setlist 3/31/09 for the Women On Women Music Program on WLUW 88.7fm Chicago / wluw.org online

The Rondelles - "The Upshot" The Fox (Teenbeat)
X - "Riding With Mary" Under the Big Black Sun (Elektra/Rhino)
The Blacks - "Take Me Now" Dolly Horrorshow (Bloodshot)
Tilly and the Wall - "Pot Kettle Black" O (Team Love)
The Velvettes - "Needle in a Haystack" The Best Of (Spectrum)
All Girl Summer Fun Band - "Something New" Looking Into It (AGSFB)
Apples In Stereo - "She's Just Like Me/Taking Time" Fun Trick Noisemaker (SpinART)
Heavenly - "Cool Guitar Boy" Heavenly Versus Satan (K)
Cub - "Surfer Girl" Betti-Cola (Mint)
The Hidden Mitten - "Roma! Roma!" Roma! Roma! EP (S/R)
Mazzy Star - "Ghost Highway" She Hangs Brightly (Capitol)
John Parish & Polly Jean Harvey - "Dance Hall At Louse Point" Dance Hall at Louse Point (Island)
18th Dye - "Is" Amorine Queen (Crunch Frog)
Pistol Whipped - "Love is a Queer Thing" Quality Songs for Quality People (S/R)
Vivian Girls - "Wild Eyes" S/T (In The Red)
The Slits - "Love Und Romance" Cut (Island)
Chicks on Speed - "Mind Your Own Business" Will Save Us All (EFA)
Lush - "Single Girl" Ciao! (4AD)
Dressy Bessy - "In Your Headphones" Holler and Stomp (Transdreamer)
Mary Timony - "Friend To JC" Ex Hex (Lookout)
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Dull Life" It's Blitz! (Interscope)
Lily Allen - "I Could Say" It's Not Me, It's You (Capitol)
Blondie - "Fade Away And Radiate" Parallel (Capitol)
Bitesize - "Greta Garbo" Sophmore Slump (Packing Heat)
Tracy and the Plastics - "Dawn Feather" Real Damage (Dim Mak)
Eleanor Murray - "Joseph's Song" For Cedar (Anonymous Monk)
Yo La Tengo - "By The Time It Gets Dark" Little Honda EP (Matador)
Sonic Youth - "Secret Girl" Made in USA (Rhino)
Mirah - "Country Of The Future" (a)spera (K)
Lady Sovereign - "Let's Be Mates" Jigsaw (Midget)
Blevin Blectom - "Squeezed" Gular Flutter (Aagoo)
Juliana Hatfield and Tanya Donelly - "Josie and the Pussycats" V/A: Saturday Morning Cartoons' Greatest Hits (MCA)

Video Fridays: Julie Atlas Muz

New York based burlesque performer Julie Atlas Muz brings so much more to the stage than tassel twirling and booty shaking (not that those aren't both great in their own right). Combining her skills as both a modern dancer and a performance artist, Muz uses burlesque to push and break boundaries. Her performances are riviting and embrace the line between grotesque and beautiful, merge comedy and sexuality and bend gender expectations. Muz uses her body and the space around her to make meaning and create expressions and experiences, asking the viewer to see more than just a nude female form.

This video, captured at the Clore Ballroom in London, is of the routine that won her the title of Miss Exotic World in 2006. There is nudity, so don't watch this one around the boss or the kids!

Do It Your D*mn Self Craft Show - This Saturday!

Do It Your Own D*mn Self! Reuse, recycle and re-craft this saturday with the Chicago Craft Mafia at the Do It Your Own D*mn Self Show. It happens Saturday March 28 from noon to 4pm at the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse at 1419 W Blackhawk. Craft away!

WOW setlist 3/24/09 - listen to the Women On Women Music Program every Tuesday 8pm to 10pm on WLUW 88.7fm / wluw.org

setlist for 3/24/09

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings - "Let Them Knock" 100 Days 100 Nights (Daptone Records)
Dresden Dolls - "Christopher Lydon (live at the Sanders Theatre)" A is for Accident
Colleen - "Blue Sands" Les Ondes Silencieuses (Leaf)
Laura Gibson - "Postures Bent" Beasts of Seasons (Hush)
Meg Baird - "Maiden In The Moor Lay" Dear Companion (Drag City)
Asobi Seksu - "Gliss" Hush (Polyvinyl)
Architecture In Helsinki - "Feather in a Baseball Cap" Places Like This (Polyvinyl)
Headlights - "Centuries" The Enemies EP (Polyvinyl)
Metric - "Hand$hake$" Live it Out (Last Gang)
Saint Etienne -"Dream Lover" Tales from Turnpike House (Savoy Jazz)
Belle and Sebastian - "Act of the Apostle Part 1" The Life Pursuit (Matador)
Cat Power - "Lived In Bars" The Greatest (Matador)
Marissa Nadler - "Ghosts & Lovers" Little Hells (Kemado)
Neko Case - "This Tornado Loves You" Middle Cyclone (Anti-)
Kirsty MacColl - "Innocence" Galore (IRS)
Sarah Shannon - "Hey Heartache" City Morning Song (Minty Fresh)
Mary Timony Band - "Pause/Off" The Shapes We Make (Kill Rock Stars)
Mirah - "The Forest" (a)spera (K)
Liz Isenberg - "Country Song" Seeports, Seaports, Seeports (Leisure Class)
Laura Veirs - "Ocean Night Song" Saltbreakers (Nonesuch)
Jana Hunter - "Palms" There's No Home (Gnomonsong)
Lily Allen - "Him" It's Not Me, It's You (Capitol)
Puffy Ami Yumi - "Forever" Hi Hi Puffy Amiyumi: Music from the Series (Sony)

M.I.A. - "Fire Fire" Arular (Interscope)
Lady Sovereign - "Student Union" Jigsaw (Midget)
Coupleskate - "Bless The Bees" Don't Scare the Horses (Coupleskate)
The New Black - "Time Attack" Time Attack (Thick)
Pilot Scott Tracy - "Big Fan" Any City (Alternative Tentacles)
Annie Hayden - "Swingin Party" The Enemy of Love (Merge)
The Gossip - "Keeping You Alive" Standing in the Way of Control (Kill Rock Stars)

Link Love - Stuff we talked about tonight on the Women On Women Music Program...

Happy Ada Lovelace Day! Let's hear it for women in technology, and for good old Ada, the very first computer programmer in the history of the world! Want more information on Ada Lovelace Day? Visit FindingAda.com.


Do It Your Own D*mn Self! Reuse, recycle and re-craft this saturday with the Chicago Craft Mafia at the Do It Your Own D*mn Self Show. It happens Saturday March 28 from noon to 4pm at the Pulaski Park Fieldhouse at 1419 W Blackhawk. Craft away!

All Female Macbeth! Babes With Blades, a group working to expand opportunities for women in the field of stage combat, is putting on an all-female Macbeth. It starts April 27th at the Dream Theatre. Visit BabesWithBlades.org for details.

Video Fridays: "Atomic"

My brain always associates this song more with the club scene in Trainspotting than nuclear war. Still, apparently nuclear war's got a good beat and you can dance to it.

setlist 3/17/09 Women On Women Music Program on 88.7fm WLUW / online at wluw.org

Colleen - "Sun Against My Eyes" Les Ondes Silencieuses (Leaf)
Brigid Boden - "One Glimpse of You" V/A: Dublin to Dakar: A Celtic Odyssey (Putamayo)
The Cranberries - "(They Long to Be) Close to You" V/A: If I Were a Carpenter (A&M)
Meg Baird - "Sweet William and Fair Ellen" Dear Companion (Drag City)
Laura Viers - "Ocean Night Song" Saltbreakers (Nonesuch)
Cub - "Green Eyes" Mauler (Au-go-go)
Dressy Bessy - "In Your Headphones" Holler and Stomp (Transdreamer)
Asobi Seksu - "Blind Little Rain" Hush (Polyvinyl)
Joanna Newsom & the Ys Street Band - "Colleen" Joanna Newsom & the Ys Street Band EP (Drag City)
Gore Gore Girls - "Sweet Potato" Get the Gore (Bloodshot)
Lene Lovich - "Lucky Number" Stateless (Stiff)
Essential Logic - "Shabby Abbott" Fanfare in the Garden (Kill Rock Stars)
Tychonaut - "My Father the Jeweller" V/A: Dunnings's Lost in Europe: The Best of Indie Ireland (S/R)
Damien Rice - "The Blower's Daughter" O (Vector)
Sarah Shannon - "Near and Far" City Morning Song (Minty Fresh)
Maria Taylor - "Irish Goodbye" Lynn Teeter Flower (Saddle Creek)
Mates of State - "You Are Free" Re-Arrange Us (Barsuk)
Kirsty MacColl - "You Just Haven't Earned it Yet Baby" Galore (IRS)
Sinead O'Connor - "Jump In The River" I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (Chrysalis)
Patti Smith Group - "Because The Night" Easter (Arista)
Cibo Matto - "White Pepper Ice Cream" Pom Pom: The Essential Cibo Matto (Rhino)
Erase Errata - "Another Genius Idea From Our Government" Nightlife
PJ Harvey - "Snake" Rid of Me (Island)
ESG - "Dance" A South Bronx Story (Universal Sound)
Gaelic Storm - "The Night I Punched Russell Crowe" What's the Rumpus (MRI)
All Girl Summer Fun Band - "Grass Skirt" Summer of '98 (Magic Marker)
Mavis Staples - "This Little Light" Live: Hope at the Hideout (Anti-)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Tune in tonight for a celebration of the wearing of the green on the Women On Women Music Program - 8pm to 10pm on 88.7 WLUW or online at wluw.org!

Video Fridays: "Give Him a Great Big Kiss"

Check out the teenyboppers in the audience going nuts for the Shangri-las! The dude in the back playing tambourine and shaking his ass! (The drummer inexplicably set up in front of the band!)



Man, I always forget the Shangri-las aren't black.

WOW Setlist 3/10/09 - It's the International Women's Day Women on Women Show! Women, Women, Women!

To celebrate International Women's Day, we're spinning our favorite female artists from around the globe!

All Girl Summer Fun Band - "Canadian Boyfriend" S/T (K)
The Creatures - "Around the World" Hai! (Instinct)
Chicks on Speed - "Eurotrash Girl" Will Save Us All (EFA)
M.I.A. - "Bird Flu" Kala (Interscope)
Lady Sovereign - "Random" Vertically Challenged (Chocolate Industries)
Delta 5 - "Mind Your Own Business" Singles & Sessions 1979-81 (Kill Rock Stars)
The Raveonettes - "Beat City" Whip it On (Columbia)
Sahara Hotnights - "The Difference Between Love and Hell" Kiss & Tell (RCA)
Nina Hagen - "Wir Leben Immer Noch (Lucky Number)" 14 Friendly Abductions: The Best of Nina Hagen (Columbia)
Lene Lovich - "Home" Stateless (Stiff)
18th Dye - "Aug." Crayon (Matador)
PJ Harvey - "Sheela Na Gig" Dry (Indigo)
Ginette Garcin - "Cresoxipropanediol En Capsules" V/A: Girls in the Garage Vol. 10 (Romulan)
Kirsty MacColl - "They Don't Know" Galore (IRS)
Heavenly - "Starshy" Le Jardin de Heavenly (K)
Belle & Sebastian - "Get Me Away From Here I'm Dying" If You're Feeling Sinister (Matador)
Metric - "Between the Bars (live)"
The Triffids - "Raining Pleasure" Beautiful Waste and Other Songs (Domino)
Charlotte Gainsbourg - "Tel Que Tu Es" 5:55 (Because Music/Vice)
Saint Etienne - "Spring" Fox Base Alpha (WB)
Bebel Gilberto - "Ceu Distante" S/T (Six Degrees)
Toni Basil - "Mickey (Spanish Version)" Mickey 12" Club Mix (Chrysalis)
Kim - "Too Here" S/T (S/R)
Cub - "O Canada" Mauler (Au-Go-Go)
The Au Pairs - "Monogamy" Equal But Different: BBC Sessions 1979-1981 (RPM)
Tetine - "I Go To the Doctor! (CSS Remix)" I Go To the Doctor! 12" (Soul Jazz)
The 5.6.7.8's - "Dance in the Avenue A" Pinheel Stomp EP (Time Bomb)
Yma Sumac - "Taki Rari" V/A: Ultra Lounge (Capitol)
Bjork - "I Miss You" Post (Elektra)
Bettie Serveert - "Don't Touch That Dial!" Attagirl (Minty Fresh)
The B-52's - "52 Girls" Nude on the Moon: The B-52's Anthology (Rhino)

Listen live every Tuesday evening from 8 to 10 pm on 88.7fm in Chicago, or online at wluw.org around the world.

International Women's Day Special

Yesterday was International Women's Day. To commemorate, our show this week will focus exclusively on female musicians from around the world. Tune in Tuesday from 8 to 10pm, 88.7fm in Chicago, wluw.org everywhere else.

For more information on International Women's Day, check out the official website here.

WOW Setlist, 3/3/09

Sadly pre-empted by the last Loyola Ramblers basketball game of the season, we nonetheless brought you a rockin' (albeit short) set of music from the best of women in rock.

All Girl Summer Fun Band - "Oh No" Looking Into It (AGSFB Music)
Tsunami - "Flameproof Suit" World Tour and Other Destinations (Simple Machines)
The Raveonettes - "Untamed Girls" Chang Gang of Love (Columbia)
The Vivian Girls - "Going Insane" S/T (In the Red)
Mazzy Star - "Ghost Highway" She Hangs Brightly (Capitol)
CSS - "Rat is Dead (Rage)" Donkey (Sub Pop)
Le Tigre - "Tres Bien" Feminist Sweepstakes (Mr. Lady)
Ladytron - "The Lovers" Velocifero (Nettwerk)
Mars - "Helen Forsdale" Seventy Eight + (Widowspeak)


(stupid basketball.)

Emergency Preparedness For The Ladies... More Than A Pink Toolbox!

As I write this, there’s some lake effect snow swirling outside my window, and I’m fighting what we call the “Chicago Instinct” to go buy a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread, just in case. I have no idea how or why this started, but if you want to find out the difference between a native Chicagoan and a transplant from elsewhere, ask them what they do when the storm warning comes across the television or radio – natives will sheepishly admit that they’re drawn, zombie-like, to a grocery store, where they stand in line with staples, regardless of need or reason. We do it, our parents did it, our grandparents did it, and doubtless someday our children will do it. There must have been some really bad storm in the 1950s that snowed people in, which imparted this on our citywide psyche, but whatever it is, it made me think about the issue of emergency preparedness.

Those that know me well know that I like to be prepared for emergencies. I think it is a combination of growing up with avid campers as parents, and many years of Girl Scouts, but you can always rest assured that I will have a Swiss Army knife and flashlight with me at all times, and I will promise to lead you to safety in any disaster scenario. At work, my desk drawer is the office’s first aid kit, and at home, I’m the one who comforts my adorable yet easily spooked neighbors when the lights go out or there’s a tornado warning.

Today, I’d like to talk about emergency preparedness for women. Too often, girls are not taught how to handle typical problems that can become emergency situations, as it is boys who “help Dad” with tasks that have been divided along gender roles and given to men. This is obviously troubling because it perpetuates gender stereotypes, but also because it leaves girls and women unprepared for situations that can become very serious, and even deadly. Don’t wait for an emergency to strike before you prepare, and even if you are living with parents or a partner, you should be able to independently navigate an emergency. You may not be able to depend on family, friends, or even the local or federal government being there when a disaster strikes, so I think everyone should be able to take care of their own basic needs.

The key to being safe in any emergency situation, whether large or small, is being able to make good decisions based on your resources and knowledge. I think that the easiest way to learn about things like how to keep your pipes from freezing, what to do in a citywide blackout or major blizzard, or how to jump a car battery is to learn it from someone you trust firsthand. If you’re currently living with family or roommates who take charge of these things, get involved the next time there is an emergency. Even if it is just a simple fuse being blown or problem with the plumbing, ask them about what they are doing, how you can help, and why they do what they do. Offer to assist them and learn what you can. If that’s not possible or you are already living on your own, picking up a book or reading websites about emergencies can be very helpful in bringing you up to speed. Some books that I like are National Geographic Complete Survival Manual
and the The American Red Cross First Aid and Safety Handbook
. Be sure to also take note of your local geographic area around your home and workplace for weather patterns such as streets that commonly flood during heavy rain, roads that are especially icy after storms or trees that loose branches in heavy winds. (This is especially important if you have moved to a different city or state.) Just the simple knowledge of remembering not to turn down a street that always floods or not to walk underneath a tree with dying branches can save you a lot of hassle.

Once you have some basic knowledge of your home, workplace and commonly traveled areas, the next thing to think about is putting together an emergency kit. When you look at lists from the American Red Cross or FEMA about what to include in your emergency kit, it can seem daunting at first, so start small, with the things that seem most important to your situation and fit your budget. In my opinion, a flashlight with some extra batteries and a small battery operated AM/FM radio are the most important things to get first. Light will help you find your way to or from your home, and information from the radio will allow you to make informed decisions. After those, water and food are probably the next most important things to have. Don’t worry about having to stock up three days worth of food right away, just pick up an extra large bottle of water and a granola bar or two the next time you go to the grocery store and keep them in your cabinet. As you begin to build your emergency kit, you may realize that a lot of what you need you already have in your home – first aid kit, extra warm clothes, list of important contact numbers. Consolidating these things into one area will allow you to get to them quickly in an emergency situation.

After you have some basic emergency knowledge and you have started an emergency kit, you should next think about what your emergency plan will be. Think about the most likely emergency scenarios for your home, office and travel route, and make a plan for how you will deal with them. Think about the things you learned as a child – how to get out of your bedroom if there is a house fire, for example – and apply that kind of thinking to other emergency situations you might encounter. Some starting questions you might ask yourself are how to escape from a fire, where you will go if there is a tornado warning, what public transportation is available if your car dies while at work, and how you will contact your family or friends after a disaster to let them know you are okay. You should think about this for your home, workplace, school, or other places where you spend a lot of time (for example, your gym or where you volunteer). Finally, think about what special needs you might have – for example, special medications, a pet to care for, or other family members who may need your assistance.

Preparing for emergencies does not need to be a daunting task, nor does it have to take a lot of time or money, but it is something that every adult should devote a few minutes of their time to doing every year. While it is unlikely that you will ever be in a life or death emergency survival situation, nearly everyone will have the occasional power outage or weather situation at some point in their lives. Empowering yourself now!