OUR LEAD STORY: “SUPPOSED FORMER INFATUATION JUNKIE HITS THE BIG 4-0; A JAGGED LITTLE PILL NO MORE”

Sylent Mari Says: June is an awesome month that’s fully loaded with some pretty cool things: comic conventions, awesome birthdays (including mine), and celebrating all things LGBTQ+. I’m a proud member of the community, representin’ the “L”. I’ve always love thed month of June for a variety of reasons, and having a birthday at the end of the month means that I have something cool to do on my birthday weekend; last year was Albuquerque Pride, and this year it’s the Albuquerque Comic Expo. I’m not revealing my true age, but it falls in the 30’s, and I sure don’t feel my age at all. In fact, I find myself reliving my youth all over again with friends that I’ve known for years who also refuse to grow up.

Today’s post is a belated birthday post about my favorite singer. I’ve written about her before in this blog when I reviewed her last album release, havoc and bright lights. This singer has been an LGBTQ+ supporter for years, and she also has a comic/geeky connection: one of her good friends is a geeky influence of mine, and that person is Kevin Smith – Silent Bob himself. She’s also a June baby – her birthday is June 1st. This post won’t go much into her career because it’s been heavily documented throughout the years, but it will cover her music. So if you have a favorite song or two of hers that you wanna comment on, feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments below.

Yes, kids – Alanis turned 40 years-of-age on Sunday, and dude…that makes me feel old. Like very old, even though I’m in my early-30’s. The picture above was taken more than 19 years ago around the release of Alanis’ breakout international debut album, Jagged Little Pill. We all know that she was a pop princess in the Great White North (aka Canada) who later became the inspiration for Cobie Smulders’ alterego Robin Sparkles on the TV show How I Met Your Mother. She got her big television break on my favorite kids’ show growing up, yYu Can’t Do That On Television. She’s also less angsty and has gotten a bit *GASP!* happier.

Here’s why: she got married to a rapper, MC Souleye, she gave birth to a toddler named Ever Imre on [insert the religion you celebrate and hon or on December 25th) a few years ago

Jagged Little Pill will be celebrating its 20th anniversary next year on June 13, 2015. I can’t believe that the record is already two decades old. I still remember the day when I first heard “You Oughta Know” on the radio and was instantly hooked on the song and her voice. I got my mom to buy the cassette for me after pleading with her for a few moments, and she finally purchasing it to shut me up. I also got her to buy it for me on CD too, ‘cause I’m a completest.

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Jagged Little Pill was a mega-hit and was soon followed by the well-received, though lower-selling Supposed former Infatuation Junkie – my favorite release along with Flavors of Entanglement. SFIJ was a huge departure from JLP with its more mature lyrics, different musical textures, and more emotional moments than an average day at work for me w/ my coworkers (name an emotion and we got ya covered!). The album didn’t make truckloads of money like JLP, but it is definitely a better produced album, and it still holds up every well years later. Under Rug Swept soon followed, along with So-Called Chaos, Flavors of Entanglement and her last album, havoc and bright lights. There were a few other releases in-between like the EP Feast on Scraps, her MTV Unplugged appearance

Happy 17th Birthday to “Welcome to the Hellmouth!”– Buffy’s 1st Episode + Links to My Ongoing Retrospective

Wow – has it really been 17 years since the premiere of the television version of Buffy the Vampire Slayer? *clutches chest* I may be in my early-30’s, but that still makes me feel quite old. According to my calculations, I was 15-going-on-16 when “Welcome to the Hellmouth” first aired. *clutches chest again* For many people of my generation, Buffy was our show. It spoke to us about our high school and teenage experiences that other shows really hadn’t up until that point (though My So-Called Life and Daria are two other excellent examples of my generation). High school could literally be Hell at times, though I doubt most high schools didn’t reside over Hellmouths, though I question my former high school at times…

Sure, there were many supernatural elements in the show, but to associate the supernatural with real-life events really made the show unique, as well as strong, well-written characters and many amazing moments that caused us to laugh, cry, shout, shake our fists at, and bond over. As I’ve gone over in my retrospective posts, which are all conveniently listed below, there are some moments that really speak to us as viewers. To this day, most of the episodes hold up pretty well and some not-so-much. But even the worst episodes are quite enjoyable and fun to re-watch with fans old and new.

I salute you, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, on such a major accomplishment and still being a fan-favorite after all of these years. If you still have time in your timezones, throw on “Welcome to the Hellmouth” and enjoy the trip down 1990’s TV nostalgia. There is a Slayer born into every generation, and that Slayer is Buffy Summers. The woman deserves as much recognition that we can give her – let’s pay tribute by binge-watching all seven seasons. Well, if you can work them around your Real Life and work schedules.

Slightly Funny Side-note: Today is also my boss’ birthday. How coincidental. She’s kickass like Buffy, but without the stakes or vampires to fight.

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(01) A 15-Year Retrospective On The “Girl With A Stake Who Saved The World (Again)”

http://geekyvoyage.wordpress.com/2012/05/01/an-early-10-year-retrospective-on-the-girl-with-a-stake-who-saved-the-world-again/

(02) Seven Seasons Reduced to Fourteen Minutes

http://geekyvoyage.wordpress.com/2012/07/27/btvs-retrospective-part-two-seven-seasons-reduced-to-fourteen-minutes/

(03) And These Are A Few Of My (Most) Favorite Scenes – Part One

http://geekyvoyage.wordpress.com/2012/08/14/buffy-retrospective-and-these-are-a-few-of-my-favorite-scenes-part-one/

(04) And These Are A Few Of My (Most) Favorite Scenes – Part Two

http://geekyvoyage.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/buffy-retrospective-and-these-are-a-few-of-my-most-favorite-scenes-part-two/

(05) Full Season Pick-Up (Favorite Episodes – Part 1 of 3 – Seasons One-Two)

http://geekyvoyage.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-retrospective-full-season-pick-up-favorite-episodes-a-few-extra-part-1-of-3/

(06) Full Season Pick-Up (Favorite Episodes – Part 2 of 3 – Season Three)

http://geekyvoyage.wordpress.com/2012/11/11/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-retrospective-6-full-season-pick-up-favorite-episodes-a-few-extra-part-2-of-3/

(07) Full Season Pick-Up (Favorite Episodes – Part 2 of 3 – Season Four)

http://geekyvoyage.wordpress.com/2012/11/20/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-retrospective-7-full-season-pick-up-favorite-episodes-part-2-of-3-season-four/

(08) Full Season Pick-Up (Favorite Episodes – Part 3 of 3 – Seasons Five-Six)

http://geekyvoyage.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-retrospective-8-full-season-pick-up-favorite-episodes-part-3-of-3-seasons-five-six/

(09) Full Season Pick-Up (Favorite Episodes – Part 3 of 3 – Season Seven)

http://geekyvoyage.wordpress.com/2012/12/04/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-retrospective-9-full-season-pick-up-favorite-episodes-part-3-of-3-season-seven/

(10) The Characters, Part 1 – Favorite Character (Always “Five By Five”)

http://geekyvoyage.wordpress.com/2013/01/15/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-retrospective-10-the-characters-part-1-favorite-character-always-five-by-five/

(11) They Will Always Save Us [Team Slayer] – Part 2

http://geekyvoyage.wordpress.com/2013/02/06/uffy-the-vampire-slayer-retrospective-11-they-will-always-save-us-team-slayer/

(12) They Will Try To Destroy Us [Team Evil] – Part 3

http://geekyvoyage.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/buffy-the-vampire-slayer-retrospective-12-they-will-try-to-destroy-us-team-evil/

A Voyage into the Quirky, Offbeat, and Geek-Obsessed