First Try

Lights, Camera, and Me without a stitch of makeup!
I decided to try my hand at making a video. It was like being back in Mrs. Marshall's Speech and Drama class. I had to think of something I could demonstrate relatively quickly. Please ignore the fact that most of the action happens just outside the visible area. This was my first try and if I did it again, I'd probably end up drunk!

There should have been a last shot showing the actual drink and an "Enjoy" title card, but I couldn't get that to work.

If I do it again, it will be better.

"Enjoy"

Outraged about the Outrage

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Back in Black - Glenn Beck's Nazi Tourette's
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

I really enjoy Lewis Black.

How is it possible for Glen Beck to make these leaps? There must be some serious breaks in the synapses in his "brain"

I do think that the Nazi name-calling is overused to the point where it has virtually lost any impact. I think there should be a moratorium on calling anyone a Nazi or Hitler unless they ARE a Nazi or Hitler. I'm sure with a little thought, Glen could make some more accurate comparisons.

Examples:

Instead of Hitler's Enemy: The Jews; Al Gore's Enemy: Global Warming let's try Glen Beck's Enemy: Rational Thought, or Glen Beck's Enemy: Measured Response.

The New Karate Kid*

26 years after the original, 16 years after the last, The Karate Kid is back.

There is no denying that original and best was Ralph Macchio as Daniel Larusso, the underdog from NYC. He fought and won against the Cobra Kai, an Okinawan mob, and finally, Fear itself. Along the way, he and Pat Morita made film magic. Everyone knows "wax on wax off", the crane, and "Daniel Larusso's gonna fight!"



The "Kid" returned in female form as a rebellious girl (with a pet falcon) played kin of hilariously by Hilary Swank. Swank went on to great things but "The Next Karate Kid" was a bit of a letdown. The one redeeming factor was Mr. Miyagi trying to deal with a girl.

In this latest incarnation, the incomparable Pat Morita is replaced by Jackie Chan and "The Kid" will be played by Jaden Smith. I won't be heading to the theaters but it will definitely make it into my Netflix Queue.

*this post is dedicated to my brother who is a Karate Kid authority

She & Him

I recently recommended the duo She & Him to my mother as something she might like. They have been around for a year or two and their music is like a cool, adult contemporary folk with a retro feel. It sounds like something that is simultaneously old and new.



She is Zooey Deschanel the actress from Elf, 500 Days of Summer, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and lots of other stuff you've probably seen.

Him is M Ward, a musician who has played with many artists and is a member of the Folk groups My Morning Jacket and Monsters of Folk.

So far, my favorite songs are "Sentimental Heart" "Change is Hard" and "This is Not a Test", but everything is pretty good.

V.I.P.'s

SO. MUCH. FUN!

I thought it was a really great night. Everyone had a good time and I don't think any of us had ever been to such a place.

When we arrived, we got a drink and headed down to the basement where the stage was located. We were at a disadvantage since I was the tallest in our group, topping out at about 5'6" in my heels. The first queen performed and I don't think the Munchkinlanders (you can just see their heads at the bottom left of the picture above) could see a thing. Luckily, there was a windowed balcony and we hustled upstairs to get a good view. Pretty soon, Nina came out and did her thing to one song. It looked like quite the workout and she lost her crazy headpiece doing a cartwheel! After that, she emceed a dance contest by an eclectic group of "dancers". She was very funny in between songs, asking for drinks and finishing them. At one point, someone (I think an employee) gave her a bottle of water. She did sip it, but went straight back to drinking what everyone else had.

They announced a 10 minute break (which was really about a half an hour). In that time, our little country belle didn't stop dancing. I don't know if it was the drink, or maybe the synthetic fibers of her wig, but she was having a good time.



After the break, another queen came out to perform then Nina was back on. This time she did two songs, the second was her song "Loca". Once that was done, we had the V.I.P. meet and greet, which was basically a cattle call in which we had 5 seconds to get our picture with her.

Askew wigs and barking dogs aside, it was a great night.

Russian Roulette with Rufus

Last week I got a message via email that my favorite singer, Rufus Wainwright, was going to be performing in Minneapolis, Minnesota in Mid-August. The show is scheduled for a Wednesday, but the busy season at work will be over by then so I could conceivably take off work to go. However, I will be taking time off around Labor Day for a wedding and am going to make that trip into a bit of a post-summer break.

I haven't seen Rufus in concert for years and he has primarily toured in Europe lately. In fact, he will be in Athens this year! He never was there when I lived in Greece.

If I buy the tickets for Minneapolis and he comes to Chicago, I'll be ticked, but if I don't buy the tickets and he never makes it here, I will really be annoyed. I guess it is just a roll of the dice. In the end, I am taking the chance that he will come to Chicago but there is no way of knowing.

In the meantime, I'll just have to be content with his new album, "All Days are Nights: Songs for Lulu" I haven't really latched on to any of the songs yet, but it is a darker and more somber collection than he has previously released. It doesn't have any of the grand, sweeping orchestration of his previous albums. It is just him and a piano. I have even heard that, when he is performing the first act of his concert, there are no breaks for applause and photography is forbidden. The audience is asked not to applaud until he has left the stage.

Disco Laundromat

To pre-game for the Nina Flowers show, I invited my best girls over to my place. It was the perfect staging ground, being only a few blocks from "Spin" the nightclub.

Kathryn went shopping at what she called the "Drag Queen Store"and surprised us by wearing a pair of fake purple eyelashes. Cis brought her wigs and we tried them on. I was breathtaking as a redhead and when I put on my glasses, I was serving Sarah Palin realness.

Kathryn was enamored of herself in a blond wig giving us Brigitte Bardot with a splash of Dolly. It wasn't surprising considering the girl hasn't had hair more than an inch long in about 10 years!

We watched "Paris is Burning", brushed up on our drag ball vocabulary, and enjoyed Absolut Berry Acai drinks before heading out. Be very jealous.