Video Blog: Blizzards and Unions

I recorded this last night while waiting for my husband to get home.  He was stuck in the snow on Lake Shore Drive for 12 hours.  Luckily, he's home safe and sound now, but we have no idea where his car is.

But in the video, I muse and meander about civil unions here in Illinois. 

Music Monday: Fiery Sex With Kings

As I struggled to find something to write about this morning, I realized that I had not really talked about Kings of Leon yet. So I'll rectify that today!

About 2 years ago, I stumbled on Kings of Leon's album Only By The Night, which I am sure just about everyone is familiar with. The album spawned approximately 14,000 thousand hit singles, a few even on the pop radio scene. My personal favorite track was Sex on Fire and has now become a karaoke standard for me.

I wasn't too sure what to make of the boys at the time. The sound was certainly grunge-inspired rock. Every track resonated with some '90's sound but they were also pretty solidly modern as well. But the lead singer is what pulled me in most. He has this vulnerability to his voice, this raspy-ness that sounds like he might have just woke up after a night of smoking 2 packs of cigarettes and decided to record a track before even drinking some water. Hmmm… that may not have come across as enticing as I meant it… but in any case, I like his voice!

The band recently(ish) released a new album called Come Around Sundown which is… well, it's OK. The tracks are all crafted well, but there's something missing this time around. I originally chalked it up to the sophomore slumps many recording artists face until I realized this was actually their fifth album. 

With Only By The Night, there was a sense of magic in the album. Its as if the band knew they had a great record lined up and they put their everything into it. Sundown was more like them trying really hard to come up with great tracks, but without that sense of confidence and magic.

Don't get me wrong though: I like Come Around Sundown. I do. I just don't like it nearly as much as I like Night. And if I hadn't burnt myself out on Night, I'd probably listen to that album over Sundown whenever I'm have a Kings of Leon craving, but as it is Sundown is good enough and fulfills that craving when it comes.

I've been told that I should pick up the older albums by Kings of Leon and I likely will soon, but for some reason I've held off. I think it's probably related to how much I enjoyed Only By The Night and how not-as-stellar Come Around Sundown is, so I'm worried the earlier albums will have by more like Sundown. Maybe if I stay ignorant of the earlier stuff my image of the band will stay positive.

Katy Perry Does Not Make Me Smile... But Glee Does

A lot has been said about last week's episode of Glee. There was a whole lot of Gay in that episode. Boys kissing boys, boys getting bullied, boys singing and flirting with each other, boys wrestling with coming out issues… yeah, a whole lot of Gay. Which is great! I enjoyed every moment of it, and even more so because of how popular the show is and how it put these issues and thoughts in front of so many people.

One of the songs from this week's episode was Katy Perry's Teenage Dream redone by an all-boys choir (video up top). When the clip of the song hit YouTube before the episode aired, I was a bit leary. I'm no fan of Katy Perry, but damned if some of the songs of her albums aren't catchy, particularly when a cute boy is singing them directly to another boy. I was leary. But I got over that very quickly and soon became utterly enamored with the clip! I couldn't stop watching it and I was looking forward to seeing the episode so I could get the full context.

I went from enamored to completely smitten after watching the episode. The song was cute and the context was even better, so the husband and I rushed to open iTunes and download the track. Sure, it's not the video, but it was still pretty amazing. Glee doesn't often do much to the songs they cover, but Teenage Dream was done in an all-accepela fashion with some nitfy arrangements which sweetened the deal for me. A great arrangement and performance of a decent pop song mixed with gay flirtation? Yes, please!

While I thought the song was awesome, what I did not think about was how popular the song would actually become. But according to reports from the producers, Teenage Dream has become the best selling track from the Glee cast! They've performed dozens of songs, and the popularity of their version of Don't Stop Believing was everywhere last summer (including a friend's phone…which he proudly blasted through the phone speakers every time we walked down the street…) and was also a constant refrain for last season, so to hear that Teenage Dream has surpassed the sales of Don't Stop Believing is, well, unbelievable!

So what in the world is it about Teenage Dream that got everyone worked up? Is it because the source material is a recent pop hit still trending on the pop charts? Is it because of the unique arrangement? Or is it because of the gay tones of the song? Likely it is a bit of all those things, which is a good thing in my opinion.

We know that part of the reason Glee has been a (financial) success is because of the side market it has on selling singles. At $1.29 a pop, even if they only sell a total of 50,000 songs per episode, that's an additional $64.500 that episode brings in on top of add revenue. And if they do 20 episodes a season, that's well over a million bucks a year. And 50,000 tracks sold per episode is just a randomly picked number, but I'm just using it as a benchmark.

So if they are making bank off of songs, it stands to reason that the producers might be swayed a bit by the songs that sell well, right? And if Teenage Dream has done so well for itself, I can garauntee that we will see more boys singing to boy, more unique arrangements and more current pop hits (not that the show has lacked much of the last item, but still). And that's all good stuff!

Guilty Admission

I have to admit: I really, really like Jackass.  I tried not to.  When it first came out, I thought it was the most idiotic thing I had ever seen.  I didn’t understand how anyone could like this filth, or even pretend to enjoy it!  I was so disgusted by it that I was offended at the mere idea of it.

But then I actually watched the show.  And I laughed my ass off.  Then I watched the first movie.  And I laughed even harder.  And then I watched the spin-off shows and I didn’t laugh so much… but then the second Jackass movie came out and I laughed my ass off again.

And now there’s a third flick and I’m prepared to laugh at the crew of Jackass yet again.  I’m actually excited for the movie.  Really excited!

Below is another preview for the movie, shot while screened at one of the many Eagle leather bars across the country.  Also, check out this interview with Vanity Fair where the Jackass crew talks about the blatant homoeroticism of the show and how they embrace it.

So, who’s coming with me to see it?

Fuck Hate: Love Me Some Catharsis

It Gets Better

I love Dan Savage.  I’ve raved about him approximately 17.28 million times.  It seems just about every time he opens his mouth he either says something that I agree with wholeheartedly or something that inspires me to consider a topic further.  And his latest project is no exception.

Suicide rate among gay teens is far, far too high (not that any suicide is acceptable, but you get the idea).  Too many gay teens suffer from bullying day in and day out, and some of them see suicide as the only way out.  But Dan is trying to change that with It Gets Better.

It Gets Better is a new YouTube project Dan started in an effort to help young gay teens realize that life does get better.  Once you can leave the confines of your high school/small town/conservative family, life does get better.  You can move out, move away, or just stand up for yourself better.

Check out Dan’s first video with his husband.  If you want to participate, make your own YouTube video then email the project at mail@savagelove.net.

Vlog: Gimp Knees, GMAT, And Maroon 5

Since I’m home from work this week, I have a little extra time on my hands.  Hope you enjoy!

New Orleans And Southern Decadence

New Orleans was a blast, and so was Southern Decadence! 

I’ve been to the Big Easy twice, once in 2002 and then this most recent trip.  There is certainly a change in air in the city, but I honestly felt like it was a change for the better. 

In any case, the highlight of the trip for us was Southern Decadence, which is a giant street party for the boys! ;)  We have a great time, met some new friends, and even caught up with a couple old friends while there, so even though there may have been an excessive amount of alcohol consumed (and really, what trip to New Orleans doesn’t include mass amounts of alcohol) there were still quite a few memories made!

Non-Promise Of More Video To Come

Yesterday I posted up a quick video talking about my album of the week. I tried doing video before with mixed results and feelings. The old videos got a couple hits on YouTube and I got some feedback, but my problem with doing video is that while it is a bit easier to just sit down and talk, the rest of it seems to take longer. Editing and what not, even on this amatuer, hobbyist level takes some time, and getting used to the tools that are available to me also takes some time.

But I like the format in general. Probably not for every topic, as I still really enjoy the written word and what I can do as far as revising and editing prior to posting, but for an occasional post here and there… video could work just fine.

You'll likely see more video from me in the future. If anyone has any suggestions on free software to make things easier, I'm always up for suggestions. Right now I have YouCam to do the recording (I hate it, btw) and Windows Live Movie Maker (it's solid, but I miss the built in Movie Maker that came with Vista), but I'm certainly not tied to either program.

Album Of The Week – Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie

I’ve decided to try my hand at the video segments again, and in this video you can check out my Album of the Week for this week: Alanis Morissette’s Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie!  It’s a kind of oldie, but definitely a goodie.  Check out the video, check out the samples in the left of the page, and leave some comment love!

It's As If I Didn't Exist

A pretty sobering look at some of the real costs and concerns that face LGBT Americans that do not have any form of Federal recognition of our relationship status. The death of a loved one is difficult in any circumstance, but a few more issues crop up when it comes to same-sex couples:

Thank You For Your Call from Shawn Nee / discarted on Vimeo.

True Blood's Eric Biting Man Booty

I... ummm... OK, give me a second here kids, I'm still trying to get my reaction together.

So you like True Blood, right? Who doesn't? Well, what about all the almost gay stuff in the show? Yeah, I like that stuff too.... but what about the pretty-gay-but-just-short-of-actually-being-gay stuff the actors might do at a drunken party? Yeah, I like that too...

I'm more of a Sam guy myself, and Alcide is still my favorite character from the books (and he's smoking hot in the show!), but I can take a little bit of Eric Northman man-on-man action from time to time.

Check The Hatorade Plz

OK, ok, I know you've seen this already. But I'm still floored by this kid's talent! He's got an amazing voice, serviceable piano skills, and an excellent grasp of song writing. Yeah, it's a cover, but he does an amazing job manipulating the song to make it his own. He's got a couple original songs on his YouTube page that are equally as amazing, you should definitely check those out as well.

I know the internet is full of vile, hateful, disgusting troll folk normally banished to the underside of the nastiest of bridges in remote areas, but it really annoys me the hate that people have been posting about this kid. Yep, it's probably my fault for reading YouTube comments... but still. He's 12 and he's amazingly talented! I know jealousy is a powerful beast, but can't we put it in check every once in a while?

Will Buy

Drawn Together	On DVD April 20
Red Band Trailer
www.comedycentral.com
Futurama New Episodes Funny Demon Zombie TV Show Funny TV Comedy Blog

What Not To Do...

If you want your rock band to be taken seriously: make a very, very serious version of an obsurb pop song which is characterized by a woman in a plastic dress "dancing" like a raptor on screen.

However, if you want to do that, this is what it would sound like:

That's Jared Leto's 30 Seconds to Mars, whose A Beautiful Lie album I actually liked and whose newest album, This Is War, is just a bit too serious for general consumption.  Just like this cover.

Gaga And Beyonce Go Lesbian

I don't know what else to say about this video.  It's pure Win!  Gaga, Beyonce, and lesbians galore... oh, and wonder woman inspired costumes.  There is absolutely nothing that is not perfect in this video.

Watch it.  Now! 

I don't think I EVER expected Beyonce to do something like this, much less play a lesbian, if by innuendo only.  After Gaga's extremely gay-centric Some Me Your Teeth video, I'm not too surprised to see her bust out something lesbianesque, but Beyonce doing it just seems.... well, perfect!

Lesbians.  Jail.  Cabaret-inspired outfits.  "Sunglasses" made of smoking cigarettes.  Beyonce committing mass homicide.  A big-ass truck named the "Pussy Wagon."  If that's not enough to make you watch this 10-minute clip, you probably don't have  a soul anymore.

Needs No Explanation

Lady Gaga's Speechless Minus Autotune

The girl is crazy for sure, but that might be what I love about her.  Y'all know I'm not much of a pop fan.  Just look at the music I feature, it's almost all rock or folk (except Janet... she's just amazing).  But lately I've grown to really like Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert.

This clip is from her performance on Ellen this last week.  I just love it.  This song on the album is pretty good, but I like it much more without the auto-tune.  She's got a really great voice that I hope they actually feature on her next album.

Janet's New Video: MJ Lite

And here's her new video, complete with some many Michael throwbacks and references I almost feel like I'm listening him.  Don't get me twisted, I'm really liking this video, BUT there are some blatant MJ references here.

I think it's fun and a lot more engaging than her last couple of songs.  Hopefully this one will get her back in the headlines.

Really Like This Video

It's from a guy named Aiden James.  Kinda bearish, a little cute, love his voice.