This blog should be sub-titled: a journal of my life in geek.
I get my geek on with things about which I am geeky: comic books, Baseball, Ultimate, science fiction, my favorite bands, books I have read and loved, and Jungian psychology to name some of the most frequently traversed subjects.
I began this project simply as a way to count my T-shirts. I own a lot of T-shirts. But how many do I have? Do I have 365? We shall find out.
When I started this blog, I thought about how each T-shirt means something to me. I bought it for a reason, after all. I set myself the task to post an entry about a new T-shirt every day as a way to simply write something every day, a warm up for writing fiction, which is my passion. Writing is like exercise. Warm ups are good for exercise. But after completing a month of blogging about T-shirts, I have learned that this blog serves as a journal; it documents my life in geek, sort of a tour of my interests in pop culture. The blog serves as a tool for self-inventory, for assessment and analysis of self and the origins of self, for stepping through the process of individuation in catalogues, lists, and ranks.
The blog also made me aware that I have some serious gaps in my T-shirt ownership, and I am in the process of collecting some new T-shirts for several of the great popular culture icons that I truly love. Stay tuned.
I was also a bit surprised that people checked out my blog and continue to check it, read it, and even comment on it. I am very appreciative of this readership. Please feel free to share your thoughts in my comments section. I will respond.
Also, please note that I have moved the original introductory text to the side bar. And now, I present to you the most recent entry of 365 T-shirts: a journal of my life in geek. Thank you for reading.
(Second Update - 1310.24. First Update - 1306.05 Originally Posted - 1304.25.)
Today is a brief one. Re-presenting T-shirt #255 because it not only describes my dream about Ani DiFranco but collects links to all my other Ani content. I made the banner title below a hot link to #255 if you want to see the whole thing. IF you are looking at my blog on Google Chrome, all the videos in the past blog entries linked below are broken. But they do work on other browsers. I may attempt to fix the broken links as it bothers me, but this a more long term project hence the note at the top of the current blog page, which may be this one depending on how and when you are viewing it.
Today features the previous Ani content and some videos, a playlist of a dozen or so with an emphasis on women artists, though I may not restrict myself 100% to this goal.
T-shirt #255 - Ani DiFranco Purple Every Tool is a weapon if you hold it right
I dreamed about Ani DiFranco last night. She was at my house, and I was interviewing her for some article I was going to write. I had to confess that I have not liked, though I have not really listened to, any albums since Educated Guess (2004), and really, Revelling/Reckoning (2001) was the last album by her that really spoke strongly to me.
Ani took this in stride and told me she understood, though she encouraged me to give her more recent works another listen or twelve.
And so I invited her to the Dinner Party.
I have already written about Ani DiFranco in T-shirt #121 and T-shirt #173 because I own four Ani shirts and a hat.
I have seen Ani DiFranco in concert eight times.
I like this shirt. I like purple. I am going to present a few more videos that I have not yet presented. In T-shirt #173, I shared videos for "Swan Dive" and "Gravel." In T-shirt #121, I presented videos for 'your Next Bold Move," School Night," and the poem "Grand Canyon."
OFFICIAL BOILERPLATE TEXT OF THE LAST TWENTY POSTS COUNTDOWN: Hi. Thanks for reading. I am posting this "boilerplate" text everyday for the last TWENTY posts in the T-SHIRT blog year, which started on March 22, 2013. I will close out daily transmission on March 21st, day 365 of my T-shirt blog-tastic extravaganza spectacular. I will give myself a short hiatus of total non-transmission or publication for an as yet undetermined period of time, though I am estimating about two weeks. After my blog vacation hiatus, I will resume T-shirt posts on a regular basis, also as yet to be determined (weekly? Twice monthly?) to finish blogging about all the T-shirts that were not featured in the blog year. At some point, once I feel I am rolling along nicely, I will begin regular posting through my main blog: SENSE OF DOUBT. T-shirt posts will direct to the T-shirt blog from SENSE OF DOUBT. I will continue to post THE WEEKLY COMIC LIST, the features of occasional T-SHIRTS I AM WEARING THIS WEEK, book reviews, comic book reviews, and other popular culture nonsense as I have been for a year now but all will go up at SENSE OF DOUBT and some will direct back here to 365 T-SHIRTS. Ultimately, I will begin Internet publication of my fiction, primarily the comic book satire episodic story called POP! among other projects. So, in summary, 365 T-SHIRTS will continue though intermittently. SENSE OF DOUBT will host my main blog presence and fiction writing as well as links to any T-shirt posts shared here. I hope you will continue to follow me in my journey as a writer and a content provider. Thank you for your kind attention and time you have spent with me on this and/or any other day this year. I am humbled and blessed by your readership. - chris tower, blogger, originated 1403.02 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
Here we go. Without much strongly considered thought or research, just off the top of my head, my best and favorites, though I will stick to a general concept of women who have never been part of a band to make the list easier to concoct. And thus, the list provides for me a guide for videos to post.
I already posted about women artists in T-shirt #263. I made a top twenty for that blog entry. My top ten is very much the same, but when I am stricter about the "no bands" thing then I must drop Tracey Thorn and Annie Lennox and replace them. Tori Amos and Jane Siberry take those spots in the top ten with the no bands caveat. The videos on that page (T-shirt #263) in Google Chrome are also broken. But here's my revised list and new videos. ENJOY.
I have too many Joni Mitchell favorites to select just one, so I made choices based on what was available via video. This BBC clip is very good, and I do love this song. It's excellent.
Kate Bush - Suspended in Gaffa - Official Music Video
I am not sure if I am going to argue that this is my favorite Kate Bush song, but I believe it's the first one I ever heard and so I am fondest of it for that reason. I will argue any one to the death that The Dreaming is her best work, though most people consider it to be Hounds of Love. Like many albums from the fertile early 1980s, The Dreaming sounds like it could have been produced today. It was that far ahead of its time.
Lots of Ani choices, and I am pretty sure I have not shared this one yet. Great to see a duet with Melissa Ferrick, who is also a wonderful solo artist in her own right.
I shared this video originally in T-shirt #78, even though if you visit that page now, in Google Chrome, the videos are missing. I did check on more than one computer. But this song and the video version of it is worth sharing again, especially since I did not realize that the "World Before Columbus" follows "The Queen and the Solider."
I shared about Erykah Badu in T-shirt #86. But I only posted two videos in that entry. Badu is an amazing artist, and I should have shared more than two videos. But for the early days of the blog that entry is rather extensive.
T-shirt #240 - Veronica Mars - Kickstarter - shirt-1
I am excited about the impending Veronica Marsmovie. I thank my intrepid step-daughter Piper for spotting the Kickstarter campaign and alerting me immediately to the fund-raising for the film. I jumped right into that band wagon.
For those looking for their next binge watching candidate, choose Veronica Mars. It's less of a commitment than many shows with only 64 episodes. And with the feature film due next year, it is the best time ever to binge watch this fantastic program in time to better understand the movie.
For those not "in the know," Veronica Mars was a television show on the UPN and then subsequently the CW network.
A modernization of the Nancy Drew model, the show featured a smart and sassy main character, Veronica Mars, daughter of the former Neptune county Sheriff, who, after being ousted from office in a recall election, opens his own private investigation firm, where Veronica works part time.
The show only lasted three seasons, but it was a hit with its fans. Given the fervor and intensity of the fan support, it is surprising that the show did not survive for a fourth season.
Creator Rob Thomas experimented with a variety of approaches for story telling in the episodic format. Like most hour-long dramas, the show featured a "case-of-the-week" for Veronica to solve as well as progress on the over-arching mystery, which in the first two years encompassed the entire season, but in the last year, Thomas broke up the larger mystery format and presented two extended mysteries and several stand alone episodes. For those who love episodic fiction, like me, the mixture of weekly mysteries and larger, season-long story lines was an addictive combination. Adding strong characterization and compelling subject matter (such as Veronica's muddled memory of a rape and her search for her mother), the series is arguably one of the best teen dramas of the more recent UPN, WB, and CW set.
Like many shows of its kind, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the main character, in this case Veronica Mars, played BRILLIANTLY by Kristin Bell, begins as a high school student (a junior in this show) and each year grows one year older. The third season of Veronica Mars takes place in the main character's first year of college. The proposed fourth season would have followed Veronica Mars to her first job at the F.B.I.
The show's writing was superb: witty, gritty, pathos-laden, dark, light, and endlessly inventive. The cast of characters surrounding Veronica were fresh and well-rounded. The introduction of new characters when she went to college added rather than detracted from the cast synergy. And the show dealt well with the classic love triangle between Veronica and two hunky males: Duncan Kane (Teddy Dunn) and Logan Echolls (Jason Dohring), both of whom figured in key ways into the ongoing and weekly stories and mysteries.
Without hyperbole, I would count this in my top ten favorite TV shows of all time. In an objective ranking, it would probably be demoted from being among the top ten best ever shows only due to its short run. I made a partial list of favorite shows in the entry for T-shirt #73, in which I discussed the merits of Battlestar Galactica. Though after my wife's recent experience with Breaking Bad, this list may have to be revised. After all, my list of favorite TV shows is quite obviously restricted by the TV shows I have actually seen.
Season Three cast
Veronica Mars set Kickstarter records when it launched the Kickstarter in March. I ordered TWO incentive T-shirts when I donated, and I have been waiting months for them to arrive. I may try to hold off on featuring the other one in the hopes I can use it when the movie is released.
The Kickstarter project page features all sorts of news and nifty and videos, such as the initial pitch and updates by Kristin Bell. The video at the top of the page will give you a GREAT idea of why the show is so hilarious and wonderful.
Did you click the link? Oh you mean THIS LINK BELOW???
I think you will understand why I funded this IMMEDIATELY with my hard earned dollars.
(BTW, I created a Kickstarter category, so you can see other Kickstarters I funded and one I wrote about but missed out on funding, though I would have funded it had I known. There's one Kickstarter that I have funded that I have not yet written about so STAY TUNED, Marshmallows.)
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
On March 13, 2013, Rob Thomas and Kristen Bell launched a Kickstarter fundraiser in an attempt to get the film made, with the help of fans to reach the goal of $2 million. The campaign offered various incentives to those who donated more than $10. Thomas and Bell stated that they approached Warner Bros. with the idea and they approved and will be distributing the finished title. Bell, Thomas, Enrico Colantoni, Ryan Hansen, and Jason Dohring appeared in a video promoting the campaign that was shot in February 2012. The goal was met within 10 hours of the start of the campaign. The project broke several Kickstarter records, including being the largest successful film project on Kickstarter. The Kickstarter campaign ended on April 13, with 91,585 donors raising $5,702,153. Production began in June 2013, with a projected early 2014 release.
On April 5, Thomas had completed the first draft of the script. Several casting announcements were made through April to June, with confirmation of several returning cast members, including Jason Dohring (Logan Echolls), Enrico Colantoni (Keith Mars), Percy Daggs III (Wallace Fennel), Chris Lowell (Stosh "Piz" Piznarski), Francis Capra (Eli "Weevil" Navarro), Ryan Hansen (Dick Casablancas), and Tina Majorino (Cindy "Mac" Mackenzie), among several others (Veronica Mars, WIKIPEDIA, 2013).
I joined the Kickstarter in that early surge and added my money to the first wave, the original investment that funded the movie's goal in ten hours and set it on its way to breaking all KICKSTARTER and indie-Internet funding records. OH YEAH.
Also, this Kickstarter factors into my Blog Journey (which I just started writing about yesterday). The good crew of the good ship Veronica Mars launched their lovely Kickstarter the DAY I found out I had cancer. Dear readers of this blog will know that this diagnosis prompted me to start the blog eleven days later on March 22, 2013, beginning my T-shirt odyssey. If I remember correctly, Piper texted me the morning of my follow appointment, and shared a link on Facebook, and I banked my money into the Kickstarter immediately. Later that day, a very nice doctor told me as nicely as possible that I had prostate cancer. Good news and bad news in the same day. Really?
I guess that's how it happens. Good news, bad news. Then the bad news turns into good news? Sometimes.
Two hundred and fifty-one days later, I am on day #240 of my daily blog. Is that insane or what?
Did you click the link above? Want convenience? The video on the Kickstarter is the original viral video, but here's the San Diego Comic Con sneak peek with trailer. Oh yeah.
Veronica Mars Official Comic-Con Sneak Peek (2014)
And I have another Veronica Mars T-shirt left to feature. Woot! Woot!
"Bring it now, Sugar. Bring it on, bring it on, yeah. Just remember me when"
- Dandy Warhols, Veronica Mars theme song "We Used to Be Friends"
COUNTDOWN TO THE END OF THE BLOG YEAR: 125 shirts remaining
For many weeks, I have been stewing over creating a post featuring one of my Buffy the Vampire Slayer shirts and the continuing love letter I plan to write for Joss Whedon.
Sometimes the posts I want to make are a bit intimidating, and I put them off. How can I possibly do justice to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which is considered by most as one of the best Television shows of all time, and surely one of my favourites?
And then I begin to investigate basic searches for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and I find more material than I can possibly digest myself let alone synthesize into some digestible form for you, dear reader. I have not even read in their entirety all the books I own. And when is the last time I watched all the episodes? Or even one episode... I am a terrible fan...
I made my first attempt at a list of favourite TV shows in T-shirt #73, which was dedicated to one of the greatest ever: Battlestar Galactica (the new re-make not the original). Buffy the Vampire Slayer made that list of favourites, which I won't repeat here (check the link). I mentioned Lost, though I wrote about this show separately in T-shirt #76. I must have had temporary amnesia as I failed to mention one of my all-time favourites, and for many years my number one, thirtysomething (but more on this show later; I have shirts).
I have one other shirt featuring Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and so I have a second chance to create a special, well-considered, intricate, detailed love letter to all things Buffy the Vampire Slayer because this post is not going to be so intricate or well-considered.
In fact, I have been struggling for weeks with why I love Buffy the Vampire Slayerso much. And then, I read a recent interview in Entertainment Weekly with JOSS WHEDON. (There does not appear to be a link to this cover story from the August 30, 2013 issue of EW; I am assuming one has to buy the magazine to read it.) When asked for his proudest moments, the two Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes that he named happened to be my two favourites, and the episodes I point to that define what is great about Buffy the Vampire Slayer as a show: "The Body" (Season Five, episode 16, production number 94) and "Once More With Feeling," the much-touted musical episode (Season Six, episode 7, production number 107). Joss also named the Firefly episode "Objects in Space," which is an excellent choice as well, but that's a story for another time.
Though "The Body" and "Once More With Feeling" are my two favourite Buffy episodes their impact will not be in any way significant if a viewer has not watched the ninety-three episodes that precede "The Body" and the one-hundred-and-six episodes that precede "Once More With Feeling." These episodes had an enormous impact on me, but I had already invested nearly one hundred and then more than one hundred hours watching the program's episodes, at least once each. I made friends on the Internet after the airing of "Once More With Feeling." I had to have this music ASAP to play on CD and eventually digitally. Come on, this was 2001. I was still using CDs and cassette tapes and did not yet own a digital music player. It was an entire year before Joss and company released the music on a commercial CD.
I think Joss was as surprised as many how popular the episode became and how quickly.
From the Wikipedia page devoted to the "Once More With Feeling," episode : "John Virant, president and chief executive of Rounder Records, told the Los Angeles Times, "I remember watching the episode when it aired last October, and after it was over, I said to my wife, 'That's the best hour of TV I've ever seen. Someone should put that [soundtrack] out.' I inquired at Fox, just following up, and they said, 'Well, we tried, it didn't happen. If you want to take a run at it, feel free.'" Allmusic gives the album five out of five stars, stating that the music is "every bit as fun as the episode itself", praising the voices of Benson, Marsters and Head. Reviewer Melinda Hill states it is "a must-have for Buffy fans, but it wouldn't be out of place in anyone's collection""
I bolded and underlined the key line in the above paragraph: "That's the best hour of TV I've ever seen."
It is a work of crazy and frenetic genius. One of the best things about the episode is how it advances the ongoing story lines through the musical numbers in a way that is much more sophisticated than most musical theater scores and books. BUT the viewer can only enjoy the full impact of the episode by watching the one-hundred-and-six episodes that precede it. I will share some clips. Sadly, only one clip from the actual episode due to copyright issues. They are amazing, but my assessment of amazing is grounded in my foundation of Buffy study. One must devote the time, invest in the characters, the show, its premise, to be fully moved by these episodes.
"The Body" has been hailed by critics as one of the finest episodes of television EVER broadcast. It was and is Emmy worthy, but the show, the episode, and the mind-blowing performance of Sarah Michelle Gellar were not nominated for ANY Emmy Awards, which is one of the many reasons why the Emmys, like the Oscars, are a joke. I do not want to share too much more about "The Body". I recommend it, but only after watching all four and two-thirds seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer that lead up to it. But I will say that the episode made me bawl like a baby, and it still does. Very few TV shows or movies have ever affected me so deeply. There was an episode of thirtysomething that got to me like that, too. Nothing else springs to mind.
EPISODIC NARRATIVE
As I have written before (T-shirt #76 for example), I adore the episodic narrative. Buffy the Vampire Slayer delivered 144 weekly episodes over a seven season period. Each installment built on the one before, and the cumulative effect creates one of the most powerful and enthralling and just damn fun television stories ever created.
Do not judge by the first season. There were some clunkers. And though the first season has some bright spots, overall, it's an initiation period. Joss was trying to figure what he wanted to do and prove to the WB that he could attract viewers with it.
I caught on to Buffy because of the incessant ads during broadcasts of Chicago Cubs games because WGN was a WB network. I watched a lot of Cubs games in 1997. After seeing several dozen Buffy ads, I finally gave in an started recording the show. I am a big recorder. I have always had trouble watching shows as they are broadcast. Video tape, digital recording, and now streaming video are all so much more convenient than arranging my schedule to be home at 8 p.m. on a Tuesday. Though it was not long before I was doing just that for Buffy. I started recording Buffy the summer of 1997, and at first, I thought it was kind of stupid. But then it grew on me, and then I saw episode seven, "Angel," and I was hooked. But overall, Season One, not so much. Then came Season Two. It was better, but Season Two was not the most outstanding. It was better, it was good, and seeing Angel go bad was fun, seeing the introduction of Spike was amazing. The season as a whole had some clunkers, but overall, Joss was starting to nail it. By season three, Joss had the groove thing happening. From then on, each season kept setting new standards of excellence that were just mind-blowing.
I am sure that my hunger for more episodes of Buffy has not been sated since the last episode aired ten years ago much like the hunger felt by millions of fans. (Okay, at least thousands...)
Though, there is the comic book... it's not quite the same.
I know that someday there will be a Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie. But I am rather impatient in waiting for it. We don't want to see the performers get much older.
I LOVE BUFFY
Buffy the Vampire Slayer has always made me happy. It will make you happy, too, if you give it a chance.
The theme song still has the power to get me out of my chair dancing around the room like a wild banshee from one of the Hell dimensions. Check it out. FOX owns the theme song, but FOX is probably not reading my blog or uncovering this devoted fan's You Tube channel. This sequence is not a real opening sequence. Eliza Dushku was never in the opening credits. And this fan found some great clips to highlight the other characters. Some are the same as in the TV opening, and others are not.
Buffy Theme Song
Isn't that great?
I mean, really, really GREAT????????
Maybe my judgement is completely clouded by how much I LOVE Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
But, no, that's really great, right??
MORE ON "ONCE MORE WITH FEELING" - pics and videos
Buffy The Vampire Slayer - Once More With Feeling -
Something to sing about
Behind the scenes with Joss
Buffy needs "backup"
Anya, Tara
Buffy Once More With Feeling - I'll Never Tell + Lyrics
1950s sit-com style fun
and some of the funniest lines in whole show
Spike - Rest in Peace
Buffy Musical ~ Walk through the fire lyrics
I will stop now. I could post the whole damn thing. Difficult just to select those things I love most. I love it all "most." THINGS JOSS SAID More from that interview. One thing he said about Buffy that stuck is that the "empowered" female characters drive the narrative. In reacting to things like Twilight and Vampire Diaries, Joss questioned whether or not the women characters are driving the narrative or whether the women are passive and don't really know what the Hell is going on. And then he nailed it with the quip that all these new YA franchises could be entitled "Choosing Boyfriends: the movie." This is why I love Joss. Those comments right there. RESOURCES - BOOKS AND LINKS Here's a few resources. The first is a catch-up article on where the cast is now.
I have a couple of other books that I could not find to feature in this photo. I expect to get a bit more "jiggy" with book content in my next and extended love letter to all things Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
THE COMIC BOOK - FROM DARK HORSE
I mentioned that there was a comic book. There's actually several, but the main comic book for Buffy the Vampire Slayer produces stories that would have been the eighth and now the ninth seasons. In 2007, Joss Whedon took on over-seeing the series.
Unlike the TV series, the comic book runs more issues as one issue is not equivalent to one TV episode. Season Eight ran 40 issues. So far, Season Nine is up to 25 issues. The comics are very good, they are very well written, and well-done in making with the humor. But it's not the same. Though some interesting things have happened, such as see the page below after Buffy had sex with another woman. It was handled very well, but it's not so much an ongoing thing. She seems to prefer boys.
Check out this great cast. And I haven't even scratched the surface of why these people are so fantastic. And this collage only takes us into season three.
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T-shirt #255 - Ani DiFranco Purple Every Tool is a weapon if you hold it right.jpg)
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