I don't blog ... but I do like quotes!

Girls Rock! The Movie … See it before it’s too late!

SimoneNeil — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:30:25 GMT

GIRLS ROCK! www.girlsrockmovie.com Directed by: Arne Johnson and Shane King SEE IT: For those in the SF Bay Area it is playing at the Embarcadero Center Cinema https://tickets.landmarktheatres.com/Landmark.aspx?TheatreID=224 READ about IT: http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/03/07/movies/07girl.html Rock ’n’ Roll Camp By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS Published: March 7, 2008 Young women find expression for more than their music in “Girls Rock!,” a jubilant documentary about a place where power chords and empowerment go hand in hand. At the Rock ’n’ Roll Camp for Girls in Portland, Ore., 100 delirious 8-to-18-year-olds — many of whom have never touched an instrument — are encouraged to make noise and “take up space.” For one earsplitting, consciousness-raising week, they form bands and write songs while watchful counselors — volunteer musicians from bands like Sleater-Kinney and Gossip — provide expertise, mediate meltdowns and reassure the strugglers. “Everyone needs to feel that someone gets them,” says Laura, who loves death-metal and worries about finding like-minded band mates. The 8ight-year-old Palace, a diminutive diva with a high-decibel vocal style, pens lyrics that hint at deeper anxieties. Interweaving candid interviews and despairing statistics — girls are the only group to begin school with a testing advantage and leave with a disadvantage — the directors, Shane King and Arne Johnson, inform but never lecture. Employing an amiably chaotic visual style that includes crude animation and campy postwar hygiene films, they record the battle to wrestle girl culture from the hands of Paris and Britney with the enthusiasm of true believers. “We forgot that we were just men,” they comment in the film’s production notes. Funny, so did I. “Girls Rock!” is rated PG (Parental guidance suggested). Broken homes are discussed, and broken self-esteem repaired. http://www.examiner.com/a-1264366~Review__It_s_great_how__Girls_Rock__.html Review: It’s great how ‘Girls Rock!’ Mara Math, The Examiner (OK) 2008-03-07 SAN FRANCISCO – Girls Rock! is the exception to the rule that an exclamation point in the title inevitably signals schlock. This engaging, provocative and sometimes poignant documentary demonstrates that rock can be just as much a liberating force today as in the 1950s that spawned it — and just as much needed by today’s girls. At the Portland, Ore., Rock’n’Roll Camp for Girls — “We put the ‘amp’ in camp” — campers ages 8 to 18 come for a week to create bands, learn the rudiments of their craft, write a song and perform it at the closing showcase. Local directors Arne Johnson and Shane King focus on four first-timers, each compelling enough for her own documentary: Hyper 15-year-old death-metal rocker Laura, a Korean-born adoptee, bounces between insecurity and aggrandizement on issues of body image, race and gender. Amelia, 8, is an avant-garde poet/musician so profoundly original that she may always be an outsider — until the day she sells out the Warfield. Misty, a 17-year-old survivor of gang life and meth addiction, reminds us of what Johnson calls “messy and dangerous reality.” Singer Palace, a mesmerizing 8-year-old whose authoritarian social style brings her rejection, finds herself drawn to raw scream as a vocal style. Assertiveness is a priority on the camp’s agenda, as well as cooperation and conflict resolution. One camper’s mother expresses near-tearful gratitude to Rock Camp for teaching her daughter “how to be nice.” It’s at least equally important, the film shows, that the camp also teaches girls how not to be nice, or, as Johnson puts it, “Not to just be nice, to be real.” Interspersed throughout the film are shocking contemporary statistics relevant to girls, presented with humor and elan via Liz Canning’s animation and graphics that mesh well with the film’s super-grainy, deliberately anti-MTV aesthetic. “Twice as many boys as girls say their talents are they like most about themselves,” reveals one. “Girls are twice as likely to say a body part is their best feature.” If you don’t like rock, or think you don’t, no worries — the soundtrack features an excellent and accessible mix, from Shemo’s beautiful “America” to Bikini Kill’s “Rebel Girl.” And no fear, either, of a relentless barrage of deafening decibels; the bands’ performances, as varied as the soundtrack, are saved for the film’s conclusion, maintaining, in keeping with the subject a focus on process rather than competition. Not unlike the final minutes of Nashville, the showcase provides some marvelous performance surprises. SEND girls to IT: www.girlsrockcamp.org

A Birthday Thank you ...

SimoneNeil — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 03:32:57 GMT

First my love to August and Phil for allowing the evening to be hijacked for my birthday. Next, I can not thank those enough who worked very hard to keep me out of the kitchen [mostly ;-) ] and kept things cleaned up and refilled once the party began. It was wonderful to not think about that for the entire evening. Finally, my gratitude, and appreciation for all those who … sent me an email, text, or IM, dropped by early just to say hi, left a note, got a message to me, or gave a gift, braved the traffic, the bridges (or lack there of), dealt with BART, or other public transportation, drove many miles, or walked a few blocks, fought to find a hotel in San Francisco on a holiday weekend, or just came inside on such a beautiful San Francisco evening. All to extend you Birthday wishes to me. I just may have a Sally Field moment. :-) Yes, it was a great night, with incredible energy. There were some people there who hadn’t see each other for years, others who got better aquatinted, and many introductions were made between friends of mine who had never met. I feel blessed. Ps. To those who took advantage of the precarious situation I found myself in … I remember who you are and some of you still may be on the receiving end of my flogger, or Twizzlers. I will remember. <weg> Oh, and yes, the Twizzlers left marks.

Just one week away ...

SimoneNeil — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 22:02:42 GMT

The first anniversary of my 39th birthday! Yup! That's right! I'm turning 40! WHEN? Saturday, September 1, 2007 WHERE? SF Citadel 1277 Mission Street San Francisco, CA www.sfcitadel.org More details in the prior Blog Post ...

The first anniversary of my 39th birthday!

SimoneNeil — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 17:54:30 GMT

Yup! That’s right! I’m turning 40 and I would love to see YOU! All you fun, kinky, sex positive, pervs! WHEN? Saturday, September 1, 2007 Yes I know this post is early but having a birthday over a holiday weekend has always been a curse. There is the holiday, and burning man, and now the bridge closure (note: a good reason to just stay in the city!) I’ll post it again as the day gets closer. WHERE? SF Citadel 1277 Mission Street San Francisco, CA www.sfcitadel.org Open play party 8:00 pm – 1:00 am Admission: $20 per person Volunteer 1 hour and get in free Contact: sfcitadelvolunteers@gmail.com Membership required and is available at the door for only $10. Memberships are valid for one year and each member can have up to three guests. Rumor has it there will be C A K E ! Oh, and Twizzlers! No Gift Required. Time with people means more to me than any gift you could buy. If you absolutely must give something, get a card, write a note, and give the gift of your words.

PRIDE weekend

SimoneNeil — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 18:06:55 GMT

I heard this today ... Real Men -Joe Jackson Take your mind back - I don't know when Sometime when it always seemed To be just us and them Girls that wore pink And boys that wore blue Boys that always grew up better men Than me and you What's a man now - what's a man mean Is he rough or is he rugged Is he cultural and clean Now it's all change - it's got to change more 'Cause we think it's getting better But nobody's really sure And so it goes - go round again But now and then we wonder who the real men are See the nice boys - dancing in pairs Golden earring golden tan Blow-wave in the hair Sure they're all straight - straight as a line All the gays are macho Can't you see their leather shine You don't want to sound dumb - don't want to offend So don't call me a faggot Not unless you are a friend Then if you're tall and handsome and strong You can wear the uniform and I could play along And so it goes - go round again But now and then we wonder who the real men are Time to get scared - time to change plan Don't know how to treat a lady Don't know how to be a man Time to admit - what you call defeat 'Cause there's women running past you now And you just drag your feet Man makes a gun - man goes to war Man can kill and man can drink And man can take a whore Kill all the blacks - kill all the reds And if there's war between the sexes Then there'll be no people left And so it goes - go round again But now and then we wonder who the real men are

Chia Pet ?

SimoneNeil — Mon, 11 Jun 2007 03:21:59 GMT

Just one to keep August searching for her next blog photo!

Twizzlers “name” brainstorm time

SimoneNeil — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 19:33:11 GMT

Please Help! Playing with them is so Domly (ha!) I am thinking about putting something on my contact cards, sig lines, etc. However, it has been used in so many name variations I am sure I have forgotten some of them. Please share your favorite and add it to the list :-) The Twizzler Lady The Evil Bitch with the Twizzlers Twizzler Top The Twizzler (though this may have other meanings I do not intend) Twizzler Bitch

It was for a good cause!

SimoneNeil — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 20:47:38 GMT

To those who were there ... thanks for your laughter, love, and support! <giggle> Donate more ... here - Team: http://www.aidslifecycle.org/601 here - Midori: http://www.aidslifecycle.org/9029 or here - Kelly: http://www.aidslifecycle.org/9071 "Brick House" She's a brick house Mighty might just lettin' it all hang out She's a brick house The lady's stacked and that's a fact, ain't holding nothing back. She's a brick house She's the one, the only one, who's built like a amazon We're together everybody knows, and here's how the story goes. She knows she got everything a woman needs to get a man, yeah. How can she lose with what she use 36-24-36, what a winning hand! * The clothes she wears, the sexy ways, make an old man wish for younger days She knows she's built and knows how to please Sure enough to knock a man to his knees * Shake it down, shake it down now ... 2/5 edit note: Thanks to TantricEve for the pic!