I'm Angelic - who knew?
Posted on 11/12 13:15
Posted on 28/09 16:44
A Contrast in Concerts
Posted on 13/07 11:32
I haven't blogged for a while so I thought: Since I'm at work, what better time to do some writing? I've been really busy lately. I've attended two concerts in the last couple of weeks and I've started remodelling my kitchen. I'm taking photo evidence of the work on the kitchen, so I should have a blog entry soon with befores and afters. For now I'll talk about the concerts. Both concerts were courtesy of my manpanion's job as a magazine reviewer. Doesn't pay much, but we get lots of free entertainment. "Free" always makes things taste better.
The first concert was last Monday July 3rd. It was in Indianapolis at the Verizon Wireless stage (I really hate the trend of naming venues after businesses, but that's a whole 'nother blog.) which is a good 4-hour drive away. We spent the night there since the concert lasted 'til after our bedtime and we were sleepyheads. The gas, hotel, and not to mention a dog sitter all came out of our pocket. So it turned out to be a pretty expensive "free" concert. However, the main event was Nine Inch Nails, so it was totally worth it (to me). My head exploded as Trent screamed his hate rock at our faces. It was AWESOME! There were 2 opening acts - Peaches, and Bau Haus. I know nothing of either opening acts, but they were both satisfying in their rockitude. So good time was had by HB and partner.
There was this red-neck couple in the seats in front of us (row 26 by the way - not too fuckin' bad - eh?) who were drunk off their asses. The guy was really being obnoxious and poking fun at the bands while the girl kept trying to excuse her mate's assitude by saying to us that he liked The Grateful Dead and didn't understand this music or something (drunk reasoning is sometimes hard to follow). Then the guy started slurring something unintelligible at us as we tried our best to ignore both of them. (Bizarrely, I kept noticing how white and straight their teeth were.) My boyfriend hates people in general (as do I) and would not even acknowledge the asshole by looking in his direction. The asshole didn't take kindly to being ignored and started yelling "HEY!" at my man to get his attention. My boyfriend's gaze never veered toward the guy and he finally gave up. I could never do that. I have this disability where I feel I should be courteous to people even when they're fucktarded. I need to work on that.
After NIN came on stage, the idiot couple in front of us got into the music (how could they not?) and started dancing and making out to it (gross!). As they gyrated and stumbled, they splashed their beers around (since it was apparently impossible for them to place them in the cup holders directly in front of them) and everyone within 10 feet of them (including the two of us) got a beer baptismal. They disappeared about halfway through the concert. I think (and hope) they were escorted out by security.
The concert ended with a bang - literally - as fireworks exploded in the sky above. Like I said, it was awesome. I rocked my ass off and was hoarse from screaming the lyrics along with Trent "Holy Be Thy Name" Reznor.
Okay, on to concert two. This one was last night, July 12. It was the legendary Melissa Etheridge at the fabulous FOX theatre in St. Louis. I'm not a huge Melissa fan, but I have to give the girl props. She rocked the house as she sang her ass off for three hours. The sound was deafening not only from the stage, but from the roaring audience. We were in the third fuckin' row and left with our eyes and ears bleeding from the onslaught of rock. I don't think the concert necessarily made me any more of a fan of the Etheridge, but I definitely have to move her up my respect-o-meter. Once again, good time had.
As a side note, we were a gay man boat adrift in a sea of lesbians. Not that there's anything wrong with that (I love my beautiful lezzie sisters), it was just an environment I'd never been in before and it was almost alien - in a "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" awestruck kind of way rather than a Sigourny Weaver vs. the slime-dripping "Aliens" way. Near the end of the concert, security allowed the queer ladies to assemble at the stage and worship at the alter of their goddess and touch her hand. It brought a tear to HB's eye.
Another side note: On the way to Indianapolis while passing through Effingham, IL, our eyes were bombarded by this monstrosity:
The picture doesn't do it justice. This thing was fucking huge. If someone was trying to get our attention, mission accomplished. We still hate religion though.
HB
The first concert was last Monday July 3rd. It was in Indianapolis at the Verizon Wireless stage (I really hate the trend of naming venues after businesses, but that's a whole 'nother blog.) which is a good 4-hour drive away. We spent the night there since the concert lasted 'til after our bedtime and we were sleepyheads. The gas, hotel, and not to mention a dog sitter all came out of our pocket. So it turned out to be a pretty expensive "free" concert. However, the main event was Nine Inch Nails, so it was totally worth it (to me). My head exploded as Trent screamed his hate rock at our faces. It was AWESOME! There were 2 opening acts - Peaches, and Bau Haus. I know nothing of either opening acts, but they were both satisfying in their rockitude. So good time was had by HB and partner.
There was this red-neck couple in the seats in front of us (row 26 by the way - not too fuckin' bad - eh?) who were drunk off their asses. The guy was really being obnoxious and poking fun at the bands while the girl kept trying to excuse her mate's assitude by saying to us that he liked The Grateful Dead and didn't understand this music or something (drunk reasoning is sometimes hard to follow). Then the guy started slurring something unintelligible at us as we tried our best to ignore both of them. (Bizarrely, I kept noticing how white and straight their teeth were.) My boyfriend hates people in general (as do I) and would not even acknowledge the asshole by looking in his direction. The asshole didn't take kindly to being ignored and started yelling "HEY!" at my man to get his attention. My boyfriend's gaze never veered toward the guy and he finally gave up. I could never do that. I have this disability where I feel I should be courteous to people even when they're fucktarded. I need to work on that.
After NIN came on stage, the idiot couple in front of us got into the music (how could they not?) and started dancing and making out to it (gross!). As they gyrated and stumbled, they splashed their beers around (since it was apparently impossible for them to place them in the cup holders directly in front of them) and everyone within 10 feet of them (including the two of us) got a beer baptismal. They disappeared about halfway through the concert. I think (and hope) they were escorted out by security.
The concert ended with a bang - literally - as fireworks exploded in the sky above. Like I said, it was awesome. I rocked my ass off and was hoarse from screaming the lyrics along with Trent "Holy Be Thy Name" Reznor.
Okay, on to concert two. This one was last night, July 12. It was the legendary Melissa Etheridge at the fabulous FOX theatre in St. Louis. I'm not a huge Melissa fan, but I have to give the girl props. She rocked the house as she sang her ass off for three hours. The sound was deafening not only from the stage, but from the roaring audience. We were in the third fuckin' row and left with our eyes and ears bleeding from the onslaught of rock. I don't think the concert necessarily made me any more of a fan of the Etheridge, but I definitely have to move her up my respect-o-meter. Once again, good time had.
As a side note, we were a gay man boat adrift in a sea of lesbians. Not that there's anything wrong with that (I love my beautiful lezzie sisters), it was just an environment I'd never been in before and it was almost alien - in a "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" awestruck kind of way rather than a Sigourny Weaver vs. the slime-dripping "Aliens" way. Near the end of the concert, security allowed the queer ladies to assemble at the stage and worship at the alter of their goddess and touch her hand. It brought a tear to HB's eye.
Another side note: On the way to Indianapolis while passing through Effingham, IL, our eyes were bombarded by this monstrosity:
The picture doesn't do it justice. This thing was fucking huge. If someone was trying to get our attention, mission accomplished. We still hate religion though.
HB
My A-list Celebrity
Posted on 21/06 10:27
If you don't know who Kathy Griffin is, here's the lowdown. She's probably most well-known for her run on the sitcom "Suddenly Susan" with Brooke Shields. She's also a sassy redhead and a stand-up comedian with a frantic delivery who's main spiel is celebrity gossip. This may sound like a trite subject for a comedy routine and - well, ok - it is. But sometimes it's just fun (although maybe a little cruel sometimes) to abandon the real world for a while and mock those who have it way better than us unwashed masses. I normally avoid anything celebrity- or Hollywood-related, but I can't help but love Kathy. She revels in the showbiz cesspool and comes out smelling like a turd (unavoidable), but she doesn't care and she's funny as hell.
So why am I bringing her up? I'll get to that soon - stay with me. Kathy's currently in the second season of her show on the cable channel Bravo called "Kathy Griffin: My life on the D-list" To explain the title: There are your A-list celebrities--Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, etc. Your B-list celebrities fall below them in that they are less well-known, less paid, etc. So Kathy claims to fall below even the C-list celebrities and labels herself on the D-list. It's self-deprecating humor at its best - probably more like false modesty, but whatever.
I've been a fan of Griffin's for years so I TiVoed last season's show and saw every episode. It was pretty good for reality TV (something else I normally try to avoid). It portrayed her as hardworking yet disrespected and an outsider in the celebrity world. She has a great sense of humor about it though and seems to have a good heart underneath all the brashness. One storyline from last season involved her doing a charity event at her home for Toys for Tots. She made it seem like she was doing it for all the wrong reasons: getting on the news, free stuff for her house, and celebrities on her show. It was funny, but underneath it all, it was a good cause and I think that's really why she did it.
This season's big story line is her going to Iraq to entertain the troops. WOW! My estimation of her just went up several notches. And it's not just a gimmick. She's been to Afghanistan as well in the past. This is just something she does. Watching interviews with some of the troops afterward was heartwrenching. One soldier talked about how she had lost a friend recently in an attack and how she had not slept for days. She then smiled as she recalled the show Kathy had put on for them, and how for a couple of hours at least, she was able to forget the war and just laugh. This was last night's (Tuesday's) show and it was the best thing I'd seen on TV for a while.
The clips of the shows she put on for the troops and other audiences are hilarious. The drama and danger and tragedy of the war are real. This is great television. This is why I love Kathy Griffin and think she's A-list. This is why you should watch this show. It's real reality TV and it's worth your time and attention.
HB
So why am I bringing her up? I'll get to that soon - stay with me. Kathy's currently in the second season of her show on the cable channel Bravo called "Kathy Griffin: My life on the D-list" To explain the title: There are your A-list celebrities--Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, etc. Your B-list celebrities fall below them in that they are less well-known, less paid, etc. So Kathy claims to fall below even the C-list celebrities and labels herself on the D-list. It's self-deprecating humor at its best - probably more like false modesty, but whatever.
I've been a fan of Griffin's for years so I TiVoed last season's show and saw every episode. It was pretty good for reality TV (something else I normally try to avoid). It portrayed her as hardworking yet disrespected and an outsider in the celebrity world. She has a great sense of humor about it though and seems to have a good heart underneath all the brashness. One storyline from last season involved her doing a charity event at her home for Toys for Tots. She made it seem like she was doing it for all the wrong reasons: getting on the news, free stuff for her house, and celebrities on her show. It was funny, but underneath it all, it was a good cause and I think that's really why she did it.
This season's big story line is her going to Iraq to entertain the troops. WOW! My estimation of her just went up several notches. And it's not just a gimmick. She's been to Afghanistan as well in the past. This is just something she does. Watching interviews with some of the troops afterward was heartwrenching. One soldier talked about how she had lost a friend recently in an attack and how she had not slept for days. She then smiled as she recalled the show Kathy had put on for them, and how for a couple of hours at least, she was able to forget the war and just laugh. This was last night's (Tuesday's) show and it was the best thing I'd seen on TV for a while.
The clips of the shows she put on for the troops and other audiences are hilarious. The drama and danger and tragedy of the war are real. This is great television. This is why I love Kathy Griffin and think she's A-list. This is why you should watch this show. It's real reality TV and it's worth your time and attention.
HB
Two Movies
Posted on 20/04 16:47
My boyfriend writes movie reviews so he gets to see a lot of movies for free. Since I hang out with him, I get the side-effect of seeing them for free too. We saw two independent films recently that were pretty decent. The first is "Adam and Steve." It's a story about two gay guys and their adventures in relationship. I give it a million stars for having Parker Posey in it alone. But seriously, it was a great comedy, but not that great on social commentary (what independent films are all about. Right?). It had some messages - like how ridiculous homophobia is and "drugs are bad" - but some scenes were so over-the-top unrealistic (the characters broke into song once, and there was actually a dance-off) that it took away some of the suspension of disbelief. I really liked the movie overall, and highly recommend it. It was a fun time.
"Kinky Boots" is a movie out of England based on a true story. A struggling shoe factory decides to pull itself out of the red by changing it's line to drag-queen footwear. It was a fun movie as well. It was less "edgy" than I was expecting. Everything turned out wonderful in the end and left the theater audience glowing and sparkly. It was sort of a cross between "The Full Monty" and that one drag queen movie with Patrick Swayze.
Though both movies were feel-goody and warm (the opposite of me), I still recommend them. After my experience seeing "Scary Movie 4" at the multiplex (what was I thinking?) these movies were a breath of fresh air. No wait, that's too nice - they were a breath of overly perfumed air after trying to breathe in a pile of poo.
HB
"Kinky Boots" is a movie out of England based on a true story. A struggling shoe factory decides to pull itself out of the red by changing it's line to drag-queen footwear. It was a fun movie as well. It was less "edgy" than I was expecting. Everything turned out wonderful in the end and left the theater audience glowing and sparkly. It was sort of a cross between "The Full Monty" and that one drag queen movie with Patrick Swayze.
Though both movies were feel-goody and warm (the opposite of me), I still recommend them. After my experience seeing "Scary Movie 4" at the multiplex (what was I thinking?) these movies were a breath of fresh air. No wait, that's too nice - they were a breath of overly perfumed air after trying to breathe in a pile of poo.
HB
