Avoiding Reality

nprfreshair:

Ken Tucker on how Natalie Maines’ new solo album Mother can be seen in light of the ostracism she experienced after criticizing the Iraq invasion on stage with the Dixie Chicks in 2003:

When Natalie Maines remarked from a London stage in 2003 that the Dixie Chicks were “ashamed the president of the United States is from Texas,” she was criticizing Iraq War policy in a manner that would earn her instant condemnation and worse, even as her take on that war would eventually become a majority opinion in the U.S. No matter: What she and her group-mates felt in immediate response wasn’t just an overreaction from a segment of the country-music audience. It was also the cowardice of a music industry running scared from blunt political ideas in a perilous industry economy. There’s a tendency, therefore, to hear every song on this album as some sort of response to Maines’ life-altering remark and her subsequent public retreat. It lurks here and there, to be sure, but after the first few listens, Mother becomes the work of a mother, wife, feminist, teammate and solo artist taking her place in the public square once again, making stubbornness sound like a kind of freedom.

Image via Blacklisted Journalist

Anybody who doesn’t know how bad it got for these ladies ought to rent Shut Up and Sing. I’m looking forward to her album.

wearemagnetised:

hamandheroin:

The Animal Rescue Site is having trouble getting enough people to click on it daily so they can meet their quota of getting FREE FOOD donated every day to abused and neglected animals in their shelters.

It takes less than a minute (only about 15 seconds actually) to go to their site and click on the purple box titled, ‘Click Here to Give - it’s FREE!’. Every click gives about .6 bowls of food to sheltered dogs. You can also click daily!

Keep in mind that this does not cost you a thing. Their corporate sponsors/advertisers use the number of daily visits to donate food to abandoned/neglected animals in exchange for advertising. [via.]

Go to the website here.

doesn’t cost you a cent, just a click.

Yeah, I’mma keep reblogging this one.

(via bricksandmortarandchewinggum)

tallgirltales:

A pretty way to layer under a racerback tank or dress for the summer | Victoria’s Secret

I might buy one of these.

curveappeal:

(via MP Model Off Duty: Emma Newsom)

Hmm. I could pull this off.

thefluffingtonpost:

Notorious Puppy Gang Finally Behind Bars

After an epic crime spree that spanned two months and three states, the puppy gang known as Wolf Pact has been apprehended in Texas, according to authorities there. Sources on the ground say the Pact was holed up in a shed after stealing the slippers of area resident Margaret Mallone.

“I had never heard of this gang,” Mallone tells The Fluffington Post in an exclusive interview. “Then I happened to turn on the news and saw my own backyard on TV. There were police everywhere. That’s when I noticed my slippers were missing.”

Authorities apprehended the trio without incident after receiving an anonymous tip from a neighbor.

“The standoff lasted about an hour,” says sheriff’s deputy John Beck. “At first, they weren’t cooperating, but then officer Sanders shook a bag of treats. They caved pretty soon after that and we scooped them up.”

The Wolf Pact, consisting of Rex (the presumed ringleader), Tango and Clyde, was wanted for a string of similar alleged crimes, including sock chewing and flagrant urination. They will be arraigned individually in Federal court on May 14th, according to officials.

Via HandlesOfLove.