sundries

[rm]

I slept 7.5 hours last night after going to the theater and then going back to work to finish a nightmare project until nearly 4. The whole thing really sucked and I feel tired and overwhelmed.

Tonight is my class reunion starting, inconveniently, at 7:30pm. It's late enough now that it's silly to get up, showered, look nice and go to NYCC or down to Soho or whatever for just a few hours before coming home and getting ready for that, but it also is not raining out and I should do _something_ today (I still need a new pair of boots; I still need a couple of belts I don't hate), although back to bed is a temptation.

Albeit, not really a temptation I can succumb to -- I have other work to do, and stuff I need to be doing for D&J and other creative projects.

I am, I have to confess, really excited for my class reunion (for which I totally need to come up with the elevator pitch response for "what do you do?" -- darlings, what do I do?) for one silly reason if no other. I get to wear my awesome dress again. And it's not just that I look great in that dress. It's that it's associated in my mind now with something that was really magical and awesome for me, and I didn't screw up in some stupid way, and so it's a bit a good luck charm.

I think my new anxiety response is the urge to go platinum blond again. I almost did it before the NYMF party a couple of weeks ago and now I want to do it again -- but this time I think it's a reaction to my reunion.

Also, having recently discovered, through the purchase of the best jeans I have ever owned, that I can go very fitted and still look masculine, I am thinking about a new, slimmer Duchess suit. Specifically, the 8 1/2, specifically in grey (I don't know if any of the greys on the Scotch Basic site are as light as I want in color, so I may need to talk to them about other, pricier fabrics). Thinky thoughts?

Meanwhile, I am still very much on this "yes, yes, poly-romance, 1930s film industry" thing. The 1930s film industry isn't really a period or a setting I've spent much time with, though. Anyone have book recs for me, fact or fiction? I'm narrowing down medium for this thing and edging closer to plot, but I'd love to find some "reading for pleasure" on this front that's also potentially useful.

So, anyway, I saw The History of War, which is about a little boy interacting with world conquerors while writing a school paper, at NYMF last night, and I don't want to trash the hell out of it, because for me to work so hard to like something, says it has something fundamentally compelling going on.

However, it desperately needed to define its heightened world (dream? ghosts? fantasy? heightened reality?) -- it wasn't that in this regard it needed realism, but it needed consistency. Especially when the step dad got shot -- metaphor, reality, who did it? Yadda yadda.

It also desperately needed to decide its position on the dictators of the past. Because the song Hitler did? Went from funny to creepy to very wise (in fact, had the show stuck with the "I just want to be seen" excuse for conquer and slaughter, I would have been ALL OVER IT) to absolutely terrifying monologue about Jewish. Any of those things I could work with when you have Hitler on stage, but I can't work with all of them without any discernible objective.

In problems that may just be mine -- if you're going to put Alexander the Great on stage he needs to be more than just an extended gay joke that then either does or doesn't connect (I couldn't tell) to the boy becoming his protege. Also, do some fucking research and make it clear you're making choices about it -- Alexander was likely a short, stocky man who was not the beautiful youth he marketed himself as. He can be either in your show, but you need to know what you're choose and why (see: Hitler).

Also, the climatic moment with the mother? Now It's Time For the Moral Lesson of Our Show -- look, it's musical theater. I can't ask you not to be heavy-handed, nor would I want to -- but more elegant would be good.

There were also huge structure issues, that it was clear where they came from (yes, the reveal about Manfred's dad is powerful where you left it, but no longer fits the shape of the rest of the show -- SERVE THE STORY).

Things that were awesome:

- Everything about the Caesar number. The acting, the song, the whole deal.

- Alexander's "I Will Conquer You" song. While it was written to be another extended gay joke in a lot of ways, the actor brought EVERYTHING he had to it, and I actually found it very moving.

- Most of the book. Particularly the scenes with the soldiers on the hill. Well fucking written those. Also, when Manfred is reading his lists. They're exceptionally constructed and eerie, and I wish I could remember them better to tell you about them.

- Most of the performances, even if actors weren't always given enough to do. Again, I'm looking at the soldiers on a hill.

My overall feeling: if this is the quality of stuff at NYMF, D&J is so there. Although do you know what is awesome? Getting out of the theater and having voicemail form my collaborator addressing a thing I was worrying at and making it better.

sola will be participating in a 24-hour video-gaming marathon to raise momey for children's hospitals. Follow the link to help with the fund-raising.

The rescue drill has reached the Chilean miners, who are expected to start being brought to the surface sometime next week.

Universal has pulled a trailer that uses gay as an insult after Anderson Cooper and others complained. I want to take a moment here to say something I said on Twitter yesterday: Don't go explaining to gay people why using gay as a pejorative isn't an insult, saying the word is being used in a different context. Yes, language changes, but it's not a different context. The joke in the trailer was saying something about owning a hybrid car as being "so gay." The context there is actually "pathetic" with the implication being "unmanly" and the usage is about misogyny and homophobia. And if you try to tell me otherwise, you are very ignorant or very rude. When being queer is not any sort of oppressed, marginalized or risky position in society so much so that no one could grasp why being gay is bad -- then you can tell me the language has changed.

And just in case you weren't clear that being gay can still be perilous anywhere, anywhen. In New York City, not only have we had recent anti-gay assaults in our gay neighborhoods, but nine men have been arrested for luring three men to a party and then assaulting and torturing them, because they were gay. My city, you people. Mine.

1903 raid on the Ariston Baths was NYC's first anti-gay raid.

For gay tweens (11 - 14) in the NYC-area, it gets better starting now, even if high school looms as a place where it may, potentially, get worse.

Campaign to save gay bar in Cardiff.

Puttenham: nice pub, ancient church, good place for public sex, which, btw, is quasi-legal in the UK.

Comments

[yamx]

Err... do you read german at all? Because Tanja Kinkel's Unter dem Zwillingsstern is a novel set in the 1920s/30s film industry in both Germany and the States. But it appears there's no translation.

Yay! on the Chilean miners. This is so much earlier than the projected Christmas date. :)

As for the trailer--all the articles I've seen said the line had been pulled from the trailer. Has it been pulled from the actual film?

[rm.livejournal.com]

Just the trailer is my understanding.

And I can sort of muddle through business emails in German, but not much more. Which is tragic, because I WANT TO READ THAT BOOK, since I'm not sure my project is set in the US, and I'd like to think about other locales.

[yamx]

Well, I suppose that's good in that more people are going to see the trailer than the film, but still. Unless the character saying it is meant to be an insensitive ass, then maybe it'd fit...

Hmm... maybe if you just gave the book a try, you could muddle through? If I remember correctly, it uses pretty straightforward language. I once read a Star Trek tie-in novel in French, and that is not a language I was ever fluent in.

Though it's obscenely expensive over there. If you want to try, let me know and I'll pick one up and mail it to you. Or wait--you could probably pick it up while your in Switzerland. Most bookstores could order it by the next day. Or buy it used from Amazon.de (you could use your .com account) and have it mailed to the hotel, or Patty's address... But if all of that seems to complex, just shoot me a PM. :)

[i-am-schizo.livejournal.com]

Universal has pulled a trailer that uses gay as an insult after Anderson Cooper and others complained. I want to take a moment here to say something I said on Twitter yesterday: Don't go explaining to gay people why using gay as a pejorative isn't an insult, saying the word is being used in a different context. Yes, language changes, but it's not a different context. The joke in the trailer was saying something about owning a hybrid car as being "so gay." The context there is actually "pathetic" with the implication being "unmanly" and the usage is about misogyny and homophobia. And if you try to tell me otherwise, you are very ignorant or very rude. When being queer is not any sort of oppressed, marginalized or risky position in society so much so that no one could grasp why being gay is bad -- then you can tell me the language has changed.


Stuff like that kinda always reminds me of what Simon Amstell said in an episode of Never Mind the Buzzcocks: "Katy Perry also recorded the song 'Ur So Gay'. It sounds homophobic, but of course she's using the other, fashionable version of the word, meaning anything generally bad. And anyone who thinks that sounds offensive should just Jew off and stop being so bloody black about it."

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Yes!

Man, I despise Kay Perry's music for that and and so many more reasons, and when Amstell said that I cheered like a maniac.
So glad someone said something about that.

[i-am-schizo.livejournal.com]

Yes! I've despised her and her popularity ever since I first had the misfortune to listen to her I Kissed a Girl. I've got an entry with links to pretty good rants on the subject here should you be interested.

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

Ugh, I Kissed a Girl! Every time that song was on the radio I changed the station, no matter where I was.
I remember at the time I was asked how I felt about the song, as obviously, it represented a bisexual experience, I always said that if that was a bisexual experience how come she's doing it's "so feels so wrong"?

Thanks for your rants! Very fun to read :)

[deakat]

Every time I am subjected to that song, I listen to this one to wash out my brain.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I love that song. THAT should have been the huge hit.

I used to play Jill Sobule all the time back when I had my radio show.

[deakat]

You have good taste in both music and fandoms. Thanks for pointing me to the Cumberlove!

[eumelia.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty much disinclined to see that movie now. I don't know how far back the trend for "gay" as a pejorative goes in the US, but it does seem to be more prevalent than ever - it's really unsettling when a word that has been one of the few actually positive adjectives in our vocabulary is appropriated like this.

In Hebrew there is no "gay", it's still derived from homosexual, so the word for gay is in fact "homo" and yeah, still very much used as an insult - only in official media releases is the cleaner word used to describe the QUILTBAG community used "The Proud Community", which is actually nice as the word is "ge'eh", which is almost a homophone, but not quite, to "gay".

Have fun at your reunion!

[ladyofthelog.livejournal.com]

Yeah... that article about Puttenham is now a prompt on the Sherlock BBC kink meme. *looks innocent*

Good links today! I hope the reunion is full of awesomeness (aka the part where you're hotter and cooler than everyone who was ever mean to you in high school).

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

HA! I was just thinking of that very kink meme when I read, not even the article, but the link. :-)

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

What a great article about the group for GLBT tweens.

Did Cooper finally come out when I wasn't looking?

It hasn't that much to do, really, with the 1930s film industry per se, but I never miss an opportunity to rec Lubitsch's 1932 film Trouble in Paradise, which is pre-Hays Office and deliciously racy, hinting at polyamorous themes. It holds up incredibly well today, and I am always amazed at how stunningly sexy Herbert Marshall is in it, because ... well, Herbert Marshall.

[elainasaunt.livejournal.com]

Did Cooper finally come out when I wasn't looking?

Wait, was that a kind of stupid thing to say? I must think so, because a day later it's bothering me. One doesn't have to be out to call Universal on its idiocy. And I respect the decision of any celebrity to keep his or her personal life private. But I'm bothered by the message it sends to gay youngsters when well-known people who are "out in private" feel unable to go public with their sexual orientation. That says there's still something to fear. And, of course, there is. But the more "out in public" celebs there are, the more it will get better.

[elusis.livejournal.com]

The thing that baffles me about that trailer is that, I'm assuming, THE FILM STILL CONTAINS "GAY" USED AS A PEJORATIVE. So what exactly is accomplished by just pulling the trailer? Thanks Universal.

[redstapler.livejournal.com]

Would the movie Delovely (which I know you've already seen, but maybe not with these particular glasses on) be helpful research material?

[liminalia.livejournal.com]

1930s material--not on the film industry, but Henry and June or its source, the diaries of Anais Nin, might be helpful.

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I had no idea public sex was semi-legal in the UK! Very interesting article. Maybe the locals wouldn't be so bothered if the public-sex-havers cleaned up after themselves!

As for the Cardiff gay bar - maybe Torchwood fandom ought to take an interest.

The Vince Vaughn trailer thing - ugh. That really should go without saying. I can only hope (probably in vain) that in the movie, the point is made that the character is a huge asshole for using the word that way...

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

ALSO: that suit is fabulous. Highly recommended! Post pictures when/if you get it!

[wcg.livejournal.com]

darlings, what do I do?

It's a long list, but if I had to sum up what I think you do from my perspective, you're an actress and cultural commentator.

[gement.livejournal.com]

You do media analysis (for the Germans, right? and 'day job' usually gets listed first), a lot of writing about popular culture (including a Harry Potter trivia book), and some acting and modeling.

I really like "cultural commentator."

[sparkindarkness.livejournal.com]

I don't get why people argue when we say "don't use gay like that, it's an insult"

I mean... why? Why argue? Why do it? Is it THAT hard to find a new word? Is it that hard to stop using it? Is it such an imposition? Are they so invested in using the word that they simply must argue with us over it?


I can't even begin to address that NYC case, ye gods I cannot

[misch.livejournal.com]

sola will be participating in a 24-hour video-gaming marathon to raise momey for children's hospitals. Follow the link to help with the fund-raising.

Nifty. Reminds me of people playing Penn & Teller's "Desert Bus" to raise money for Child's Play

[bodlon.livejournal.com]

Well. It's nice to know that when school is over people can continue to hone their bully personae by luring people in and torturing them. WHAT THE FUCK.

When being queer is not any sort of oppressed, marginalized or risky position in society so much so that no one could grasp why being gay is bad -- then you can tell me the language has changed.

Word.

[smirnoffmule.livejournal.com]

I lost my dog at a dogging site once as dusk was falling, and everyone was very sympathetic and helpful. But I do think there is a general need at most sites for a big, visible sign saying PLEASE PUT YOUR CONDOMS IN THE BIN (and a bin), because being comfortable prizing other people's used rubbers out of your dogs' gob takes not being prudish to a whole new level that I have yet to personally attain.