Yes, this is about poetry. Wait -- keep reading!

I'm back again, after a business trip to Washington DC. Lucked-out with the weather -- it was cold, but nice and clear. I enjoy the cold, anyway. Actually, I enjoy "weather" of any kind, which is kind of ironic, since I ended up living in a place that doesn't have any.

So, yeah...poetry. I admit, I don't know very much about poetry. Of course, we had to study it a little back in high school. At that time, I decided that my favorite poet was A.E. Housman. And not even because of that one about the long-distance runner (in fact, I never was crazy about it). I liked some of his shorter works, because they were a little more edgy, sometimes even creepy. I also remember that I liked Conrad Aiken, but I can't remember why. And I remember that the Poet Laureate of the World Wrestling Federation in the 80's was Leaping Lanny Poffo.

Apart from that, I never really paid much attention to poetry. That is, not until earlier this year, when I virtually bumped into Kristin Cash. Kristin had a Myspace page where she posted poetry (she has since moved to Xanga.com), and once I started reading her poems, I couldn't stop. I read every single poem she had up on the site, and I have read every one she has posted since. True story. Why did I read them all? Umm, because she's fucking brilliant, that's why.

Of course, she would be the last one to admit it. Kristin sees herself as just another of America's damaged youth, but if there are more like her out there, then this country is going to turn out OK after all. Maybe we need to be damaged in order to be able to fix things. As Kristin herself put it, she is "Dizzy in the good way".

There is something about Kristin's poetry that is utterly absorbing. It's probably useless to try to explain why I find it that way, because a poem can have as many meanings as it does readers. Personally, the meaning that I divine from most poetry is "This is crap". But I instantly liked Kristin's stuff, and even if I ever did get a fleeting "this is crap" thought in my head, the next line in the poem would be No, you're crap / So fuck off. I can sense that you don't believe me. Don't worry...you'll see.

If I have any minor criticism, it's that Kristin has started writing some poems in a Hip-Hop-style meter. I know that she's a fan of Hip-Hop, which makes perfect sense, since it's the closest that music comes to pure poetry. But I just don't share the love. To me, lyrics by Liz Phair or Aimee Mann are as stinging as any in Hip-Hop...and they're by women! Women... hey, Hip-Hop, remember those? The females that existed before you called them "ho's"? (God I'm lame.) Anyway, I originally got hooked on Kristin's freeverse style, so now I miss it when I don't get my fix. But don't let any of this dissuade you; it's not like she went out and got a "Thug Life" tattoo across her sternum. In fact, her recent work has been very true-to-form.

If for some reason you're still skeptical, just go read her stuff. Like I said -- you'll see. Notice that I put up a permanent link to her Xanga page in the column to the right, so from now on you have no excuse to avoid it (apart from avoiding this page, I suppose -- which loads of people still do, with depressing consistency). The good news is that she has all of her earlier Myspace poems archived on the Xanga site.

Did I mention that she's from Buffalo, NY? Hot wings, lake-effect snow, and Kristin Cash. Well, they've got one thing to be proud of...

Le Tigre: Hold That Tiger!

In the considerable "why the hell did it take me so long to write about this" category, I now turn my attention to Le Tigre.

I can't remember where or when I first heard of this three-member act, but a couple of years ago there was so much buzz about them in L.A., that I would have sworn that they were a local band. In fact, they are based out of NYC, although two of the members had been involved in earlier projects in Portland, OR.

My first impression of Le Tigre was hearing some of the upbeat Pop-Punk tracks from their album Feminist Sweepstakes being played on local radio station Indie 103.1. It wasn't until later, after hearing an interview with the band on that same station, that I found out that Le Tigre is as much an activist group as they are a music group. And it wasn't until later still, when I read an album review somewhere, that I found out that Le Tigre co-founder and vocalist Kathleen was in fact Kathleen Hanna of Bikini Kill (*sigh* -- sometimes I have my finger on the pulse, and sometimes I have it somewhere else). Yes, Bikini Kill, as in the loud Punk band that was part of the genesis of the entire Riot Grrrl movement, and therefore an inspiration to a great many of the artists played on Estrogenius.

Feminist Sweepstakes was sold out at Amazon every time I checked there, for about six months; so I finally gave up and went to Amoeba Music, where I found Le Tigre's more recent album This Island. That's the album that has "TKO", a song that I already loved, so I had to get it. I was not disappointed.


Johanna, JD and Kathleen of Le Tigre

I knew that "TKO" was a Pop-Rock song in the best tradition of The Go-Go's, but I had no idea what to expect from the rest of the album. I was expecting a noisy Punk sound, what with Kathleen Hanna's previous project and all, and indeed the first few tracks on This Island meet that description. But Le Tigre is not Bikini Kill, and it was a mistake for me to have expected as much. The members describe their sound as "Feminist Punk Electronic music", and they are right, of course; but there are some tracks on This Island that are nothing less than expertly-crafted Pop. The album is assertive, but not agressive (or at least, not needlessly so); it has a serious mission, but is relentlessly upbeat; and it is, in short, hella fun. I'd especially like to single-out the kickass anti-war track, "New Kicks", which fits every one of the adjectives I used in the previous sentence. THIS is how activism should be.

It's always funny to me how conservatives characterize feminists: Typically, feminists are portrayed (villified) as a group of shrill, strident dykes who simply want to expand their rights at the expense of men's rights, and who generally take things way too seriously (I could make my own characterization of said conservatives as being a bunch of ignorant, bile-spewing troglodytes, but I won't). The reason it's funny is that it serves as proof that conservatives don't even know what feminism is. OK, maybe it's not "funny" so much as "fucking sad", but you get the point.

Visit Le Tigre's website at www.letigreworld.com, read some of the posts from members Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman, and JD Samson, and you will see the true spririt of feminism. They are all passionate, motivated and fun-loving people, not the hirsute harridans that conservatives wish they were. Well, except for JD, who actually is hirsute. I say that with a smile; JD is a very cute butch lesbian, and she comes across on the website as an incredibly sweet and interesting person. She's done rather well for someone who started off as Le Tigre's tour projectionist.



See what I mean about JD?
Photo: Cass Bird (Please don't sue me, guys)

It's people like the members of Le Tigre who will take the cause to the clubs, the streets, the airwaves, and wherever it's necessary. They will use art to shock and awe, and they will kill 'em with charm. And someday, they will win.