In the beginning...

You want to know the one great thing about unemployment? You have all kinds of time on your hands, without necessarily having a lot to do with it. So when a whim strikes you, a crazy notion if you will, there really isn't a whole lot impeding you from following it. You've got the whole day free anyway, so why not?

And that's why I've spent a good portion of the last month working to promote Alizée here in my home city in North America.

Who is Alizée?

Actually, if you're reading this, it's probably a good bet that you already know who Alizée is, either because you followed a link on either Alizée America or Lillytown USA after I pimped my blog there, it showed up in your Google alert, or you found it via the readme file you found on a CD that you randomly picked up in a public place. (More on this last bit to come.)

In the interest of making sure everybody's up to speed, though, allow me to crib this short blurb from the front page of Alizée America, and share my favorite image of her of the moment:

Alizée is a French singer from Ajaccio, Corsica. She debuted in 2000 with the album Gourmandises. It went on to become a hit throughout Europe and the rest of the world. It was followed up with a studio album in 2003, Mes Courants Électriques, and a live album — Alizée En Concert — in 2004. Alizée has sold more than five million albums. She has taken part in various stage shows and live performances throughout Europe, Mexico, and Russia. She has also starred in a Japanese television commercial.

After a four year hiatus, a time spent out of the media limelight, Alizée returned in December 2007 with a new album, Psychédélices. The album, which features 11 tracks, was released on December 3, 2007 under the RCA Records label. The album includes collaborations with Bertrand Burgalat, Daniel Darc, Oxmo Puccino, Jérémy Châtelain, Michel-Yves Kochmann, and Jean Fauque.

Thank you, Alizée America. That saved me a lot of typing. Allow me to add one final piece of the puzzle that may snap things into focus for some of the uninitiated folks out there who are still scratching their heads:



Ah, now I see some looks of recognition out there (among other things)! Yes, it's true: Alizée is that girl. The girl from the video above that has nine million views on YouTube. The girl they based the female Night Elf dance on from World of Warcraft. Or at least, she was--this is from a few years ago, before the four-year break mentioned above. Alizée has matured quite a bit as an artist since then, has changed record labels and broken away from the people who put her in this outfit, which I personally happen to think is for the best....buuuuuuut, as far as converting Lili-heathens goes, this performance does happen to serve as somewhat of the equivalent of a tactical nuke, so c'est la. Bet you're interested now, huh?

Anyway, if you'd like to learn more about Alizée, there's a whole list of links above on the left of the page that you can check out. Or you could just watch that YouTube video a couple more times. That's fine--either way, I'll be here when you get back.

Who am I?

You wouldn't think that's a difficult question to answer, but...heh, funny story...

OK, for reasons that will become evident in the next post, when I finally get around to explaining to you what we're doing here, I can't really tell you who I am, since it could technically get me into a bit of hot water. While I'm conducting Operation: Disque Drop with nothing but the best of intentions for Alizée and the people behind her, overzealous intellectual property lawyers scare the bejeezus out of me. So in the interest of not getting my pants sued off, please just call me 'Disque', and leave it at that.

Who I am in general terms, then: I'm a twenty-plus white male living in a major metropolitan city on the east coast of North America. No, not that one. Not that one either. Or that one. OK, maybe that last one. I've been an Alizée fan for almost a year now, having discovered her through--yeah, you guessed it--the WoW dance videos on YouTube. Lucky for me, this was roughly about the same time that promotion started for her latest album, and the fan community was positively exploding with excitement over her return. I really couldn't have picked a better time to be exposed to her.

Although I was initially taken in by Alizée's looks--I've always had a thing for tiny brunettes with shoulder-length hair, huge dark eyes, and smiles that could light up a small city--I was quickly won over by her voice, her music, and her humble 'down to earth' persona. Unlike some divas and pop-tarts from this side of the Atlantic that I could think of, Alizée has kept her head on straight, has maintained her family and her privacy as her top priorities, and is actively working to break with her 'Lolita' image to forge a new path as a mature artist in her own right, on her own terms. And, on top of all that, she appears to be a very sweet and genuine person, besides.

So yeah, I kind of dig her. I think more people would if they knew about her. What's more, I think she's exactly the breath of fresh air we need here in North America--somebody who can show the celebutantes and reality show stars of our sorry culture what real class, poise, and talent are all about. And that's why I started Operation: Disque Drop...

OK, so what's Operation: Disque Drop, then?

And here is where I leave you, the reader, wanting more...because that's kind of a long story, and this post has gotten too long already. Tune in tomorrow for the exciting conclusion, same Lili time, same Lili channel...