Ford & Lopatin -Too Much Midi (Please Forgive Me) (Alan Braxe Remix) by ALAN BRAXE

It’s been a relatively quiet week: the anti-gay industry is planning to protest gay couples’ weddings, Senator Leahy will hold hearings on DOMA repeal, and Equal Rights Washington is gearing up to fight for marriage at the ballot box.

Santigold Ft Karen O – Go (Produced By Q-Tip) by Hypetrak

I tend to rely on a 4-point checklist, which is definitely not foolproof but generally helps me when my gaydar fails.

Keep in mind that these are only helpful in situations where you are already questioning her sexuality.

1) her nails. Chances are if she’s super femme and she has short nails it’s a good indication that you should go to step 2. Of course, there are lesbians with long nails and plenty of straight girls who keep them trim, but it’s a simple and easy check that can help in an iffy situation.

2) clothing and shoes say a lot about a woman. I don’t want to offend anyone with this statement, but if the shoes are a bit too comfortable or slightly masculine or last season, or the clothes just aren’t quite as sharply pulled together, she could be on our team. This is not to say there aren’t plenty of exceptions, but in general there’s a certain style that distinguishes women who are looking for women from women appealing to men.

3) attitude is a big one. The way she carries herself can be a pretty good indication of her sexuality. If you haven’t heard of the “gay swagger” ask a friend who’s been on the scene a while. It’s the “I’m-sexy-I’m-gay-and-I-know-so-you-boys-can-suck-it-walk”. If she’s not walking, look at how she’s sitting. If she’s in a group, try to figure out if she’s flirting with the boys or joking with them. Try to see if she’s assertive or coy. For lesbians, the need to play any game with men or flirt, etc. is completely removed, we can communicate with them on an equal playing field without any b.s., which changes the mood of the interaction. This is not to say that every lesbian is bold or chooses to interact with men this way, or that there aren’t forward straight girls. There are other factors too such as personality that affect how people interact with each other, but in general, from my observations, straight girls tend to be more demure in mixed company.

4) finally, see what happens when you give her the eye. Look at her and smile, flirt a bit. If she returns the smile but looks away definitively – whether she’s gay or not – she’s not interested. However, if she holds your gaze and smiles back, it may mean more – even more so if you catch her looking your way after.

These steps may help you in a situation where you are simply observing someone. Obviously talking to her will give you more insight. If you know the girl already, you can ask around – see if her (or mutual) friends know or know if she might even be interested in you. Another way is to stalk her on facebook – chances are if her page is free of men and one woman crops up a little too often in her pictures, she may have had a lesbian experience…or she may be a sorority sister or have a close best friend or just may not take pictures in social situations with men.

The truth is,  there are a lot of “ifs” when figuring out a person’s sexuality. If you’re still unsure, and you’re intrigued, you should walk over and ask, or send a friend – that is the surest way to solve your mystery!

bp.blogspot.com

It’s Thanksgiving, you’ve gorged yourself silly, and now you’re looking to spend a little horizontal time.  If you ask me, after a good food binge there’s nothing better than a binge on a season or two of your favorite television show(s).

In terms of an all-out marathon, I tend to find shows with their own self-contained shape to be preferable – easy little half-hour vignettes that aren’t taxing on the mind or leave you asking “wha?”  That way you will feel no disorientation when freely indulging your food coma.

Some suggestions of TV seasons to ease the bloated belly and relax the mind:

30 Rock, Season 2: The roomie and I have looped these episodes so often that at this point we act out whole scenes with each other while cooking, drinking, to entertain guests, etc.  You’d probably enjoy watching the episodes more, though.  My character breaks from playing Tracy Jordan to Kenneth the Page can be a bit abrupt for the uninitiated.

America’s Next Top Model, Cycle 6: Honestly, it’s a great season, even for those that hate Tyra.  A number of the girls were really beautiful and talented in this season, they had some awesome photos (posing with an elephant!), and there was just enough bloated-ego weirdness to keep you rooting for girls to get the axe and cry.

X-Files, Season 3: At this point I think the series had really honed its mood – these episodes are creepy, but don’t yet go too deep into series-long plot arcs or over the top on the “weird” factor.  Plus, how damn cute was David Duchovny?

This American Life, Season 1: Did you know this amazing radio show made video versions of some of its episodes and aired them on Showtime?  Some of these stories get me choked up, some of them make me laugh, and all of them are given a whole new depth with stunningly gorgeous/intimate video.

Sex and the City, Season 4: Open up another bottle of wine, and hang out with the ladies before they became sad caricatures of a bygone and more affluent era.  Season 4 has some of my fav episodes, including the one where Carrie becomes a model and OMG falls on the runway!  It’s all so stupid at this point, but very dear to me nonetheless.

moneyning.com

But remember, during the holidays it’s not about what you eat, how much you drink, or what you stare at when you’re too full and drunk to talk; it’s about who you’re sitting silently next to.  Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Did Topher forget a TV season that you’re binging on this Thanksgiving?  Give us your recs!

courtesy bravotv.com

Topher had the chance to interview Tabatha this past weekend on the phone while she was in bed recovering from a cold.  She kindly fought off the sniffles to chat about what she’s up to.

When Tabatha Coffey first dropped into our lives she was the spritely-looking creature who took no crap on the first season of Bravo’s Shear Genius.  Though she didn’t walk away with the grand prize (robbery!), she soon popped up on Bravo once again, this time as the spritely-looking creature who takes no crap but deep down is just a big softie on her very own show Tabatha’s Salon Takeover.  The show’s third season kicks off December 6^th, and if reports are to be believed, features a heavy helping of “The Conan Look” (beard/pompadour).

It’s difficult to describe Tabatha without using tired reality TV clichés, but it’s also misleading to avoid them.  The genre is bursting at the seams with self-described “tell it like it is” personalities.  Most of these people, however, are soon revealed to be petty bitches.  Tabatha’s the rare breed who can back it up.  She’s also “real” without being scripted, she gives “tough love” that actually comes from a caring place, and she’s “not here to make friends” but she often does anyway.  Plus she’s an out-and-proud lesbian.

In short, she’s a natural reality star.

On top of that, she’s an excellent person in real life as well.  She keeps tabs on all the salons she’s helped turn around across the three seasons of her show.  She replies to most if not all of the posts she gets on her Facebook pages (both personal and fan).  She’s gracious with all her fans, and champions youth and LGBT causes.  “I don’t think I am a celebrity,” she explained in our interview.  “I’m a hairdresser, and I’m really lucky.”

Celebrity or not, her personality on and off screen paired with her incredibly active social media habits help her to blur the line between “fan” and “friend”, and that just makes me root for her all the more.  When chatting with her about upcoming projects (and there are many) it feels much more like hearing about exciting new opportunities a friend is getting, rather than taking a peek into the guts of the Bravo fame machine.

Of these projects, besides the upcoming premier of her show’s next season, she’ll be appearing in the off-Broadway production of My Big Gay Italian Wedding in early December and releasing her memoirs entitled It’s Not Really About the Hair in late January.  “You know, I grew up in drag clubs.  I started doing hair by helping drag queens with their wigs.  People are curious about my inspirations in life, and what keeps me going, and I’m excited to be able to share that.”

For the foreseeable future it seems that all stories about Tabatha will conclude with the promise of “more to come.”  This bodes well for fans of sassy reality TV and devotees of serious LGBT progress alike.  From speaking with Tabatha, though, what I take most comfort in knowing is that being a good reality star doesn’t preclude you from being a good person in reality.

Season 3 of Tabatha’s Salon Takeover premiers Monday, December 6^th at 10/9 Central.

Submitted by Nico Lang, TNG contributor

Nicholas Lang is the Communications Intern for Interfaith Youth Core and a Senior in International Studies at DePaul University. Nick just started up DePaul’s first film club, the DePaul A.V. Club, and represents the lone agnostic among 2010-2011′s Vincent and Louise House residents, who represent DePaul’s Catholic intentional living and social justice community. Lang co-founded the Queer Intercollegiate Alliance, which builds community among Chicago’s LGBT campus groups, and acts as a regular contributor to NonProphet Status, the DePaulia newspaper and DePaul Interfaith’s blog. Also, Nick is the new head of Campus Outreach for the Secular Humanist Alliance of Chicago. Occasionally, Nick sleeps.

When I heard about Tyler Clementi for the first time, I looked into the face of a stranger. I didn’t know his middle name or what he was really like, but when I heard that he had leapt off of a bridge to take his own life I cried. When I heard about Tyler Clementi for the first time, I saw that many commentators and bloggers were confused by this sudden suicide, said that they couldn’t fathom the incredible loneliness that leads to such a drastic action.When I heard about Tyler Clementi for the first time, I cried because I did understand. I cried because America is full of Tyler Clementis. I cried because I was Tyler Clementi.

When I heard about Tyler Clementi for the first time, I thought about the first time I pondered committing suicide.

When I, too, Contemplated Suicide

It was 7th grade; I was in gym class, wearing shorts ten sizes too big for me and a thick gold chain with a cross at the end. Thinking about suicide was surprisingly easy.  I knew exactly which pills I would take.  I knew what my body would look like when my grandmother discovered it in the morning. I knew the words I would write to my family, knew I would take the longing looks I sent to a certain male classmate with me to my grave. I couldn’t name my feelings, but I knew I wasn’t like everyone else. I knew I wanted to be the same, to cover up the Agatha Christie books I read in secret, to feign interest in the bland rap songs the other students were blaring.

And if I couldn’t minimize my difference, I would execute it.

Throughout high school, I would devise a number of ways to kill myself, some melodramatic, others rather macabre; my preferred method involved a simple revolver to the head in my stepfather’s dilapidated pick-up truck. I even made it into a favorite pastime, finding myself surprisingly adept at doodling my Rube Goldergesque strategies in my notebooks. For me, suicide was the only way to sublimate the secrets I couldn’t share, to minimize the hurt of having my backpack thrown in a garbage can, to deafen the “gay jokes” of a father who had to know what he was doing to his oldest son.

When I came out in my Very-Southern Baptist church at sixteen, a few of my fellow churchgoers were wildly supportive: one boasted that he had been fired from his job at a car wash because of the HRC Equality Symbol that rested proudly on his windshield. However, I was largely met with indifference or scorn, and the week after my sexuality’s unveiling, the subject of Sunday’s sermon was something akin to “San Francisco: How the 21st Century Sodom and Gomorrah is Destroying Your Family.” Although all sinners were in the hands of an angry God, the head pastor sat me down that day to explain to me that God reserved his most special brimstone for us “flamers.” In particular, God was waiting for me specifically, waiting to “cut me down” like a Johnny Cash song.  God may have been loving and forgiving for normal folks, but He doomed gays to a life of ostracizion and depression.

In conclusion, my pastor sent me away with a simple homework assignment: change. He asked me to read those Bible passages about my “abomination” and gave me some helpful anti-pornography literature. With a little help from Jesus’ friends in the publishing industry, I was to turn from a sinner into a winner.

After that day, I never went back.

Religion: A Dividing Tool

In my case, and in many other cases, religion was used as a tool to divide us, a way to mark “others.” For extremist Salafi Muslims, labeling fellow Muslims as “kafirs,” which translates to apostates or non-believers, allows these radicals to wage violent jihad against their own people.  In my case, labeling me a sinner allowed my co-religionists to wage spiritual violence against me, to rhetorically put me to death. I once went to a service where the pastor told us that God loved all of His weeds, but I wondered why I was labeled a “weed.” Why was my difference so pejorative, so ugly? Why was my difference always in need of heavenly forgiveness?  Everyone else seemed to agree that weeds like me needed to exterminated, that AIDS was God’s lawnmower. They were so busy telling me to die that I never got around to wondering about how to live.

Years of Pat Robertson condemning me to Hell, Jerry Falwell condemning me to Hell, my grandmother condemning me to Hell only served to further support their argument. When I read about Anita Bryant telling good, God-fearing Americans that they had to “Save the Nation” from people like me, I understand that it’s our culture that teaches LGBT kids to hate themselves. How can we truly speak of change in our society when Focus on the Family ads still proclaim to be saving Americans from us, when Bush’s outspoken opposition to gay marriage largely got him elected in 2004? We uphold the loneliness of LGBT kids when we tell them that their love doesn’t belong in this church, their love can’t go to this prom, their love isn’t legal in this state.

In his seminal book, “Acts of Faith,” Interfaith Youth Core founder Eboo Patel speaks of a “Faith Divide” that permeates today’s society, a religious intolerance that leads people of separate faiths to blow each other up. To borrow from Mr. Patel, what I see in the midst of the LGBT suicide epidemic is a Gay Divide:  One which arms good Christians, good Jews, good Muslims to destroy people they don’t know. In a letter published in the Salt Lake Tribune, William Germain writes that recent events show a growing “divide in the way we treat each other, whether with religion, race, sex or politics. We have become a people of hate…It’s almost like we’re fighting a bunch of civil wars, and for no reason.”

In an article for the Washington Post, columnist Mitchell Gold likewise finds that these divides can “have deadly consequences. Gay youth who are rejected or ostracized by their families are at high risk of depression, substance abuse, HIV infection, and dropping out of school. They are also at least four times more likely than other youth to commit suicide. For gay youth who are sent to a therapist who tries to change their sexual orientation, that risk is even higher. Let me emphasize, it is not their being gay that puts them at risk but rather how they are treated by their parents and clergy.” Gold’s column was in response to recent remarks by media demagogue Tony Perkins, who has used the “bullying” controversy to publicly insist that it’s not society’s intolerance that leads to the suicide of kids like Tyler. Perkins affirms that what drives them to suicide is an understanding of their own immorality.

Although people like Tony Perkins, and the many others like him, many be on the front lines of this conflict, Gold seems to insist that an entire system of religious teaching and preaching is implicit in perpetuating the Gay Divide. Gold writes, “During my visits with people of faith in all parts of the country, I have spoken with Evangelicals, Catholics, Protestants and Jews who have been taught that homosexuality is immoral and wrong. Almost invariably, they are surprised and concerned when they hear about the harms caused by those teachings. Many have told me they had not fully considered the impact on a gay young person of being told that he is sinful and abnormal, or that he will be cut off from God’s love unless he can do the impossible and change who he is.”

Certainly, the members of my church never stopped to consider what the effect that their condemnation would have on me, the years of psychological damage that thinking God didn’t, couldn’t possibly, love you would cause. I spent years hating God because of the bigotry of one man, and I was lucky that such sentiments didn’t have the same ultimate effect on me that it had on Tyler. Although I am no longer at the point where I call myself a believer, I know what my travails made me believe in: the power of communities to heal. In high school, I didn’t have God, but I had friends to lift me up, friends who understood what being an outcast was like.  I had the guidance of a history teacher, who was deterred from taking his own life by the kindness of a complete stranger. These allies were living proof of Dan Savage’s assertation that “It Gets Better.”

Religion: A Uniting Force

And I’m here to tell you: it does get better. I don’t believe in a God, but as a member of the Vincent and Louise House, which is DePaul’s Catholic intentional living community, I have nine faithful housemates that I do believe in. As a queer man, I believe in the power of allies like these to help heal the hurt we that we share, to build bridges across social divides. At a recent DePaul vigil to honor the number of LGBT youths who have taken their lives in recent months, a mother from PFLAG came to talk about her unfailing support for her gay son, and another speaker related that their mother’s support in a time of crisis saved their life. But the incredible diversity of attendees showed that this mantle has been taken up by more than just our mothers. In the crowd, I saw teachers, students, friends and lovers standing together, people committed to a better world, committed to making America a safer place for our “weeds” to grow in.

Just as importantly, I stand in solidarity with people of faith committed to speaking about intolerance and calling for change.  Following these controversies, religious leaders like Orthodox Rabbi Shmuley Boteach preached understanding and tolerance, wrote that our congregations have a place for all people, regardless of sexuality.  But what really inspires me are the people who have come together to take action towards building a culture where people of faith and LGBT people are not seen as diametrically opposed. An ideological cousin to the “It Gets Better” project, the “Faith Gets Better” campaign, an initiative by Faith in Public Life, argues that hatred and bigotry divide us, not religion. These courageous religious folks — some queer, some allies — show us that religion can be a force for good in this conflict.

The “queer people of faith” involved in LGBT Change’s The Faith Project likewise testify to the fact that religion does have the power to affirm people of all backgrounds and sexualities. But at the initiative’s launch on Oct. 20, the evening’s speakers preached a far more important message: faith cannot get better all on its own. If we want a world where religion unites rather than divides, where LGBT kids are safe in their own communities, we have to build it.

As an intern for Interfaith Youth Core, we recently launched the Better Together campaign, where we are asking people a similar question: “What If?” What world could we build if “we took action together?” I already know what this world could look like. I see it every day when people come together to dialogue around difference, when people decide that we are better than inherited hatreds.  I see it in the faces of my ever-loving brothers, who never had to work to “accept me” for who I am, whose support and solidarity was as easy as an embrace. I look in their eyes and know that this better world is there, waiting for us to fight for it.

We all have a role in building a society where we love past difference: where we teach our children not to hate each other, where we teach adults not to hate each other, where we are not alone. To be Better Together, all it takes is to be an ally to someone. So, all of you reading this — people of faith, people of no faith — tell someone today that you love them for exactly who they are. Tell them that they don’t need to die for you to stand in solidarity with them. Rather than waiting until it’s too late to honor a loved one, hold up a candle for them today. Taking action now might save a life.

Right click to download “YSLM (You Stopped Loving Me) Treasure Fingers Remix.”

Oh and about that cute video:

Moen’s quotidian insights are heartwarming and familiar; the joy from a “personalized” leaf poured into a latte, or the “aha!” moment that happens when you remember that you’re gay (I mean, sometimes you forget!). But her strength lies in her painful honest critique of herself. One of the strips that sticks with me is about how everything is going so well in her life at the time—friends, drawing, school—but asks herself, “Why can’t I stop waiting for a freak accidental death?” Having the courage to expose that part of yourself in such the public forum of a webcomic takes a lot of guts. And for this I have to commend Moen.

One of the more interesting things about this collection is that it bookends a shift in Moen’s style that may otherwise be missed. The rougher, broken lines of her black-and-white early work look like they’ve been drawn by a whole other person than the artist behind the soft, grayscale compositions from 2009.  It is a little distracting on the whole to have such a stark contrast in styles contained in one book, but it is not something that got in the way of my enjoyment of the book; it just warranted another reading (but I usually read comics twice: once for the words, twice for the pictures).

Her early work has a pictoral wit akin to that of Jeffery Brown, with perfectly frank observations coming through crude drawings. In her later work the drawing style refines, but the warm honesty remains. I would recommend this anthology to any comic lover and/or queer.

Check out this list of slang for yoni’s sorted by gross, food, scary, and others!

photo by Sam Oth, WikiMedia Commons

Sidenote: one of the best categories is awesome.

Excerpt: “My son is gay. Or he’s not. I don’t care. He is still my son. And he is 5. And I am his mother. And if you have a problem with anything mentioned above, I don’t want to know you.”

For more information on the band click here. And click here for some free tracks!

from WikiMedia Commons

I was just thinking about the value of money at work as I was ringing up a transaction for more than I make in a week today.

Matt & Kim and 1200 Enthused Fans

“Fuck!” I look at the clock, disgusted at it for intruding in this wonderful alternate reality. “I’ve actually got a lot to do,” I complain as Badu triggers a memory that tickles against the semi-responsible lobe of my brain. “I’ve got to write that stupid Matt & Kim article,” I continue to lament, having already enjoyed all the fun work parts like INTERVIEWING MATT on Friday, going to the concert that night, and then bubbling about how awesome Matt & Kim were all Saturday.

Yikes, I gotta make words appear on a screen! And then put words in an order that is at least 90 percent cogent with some sort of tolerable narrative.  After spending all weekend debilitating the functional parts of my brain, I gingerly bike back to my house and pick up my laptop. Following a quick stop on Facebook to stalk a person or ten, I began to transcribe my Friday phone interview with Matt*:

Stine: Hi Matt how’s it going? Good? That’s awesome. Since I don’t have much time, let me get right down to the important stuff. What are Matt and Kim Halloween costumes going to look like this year?

Matt: (A pause to decode my breathless stream of questions) We tried to take a poll on stage last night on any notorious duos throughout history but we are still trying to figure out.  Last year we were Andy Warhol and Edie Sedgwick. Then I got hot about three songs in and had to take wig off and then I was just a dude in a black turtle neck. Beyonce and JZ was thrown out there last night. I don’t know. It’s a lot of pressure. Matt asked the crowed for suggestions Friday night. I didn’t hear DC offer any suggestions.

Stine: I’ve got a very DC question for you, one which we are all dying to have you weigh in on – Rally to Restore Sanity or March to Keep Fear Alive; Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert?

Is it just me, or is Matt wearing lesbian shoes? Wishful thinking...yeah I know. I guess we can't appropriate everything.

Matt: (Another pause as he processes yet another not at all music related question) I mean I guess I gotta go Jon Stewart, but Stephen Colbert too you know…I mean they both hold a place in my heart…I mean can we go with both? We are all inclusive like that.

Stine: Well at The New Gay are all about being all inclusive so I’m going to have to say yes. The new album, at least from the Cameras single, seems to incorporate some of the big band sound you’ve had fun playing with during your live shows, especially festivals. Is the new album’s concept to create more booty shaking opportunities for Kim?

Matt: That’s been our ultimate goal overall…any booty shaking possibility – we take. We have her (Kim) stand up on people’s hand over the crowd and give out a booty shake over the crowd…always seems to be a crowd pleaser. (They did this in DC on Friday, clicky clicky to see.) We are big fans of hip hop and dance production…a good heavy beat and a melody and that cuts through…a lot of this we tried to simplify but have it be fun. That’s all Matt & Kim try to be is fun.

Stine: Nice! (I say stuff like Nice! and mean it with real enthusiasm). Your answer is awesome and provides a great transition to my next question – Erykah Badu’s ‘Window Seats’, which she credits you with inspiring, has the same walking in a very public place while stripping thing as ‘Lesson Learned.’ Have ya’ll seen the video? What do you think? Any chance of an M & K & EB collaboration?

Matt: Ha, yeah. So the day she (Badu) was going to shoot Kim got a text that said “ Hey Kim it’s Badu give me a call” and we had never met her and we were like Badu who? Who is Badu? So we never called her. But then her people got with our people and so I called (Kim doesn’t really like to talk on the phone) and she was really buttering me up: “I’m such a big fan, you guys are great, I really like your music” and she wanted me and Kim to come out that day and be in the video or something; maybe be two of the people she walks by but we couldn’t come out.  At first I was really flattered by the whole thing and then the more I thought I was like God Damn she’s ripping us off.  She’s stealing our idea!  But we talked some more and you know she talks in rhymes and riddles and is very far out, as people seem to know, but very sweet.  She’s not trying to shock, not trying to say she was the first one to have this idea…she is encouraging others to take the walk…the freeing, liberating nature of being naked in public. Which is what I got when I walked trough NY naked in February. Which was cold. But liberating. You know? (Matt said something about looking good and I had to fight the urge to tell him I think he always looks good. What can I say, Matt brings out my quiet vestiges of hetero.)

Stine: Wow, we’ve already been on the phone for seven minutes.  Shoot I only have a few minutes left so I have to ask – in this day and age it looks really difficult out there. For you, what’s the most difficult thing about being straight in today’s society?

Matt – (Long pause and a throat clear). I don’t know I never really thought about it. For me, Kim and I’ve been in a relationship for eight years. So I don’t even think of the romantic nature of finding partners and things like that…but I think in the rest of the sense try being a Caucasian straight male: I’m like a blank piece of paper. I’m Matt Johnson; do you know what it’s like trying to get a Gmail account?

Stine: Oh dude, that’s rough. I still have a couple more minutes! Yay more questions! Daylight became the anthem of a Bacardi commercial. What kind of commercial would you like to see Cameras used in?

Matt: (another pause) Uhm, my mind went to that awful Six Flags commercial with that old man and the tune…anything but that commercial, that old man fucking terrified me….anything but that! When we did that (Bacardi commercial) we made sure  we got to see a cut of the commercial first.  You know alcohol commercials can go a bunch of different ways. But they didn’t chop the song up, just put it on top of their video and it was just as much a Matt and Kim commercial as anything else.

Stine: Gotta be honest, that commercial is actually how I was introduced to you guys. So I like this song a lot, but I really have no idea what it is about: what’s the story behind Good Ol Fashioned Nightmare?

Matt: We try to keep our songs open so they can mean what people want them to mean. But, I grew up in Vermont in the middle of God Damn nowhere, went to public school, graduated in a class of 17. Very much country life. Kim was a nanny for two little girls growing up in Brooklyn.  Just seeing how your life is quite a bit different: when I was four years old my parents would open the door and be like hey kid see you later.  Kim’s kids played with sidewalk chalk. My brother and I used to play with cow patties.  But it’s all kind of the same you know? (Uhm, sure, that cleared things up? It also affirms why I heart Matt).

Me: (I was supposed to have 10 minutes but the next person to call in didn’t…so I ate into their time, until I stupidly asked if I could keep asking questions and the people handler lady asked me to make the next question my last). What songs are you jamming to right now in your iPod/CD player/tape deck/8-track devices?

Matt: Big Freedia. It’s like a “sissy bounce” artist, that’s what they call it, from New Orleans (except Matt pronounces it proper – New Awlins), who is considered the queen diva of bounce music. But it’s like another level; crazy, crazy booty bouncing beats. We did a few shows with Big Freedia when we were in New Awlins and Missouri and stuff and there was a lot of booty bouncing going on onstage…big bouncers up there shaking their things.

And that was my interview with Matt.  One interview question I didn’t get to ask: “What’s it like to be the nicest rock/music guy ever?” I get the impression it’s probably kind of awesome.

*Matt speaks a bit fast-ish and he kept saying funny/cool/interesting stuff and I’d slow my typing to listen and then *bam*, I’m a few sentences behind him, so this is not an exact transcription as I had to insert a few linking words that may not have been the exact words he used. So these are essentially 97% Matt quotes and 3% Stine paraphrases.

And a few more pictures from the Matt & Kim concert below:

Kim: She's kind of dreamy right?

photo credit to J. Raney

Saturday night’s Showcase performance will feature 30 gender performance groups from across the US, Canada, and Europe — including our very own DC Kings!  Andy Roginous, ShadeZ, Cami Obscura, Mason Tunite, Bona Fide, Duncan Deeply, Diego El Sabroso, Buck, and Shawn McPenis promise to get you wet and make you scream.  So get your butt up to Baltimore on Saturday night.

International Drag King Extravaganza XII: Gender Justice
http://www.idkexii.com/
Showcase
Saturday October 23, 9pm
Sonar, 407 E Saratoga St, Baltimore
$15

All over the country, we’re asking men:
“If you had one piece of advice that you’d give
another man about love, what would it be?”
These are their answers.

photo by H. Everhart

The Man’s Guide to Love features a very honest, modern love story.  Check out this clip showing that real love can start anywhere and at anytime.

from WikiMedia user theodoranian

Do these actions make you feel any different about Bieber or Vaughn?

I have no idea what this says about our lifestyle, much less our psychology.  Health and cuisine-wise, we both work out and love to cook, and are not egregious couch tubers.  Mentally, I wouldn’t say either of us are especially sadistic or inclined toward enjoying the horrific or painful.  Yet there we sit, on the freest night of the week, microwaved food in hand and Dateline on the screen.

It no longer feels strange, or like a “guilty pleasure” to tune in to episodes entitled “Terror in the Night”, “Never Seen Again”, and “Blood of an Innocent”.  The teaser comes first, promising a happy family torn asunder by tragedy, grisly crime scene photos, and of course a wicked twist that blows the whole case wide open.  Ann Curry then opens the program, dripping with concern, smartly dressed in front of a fake nighttime city skyline.  The set-up and plot follow, with Keith Morrison’s leathery voice and matching catcher’s mit of a face liberally soaking the narration and interviews with dark foreboding.

Generally speaking the victim goes missing, is hoped alive, turns up dead, and then the culprit is punished.  The mustachioed officer of the law expresses regret that the crime could not be prevented but finds satisfaction in having that SOB behind bars.  The family who has remained behind visits the victim’s grave on a sunny day and leaves flowers.  Et fin.

From the commercials (LifeAlert, vitamins, life insurance) it’s clear to us that my boyfriend and I are not the show’s target audience.  So what do we, two homosexuals in our mid-twenties, have in common with the middle-American pre-deceased demographic?

Of course real-life crime always has a natural draw.  Perhaps we’re just like every other rubbernecking couple that slows to peer at a highway wreck.  Maybe after a long week we’re just looking for a little safe sensationalism.  Or it could be that the eternally pubescent gay male immediately skips to being a postmenopausal housewife once he settles down to a committed relationship.

Whether this habit makes us psychologically sick, overly domestic, or just plain boring, I’ve got to say I feel pretty good about it.  The insidious rhythm of intro, tragedy, investigation, twist, conclusion is oddly relaxing, and the fact that it has actually happened in real life enforces the lullaby viewpoint that awful things do happen in the world but they will be put right (even if you end up dead).

There are worse ways to start the weekend!  Just ask the people whose tragedy was featured in “Sadness on a Saturday.”

Hannah Everhart, 10/08

Hannah Everhart, 10/08

Hannah Everhart, 02/09

I seem to really like random rusty things, and trees. (More random rusty things to come)

Hannah Everhart, 03/08

I took this at a chapel during Holy Week in New Mexico a few years ago.