Alesha goes glam in 'Drummer Boy' video - watch the premiere now!

Here's the thing about the new Alesha single. It is loud, tuneless and a little annoying at the best of times. That puts it about on par with the vast majority of chart-toppers (We are looking firmly in the direction of you, Rihanna), but 'Drummer Boy' has something going for it that many other tracks don't: despite all the foregoing, it also is very very good.

The video is perhaps Alesha's best so far as well. Gone is the girl-next-door simplicity and in its place is high concept styling and a Snooki hair bump to end them all. Long story short, Alesha has really upped her game this go-round. It's a little reminiscent of the Jamelia 'Beware of the Dog' makeover, and we all know that is a very, very good thing.

73 The Self-Empowered Woman: Blog Hop 2010

Dear Followers,

As so many of you know, my blog has been sharing news about women of achievement from a wide variety of cultures, countries and eras. And this seemed like a perfect time to introduce you to another blog (Pensieve) that is written by an accomplished woman for females who are on the move -- both emotionally and intellectually.

My blog (and book) centers on the fact that it's amazing that a young woman in Cambodia, a retirement-age woman in South Africa, a deceased author in England and an Academy Award winning American actress would have so many things in common.

Most remarkable women just happen to be amazing mothers. And chapter 16 of The Self-Empowered Woman explores that issue and, hopefully, helps inspire all of us to accept that making our mark in the world and being successful mothers are not mutually exclusive.

My fifth non-fiction book, The Self-Empowered Woman, was inspired by my life-long interest in what women could do even though they faced obstacles. That interest (some call it an obsession) led me to study the lives of women as diverse as Isak Dinesen (remember the movie Out of Africa?), the singer Sade, the author Agatha Christie, the aviator Amelia Earhart, and modern-day women like T.V.'s Meredith Vieira, film director Nancy Meyers and Teresa L. King, who happens to be the first female Commandant of the Army's Drill Sergeant School.

I hope you enjoy The Self-Empowered Woman blog as well as the book (which is available on Amazon.com), and I look forward to many more stories that can inspire women of all ages and all interests.

Looking forward to your comments!

David Archuleta minces his brand new video onto the interwebs and it is quite good - watch now!

David Archuleta the American Idol alum has been laying low recently, and as a result we kind of got him confused with Joe McElderry the X-Factor winner who just bravely came out to the whole world, and started writing this whole article about how David is gay now and blah blah blah.  Well that is totally not true (in the way that it is ACTUALLY true but David's publicist won't let him say so) so we have to talk about his new single or something instead.  It's a decent pop tune and it has a beat and you can dance to it.  The end.

And he is not gay.



Out now for download

So what do we think of Kylie's 'Get Outta My Way' single cover?

The single cover for what is gearing up to be K-mo's biggest single in years (one Mr. Stark can quote us on that) has finally been plopped onto the interwebs and it's kind of crap/fabulous in a low-res 'let's wait until we see the finished product' way.  With an absolutely epic remix package and what will hopefully be a big budget video (for once, EMI, please) the GOOMW launch is shaping up to be very exciting indeed.  Thoughts?

72: The Self-Empowered Woman: Work and Women

Dear Followers,

Instead of writing about one individual woman today, I'd like to share information from New York Times economic write David Leonhardt. In today's paper he wrote a thought-provoking article about mothers and the labor market that punishes them.

Leonhardt uses the Supreme Court as a prototype for the job market. He points out that the last three men nominated to the court were all married and had seven children among them. But the last three women have all been single and childless.

He reminds us that only 15 Fortune 500 companies have a female chief executive, and men dominate the next executive rung as well. Sadly, full-time women workers earn almost 25% less than male employees. And, many experts think it's because there is a price to pay for not following "the old-fashioned career path." And according to Jane Wadfogel, a Columbia University professor who studies family and work: "Women do almost as well as men today as long as they don't have children."

A University of Chicago study found that shortly after graduation men and women usually worked the same weekly hours and had nearly-identical incomes. But 15 years later, the men were earning about 75% more than the women. The only group of women who kept pace with men were those who had no children and (therefore) never needed to take time off. This may explain why so many mothers stop working - since there are few options for part-time work, the switch is made to full-time parenting.

Leonhardt closes his column with this observation: "For almost 200 years, the Supreme Court did not have a single woman on its bench. Sometime later this week, it is likely to have three."

Looking forward to your comments...

Shirley Manson goes solo on 'Pretty Horses' - listen now!

To be honest we kind of forgot Garbage existed.  Not that we didn't love them, they just sort of faded away and as it turns out they didn't leave much of a void behind.  But now - because the time is PERFECT FOR A COMEBACK or something - former frontwoman Shirley Manson is finally unleashing her first solo material. 

In the interest of managing expectations, let's just say right off the bat that it's a bit underwhelming, so don't get too excited.  It's kind of a Fiona Apple cast-off, right down to the copycat "I've been a bad bad girl" lyric and melody ripped from Apple's genius 'Criminal,' and - while not terrible - is completely and utterly forgettable.  But, as Shirley takes great pains to point out, this is just a demo, so we can all hope and pray that somewhere tucked beneath her shockingly well preserved exterior she is hiding some brilliant and original ideas. 



"Adequate."

For Hurts, it is a 'Wonderful Life' - dance to the delightful Freemasons mix now!

Hurts are from Manchester.  But before you let that turn you off, they are also very stylish and make some excellent music.  There are two of them (thus, we imagine, the reason they are Hurts instead of just Hurt) and one of them is very attractive and one of them can sing very well. 

Up til now Hurts have been one of those bands that make all the critics vomit superlatives over themselves but don't really find any commercial success of note.  That might change, however, with this rather genius Freemasons mix of the group's new single 'Wonderful Life.'  It manages to be completely poppers-friendly while still being credible, and as EVERYONE knows that is a very hard line to toe. 

The video itself is a re-edit done by something called a 'Riley York' and we are pretty sure it has nothing to do with Hurts officially, but does manage to make the original video fit the feel of the mix a bit more. 

And yes.  We have a crush on the guy in the band that just stands there too.