Filed under: Uncategorized
[I have a dinner to go eat, so I'm just reprinting this in its entirety. The Providence Journal reported on this in their news blog, and all the comments people left (of course) made me want to die. The usual "I wouldn't want my daughter to be a prostitute" nonsense, but also crap like "I bet all those academics that signed this wouldn't want prostitution in their state" and "I bet none of their spouses know they signed something like this." Seriously, though, if I have to read one more person use the daughter argument--about prostitution, abortion, or anything--I'm going to become a hermit.
My only complaint about this letter is that it wasn't signed by a single academic in working in Rhode Island.]
July 31, 2009
LETTER TO MEMBERS OF THE RHODE ISLAND STATE LEGISLATURE
RE: PROSTITUTION LAW REFORM BILLS, 2009
BY: Professors Ronald Weitzer & Elizabeth Anne Wood, with 50 signatories (listed below) from the academic community
Rhode Island is currently the only state in the U.S. without a statute expressly prohibiting prostitution. State law bans loitering in public places, which is used to arrest street prostitutes, but does not ban solicitation itself, which leaves the indoor trade untouched because no loitering is involved.
This may change soon. The state legislature recently passed a bill criminalizing prostitution, although the House and Senate versions differ and will require changes before the bill can be forwarded to the governor.
Some highlights from my Best of 2001 list. A lot of songs here will probably be lost of the ages, so I tried to focus on those. The mix is slightly over an hour but I didn’t want to cut it down any father than I already had..
Side A (zip)
Stella Soleil, Kiss Kiss
Arab Strap, The Love Detective
Johnny Dowd, Big Wave
Twin Princess, Something Stupid
Weaklazyliar, My Gravity (Tayo Remix)
Beachwood Sparks, By Your Side
Catatonia, Shore Leave
O Susanna, Sleepy Little Sailor
Delphine, Swear That I Swear
Side B (zip)
Death By Chocolate, If You Want To Sing Out Sing Out
Alizee, Moi…Lolita
Sunshine Anderson, Heard It All Before
Manifold Splendour, Pawn Shop Prize
Navaira, Realism
The Gossip, Southern Comfort
Jimmy Eat World, Sweetness
Gorky’s Zygotic Mynci, This Summer’s Been Good From The Start
Gentle Waves, Sisterwoman
[2001 still via shillpages]
Filed under: music | Tags: awesomeness, bat for lashes, things that are wonderful
Bat For Lashes’ Two Suns has been one of my favorite albums of the past year, and by far my favorite track on it has been Sleep Alone, the thumpy and haunting ballad whose chorus I am physically incapable of singing along with (though not for lack of trying.)
Well, now it’s the album’s third single, and I couldn’t be more delighted. Expect this to be big on the Pop Chart when it returns next week. (The building the radio station is in is being renovated, so the station’s off the air this week while we pick up and move to a temporary location.)
(via Sheena Beaston)
Filed under: music | Tags: abba, frida, magnetic fields, problems, Stephin Merritt
Nineteen months ago, when I first heard the Magnetic Fields’ Distortion album, something about the song Zombie Boy seemed oddly familiar. In a blog post, here’s how I described it:
“Zombie Boy reminds me a lot of a song from the early eighties that I’ve spent all morning trying to place, to no avail. A woman sings it, and it’s sort of frosty and might sound like a cross between Laura Branigan and Modern Talking, sort of militaryish in a flashy and badly dated way. It’s a very drummy song and I think I mostly know it from people singing it at karaoke. Ideas, anybody?”
Well, I couldn’t figure it out. The question plagued me for months and months, every time I put the album on (which was a lot.) I asked people and then I asked more people and nobody could help me. “Like Pat Benatar, but more foreign,” I said. “Kind of crickety, I think,” and that didn’t help, either. “Drums! Cheese! A woman from another country!” Nothing, nothing, nothing.
Until today. My boyfriend went to visit his parents last week, and came home with a handful of his old cassette tapes. Some New Order, and some Depeche Mode, and one album I had never heard before…
