Dad's groovy remix of my "Modern Day Hustla" video!

My dad sent me an email last night explaining that he was re-editing the video I made for "Modern Day Hustla," the first single from my Occupy This EP.

Here is the original video I posted the other night, for reference:



This is the email my dad sent me:

Playing with your video using different colorizing FX and filters to tell a story. Hope you don't mind; it's just an exercise.if you like I will post to You Tube later and you can see it?

Storyline:

A poor, struggling girl, in braids and tattered clothes walks the mean streets, fuming about the inequities of life's struggles.

She alternates between this poor state (b/w)

and promise of better things high above the world (glow effects)

while having her nails done by a sympathetic friend (normal lighting, no FX).

The black and white represents the recent past and present.

The glow represents the future triumph.

The normal lighting and color represents a state that is better than the harsh economic reality, but still locked in the now of the present.



Watcha Think?

dad

I probably have the most awesome dad ever. I didn't even ask him to fix the video, but he took it upon himself to add his flair. I like the ultra bright colors in the rooftop scene, very groovy.

I'm hoping I can pick up some video editing tricks from my dad when I go back to Philly to visit. I'm planning on shooting a video for the "Philly Made Me" track while I'm in town, and I want to improve my editing skills so that the next video is even more badass than the first!

Tell me what you think!

"Modern Day Hustla" video! #OccupyThisEP almost finished!

Memorial Day weekend came along and I took full advantage of the time I had to record and edit the music video for "Modern Day Hustla," the first single from my very first hip-hop EP, Occupy This.

Much love to Miss Jillian Knox for art direction, filming, and just being all-around awesome. Enjoy the video, and please let me know what you think!


Spread the love and share with your friends!





My first music video! It's a little choppy, but I think it's fine for a first effort. I was thinking about handing over the raw footage and what I've already accomplished in iMovie to someone who knows what they're doing, to polish the video and really make it shine, but I'm okay with it as it stands.

A few things I want to note:

- I wanted to take my jacket off casually and throw it off camera, but because we were filming on Jillian's roof, and it was a windy day, it caught a gust and flew over to Jillian's neighbor's fire escape. We retrieved it after shooting on Jill's roof, by knocking on the neighbor's door and asking politely.





- Our nail polish scene was incredibly backlit, but Jillian did her damndest to make the kitchen bright enough for shooting. After messing around with various lamps and light sources, she got it to work. Major props to Jillian for everything.





- I've edited videos before-- I even directed and edited a movie in high-school, called Brick-- but it's been a while. It was about a brick and the people who interacted with it, and it was made four years before that neo-noir Joseph Gordon-Levitt vehicle came out. Anyway, this was my first music video (with lip-syncing) to edit. It was challenging at times, but I had fun playing around with it and was able to get it done in an afternoon.

Check out behind the scenes photos:




Props: cookies and nail polish


The scene


Saki, one half of our audience (the other half was Molly, Jillian's puppy)

As far as the EP goes, I'm making progress and will have something to give out for free very soon.

Please stay tuned!

"There's always work at the post office..." [please ignore the stench of death]

A typical United States Postal Service mailbox in Foster City. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You ever see that movie, Hollywood Shuffle? It's a great movie that analyzes and satirizes the stereotypes of black characters in film and television history, and it's very funny-- I recommend it highly if you haven't seen it.

The film revolves around Bobby, a struggling actor who keeps getting stuck with roles that reflect a negative stereotype of the African-American community.

He fantasizes about getting the kind of fully-developed parts he really wants, where he can show off his acting chops without subjecting himself to what is basically minstrelsy, and despite the fact that his family thinks he could do better, they support his dreams.

Bobby's grandmother reminds him, as he's preparing to audition for the part of a jive-talking street thug: "There's always work at the post office," which, when the movie was made in 1987, was true.

It's not so true today.

With more and more people choosing email over snail mail, the United States Postal Service isn't generating the type of funds it needs to operate and pay its employees.

If the USPS continues to lose revenue at the rate that it has been going, they're probably going to have to lay off a bunch of employees and the time it takes for mail to arrive will increase, and the hours the Post Offices are open will decrease.

A lot of people will say: who cares? I do all of my billing online, so this will not affect me.

I do all of my billing online, too, but the office I work in does not. We receive all of our important invoices and other materials through the mail. If service slows, it will slow us down.

On a personal level, I use snail mail all the time. I mail out zines and letters and postcards to friends on a regular basis, and I end up at the post office pretty frequently. Aside from the long lines around Christmas (because who loves waiting in line? no one), I have never had an unpleasant experience at a Post Office.

The one I used to go to in Philly, on Fourth street, was awesome. The lady who worked the desk had photos of Prince all over the place and always had good music playing. People love to complain about service in the Post Office, but I learned a while ago that a little bit of courtesy and common decency go a long way.

Anyway, the USPS has been running ads recently encouraging people to switch their billing methods to regular mail, because a letter has never been hacked. It's true (though one could argue that mail can be stolen, to which I would say you have a point, though social security numbers--which are not usually printed on statements-- are easier to hack online), but I'm not sure if that is a convincing enough argument to get Americans to send more mail. We're in the digital age now, and most people have smartphones. What do you think?



“We’re not trying to be luddites here, we’re not trying to say technology is bad, but the predictions of how fast customers would leave us were overstated,” said Joyce Carrier [what a perfect name for a postal employee!], USPS’s manager of advertising and media planning. “The switch has been much slower than originally anticipated.”

I am somewhat of a Luddite (I guess it comes with being a contrarian), and it does sadden me to think that post offices are going the way of appliance repair shops, paper books, and home telephones-- they exist, they're just not in high demand and thus harder to find. One day, when no other options are available, I'm sure I'll have to embrace the change of going fully digital, but until then I'm clinging to old school antiquities for as long as I can, the Postal Service included.

Conan pokes some fun at the Postal Service and their new "funny" ads here in this hilarious spoof. Peep it here:



Check me out at Yeah Write!

With a rebel yell!! Karaoke Ring of Rockin the 80s!

Prickätarpucken.jpg (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Hello, folks!

Are you ready for another hella retro installment of our Karaoke Ring of Death?

I surely hope so, as the hits we picked to perform this month are set to give you a major flashback to the time when ladies aerobicized wearing colorful spandex outfits now sold ironically in American Apparel stores, men wore high-waist jeans and smoothed their hair back like Robert Palmer, and kids couldn't get enough of that little yellow Pac Man and his spooky ghost friends.

Yes, I'm talking about the 80s.

You remember those days? I don't exactly, but I do remember watching Pound Puppies on TV and being really into Raffi.

I also remember my dad having a ponytail and my mom having really wild hair. Back then, our house still had orangey brown wall-to-wall carpeting.

I told you we were headed for a head trip!

Today, I am hosting Sandy of the blog, Just Sandy.

The video of me crooning Soft Cell's "Tainted Love" can be found on David's Blog, Countdown To Love 3...2...1

Sandy sent me an email this morning to clarify something she said in her video. I'll let her explain...

You host me this month! Woot Woot! 


If you want to put something in there about the fact that I say this movie was in the movie, and I meant this song was in the movie lol!

I had 1 shot to record and had to run out the door to work so I didn't have a chance to rerecord lol! 


But I totally had fun with all the 80s songs this month and it was hard to narrow it down so I hope my choice was good enough!

Love your video (as always lol!)

Sandy is too kind to me, and she can actually sing. Please enjoy her delightful rendition of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time," which without fail makes me tear up every time.

Philly Made Me, new track for my hip-hop EP

Finally, a new track for the EP which I promise I'll be releasing soon.

I got some time (and energy) last week after work and rerecorded this little tribute to my hometown, Philadelphia, called "Philly Made Me."

To be honest, the song is more about my antics during my party-hardy days, with some silliness thrown in, than anything else. But when I think about home, I think about those crazy times.

The beat is by my producer buddy from across the pond, @diss1, who was kind enough to let me spit over it.


It's a work in progress, but I hope you take a listen and let me know what you think.



If you wanna check out the tracks I've previously posted, which will appear on the EP in one form or another, you can listen to them here:

"Baloney"

"Modern Day Hustla"

"Fall Back / Stand Up"

"Crew Anthem (Gucci Gucci)"

By the way, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to name my first EP. The last time I asked, you guys seemed to like "Occupy This" the best, but I wonder if I can do better.

Help me come up with a catchy name for my first record! There were a lot of good suggestions last time, I recall "Tsar Bomba" being one of them, which has really grown on me with time. If you can think of a snappy title, leave it in the comments!

Too close to love you...

I just blogged about Public Service Announcements, and now I'm going to blog about an earworm from an Internet Explorer ad.



An earworm, for the record, is a tune that gets stuck in your head and won't come out. The only remedy, in my experience, is to listen to the tune, in its entirety, several times.

Remember Internet Explorer? Or should I say, did you use the internet over 10 years ago?

I think the least time I used Explorer might have been high-school (or was that Netscape Navigator?), which was at least nine years ago.

Well, IE is making a comeback, or is at least attempting to. Unwilling to let Google monopolize the browser market, Microsoft is hawking the ninth version of Internet Explorer, and using this catchy earworm to hook new or former users.

I've been singing this song all day, in my head and out loud. Wish I knew more of the words, but at least now I know where to find the original song, "Too Close" by Alex Clare.


I showed this video to Ben, who couldn't stop laughing at the actors pretending to do Kendo. They should have hired people who actually know kendo.

I considered using the browser because of their new ad. A more beautiful web? I'd have to say that judging by the commercial, they do make the net look more beautiful. That frog crawling up the branch? Adorable. "Amazingly fast," who can say no to that?

I kind of love getting songs stuck in my head, but not usually songs used in advertisements. The ad, and hearing or seeing the ad repeatedly, will definitely kill a song for me, even a good song, and will confuse me when I'm listening to the radio and think that I'm hearing the ad, even if it's the original song playing.

There's something about this song, though. I still really like it and don't find it obnoxious at all. Maybe it's the dubsteppy quality of the tune? I think I even prefer the clip used in the ad to the full length song, but that's because it's super dramatic and climactic.

My sister and I used to play a game where we would try to get a song stuck in each other's head. If I got my sister to start randomly singing a song by Selena then I would win, or if she managed to get me crooning "Backstreet's Back" she would win. We both love singing and dancing, and as sisters, we knew each others favorites and annoyances. Earworms are fun to spread!

If I get you singing or humming this IE ad, I win!

An ode to public service announcements and college radio

ketchup hunt's Español: cátsup hunts (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Public service announcements.

I'm a big fan of PSAs. My love for them dates back to my teen years, when I was obsessed with college radio and experiencing new kinds of music.

WKDU, Drexel University's station, was my favorite college radio station. For a while, I thought about attending Drexel just so I could work at the radio station, but the school is overpriced and, besides the radio station, there was nothing drawing me to study there.

There was also Rowan University's radio station, which I would listen to while getting ready for school in the morning. A lot of the shows they'd air on the station were not live, but previously recorded shows, and so I would hear "Just Like a Woman" by Bob Dylan on a daily basis. Not a bad song to wake up to.

The PSAs were always entertaining, whether they were read aloud by the radio jockey, or prerecorded messages complete with musical accompaniment.

One of my favorite PSAs was a comment on Ronald Reagan and the USDA's attempt to label ketchup as a vegetable.

[Reagan's 1982 budget cut one billion dollars from the school lunch program, which forced USDA officials to scramble to do more with less to make a nutritious lunch for America's school children, and thus gave ketchup and relish vegetable status.]

It was a parody commercial for "Ketchup Soup," with a soothing male voice lauding the nutritional benefits of ketchup added to hot water, a fine dinner for any family.

I have no idea where this particular PSA came from or who made it, and I have since tried to search for it on the internet and have had no luck. It's stuck with me over the years, though, and I thank college radio for that.

When I was studying at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England, I had the opportunity to be a part of a radio show-- the Anarchy in the UK radio show, to be exact. I'm not an anarchist, but I do like punk rock and that was what my cohorts liked to play. I played mostly horrorcore and classic hip-hop, but sometimes played emo and indie rock. In between songs we would discuss politics and current events. The University had an internet radio station, which was cool because it meant my family and friends could listen in from overseas, and we had a sweet Thursday night time slot.

When my dad came to visit me at UEA, he made these videos during our radio show. Here I am, being a goof:





I was initially inspired to write this post about PSAs because of an ad on television I saw by Tobacco Free California [no embed code was available for the video, which is why it's not on this blog, but if you click the link above you can watch the PSA on the site. By the way, I've noticed this before with PSAs, that they're often not on youtube or vimeo. You can find the videos usually on the organization's website, but they don't make embedding code available, which is silly because you'd think they'd want blogs to post the videos so more people can get the message].

This PSA was about cigarette butts and what happens to them when people litter them on the ground, which is something most people do without thinking twice. When I was a smoker, I would toss my butts into the street-- and I hate litter bugs. I thought that was the right thing to do, though, and in fact it's a terrible thing to do.

Cigarette butts poison the water and they aren't biodegradable-- they're pollution. So don't throw your cigarette butts in the street and don't throw them in the gutter (like I saw two kids do today, and I told them they should pick up their trash). There's even a sign on top of the gutter saying to not throw trash there because it empties into the ocean.

But don't take it from me, listen to these girls:

Honored: radio show guest hosting and Broke Ass of the week!

Guess who has naturally ethereal red hair (not complimenting myself, just repeating something my friend Dave told me in the 9th grade-- "etheral" was one of the vocabulary words we were being tested on) and is this week's featured Broke Ass? I'll give you a hint: you're on her silly blog right now. Damn, you're bad at guessing...



If you're confused as to why being a "Broke Ass" is a compliment, let me fill you in. Broke Ass Stuart is a local legend in San Francisco and New York City. I follow his website and Facebookings, which are chock full of useful tips for youngins living paycheck to paycheck. He's also really funny, has had a book published, and has his own program on the Independent Film Channel, to boot. Surely, Mr. Broke Ass Stuart is an inspiration for all young creative-types with big dreams.

Here's the intro to the interview... check it out!

This week we shine a spotlight on Alexandra Naughton, a lovely SF broke-ass who hangs out with Elks, bumps Wu-Tang, loves the Gold Dust Lounge and references Freaks and Geeks. She was also super sweet and said this at the end of her email: “Thank you for the feature! I’m proud to be a frugal Broke Ass :)”



Earlier this week, I was honored to be a featured guest on Thank, Q's radio show, where we discussed the hot topics of hipster racism, stereotypes, and the myth of a "post racial" society.

At the end of the show, Q played a verse from one of my hip-hop tracks and I spoke about being a white girl rapper and the presumptions that go along with it. This was my second time on Q's show, and the discussion was great. I hope to do it again soon. You can listen to the whole episode below!

Listen to internet radio with ThankQ on Blog Talk Radio

"That's so ratchet!" -- on slang and language

Words have a power all their own (Photo credit: waɪ.tiː)

"Ratchet."

I keep seeing people use this word on the internet, as well as hearing it spoken on the streets and on the radio.

Through context clues

[Tsidenote: man, I really love the concept of "context clues," it's probably the most useful thing I ever learned in school. I think about it and use it every day, plus it's fun to say as you wiggle your fingers in the air]

I was able to ascertain that the word means something insulting sometimes, and something good in other instances, but I wanted to dig deeper.

So I went to an online slang dictionary to find out the definition...

It is an adjective that can be used to refer to a person who is nasty, cheap, or trifling; can be used in place of the words "cool," "crunk," or "awesome"; can refer to something which is below the normal social standards of morality or sexuality; and can refer to something which seems out of place.

Here are some example sentences I created exploring the multiple meanings of the word. Use your context clues!

"That guy just tried to make out with three different girls. That's so ratchet."

"Check out my brand new haircut! Isn't it ratchet?!"

"Ugh, I can't believe she expected me to pay for her movie ticket, so ratchet."

"I feel ratchet being the only person at this party not playing croquet."


But where does it come from? I have a few ideas.

Idea number one: the word "ratchet" was inspired by a fictional film character, Nurse Ratched of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Nurse Ratched was not a very nice person, so it makes sense for her character to be the namesake of an insult.

[Tsidenote: Nurse RATCHET is my nickname. Love it.]


image source
Idea number two: it sounds like the word "wretched," a word whose definitions include "depolorably bad or distressing," "poor in quality," and "mean, miserable, and contemptible." Not too far off from the slang definitions.

Idea number three: someone was writing a rap about chopping their enemies into little bits with a hatchet and needed a rhyming word. Thus, ratchet.

The truth is, I have no idea where some slang words come from. Slang is brought into the general lexicon through repeated use. It's a process that just happens naturally.

But stop trying to make fetch happen, it's not going to happen.



Do you love slang, and do you love thinking about language? What is your favorite slang word?

PS-- I'm collecting Philly slang terms for an upcoming blog post, so if you have any favorites send them to me!

"Silly ironic buns..." on granny panties and hipster underwear

Scene: the bedroom, unpacking bags after a trip to Target. Ben is cutting the plastic tags off new pairs of socks then putting them in the laundry basket, while I am tinkering away, trying to tear all the tape and separate the cardboard from a package of new underwear.

I manage to get all the fastenings removed from my new drawers, then begin putting them in the laundry basket to be washed. Ben picks up a pair from out of the basket and unrolls it, holding it up to examine.

Ben: You bought granny panties.

Me: No way.

Ben: You did, look.

I look at the underwear and notice that they do look rather large. But the package said "hipster briefs" or something like that, so I figured they'd ride my hips and therefore not stick out of my jeans.

Me: Let me see those things.

I grab the pair of undies and take off my jeans to try them on.



Me: They do come up kinda high.

The underwear goes up past my belly button, the perfect length for mom jeans.

Me: Ugh, I thought I was buying low-cut undies.

Ben: Just admit it, you intentionally bought granny panties to be ironic.

Me: I did not!

I pick up the advertising from one of the packages of underwear and show them to Ben. The package reads: "hipster briefs."

Me: See? These aren't granny panties, these ones are hipsters. I thought I was buying the same thing. And it's "hipster" as in it sits on the hips, not like "whoa man, that's really hip."

Ben: Whatever, ironic buns.

Me: Do people really do that? Wear granny style underwear to feel ironically cool? I guess I can wear these under dresses, at least.

Ben: Ironic buns.

Thursday's Super Important Public Service Announcement

Sidewalk street art in the Tenderloin.

I know things can get stressful. Believe me, I know. I have a whole anxiety disorder with real physical symptoms based on the levels of stress in my life. It can be really tough.

Sometimes, though, a simple reminder to take a step back, look around, and breathe can be a great help. Don't forget to breathe-- take a deep breath, hold it in, then exhale slowly. Feel that pressure being released? Feel that weight lessening off your shoulders? Feel better? I thought you would.

This has been a Public Service Announcement, brought to you by the voices in my head and the good little magic elves who make The Tsaritsa Sez possible. Thank you.

Steppin out for May Day, 2012's first big #Occupy event, calling out hooligans

Today is the first day of May and the Occupy Movement is gearing up and organizing today to re-energize the nation into fighting for our democracy. Events are happening all over the Bay Area, as well as all over the country.

Many are walking out of their offices and classrooms today in order to disrupt the normal daily routine-- the idea is that if the workers (including unions and immigrant groups) all call out today, and don't use the bank or go shopping, the people at the top will be forced to recognize the power of the people.

I'm not calling out today because I can't afford to, and (if it helps) I work for a non-profit which really has nothing to do with the corruption of Wall street and Capitol Hill, but I do not plan on using the bank today, nor do I plan on buying anything. I'm going to join the festivities during my break and when I am done with my work for the day.

So much controversy swirls around this movement, perhaps for the reasons I have critiqued Occupy in the past: there are no real leaders who can act as a mouthpiece and give legitimacy to the group. Fringe outfits easily make their way into Occupy, because it is all-inclusive (with Republicans, Democrats, young, old, et cetera participating in the protests), and use the platform for their own agenda, whatever it may be. It's not right, and it's a big reason why Occupy has trouble getting traction with the people whose attention they seek.

Because there are so many different voices in the message, opponents will say that there is a "lack of a message." It's not true, because the basic premise is clear: we want to be represented in our government and we have a right to participate in our democracy, much more so than any non-living entity, such as a corporation-- yet as it stands now, the corporations are the ones with all of the representation in Congress, as their money gives them power to control policy makers.

THAT is the message, and the fact that some crazies just want to smash shit up really enrages me.

Gawker posted an article about the NYPD raiding at least three homes of activists in the city to interrogate them about May Day events and any other plans for the protests. From the article:

"Activist Zachary Dempster said that six NYPD officers broke down the door of his Bushwick, Brooklyn apartment at around 6:15am this morning. Dempster said they were armed with a warrant for the arrest of his roommate, musician Joe Crow Ryan, for a six-year-old open container violation. But Dempster believes this was an excuse to check in on him, as he'd been arrested in February at an Occupy Wall Street Party that was broken up by cops, and charged with assaulting a police office and inciting a riot."

Not okay. Why would this warrant a police raid?

On the flip side, there was some nonsense that went down last night at the Mission Police Station in San Francisco. A group of people dressed in black and armed with crow bars smashed windows at the police station and splashed paint on the property, before moving on to smash a bunch of windshields and the windows of nearby businesses.

What the hell? Whoever is doing this is only discrediting what we've been working to achieve. How does vandalism solve anything? It makes you look like an idiot. Or maybe that was the point-- to take validity away from this non-violent movement?

The Occupy San Francisco website wrote Monday night:

"The march in the Mission Monday night was not an OccupySF event.

OccupySF does not endorse this kind of destruction of the 99%’s property.

The individuals involved in this destruction are not known to OccupySF, and we believe they are outside provocateurs sent in to tarnish the image of Occupy prior to the May Day actions."

Exactly. Someone probably paid these hooligans to create this mayhem in order to draw attention away from the real issues. Sound familiar?