Yodelay-hee-hooey?

Just when I thought Jewel was out of my life and I had moved on, here she is doing something appropriate to mention on my blog. Apparently she has a new kids' show on Nickelodeon premiering this fall called Punk Rock Angel Girl, in which she is the voice of the main character, a girl who uses her powers or righteous anger and yodeling to save the world from mindless media and popstar robots. (Nope, I'm serious.) Apparently she wrote the first episode and designed the main character herself. (I will forgive her, since she apparently was an art major so she has some legitimate background in art. And writing too, I suppose.)

In spite of everything I think the series would be interesting to watch, at least to see if she pulls it off. There are so many comics or animated shows based on or by musicians nowadays (Hi Hi Puffy Ami Yumi, Princess Ai, and Hammerman come to mind), and it really is a crap shoot to see if they can be fun without turning insufferable. (Hi Hi? Cute and fun, though their bus' design scares me. Princess Ai? Too Courtney Love-esque for me; when she mentions the heart-shaped box I wanted to gag—leave your husband's legacy alone! Hammerman? An almost acid-trippy childhood memory best left forgotten.)

I still haven't forgiven Jewel for turning all slutty-pop with 0304 (she claims her Intuition video was a satire, but I don't buy it; you don't use a satirical song to hawk Schick razors, sweetie, it destroys your message.) But I do like the message of her show; with all the mindless young celebrity girls running around, and the odious Bratz culture thrust at little girls, we need all the positive female influences we can get.

And to be honest, I'm surprised that other pop stars haven't picked up on this idea and run off with it. I could see a cartoon Gwen Stefani fighting with her band of Harajuku Girls ala Kamikaze Girls meets Spice Girls, or Danger Mouse becoming an actual cartoon mouse! Think of the power of extending your music brand to kids and preteens. =( Um, on second thought, maybe it's for the best that pop stars leave the littlest ones alone; they will be exposed to the horrors of the mass branding and marketing of pop culture soon enough.

Credits for the article go, of course, to the Candy.

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And I promise that once the craziness here dies down, I will get an AB up. I swear.