokes aren't really offensive are just stupid. Once I read her review, I agreed with her. It's not that I then flagellated myself for having laughed-- but it made me think about the things we see, that we are conditioned to think funny, that really are hurtful. That my husband noticed these things and didn't share with me was because he has been burned before (that whole business above about interrupting my moment). But when I brought up the soon-to-be-mentioned movie critic's eye-opening review, the group of friends gathered at the house got a nice little debate going about the film. Imagine that! Intelligent conversation about a slap stick, potty humor movie? It does happen.

Anyway, the site I am raving about is called The Flick Filosopher Girl Movie Critic. The site, which according to its FAQ "debuted on September 8, 1997" (close to the time our site developed, coninkidentally enough) is run by MaryAnn Johanson, a former film school student turned free lance writer. She gets to review movies, write about them, and be harassed by people who think her reviews are wrong, or who want her to write their paper for her (don't I know the feeling!) Now, I looked for a good long while before I found something to disagree with her about (mostly, she has this thing about Julia Roberts, who I sort of like, even if I don't like all of her movies, and I just am really out of love with Titanic, so her good review was a little much.... but they aren't big issues, really.)

I found the site after looking around for reviews of Bridget Jones' Diary, and her review was one of the few negative opinions of the film that I found on the web. Most critics were enthralled by the movie-- and missed the general flaw that even the book had. The general flaw: the whole concept of the professional 30something woman who seems to obsess only about her weight, getting married, clothes.... (which didn't make either rendition awful, in my opinion, just problematic-- I do know women like Bridget-- so I can't really buy the argument that she's some sort of aberration, and that the story is untrue). This is a problem with the general concept, but once (and if) you can get past this issue, you can actually enjoy the humor of Jones' quirky post-modern introduction of a bad-book's bad-author, in a room full of great writers. You can enjoy the sexual-harassment her boss barrages her with because you can imagine that it will work out okay, and Bridget does handle it so well in the long run......

So while I agreed with the Flick Philospher's review of Bridget Jones in part, I still went to see the movie for myself... which is what I recommend with all movie critics. Incidentally, this is one thing I love most about the Flick Filosopher.... on her site "Manifesto," she says

Think of me as your movie pal. Ever go to the movies by yourself, and then need someone to talk the movie over with afterward? I'm your gal. I like to think I'm recreating the kind of intelligent conversation thoughtful movie fans engage in after leaving the theater or while the video is rewinding. I'm sure you'll let me know when I'm not succeeding.

Yes! A critic who doesn't actually think that they are telling us what to think! Someone who views the process as a debate, like those we have after all thought-provoking movies. So even if you disagree with her on some of her points, check her site out.

So while in this issue I'm a lot more "Rave" ish than ranty, I'm sure I'll find something to complain about next time. In the meantime, check out my old rants in the archives.

XOXO.....

Disagree with me? Want to rant about something completely different? Write me. You might get published, if you've got the chops, and don't mind working for peanuts. Or no peanuts and just the general thanks and appreciation of a grateful nation.... for more info, see the contributor's page.