How fantabulous was it to watch Olivia admit her love, then to have Natalia run off on Frank and then to have Otalia find each other at the gazebo, where Natalia finally admitted her love to Olivia?! Watching this organic relationship come to fruition was well worth the wait. Natalia’s struggle with her faith, and Olivia’s uncharacteristic selflessness (let’s face it people, Olivia’s always been a self-serving manipulative bitch) proved that love is never predictable. Olivia and Natalia may be now sorting out their feelings, but the rest of us know that we want some happily ever after for Otalia! It’s a shame that Guiding Light stepped up it’s game right before the curtains came tumbling down. Had GL focused on such a natural, realistic love story (NO MATTER THE SEX) rather than gimmicks then the doom of cancellation could’ve been avoided. At least we have a few more months to root for a happy ending for Otalia!!!
P.S. Kudos to having Guiding Light’s in the closet lesbian mayor, Doris, volunteer to officiate at the wedding…as she egged Olivia on to stop it from happening!
Slowly but surely Fischerspooner has been bubbling back up in 2009, getting ready for the release of their new record, Entertainment. A tour has been scheduled, choreography has been made and rehearsals can be seen at the revamped website. I like the slightly interactive new site, you can move the buttons around, poke around for different background videos and download the first single and a remix by D.I.M right off the splash page. The live show is being called “Between Worlds” and combines “elements from the worlds of art, fashion, theatre and music. Front man Casey Spooner leads the pack of performers on stage with him through an orchestrated dialogue between avant-garde technique, classical tradition, and pop frivolity. Costumes, choreography and stagecraft collide to create a surprising new musical performance that is both flamboyant and tough.” Choreography by Vanessa Walters, this behemoth is coming to Chicago on May 30th at Metro.
I’ve was sent some interesting European televison ads with sensitive protrayals of trans gender identity. It’s a little jarring when the products are plugged but still pretty incredible to think that these were aired on TV. After poking around ye olde youtube, I found some other vids worth posting.
Italian ad for Campari
Transgender Children – Out of the Shadows
This one seemed to be a Public Service type of film for educational purposes.
The best was this youtube channel for Laidbaqq, a young black trans man’s video blog about his present experiences, challenges and questions. In this video, he responds to people who think they know who is and who is not trans based on physical traits and hormone taking.
Even for the most daringly liberal thinker and lover of art, the story arch of Genesis P-Orridge and Throbbing Gristle can be confusing. Beyond that, the music can be really challenging to listen to and if the recent batch of shows is any indication, the sound hasn’t changed much since the 70′s. Check out the difference between the two vids above, one from a show in their early days, and another from the other week in NYC. What has changed most is Genesis P-Orridge–at least on the outside. The impact of such a transformation with the art world watching cannot be underestimated; the pandrogyny and the constant use of a plural pronoun make it a unique, if not a hard, sell. Genesis would not be as important if they weren’t so damn smart and well spoken, though. There is a recent interview over at Rock and Roll Dating that illustrates my point. That, and the fact that Throbbing Gristle never toured the U.S. in when they started, make these recent shows that much more significant. Throbbing Gristle are playing four shows this Saturday and Sunday at the Logan Square Auditorium and Epiphany Church, as of this writing there are still tickets for Sunday.
If you live in Chicago and are both 1. queer and 2. hip, you’ve known about the Chances Dances crew for some time. After out-growing the young and fashionable dance party crowd at their main place, Subterranean, they created a more laid back night with Off Chances. Off Chances has been going strong as a “laid-back, dive-style, dance-optional party for Chicago’s LGBTIQ community” at one of the more popular hangouts in the (quickly Lincoln Parkifying) Wicker Park. Since late 2007, Off Chances has been offering a limited amount of mix CD’s for free, and they just alerted me to their blog where you can get all of the mixtapes in one place. This podcasting site posts every Off Chances mix CD as a single mp3, along with the art work and tracklist. The latest batch is “Spring Mix (I Need the Sunlight)” from DJ Dick Simmons. Free music is basically how it goes, and these mixes are curated for your pleasure.
I was already enjoying this song and playing it in my DJ sets, then the label sent me a link to the video. In it, two pretty boys brood alone at home before meeting at a park, then they make out. What could be some plain-jane depictions of idealized body types turns out a little sexier–they could be boyfriends, or they could be on a first meet up after chatting online. And it could be racially mixed. In any case, the making out is hot. And the song is nice – the production doesn’t get rave-y, the vocals have a punky vibe and the subtleties in the synths keep my attention. Adrian Lux‘s 2nd single, “Can’t Sleep” is available from La Vida Locash, and he also has a free downloadable 1 hour mixtape called “Vanity Fair #2,” available if you click here. Tracklist and streaming video of it after the jump.
The website is not much in the way of design, but the folks behind the Queer People’s Health Collective are so important in Chicago. “QPHC is a loosely organized group of people charged with working toward improvements in the field of queer and trans health.” They recently collaborated with the Chicago Women’s Health Center to create access to gynecological services for trans folk. What I’m liking so much about the site is that it looks outside the standard meth addiction and AIDS awareness issues that you usually see in queer health forums. Those are still important, yes, but QPHC is concerned with hormone therapy, breast cancer and being proactive about your own day-to-day health habits. Highlight: the resources page, where downloadable information on self-exams and self injection of T. Thank you for all of your work, QPHC!
If you can take your attentions away from the completely punk rock synths swelling and stabbing your ears into pop ecstasy, then you’ll notice queer MC’s Bunny Rabbit and Black Cracker participating in the dance party. This song is from Telepathe‘s album Dance Mother, out now.
This new video for Abe Vigoda‘s song “Don’t Lie” is a little too California for me. Something about living over there makes psychedelic treatments of roads seem, uh, video-worthy. In any case, our favorite Latino queer in the driver’s seat (where we like them) has a nice new beard, and the song is a muddly pop jam.
