The Journal Sentinel is just a fountain of information today, with an article on electors. (My god, some ex-Real Worlder could be a Republican elector?)
While it is important that we all vote, it is also important to remember just how the US electoral system works.
In other words, for all our bluster about bringing democracy to the world, our own form of it is rather...um...archaic given the demographic changes since 1787.
My favourite part of the article is this passage (emphasis my own):
"Reformers say it's time to do away with an outdated system set up by the Founding Fathers to protect elections from a mass of uneducated voters. John Koza, one of the inventors of the scratch-off lottery ticket, is one of them."
It took more than one person to come up with the scratch-off lottery ticket?
Today's Journal Sentinel features an article on a couple who apparently still AT THIS POINT undecided.
Several things:
If you're "informed" then you really ought to have made up your mind now. (Perky wife pretty much admits that her obsession over abortion is the only reason she stays undecided.)
Anyone that has that many conservative beliefs but calls themselves "independent" has clearly been asleep during their US History classes.
While I've often said that Belgian devolution is a bit of a warning to what might happen to the United States, one thing that has yet to truly manifest in the US is ethnic political parties and exclusive ethnocultural pop culture. We do have--to some extent--ethnocentric pop culture (basic cable is full of examples of this), that pop culture is only part of the cultural diet of an average American. (In other words, LOGO and BET viewers feel completely comfortable watching ABC, NBC, etc.)
Still, one has to wonder what exactly binds us all together, beyond mere geography.
...of popsters from the Soviet Union joining up with hip-hop producers. First we had Dima Bilan screech his way to a Eurovision win with a song produced by Timbaland. Now, Missy Elliot has joined forces with Ruslana on the latter's new album.
It's not a total miss, but it's not a bullseye either.
Oh well, it looks like he's carved out not too shabby pop career for himself. (God knows what would happen if Diddy got his hands on him...Donnie who?)
Smash!! wasn't too bad, but the only song I really cared for was Freeway. Here's a rather hilarious (and lip-synced) performance from 2003, followed by the original video.
Then he pretty much went solo. He got a UK release for his cover of Shattered Dreams. (I feel a degree of relief in knowing that I was not much older than Sergey when the original came out.)
Quite wisely, Sergey's single Fake featured a remix entitled "gay club mix"
His most recent album TV show featured the single TV or Radio, which shows that Sergey is game for physical comedy.
Lest this jukebox end in sarcasm, once again, here's Flyer.
By the way, Sergey has a diary on his website. (It's mostly in Russian, naturally.) Apparently on July 7th, he met Whitney Houston. Whitney is looking...better, and I'm not going to even attempt to read into Sergey's reaction in the photo, except to say "a picture tells a thousand words."
Admittedly, I haven't been following the coverage as closely as last time, but as kind and cute as Dion is, the fact that he didn't have Celine in front of his name is part of the reason.
I always thought Bush was going to do something left field while he was a lame duck, but when I was thinking "left field" as unexpected, not actually left-wing.
By the way, Newscorp, we do not need a special report on WWOR just because the Dow didn't crash.
Somehow I think a Korean technopop song performed by a brassy woman, accompanied by a group of crash test dummies, and lots of paint perfectly sums up the general feeling in the US at the moment.
Ladies & Gentlemen, W & Whale's R.P.G. Shine:
Who knew the lyrics to Pointer Sisters singles were so prescient?
Alas, I have no link to share, but during W's speech this morning, WNBC "accidentally" interrupted it with a snippet from the ad for the musical A Tale of Two Cities:
The excerpt?
Voice Over: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times
In it, Life on Mars(debuting tonight by the way, although the recent full court press by ABC has made that hard to escape) producer Scott Rosenberg (and other producers as well) bemoans the fact that American male actors are not macho enough:
...these guys don't come to us with any baggage. That's what's really nice. They're not all Us-magazined and Page-Sixed. Those actors wilt the minute they get any success. Jason [O'Mara, the lead on Life on Mars]'s the one who's crash-landing into 1973 and into people's living rooms for the first time. He's not someone who's been washed-out from doing myriad TV shows.
Now, I don't quite buy Rosenberg's claim. I offer this theory: it's not like American actors are devoid of machismo, it's just that the American actors he looked at might've asked for more money. An actor from overseas might not be as costly. Just a theory.
I don't know where Rosenberg has been, but macho American actors are out there. He's just trying to justify his decision to cast a non-American.
For what it is worth, Life on Mars is at least shooting in New York, which--in my humble opinion--yields many more "macho" actors than Los Angeles.
My impression: It looks sharp and interesting--and if there is going to be a storyline attached it, all the better--but, it also looks like they are marketing Australia like it's a perfume.
As for the film Australia, it'll go down gangbusters in Asia, lukewarm in the US, and Europe is hard to call.
Nick Bryant's Australia blog on the BBC website has a very insightful post about the state of Qantas, which puts in words something I've been pondering for the last few weeks: When did Qantas go astray? (I reckon it was at this point, myself: when it entered into the domestic market and was privatised shortly thereafter. That's two big changes too close together.)
My own experience with Qantas this year left me feeling that something had changed in the company's culture. Prior to this year, my opinion was of an airline that treated passengers like they were nieces and nephews--friendly, in other words, but this was in the early 1990s.
After this past April, the impression I received is that the employees are overworked, underpaid, and the company's desire to maintain its market share without raising costs has created such a bizarre clash of systems (to the point that its own subsidiary operates on a different baggage handling system than the parent) that it barely functions.
Since renationalisation is highly unlikely, the question is when can Qantas get a management that appeases shareholders and customers, gets maintenance done locally and effectively, keeps waste low--but isn't afraid to spend when necessary, and doesn't pillage salaries of frontline workers? That might sound like a lot, but I don't think it's a pipe dream.
While I have always been in favour of Same Sex Marriage, it never really hit home for me until this past Winter when my fiance (at the time, boyfriend) was hospitalised with double pneumonia and septic shock, further complicated by his HIV.*
* We are a sero-discordant couple. He is HIV+, I am HIV-.
Every day, I had to fight to get information on what was going on in respect to his health. While I figure that a heterosexual would be in the same position (at least in New York), it made me realise that in the future, were he to be hospitalised again and we were married, I would have little legal protection to ensure I was kept informed.
You see, at the time, I was also dealing with my mother's battle with breast cancer (which is in remission and likely to stay that way). In that situation, as a family member, I was privy to every bit of information and had strong legal protection.
I feel fortunate in that in both situations, I had no one else with an ulterior motive trying to keep me out of the loop, but many do have to deal with that.
Nonetheless, it is sad and unacceptable that some couples in California may have to consider leaving their homes and lives in order to be treated with dignity and respect.
I reckon that I am preaching to the choir here, but in the chance this post may reach someone who will be voting in California, I strongly encourage you to vote No on Proposition 8. It is a matter of equal rights, and equal respect.
She has also put her own job on the show (as a recurring character) at risk by doing so.
Oprah and Sidney lose nothing by denouncing Perry.
Spineless.
For what it is worth, the syndicated House of Payne aired an episode tonight which was written by one of the fired writers. Meaning La Perry will be racking in the money and Teri Brown-Jackson will not.
La Perry will be collecting his DGA rate for the show, but is too greedy to consider extending WGA rights and rates to the same show for others. In other words: the man directs every episode, gets a DGA rate (which means he follows DGA rules in addition to SAG rules for the actors), but because he cannot write every episode (try getting to 100 episodes on your own), he denies union membership and benefits to others in order to horde more money.
For what it's worth, here is a sampling of companies/products advertised during tonight's episode:
Chilli's
Verizon
Red Bull
ING
Perdue
Honda
Vivendi Universal
Teri Brown-Jackson did a good job with the episode, which dealt with HIV/AIDS in the black community. She is definitely owed her fair share. Perry has taken more than his own.
A 35 year old who is a former Goldman Sachs executive.
Unless the man is an idiot savant or a real life Doogie Houser when it comes to financial knowledge, I think the Office of Financial Stability (how Orwellian) will be anything but.
Today's contestant: Marianne Mendt in the preview video for Musik.
Marianne looks like my kind of singer. She snarls, growls, and smokes with abandon throughout the video. My guess for what's on her mind: "Can we finish this damn thing already? I need a Grolsch." Another Marianne--as in Faithfull--needs to cover this song.
Here's a unique name for a girl group: "Fine Killing Liberty," which sounds more like a terrorist group rather than a gaggle of pop princesses. No wonder they went by Fin.K.L instead.
Even though I've heard of Fin.K.L since 1999, I was definitely surprised to find out that was they stood for. So let's jump in the wayback machine and see the best of Korea's pop princesses with the anarchist themed name.
Judging by songs like Forever Love, I reckon the Fin.K.L girls were planning on subverting the establishment by doing really weak (or just very avantgarde...maybe even "Outsider" inspired) choreography while singing ridiculously high. I don't know why, but when combined together, it works...at least for me.
Fortunately, that whole theme got tossed out in 2000 with Now, much like how Britney Spears ditched her cute image around the same time.
They pretty much went their separate ways in 2002, but regrouped in 2005 for a brief moment which yielded Fine Killing Liberty. The song is damn catchy, and it does look like the theme song to a group of young female anarchists.
Arguably, Lee Hyori has been the Robbie Williams of Fin.K.L in that she has risen the highest out of the ashes of the group, and how can you not like someone who releases an album called It's Hyorish?
First, here's a comparison between Hyori's Get Ya and Britney Spears's Do Somethin'. Yes, they are pretty similiar. (And I hope Hyori wasn't behind the idea to have blackface dancers in her video, which is a big offensive mistake that I hope wasn't intentional.)
Now, something Hyorish: Hey Mr. Big.
I'm still wondering what inspired that poll of "young people" to come up with Fine Killing Liberty as a name. Even though wiki.theppn says that the meaning was that they are against the oppression of freedom (yeah, I'm going to trust the protection of my rights to a bunch of young girls who can dance well), the name actually implies the opposite.
La Perry opened up his new studios in Atlanta last night, and it's rather fascinating/disturbing to see the assortment of celebrities who had no qualms in crossing the picket line.
After the La Perry bomb yesterday, I reckon it would be nice to have a serene post today.
Kosuke Atari is probably the only male singer who brings out the inner screaming teenage fan boy in me. Why?
Well, I'll be honest with you here, he's pretty damn good looking in my book.
Secondly, he's also talented. It does take a great deal of talent to make me like a singer who is pretty much 90% ballads, because a good ballad (one where the lyrics, tone, and singer's ability to emote, are all in sync) is difficult to do.
Atari sings in the "shima-uta" style of the Ryukyu islands of Southern Japan. It sounds very nasal, but it also is extremely hard to do without looking like a parody.
First is his (major label) debut single Sorezore ni, which personally, I think is also his best work:
Next, Hana, his big hit from last year.
And finally, his most recent single Kizuna.
Bonus: It feels a bit odd not to put something upbeat with this jukebox, but it would also disrupt the tone of the post. (Not to mention the Atari songbook is not that bouncy.) As a compromise, I'll just do a link. Here is the Korean female trio SeeYa performing Hot Girl. Want more "EEEEEEEE?" Listen to the Rising Gods perform (quite sharply, I must say)Mirotic while their rabid female fans shout parts of the chorus like a war chant.
What an interesting and disturbing email I received from the WGA today.
Apparently, La Perry is anti-Union...and against sharing the profits of syndication.
I cannot say I'm surprised one bit.(Bold emphasis is mine.)
Four writers involved with a WGA organizing effort at writer-producer Tyler Perry’s TBS show “House of Payne” have been fired. The WGAW filed an unfair labor charge today against the production company, House of Payne LLC, alleging that the writers were unlawfully fired in retaliation for their union activity. The charge also says that the company bargained in bad faith with the Guild, which since April has been seeking to negotiate a contract covering “House of Payne” and the company’s upcoming show, “Meet the Browns.” The four writers, Kellie Griffin, Christopher Moore, Teri Brown-Jackson, and Lamont Ferrell, along with supporters, will be picketing during Saturday’s opening of Perry’s new studio in Atlanta, and asking invited guests not to cross the picket line. Writer Christopher Moore said, “It’s very disheartening, considering that this is a studio run by African Americans. What Tyler Perry is essentially saying to us is that ‘you’re black and there’s not a lot of opportunities for you, so you’ll take what I give you’ – whether it’s fair or not.” The studio claims the writers were fired for cause, however writer Teri Brown-Jackson noted that “we were good enough to create over a hundred episodes, but now when it comes to reaping the benefits of the show being syndicated and having other spin-offs from it, he decides to let us go .” Without a doubt it's suspicious.
The New York Times has an article on the (wrongful) terminations.
I can't say I'm entirely sympathetic (although the amount is being very petty by the standards of many Western countries), because while the Dubai government may be keen to cultivate the image of being cosmopolitan, it is still an extremely conservative place.
While we were all supposedly (given the hype surrounding it) interested in seeing how Mrs. Nasty performed, I found myself more impressed by Biden. Granted, I was already in his column, but he informed me more about his abilities and qualities--as well as Obama's*--during this debate than in any coverage I had seen about him previously.
* I think better than Obama himself, actually.
The debate seemed to suggest that we were moving into a new America, but when Gwen Ifill asked both candidates about gay marriage, it was clear that this country remains tethered to much of the bigotry of the past.
It's a damn shame we can't have our debates this way. It would cut through all the hemming, hawing, and pandering if we just had Obama, McCain, and a moderator.
It's even more fun in Canada, because there are 5 parties(The Liberals, The Conservatives, the Bloc Quebecois, The NDP, and now The Greens) duking it out, and they have to do it in two languages.
Wouldn't it be hilarious to hear Mr. Nice & Obama go head to head in Spanish?
Not just that, but wouldn't it actually be pleasant to just have a simple debate without a live audience and a million cameras to play to? (Like we did in 2004.)
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel--as it is wont to do with anyone who has spent more than 24 hours in Wisconsin--has an article on David Zucker's new movie. (He's from Shorewood, don'cha know?)
Zucker claims that he didn't leave the Democratic Party inasmuch as it left him.
Hogwash.
He's having the adult equivalent of a teenage rebellion. (Well, he did do the Airplane and Naked Gun movies.)
As someone who grew up in Milwaukee, I should explain Shorewood, or at least my perception of it:
Shorewood is a very close-in suburb of Milwaukee (which itself has Los Angeles styled borders, you're going in and out of it all the time), and is on the Southern part of what is called the North Shore. The North Shore is basically the rich/richer part of the Greater Milwaukee area. Shorewood stands out a bit from its fellow North Shore neighbours, because it is very close to the City of Milwaukee, and has more of street life, culture (UW-Milwaukee is next door), and just general cool.
I like to think of Shorewood as the polar opposite of my hometown, Mequon (which is also on the North Shore--the Northern border of it, coincidentally), but to put it in Manhattan terms: Shorewood is the Upper West Side, where the prevailing atmosphere is educated and liberal.
If that's the prevailing atmosphere in Shorewood, then it would be very rebellious to become an arch-conservative Republican--even if you haven't lived in that environment for quite some time. That being said, I wound up a Socialist not so much as a response to the environment that I grew up in*, but by actually learning and experiencing the world around me and coming to the conclusion that it does not revolve around me and my income, but about the quality of life of those around me. It's possible that Zucker took the journey in the opposite direction.
* My father was a Republican (fiscal conservative, he believed that the social conservatives were beyond the pale, mostly because the social conservatives also tended to be the biggest bigots on the planet). My mother is a Centrist Democrat. I'm a Social Democrat. Centre-Right, Centre-Left, and Left all in one family.
What I find particularly amusing/tragic is how Zucker tries to explain his political (d)evolution:
“But I’m labeled a conservative now. Because I support smaller government, lower taxes and a strong military, all the things that JFK once espoused...But now you have to be a Republican to be in favor of those things.”
Apparently, Zucker seems to believe that we are still living with the USSR and the past 8 years have brought nothing but prosperity to the US. He also doesn't quite have a grasp on how Republicans actually increase the size of government, while Democrats tend to streamline it.
What's stupid is that he doesn't realise how dangerous his new gang is.
My two euro-cents: divide it up like the UK used to do with BEA & BOAC.
Maybe it's me, but it does seem like the Alitalia crisis is likely to be repeated with several US companies. Jack Welch (Mr. General Electric/NBC himself) was on television a few days freaking out about the bailout not being passed.
This is truly asinine...or just really dumb posturing.
For starters, he's known about this crisis for quite some time, and if he felt it needed that much focus, he would've asked for this suspension much earlier.
Secondly, there are people--on both sides of the aisle--working on this already.
Suck it up, Mister.
News coverage aside, I definitely have noticed the effect of the crisis here:
For the past few days, I have seen job fair lines stretch for nearly an entire Midtown block.
Today, I was on two packed PATH trains in the middle of the day. That is a first for me.
Back in the early 1980s, Rose Laurens (French and English) and Ingrid Peters (German) had a hit with the song Africa. It apparently didn't cross the Atlantic (although I was only 4 years old when it was released), since I only heard it for the first time today.
Here's Rose Laurens performing the original French version:
and the video for the English version (remember it was 1982-3):
And Ingrid Peters's German cover, which I think has the most bite out of them all. (I believe the animation isn't the original video.):
Bonus: Yesterday, The Pussycat Dolls released their new album. On the deluxe version, you'll see that one of the Bratz--I mean Dolls--covered Jane Child's Don't Want To Fall In Love, one of my favourite songs (and personal mantras) of all time.
Shockingly, it's not that bad. That being said, it doesn't come close to Jane's original.
That New York, the one that led me to find my way here a decade later, is long dead. (Sigh)
The Gods of the East have released the video to their new song Mirotic (Under My Skin). It's a catchy tune without a doubt.
It's also pretty familiar as well...to a song by "Sarah Connor" called (no surprise) "Under My Skin."
Some might call it a cover (and it probably is), but I also like to think of it as the same song from a female and male perspective. (Perhaps Teutonic Sarah gave the boys such a night to remember that months later they are left repeating her words...albeit in Korean.)
Judge for yourself, comrades.*
* Personally, I find this quasi-flame war between German & Korean fanatical fans hilarious.
Here's Sarah's summer 2008 hit Under My Skin
And the inevitable Autumn 2008 hit by the Eastern Gods, Mirotic (Under My Skin)
They do work as a call and response pair, don't they?
The sad thing is that there are people who would fall for this foolishness...and line his pockets happily.
* If he ran it as a non-profit, then I'd let it slide, but since he's doing it as a for-profit (not to mention, anyone who enjoys NY tap water that much, would be wise--and eco-smart--enough to just buy a damn refillable water bottle.
This is a jukebox I have probably put off doing for quite sometime.
Why?
Well, once you start talking about boybands, particularly a certain Korean boyband who inspire "anti-fans" to poison members of it with super glue...I'm just saying this band taps into a certain level of obsessiveness. (And given the amount of hits this corner of the internet receives from people desperately trying to figure out whether Mike Woods is gay...)
Nonetheless, I'm going to bravely enter the world of Dong Bang Shin Ki. (SQUEEEEEE!!!!)
First off, Tri-Angle, which actually works even though it's a combination of the gods of the East, KPop princess BoA (who will be debuting in the US this year), and KRockers The Trax.
Skipping ahead to Rising Sun, which seems to me like the video is given more gravitas than is really needed.
However when it comes over-the-top self-importance, nothing compares to the lads' O Jung Ban Hap. I've never heard of an anti-war anthem having several dance breaks.
That same album about world peace and peaceful resistance featured the almost sickeningly sweet Balloons(which is an argument for us all developing Peter Pan Syndrome, in my view). The song is very catchy if you close your eyes, but the second you look at the video--BAM!--instant toothache.
Now the gods, being gods, figured that singing only in Korean could be limiting, so they branched out to Japan in 2005. Their original Japanese output is considered more "mature," but there's still all the SQUEEEEEEE!!! so who can tell? It is catchier and slicker I'd say. Here they are performing the songs ZION(a non-reggae reference to Zion, believe it or not) and Choosey Lover (sic) in 2007.
Being gods, they're also wise to go into full-tilt bubblegum pop sector of Japanese pop music as their smash Summer Dream proves.
This year, they began the year with the song Purple Line, which while catchy as hell, makes no sense in either Korean or Japanese. (Then again, neither does Fergie's London Bridge and that's all in English.)
Later this month, the gods release their 4th Korean language album entitled MIROTIC. I am dying to find out what the meaning behind that title is.
This is probably the only sane decision made at WNYW for at least 2 years. (Seriously, Greg Kelly? If that wasn't a kiss-ass move...) Rumour mill has it that Scotto herself is the one who wanted the move. I wouldn't be surprised.
Earlier this Spring, the Fiance stated to me--in a very blunt Australian way--that he made a concerted effort to fly Qantas from New York to Sydney, because "it was like coming home." It's the same reason why I try to fly the occasional Midwest Airlines* flight back to Milwaukee. (Hell, I'll likely fly a US carrier back to US from Australia as time goes on.)There is still that emotional aspect to air travel, and quite frankly, the industry needs to remember that. *I don't even want to think about Midwest's woes at the moment.
Back to Alitalia.
The merger plan which involves merging it with Air One (the 2nd biggest carrier in Italy), seems like the lesser of two evils plan to me. For those who saw the absurd growth and then garroting of the venerable Eastern & Pan Am (mk.I)--not to mention the weird rise of US Airways (ne Allegheny/Piedmont/PSA), we know airline mergers are rarely smooth, and often not always entered into with long-term effects in mind.
Now, I don't know much about Air One from personal experience, but Skytrax reviewers (a curmudgeonly lot, I will say)paint a picture of a lean operation where flight attendants seem to double as food & goods sellers. It has been twentysome years since I've flown Alitalia, but when I was in Italy this past summer, Alitalia did the check-in for my flight and gave me a pass to their lounge. The check-in personnel were good, friendly, perhaps a bit blase about their jobs. The lounge, however, was woeful, especially since this was Rome Airport. It looked like someone took some 1960s suburban office, slapped in a few coffee makers and departure screens and left. That's faded glamour on a Norma Desmond scale.
So I don't think that the young cost cutter and the old diva with laryngitis are going to make a good couple, but it looks time isn't on anyone's side in this situation.
It's hard for any entity, particularly one--whether it was "private" like Pan Am or effectively state-owned like Alitalia--to adjust out of a "chosen instrument" status even in the face of impending corporate death or at least radical restructuring.
The harsh sunlight that the new Alitalia walks into, should be watched by every single CEO on the planet.
When I first heard about Lehman Brothers filing for bankrupcy, I have to admit that my first thought was one close to indifference. (Sympathy for the workers, little for the management.)
Well, comrades, this is going to hit us all, especially when you add on Bank of America buying out Merrill Lynch.
I would add that the ultimate culprit in all of this is basic greed: People thought they could use their homes as ATM machines so that they could keep up with the Joneses, and the financing companies who eagerly enabled them to do so.
And our national budget is such disarray that another bailout--no matter how necessary it is--might not be possible.
That sodding governor has killed any joy I had in terms of using the word "palindrome."
Anyway, here's an interesting article in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Apparently researchers at Cambridge University(I guess they have free time and/or grant money to waste) have created a "personality map" of the United States. This map identifies a "stress belt" stretching from Maine to Louisiana.
Wisconsin is outside this belt and ranks #2 for extroversion. I would agree with that, but you have to temper that with the fact that it also ranked #47 for openness. Try to mesh those two aspects together. You also have to remember that the state has 1 or 2 random spree killings a year, and these spree killings are just people(generally outside of Milwaukee, I must point out) going crazy. Remember the murders that inspired Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho happened in Wisconsin.
New York ranked in the top ten for neuroticism. Equally not surprising.
Time for happy music! MISIA released a digital single last month called Catch the Rainbow, seems rather appropriate escape from the nonstop September 11th coverage today.
It would only be appropriate to start a special occasion with an opening number, so opening up the proceedings is Aira Mitsuki with GALAXY BOY(yes, she has a lisp which makes the refrain unintentionally funny*).
* I think she's singing "look up at," but it sounds like "look up the ass," at least to my ears.
When I started working on this corner of the internet back in January 2005, I set out to do essentially one thing: express my opinion to the world and also get opinions back. It is truly a rough world out there and it is extremely easy and tempting to stay isolated (oddly enough courtesy of the internet). So hopefully in a way, this little corner helps someone feel less so.
Growing up, I was given the opportunity and the encouragement of both of my parents to form my own opinions and beliefs. In fact, I came out as a Socialist before I actually came out as gay! Yet, I don't want to devote this 1000th post to a personal political tirade. I'd like to do something I don't do much on here, which is "talk" about who I am as opposed to what I think.
Back in 2005, for the 200th post I did a Q&A, which you can read here, this time around I'm just going to talk directly, particularly about everything that has happened (personally) since 2005.
It's hard to believe that so much has happened in 3 years: I've changed apartments twice, for starters.
And it's part of the reason why I'm moving. When I was growing up, I pretty much figured that I was going to live in New York for a brief period of time. It was kind of a family tradition, my mother lived here for nearly 30 years, my father lived here for a little under a decade, so perhaps it was in my blood. I had this image in my head that I--like George & Wheezie--would find my own "deluxe apartment in sky." So what does one do after that? You go looking for new challenges.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Ever since I can remember, I wanted to spend my adult life outside the US. I'm not an America-hater by any stretch of the imagination. I owe this country my existence, quite literally, as the racial mixture of Native Americans, African slaves, and European immigrants (all groups in my ancestry) doesn't exist anywhere else. Yet, creatively, I felt--and continue to feel--that I can't reach my full potential as a playwright and a scriptwriter living here. US media is focused on profitability--even the theatre--as opposed to quality. That's why LOGO is so historic, it basically says that we (LGBT Americans) are now an audience to be catered to by advertisers, because we'll buy, and in the US you are nobody unless you are recognised as a desirable consumer demographic.
Ok, so I kind of backtracked on the no political tirades promise.
Personally, I want to be able to write without worrying about demographics. I also want to work at telling stories that aren't always vetted for how they will play in Peoria. (Look at the state of gay theatre here in New York, where plays and musicals often are excuses for buff men to get to walk around naked while catty/bitchy characters deliver a stream of one-liners. It sells tickets, but there have been very few pieces that really get beyond burlesque.) Sadly, the US is not a place for that. I do believe that will change, and oddly enough, I feel I can do my part by leaving the land of my birth.
Leaving the US, on the other hand carries its own risks: Expat's Disease, being the big one. Expat's Disease, which can happen to even the most well-rounded, open-minded person, is where someone goes overseas and starts either lionising or demonising their homeland beyond what it really is. I'm going to do my best to stave it off by coming back frequently. I pretty much have to, since my family is here, and when your family is as small as mine, the bond is extremely tight.
Now even though I have planned for quite some time to leave the US, I wasn't expecting it to happen "so soon." Yet, I met an Australian man, got engaged, and since he's ready to move back to his homeland and I'm at a point where I can move, I'm moving to Australia, which is even more of a change than I expected to make. (I was thinking Canada, the UK, or Germany when I thought I'd be making the move solo.) Isn't fate funny?
I reckon it's time for a comedy break, and I can think of no better choice for that than clips from Designing Women.
And we're back.
One thing you might've noticed is that this corner of the internet is low on pictures of shirtless men. It's intentional for two reasons:
You can find them easily on other sites and blogs. (Some of which are in the blogroll just to the right.)
I have little desire to put any on here.
I've mentioned it on here before, but I was anorexic for 2 years in college and I pretty much fight a daily battle with body dysmorphia. For whatever reason, there is very little discussion (at least not as much as I reckon there should be) about what images men are receiving and how it impacts their self-esteem, particularly gay men. It's like all the fanfare around The Adonis Complex never happened. It may seem cliched to say so, but I truly believe that gay men can be our own worst enemies when it comes to making ourselves feel good about our bodies. In my case, I find that my worst critic is myself. I work out 5-6 times a week at a relatively intense pace, and often afterwards, I have to remind myself that I have pushed myself to the limit and not failed in comparison to other guys at the gym, some of whom have other things (i.e. steroids) that allow them to have a certain physique. Plus--and this is the hardest pill to swallow (npi)--my body is just genetically predisposed to being a certain way.
Now here's the big struggle, how does one get to the point of liking one's body without it veering into narcissism? I'll be honest with you, I don't know. I'd like to think that having a strong egalitarian streak can put a clamp on it, but who knows?
I still have my clothes from the days when I was overweight, and I still wear them. Honestly, the fashion crowd would have a field day with me, because I do not like to wear anything that conforms to my figure, I like things baggy. By baggy, I don't mean saggy, because I just don't get that whole trend of showing one's underwear to the world--at least in public. I just like to catch a breeze through my sleeves and my trousers or shorts. Fitted, in my view, feels restricted. As a writer and observer, there's a definite advantage to this: I blend in to the background, which is perfect, frankly.
I think it's time for another music break.
That's Miho Fukuhara singing CHANGE, by the way. Killer voice, don't you think?
So I've been pretty serious for the first two parts of this shindig, so let's lighten the mood a bit.
Here's a list of small irritations--hey, I said lighten, not upbeat:
Those damn Cablevision commercials. I think the entire Tri-State knows the number and has no intention of calling them, even if they like the concept of the Triple Play.
The NYC tourism industry. Let me explain this: I pass by the Empire State Building often. I like to believe that my body language suggests that I have a destination in mind and I am not taking in the sights. So why do those tour bus company employees keep trying to thrust some literature in my face or convince me to take a tour?
Being near Penn Station on Saturday when it seems the entire state of New Jersey and most of Long Island descends upon the city en masse and stops to get their bearings on 7th Avenue.
1 Penn Plaza. It just blocks everyone's view, and it's an ugly building.
Tyler Perry. Yes, I consider him a small irritation, like a gnat.
For whatever reason every single day at 5PM the fire department decides to send a truck down 6th Avenue, knowing fully well that it will be choked with gridlock. I suspect graft.
And that comrades, brings this celebration to a close. I would just like to thank everyone who has stopped by this corner since 2005, and hope that they've enjoyed their time here. I'm looking forward to bringing on another 1000 posts.
Now, since you know that I believe in opening numbers, you know I definitely believe in closing numbers, and who better to close it out than the one, the only MISIA.
As part of the 1000th post bonanza here, I reckon it'd be fun to take a gander at the myriad of Eurovision reviews posted at this corner of the internet.
Why?
Well, they're mostly done live, so I don't have much time for editing, so this is as close as I get to raw & uncut, so to speak.
The first ever Eurovision review to appear at this corner: Melodifestivalen 2005, Semi-Final 1. Notable for the fanboyishness that Shirley Clamp inspires in me.
Russian Eurovision entries don't believe in no grammar--part 1, part 2.
This review has been performed in front of a live DVR that is occasionally paused in order for me to type.
Wrapping up the previews of the new season is CBS, which I believe is still holding onto the top spot as the most watched network (ah, the joys of live blogging, I don't have to go hunting around for facts until after I finish my opinion).
As I'm not familiar with CBS's entertainment propaganda machine, I have no idea who Lara Spencer is, but apparently the Eye trusts her enough to be the face of this year's Fall preview bonanza.
First off, Worst Week--which I think is an adapatation of a UK sitcom. If you live in New York--or any major market city, you have seen the adverts for this show illustrated by a man in average shape (TV-wise, in real life he'd be 6 or a 7) wearing nothing but what looks like an adult diaper. Diaper man is apparently Sam and it looks like one of those shows (CBS at one point had two of them) where Joe Average (again a television Joe Average) has a knockout girlfriend and various humiliations occur to him. It is lightly amusing, but it looks like Kurtwood Smith will basically run away with this show. It's got the prime slot of right after Two & A Half Men, so the Eye is expecting a lot out of it.
Next, Lara--who looks suspiciously like Felicity Huffman--tells us about Simon Baker's new show The Mentalist. (Again, if you live in a major market, the ads for this have been heavily plastered all over town.) Personally, when I heard they were giving Simon Baker another show, I had to wonder..."why?" Yes, he's still good looking (a hell of a lot better looking than he was in The Devil Wears Prada, where he looked like he was trying to outdo Mickey Rourke in terms of bad facelifts), but if it didn't really happen for him with The Guardian, then why get him another lead? ENSEMBLE this man, CBS. Don't make him a lead, he's not that interesting. Anyway, The Mentalist is another one of those "quirky, ultra-observant man solves crimes" shows, which again, CBS does well. It sort of looks like a santised version of Dexter, except I guess Baker's character isn't going to kill anyone. If they don't give him a love interest and focus on the crimes, then there's hope. That being said, pairing it with NCIS? Why? This is much more a Monday or Friday night show.
Commercials--for things other than CBS.
When we return, Lara gestures excitedly about Jay Mohr's new sitcom, Gary Unmarried. Time for a personal admission: I watch Ghost Whisperer(I don't mind Jennifer Love Hewitt--Aquarian solidarity, you know--and David Conrad--who plays her husband and will be leaving this season supposedly--is great eye candy, even when you realise there is a 12 year age difference between them, it doesn't really matter). I thought that the writers were pretty much shoving his character in our faces because there was going to be a romance between the two of them. Apparently not. Gary Unmarried sounds and looks like All of Uswithout the ghetto sassiness (boo!), but with less annoying children (yay!) and no moral-of-the-week (HURRAH!). Still not going to go out of my way to watch it, despite having Paula Marshall, who is quite good. You'll have to toss in liberal amounts of Jay Mohr shirtless for me to become a regular viewer. Pairing it with The New Adventures of Old Christine is very wise, but seriously why steal from an old UPN sitcom?
Non-CBS commercials.
And we're back with Lara touting the latest Jerry Bruckheimer hour long action drama, Eleventh Hour. (Seriously, the man seems to run everything on CBS that isn't a comedy or news broadcast.) I'm actually intrigued by this because the ad campaign has given me no clue whatsoever as to what the show is about. Lara chirps that it's about some rackishly handsome scientist who solves crimes for the FBI when all other leads fail. Doesn't CBS have a show like this already called NUMB3RS? Leave Ridley Scott alone Jerry! Well, Rufus Sewell is no Rob Morrow, but he is more appealing to look at than David Krumholtz. The preview seems to suggest that the difference between this and NUMB3RS is that Eleventh Hour will deal with "scientific crimes"...and where science meets ethics, it looks like. I'll give Jerry credit, this looks intriguing even though Sewell's character isn't. It's coupled with CSI...of course.
If there's a serious weak link in CBS's new armour it's The Ex List. Lara's tone is ever-so-slightly sarcastic as she reads her propaganda copy, and can you blame her? This show has bomb written all over it based on the premise: Self-Absorbed Woman sees psychic, psychic tells her that her true love is one of her exes, Self-Absorbed Woman goes hunting down her (many) exes to find out which one it is. Wisely, they have upped the male flesh content (including gay male couple friends?) to make up for the daft storyline. Personally, I'm wondering if her problems could be quickly solved if she figured out why she's self-absorbed. It's after Ghost Whisperer on Fridays, and quite frankly, that might be the only way for this show to do well enough to survive to next season.
Commercials CBS and non, including one for The Unit, which is going to be interesting with Scott Foley leaving. (Why he's leaving, I don't know.)
Lara bids us adieu in record time, just quick enough to tell us to go to CBS's website.
Well, I have to withdraw my faint praise of NBC, CBS has the stronger Freshman roster this year. They also have the biggest possible turkey as well, with The Ex List.
Am I glad that I'm out of the county until Election Day.
Mr. Nice & Mrs. Mean apparently were in Cedarburg. It does say something that those two went to the reddest of the red counties in Wisconsin. By the way, I've been to Cedarburg many times, I wouldn't in a million years describe it as a small town. (There is actually a Town of Cedarburg, which is small, but N&M were in the City of Cedarburg, which is pretty much a tourist trap for those who like antiques and dairy products.)
By the way, coming up soon: The 1000th Post special! Believe it or not, this corner of the internet and my id has almost churned out 1000 posts. Feel free to drop a question or several in the comments section of this post.
Mr. Nice last night told the country that he is the true candidate of change.
This made me think: If he's a member of the party in power, and the party that up until 2006 pretty much ruled everything with an iron fist, then he's arguing for a change much like a cadre of the Chinese Communist Party would say that he or she is for change.
