Ladies of the Hour--Chapter One: Karen O

Before we get started...

I fought with the notion of starting this blog (or blog category) for some time now. After all, the notion of blogging about my often fleeting crushes on women there is little to no chance of me ending up with (the main reason being my marital status) struck me as being a tad on the juvenile side. But then I've never had a problem with being juvenile. But I do have a problem with being creepy.

If you've ever seen the 1987 kind of classic Throw Momma From the Train you might remember a character named Mr. Pinsky. Billy Crystal's character taught a creative writing class and one of his students (Mr. Pinsky) wrote a book called "100 Girls I'd Like to Pork." Even at the tender age of 12, but probably closer to 13 I was laughing my ass off at this scene in the movie, but I also recognized the skeeviness of it all. Or at least I'd like to think I recognized the skeeviness of it all. Mr. Pinsky described "100 Girls I'd Like to Pork" as a coffee table book with a dust jacket. Mine's a blog.

Chapter One: Karen O

I've seen Karen O around and didn't think a hell of a lot of her. Not that she's ugly but she's in a band that I always presumed was kind of a crappy punk band. She's the singer for Yeah Yeah Yeahs and let's face it, the name doesn't stick the word awesome in my mind.

Then I heard the bands new album It's Blitz. Aside from their song "Maps" (which didn't stick with me at the time) that I played randomly on Rock Band, I hadn't heard much or from them. Then at the record store I work at part-time I heard the new album. After maybe half a dozen listens, the new single "Zero" started getting stuck in my head. Catchy as hell and reminiscent of Siouxie and the Banshees it eventually captivated me. Then I saw them on SNL last weekend.

It was my first time seeing Karen O in action. Admittedly the outfit didn't do a hell of a lot for me. She reminded me of what would happen if PJ Harvey got in a fight with Gwen Stefani, killed Stefani but walked away mortally wounded. Or in some circles worse--mortally dressed. I don't know if it was the Dorothy Hamill haircut or her cute little apple head in general, but Karen O had me hooked. Then for their second performance on the show, Karen busts out into some tai-chi during the bridge. And the smiles and motions she was making cracked me up in the most endearing way possible.

Then there's the new video for "Zero." In it Karen fakes us out into thinking her and the band are about to go onstage. But no! Turns out in all her vinyl clothing she's going to strut around on the streets, dance on the roofs of some cars and periodically play out with the rest of her band in alleys and what I'm pretty sure is a corner store at the end. She's foxy and she's got some moves.

Overall, Karen O is the kind of girl I would've gone for in my early to mid-20s. She's goofy, cute and has a hell of a voice. I can get past the bad wardrobe. I don't care how much you love the 80s, bad is bad. I can also get past the fact that her eye shadow matches her tights sometimes. But I just get this vibe off her that makes me think she'd be incredibly high maintenance or weird. Not malicious weird, but just enough to throw your life slightly out of whack if you dated her. Or maybe she'd just keep her childhood Smurf collection in her freezer then tell you they live in there. To me, Karen O is like New York City--you can be around if for a short amount of time but you couldn't keep up for extended amounts of time.