Lady Crush #12: Maja Ivarsson

Best Known For: The Sounds

I can't quite put my finger on it - the difference between the front man of a band as opposed to the front woman.  I like plenty of bands; many of them fronted by men, and just as many fronted by women.  Yet, looking back on my Man Crush List, only 2 out of the 25 are known first and foremost as musicians (three if you count Jemaine, whom I only exclude, because I think of him as a comedian first and an actor/musician second).  In contrast, we're 4 names into this list, and so far half of them have been musicians...

...and there's no sign of that trend slowing down any time soon.

So why then do most male musicians come off as kind of douchey whereas most female musicians strike me as fairly badass?  (Obviously I'm referring to within the genres of music that I like here, and not the decidedly un-badass nature of the ladies that litter the Top 40 landscape…) Is it because you have to be kind of badass to succeed in a male dominated industry?  Is it because there's something inherently cool about a chick that can hang with the dudes?  I don't really know. 

But I like it.

Which brings us to The Sounds (and by extension, Ms. Ivarsson).  There's just something about their New Wave, Blondie-inspired, post-punk revival, synth-laden sound that won me over from day one.  It doesn't seem like it would be the type of music that I would enjoy, and yet, I just can't get enough.  They are an impressive 3 for 3 so far with albums that pass the coveted 'put it in and listen to it all the way through without skipping tracks' litmus test (which can't be said for many artists).

And yet, once again, despite my instant Lady Crush, I know very little about Ms. Ivarsson herself.  Ya, she's blonde.  Ya, she's Swedish.  Ya, she has an interesting sound.  But can a whole Lady Crush be based solely around that?

Yes.

And do you know why?  Because I like the mystery.  Perhaps if I knew more about her, my Lady Crush would fade away.  Perhaps it is the intrigue that keeps my interest piqued. 

And just maybe that's why I have Lady Crushes on more front women than I do on front men.  The fellas are a dime a dozen, whereas the ladies are few and far between.  So, when they do rise to the top, when they can command a stage and have an entire audience eating out of the palm of their hand, it stands to reason that you're fascinated by them.  You want to know more.

I feel that I know all that I need to know about most guy musicians, but I am left constantly intrigued by the ladies.  I guess it's as simple as that.

Proof of Awesomeness:

Lady Crush #13: Isla Fisher

Best Known For: Wedding Crashers

There's two kinds of comedic actresses in Hollywood: There's the ones that do comedies, and the ones that do romantic comedies.  I tend to prefer the former over the latter.  By a fairly large margin.

It's not that the ladies that stick to romantic comedies aren't good at what they do.  Far from it.  It's just that they don't really come off as genuinely funny people.  I mean, if you were at a dinner party with the stars of the top grossing comedies of the year (romantic comedies included) chances are you wouldn't be hanging around Jennifer Aniston and Katherine Heigl if you were looking to have a good laugh.

They know how to pick a script that they can deliver on, sure, and you can't blame them for playing to their strengths and cashing an easy pay cheque.  But rarely do these scripts rise above the usual cliche riddled affairs.  And never could these scripts be confused as anything but a safe bet.

Which is why I like ladies like Isla Fisher.  Even though they aren't always that much better than the romantic comedies that I just finished slagging, I appreciate the fact that she wants to be in real comedies.  Sure, there aren't a lot of roles like that out there in Hollywood, but that makes it even more admirable that she hasn't just thrown in the towel and resorted to the easy romantic lead route.

Hot Rod wasn't great (although it had it's moments) and I've seen worse movies than Definitely, Maybe (which was dangerously close to Romantic Comedy territory).  But I dug Wedding Crashers, and although it wasn't a comedy, I loved the shit out of The Lookout.

I put guys on my Man Crush List for less.  Plus, I mean, if you're married to Sasha Baron Cohen, chances are that you have a sense of humour.  You'd have to.

Proof of Awesomeness:

Lady Crush #14: Anna Faris

Best Known For:  The Scary Movie films. (although the term 'films' makes them sound much more classy than they were...)

I struggled to do write ups for some of the guys on my Man Crush list, sure. But out of the 25 that I ended up doing, I only really had a hard time coming up with 3 or maybe 4 of them. Sometimes you just can't put your finger on why you like someone. Maybe you just get a good vibe off them, but can't really explain or argue to a skeptic the tangible things that make them worthy of your Man Love. Other times it just seems obvious, and you feel like 'well, of course I like this person, everyone does, why should I just rehash the reasons that seem so obvious?' Other times it might just be plain old writer's block.

With that in mind, struggling to come up with an interesting (I hope) write up for a mere 12 - 20% of the list is not a bad number.

So why then, am I struggling for a second straight week to come up with anything to say about this week's Lady Crush? I'm 0 for 2. I'd have to go 12 for 13 on the rest of the list just to maintain the same percentage that I did on the Man Crush write ups, and just doing a quick glance down the rest of the list, I'm not sure that I will.

The purpose of the Lady Crush list is to be the exact equivalent of the Man Crush list, the only difference being the lack of a Y chromosome. So why am I struggling so much more to describe my Man Love for these decidedly cool ladies, when for the most part it came easily for the fellas?

I think the problem is physical attraction. It didn't come into play for the Man Crush list (despite what some of you might think…) and it's not supposed to factor in for the ladies either. I would like to say that I look at the list objectively enough that it honestly doesn't. But it must. It almost has to.

And maybe it should.

I mean, the age old theory is that good looking people often didn't need to develop a personality because people lavished them with all the positive attention they could ever need from just their physical traits alone. Whereas people that aren't given the same attention, due to whatever perceived flaws that they may have, often end up developing an interesting personality or a sense of humour to compensate.

So then shouldn't someone that by all accounts shouldn't have a personality or sense of humour - but does - be ranked higher than someone that didn't face the same so-called societal hurdle? Not that most people would consider being born attractive a 'hurdle' per se, but for the sake of personality development, I would say it most certainly is.

I guess that the reason it's affecting these write ups is because A. I don't want to admit to you, my dear reader, that I find a 'platonic lady crush' to be attractive as well as awesome, less you accuse me of having a conflict of interest in my rankings. And B. I almost don't want to admit it to myself that it might have swayed my decision. It makes me more self conscious - that perhaps I am just another chauvinistic male - and that by factoring in the person's good looks, I'm not simply saying that they're awesome, but rather that they're only awesome …for a hot chick.  It's almost like saying 'Larry Bird was good at basketball… for a white guy' rather than 'Larry Bird is one of the five greatest players to ever play.'

Which he is.

So what about Anna Faris? Yes, I find her attractive. I've grown enough over the course of this post to admit it. But, despite not having anything tangible to write here in order to prove it (aside from a basic hunch), I still feel like she is awesome.

And not just '...for a hot chick'.

Proof of Awesomeness:


(That PoA was a joke by the way.  There is no way the word 'awesomeness' should ever be associated with that 3D turd.  It might look even worse than the Marmaduke movie.  Ok.  Nothing looks that bad, but still...)

We have a... winner?

Drumroll please...



And there you have it.  The winner of the first ever Travis' Blog Anniversary Contest of Awesomeness.

If I'm honest, i do kind of wish that someone else had won this thing.  It feels like I already bend to Randy's will enough on this blog as is.  But fair's fair.  So congratulations 'R.S.'  Your prize should arrive within the 4 to 8 week time window specified in the contest rules.  It is now entirely up to you whether or not you want to reveal to the rest of the blog reading public what the prize turned out to be.

(and no, the prize was not those stellar graphic presets that I used from LiveType... those were a gift for everyone.)

Lady Crush #15: Karen O

Best Known For:  Yeah Yeah Yeahs front-man (err... woman)

You know that movie The Bucket List?  Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, dying of cancer, setting out to do a list of stuff they missed out on in life before they die?   Well, prior to it's release I'd never even heard the term 'bucket list' before, and now it comes up all the time.  I'm not sure if its always been around and I just hadn't noticed it before, or if the filmmakers impressively coined a term that is now a part of modern vernacular despite the fact it was spawned from a mediocre-at-best buddy movie. Regardless of it's origins, my love of lists has lead to a few bucket lists of my own having been created. 

And I never even saw the movie.

One of the most prominent lists that I've toyed with the idea of is that of the Concert Going Bucket List.  Bands that I feel I need to see live in concert before I shuffle off this mortal coil.  This is different from concerts I'd simply like to see if they were coming through town, or concerts I wish I could see, but obviously due to bands breaking up or the death of significant members, could never happen.  No, this is a list of bands that I will try my damnedest to see at some point during my lifetime (the sooner the better, as it's a tough thing to achieve once a band has broken up or significant members have died...), even if this means buying a plane ticket for that sole purpose.  And obviously, not being a particularly wealthy man (nor a flight attendant) the number of bands that I am willing to do this for should be (and is) quite small.

In fact, as of today, the list sits at 3.  The Strokes, The Sounds and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Which brings us to Karen O.  If I'm honest, besides really liking her band, I don't know that much about her. You might think that this would go against the whole reasoning behind this list, and yet, I stand by my decision wholeheartedly.  Sure, this isn't meant to be a list of my favourite bands, but I think it still stands to reason that I would develop a Lady Crush on the woman that is the face of one of them.  The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are awesome.  So, Karen O must be too.

My first exposure was a little ditty called Gold Lion.  It didn't melt my face off and leave my world a different place then it was before I had heard it.  But it was a good, catchy tune.   Shortly thereafter came the release of a highly anticipated little video game called Rock Band, which featured their song Maps.  Seeing that they were now 2 for 2 in my eyes, a thorough listening of the 2 albums that had been released to that point was in order.  By the time It's Blitz dropped, it didn't even need to win me over.  It only served to confirm what I already knew:

I was in love with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.

Even when they release something that from the outset isn't really my usual style of music (ie: Heads Will Roll), somehow it's still gobbled up like a bag of Jalapeno Cheddar potato chips left unattended in front of Randy.  And at the forefront of the band's awesomeness is front-woman extraordinaire Karen O.  She's a rock star in every sense of the word.  Oozing a unique style all her own, and winning over my mighty man-heart at every turn.

Sure I don't know much about her.  But that might be part of her mystique.  As such, she sits proudly at the Number 15 of this list.

Proof of Awesomeness:

The Top 15 Platonic Female Lady Crushes

I know what you're thinking.  It's 2010.  Women can vote.  And drive cars.  They get equal pay.  You can't pinch their ass and call them 'Sugar tits' when they walk by you in the office anymore.  You don't even have to let them go first into the lifeboats.  It's every man, woman and child for themselves.  Essentially, we live in a society of gender equality.

So how could I have the audacity to list only 15 women as my definitive Platonic Lady Crushes, when the men got 25?  Do I need to attend a gender sensitivity seminar?  Do I need to walk a mile in their no-longer-high-heeled shoes?

No.

Because it's not my fault, ladies, it's yours.  There's just not enough of you that merit a spot on this list*.  And I refuse to water down the quality of such a prestigious guide for any man. 

Or woman.

So here we go.  The Top 15 Platonic Female Lady Crushes.  Similar to the Hetero Man Crush List, looks don't really factor in.  Only awesomeness.  That doesn't mean there won't be some good looking gals on this list, but the physical part of the equation will not have any baring on a lady's position within the list.  It's all very scientific.  Trust me.

*ok, my list actually went to 25, but we were starting to get to the fringes of what I would consider a true Lady Crush, so I decided to go with 15 instead.  The cream of the crop.  Well, that, and I'm lazy...

We Made It!!

Today (well, tomorrow technically, but I don't post on Saturdays...) marks the One Year Anniversary of this little experimental exercise in self-importance and indulgence.  To celebrate this momentous occasion (as well as surpassing the 40th blog entry landmark) I am feeling in somewhat of a generous mood.

Although this blog is the greatest gift I could ever bestow on the world, my charitable spirit can't just leave it at that.  So I present to you, my dear readers, the first (and possibly last) ever:

Travis' Blog Anniversary Contest of Awesomeness

How does it work, you ask?  Well, simply post the following information in the comments section of this post:

Your First Name
Your Last Name
Your Personal #1 Man Crush

The contest closes on October 12, 2010 at 10:00am MST at which point all eligible entries will be placed in a random draw to determine the winner.  The winner will be announced shortly thereafter, on this very blog.  The contest is limited to one entry per person.  The Grand Prize item will be delivered within 4 to 8 weeks of the winning announcement.

Good Luck.

(ps: yes, I purposely didn't announce what the prize actually is.  It's a surprise...)