This is the second in the VirusHead Saturday postings of Laurie Anderson’s Public (Personal) Service Announcements.
It’s about the response of a “bunny” at the Playboy Club, where protesters (including Anderson) were calling attention to the economic exploitation of women and the treatment of women as animals.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnS8Y4Qazhs[/youtube]
So if you want to talk about women and money….
hmmmm.
Children’s views on angels.
I only know the names of two angels. Hark and Harold.
~Gregory, 5Everybody’s got it all wrong. Angels don’t wear halos anymore. I forget why, but scientists are working on it.
~Olive, 9It’s not easy to become an angel! First, you die. Then you go to heaven, and then there’s still the flight training to go through. And then you got to agree to wear those angel clothes.
~Matthew, 9Angels work for God and watch over kids when God has to go do something else.
~Mitchell, 7My guardian angel helps me with math, but he’s not much good for science.
~Henry, 8Angels don’t eat, but they drink milk from Holy Cows!
~Jack, 6Angels talk all the way while they’re flying you up to heaven. The main subject is where you went wrong before you got dead.
~Daniel, 9When an angel gets mad, he takes a deep breath and counts to ten. And when he lets out his breath, somewhere there’s a tornado.
~Reagan, 10Angels have a lot to do and they keep very busy. If you lose a tooth, an angel comes in through your window and leaves money under your pillow. Then when it gets cold, angels go north for the winter.
~Sara, 6Angels live in cloud houses made by God and his son, who’s a very good carpenter.
~Jared, 8All angels are girls because they gotta wear dresses and boys didn’t go for it.
~Antonio, 9My angel is my grandma who died last year. She got a big head start on helping me while she was still down here on earth.
~Katelynn, 9Some of the angels are in charge of helping heal sick animals and pets. And if they don’t make the animals get better, they help the child get over it.
~Vicki, 8What I don’t get about angels is why, when someone is in love, they shoot arrows at them.
~Sarah, 7
This email meme was sent by Jacque (thank you!). Haven’t found the source, so I don’t know if any real children ever said these things. Still, these are awfully cute.
A new VirusHead tradition begins here. Now.
Every Saturday I will post another of Laurie Anderson’s public service announcements. She actually calls them personal service announcements.
Just a few little tidbits for you to ruminate upon. (Please make more, Laurie.)
The first PSA that I’ve chosen is called “National Anthem.”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cE6Pg2q3lI[/youtube]
The words are great though..just a lot of questions, written during a fire…. things like:
Hey, do you see anything over there?
I don’t know, there’s a lot of smoke.Say, isn’t that a flag?
Hmmmm…Couldn’t say really. It’s pretty early in the morning.Hey – do you smell something burning?
In Santa Fe, Michael told me that at some point Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson had gotten married. Huh? Whew. Can anyone confirm? I guess they’ve been an item for some time – I don’t know how I could have missed that. Two of my favorite talents, but so very different.
I’ve been listening to a lot of both of them in the last few days. I’ve really been enjoying the music from Anderson’s “Strange Angels.” Then I discovered her series of public service announcements. Heh-heh. I’m going to post one a week.
Until then, here’s some of my faves.
I think my favorite is “The Dream Before” – about fairy tales (Hansel and Gretel here), Bellamy’s angel of history, and “progress”:
And I adore “Strange Angels”
I couldn’t find “Closed Circuits” – which I also love, but no blog post on this – at VirusHead – would be complete without…. “Language is a Virus from Outer Space.” (grinning)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FeyGTmw0I0[/youtube]
And “Smoke Rings” – que es mas macho?
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnRjTKVWzw8[/youtube]
And of course – “O Superman.” Two versions – I like the delivery of the first (close up) one better, but it looks like it was part of some kind of documentary. Oh hey – does anybody know what the name of this was or where I might get it? The second video is the full version -a very powerful performance.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8LquNy3fd8[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0hhm0NHhCBg[/youtube]
I’m lingering on Lou Reed, too, especially the tracks on “New York.” I’ve always thought he had a really sexy voice. When we saw him in Paris, I wore black boots and a mini-skirt (and looked at an Parisian audience swearing tee shirts and jeans – so disappointing).
Here’s an interesting video that was made of “Satellite of Love.”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTqziV6kK0M[/youtube]
Lou Reed and John Cale singing “Nobody but You” (about Warhol) on the Letterman show.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFP9kBIXxfY[/youtube]
And a Reed classic – “Sweet Jane”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1edgKKwKf-0[/youtube]
I couldn’t find a video of “Sick of You” anywhere. It has always been my very favorite Lou Reed song. It’s a bit dated now in terms of the references, but I still enjoy it just as much as I always did. Note the Rudy Giuliani comment – hmmm. The bit on the President’s head works a little differently now than it did for Reagan.
I know this song stone cold – I’d love to perform it sometime, but it’s not the kind of song that is likely to show up on karaoke, and I doubt I could put together a back-up band anymore (lol) – so I sing it on the deck, iPod to my ears. My neighbors must really wonder about me. Anyway, here are the lyrics (emphasis added).
“Sick Of You,” Lou Reed
I was up in the morning with the TV blarin’
Brushed my teeth sittin’ watchin’ the news
All the beaches were closed
The ocean was a Red Sea
But there was no one there to part in two
There was no fresh salad
‘Cuz there’s hypos in the cabbage
Staten Island disappeared at noon
And they say the midwest is in great distress
And NASA blew up the moonThe ozone layer has no ozone anymore
And you’re gonna leave me for the guy next door?
I’m Sick of You, I’m Sick of YouThey arrested the Mayor for an illegal favor
Sold the Empire State to Japan
And Oliver North married William Secord
And gave birth to a little Tehran
And the Ayatollah bought a nuclear warship
If he dies he wants to go out in style
And there’s nothing to eat
That don’t carry the stink
Of some human waste dumped in the NileWell, one thing is certainly true
no. one. here. knows. what. to. do.
And I’m Sick of You, I’m Sick of YouThe radio said there were 400 dead
In some small town in Arkansas
Some whacked-out trucker
Drove into a nuclear reactor
And killed everybody he saw
Now he’s on Morton Downey
And he’s glowing and shining
Doctors say this is a medical advance
They say the bad makes the good
And there’s something to be learned
In every human experienceWell I know one thing that really is true
This here’s a zoo and the keeper ain’t you
And I’m sick of it, I’m Sick of YouThey ordained the Trumps
And then he got the mumps
And died being treated at Mt. Sinai
And my best friend Bill died from a poison pill
Some wired doctor prescribed for stress
My arms and legs are shrunk
The food all has lumps
They discovered some animal no one’s ever seen
It was an inside trader eating a rubber tire
After running over Rudy GiulianiThey say the President’s dead
No one can find his head
It’s been missing now for weeks
But no one noticed it
He had seemed so fit
I’m Sick of it!!!I’m Sick of You
I’m so Sick of You!
bye, bye, bye
bye, bye, bye
Tori Amos – “Yo George” (Speedbliss bushwacked mix)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCsojSpdMyw[/youtube]
Beverly over at Makanani has given me the “Rockin’ Girl Blogger” Award!
This award meme was started by Roberta Ferguson. There are, of course, instructions to forward it to women bloggers that I think rock, so here are my picks: