Portraits of Sting

Imagine renaming yourself as simply 'Sting' from now on.

Brief Thoughts on Grating Voices

 Thoughout the years, I've heard many people (mostly guys, but not just) mention how unbearably grating they find womens singing voices when it comes to bands like Bikini Kill, or even stuff like the Go Gos or Cyndi Lauper. To me, these people own the girliness in their voice, while still maintaining a fierce, sharp, loud sound. For riot grrrl types, many female rappers, etc., they are often aware that they are not making the most gentle, ladylike sounds while still sounding very much a lady.

After hearing many hours of the Beastie Boys recently, I realized how horribly grating I find that music. (No respect, of course, to the band, who seem like genuinally nice guys, but you know, haters gonna hate.) It was like nails on a chalkboard to me, with the endless screeching, shouting and posturing.

Anyway, my point is, that we rarely hear this same scorn for male artists. I'm sure people hate Jello Biafra's voice (FYI a friend confirmed that he's a total dick in real life, what a surprise) but I doubt they say, "I just can't stand to hear men's voices like that. He sounds like such a harpy shrew!" 

 To me the bottom line isn't simply that men are allowed to be abrasive and screech and women aren't, but that when women use these things that make them "feminine' (high voices, certain inflections, etc.) to be loud and aggressive, we view it as obnoxious in a way that we would never find men.

Anyway, I also tense up when I hear the Police, and not just because all their songs are about stalking thirteen year olds, but because I hate Sting's faux rasta/ Phil Collins voice. I also hate  Phil Collins, what a tool.

Lying

Sorry, I lied. I really do want to restart this blog, but I also want to jazz it up, and take it in a new direction. Like more of a sports theme and some hardcore corporate sponsorship. Just kidding! Uh, does anyone have any advice on stuff like that? Should I convert it to wordpress or something? The blogger format is so crappy. What other wisdom do you have to impart?
In other news, I'm loving this bright color trend, even though all the tops right now just look like squares with holes cut in them for the head.

Because there are still things to criticize

I was just reading the archives of this blog, and thinking, it's pretty funny! And it has a lot of page views. So then I thought, "Who cares if Rip it to Shreds alienates people and will never impress a prospective employer and is becoming less and less cutting edge in format and design by the minute? Does that make it so bad?"

So now I've decided to start it up again. So, you know, stay tuned.

I never want to hear the words "pop of color" again

I know I haven't posted here in a long time, because now that we live in a more futuristic, post-modern world, fashion trends no longer have the urgency or relevance of the past, and because how many times can I say that pleated pants from American Apparel are ugly, but I decided to start a twitter, so if you want, you can check it out.

I've been posting on my New York blog, Not From New York, too.

Photos of Inspiration

Ebay Auctions

Lately I've been trying to be a little more brutal with myself when it comes to getting rid of the piles of vintage clothes stuffed in my closet, so here are some pieces I'm selling. Remember, each item is one of a kind so you might want to work yourself into a bidding frenzy.

Ending tonight:

Starting Tonight: