I am a total asshole...

... for a lot of reasons-- you can ask anyone who knows me-- but the latest of these is the fact that February 20 was the birthday of Poison Ivy Rorschach, and I let it go by without putting one goddamn thing about it on this goddamn shitty fucking blog. The fact that I was off-planet on that date is really neither here nor there. So, I am declaring March to be my PENANCE MONTH. I shall put forth a pitiful and inadequate effort to make some kind of amends.

Poison Ivy Rorschach was born on February 20, 1953 in Sacramento, California, USA

I hope she has come to terms with whatever she needs to come to terms with, and that this birthday was happier than the one before it, which must have been rough.

“Lux and I have always been reckless and sought out thrills, taken risks, probably blown our minds in certain pursuits. It's only from living this way that we come up with this stuff.”

Slacker Chic of the Week: Poison Ivy Rorschach

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Written by slackerchic on Jan-19-10 10:25am
http://www.zimbio.com/Lux+Interior/articles/G97DkX2zfeG/Slacker+Chic+Week+Poison+Ivy+Rorschach


Once upon a time, in a magical, far-away land called Sacramento, there lived an awesome chick by the name of Kristy Marlana Wallace. At the ripe age of 19, Kristy met a strapping young gentleman by the name of Erik Lee Purkhiser, who would later become her husband. Deciding that "Kristy" and "Erik" weren't quite edgy enough, the duo decided to change their names to-what else?-Poison Ivy and Lux Interior and form a punk band that would later come to change the face, style and sound of rock and roll. After dubbing themselves "The Cramps", Ivy and Lux packed up their stuff, got the hell out of dodge, and after a few travels, ultimately ended up in NYC.
The rest, as they say, is history. Although they went through several band members throughout their 33 years in the music biz, Ivy and Lux remained true to The Cramps and true to each other until Lux's shocking death from an aortic dissection in early 2009. After his passing the group naturally disbanded, leaving Poison Ivy without a lover and without a band. However, as sad as the last part of that story may be, Ivy remains an inspiration for many reasons to the past, present, and future punk rockers of the world. Her unique sense of fashion, combined with her ability to wail on the guitar is the stuff that legends are made of. Quite frankly, there will probably never be another chick quite so cool. She did what she want, how she wanted, without worrying about appealing to a mass audience. In short, she always has been and always will be one of a kind. And while most might not see things this way, I find her love affair with Lux to be among the most romantic of all time. Forget Tristan and Isolde. Screw Romeo and Juliette. Give me a guy who loves his girl the way she is any day of the week. A dude that encourages his lady to go balls to the wall. Someone who isn't afraid to let his woman shine. Likewise, Ivy had the common sense and self esteem to recognize that she was a beautiful and unique snowflake, who deserved a man who appreciated all the amazing contributions she brought to the table. So here's to Poison Ivy, one of my biggest influences.


Kristy Wallace (born Kristy Marlana Wallace February 20, 1953, San Bernardino, California) better known as Poison Ivy (or Poison Ivy Rorschach), is a founding member of the American garage punk band The Cramps. Wallace was married to Cramps' singer Lux Interior (Erick Purkhiser), with whom she had been for 37 years, until his death on February 4, 2009. - Wikipedia

Name of the Day: Ivy

DECEMBER 25, 2008
http://appellationmountain.net/2008/12/25/name-of-the-day-ivy/

Merry Christmas! Today’s pick is one of those names that’s perfect for a December baby, but just as charming if your darling daughter arrives in June.

Our winner of the Name of the Day poll is Ivy.

It’s not “Rudolph” or “Silent Night.” ”The Holly and the Ivy” is the kind of carol that will send everyone scrambling for a song sheet. Holly and ivy have been used to decorate churches for centuries and just like many a Christmas tradition, their use in winter celebrations predates Christianity.

Ivy is an evergreen, also known as hedera, found throughout Europe as well as Africa, Asia and Japan. They creep and climb, covering the walls of old buildings. Besides the winter theme, Ivy conjures up two other images: a certain air of privilege and accomplishment; and, of course, poison.

Privilege first. Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton and Yale are referred to as the Ivy League – an octet of highly selective American universities. Some claim the ivy is a reference to the vines climbing up their august academic buildings, but officially, it’s a sports league. In fact, the first reference comes from sportswriter Stanley Woodward in 1933.

As for poison ivy, it’s actually an unrelated plant – toxicodendron radicans. But that’s a botanical nicety that’s up against pop culture’s use of the name:

• Poison Ivy is Batman’s eco-terrorist enemy. She’s been around since 1966 and has appeared on the television series as well as the big screen, where Uma Thurman played the role;
• Punk rock innovators The Cramps is fronted by husband and wife duo Lux Interior and Kristy Wallace – better known as Poison Ivy Rorschach;
• Drew Barrymore played infamous bad girl Ivy in 1992’s Poison Ivy. Ivy destroys the life of her so-called BFF Sylvie. It’s a cult classic boasting plenty of sequels, each with a flower-powered bad girl – Lily, Violet and Daisy. They could keep going until they get to Philodendron.

There’s also the Operation Ivy nuclear tests from the 1950s, and the punk band who took the name. On a different note, The Ivy is a landmark restaurant in both London and Los Angeles.

With all this backstory, it’s easy to forget that Ivy has also been in steady use as a personal name since the Victorian era, when botanical names were all the rage.

It’s sometimes a surname, and occasionally a masculine name, too. Ivy Ledbetter Lee was John D. Rockefeller’s publicist. He’s known for his encouraging the magnate to lend his family name to Rockefeller Center. We’ve also known a Frederick IV. With Fredericks Senior, Junior and III having used up the obvious nicknames, the boy was dubbed IV – Ivy.

Back in 1881, Ivy peaked at #264 in the US. She’s on the rise again, and might present an alternative to parents in love with white hot Ava. Ivy came in at #301 last year, and we bet she’ll rank higher yet in 2008.

While Rose and Lily are simply sweet, Ivy has an edge. If you can overlook the bad girl vibe [WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU WANT TO???-- CHUCK], Ivy could be a great choice – old-fashioned and fashion-forward at once.