A Red Jello Placenta

Pitted and cratered like the moon.
Blood-red and wet-glistening.
Slick it slides out of the bowl with a
Suction-released shuck
Into the trashcan
Cherry topping on waste
It jiggles briefly, then is still
Now wasted.
An exercise gone wrong:
Impatience had made me stick the
steaming liquid into the freezer
so eager for the carnal Quick Fix
of processed sugar.
The Morning After
Charred flesh
Grizzled by frost
And defrosting it
Doesn’t undo
The Mistake

Union Station

Union station as it was being built

Train station in Buenos Aires
Gare du Nord - where I arrived when I visited Paris
I love this classic picture of Grand Central in NYC
Bikes outside of Station Centraal in Amsterdam
Passengers waiting in Mumbai

I read yesterday that the city is going to invest $176 million over the next 20 years to keep Toronto's station in a state of good repair. It does look pretty shabby these days. It needs loving. I felt like taking a look at other train stations around the world (I love the internet! That's correct - I do not own these pictures.)

There's something about the light in train stations that really gets to me.

The song that picks me up

If you feel like singing a song
And you want other people to sing along
Just sing what you feel
Don’t let anyone say it’s wrong

And if you’re trying to paint a picture
But you’re not sure which colors belong
Just paint what you see
Don’t let anyone say it’s wrong

And if you’re strung out like a kite
Or stung awake in the night
It’s alright to be frightened

When there’s a light (what light)
There’s a light (one light)
There’s a light (white light)
Inside of you

If you think you might need somebody
To pick you up when you drag
Don’t loose sight of yourself
Don’t let anyone change your bag

And if the whole world’s singing your songs
And all of your paintings have been hung
Just remember what was yours is everyone’s from now on

And that’s not wrong or right
But you can struggle with it all you like
You'll only get uptight

-Wilco

Save Canadian Television

Please, if you support Canadian programming, the most effective way is the Canadian Television Fund (CTF) despite what the cable companies tell you.

Visit this link and click the NO box: https://secure.shaw.ca/apps/Secure/CRTCForms/CTF.aspx

This is what I sent to the Minister of Heritage min_verner@pch.gc.ca:

As an employee of CBC Television, and a proud Canadian television viewer, I take serious issue with Shaw Communications' current campaign in nationwide advertisements to discredit and distort the essential contribution of the Canadian Television Fund to the production of Canadian television programming.

I sincerely hope that the Minister of Heritage and the CRTC will give swift action to resolve this dispute, and furthermore believe that it is irresponsible for a company like Shaw Communications---in possession of a public trust in the form of a telecommunications license---to willfully undermine an agency that has tirelessly and effectively promoted creative Canadian programming.

Save the CTF. Save our jobs. Save Canadian culture on our screens.

A Shout Out

Leslie Davidson and her sweet baby Veda

My sister Sonya and her children Charlotte, Petronella and Willem

Bhajan Cooke, my friend since we were 16
David Lochhead and Christina Stobert - irreplaceable
Precious Heidi Neill
Amazing Hilary Black
Stronger than a jewel, Julie Cote


Talented in so many ways, Bethan Nodwell

It's sometimes difficult to pinpoint those precious people who have influenced and shaped your life in such a way that you are changed forever. Here are a few of my most solid and ever-giving friends that naturally rise to meet that definition. They are constantly inspiring me and encouraging me to embrace my self. Pure love.

Naivete of War

I read this in The New York Times today:

U.S. and Israel Sign Arms Deal
Israel and the United States signed a deal to give Isreal $30 billion in military aid over the next decade in what officials called a long-term investment in peace.

Reads like a joke, but it's not. Not that I'm a peace-nik out there protesting. I can understand humanity's tendency towards violence... this just seems so ridiculously imbalanced.

Am I naive?

Prince Willem

I've been waiting since late last week for Sonya to go into labour. She finally did and Willem was born shortly after 5am on Saturday, which just happens to be my father's birthday. I was gratefully present for this calm and amazing home birth that went as smoothly as you could wish. The only difficulty was that Will was facing the "wrong" way and turned during the birth which caused my brave, drug-free sister some additional discomfort. But it was over quickly and the amazing midwives made us all (myself, Sonya, Keven and Willem) feel at peace. Sonya was up and about later that morning, and my parents and I spent most of the day babysitting the girls who are thrilled to have a little brother they are calling Prince Willem. Now I'm back at my desk. How boring!

Blast Furnace

Michael, my super new boss, likened Toronto to a blast furnace yesterday. I was overhearing a telephone conversation between him and an independent producer - the language can get rather descriptive at times.

Since yesterday, I've been thinking of the term non-stop. I include a picture of a blast furnace here to help guide your imagination if you are lucky enough to live amongst cool, clean breezes.

Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, waster gases and air blasts.

Imagine cycling to work through it. Or even walking down a sidewalk.

And yet, I love Toronto. I have never felt more at home anywhere. In Toronto, I have grown into my calm, centered, happy self. The air is shit. Especially on a hot day. But I think of the millions of people around the earth who are sharing the same experience with me today in Guatemala City, Hong Kong, Mexico City, Bangalore and Rome. Hello my fellow city-dwellers! It isn't easy living here today, but it's dynamic and this city holds my attention and forces me to grown and learn - and for someone that bores easily, that's important.

But oh am I ever looking forward to some peace and stars when I visit my parents house on their stretch of open lakefront.

I will navigate the milky way with my father's binoculars and sail over choppy waters and in between I will pull in deep breaths of fresh air.

Crippled

It seems to me that Jesse Imeson was fleeing in a violent panic from his own sexuality.

WATER: drinking, rising, owning

There is a water shortage globally. We don’t like to talk about it ‘round the cooler in the office, but very soon it will become a major issue of our time. And that water cooler may very well become a relic of history.

With 1 billion people already lacking adequate access to clean drinking water this number is projected to rise to 7 billion by 2050 if our current practices remain unchecked.

Wealthy nations use up the water of poorer nations via food production and the manufacturing of goods for export.

The first real crisis of water shortage in the wealthy world is being experienced by Australia. Some regions are in their 5th year of drought. The situation has forced that country’s citizens to learn to ration and collect in several jurisdictions. Crop failures abound. Yet in Sydney there was recently a flash rainfall which elated its inhabitants. Unfortunately the liquid life-force was let to soak through the parks and drain down the sewers.

If governments don’t begin to appreciate this shortage of water the situation will affect global security.

“The primary cause of the water crisis of the twenty-first century is not a shortage of water, but of political commitment and good water management.” – Willem Alexander, Prince of Orange

As a result of our warming climate, the cryosphere is melting. Along with this, our mountain’s glaciers are retreating fast. This water is being added to seas that are already thermally expanding. Should Greenland’s ice-mass succumb we could see millions of “climate exiles” from low-level coastal areas such as India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The Dutch have already accepted that several polders they worked so hard to reclaim from the sea will have to be given back.

Canadians will have to reconcile their hold on water for the greater good of humanity. Blessed as we may be with massive caches of fresh water, we will have to bend our protective attitudes for the thirsty south of the border.

Currently water is not a “good” outlined in the North American Free Trade Agreement. There is a general anxiety that if we start to sell it, it will become a “good” and in essence no longer in our control.

“There are increasing number of conflicts about how much water a person should have and what it should be used for. Which is a better way to handle those: through market or through authority?” – Jim Mattison, B.C.’s comptroller of water rights

This documentary seeks to bring three broad water concerns to the forefront of our imaginations.

RISING

The affects that a warming climate has and will have on the world’s seas will force cities such as New Orleans and London to seriously consider storm surges. Countries in south-east Asia must plan to relocate thousands of people annually. The Netherlands has already become adept at building home on the sea. Storms will become wetter. Rivers that are prone to flooding and mountainsides that are subject to slides will have to be dammed and diverted. Protecting cities, villages and homes will involve inordinate amounts of politicking, planning and engineering.


DRINKING

Despite the world’s amount of sea water, desalination is an extremely expensive and environmentally destructive procedure. We await a more efficient solution to this dilemma. In the meantime, we must make drinkable the water at hand in order to prevent the spread of more water-borne disease. Various scientific methods are currently being developed to address this issue. For instance, the journal Science recently reported a nanotechnology technique for removing arsenic using electromagnets. To develop these types of methods will cost money. To bring them to those who need it most, and teach them how to utilize them, will cost even more.


OWNING

Even more valuable than gold to humans is water. We need to drink it, we need it to make food and we need it to manufacture all of our creature comforts. Already the world has seen the commodification of water. The World Bank saw water privatization as the most practical way to purify water for poor countries. But in 2006 Suez (one of the world’s largest water companies) pulled out of Latin America. One of its chief executives lamented: “Private funding runs into ideological problems. We need to be more humble. We have to adapt to local realities.”



“We need to do for water what we did for climate change. How do we recharge aquifers? There’s no policy anywhere in place at the moment.” - Professor Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the UN’s Millennium Project

An Open Letter to Jon Krakauer

Jon Krakauer, what I want to tell you is so vast.
It expands years of my life. It connects the different “parts” of me. The “chapters” if you will, of my life.
I am going to write here, free-form as Sarah instructed us to do without editing, without re-writing, I am trying to write here without editing myself, but it is difficult as I have just smoked half a cigarette and I am buzzed and the physical limitations it places on me means many typographical errors – I can barely type coherently.
But the thought that I encountered while I was thinking of how to start this letter to you was that I understand, to a limited extent mind you, the enormity of challenging Nature.
My life and my relationship with Nature, with my brief and ever-so-narrow experience with Mountaineering and that part of my life, intertwined with my life as a Writer and my life as a Journalist and as a Filmmaker are all intertwined and somehow echo deeply with the kind of writing that you have produced.
I have known the harrowing experience of challenging Nature. While I taking the time to reflect briefly, to delve into my memories if ever so tentatively, I came across the memory of Jason. How he had come to climbing X mountain and told me that he almost froze to death along with another climber there on the side of that face, him trying to sleep in the bivvy bag that I had sewn him while young, while inexperienced, while idealistic about the sport, the challenge, the life.
Yet by the time he tried it, I myself had given up. Had walked away from the challenge. Had decided not to take it on as my own. It was a big part of why he and I are no longer together. Yet I feel it. I feel a kinship towards it. This desire to feel the ache of our Planet, to feel humbled by the sheer force and magnitude of the power of Nature.
I love to feel humbled.
Hence, I suppose, my inhibition to write to you.
Ok, it’s not easy to write to someone you admire greatly. I mean, who am I? Yet we are all Human, we all share in the awe of being alive.
For nine years I lived in British Columbia and forsook my parents, my sister and friends in order to maintain a fierce relationship with the Land. The mountains, the trees, the earth and sky and oxygen it fed me. The Earth never gave up on me. It always gave me more: more nutrients, more challenges, more questions to be answered.
Yet here I am today in my country’s largest city and I feel at home. I feel as though in those nine years I explored as much as I needed. I became aware of and could accept my limitations. Others could not. Others pressed on to the point of expiration. I admire that, yet I disdain it simultaneously.
Your writing was at first a quenching to a thirst. To understand more fully the quest to “bag a peak,” to understand the feeling of being pushed to ultimate physical limits. Lately, after reading “Under the Banner” my respect for you grew. I have to be honest though, when I first started the book I was annoyed and disappointed that perhaps it was a little sensationalist. The feature magazine writer in you pushed me away. Especially after “Into the Wild” captured me so fully because of its intimacy. But as I read further, I realized that you had spent a great deal of time, a great deal of energy – you had invested so much into this story that was at once a part of you also became a part of you. And as I read it, so did it become a part of me.
Religion proposes endless questions.
I have been working in television for the past – oh, almost ten years now. Sheesh, the greatest part of my adult life. I have often wondered why I am involved in television at all since it feels like it is too much too often the pap of the people. But it is, actually, a place where human stories are told. I am trying, right now, to piece my first film together. It is personal. It involves friends who have started to make maple syrup from the trees that grow on their land. It is also the story of a birthday party, an event that is consciously made to occur simultaneously with the spring maple rush. It is a lovely story of the excitement that we as humans have for the life-force of Nature.
I don’t know if it will turn out to mean anything more than a fond memory to myself and the friends who attended this weekend of maple sugaring in the bush – but at the same time there is a deeper reckoning. For myself at the very least.
Somehow I have ended up working for the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) in the Documentary Programming unit. I am the executive assistant to the Executive Director of Documentary Programming for CBC Television. There are too many times I have typed the word executive here and I am annoyed. The fact that I am an assistant is also annoying – but then, this is the story I have written for myself. Sometimes I think of the job as a corner instead of an opportunity which is maybe limiting myself.
All my life I have fancied myself a writer. I have fancied this of myself, yet I have also known it to be true on a much deeper, fundamental level. When I read your books, I feel a sense of relief. A sense of “ah, someone is answering my unwritten, unspoken, indescribable need.” You connect the disparate “chunks” (for lack of a better word at the moment) of my life.
The writer in me. The explorer in me. The philosopher in me. The journalist in me. I have never been published, yet does this detract from me? I used to think it did. I accept (happily) now that I am who I am.
My newfound friend (I am being forward in calling her a friend) my writing teacher and peer, Sarah, suggested that I write you a note to thank you for having an impact on my life. Isn’t that a lovely idea? She said that too often writers work in solitude.
I thank you, Jon. I thank you for questioning. I thank you for questing. I admire you greatly for your desire to feel connected with the unknown, the previously un-explained. You dare to attempt to explain the facets of life that are sacred, that many feel are not possible to put into words. You dare to try. And you do so with grace, with the utmost respect and with, I feel, a desire to understand more fully the nature of us, us strange, weird, egotistical, magical, creative wondrous creatures, us humans. And with your writing, you bring us together in a way that has never been done before.
It’s 1:49 am now and the day has taken its toll on this 33 year-old child who is unaccustomed to staying up this late on a “school night” and subsequently attempting to write. I appreciate your patience in reading through this bit of a slog. I wanted to reach out to you, more than any other author, because I believe in you, Jon. I believe your convictions to be true, and I am inspired by your desire to quest.
Thank you for the words and experiences you have shared with myself and your other readers. I am grateful for the efforts you have made and the thought and care you have infused in everything that you do and write.
All my best,
Your daughter, your sister, your friend and your colleague,
Ilka

Hot Docs Summary

My Hot Docs experience was limited. No Industry Pass, just a book of ten tickets shared between Dave and I and a few of our friends. Tonight, Heather joined me for Garbage Warrior which I had originally earmarked to watch with Hilary (who is in Kentucky selling leather boots.) Hilary still needs to watch this film. So does Louise. So does Ingrid. So does anyone who will take the lessons learned from that film and the other wonderful docs presented at this festival and use them to make the world a gentler place for our young ones to stretch their wings in and grow.

I felt like I chose wisely. My three films this season comprised of Garbage Warrior , Suicide Tourist and What Would Jesus Buy . You can read their synposes if you'd like, I'm going to follow-up below with the reasons why I felt I had selected well.

What Would Jesus Buy tells the story of a street performer who one day, living in Times Square, is spurred by the panic caused by the consumer frenzy that surrounds him, and takes on the persona of a preacher. In no time, he has founded the Church of Stop Shopping and a dedicated team of fellow performers (read: activists) become his choir. It is the story of a band on a road trip. Touring minstrels of a sort with a very important message to Americans - reign in the shopping addiction, stop and think before you buy. If you have been reading my blog at all (and I know that this is a very rhetorical environment, so I have no clue if anyone is reading this!) But if you are, you would know that I have been struggling of late with my love for shopping - for clothing in particular. This film really stroked my sensibilities in the sense that it was echoing my desire to become a more "conscious" shopper. My Facebook religion lists: Everything is connected. It is true. What we buy in North America has a direct effect on: the environment, the economy, and the lives of people around the world. Luckily, this film was a raucously funny ride and seldom does it drag in philosiphical mire. That's the brilliance of anything Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) touches.

The second film we saw, Suicide Tourist, spoke to a concern my sister Sonya and I have been discussing for the past few years. Assisted suicide, to me, seems like a basic human right. When our bodies turn the corner from being able to sustain health to clinging to life in a state of irreperable unhealth and desperate decline, then I believe that we should be able to settle our affairs with our families and loved ones, and do ourselves in. We'd spare the medical system, our families and friends the great favour of passing on with the least resistance and pain. That is, if such is the way we choose to go. This film follows two couples and their families and their relationship with an organization called Dignatas which works to legally assist with this last stage of life we all must face. It is a story of courage, of respect and compassion for human life. It is as lovely as it is sad. The score wavered at times, but at times also transcended this peice of filmmaking that could have been extremely uncomfortable into a poem. What I appreciated most about the film was that it demonstrated that death is taboo in our culture and we need to learn the language and behaviour to better treat it.

Garbage Warrior was inspirational in the best way - a kooky mad scientist with wild white hair. Only he's an architect. Building these dwellings he calls "earthships" in New Mexico since the '70's, he's learned a hell of a lot through trial and error of how to build self-sustaining communities completely off the grid. Beautiful bejeweled walls made with glass and plastic bottles was my favourite feature. So much to learn from one individual! I love these amazing, creative folks. See, we humans as fabulous as we are mad.

There is a solution for all the world's problems. Just a matter of fighting the good fight. Perseverence. Creativity. Well, you know the rest.

Banning the Bulb

Ontario is the first North American jurisdiction to ban the incandescent lightbulb. It will become illegal to sell them by 2012. Still a long ways away, but hopefully we will naturally switch over long before then. Another step forward. Upon learning this, I had instant visions of silkscreened hemp t-shirts emblazoned with the image of a bulb crossed out. Bulb Powrr! I admit, however, that I may hold on to a few for special nostalgic evenings. They really do emit a different kind of light that we are so accustomed to. Especially those fat, colourful Christmas lights from the '40's. I'm going to have to find a set of those, stash them away, and pull them out from time to time the way that recepients of thieved art skulk to their cellars to gaze upon stolen Picasso's. Anyone have a set? I can meet you in the alleyway of your discretion.

Friday the 13th

The filming of the Maple Party was a success and I have since (with Dave's help) loaded the footage to iMovie. I was planning on getting started this week - but I hit a snag...

WE'VE BEEN EVICTED! ok, it didn't happen today (being Friday the 13th - which I actually believe to be an auspicious rather than ill-omened day) but back on Tuesday. Our landlord has informed us that he is moving from his store-front, where he's been living behind spray-painted windows, up to our suite. He's "expanding his business" and this appears to be a valid reason for legal eviction. Since Tuesday though, Dave - being the man of action that he is - found us another place! We'll sign the lease tomorrow morning.

That being writ, it's painful to have to move after putting so much love, time and elbow grease into our current abode. Man, did we ever turn that place around! I'd like to post some pics of our current apartment and the new pad once I get the chance... but it won't be for days as life is far too busy lately!

Eventually, I will also post a link to the Maple Movie - when that day finally arrives.

In the meantime, I know that several of you are combing your closets for swappables. Excellent news, my pretties - the swap is going to be mayhem! I envision a clothing hurricane in my living room! At least one broken wine glass and the noise of women cackling will drive any sensible man running!!!

A Project Idea

I am very excited for my first project - the maple syrup party at Leslie and Colin's River Bend Alpaca Farm in Merrickville at the end of the month.

Personal Homework

Last night while doing some personal homework and research, my gut tingled when my mind lit upon the following thought: my personal "stamp" in storytelling is that of spotlighting interesting people. I'm going to make films, and write stories of people doing interesting things. The closest type of docs that I can think of are some of the docs of Errol Morris and Verner Herzog. Or, the book "The Orchid Thief" by Sudan Orlean. Like her, I want to pump my stories with my femine spirit. No one's ever seen documentaries like the ones that I am going to make. And if they don't sell, who gives a shit. I have a day job.

Creativity, Comedy and Womankind

Creativity is the most valuable currency of humankind. Without it, we are doomed. When humans first evolved on the earth there were so few of us and so many resources. As we learned and our brains grew we became adept at harnessing the natural world for our gain and growth. You could see humankind as a plague, the way we have ravished this once-healthy planet. We are now (and have been for some years) at the brink of a precipice. What will save us? The very ingenuity that got us here! And though the task seems daunting, we can always turn back to ourselves for new ways to humour ourselves, new ways to build comraderie, and endlessly brilliant new ideas.

Comedy is a pleasant form of truth. We look at ourselves in the mirror and we shake our heads - "how did we get here?" If we can laugh, we are open to learning, to evolving, to growing and changing and if not continuing on the same path, recognizing that there are others to follow.

Womankind does not forget the importance of the sensual. Touch, sound, taste. Silence, temperature, vibration. The subtle essences of life that often elude men, we women live and breathe. Like ferns and orchids and plakton, we feed oxygen back into the atmosphere. Men and children luxuriate in the blessings of womankind.

Today, let's celebrate CREATIVITY, COMEDY AND WOMANKIND! Three precious human traits of our shared experience.

Taking the Time to Quote Good Ole Mac

"During this time it may dawn on us that although we live in an abundant and peaceful society (Canada) and have more than we can ask for, we still are discontent and restless. What is happening is that our senses are satiated and we have become jaded, misguided and totally separated from who we truly are and what our true spirits are capable of. No amount of money, fame, sex or power can remedy this ailment of the soul. No need to worry about alien invasions since in reality we are the aliens from a far away place. Deep within ourselves we know it and our souls long for that profound connection to the universe.
We see our leaders and celebrities falling apart and we conclude that money fame and power allow no release and no peace of mind at all. This is what is changing in our consciousness. If we want love and peace then we must reach inside to get it. Nowhere else can it be found. When we let go of the material acquisition game and seek peace within and find it, an abundance of love begins to flow. "

Fashion & Consumerism

Been thinking a lot about fashion. Consumerism. The earth and it's people. Been tossing around the idea of becoming a personal shopper, but one that is in tune with our times.

Recently my sister asked that future toys bought for her children be (preferably) made locally. And (preferably) by hand. It is difficult to always buy with lucid consciences. Just the other day Sonya and I found ourselves at the sales racks of H&M. Before we knew it we'd purchased dirt-cheap togs made in China and India. An orange corduroy skirt for five bucks! How could I pass that up?

Expressing myself through clothing is central to my being. And we all need to express ourselves in some way...

Last year I was asked to publish this little story about my relationship to the wedding dress. I was thinking about it today and found it and thought I'd add it to wecommute:

http://www.openjournalmontreal.com/hand-stitching-unraveling-and-standing-alone/

Clothes Swap

Check out picks from the massively successful swap on my Facebook page!

TAKE TWO!!!


Hello Gals (Boys, I doubt you’ll be interested in this one) -

UGh. I am totally exhausted by the winter doldrums. If you are like me, you need a little “charge.” Here’s an opportunity to revamp your wardrobe – perhaps even your “look” – for free!

CLOTHING SWAP @ my place Sunday April 15th

Bring duds you’re sick to death of but that still have good wear left in them. Everyone else will do the same. Then we’ll swap! It’s a fun way to clear out your closet of deadweight and get new stuff - free!

But it’s not only clothes…

Bring also: shoes, boots, purses, hats, jackets, belts, jewelry, trinkets, housewears and other goods you thought you’d love, you thought would work for you – but don’t. You never know, they may look fantastic on someone else. (Personally, I am planning to empty out half my closet for this event - no joke!)

And also… bring wine! Bring snacks! Bring friends! And we’ll make an afternoon of it. (I'll have plenty of sustenance available as well - we clothes-horses need a lot of energy food! :)

P.S. This is the third swap I've hosted and I can guarantee they are lot of fun - if you are worried that there won't be anything your size, I assure you, I've invited a wide range of "body types" - and don't forget there's always accessories!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xoxo-i

Happy New Year!

I am so excited about 2007 - so many opportunities to use our talents and skills, and push forward the love we all have in our hearts - I believe we can have a positive impact on our precious Earth that we all call home. So many of us, myself included, have become so lazy and complacent. But with wee ones in my life, I can't be.

Some great places to start us moving and shaking: http://www.climatecrisis.net/ http://www.davidsuzuki.org/ (I am intrigued by going "carbon neutral.")

Here's a little anecdote and I invite you to come up with a method to deter the conscienceless:

Two days ago I saw a late-middle-aged man sitting in a Hummer that was idling at the side of the road. I was triply annoyed (the Hummer, the idling, the arrogance) and felt like knocking on his window, and with a sugary sweet smile tell him to smarten up. I chickened out.

A friend (I will keep this person annonymous in case they finally decide to act on this brilliant idea) decided years ago that with some paint and a stencil, a little guerilla stealth in the middle of the night, to plaster SUV's (and other known offenders) with the message: "This Idiot is Killing Us All."

My idea was to make big, round, brightly couloured stickers that read: "Stop Destroying Our Home, Learn Cunnilingus." Dave says that's a little too "riot grrl" for his taste, but Bhajan and Hilary seemed to like it!