This is a very dry post. Here is a cool picture of Alizée to help get you through it. (Courtesy of Ruroshen from the Alizée America forums.)
It’s been almost a month since I last posted here, and I should probably explain why. While it’s partially due to real life just getting in the way—November and December are just about the busiest time of year in my line of work—it’s mainly because I wanted to test a theory I had.
The theory is that Operation: Disque Drop isn’t working…or at least, isn’t working as intended. And it’s pretty well been proven correct.
See, thanks to Google Analytics, I’ve been tracking the blog’s visitor stats for a little less than two months. In that time, I’ve done two major Op Drops—the one I split between York University and the Toronto Eaton Centre, and another along and around the route of the Toronto Santa Claus Parade, my single largest one-day drop to date—as well as a few minor ones here and there, mainly at other malls and holiday events around the city. And while the blog’s traffic is fairly steady, getting anywhere from five to twenty visitors a day, regardless of whether I post or not…the problem is that very precious few of them are actually from Toronto.
In fact, over the past month, of the 246 people who visited, only 12 came from Canada…and of those, not even half are from the Greater Toronto Area. And most of those are showing up during a lull between drops.
So where are the majority of the blog’s visitors coming from? The United States, oddly enough. Most of my views by far are coming from Texas, Florida, Minnesota and California, with a few visitors here and there from Illinois, New York and New Jersey. I also see a decent amount of traffic from Germany, Poland and France (but not from Corsica, sadly), and a bit from Belgium, Spain and Mexico. Even folks from Uganda and Tunisia have stumbled across Op Drop!
Now, while I’ve deliberately chosen to run Op Drops at locations around the city that could be considered tourist attractions, it’s a pretty good bet that not all of these people were vacationing in Toronto last month, found a disc and followed it here. Most of them appear to have either found it via Google, or followed a link from aw’s Alizée blog or the YouTube video I posted back in September. (Almost a full third of you, though, are coming to the site directly from your bookmarks, or typing the URL into the browser, which surprises me.)
All this suggests to me four things:
1) The people that are finding Op Drop disques aren’t visiting the blog. 2) The people that are visiting the blog aren’t doing it because they found a disque. 3) Dropping disques or not appears to have no impact on the number of visitors. 4) …but, oddly, whether I post or not doesn’t appear to have an impact, either.
This is a bit of a Scooby-Doo mystery to me, and to be honest, I’m not sure what to do with it. I am pretty sure that the focus of the blog is going to change somewhat, though…and, in fact, may stop being a blog altogether.
Mademoiselle Juliette is the second of fourteen clips that appear on the DVD of Alizée videos and performances I’ve been distributing through Operation: Disque Drop.
Although it comes second on the Op Drop disque, Mademoiselle Juliette actually marks a number of ‘firsts’ in Alizée’s career: it was the premiere single from Alizée’s third studio album Psychédélices, released just over a year ago, and the first her fans had heard of her since she almost completely disappeared from the public eye nearly four years earlier. It was also the first track she released on her new record label, RCA Records. But perhaps most significantly, Mademoiselle Juliette was the first single in Alizée’s career to be released without the guidance of her former mentors Mylene Farmer and Laurent Boutannat.
To paraphrase the blurb on Lili’s official website, all Lolitas have to grow up eventually.
Produced and composed by Alizée’s husband Jérémy Chatelain, with lyrics by Jean Fauque, Mademoiselle Juliette casts Alizée as Juliet Capulet in Shakespeare’s drama Romeo & Juliet, portraying her as a girl who’d much rather party and have a good time than concern herself with the ongoing feud between the Montague and Capulet houses of fair Verona. The video shows her being led away, unconcerned, from her fateful balcony rendezvous with Romeo by a mysterious masked woman in black, through a decadent masquerade in a medieval castle…one attended only by beautiful young women. As Lili and the ladies lounge, party and dance the night away, poor Romeo is left cooling his heels on the balcony all by his lonesome, waiting for Juliet to come back…seemingly forever.
Once again, we turn to the fine people of Alizée America for an English translation of the lyrics, as well as a discussion of their meaning.
Despite being quite the departure in style and substance from Alizée’s previous hits, Mademoiselle Juliette was a modest success in France and parts of Europe, debuting in thirteenth place on the French singles download chart, and at number 22 on the France Top 100 Singles chart. In Mexico, it reached 49th in the Mexico Top 100 singles chart, while the video captured the top spot on the MTVLA show Los 10+ Pedidos. It was also featured at number 138 in a countdown of the 150 most important videos of the channel’s first fifteen years.
The reason why Mademoiselle Juliette comes second on the Op Drop disque, despite being the first single off Psychédélices, is simple: though I do enjoy both the song and the video, and Alizée both sounds and looks terrific throughout, I genuinely don’t like it as much as Fifty-Sixty. The latter just has more bounce, an oomph to it that MJ is lacking. Despite being a song about a young girl who’d rather party than get caught up in pointless drama (as opposed to one about a model led to the heights of fame who then slides into obscurity), Juliette simply feels heavy and almost stern next to the outwardly playful and melodic Fifty-Sixty. Apparently, partying in the face of tragedy is serious bidness.
Forgive the armchair quarterbacking, but if it had been up to me, I would have reversed the release order of the two…which I guess I kind of have, at least as far introducing new fans to them via Op Drop is concerned. (Actually, all things being equal, if it had been up to me, I would have released Lilly Town ahead of both of them, as it’s easily the catchiest track on Psychédélices…but that’s neither here nor there.)
One interesting thing to note about Mademoiselle Juliette is the similarity the video bears to a pair of other clips that were released later this year: Don’t Speak French by Girls Aloud, and I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry. Don’t just take my word for it, either: check out the post “Trend Setting Alizée” on aw’s Alizée blog, and let him drop some science on you.
My kid brother surprised me by dropping by Casa Disque Drop last night while I was right in the middle of building up my stockpile in preparation for today’s Op Drop at an undisclosed location. Though he’s been hip to the whole Op Drop thing for awhile, having discovered a previous cache of disques a couple months ago whilst rooting around for something to eat, he’s always dismissed it as ‘that part-time job you pay to do, for that French chick who isn’t even aware you’re doing it’…which, to be honest, is a pretty fair assessment.
Surprisingly, though, as he watched me carry out the one-man assembly line of burning, labeling and assembling disques, he showed a genuine interest—almost fascination—with the amount of time and effort that goes into an Op Drop, even before I actually drop the first disque. I managed to corral him into helping—and, by extension, into watching En Concert, which was playing while we worked—and as he labeled one disque after another, it occurred to me that I haven’t really said much about the preparation phases of a successful drop, and often gloss over it in favor of talking about the event of the drop itself. As my kid brother learned last night, though, that’s really only a third of the story.
So here’s the first of three posts, taking us through today’s drop from start to finish. He seemed to find the behind-the-scenes stuff interesting, so maybe you will too. And even if you don’t…enh, at least I got a couple of days’ content out of it.
Phase I: Design
I haven’t fiddled with the design much since the Mark IV DVDs debuted, either in terms of content or the look of the disque and it’s packaging. In the earliest days of Op Drop, though, the disques were constantly evolving. It’s partly due to me never being truly satisfied—even the Mark IV’s, which are vastly superior to earlier iterations of the disque, could stand to be improved on—but mostly because it’s the part of the process I think I enjoy most. I like using my brain (and my rudimentary PhotoShop skills) to figure things out, overcome obstacles and learn new ways to do things in order to improve the end result. It’s easily the most time-consuming part—which is why I haven’t gotten around to designing a Mark V yet—and it usually involved a great deal of trial and error (along with a fair amount of creative use of naughty words), but the hours honestly fly by when I’m in design mode. If not for my poor grasp of mathematics and complete ignorance of physics, I think I probably would have been happiest being an engineer of some sort. Ah well…in another life, maybe.
Eager to get back to the drawing board, but lacking the necessary time and energy to commit to building a Mark V from the ground up, for this drop I decided instead to design a series of stickers I could slap up on public telephones, bus shelters and subway stations in my travels to and from the drop location. I had tons of raw materials on hand: the sticker sheet I use to print the round labels for the disc face and the back of the case also include cut-outs for two 1 ¾ ” x 4 ¾” stickers, and I’ve been stockpiling them for just such an occasion. I whipped up about ten different designs, but the two I settled on for the purposes of this drop were these:
Pretty spiffy, huh?
The URL type on the vertical sticker is a little small, granted, but as I was mainly sticking these next to windows on subways and busses (extremely close to the rider’s face) and on bus shelters (which allows for the reader to get reeeeeal close), I figured I could get away with it. Any larger, and I would have had to shrink the image to accommodate it…but it’s such a striking, iconic visual that I wanted to keep it as large as I could. After all, as aw will tell you, people looooooove that Tinkerbell tattoo…
Though it’s simpler in design, and not quite as iconic, I think the horizontal sticker might actually be more effective in its own way. The type’s bigger for one thing, and the image (while smaller) features Alizée at her most fetching, doing that thing she does—I think it drives home the point pretty clearly that she’s a singer, and a pretty fabulous-looking one at that. These were mainly used on public phones, paper towel dispensers in restrooms, and on signage at subway stations.
The stickers have proven to be the perfect size for my purpose. The only problem is that the adhesive on them isn’t really meant for what I’m doing—the stickers are relatively easy to peel off with a minimal amount of effort. Still, even if they only stay up for a day or two, they’ll have done their thing. It’ll be interesting to see how many remain when I swing back to check on them.
So yesterday’s post was kicked off with an allusion to the old Chinese proverb ‘May you live in interesting times’. More of an actual curse than a blessing, it’s essentially ancient wisdom’s equivalent to the more contemporary ‘Go to hell!’, with the clear implication being that ‘uninteresting times’ are bound to be far more peaceful and life-enriching.
Continuing in that vein, it’s certainly an interesting time to be an Alizée fan…and probably even more interesting to be Alizée, herself. I haven’t been around very long, myself, but from what I’ve seen of the dizzying highs and disparaging lows of the last year, it must make the four years of near-total radio silence that preceded it seem positively tranquil by comparison.
Hell, just the last month alone has been an emotional roller coaster, as we:
lurched from rumors of Alizée switching labels and being assigned new management by Sony BMG
launched ourselves into a dizzying spin of voting and promotion for her nomination at Los Premios MTV 2008
threw our arms in the air with abandon (and a little trepidation) as information began to surface about Alizée’s work on her forthcoming jazz album…wait, jazz album?
were plummeted back to earth as the story about the jazz album proved to be false, or at least incorrect, inasmuch as it referred to an altogether different—and quite male, thank you—Alizé, entirely
began to pick up steam again as more award nominations were announced, and the date for her highly-anticipated concert at Le Grand Rex on October 23rd—Alizée’s first concert in France in almost five years—grew ever closer
trembled a little as apparent glitches on Le Grand Rex's website gave way to rumors that the aforementioned concert was actually in danger of being canceled or postponed until the spring due to low ticket sales
soldiered on in the face of uncertainty, operating on the assumption that no official word on the subject could only be good news, and busied ourselves making plans, whether we were going or not
were dropped into free-fall as word began to trickle out little by little that tickets were no longer up for sale, and that the concert was actually being postponed due to a scheduling conflict with an appearance with an upcoming awards show in Mexico
left our stomachs behind as the news was confirmed, with retailers offering ticket refunds to those who wouldn’t be able to attend the rescheduled date of March 28…a mere three weeks before the initial scheduled date of October 23rd; and
finally hit the ground with a resounding thud, as the date for the upcoming show was changed—quietly, and without fanfare or explanation—on Alizée’s official MySpace page.
In short, Space Mountain ain’t got nothin’ on being an Alizée fan right now.
I’m not one of those directly affected by the decision to postpone—though I might have been, if a lengthy and unexpected bout of unemployment in July and August hadn’t precluded it, and might still be if the stars align for me between now and the end of March—so I don’t really feel like I have the right to sit in judgement of it, or the logic behind it, either way. Instead, I’ve watched quietly from the sidelines as word got around, and other fans began to react.
Some have reacted with disgust, anger and bitter disappointment, claiming that Lili and her minders have gone too far this time in their disregard for her fans—particularly those still on the hook for international flights and expensive accommodation arrangements—with a few going so far as claiming to have washed their hands of her for good. Others, though equally disappointed, have responded mainly with worry and concern, both for the well being of Alizée herself and that of her career, and are vowing to hang tough with her and remain true fans through the hard times. And at least one fan, whose opinion I’ve come to respect, has effectively shrugged and written the whole thing off as ‘Alizée being Alizée’…
Two points everyone seems to agree on, though: first, that an awards ceremony seems like a pretty flimsy excuse to hang the postponement on, leading to speculation of another, possibly more sinister reason behind it; and second, that they’d really, really like to hear something by way of an explanation from Lili herself.
Perfectly valid and understandable reactions, all. Can’t come down against any of them, really, especially when I kind of tend to agree with all of them at the same time…but then, I said I wasn’t going to pass judgement.
Two things about today really did bum me out, though, more than anything else...
The first was reading a heartfelt post from Jenny (aka HR087) on Alizée’s MySpace expressing her heartbreak and confusion over the decision, yet reaffirming her undying support for Lili no matter what…and then coming back a few hours later for an update, and seeing that poor Jenny’s post had been deleted, along with several similar posts from other fans expressing their frustration. Now, I don’t know Jenny personally, but from the posts she’s made on MySpace and Alizée-Forum, it’s clear to me that she’s a) the sweetest, most enthusiastic Alizée fan that German engineering has to offer, and b) has been eagerly anticipating the concert for the past several months. (Her MySpace avatar is a picture of her gleefully displaying her tickets, for crimminy’s sake!) Seeing her post deleted like it never happened, in what I can only assume was an attempt at damage control…ugh. Just ugh. So very disdainful of her feelings—and the feelings of the other fans whose posts were expunged, of course, but hers in particular—that it breaks the heart.
And then there was this post on the Alizée America forums from Snatcher42, he of Operation: LTNY whom first inspired me to begin this mad crusade of mine, in emulation and support of his own:
Regardless it's a terrible excuse, none are right on the 23rd. I'm sure low ticket sales are the real reason. Can't say how sick it makes me feel. I'm speechless, and really don't feel like spending more energy on her. I'll always be around, but with news like this...
It's just not worth going out of one's way to promote or do Alizée things anymore when we get so little in return. I won't point fingers, it doesn't matter who's at fault, that's just how it is. I'm out $1500 on this trip, but worse still is the wasted time and effort.
Man…when words like this come from the keyboard of a fan as dedicated as Snatcher, it heralds interesting times, indeed. Let's hope that Alizée proves to be up to weathering them.
(OK, that went on a lot longer than I intended…but I guess I had a lot more to say on the subject than I thought. If you feel similarly moved to say a little bit yourself—especially if you’re one of those who’s been shut out from expressing yourself via Alizée’s MySpace—please feel free to comment below. All viewpoints are welcome here—angry, supportive, neutral, whatever—so please don’t hold back. Just try not to belittle somebody else’s, alright? Let's keep it friendly.)
A quick hit 'n' run post as I make my final rounds on the interwebs before turning in for the night:
• Simultaneously the funniest and (literally) sweetest Alizée birthday tribute I've seen all day, RadioactiveMan over at Alizée America has continued what appears to be an annual tradition of baking Lili a birthday cake. Though he claims this year's cake isn't as impressive as last year's, I think it turned out pretty damned impressive. Check it out for yourself here.
• Speaking of AAm, Ciara and the Alizée America Podcast have returned after a short hiatus. This episode has a special focus on the promotion of Lili in North America, with both Snatcher42 (aka Ben from Operation LTNY) and Ciara touching on it in seperate segments. Op Drop isn't mentioned specifically by name--given the lead time of the podcast (and the extreme lead time of this episode in particular), it's likely we weren't up and running until it was already in post-production--but the lovely Miss C says she'll likely be coming back to the topic on a regular basis... so in a future episode maybe? Let's hope!
• Finally, today's post on the Alizée blog from aw is a funny and interesting look at the effect Lili has on her fans, and the crazy lengths we'll go to for her (like, say, baking cakes for her, producing podcasts about her, and promoting her out-of-pocket on a continent half a world away). And I don't just mention this because he's very kindly pimping for Op Drop not just in his post, but all over his site. Well OK, not just because if it...really. (Thanks, aw! I appreciate it!)
And we're out! Only one more sleep 'til Nerd Prom! (Ugh, still so much to do...)
Well, I think we discovered why yesterday’s special guest imaginary bold headline reader didn’t show: he was too busy elsewhere leaving an extra-special early birthday present for Alizée. So much for wondering if he’s a closeted Lili fan…
Anyway, in case you’re just joining us, here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve covered so far on Op Drop:
Despite how shoddily home-made the Mark I disques looked, it still took me the better part of an afternoon to burn all ten and get their packaging ready for dropping. Yeah, yeah, I know…they certainly didn’t look like much work went into them, but that personalized message was handwritten on the back of every single one! Believe it or not, I actually felt a flush of pride as I put the finishing touches on the last one…along with a flush of excitement. Like I said yesterday, I felt like Tony Stark completing his first crude suit of armor…and now that it was done, it was time to use it for that which it was built.
For him, that meant taking it out for a spin to put down the terrorist scum who’d kidnapped him and stolen his weapons. For me, it meant dropping me some disques, and converting me some Lili-heathens.
I stared at the pile of completed disques before me, wondering where and how I was going to do the deed, when suddenly the phone rang: a good friend, inviting me to dinner and drinks…at one of the many pubs near her apartment…right on the busiest subway line in the city…on a Friday night. And just like that, the die was cast. Operation: Disque Drop had its first mission.
Objective: To inconspicuously drop ten (10) disques in full public view along the [street name redacted to guarantee security of operative] subway line, to be discovered by unsuspecting Lili-heathens.
Assets: Aforementioned disques; nondescript laptop bag to aid in the carrying and distribution of said disques; fully-charged Sony PSP loaded with DVD rip of Alizée En Concert and the full complement of Alizée’s studio albums and remixes; transit pass.
Obstacles: Suspicious transit security agents; overachieving transit sanitation workers; drunken, rowdy, overly-curious (and, in one memorable case, motion-sick) teenagers and/or college students; “helpful” senior citizens who insist on letting you know that you “dropped something”, then chasing after you with it when you try to ignore them; lack of co-ordination caused by likely intoxication for return trip home.
Notes: Drunken teenagers/college students potentially useful as diversion against transit security/senior citizens. Inadvertently dropping disques in path of overzealous transit sanitation workers may result in irrecoverableloss of assets. Interchange between [redacted] line and [redacted] line is most highly-trafficked stop, and thus best target of opportunity. Wear comfortable shoes you don’t mind getting puke on. Several people will look at you funny.
Suggested Playlist: JBG, Mon Maquis, C’est Trop Tard, Gourmandises (live versions); J’en Ai Marre (Soft Skin Club Mix); J’ai Pas Vignt Ans! (Benny Benassi remix); A Contre-Courant (Steve Helpstrip Club Mix); Fifty Sixty (Lefty Remix); Mademoiselle Juliette, Lilly Town, Decollage (studio album versions).
Missed it by that much...!
I didn’t manage to successfully drop all ten disques that first night. As you can probably guess from the above, nervous and inexperienced in the realm of disque dropping, I suffered a few setbacks in my first fumbling attempts. I only managed one successful drop en route to the pub—a disque that I surreptitiously slid between my butt and my seat on the subway (the better to avoid the gazes of drunk kids and curious seniors) and sat on until the last possible moment, before jumping up and leaving it behind as I burst through the closing subway doors at my stop, almost getting caught between them in the process.
Alizée Batman, I was not. Not even close. Even Adam West would have been stealthier than I.
The way back in the early hours of the next morning was easier. Surrounded more by obliviously drunk kids than curious seniors (and bolstered with liquid courage, myself), I managed to double my career total of dropped disques on the return trip. That’s right: two whole successful drops—one on the train again (a little more casually, this time), and another on a bench at the crowded interchange platform. It would have been three, if it hadn’t been for that overzealous sanitation worker who picked up the last disque I dropped at my destination. (Although, who knows? Maybe he kept it, and he’s an Alizée fan now…)
Three successful drops, with the only casualties being one disque MIA, my poor ruined shoes, and my dignity. (See above, re: almost caught in subway doors.) I hadn’t achieved even fifty percent of my target for the night, but it didn’t matter; in the rush of inebriated pride I felt as I walked home from the station, I was more than happy to call the night a success.
My campaign had begin. A little shakily, true…but even Iron Man’s first foray into the fight against terrorism hadn’t gone entirely according to plan. Even if those first drops didn’t amount to anything—and to date, they still haven’t—at least I took action, and started building momentum. Every journey begins with a single step, even if it’s in vomit-covered shoes.
Over the next week and a half, with six disques left and my intial self-consciousness gradually becoming a thing of the past, I embarked on two more operations. The first saw me surreptitiously drop four disques downtown in the most highly-trafficked mall in the city’s core. (Once again, a “helpful” senior tried to chase after me with one, but when I told her with a wink that I’d meantto leave it behind, she smiled and seemed to understand.) And my third operation was an even greater success, as I managed to drop two disques right in plain sight, on either end of a major tourist attraction, completely unbeknownst to my unsuspecting civilian companions…and actually got to witness one of them being picked up, by a guy who seemed genuinely interested! (Never heard from him either way, but that’s neither here nor there…)
The Mark I’s had all been distributed (more or less). My mission was well underway. Feeling pretty good about myself, I headed back home and logged on to the forums at Alizée America (where those first disques had directed their recipients to learn more about Lili), certain in the knowledge that at least one of the ten had succeeded in winning over a brand-new Alizée convert.
Uh-huh. Didn't happen. Instead, I was treated to an image which took the wind right out of my sails, and almost literally made my heart sink to the soles of my feet.
(Wow, now how's that for a cliffhanger ending, huh kids? See you tomorrow...same Lili time, same Lili channel!)
Previously, on Desperate Housewi—uh, Operation: Disque Drop…
Welcome back to Op Drop. Today’s imaginary reader of bold headlines is Marcia Cross, better known as Bree Van de Kamp from Desperate Housewives. Although I’m not a big fan of the show, Alizéeis (at least according to aw’s informative and hilarious Alizée blog), and Bree is apparently her favorite character…so, voila.Personally, I preferred Marcia’s turn as Dr. Kimberly Shaw, the mentally unbalanced redheaded hottie on Melrose Place. Mmm…mentally unbalanced redheaded hottie…
Anyway, to business: the whole recap thing at the beginning of each post is getting kind of long and tedious, so we’re just gonna reduce it to bullet points this time around…
Geez, Marcia…do you have to sound so hostile when you ask that? Why are you glaring at me? What? No, I did not sleep with Micheal…!
So I sorta answered this question last time, in very broad terms—a variety of mp3’s from all four of Alizée’s albums, 5 avi’s of music videos and television performances, and a few desktop wallpapers, to make up kind of an ‘Alizée Fan Starter Kit’. But then I got distracted by the discussion of intellectual property law and the possibility of getting my pants sued off, and forgot to mention which songs and videos I actually used.
So, here they are:
The songs:
LILLY TOWN(Psychédélices)
MOI...LOLITA(Gourmandises)
GOURMANDISES (Alizée En Concert)
J.B.G. (Alizée En Concert)
J'EN AI MARRE! (Mes Courants Electriques)
I'M NOT TWENTY! (Mes Courants Electriques)
A CONTRE-COURANT (Mes Courants Electriques)
L'ALIZE (Alizée En Concert)
MADEMOISELLE JULIETTE (Psychédélices)
FIFTY SIXTY (Psychédélices)
MON TAXI DRIVER (Psychédélices)
DECOLLAGE (Psychédélices)
HUNG UP (Generation Disco)
LA ISLA BONITA (Psychédélices, Mexican Tour Edition)
J’EN AI MARRE! (TV Performance, and tactical nuke of Lili fandom)
The track selection is deliberately weighted more towards the latest album than the older ones, in an effort to make it more reflective of the artist Alizée is today. Although her debut single Moi…Lolita is unquestionably the biggest hit of her career, using Lilly Town as the introductory track was a no-brainer. Not only does it literally start out with a welcome to the listener, it’s easily the catchiest cut off Psychédelices and packed with awesome references that North American fans are likely to grok, even if they don’t understand the language. (“Wait…did she just take a shot at Paris Hilton?!”)
Most of the favorites from the album Gourmandises are represented by live tracks from En Concert instead, mainly just because I prefer how the concert versions sound compared to the studio versions. Though I’ve read more than a few complaints about the quality of her voice in En Concert, I tend to think that Lili actually sounds pretty frakkin’ awesome live. I’ll take enthusiasm and energy over pitch-perfect studio sterility any day of the week.
It’s also probably going to be controversial that I elected to include ‘I’m Not Twenty!’ instead of the superior French version ‘J’ai Pas Vingt Ans!’ My rationale is simply that I really wanted to get a third English song in there, and ‘I’m Not Twenty!’ is less of a bastardization than ‘I’m Fed Up!’, and more fun than ‘Youpidoo’ or ‘Amelie’. I tried to make up for it by throwing the French version of the JPVA music video.
Video selection was far easier: Fifty Sixty and Melle Juliette are her most recent, so they were no brainers; Alizée is at her most radiant in the video for JPVA (and you just can’t beat those shots of her going to town on the drums); La Isla Bonita is easily the hottest English-language performance she’s ever given; and, as I’ve stated often, this performance of JEAM has served Lili fandom well as our weapon of mass devotion. (Over nine million YouTube views can’t be wrong.)
Agree? Disagree? Think I’m completely off my nut? Let me know in the comments below. One of the great things about this project is its ability to grow and evolve over time, so if you think there’s a great track or awesome performance I’ve neglected (or I’ve included one on here that you absolutely can’t stand), go ahead and make your case, and we’ll see what happens!
More to come on the evolution of the disc next time, I think, as Marcia has just donned a short blonde wig and headed out to the garage, muttering something about ‘setting that bitch Jane up to take the fall’. I should probably see about putting a stop to that…
See you on Monday, Op Drop fans…same Lili-time, same Lili channel!
Well, huh. With little-to-no effort at all on my part--I haven't even pimped Op Drop at Alizée America or Lilly Town USA yet--it appears that word is already starting to spread about Operation: Disque Drop.
First, Op Drop showed up in this morning's Google Alert that I have set up for news and blog posts pertaining to Alizée, which was pretty cool to see. Google Alerts are actually a pretty handy way of keeping track of news stories, sports teams, celebrities, etc. You can set one up for pretty much anything you're interested in here.
Meanwhile, aw kindly gives a shout-out to Op Drop today on his awesome (and often very funny) Alizée blog, after following a link I dropped in a comment there yesterday, and being momentarily confused by the similarity of our page layouts. (Blogger only gives you so many templates to work with, folks, and this is honestly the best one.)
Finally, over on the forum for the previously-mentioned Alizée America, Ruroshen pimped Op Drop in this thread, in which the community is discussing various ways to promote Alizée in the United States. (It's also where I first learned about Operation: LTNY a few weeks ago...yes Snatcher, as Ruroshen says, I am indeed a fan.) Ruroshen also has a hilariously geek-tastic sig going on that I have to share:
Thanks for the mentions, guys! I appreciate it!
Speaking of Operation: LTNY, their first official meet and greet is tomorrow afternoon in front of the Times Square Virgin Megastore, where they're going to be handing out sampler CDs, business cards, fliers, and generally bringing some Lili love to the mean streets of New York. If you're a fan in the New York area and want to get involved, you can find more information here. Best of luck to Ben and everybody else from LTNY in converting the Lili heathens!
More tomorrow...same Lili time, same Lili channel!
The ongoing first-person account of a one-man (so far) grassroots fan effort to spread awareness of Alizée to North America.
How Op Drop Works
STEP 1: Burn a CD of Alizée's music, videos and images. Somewhere on the disc, write 'OPERATION: DISQUE DROP HTTP://DISQUEDROP.BLOGSPOT.COM' STEP 2: Drop off your disc in a random public place. STEP 3: Let us know that you dropped a disc, either in the blog comments or in the Shoutbox below. Tell us where you dropped it and what you put on it. Check back later to find out who picked it up and where it's heading next!
I found a disc! What do I do?
Welcome! We hope you enjoy your first exposure to the wonder that is Alizée! Explore your disc and open your mind to some new music. We think you might have just found your new favorite artist! Then, in either the Shoutbox below or in the comment section of the blog, let us know where you found it, what you thought of it, and what you're going to do with it next.
Might we suggest you make a disc yourself, and do a little Operation: Disque Drop of your own?
This is a very dry post. Here is a cool picture of Alizée to help get you
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