Friday, February 27, 200912:41 AM - (I just learned what that phrase means... to read somebody)I know it's late, but I'm in the mood to read some peopleI love Monty, but he's becoming a serious problem. "Kitten" has become my default word for "cute", so much that I called a friend's dog "Kitten!" last week. In that context, "Kitten" was an enormous black greyhound. I've also been singing a song to Monty: Kitten's drag race Start your engines! Kitten's drag race May the best kitten win! Which brings me to my next subject.... RuPaul's Drag Race! O.M.G. this is a phenomenon that just keeps getting better. Sometimes when I am sitting at work I just want to look at people and tell them, "The time has come to lip sync for your life!" Mostly in the spirit of archiving my thoughts for later, I want to give a quick, spoiler-free read on each of the queens. Akashia: This is a serious case of bad behavior as a a defense mechanism, and it poisons everything. With Akashia's bad attitude, Ru could never, with integrity, recommend her for professional gigs. I was moved with pity when she said, "Reading was never my strongest suit..." after she seemed half-illiterate in one challenge. Bebe: The judges hit it right on the head when they talked about her presence, physical grace, and dignity. She started off a bit invisible, but now she seems like a good candidate for the win. Cameroon! Pet Peeve: sometimes when Bebe's posing, she makes a bug-eyed-and-sucking-lemons face that makes her seem both surprised and horrified. Not pretty. Jade: Super pretty, and great when she moves or dances. Twice in a row, though, she seemed to miss the intent of the challenges completely. To raise money for AIDS, you need to say a bit more than "I am raising awareness for various epidemics and stigmas that affect my community" in your commercial. Nina Flowers: She's super fun and creative, but also very intuitive. I feel like she's avoided having to do some of the challenge tasks well because she's making them fun, but ultimately that might not be enough to win. Ongina: This girl had me crying this week. I love her intelligence and quirky creativity, and she adapts well to what's being asked of her in each challenge. She'll do well. Rebecca: A prime example of my bad taste in men, Rebecca's my favorite and the prettiest one. She seems to be getting the "villain edit" though, so maybe she's really a meaniepants. Compare her crying moment to Ongina's. Bad guy or no, Rebecca needs to fill up the stage more with her persona... she's not going to win this contest by being demure. Shannel: If you've been a professional drag artist for 15 years, does that mean you started doing paid gigs at 14? Really? This is a serious case of "egotism as defense mechanism" and she's really abrasive to me. My fear is that they are going to try to make her into the one who "listens and grows and is on a journey" and take her all the way to the final... Where is my mute button? Like Jade, Shannel seems to miss the point of some of the challenges, or she's too set on doing her own thing to actually do the challenge. Tammie: People keep making a Bette Davis comparison but I think it's a bit more Lucille Ball. There's a lot of humor and quirkiness there, although I'm not sure how many challenges in this competition will be opportunities for comedy to shine, in part because we are following Ru's career and she's not a comedian at all. Victoria: Like Shannel, is hung up on how long she's been a professional. She keeps saying how much "training" the other girls need. Why come on a show called "Drag Race" if you insist that you are not a drag queen but a "gender illusionist" ? Seems a bit stuck in the past... but successful artists re-invent themselves as the times change. Thursday, February 05, 200911:56 AM - I have a new favorite showin which I slowly get digested by the mediaI don't watch much TV... really*.... but thanks to Wil Wheaton, I discovered that Batman: the Brave and the Bold is actually quite enjoyable. And it's rekindled my secret desire to do a Firestorm costume. sigh. Today's biggest thank you goes out to Tom and Lorenzo, my favorite Project Runway bloggers, for pointing out Ru Paul's Drag Race on Logo. OMG. Let me repeat, OMG. I only saw the first episode, but it was Next Top Model crossed with Project Runway and when someone is about to get eliminated: "It's time to lip synch for your life!" The whole premise... the execution... it's amazing. If anything, the drag queen contestants aren't up to the challenge. I mean... clearly you are going to get Ru Paul with this. But Ru Paul in reverse man-drag as Tim Gunn??!? Glasses, jacket, pink tie? I may need to buy this on DVD. *Only Battlestar Galactica, CSI: Miami, and some reality creativity show, like Project Runway or So You Think You Can Dance.... Tuesday, February 03, 20095:03 PM - the hateful and the cutetwo separate tidbitsSomeone just sent me a link to Prop 8 maps, which shows people and business who donated in support of Prop 8, which took away same-sex marriages in California. Each donor shows up as a pin on a Google map, complete with amount(s) donated and professional information. My favorite so far is the man in Alameda who lists his occupation as "Social Justice Coor." I've also found employees of Google, Yahoo, Apple, Sun, Adobe, and more... I can see donors are afraid that a tool like this might be used in a witch hunt against them. I don't have any plans to harass these people, but I do find the statistics and demographics to be very interesting. For all the hype there's been about Prop 8 supporters in Salt Lake City, I think it's especially fascinating to compare the Salt Lake City map to the San Jose map, for example. In cuter news, Monty is still having trouble with mirrors. A few days ago, he had the following exchange: "Hey, it's another cat!" *arches back* "Hey, that cat is arching his back at me!" *runs away* ...he comes back to the same mirror a few minutes later. "Hey, it's a cat in the mirror! But I know that cat is me." "Hey, there's a tail behind me in the mirror!" *turns around and sees own tail* "Hey! It's right behind me!" *runs away* |
