Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Tuesday. This is the last entry for 2020... can you believe it? Wot a fucking crazy year it has been. It looks like President Donald Trump and former First Lady Michelle Obama are the most admired man and woman of 2020, according to the new Gallup Poll that was released this morning. It’s the first time that President Donald Trump has topped the list by himself, ending a 12-year run by Barack Obama, with whom he tied for most admired last year. For Michelle Obama, this is her third straight year as a most admired woman in the United States.
For Trump, the title reflects and part of his enduring popularity among several Republicans, even after a year in which he was impeached, was highly criticized for his administration handling the COVID-19 pandemic and racial tensions, as well as a lost re-election. Gallup noted that several Republicans named anyone else besides the president, who holds a 39 percent overall approval rating, while Democrats split their votes. Former President Barack Obama came in second among men in the U.S., at 15 percent. President-elect Joe Biden came in third with 6 percent, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is the nation’s top infectious disease expert, came in fourth with 3 percent.
Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Pope Francis, Dwight Eisenhower, and Bill Gates were also among the most admired men on the list. According to Gallup, among party lines, 48 percent of Republicans chose President Trump while Barack Obama was a top choice among the Democrats with 32 percent, receiving 13 percent among Democrats. Obama and Trump were split among Independents with 11 percent. As far as the most admired woman, Michelle Obama received 10 percent of the votes.
Vice president-elect Kamala Harris followed behind Michelle Obama, with 6 percent, and current first lady Melania Trump came in third place with 4 percent. Melania Trump came in second to Michelle Obama in 2019, and has been among the top 10 most admired women for the past four years, but never placed first. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Hillary Clinton, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Queen Elizabeth II, Greta Thunberg, Oprah Winfrey, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were also among the most admired women. The poll was conducted by telephone from December 1st to the 17th among a random sample of 1,018 American adults. Gallup stated it does have a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points.
Authorities have identified Anthony Quinn Warner as the Nashville bomber after experts matched his DNA to remains found at the sight of the Nashville explosion on Christmas morning. According to U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennesee Don Cochran, “We’ve come to the conclusion that an individual named Anthony Warner is the bomber. He was present when the bomb went off and then he perished.”
Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch stated the DNA that was taken from the scene was matched to Warner by forensic analysts. The 63-year old from Antioch, Tennessee, had already been identified by authorities as a person of interest in the explosion of a recreational vehicle in downtown Nashville on December 25th. The explosion was captured in a Nashville police surveillance video that was posted to social media on Sunday night.
The blast managed to damage dozens of buildings and injured three people knocking out AT&T Wireless services around Nashville. There is no indication that anybody else besides Warner was involved, and there’s been no motive determined as of now. FBI special agent in charge of the Memphis field office, Douglas Korneski, refused to comment on whether the blast would be considered domestic terrorism after the question arose.
According to CNN, Forensic analysis at the FBI lab in Quantico, Virginia, and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation matched DNA taken from the explosion scene to the suspect. A vehicle ID number from the RV also matched Warner.
Authorities are asking anyone who may have known Warner or encountered him should immediately contact the FBI so that investigators can establish a motive. Through a news conference, authorities did note that Warner was not previously on law enforcement’s radar. Investigators were able to match the DNA samples to Warner rather quickly because they were able to collect DNA from his family members.
Law enforcement officials had earlier stated that they believed Warner’s human remains were found at the blast site. The FBI gathered DNA from Warner’s home and began searching around his area for any clues of the motive. Police were initially called at the location of the explosion after a resident called 911 at 5:30 a.m. on Christmas day. When officers responded to the scene, they found a white RV parked in front of an AT&T building that was reportedly broadcasting a warning that an explosion would occur. A computerized voice warned residents to evacuate the area. The explosion occurred at 6:30 a.m.
Well, this is a first. Looks like the clap has decided to clap back. LOL. See what I did there? Okay, okay, bad joke I’ll stop. But, this is pretty funny if you ask me. This year and this coronavirus pandemic just keeps throwing rocks our way. Apparently, a new strain of gonorrhea is infecting patients all around the world, according to the World Health Organization. The organization reported that the overuse of antibiotics to treat the coronavirus has caused the sexually transmitted infection to find a new way to, uh, let’s call it thrive. They are now sending a warning that this mutant “super gonorrhea” is unfortunately not treatable by any current means. Around 78 million people catch gonorrhea every year, but “the new “antibiotic-resistant strain developed through a mistreatment of gonorrhea bacteria left in the throat after oral sex.”
In case you’re wondering, gonorrhea in the throat looks like strep throat, which is why doctors prescribe standard antibiotics, which then mixed with bacteria create antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea. Both of the antibiotics used to treat the bacterial infection, azithromycin and ceftriaxone, are now becoming increasingly ineffective against the new strain.
Azithromycin has seen a heavy increase in usage during the COVID-19 pandemic. A WHO spokesperson told The Sun, “Such a situation can fuel the emergence of resistance in gonorrhea including gonorrhea superbug (super gonorrhea) or gonorrhea with high-level resistance to current antibiotics recommended to treat it.”
This so-called super gonorrhea infection doesn’t respond to the normal first-line treatment, which makes it particularly dangerous and uncomfortable for those who are affected. One of the reasons why the new strain is now exploding is because people aren’t going to hospitals unless they get infected with the coronavirus and actually have symptoms. Instead, they are self-medicating themselves which is why the doctors aren’t catching the disease in time. To make matters worse, apparently, super gonorrhea is extremely resistant to any antibiotic.
Health experts have had some success against gonorrhea by using the two antibiotics mentioned above, but it is still unclear how long such a regimen will then deter super gonorrhea. The sexually transmitted infection, which can affect the throat, the rectum, and the genitals, is the second most common STD in the United States, reported by 820,000 patients each year. But, since gonorrhea often exhibits no symptoms or major side-effects, several people are unaware that they have become infected.
If left untreated, it can cause burning during urination, inflammation, fertility problems in women, and inflammation. It can also increase the risk of HIV. The STI is usually spread through sexual contact, but can also spread from a mother to a child during birth. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC, cases of gonorrhea, which is caused by bacteria neisseria gonorrhoeae, have increased up to 63 percent since 2014.
"Full House" actress Lori Loughlin has now been released after serving a two-month sentence in federal prison for a college admissions scandal that she participated in with her husband fashion designer Mossimo Giannulli, the mastermind behind the scam, Rick Singer, and 50 other parents who were participated to get their children into the University of Southern California. The scheme was a college admissions bribery scandal that had Giannulli emailing pictures of his daughters posing on indoor rowing machines to Singer, for him to create fake athletic profiles for the two girls as recruits for USC’s rower crew team. The famous “Aunt Becky” actress and her fashion designer husband had paid $500,000 to Singer to help ease their girls into getting into the hyper-competitive elite university. Among the other parents was actress Felicity Huffman, who paid Singer $15,000 to boost her daughter’s SAT scores, resulting in her spending 11 days in prison last October.
Loughlin had pleaded guilty to a conspiracy chargeback in May and began her prison sentence on October 30th at the Federal Correctional Institution in Dublin, California (FCI Dublin). She will serve two more years of supervised release, perform 100 hours of community service, and also pay a $150,000 fine.
Giannulli also pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge as part of a plea deal and started a five-month prison term on November 19 at the Federal Correctional Complex in Lompoc, California. Upon his release, he will serve a two year supervised release, perform 250 hours of community service, and pay a $250,000 fine.
The couple’s youngest daughter, Olivia Jade Giannulli, is a social media influencer, and commented earlier this month about the scandal on the series, “Red Table Talk.” She said, “We messed up. I just want a second chance to be like, ‘I recognize I messed up.’ And for so long I wasn’t able to talk about this because of the legalities behind it,” explaining how she doesn’t want or deserve pity, according to the Associated Press.
DC is ramping up its movies after DC Films President Walter Hamada revealed that they are planning something bigger for the future of the franchise. Wonder Woman 1984 received some promising box office returns despite the ongoing pandemic. Aside from the confirmation on a Wonder Woman 3 film, the Warner Bros. division has additional plans.
Hamada talked with The New York Times where he mentioned that DC Films are planning to release up to four superhero films annually in theaters starting in 2022, and another two feature films every year on HBO Max. The plan is to put the most expensive films in theaters while the less costly titles will be placed on HBO Max. This announcement suggests that the company will not fully delve into its 2021 strategy of releasing films in theaters and on HBO Max at the same time.
Wonder Woman 1984 is the first major movie to receive the hybrid strategy when it debuted on Christmas day.
The numbers are not available on how well the sequel performed on HBO Max but the film grossed $85 million during the opening weekend at the box office. Most of its returns came overseas. Despite having a different tune for the 2022 plans, HBO Max will still remain a major consideration for the film. Hamada stated, “With every movie that we're looking at now, we are thinking, What's the potential Max spin-off?” Basically, the plan is that if a certain project from a movie on the big screen looks promising, they may try making a spin-off for it on the streaming service. In fact, TV spin-offs based on the upcoming films titled The Batman and The Suicide Squad are already in pre-production status.
The plan also sets the company’s intention to possibly employ a storytelling multiverse to be able to generate a huge volume of diverse content. The Flash with Ezra Miller will introduce the multiverse premise. This multiverse factor will patch up any loophole that will allow various actors to play the same character at the same time, without violating or discarding the canon. An example is both Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck reprising their roles as Batman for certain DC projects.
This NFL season a lot of teams have changed their logo, like this one...
Hahahaha. Did you see the latest Durex ad? If not, I have it right here...
It made me laugh. I was thinking of getting a new tattoo but someone had the same idea I had...
Hahahahaha. So, if I had a TARDIS I would go to London and try to meet a knocker-upper.
Before alarm clocks there were knocker-uppers. They earned sixpence a week shooting dried peas at sleeping workers windows. My grandmother Nanny Rose was a knocker-upper. No, that's not a pic of her. The holiday season can bring out the best, and worst, in people.
Sometimes that worst comes from family.
For a Phile reader this season’s gifts brought out some conflict so they turned to the me for moral judgement.
"Am I wrong for giving away my grandparents’ gift intended for my fiancée? Every year, my grandparents give $300 to their single grandchildren and $500 to their married grandchildren, along with a note that says ‘to share with your spouse.' When opening up our gifts this year, I noticed my cousin, who had recently married his gay boyfriend, only received $300 while my fiancée and I received $500. I handed two hundreds from my envelope to my cousin in front of everyone, which caused quite the scene. My family is very religious and refuse to accept gay marriage as legitimate. They refuse to acknowledge his husband as a member of our family and tell him he is going to hell unless he changes his lifestyle. I defended my decision by saying, ‘we’re not married yet, and they are. I think there’s been a mistake.' Conversations quickly devolved, resulting in both my cousin and I leaving shortly after. My family insights it was not my money to give and my actions disrespected both my grandparents and my fiancée. My fiancée feels my family was welcoming her, and I rejected her in front of everyone. Am I wrong? PS: I feels it was OUR gift but I made a decision like it was MY gift. I also don't like to make waves and would have preferred to thank my grandparents while handling the situation with my cousin in private.” What you did was extremely thoughtful and it’s actually great to read that it came to your mind in that moment. Your fiancée should also be understanding and supportive especially as your cousin was being purposefully ostracized, the money is a gift and you can share your $300 with you. Your silence and acceptance of the money would have been complicit in your grandparent’s homophobia. Good for you. If your fiancée was upset about being ‘rejected in front of everyone’ because of a couple of hundred dollars, tell her to think about how your cousin’s husband must feel about every interaction with his married family. You did the right thing by everyone, including your fiancée. By making that decision individually and publicly, you’ve shielded her from any family blowback about this. I know that technically it was given to you as a couple, but really, it’s from your family and it’s to do with your family politics, so until she’s actually your spouse I would say it’s fair enough for that to have been your decision. Homophobia and bigotry in any form is unacceptable. How much more hurtful when it comes from family?
Luckily you had your cousin’s back. And I definitely have yours.
If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...
Top Phive Things Said About Staying Home For New Years's Eve
5. At least there will be no "what are you doing on New Years's Eve" questions this year.
4. Does anyone ever have New Year's Eve plans this year or are we all gonna be sat playing "Animal Crossing"?
3. Please dress up and celebrate yourself on New Year's Eve. This year was brutal and you survived. That alone deserves celebration.
2. New Year's Eve inside alone or with exactly one other person has always been the best way to duo that particular holiday and many of you are about to learn this glorious truth.
And the number one thing said about staying home for NYE is...
1. "Invitation: Zoom New Year's Eve Party" saddest six word sentence in the English language.
Farts
Poo ghosts
The 143rd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...
Matthew will be the guest on the Phile in a few weeks. Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jefferson, shall we? I wonder if the snow melted there.
Yep. All gone. What a beautiful evening there though.
Phact 1. It is now tried by researchers to make two gorillas who know sign language mate with each other, in order to test if they can teach this skill to their offspring.
Phact 2. All humans have the ability to see ultraviolet light, but it is passively filtered out by the eye’s lens. Patients who undergo surgery to remove the lens can detect ultraviolet light.
Phact 3. California has a larger population than all of Canada.
Phact 4. There are sea wolves that live on the coast of British Columbia. They comb the beach for barnacles, herring roe, and beached whales, and some will even eat salmon. Most of these wolves have never even seen a deer.
Phact 5. Don Lapre, the man that became famous with his 1990s infomercials about placing tiny classified ads in newspapers and getting rich, was charged in 2011 with 41 counts of conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering and committed suicide in custody.
Today's guest, and the last for 2020 is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. In 1995, she released "Jagged Little Pill," a more rock-oriented album which sold more than 33 million copies globally and is her most critically acclaimed work to date. This was made into a rock musical of the same name in 2017, which earned 15 Tony Award nominations including Best Musical. Her latest album "Such Pretty Forks in the Road" is available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify. Please welcome to the Phile... Alanis Morissette.
Me: Hey, Alanis, welcome to the Phile for the last entry of this fucked up year. How are you?
Alanis: Oh, man, answering that question I can either answer with magical laughter or any emojis I've been answering. It's a rollercoaster time, it depends when we all catch each other. But in this moment I feel really great to be talking to you.
Me: Cool. How have you been with all this pandemic stuff?
Alanis: Oh my gosh. I find a panacea or a little cell for me is when I serve. It sort of gets me out of the oh my gosh, what's happening with the world politically, spiritually, emotionally, socially, all these personality disorders are so normalized in culture now that all we know is this combative odd chapter that we're in. So, yeah, depends when you catch me. I'm postpartum activity, moody, empowered, lost, depressed, panic attacked happy lady. LOL.
Me: I'm sure. What do you mean by serve when you serve?
Alanis: Um, it could be any form of serving. Writing songs or making art is a form of moving energy. And if we share it publicly I believe all artists are social activist and then it could be anything. It could be volunteering, it could be donating, it could be supporting people in voting in America. There's a million ways, it could be kicking the right t-shirt that makes someones day. It could be micro or macro or anything in between.
Me: Cool. So, you have a new album, your first one in eight years. And "Jagged Little Pill" came out 25 years ago this year. When you look back at your life then and your life now what is one difference you can pinpoint?
Alanis: I think when the one dimensionilizing tendency was in full throttle for me in terms for calling me the angry white female. I mean accurate, one dimsensionilzing though and kind of reductive. I would say my anger has always been an energy that I love and I think anger gets such a bad rep because we often equate it with destructive anger acting guns and fighting and murder and war. But anger itself is such a powerful beautiful emotion that can move worlds, it can set boundaries, it can help us show up, it can help us vote, it can help us not tolerate certain circumstances anymore. So anger itself gets a bad rep but I love to so much. And the difference between then and now is that I know there was this desire maybe from patriarchy or otherwise to reduce what I was doing to one or two things and I think it's natural human tendency sometimes to want to define someone and move on. But the truth is we're complex creatures with multiple parts to us, different perspectives even within our one system here so I think now I'm just using anger whenever I need to fuel a boundary being said or serving. Showing up to some degree, if anyone is an activist so much what we're fueled by is anger at what i and wanting to shift it.
Me: So, is this year making you even more angry?
Alanis: Yes, any of them frankly and so much of that is the epicenter of how we operate with unschooling with our family and our kids and our small bubble we have. Any feeling is welcomed and my main job as a mom is to hold space for all these millions of feelings that pass through three very highly sensitive children. We just hold space for the understandable feelings that are going through their minds and the age appropriate amount of information we give them and trying to gauge what's just enough information to empower but not so much information that it floods them or overwhelms them. So we're constantly brainstorming how to present what's going on in the world.
Me: So, when you first got famous what went through your head, Alanis?
Alanis: Well, as a Canadian I've always enjoyed people watching so I was the woman sitting on benches and just watching people and that was the most entertainment I could even conjure. Then all of the sudden it turned to the point where I was the watched one. All the eyeballs turned towards me and while I am a ham and lover performing there's a whole level highly sensitive empathic slightly fragile part of me that almost has attention shame. So my foot is always on the pedal and the break at the same time like yes, but no, but yes, but no, look away, but come here. So very Gemini dualism.
Me: Your song "Pedestal" on the new album is about that, right? Being famous?
Alanis: "Pedestal" is about understanding exploitation and understanding as best as I could people's agendas or motivations around wanting to hang out with me or wanting to take advantage of certain things. It's a natural thing.
Me: What was the turning point for when when you suddenly got really famous?
Alanis: I think the turning point for me really happened after the video for "You Oughta Know" came out and it was blurry so I could still walk around in the streets and no one would think twice or look twice. But as soon as the video for "Hand in my Pocket" came out there was a little bit more of a clear image of my face and I remember walking down a New York street and all of a sudden all these people were following me. I had a version sort of a model version for lack of a better term in Canada so I understood the mechanism, I understood the wow, they're recognizing me this is sort of putting big pause button on a normal human interaction brown haired girl meeting brown haired woman. It's like all the normal interactions kind of went the way of all things and all of a sudden there were things to consider and to protect and to question and trust, lack of trust, discernment. I had to be like a very advanced discerning person to figure out what relationship was based on real connection. Who was coming in with the agenda that I spoke about? Even to this day there are times where I'm like oh, I missed that one. LOL. But I had to write "Pedestal" to explain like even though there are times where I might have white knuckled though circumstances I knew what was ultimately going on and whether I did something about it at the time or not really at 46-years-old now I look back where I think there were some people that were so sociopathic and so really, really, really great at presenting compassionately or faking empathy that I was snowed once in a while and I'm forgiving myself for that every day.
Me: So you're saying some people weren't as genuine or nice as they should be but faked it?
Alanis: Yeah, I was a little too infatuated or maybe I was distracted or maybe I saw what I wanted to see. Sometimes I could call it, I could say oh, yeah, I know this person is very sort of opportunistic around me and maybe I'll tolerate that for a minute. But the end of the day, I mean I could talk about fame with you for hours. The pros and the cons and for me the reason I said service earlier is because service is a way to make this fame to be a means to an end I think. Over the last two years fame became this end as opposed to the 60s and 70s people became famous as a means to sort of push their agenda for political awareness or social commentary then all of a sudden it just turned into fame was the goal. Really my experience of it it's slightly hollow and also has a lot of great boons to it. If I'm fighting on behalf of LGBTQ, if I'm fighting on behalf of BLM, if I'm fighting on behalf of anything and fighting might not be the right word, but being in the public eye is a really incredible way to serve I think. And I'm taking advantage of that.
Me: If you could go back in time and speak to the pre-famous Alanis what would you tell her?
Alanis: I would say your innate self is beautiful and I as best as possible let's surround you with people who could take care of that really tender heart.
Me: What have you learnt from all your experiences?
Alanis: Well, I relaxt love trauma recovery work. LOL. All the people who have either been mentors or colleagues or friends or teachers often all of the above, going to therapy and really being able to process philosophically what was going on is a lifesaver for me. I just bounced between micro and macro all day long. This conflict that I'm resolving or repairing with my husband, how does that speak to politics? How does this leak to how people are in our families and how does it affect schooling and education? So for me its just a big system in a web where everything is inextricably affecting each other so being a philosopher and an artist and a writer its just incredible to be able to carve out some moments so I can write songs about this and sing about it. And then allow interviews like this to continue the conversation.
Me: So, your song "Hands Clean" was about sexual abuse, Alanis. When that song first came out how did it go over?
Alanis: Well, depends who was listening. Record company people were very excited to turn this video like they had ideas like let's bring these young people in, we'll do karaoke, and I just turned to them and I said, "Have you heard the song? Do you know what the song is about?" So for me it was important for me to tell the story in the video and then the rest was joyful. However I thought it would kickstart a pretty robust conversation about recovery from sexual abuse... sexual abuse in general. But I think it just kinda slipped pass. This was pre MeToo, I was willing to talk about it, I would talk about it to the degree that it might support people or stop future horrifying moments.
Me: How can they not know what the song is about, right?
Alanis: It was a dialogue, the verses are this person speaking to me and then me speaking back and then just saying the silence. A big pet peeve of mine is when I hear people say why did this woman wait 30 years? I'm like first of all she didn't wait. She was saying things all along, no one was listening. A lot of times trauma gate stuck in the body on a very somatic level and we don't know. There are certain things that we can check out of or disassociate from and completely erase from our memory and it sits in our body until we're ready, until the circumstance makes sense for us to start speaking about something. And the context of patriarchy making space for the MeToo movement. I mean is just the beginning, its the beginning of the feminine being respected in everybody, every gender.
Me: Do you think it's different now because of the MeToo movement?
Alanis: Yes, just the consciousness raising in general. Snail's pace, evolution consciousness wise has always been such a snails pace and I guess quantum leaps are not sustainable. We haver this big turning point, change we think is going to concretize this new way of living and I've just come to notice that our evolution as a species it gets locked in at a slower pace. So it takes time for life to change for consciousness to raise and there's so many different varying versions of consciousness all around us and in us quite frankly. So all I can do is attempt to not fight what's going on. Fight as in passion and activism but not fight within like if there's fear or sadness or regret or guilt or shame, as best as I possibly can to turn my lens inward and have some kind of dialogue with that part so its not suffering. Because there's this chronic suffering happens when things are left undone. I think the post MeToo movement there's so much more talking about it and I wrote a song called "Sandbox Love " about what does sexuality look like if its healthy, what is a woman or a man or a non-gender identifying creature do after sexual abuse? Like there's not a ton of literature, there's not of support, there's still so much stigma, there's a lot of victim shaming, so for me its about letting people know that if a woman waits or a man waits for gun years, twenty years, thirty years, fifty ears to share the truth of their experience in their childhood or otherwise that's fast, the fact that they remember it at all is a great gift and the fact that they listened and honored, I mean we're still in patriarchy, its still pretty molasses in here but we're moving.
Me: Okay, let's talk about "You Oughta Know." Why do you think that song is still popular?
Alanis: For me it's the devastation and the rage is the combination. So many times we're taught, especially the core masculine patriarchal side is that anything we feel fitter through anger, right. Every other emotion is dangerous especially for me when I was younger, sadness, anger, fear. Also was one that was that welcomed. So that song was just me being afraid, sad, devastated, raging out of my zen seat. So basically when I perform it I just feel like it just gives people permission to be that permission to be devastated and to feel that entirely.
Me: So, there's now a show called Jagged Little Pill, Alanis. When you are in the audience and not singing it but you're watching it do you understand the power of it differently?
Alanis: Yes, because its the first time I have objectivity receiving the song.
Me: What do you notice?
Alanis: I feel like I'm in the audience being given permission to feel. It's also been taken into a story where there's different gender's and different perspectives, singing these lyrics and infusing them and imbuing them with a whole other meaning for young men, let's say or a husband. "Many Jane" is sung through a male voice. So during rehearsals and workshops I was sobbing and weeping, I just could not stop crying listening to these songs being performed and the musical director Tom Kitt would come up behind me and push my shoulders down because I'd be shaking. I think the objectively certainly but also just really feeling and hearing these songs for what felt like the first time, I wasn't me monologizing them, it was me receiving them, it's pretty amazing.
Me: What did the performers think of you crying? Hahaha.
Alanis: Diablo Cody and I, she wrote the book, anytime we see each other or talk with each other we're crying, we're holding each other and sobbing basically. I think I got a glimpse of objectivity and really for me its so scared, everything that's gone on Jagged Little Pill and before and after but it's not precious, because songwriting is like a quick snapshot. Then when I perform any of these songs on stage or now when I'm receiving them it's dialogue of energy of just we can feel, we can feel this one, we can feel this one, we can feel these three at the same time.
Me: What do you think of kids listening to the songs that weren't even born when he record came out?
Alanis: I have a hard time wrapping my head around a lot of it. But I do know as an empath when I write these songs they are for myself certainly then as soon as I share them publicly they are not mine anymore, they're theirs so use them, use them anytime they want, any time, day or night, in the car, middle of conflict, after repair, before conflict, whatever you want.
Me: Okay, I have to mention my favorite song of yours and that is "Ironic." Do people ever comment the grammar of it? Hahaha.
Alanis: Being in the public eye constant projections of light projections of really dark, so I hold a lot of people's perceptions and some of them feel really accurate and some of them are my blindspots, I'll figure it out later in therapy thank you very much. Those are super dark, super light, so I think the malapropism and "Ironic" was the perfect thing for so many people to just kick my ass with. They're like "I'm having a hard time kicking her ass, how can I do it? Oh, yeah, grammar problems." When I was writing that song with Glenn we literally couldn't care less about making sure that it was accurate, I think in a way that might be obvious. But when it came out, I didn't even want that song on the record at one point, I just thought I started much more autobiographically after but people liked it so I just said "what do I know?" Let's put it on. I'm so happy we did, and how Diablo Cody addressed it in the musical is so sweet and everyone's laughing because its the shadow laugh of oh, her big malaprop is a mistake where she's raked over the coals for 25 years. The real irony for me is I've always been the grammar police so for me to have my butt kicked was just very humbling and beautiful in that way. Then in other ways I'm like, okay, I know a lot of songs of many, many artists over the years that the poetic license was there for them but apparently wasn't there for "Ironic." LOL.
Me: So, people commented on it back then?
Alanis: There was a couple of websites erected to figure to how to kill me. There were a lot of things that were happening, I was like this is not humane, I'm gonna do my best not to take it personally. So I stopped reading comments. And right now because what wound up happening is throwing the baby out with the bath water, I wouldn't receive anybody's comments and what we do is around once a month I'll ask a couple of people who I work really closely with to send me messages from people that are just straight up communication and not derisive and not crawl, no buying.
Me: Why is that?
Alanis: Because I want to hear peoples stories and I want to hear what's going on, I don't want to be insulted and isolated.
Me: You were on Fallon and performed a song holding Onyx, your 4-year-old daughter, that must have been fun and crazy, right?
Alanis: Yeah, all this fame is just an energy. There are so many words that people use relevant, fame, fame is just what people know what I'm doing. My family is more important to me than anything so if I'm in the middle of shooting something "important" and they need to come in they're coming in. We've been on schooling since our first son ever was born so it's kind of a way of life for us is that everything is linked together. There are times where they will let me do an interview they won't bother me but sometimes if music is involved we have tons of instruments it's hard for them to stay out. I have so much fun with my children, I live for them.
Me: That's great. Thanks so much for being on the Phile, wrapping up this year. Take care, Alanis.
Alanis: Thank you, Jason, have a good year.
That about does it for this entry and this year on the Phile. Thanks to Alanis for a great interview. The Phile will be back on Friday, January 1st kicking off the 15th and last year of the Phile with the great
Burt Bacharach and Daniel Tashian. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. Kiss your brain.
I don't want you, cook my bread, I don't want you, make my bed, I don't want your money too, I just want to make love to you. - Willie Dixon
