Catching up during my convalescence means reading a backlog of news, watching some TV I never get around to, taking on the ever-expanding wish list of book reads, and a lot more.

Just last night I noticed that a Peabody Award has recently been issued to Portlandia. In case you don’t know, Portlandia is a spot-on comedy sketch series, now in (or maybe concluding) its second season, spoofing some aspects of modern culture and that of Portland, Oregon in particular (with a notable guest list, too, including Tim Robbins, Kristen Wiig, Sam Adams [Portland mayor], Eddy Vedder, Jeff Goldblum, et. al). One of its co-creators and actors (along with Saturday Night Live’s Fred Armisen) is the wonderful multi-talented Carrie Brownstein. Which leads me to the music tie-in.

Brownstein was a key member (guitar and vocals) of Sleater-Kinney, IMHO, one of the best neo-punk “girl bands” that arose from the riot grrrl indie rock movement during the 90s and later in the Pacific Northwest. I personally preferred the group – despite dismissals by Courtney Love -- to the leading Pac NW bands of the era, such as Pearl Jam (whom Sleater-Kinney often opened for) and Nirvana.

You can see a few typical Brownstein/Sleater-Kinney performances in YouTube vids such as these:

[video=youtube_share;TAmIm3XFPuY]

[video=youtube_share;MbxRu7fwR24]

[video=youtube_share;vZA_7FtttRY]

Brownstein now is in a new band, Wild Flag (which includes former S-K killer drummer, Janet Weiss), whose music I have yet to hear outside MOG. But it’s on my list.

My wife, a Fresh Air fan, also reminds me that Brownstein has been interviewed by Terri Gross on that NPR program.

Carrie also wrote a great NPR blog for awhile:

http://www.npr.org/blogs/monitormix/2010/10/06/130375983/a-final-word

In the meantime, I highly recommend Portlandia. Get episodes from the dreaded iTunes store or visit IFC.com for clips.