Watercooler 0: Nothing Is A Problem For Me

::looks at pointy nose::

::calms down::

this is up for sale less than 2 miles from our house. I wish I was better off! It's perfect.

yeah, DiS, which is like... I don't actually care, I don't expect anyone there to "get it". It's just like... freaking Leave Off, already, you know? He left a snarky comment on the band's MySpace a few weeks ago, which I deleted. Now he feels he has to step it up again?

And my bandmates are all "oh, well, you bitched about him on your blog, you don't have a leg to stand on" - but it's like. I *STOPPED* because everyone was giving me such shit about it. And now he's starting back up again.

If it's wrong for me to do it, it's wrong for *him* to do it, but he just seems to get a free pass to do and say what he likes, and no one calls *him* on it. I've dealt with his sort before. I know that the thing to do is just to ignore him, because even slagging him off is giving him the attention that he craves.

It just winds me up and I wish it wouldn't.

God, how can a boy have such *amazingly* thick eyelashes? It just isn't fair. He's got those slighly cat-like Rimbaud eyes, all heavy-lidded and smutty.

(And maybe if I ask enough, all the boys of ILX will post pictures of their eyelashes.)

The NME cool list this year!!!

OK, I have never cared about the cool list in my life, and I haven't even bought the NME in abou 5 years, but...

Did anyone notice something REALLY UNUSUAL about the Top 10 this year?

Don't read NME.

1 Beth Ditto (The Gossip)
2 Faris Rotter (The Horrors)
3 Lily Allen
4 Jarvis Cocker
5 Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs)
6 Kieren Webster (The View)
7 Kate Jackson (The Long Blondes)
8 Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance)
9 Thom Yorke (Radiohead)
10 Lovefoxxx (CSS)

Yes, Gooblar, hole in one! NME is noticing that the world is actually half female shockah!

Get them to make up their own fake societies of imaginary lands, based on satire of the predominating cultural trends of today. I think that would make them realise the snide wit in Swift.

Aye, then the editor made an arse of it by spouting some crap about "you can still rock a crowd wearing stilletos" and dropped the cover that was supposed to feature the 5 women in the top ten in favour of Muse.

Lily Allen has a wee go at NME

And garg, is that true, Onimo? Oh god, that is just so depressing. I bought the thing because of the tiny picture of the three women made me open up and see if the list was any good. And then they go and blow it all, with that kind of crap?

I wish I hadn't bought the thing now.

I sentence Conor to spend the next five years trying to even walk wearing stilettoes. And getting about a dozen of them jacked up his sexist arse.

First one I went in, the gang of about three lads hanging around the door (some of whom worked there) didn't even move to let me in the shop. OK, you're not getting my money.

Second shop, the bloke on the desk is helping someone else, so I kinda hang around looking at guitar straps and stuff until he's nearly done. I go and stand by the desk, very obviously waiting to be served - oh, except for the fact I'm female. Another customer comes up, pushes by me (not even an excuse me) - I let him go as I'm assuming he's heading out the door, but no. He pushes ahead of me and starts asking the bloke on the desk about harmonicas. Like I'm not even there. I felt like cracking him in the head with a guitar going EXCUSE ME BUT I WAS HERE FIRST!!!

He goes to look at the harmonicas, but dude on the desk is just staring off into space - despite the fact I'm standing there waiting to be served. I had to go and ask someone else to help me. I should really have walked out of the shop and kept going to different shops and only paid my money at a shop that acknowledged females, but you know, it was lunchtime and I did need to get back to my office before the hour was up.

This shit is just so depressing. :-(

It was discussed on the ILM "Worst NME cover" thread just before ILM died (here's a cached copy of the thread)

Ugh, I feel just... unclean any time I read an ILM thread like that.

In 1993 Riot Grrrrls did a glass ceiling chart emphasising this point and one of us (me) was ticked off by the person who was the NME features editor (male) of the time because "what about RACISM?" Oh FFS. I think I told him if he was so bothered about racism he should find a way to give more work to a certain writer in their office about music other than hip-hop.

There is an irony in there somewhere, considering who the features ed was...

See also the running Plan B letters column of people going "blah blah, what's with all the women on the cover, are you just trying to prove a point?" or something like that to Frances or ET, and Frances put them down quite succinctly, saying "no, we put these bands on the cover because WE LIKE THEM"

I've often thought that we'll only know we've got over sexism when people stop making any sort of fuss about overcompensating. The Plan B editorial management presumably have reached that phase - clearly the letter-writers haven't. And the same goes for other -isms too, of course.

Anyway, my sore throat is still sore, and (for other reasons) I'm feeling a bit emo. I need to pull my finger out of my arse,* talk to the woman who wants me as just a body to play with (whilst dating other men as potential boyfriend material) and say: "look, you know, this just isn't what I'm looking for". If I can, I should do it *before* my forthcoming date (with someone who knows all about the situation and how I feel about it, but, even so, you know)

* not literally. Both my hands are on the keyboard right now.

xxp to me

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