The Gaysian Invasian

Epic fail with the blog plans...my bad!

2009-10-28T21:40:00.000-07:00

Well apparently work boredom related motivation stops...once you stop working! Whoops, as such all of my ambitious goals for the blog has fallen by the wayside, though I did try. I have to say this summer was rather hectic and fairly insane (as insane as a globe trotting vet student's can be). So for now I'll just wave a quick hello, say how do you do and fill you guys in on my latest queer related pop cultural loves next time. However, no post would be complete without at least one photo of a dearly beloved dykon of mine.

::Sigh:: It's been too long Ms. Beals.

Ghostbusters 3!

2009-05-27T15:08:00.000-07:00

Well it's official, there will be a Ghostbusters 3 annnnd it will have the entire original cast (but I'm not sure if Annie Potts is included in that achievement). I'm having rather mixed feelings about this since, quite frankly, Ghostbusters is one of the few cherished movie memories of my childhood and sometimes...you just can't go back. Still though, Sigourney Weaver will reprise her role and I have to say she probably is the reason why Ghostbusters was also one of my childhood movie favs...What do you ladies think? Excited or skeptical?

Ah, fond memories (Aliens was also a fond childhood movie of mine)

Jack the Ripper

2009-05-27T00:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday, February 7, 2009

In a blatant attempt to avoid studying (damn you pathology!) I figured I'd take a few minutes to just write a quick blog about the events that transpired yesterday. In a fit of what I can only assume as sadistic humour from the cosmos, this was shortly after I posted the previous blog about jack's antics. Since Jack has been going through a period of trial separation from his BFF, Beni, he's been a bit off the wall (as my now dearly departed bra will attest), I figured that I would take advantage of the free morning I had and take him to the field. I should've known that nothing but trouble would occur when the first thing I encountered that morning was a ginourmous spider in our bathroom sink (how did it even get there!?).

In any event, I'm not really good with the details pre-coffee, so it totally slipped my mind that there was a small family of kittens that lived on the dirt road by the school. Well...it didn't slip Jack's notice, because as I bent to pick up one of his "look what I did mom!" piles, he spotted a kitten and ran off before i could properly grab ahold of the leash. I could clearly see in his eyes the only thought that was running through his head..."ZOMFG! THIS IS THE BESTEST GAME EVAH!" Needless to say he was off like a shot. After a good 5 minutes of reaffirming that his recall command needed work, I had to hide behind a car for him to come looking for me. Who knew the best course of action when in panic is to exploit your pets weaknesses. Oh and following that realization, I find it AWESOME that Jack is more insecure than obedient. Just lovely (note the sarcasm).

Well after that fun game of keep away, I stupidly proceeded to the field with Jack. Once again, my brain not really helping with the details, missed the giant stagnant pond in the middle of the field...that giant, nasty, parasite filled pond...that Jack has been known to romp around in. Oh and romp he did. I was like a turettes induced moron yelling "giardia! worms!" as I tried to round him out of the pond, to no avail. Once again, defaulting to the whole "exploitation" plan, I walked away as quickly as possible and Jack followed. Now, any semi-intelligent person would've left at this point. We were only out for a grand total of 20 minutes and already we had two "make mom look like an ass" snafus. Nope, once again, epic fail in the detail department for my little ol'brain.

We moved further down the field (closer to Taylor Hall) when Jack suddenly discovered "OMFG! MUD!" and proceeded to munch down that gross, stinky dirt with all his might. As every single intestinal parasite flashed through my mind (with some squirts thrown in for good measure) I just gave up the game and stomped ankle deep into the mud to remove him. and myself from the field. I cannot even begin to contemplate what a hot mess I must've looked like, but I can tell you how pleased as punch Jack looked. >_<

To add insult to injury, I didn't realize that I was covered in mud (due to being really really friggin peeved) until I got INTO my car...and then also realized that the school had just recently cut the grass as well....leaving me somewhat tarred and feathered (uh...dirtied and greened?) as I realized that over the clumps and streaks of mud that I was covered in was also liberally spotted with grass stalks. Lovely. Needless to say we got home in short order and Jack will NOT be seeing the field until he learns a solid recall command...

Jack the Belgian Malinois

2009-05-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

Jack is my puppy and I've had him for a totally of seven months. In that time he's gotten into more mishaps (and dragged me with him) than I can recount. I've been blogging about our mishaps on my facebook account, but I've decided to post them here also, since well...puppy mayhem is a universally loved thing, I figured why not. I'll try and re-post the blogs in the order they occurred and probably re-post one per week. I hope you guys get as much of a kick of them as my facebook buddies have.

This was roughly a month after I adopted Jack and shortly after we arrived home for winter break.

Jack Attack
Friday, December 26, 2008

So it's barely been two weeks since we got home and Jack has not failed to find new ways to mortify and amuse me. Here a some recent misadventures he managed to get himself (and me) into.

1. Besting evolution. One would think the lack of an opposable thumb would stop him...but..he managed to lock himself in my room...he's learned that the door knob has something to do with opening and closing the door, so when put in a room he will repeatedly swipe at the knob. Somehow, over the course of a few hours he was able to snag the lock, unfortunately I did NOT have a key and so we had to drill a hole through the door and push the lock back open with a twisted up coat hanger. Throughout the 30 minute ordeal of trying to get the door open, I was able to sneak a peek through the hole and noticed Jack, unconcerned, sleeping away on my bed. Gah!
2. The stolen soccer ball. Evidently a soccer ball is just as good as a balloon because the other day while playing fetch with him at the local school yard (which we have to break into, cause New York sucks for dog parks), he spotted a bunch of guys playing soccer. While we were in a smaller yard adjacent to the main field, he was unable to get to his prize. Though he did manage to sneak past my brother's girlfriend, me and my brother at one point and made a grab at the ball. He scared the crap out of three grown men in the process. However, when the guys accidently kicked the ball over the fence into our field all bets were off. Jack grabbed the ball and promptly killed it, much to my embarrassment. I offered to pay for the ball, but fortunately the guys were nice enough to let it go.
3. Food thievery. Jack has gotten quite adept at stealing food off the counter (from my mom) when no one's looking. He's managed to snag a half a TRAY of salad, a quarter of a cake and for some reason really enjoys munching at my dads plants.
4. The knock over. He firmly believes that the best way to play with my ancient pom is to run into her. He managed to knock into her the other day and actually hurt her. She limped for 20 minutes and he got a time out of epic proportions.
5. The mission. His current goal in life (besides to give me a heart attack) is to find a way into my neighbors yard. He's seen Wasabi do it once (she's all of five pounds and fits through her screen, but she doesn't do anything anyway) so now he MUST do it. I give him another week to get his head stuck.
6. He loves my mom...who's petrified of dogs. He takes every opportunity he can to give her kisses, cuddle and be generally touchy. My mom is not amused.

Gaysian's Daily Book Review!

2009-05-14T06:37:00.000-07:00

I'm an avid reader. I spend copious amount of time and money consuming whatever unlucky novel that happens to fall into my hands. I'll read pretty much anything, but as a gay woman, I have a hard time finding novels that focus on queer women and that are also good (i.e. fun or well written). So I decided I would attempt to do a weekly novel review. I'm still hammering out details of how I'll go about this, after all I'm a vet student and not writer (as I'm sure you all must have noticed by my lack of blogging skills by now), but I do ultimately want to have a section of books to recommend (or not) and quick synopsis of their plots. So bear with me ladies as I work out the kinks. Now on to the reviews!

Dead Witch Walking, by Kim Harrison. Released April, 2004

Since best selling novelist, Laurel K. Hamilton stepped into the scene a few years ago with her debut novel Guilty Pleasures she has since, if not created, but popularized a new literary genre, urban fantasy. I happen to be a fan of urban fantasy for a number of reasons. The books usually feature a strong, clever, and sexually confident heroine and I've found much to my delight a number of queer characters and a no-nonsense acceptance of nontraditional sexualities in these novels.

The book/author I'm about to recommend is the first in a continuing series, is Dead Witch Walking by Kim Harrison. The series is set in an alternate world where a worldwide pandemic caused by genetically modified tomatoes (they were carrying some sort of virus) led to the near extinction of a large portion of the world's human population. Since the human population had been reduced to the point where there was as many "Inderlanders" (witches, werewolves, vampires, etc.) as humans, who were unaffected by the virus the Inderlanders decided to reveal themselves to the world at large.

Rachel Morgan is an Inderlander, a witch (in the novel witches are considered a separate species, with different life spans and such) who works at the Inderland Security (I.S) as a runner (a sort of government employed bounty hunter) in a dead end job. However, no one leaves the I.S and when she attempts to get out of her work contract all sorts of hell breaks lose. Along the way she partner's up with Ivy, a badass bi-sexual vampire, partly of Asian decent who is also interested in leaving the I.S. This friendship plays a central role throughout the series, as Rachel isn't sure if Ivy wants to work with her or eat her and so their unlikely partnership begins.

While Rachel identifies as straight, the relationship between Ivy and Rachel continues to grow and evolve over the entirety of the series. Ivy is a much loved character of the series and plays a large role in a number of the novels. I won't lie, she's my favorite of series and I squeal in delight every time she does something awesome or scary (which is quite frequent). I highly recommend this novel. It's well written and a fun read. The stories are engaging and there are a slew of wonderful and interesting side characters that return in almost every subsequent novel. If you like fantasy, hot chicks, queer ladies, action, and a good dash of angst thrown in for fun then do yourself a favor and pick up this series!

I Can't think Straight

2009-05-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

I somehow managed to miss the release date for this first effort film by writer, director and producer Shamim Sarif. I believe that this film and it's sister film The World Unseen were released rather soon after another, with this film being released at a slighter later time. However, this movie was filmed first and while it's exciting and great to have another queer Asian film out, I hate to say, that it is evident that this is a debut film.

Warming Spoilers Follow!

The story takes place in England, between Tala (Lisa Ray) and Leyla (Sheetal Sheth) as two young women of middle eastern and south Asian decent who struggle against traditional views in order to find love. For the most part the story is light, despite such heavy and serious undertones. As a film the movie strives to be both a comedy and a romance with some political commentary thrown in. I understand the need to bring forth the issues that queer women face in their families that are both related to their queerness or their culture but I didn't feel that the film did a good job of managing that in a way that wasn't stilted and was very preachy. For example when Tala and Leyla met, Tala engages Leyla in a rather (I feel) confrontational conversation about Islam (Tala is Muslim) and why her religion doesn't offend her. As a viewer I found that odd and unbelievable, as the conversation was totally unprovoked and way out of line on Tala's part. The dialogue too could have used some help.

As a romance the film fell upon cliche's (really, K.D Lang and Sarah Water's novels prominently displayed and suddenly your sister gets a clue about your "gayness"!?) and while there was some truly sexy scenes and great chemistry between the characters, their was some cringe inducing moments of romance cheese that I could not overlook. A box of roses with a love letter (handwritten, nonetheless) waxing poetic about Tala's yearning for Leyla. Um. No. I read trashy, lesbian fiction all the time, but even that was a bit too much "cheddar" for me.

Another issue I had with the film was the soundtrack. I like and enjoyed the choice of music, but felt that they were too obvious and heavy handed in using the soundtrack to illustrate "important themes" and to compensate for bad scripting. Unfortunately a tactic that was used one time too many throughout the film.

Overall, despite my criticisms, I did enjoy the show. The main actresses worked with what they had and made it work for them. The cliche's and contrived plot did lead to a fluffy, but still fun (if occasionally cringe inducing) movie.

"You want my character to say what? But that's...so...cheesy!"

Hotness!

They need to stop, no really they do...

2009-05-08T17:29:00.000-07:00

Warning Spoiler Alert!

I just finished watching last night's episode of Grey's Anatomy and I have to say that I am both surprised and annoyed that they are continuing Callie's unbelievable storyline of being broke. She spent the entirety of this last episode avoiding Arizona (her current gal pal) and being generally vague about what her problem with her new girlfriend was. While, Arizona was very adorable chasing Callie around and demanding an answer, Callie's ultimate reason for her issues...not being able to afford dinner at a nice restaurant was just too unbelievable. Pediatric surgeons make an average of 340,000 a year, same as orthopedic surgeons! And I'm pretty sure that Arizona had to pay for her own education...so how in the world is Callie broke and Arizona isn't? At least Arizona had to pay her own rent and other luxuries over the past few years. I also can't believe that her dad cleaning out her bank account is legal or that a 20-30 year old woman doesn't have her own personal bank account. So yes, I am annoyed that that's the best that the show could do with Callie and her current story. Though the scene with Callie and Arizona at the end eating pizza, half nekkid was certainly sweet.

Wash!

2009-05-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

Warning Spoilers Ahead!

What! What! Last night's episode of Doll House was awesome only because of one thing...Alan Tudyk! Wash! And to think I was just waxing poetic about Firefly two days ago, oh happy day. I usually don't route for the antagonist of shows but holy crap was Wash awesome as Alpha. Major bad ass. And the way he and Ecco made their exit? Beautiful. Can't say I'm too attached to any of the other characters, but I do like Sierra and Adele. Agent Ballard annoys the hell out of me (a Prince complex? Really?) and the writing has been so, so...but just because of how awesome Alpha was, I'm hoping they renew for another season!

Rydyk-culous...

2009-05-02T10:21:00.000-07:00

Warning Spoilers Ahead!

Despite my disappointment in the Grey's Anatomy producers and writers in allowing the character of Erica Hahn to so suddenly and conveniently disappear into the proverbial sunset because she was not the "right" (i.e. marketable) gay, I've continued to follow the show. I'm a medical student (veterinary) and so I have an appreciation for that (albeit badly written) aspect of the show and I just love Christina Yang (Sandra Oh). The show is like a trashy romance novel that you don't want your smarty, snarkier friends to find out you read. Well, despite the many errors of the show, I generally try to keep the complaining in my own living room and amongst my friends. However, last night I really was just amazed at the amount of "suspended belief" the writers expect us to execute in order to push forward a story line. Callie (whom I'm kinda ambivalent about to be honest) and Arizona (who apparent is gay in the right way, she just got a regular spot on the show) are now the new budding couple at Seattle Grace. Cue in the drama.

Callie's over-protective father, who feels the best way to deal with his daughter's sudden Sapphic tendency is to remove her from Seattle and have her live with him and his wife in Miami (which I'm sure is the straightest place in the world ::cue eye roll::). Now this irks in a number of ways. The first being that he was more accepting of his daughter marrying some random guy, who she ends up divorcing after a few months because he cheated on her. Or her non-romantic hook ups with the hospitals resident man-ho (Sloan). Somehow those two situations, of which I'm sure any father would take exception to, where more acceptable than the sweet, innocent and what seems so far, as a healthy supportive relationship with a woman (a cute, doctor woman!). Granted her father probably doesn't know the details of any of those relationships and he's supposed to come off as a jerk, but really?

Well apparently Callie standing up to her father has caused him to cut her off from her trust fund. Oh no. What is an ORTHOPEDIC SURGEON to do! A debt free one at that (she stated that her father paid for all of her schooling). Now, she can't even make rent! How will she be able to survive on her measly 401,000 thousand (the average salary of an orthopedic surgeon) a year! Um, no Grey's, while it's refreshing to have a coming out story involving a woman of color and her family on t.v, I have to say her situation does not represent the typical "out on your own" coming out story and no amount of Callie whining about her lack of funds can suddenly make us believe that a show about surgeons are somehow going to be broke because they don't have daddies trust fund to rely on. What? How does that make any sense? And to top it off Callie is an attending or at the very least a late year resident! Sorry, just had to rant about that ridiculousness.

I have to say, I didn't really like Jessica Capshaw's character on the L-Word, but I'm loving her at Seattle Grace. You know what really rock though? Kate Walsh returning back to Greys and Callie...now that's a good looking couple!

Did I hear gay?

2009-04-30T08:23:00.000-07:00

Utada Hikaru's new album (her third English release) has been out in stores and I have to say, while I prefer her Japanese work, I liked it a lot. It's catchy and silly. Ms. Utada also happens to have a rather enthusiastic gay following (or so I'm told) and it seems as if she gives em a little shout out on one of her tracks in this new album.

In the first chorus...

(On & On)

I just want to dance the night, the night, away
Go ahead and make my day, Mr. DJ
(Make the night go on and on, make the night go on and on)

[Chorus:]
Honeys, if you're gay, burn it up, like a gay parade
Honeys, if you're straight, bump it up, take it all away
Intoxicated, emancipated, unapologetic's what I am today
Light me up

Here's the song for those interested in hearing the catchy tune.

Huh...so hanging out with lezzies (even fauxbians) will turn ya gay...

2009-04-30T07:54:00.000-07:00

First it was Clementine Ford who tip toed in and then out (then back in and finally out) of the closet earlier this year, now its Kelly McGillis! Both lovely ladies had guest spots on the L-word (Clementine Ford and Kelly McGillis both appearing in season 5)and both coming out shortly after the show has completed its run. Say what you will about Clementine Ford's somewhat coincidental timing of her coming out party (as the L-Word ran towards its last episode) and it possibly being a publicity stunt, but it would appear that Ms. McGillis is just ready to join the dark side. You can read her coming out interview here at Shewire Article. I for one am always happy to embrace another out celebrity, so welcome Ms. McGillis. Who knew that the L-Word would be the jumping board for celebrities to come out? Now if only we could get a certain Ms. Sarah Shahi to join the party...

I'm Backkkk!

2009-04-30T07:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long hiatus all. Relocating, school and a large puppy kinda got in the way of my gaysian blogging ways. However, I shall be back home for the summer and gearing to get back into full "gaysian news" mode...which is really whatever random "gay" news or opinions I may have. In any event, last night I was flipping through channels and saw Serenity was on. Oh bittersweet happy day! I'm a true and through Whedonite, so naturally I love this show (Firefly), whose run was cut short prematurely. My only complaint about the show was the godawful "Chinese" that the characters would randomly start speaking. To be honest, it took me a good six episodes before I realized that was the language that they were attempting to speak.

Regardless of the language slaughter, it was still an amazingly well written show that was very character and story driven. It had a fun premise and I loved the world that Joss Whedon created. And typical of Whedon shows, a no-nonsense acceptance of queer sexualities, with some geeky humor thrown in for good measure. For a lot of folks I know it's all about Nathan Fillion (Captain Mal), but for me it's always been badass Zoe, sexy Inara and psychotic River that got my attention. Oh lovely, space traveling, bandit ladies...

Did I mention she carries a gun? A big gun?

And was I the only one who was cheering for a Zoe/Inara pairing?

River...crazy, deadly but oh so bendy!

Really though ladies, since the L-Word has so tragically ended and True Blood doesn't start up until June, take some time and check out this amazing series.

Last Friends

2008-06-10T20:31:00.000-07:00

As I stated before I am a shameless addict of soaps. No, no, before you start quoting the Days of Our Lives opening, I am referring to Asian soaps. You see, Asian soaps, unlike their American counterparts, will run a story through a single season, instead of multiple seasons. To me it's like reading a trilogy as opposed to a stand alone...so much more material (w/o it getting old or lame) and so much more satisfying!

I've recently begun watching Japanese soaps. The reason why I haven't before is because...well, they just weren't accessible. I, sadly, don't understand Japanese and to be honest don't even know how I would get my hands on any of these series even if I could. Fortunately these days we have something known as Internet streaming and fansubs. Within hours of something airing in Japan, I in my lazy American way, can enjoy the fruits of someone else's labor in my own home with so much as flicking a few keys on my keyboard ^_^

The current fav is Last Friends. I happened upon this series b/c of its mention in a AfterEllen Best Lesbian Week Ever column. I was first hesitant to check it out, as their last Gaysian media suggestion lead me to Spider Lilies...and I had trouble getting through the first 20 minutes of that film. I was worried it would be this pretentious, artsy fartsy soap. An oxymoron I know, but the Japanese are...well...crazy. I am happy to say I forced myself to watch it, b/c man am I hooked! Well I am a little saddened the main storyline is not entirely gay (it's actually about a transman) I still heart the characters and am hoping and cheering for their happy ending.

As I watched this soap, which by the by has lead me to other J-dramas, I realized a number of things...the most amusing to me is that Japanese anime is VERY much a realistic portrayal of Japanese mannerisms, attitudes and customs...in any event an awesome show that has left me gasping at the end of every episode! And it's queer! A must watch!

I am a bad women's studies major...

2008-03-28T21:38:00.000-07:00

Yes yes...like every happy homo gal before me, I was a women's studies major (though to be fair, I also double majored in biology...thats the practical asian in me acting up). Not only was I a women's studies major with a pretty good GPA but I was also very much a part of the activist community on campus. So the reason why I'm a bad women's studies student? I'd never seen the Vagina Monologues...until tonight. Horrible isn't it?

Well here are my reasons. The tender age of 14 was when I first encountered this non-fiction book turned play. At the time it was empowering and groundbreaking for me, after all I was only 14, with my first intro to women's studies course still 5 years away! The frequent use of vagina was to be honest, also just damn thrilling to me. Well after a few courses, a foray in the radical women of color activism world and a fear of Eve Ensler, the desire to see this much applauded play just never manifested in me. I found the work to be important, true, but similar to the liberalistic "band aides" that are utilized to just cover up societal problems and not solve them. Though it is great to hear a woman be proud of her bits there are many more aspects to sexism that the show fails to cover and indeed by doing so is implicit in perpetuating them. Also I thought it was rather annoying to see one of the actresses in the show actually state that she "wasn't a feminist or anything....just saying.." in her bio.

So yeah...i'm no longer impressed by the Vagina Monologues and Eve Ensler still scares the crap out of me (the woman has a weird snaggle grin!) and if that makes me a bad women's studies student, then so be it!

TV!

2008-03-08T16:35:00.000-08:00

Since arriving here in Grenada I've experienced something in my life that I've never had to deal with before...the acute pain and awareness of having TV absent from my life. It's difficult. And somewhere in the back of my mind I feel the absence of my beloved glowing friend/parent/comforter as a hollow void in my daily life all the time. That being said this has strengthened my resolve to catch up on shows I've missed during my absence from the states as well as some shows, that really, I should have checked out years ago.

1. The Bionic Woman- Why you may ask would I dreg up a TV show which is older than I am and probably when viewed through my contemporary adult mind would be horrible cheesy? Because, upon retrospect my five year old self had a wicked crush on the original Bionic Woman, Lyndsey Wagner. She could run super fast, was super strong and had an awesome dog! What five year old lesbian heart could resist?

2. The Facts of Life- If you want to do the gay test on somebody and they're over the age of 21 one of the most telling questions to ask is "Who was your favorite on the facts of life?" If they answer Jo (and in some really really kinky circles, Ms. Garrett) then you have your answer. Since I was so young when this show was on air, I would really like to see if my Jo really was as gay as everyone thought she was.

3. Veronica Mars- This is the single most elusive show I've ever attempted to watch. Nowhere online could I find it being streamed, I could not download it, legally or otherwise (Itunes only has the 3rd season for some reason) and neither blockbuster nor the small independent video store in my area carries it for rent. Refusing to buy an entire TV series, despite claims of the shows cleverness or Kirsten Bell's hotness had not been enough for me to shell out the big bucks, but now four years later (and her awesome role in the remake of Reefer Madness) I'm ready to make the leap.

4. Bad Girls- This is one of the most popular lesbian shows out there, with well written story lines and great acting. A prison full of English lezzie inclined ladies? It is a crime that I haven't seen this show yet...

5. Arrested Development- I have seen all of season 1...and that is it. I absolutely love this show, with its sarcastic humour and great ensemble cast. Plus its got Portia De'Rossi...

6. Ally McBeal- I used to watch this show religiously (after Buffy) when I was in high school and while I may end up hating it now, I am damn curious to see how I'll interpret this show now that I can contextualize it more appropriately. Plus its got Portia De'Rossi as well...

7. 30 Rock- I began watching Ms. Tina Fey and her awesomeness but unfortunately got distracted by some other, gayer show (the L-word). While that may be an unforgivable crime in some circles I'm more than willing to get back on the Tina Fey bandwagon. Plus Alec Baldwin really is awesome in this show.

8. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season 6 and 7)- Since the release of the show via comic and Buffy's recent...ah...experimenting I've been wanting to catch up in the series just so I know what's going on!

9. Firefly- Just because I love Joss Whedon...oh and the companion is hot!

10. Anything w/ Paula Dean in it- I'm a food network addict and my favorite lady chef is none other than Ms. Paula Dean herself. Anyone who deep fries biscuits and then injects (literally!) with honey and butter can do no wrong in my book.

Lesbian Cunnilingous Montage...who knew?

2008-03-04T17:57:00.000-08:00

I saw a clip of the last episode of the l-word yesterday and I must say I never thought that I would ever have a chance to string together the words "Lesbian Cunnilingous Montage", but now I have. I don't really know how to feel about this little clip, I think falls in somewhere between awe and mortification. Oh L-word, how you never cease to amaze!

In more somber news, since there's been no talk of renewal (Showtime has never renewed a series past the 5th season) and it seems as if the media has gotten sick of us lesbians (the recent cancellation of South of Nowhere and last year Sugar Rush) I would not be surprised to see the L-word go next. I can't believe I'm saying this, but Paris Hilton may be L-words last hope! While I was most definitely mortified to see the ever drunken and visually unflattering heiress fondle and manhandle Katerine Moening at some party earlier this year, evidently it has been stated that homegirl will make a guest appearance on the L-word. Since the show had already been filmed in its entirety by the time the news was announced, one can only hope that it means that there will be another reason...though is another season worth it if it's sullied by Paris Hilton?

Oh and just because I seem to have a developed a major love for Ellen Page (and she may be one of the fold!) here are some Ellen the second (after Ms. Degeneres) clips and pics!

"Why can't I just hug other girls w/ my legs and not have it labeled"

Boys underwear! Gay!

It seems she also has a penchant for trendy outerwear (hoodies, jackets!)

And look good in a dress...

Meh.

2008-02-10T08:22:00.000-08:00

I wish that I had something significant to blog about, but I gotta say for having made an international move and all that jazz, my life is relatively sedate. Granted there are exciting things (meeting new folks, various adventures that be had on a tropical island, etc. etc.)but most of my day is composed of either studying or thinking about studying. Sad, but true.

Jennifer Beals visits Tokyo!

2008-02-08T07:27:00.000-08:00

::Sigh:: Apparently I visited Tokyo a tisch too early and missed the lovely Ms. Beals, who after three days of promoting season 1 of the L-Word in Tokyo (Season 1 on DVD has just been released there) took some of her free time to visit the well known and popular women's gay bar, Kinswomyn, in the district of Nichome. Apparently this was quite a shock for all of the patrons of the small and dimly lit bar, and everyone erupted in glee when the opening theme of the L-word began playing shortly after Ms. Beal's grand arrival.

I'm happy to say that I too made a visit out to Kinswomyn, myself while I was there (it was near impossible to find) and am sad to say that I was NOT there when Ms. Beals made her appearance. Apparently she took the time to meet all the patrons, sign autographs, take photos and be the general doll that she is. ::Sigh::.

Happy New Year!

2008-02-07T10:02:00.000-08:00

Wishing all a Happy New Year! Hope everyone rakes in those wonderful and magical little red packets, watches an exuberant dragon dance or two and gets great New Years eats! Here's hoping to a better and more fun filled new year!

The Gaysian has been otherwise occupied...

2008-01-25T12:35:00.000-08:00

Hi all, sorry for the long delay in posting, but it's been a crazy few weeks. Firstly for those of you who are not in the know, I've made an international move for school. I'm starting my first term of veterinary medicine in Grenada. Needless to say the preparations, transition and settling have taken up quite a bit of my time. I am happy to report that for the most part all of this has gone by without a hitch. However, some things of note needs to be stated.

Perhaps the most surprising revelation of all is that the very first person I met is actually another gaysian! It would figure that I would have to move (note: that is move not travel, b/c that would just be too easy) to the West Indies (of all places) to encounter another one of our mystical unicorns. Thankfully, in addition to being a fellow gaysian, she is also quite sane and fun to hang with.

Another amazing surprise is that I am actually liking this quiet little island. While at times a feeling of claustrophobia does overcome me, I like the locals and find the area to be very pleasant. Actually since arriving here I've been incredibly stress free (for the most part). I am tempted to credit this sudden state of languid peace to the "island life".

The last bits of adjustment are to class (it's starting to look like a challenge to get used to the new teaching style and the sheer amount of information they throw at you...) and well finding a community. While it is beyond awesome to have found an ally off the bat it's not quite the same as having the support network of an actual community. While I hear rumours that other queerlings do exist out here (and hang out together!) I have yet to find them. Ah well, the search continues.

Gaysians Top Media Loves of 2007

2008-01-03T10:46:00.000-08:00

Music:

3)Queens of the Stoneage: Era Vulgaris
A fun, complex album. A great mix of tunes and a well written album. Do check it out.
2) Alicia Keys: As I Am
One of my favorite artists of all time. She brought it back with full force in her latest album.
1)RockBand: The Song List
Okay so not technically an album, but nothing is greater than interactive music that brings back such great hits as Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Creep by Radiohead.

Books:

3)The Crown of Valencia: By Catherine Friend
Awesomely cheesy. Lezzie trashy romance at it's best.
2)Greetings from Jamaica, Wish you were Queer: Mari Santorini
The title itself is description enough
1)Buffy The Vampier Slayer: Season 8
While obviously it's not the same as the TV series, I'm happy that this well written little comic has brought back my love of the buffyverse full force.

Movies:

3)Hotrod: I'm as surprised and mortified as you that I actually like this slapstick, boy-humour oriented comedy. Who knew?
2)Pan's Lybrinth: Dark, scary and an interpretive ending. I loved it.
1)Juno: Written by Diablo Cody, a former stripper. Nuff said.

TV Shows:

3)Dexter: I heart Dex and so does beetchie. Surprisingly the world did not end.
2)The Sarah Silverman Program:
"Dude I'm gay for you." Gay Neighbor 1
"Dude I'm totally gay for you too." Gay Neighbor 2
"Aww what a sweet way to go to hell." Woman in prison.
1) The L-word season 4: Like there would any other tv show to take the top spot in my list? Psh.

Websites:

3) Lifehacker.com: Hack your ipod, increase your productivity! Geeky and smart!
2) Dlisted.com: If you love to hate your fav. celebs.
1) Afterellen.com: What would I do w/o my daily lezzie celeb/media updates?

Biggest disappointments of 2007

5. Any weddings/marriages/pregancies or otherwise signalling of the loss of a drinking partner.
4. TV Shows: Bionic Woman, South of Nowhere season 3, the cancellation of Sugar Rush
3. Moviewise: 30 Days of Night, Sweeney Todd, and Shoot em Up.
2. Books: Any of the new Anita Blake books released this year. Ugh.
1. People: Certain folk that I will not name.

2007 Recap

2008-01-03T09:34:00.000-08:00

I find that as I get older the years seem to go by faster, a phenomenon that is not uncommon I've found. Well, moving along this line of perception, 2007 zipped by faster than a fat man at a free buffet. That being said here are some highlights of my year.

In 2007 I decided to focus more on my professional and academic growth. Turning 25 lit the proverbial fire under my butt and I charged head on into pursuing my life long professional dream. That of course didn't occur w/o my shoveling more poop than I cared for, but regardless at the end of the summer I finally got into a veterinary medical school. Hollah ladies, holla.

That being said I didn't spend as much time skanking, drinking and otherwise farting around as I did in 2005/2006 (where levels of drinking and ho'ing about were unrivalved before and since in my life). Yet 2007 was not all work and no play. As a matter of fact I did have a lot of play time. The largest recreational accomplishment of the year for me was my trip to Japan. After many years of planning/schemnig/hoping and praying with a good friend of mine, we finally packed up bags and hit the sky. Japan was a mixture of endless odd fascinations, slightly disappointing anime haven and a foodie heaven. I'm happy I went and even more happy that i left before the typoons and earthquakes, which have been stated before, is no fault of me or my friend.

I got a new tattoo (in Harajuku Japan), went to numerous concerts, meet a celebrity or two, learned how to insert a I.V cathater, made some great friends in the profession, changed jobs, passed biochemistry and on top of it all I was still able to maintain most of my friendships and remain sane.

For 2008 I look forward to starting vet school and making new friends. My only fear is finding fellow queerlings, but hey it's true our people are everywhere.

McDreamy??

2008-01-02T16:26:00.000-08:00

While watching previews for a movie I noted one with whats-his-face, Patrick Dempsey in it and turned to my unfortunately straight friend and inquired if she found him attractive. She affirmed that she indeed did and when confronted with my puzzled expression, explained that while he did look like a rather ordinary fellow he "just had something". I was rather confused. Was it his trademark hair (of which I was rather unimpressed with)? A rugged something or other? His perpetual five o'clock shadow (do straight gals really find that attractive??)? I, not sure if this was an issue of my being as queer as a three dollar bill (so I'm generally not gaga over men, period) or if McDreamy possess some unseen quality that is worthy of the hype and my tastes just happen to be part of the minority. Well that debate may be one that will never be settled, but I'm just going to take this opportunity to shower some love for some fabulous haired women in entertainment.

McBritish: Rachael Weiss

Just look at that hair (and not those eyebrows)! Gorgegous!

McOddity: Helena Bonham Carter

Despite being typecast as a kooky madwoman (her most recent role as Ms. Lovitt in Sweeny Todd was fantastic) there's something about this often time gothic and majorly wierd, crazy haired lady.

McFlashy: Jennifer Beals

No big haired beautiful lady post would be complete without her. I really should just rename this blog as the Jennifer Beals Photo Shrine. Heh.

McSnarky: Ellen Page

The scarsticlly lovable star of Juno (she also starred in Hard Candy and surprisngly X-Men as Kitty Pryor). Granted, her hair isn't that big at all...but she's so cute I couldn't resist posting her up here.

Gingers

2007-12-18T07:42:00.001-08:00

I've been going to Ginger's since I returned home from college a few years ago. In that time I've only come to know it in it's former glory. Since Cattyshack was opened an avenue and a few blocks away, Gingers, once the ONLY and first GLBT bar in Park Slope has gotten significantly quieter. As such it was the nice laid back bar I went to when I was not in the mood for non-stop, all night dancing. It also always has a nice, mixed crowd as well. Well imagine my surprise when I stopped by this last Saturday and found a nice swell of people. With a DJ to liven things up to boot. While still not as packed and non-stop as Catty, sometimes that's just what a gal wants on a night out.

Ambiance: 2 Buddha Bellies (typical bar)
Music: 3 Buddha Bellies (DJ on weekends, jukebox all other times)
$$$: 4 Buddha Bellies (No Cover!, reasonably priced drinks)
Crowd: 3 Buddha Bellies

Overall: 3 Buddha Bellies A refreshing change of pace from the often packed and loud Cattyshack, Henrietta's and even Cubby Hole. Recommended.

More L-Word Goodness.

2007-12-08T09:56:00.003-08:00

Here are a few videos to help pump up the excitment as the premier date nears. Oh and for those of you who can't make it to any of the HRC L-word premier parties or don't have showtime, Ourchart will be previewing the premier on the site December 30th. Along with the premier there will also be backstage tidbits thrown in for good measure. Be sure to check it out.

5 Things in Season 5

Jennifer Beals Interview.

I Heart Anna Faris

2007-12-07T13:11:00.000-08:00

My first introduction to Anna Faris was through her goofy sexy role as Cindy Campbell in Scary Movie. While not exactly a superstar and prone to taking odd supporting roles, I always find myself twitering excitedly when I spot her in the peripheral of any movie. Well last night I got I was twitering with such glee that I would put a chipmunk to shame.

I finally conceded to a friend of mine and watched May, a movie my friend has been a fanatic about since it came out. While I expected an odd story line, cheesy special effects (it's an indie film) and a tragic heroine, what I didn't expect to see was a quirky Anna Faris prancing around. That is, prancing around as a lesbian. A silly come hither, getting tons of play and even owns a cat, lesbian. Oh happy friggin day! While I found the film amusing, I think that I'll just skip all the May parts and go straight (er towards) to the Anna's scenes.

"Shut up you hooker!" ~Polly (Anna Faris in May)

Jodie, peeking out of the closet...

2007-12-05T12:56:00.000-08:00

This week Jodie Foster recieved a Sherry Lansing Leadership award. Durinig Jodie's acceptance speech, in a suprising admission about her personal life, thanked Cydney Bernard, many of whom speculate to be Jodie's long time partner, by stating "my beautiful Cydney who sticks with me through all the rotten and the bliss". This is another step in the right direction, that is, right out of the closet. I for one am elated that Ms. Foster is finally admitting what we all knew and cheered for all along. Now if Queen Latifah would give up the goose...

Gay. And Sherry Lansing.

Gua si Hokkien

2007-12-04T10:23:00.000-08:00

This last Sunday, my family's typical food gatherthon night, my aunt asked me to look up a youtube video for her and to show my parents. Quirking an eyebrown at her search word of "Hokkien Funny Song", she explained quickly that she was informed that it was supposedly hysterical. Unfortunately, before she could offer any further explanantion for this odd video search request she had to bounce out of my house, as one of my little cousins started getting rather ill and needed to be herded home. Well, my interest piqued I decided to take a looksee myself. The video appeared to beone of a drag queen performer singing a traditional Hokkien song (which I recognized, as my father insists on importing traditional Hokkien folk music from Malaysia and playing them incessantly in the car...this or his other preferred music choices of Celine Dion, Abba and various country).

While I appreciated the comedic appeal of a drag queen singing tunes from my father's childhood, I didn't really see what all the hoop-la was about,as I am sad to say unable to understand most of it. So I called over my mom to take a look. She spent about 30 seconds watching, before chuckling and claiming she couldn't see anymore. "What? What's so funny? I don't get it?" Was my query to my mom. Her reply, "It's a dirty song. Tsch. Dirty." This lead my mother to urge me to call my dad over to take a look, as Hokkien happens to be his primary language. He also watched the video for about 30 seconds before responding with the same reaction. A bit irked that there was a dirty joke that my parent's got and I didn't (something that hasn't happened since I was 10) I decided to take matters into my own hands. I googled learning Hokkien.

Now for those of you who are not in the know about my personal ethnic heritage, my family is ethnically chinese, but culturally Malaysian. My father's side of the family is almost entirely settled in Malaysia or Singapore, as is the majority of my mothers. While I never realized the extent of my inablity to speak Hokkien the most common Chinese dialect of Malaysia, I didn't realize it was this bad. Well since it bothers, mortifies and annoys me that I can't effectively communicate with half of my family (overseas) and that there's a large component of my cultural literacy missing I have decided to learn Hokkien. I'd also like to point out that it appears that Hokkien is pretty slangy and used in some rather deragotory ways, so hopefully I'll pick it up quick enough.

Note: Apparently chee-bye means vajayjay. Who knew?

Here's the video for those of you who are curious.

Lesbian PSA

2007-12-03T18:32:00.000-08:00

One of the few websites that I visit on the daily is the queer women's media site known as AfterEllen.com
. Their daily articles, blogs and vlogs all feature queer women media exclusively and are filled with endearingly geeky humour. I was looking over their site yesterday when this post caught my attention, Lesbians on TV PSA. I was thoughroughly amused by them. Do take a look over at these PSA's (the second one is more "smartass" like than the first)I'm sure you'll get a kick out of them too.

Online Videos by Veoh.com

Lesbian video from AfterEllen.com

Gaysian's Top Five Straight Guestbians

2007-12-02T09:25:00.000-08:00

I'm sure all of you ladies are familiar with the sensation of watching, reading, or listening to an artist and suddenly thinking "Wow are they really gay? Or...?" And then wishing really really hard that they were. Well here's my top 5 list of various leading ladies that despite the gay roles, ambiguous lyrics or just sheer cuteness I really wish were "gaydies".

1. Zhao Wei and Karen Mok

Aside from my penchant for trashy lezzie romance novels, I also have a secret love affair with equally trashy and often time cheesy Hong Kong movie flicks. I can sincerely say that the times that these two guilty pleasures of mine ever intermingle are few and far between. Though you'd think there would be more of a call for a seriously badass lezzie martial artist, but regardless, I have to say I was merrily surprised and more than a little disbelieving when I came across this film a few years ago.

So Close

Granted a lot of it is subtext, but the director admitted that it was his aim to create an ambigious cop/criminal relationship with the two leading ladies and I can't help but think that they too agree that it was a good idea.

2. Lynn Chen

Lynn Chen was the second half of perhaps one of the most beloved films, Saving Face, in the East Asian lesbian community. I can sincerely say that Saving Face is one of my favorite movies of all time. The story of an awkward NYC based Chinese lezzie who has to deal with a dysfunctional family and all the while try to get the girl in the end. The very hot girl! Lynn Chen plays the confident, sweet and assured Vivian ::sigh::. The scandal! The drama! The Sugar Shock!
Oh and another reason I love her? In an interview, Lynn admitted to having a mini-crush (and subsequently being nervous about meeting her for the first time) on her co-star, Michelle Crusick, after researching some of the films she had been in. So cute!

3. Jennifer Beals

The L-Word, Alpha-Bette, Tibette Shippers...this woman has a tremendous lesbian following...it's not hard to imagine why.

4. Lily Allen

*Note the practical shoes. Hm.

Hate her or lover her, you can't deny that she has charm. She also has a troll of a boyfriend, but has admitted that she would not entirely rule out getting with another gal. She's even admitted to having some naughty dreams of that nature. My advice to you Ms. Allen, is despite losing some material for all those angry break up songs of yours, if you acted out on some of those dreams, it'd be more than worth it ^_~.

5. Shakira

Okay this may be a throw away, but c'mon you gotta admitt, she's got a "bummy" (butchy femme) charm. Oh and FYI I'm calling the term "Bummy" as mine! I have yet heard it be used in common dyke dialouge, so I lay claim to it, ha!

The Lezberado

2007-12-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

The other week I was introduced to a little video called "Two Girls and One Cup". If you have already viewed this little morsel of internet magic than no other explanation is needed, if you have not...well then google at your own risk. In any event this lead me to further youtube the reactions of some viewers to this video and well amusing as they were, didn't quiet fill the lesbian media viod I've been feeling lately.

In case your curious, this void refers to not having ANY available lesbian tv in my life. And yes I know Dante's Cove season 3 is currently on air as well as Exe's and Oh's, but I don't have Here! and I just can't seem to get into Exe's and Oh's. That may have something to do with Heather Matarrazo's (or Stacey Perkin,aka vagina wig, according to a Jenny Schecter) two toned hair character. That's not to say I don't absolutely love Michelle Paradise and her partner in crime Marie Alton, but their collective charm is not enough for me to get over the collective grimace inducing Kris and Chris phenomenon...and the suddenly apt nickname of Vagina Wig. Sorry ladies, I know this declaration may be gasp inducing, but I don't have to love all things gay.

So returning back to my youtube adventures, I decided to see what was the most viewed L-word video to date. The first was a showtime promo clip and the second was this little vlog by Lezberado, titled Revenge Fantasies. After hesitantly clicking on the link I found myself quite amused, as it's true that there's nothing more cathargic than hating on Jenny. I've posted below another vlog by the deadpan and witty Lezbarado.

"I got hooked because I was, well watching the ladies, who doesn't?" Her ability to unerringly hit the truth astounds me.

Whoo...

2007-11-29T18:05:00.001-08:00

Really there are no words to describe how awesome it has been discovering all the nifty tricks and tweeks of my little MacBook. From the new Leopard OS with it's ichat, stacks, spaces and time machine to just how pretty it is, I'm finding myself very impressed. My one issue right now is that it's still a tad akward getting used to the new OS and all the different hotkeys and such. Though that one can only be remedied with time.

Along with my Mac goodness Showtime has also released another offical L-Word trailer. This trailer has a narrative that appears to highlight all of the major storylines for season 5.

Some observations...
Shane's hair is outta control and what is up with this series and trying to add depth to her character by constantly putting different spins on her sexual and romantic relations? You know L-word writers there are other interesting aspects of that character.

Bette is smoking hot...

Did they pull a Sous Chef move and just up and disappeared Mangus, b/c I didn't see any mention or sight of him throughout the entire trailer. Perhaps he got called to a prestigious manny convention over in Paris.

Tina is also looking quite nice this season.

Since when is Jenny capable of actually writing? The fact that the writers are trying to convince me that not only can she pen short fiction and author a novel, but also screenwrite (when all references to her alleged writing ability have always been met with a grimace in my home) is beyond laughable.

Jodi looks like a drowned rat when wet.

Alice is looking cute as always, but please don't dampen her happy chipper character with an overly dramatic and serious love story. You can only do that so many times to our beloved quirky radio host!

Overall the preview promises more campy fun from season 4. My favorite line is "You need to get a daddy..."

My new leading lady.

2007-11-29T08:32:00.001-08:00

It's true, I'm starting a new relationship with a younger, sleeker,trendier and better performing leading lady. I've gone over to the dark side...the mac side. After much internal (and external) debate, I finally decided that I would finally make the switch I've been threatening to do for the last few years and have moved on over to the Mac. I referenced 3 magazines, 2 electronic review sites, got a number of testimonials from friends and family, and even had an international email forwarded to me. The answer was clear, overwhelmingly, Mac was the way to go. Two days ago I came to this grandiose conclusion.

So as the gadetphile that I am, I could not resist and headed over to the Soho Mac store last night. After a few questions with a "genius" and his slightly flamboyant but enthusiastic trainee, I found any of my additional concerns to be resolved and made the mucho dinero plunge. I even got a free printer/scanner/copier out of it. Oh happy day.

Well I hauled it home and since I got back relatively late decided that it was best that I left it to tonight to explore. That being said, I still couldn't resist looking up applications and widgets to download. Here are some fun widgets that may come in handy.

Bush Countdown
Countdown for time remaining in office for President Bush. No judgements, just a fun timer to monitor how much time he has remaining. (Though yes I do have judgements and get your mind outta the gutter!)

Cluck the Chicken Widget
Cluck the Chicken will answer any question. Save yourself from indecision. (Indecision is the headline of my life...)

Hula Girl
What Dashboard is complete without a dancing Hula Girl?

Peep Attack Pro
A variation of the Peep Attack Widget, the Peep will randomly change to one of 7 colors after being dropped into Dashboard.(B/c I have a sugar tooth obession with Peeps)

Hah! I can't wait till I get home tonite!
Oh and I fixed the duplicate video link for the L-Word Season 5 Promo in the previous post.

L-Word

2007-11-26T19:44:00.000-08:00

If you were to ask any of my friends what my number one pop cultural obsession is I'm sure the majority of them would respond with "Oh, god. Don't start her off. The frigging L-Word." Since the premier of the series in January of 2004 I have been merrily fanatical about this series. Now to be honest the show has had it's ups and downs, but if it's one thing lezzie's are know for, it's for sticking with something for the long haul (and yes as in U-Haul'esque dedication). So in celebration of the 5Th and what appears to me from the promo, very exciting season of The L-Word, here are some vids!

I'm happy to say that I actually have been personally (and no get your head out of the gutter) exposed and a witness to Lesbian Turkish Oil Wrestling. It is a spectacle that everyone should witness at least once in their lives ^_^. Oh and this scene would be ten times better if it were NOT Jenny.

And the official Showtime Promo.

Ack a love triangle! One that I actually care about and not that lame ass Shane+Carmen+Jenny triangle. You know nobody was rooting for Jenny and she never had a chance to begin with. Ugh.

Thanksgiving Lessons

2007-11-26T08:39:00.001-08:00

Usually when Thanksgiving rolls around, my family being the all-American Asians that they are, find ways to bridge the cultural gap between our two diverse cultures. This cultural tight-rope walking is done primarily by taking advantage of the holiday vacation time by indulging in the Chinese favorite pastime of gambling. Yes, that's right, gambling. As a result there typically is no gobble gobble feast for me during this holiday, the appetizer holiday of the Holiday season. No, usually my family's predilection for risking their cash at Mah Jong or poker leaves me with not much choice but to feel orphaned at home, with my equally Thanksgiving dinner neglected brother, to brood over the unfairness of an empty stomach.

My friends taking pity of my rather pitiable situation always rise to the occasion and offer me a place to go. One Thanksgiving (about 5 years ago actually) I took them up on it. This year was no different and bunking with them has become a Thanksgiving tradition. I'm happy to report that this year, much like the last five, I am now brooding over the unfairness of being able to cram down only one corn bread pudding slice and the wonder of Thanksgiving left overs. Along with my musings about the size of my stomach relative to the food greediness of my eyes, I have learnt some other life lessons. They are as goes.

1. Grenada apparently has a severe goat problem. Part of the problem being that you can't curry any of these delicious little fellas due to some "conservation society". I am inclined to believe that the removal of this society would quickly lead to a solution to the aforementioned goat problem.
2. I should be wary of cloven hoofed women.
3. Lack of dumplings lead to a lack of goodwill. Typically this is directed at the person who attacked the pot before me, but for these particular food transgressions I know who to send my ill will.
4. Crashing a one-year old birthday party is more acceptable than I initially believed it to be.
5. Babies are racist, especially when they come from the ho's. (One loves dem Asians...the other hates...erm. yeah.)
6. Spoiled cats=Spoiled night's worth of sleep.
7. Apparently I must carry the Ox-tails to glory with my classically trained guitar hero shredding skills.
8. It would appear that no one else has noticed and therefore has not been ironically amused by the fact that our rock band demographic consists of no less than:
1 Asian Lesbian and 3 Trinies (which consist of 1 displaced Trini, 1 faux doctor and 1 "token".)

Thanks once again Ho's for taking in this Atlantic City produced orphan.

Bringing back the 90's!

2007-11-19T06:07:00.001-08:00

I have to admitt and I do so proudly that I am an addict of HK dramas. Or at least I was when I had the time for them, back in the day. My grandma, mom and every other subsequent chinese female figure in my life had or has been fanatical about these cheesy HK dramas and that penchant for those predictable, low budget and often time shoddily acted chinese tv shows has passed on to me. I've been following TVB (a major Hong Kong television broadcast company) series since I can remember and some of my fondest memories involve hudling around with my grams or mom, caught in mutual amusement or suspense, while "chasing" (canto slang for determinedly watching episode after episode of a series in order to get to the finale) various series.

I had a pretty isolated childhood. A large three family house to run around in, more or less unsupervised, so with only public access tv as my warm winter companion, my young self happily gobbled up all the HK series I could get. One of my favorite memories was creating a blanket fort in the third floor (it was an old forgotten bedroom my aunts used to use, it had the most awesome tacky beach sunset wallpaper) and settling down at night watching my shows. It felt like I was totally removed from the world, but warm and safe at the same time. Some kids have cartoons, I had HK dramas. My favorite genre (and still is actually) were the comedy "ancient" series. If you're Chinese a number of series should pop into your head, if you're not...well sorry I'm too lazy to explain.

This bout of nostalgia was brought on by my cruising crunchy roll looking for a interesting Asian/anime movie to watch. I was able to find some series from the late 90's, but sadly they were all badly dubbed or incomplete. So this lead me to do a torrent search. Once again, no mas. I am sad to say that I may actually have to try and hunt down these series on DVD, as truthfully, I would like to own some of them. Most of them were produced in the mid to late 90's and I'm rather unsure of how Asian DVD companies release them, if at all. The funny part of all of this is that my family mostly rented these series on bootleg VHS from Chinatown.

Well the hunt for them continues I suppose. The trend now are Korean soaps. I can't say that I'm too impressed by them, though, much like other soaps I can get drawn in...still it's not the same. Ahh well, if anyone has any sites for dl or places I can pick any of these old series up do hollar at me.

Henrietta's Revisted

2007-11-17T14:12:00.001-08:00

Henrietta Hudson, the first girl club/bar that I've ever visited holds fond memories for me. My nostalgic magical first time of entering a hazy, dimly lit, woman filled corner of the world was one I will always keep near and dear to my queer heart. That milestone moment of my life was a little over four years ago and since that time I have made myself a bit of a home in the NYC LGBT nightlife.

That was why I was so surprised this last Saturday when I revisited Henrietta's, I realized that the last time I had been there was during Gay Pride 2006, which by the by unless you have a penchant for long lines, being herded like some farm animal by anxious waitstaff, and the ability to weave through the mosh-pit like conditions that surround the bar, it is NOT the optimal time to visit this usually mellow girl club. My buddies for this round of late night revelry were quite diverse. That being said I was a bit nervous about the door policy and the attitude that we would be greeted with at Henrietta's. I was needlessly concerned, because as it turned out, there was no rude "manhandling" (a phenomena that refers to when friendly male friends, gay or otherwise are treated with unwarranted hostility which may include increased door/drink fees or an overall nasty attitude).

As a matter of fact the clientele of Henrietta's was quite diverse itself. We were not the only motley group of friends out partying there that night. The music was decent. While there were a few awkward song transitions and bad song selections, overall the d.j did a great job. It should be noted that the Henrietta's dance floor space is fairly limited. It is actually quite a small space overall. Though the bathrooms were more spacious and cleaner than most of the LWS clubs I had been to before. Drinks were reasonably priced, even though they didn't have any drink specials to speak of. The tap selection was decent. They also have a fenced off area out front that housed a giant, dangerous looking heater to accommodate their smoking clientele. Overall we all had a fun and comfortable night.

Ambiance- 2 Buddha bellies (Why they felt the need to play random music video's on all of their LCD screens was beyond me. Confusing and distracting. Did not add to the ambiance at all!)
Cleanliness- 4 Buddha bellies (A clean bathroom and no sticky surfaces, one Buddha belly away from paradise)
Music- 3 Buddha bellies (Decent selection of music, small dance space)
Cost- 3 Buddha bellies (A ten dollar door fee on Saturday nights, comparable with other bars in the area)
Clientele- 4 Buddha bellies (A fun mixture of ladies and the occasional gent)
Drinks- 3 Buddha bellies

Overall rating- 3 Buddha Bellies- Highly recommended.

Hi Big Great Straight World at Large!

2007-11-17T13:53:00.000-08:00

Well this is my second attempt at managing a blog. My first while still in existence, is through myspace, which to be quite frank really fails at being an easy to use or efficient blogging server. So that being said, I have decided to type my rants, reviews, rave and random mental bits here. So enjoy my shameless attempt at indoctrinating you all to the "gay agenda".