Hoyas 3-0! Yeah, buddy.

Speaking of which, it was nice to see our old homeboy Jeff Green on the court against the Wizards last night…

…Looking for an act of devotion in honor of the Solemnity of Christ the King?

Consider adding your e-signature to the Manhattan Declaration…

…After I finished high school, I got a job typing the reports of a company of local archaeologists.

The company specialized in pre-historic archaeology–that is, the study of artifacts produced by people who did not have writing.

In our area, you can discover a pre-historic artifact while you are out for a walk. There are still Algonquian arrowheads and potsherds lying on the surface of the earth.

Contrast this with archaeology in the Old City of Jerusalem. On Monday evening, we walked down four flights of steps from street level. We emerged into a cistern that was built to hold water for use in the Temple in the fifth century B.C.

Chiesa Nuova in Rome

There are books written about the building of that temple–they can be found in the Old Testament. My point is: In Jerusalem, archaelogists have dug and dug and dug, and they still have not gotten to the pre-historic level.

And here is some more perspective: In our day and age, since the beginning of the Digital/Organic Era (which began when Bill Gates’ net worth reached $1 trillion), “new” refers to something that came into being in the last half-nanosecond.

In Rome, there is a beautiful church called Chiesa Nuova, the “New Church.” It was completed in 1606.

In Jerusalem, the Nea, the “new” church in honor of Mary the Mother of God, has lay buried beneath the rubble of earthquake and Persian destruction for 1200 years.

Today is the day the Nea was dedicated in A.D. 543.

Our Lady was born in Jerusalem. She was among the girls who cared for the Temple paraphernalia.

When Mary brought the newborn Jesus to the Temple to present Him to the Father, she encountered the priest Simeon and the prophetess Anna. The three of them may already have known each other.

The above is a mosaic map of Christian Jerusalem. It is not easy to read. The Cardo, or main street, runs left to right through the middle of the city. The huge ancient basilica of the Holy Sepulcher is below the main street, the Nea is above it, to the right. There was an annual procession between the two churches.

…I am sorry that I allowed the following “Bests” list to get as stale as five-year-old granola bars. It is retired. An exciting new edition is available behind the Bests tab above.

SPECIAL “MY iPOD” EDITION

Best Rob Thomas Song: “Real World” (Matchbox 20)

(“I wish the real world would just stop hassling me” is not a bad motto.)

Best Paul Simon Song:
The Obvious Child

Best Radiohead Song:
Talk Show Host

Best Bruce Springsteen Song since 1979: Radio Nowhere

Best K.D. Lang Song: Constant Craving

Best Rock Band Alive Today: Switchfoot

Best B–n–d Ladies Song: Falling for the First Time

Best Cover Ever: The Boys of Summer by the Ataris

Best Nineties Band that No One Has Ever Heard Of: World Party

Best Taylor Swift Song: Teardrops on My Guitar

Handsome Ned

The Name Is Ned

(Linkhorn/Northern Heritage/EMI, 2000)

I’ve never understood why, but I still vividly recall the night Handsome Ned died. It was January 10, 1987, I was 15 and now allowed to watch television long after my parents had gone to bed. On good nights that meant catching movies on Toronto’s CityTV, at that time the most innovative station on basic cable that probably ever existed. The fact that its programming was a reflection of its hip viewership extended to its news coverage as well, making it not uncommon for me to watch the 11 o’clock report after the movie ended.

I can’t remember what the movie was that night, but I’ll never forget how oddly appropriate it seemed for the ensuing newscast to lead off with a story about a local country singer who had died from a heroin overdose. I had never heard of Handsome Ned, but the reverential tone of the report made it feel like I did, or at least should have. This was plainly a significant loss to the community, and even though I knew little about the Toronto music scene, and next to nothing about country music, I needed to find out why.

For that reason, I credit Handsome Ned, not Gram Parsons or anyone else, for making me aware of this whole alt-country/Americana thing. The funny part is, it took me a long time after that to actually hear him sing. That moment was also entirely unexpected; in 1990 I saw Bruce McDonald’s film Roadkill shortly after it was released, and in a soundtrack choice worthy of Scorsese, he placed one of Ned’s scant semi-official recordings, “Put The Blame On Me,” over the opening sequence depicting an Easter parade complete with a real-life Jesus on the cross.

Although that song is inextricably linked to the film in my mind, the recording itself, done in 1983, remains a perfect example of the inevitable convergence of punk and country to come. It must be said that k.d. lang was already there; in the summer of 1984 she released her debut album, A Truly Western Experience, while still in Alberta, and her Toronto debut later that year sparked an international label bidding war. Ned had spent time in Alberta too, along with many other places, but there was something about his connection to Toronto that just seemed natural.

He was born Robin Masyk on June 4, 1957 into a Royal Canadian Air Force family based in West Germany. His five-year-old brother Jim, who became his lead guitarist, gave him his name in homage to Batman’s trusty sidekick, a role the younger Masyk never adopted in real life. By 1970 he was listening to country music after discovering The Byrds’s Sweetheart Of The Rodeo, and two years later he began hitchhiking to Alberta, Texas, and elsewhere to get the education he was no longer receiving in school.

It was during one of these mid-‘70s sojourns that he crossed paths with Jim Cuddy in Banff. Cuddy had arrived from Toronto, and hearing Masyk sing his ragged interpretations of country and rockabilly standards set him firmly on his own musical path. Masyk continued his apprenticeship in 1978 by spending a year absorbing the Austin music scene. Once back in Toronto in 1979, he and his brother formed what was said to be the city’s first rockabilly-revival act, The Velours. Yet, instead of wearing leather and grease, Masyk preferred the western shirt and cowboy hat look he’d grown accustomed to in Texas.

By 1981, country had taken over their sound too, and the band became The Sidewinders, with Masyk adopting the name Handsome Ned to complete the transformation. The new persona fully ignited his passion to build a young country music audience in Toronto, and at the start of 1982, Ned launched his Saturday afternoon residency at the Cameron House on Queen Street West. Within a short time it became the gathering place for musicians of all stripes, as word spread that Ned was more than a novelty. His scope widened later that year when he got a radio show on a local campus station, where he would play a mix of Lefty Frizzell and R.E.M., along with singing a few songs himself.

From then on, Ned was everywhere, playing in a host of other bands along with his own – including a reggae/country hybrid – and organizing country music-themed events around town. In 1985 he finally released the follow-up single to “Put The Blame On Me,” “In Spite Of The Danger,” which seemed to signal the imminent arrival of Ned on the national scene. He and his band, the Handsome Neds, were now filling clubs in Toronto whenever they played, and in February 1986, Jim Cuddy’s new group, Blue Rodeo, played its second gig opening for Ned at the Horseshoe Tavern.

But while fortune would eventually smile upon Blue Rodeo, it would not be so kind to Ned. Talk of a record deal never materialized, and by the fall of 1986 he had formed The New Neds. That line-up recorded “Wake Me Up I’m Dreaming,” which somehow got them an appearance in a made-for-TV movie called Christmas Eve, starring Loretta Young. It was supposed to be the prelude to Ned’s first full-length album, but those recording sessions scheduled for January 1987 never happened.

What was left, then, were a handful of studio recordings and radio performances to somehow represent the immeasurable impact Handsome Ned had on the Canadian roots music scene. Virgin Records made a noble attempt in 1989 with The Ballad Of Handsome Ned (it received a Juno nomination), but the definitive collection remains this double-disc set, The Name Is Ned, compiled with care by Jim Masyk.

Everything is here, and even though much of it is far from polished, it gives a clear indication that Ned’s emerging songwriting ability and already-honed instincts as a classic country interpreter would eventually have found a place within the alt-country insurgency of the 1990s. If you’ve ever wondered why Toronto has always been so important to the Americana movement, The Name Is Ned is the best place to start.

I admit to cheating but really, it is nearly impossible to whittle NPR’s original list down to 50, let alone 5. I justify my decision by grouping these two vocalists together because they’re both Canadian, amazingly talented and 5b has covered a few songs by 5a. Roll with it.

5a. Joni Mitchell: Born 1943 in Canada. She was a singer-songwriter during the rise of folk music in the 1960s. Her style of folk music is heavily influenced by jazz and pop.

My favorite album of hers is Court and Spark, and one of my favorite songs off it is “Help Me.” It’s so joyous and makes me think of the beginning of a new relationship when things are fresh and exciting. I guess that would be the “court and spark.” Here is a nice performance of the song.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *      *     *

5b. k.d. lang: Born 1961 in Canada. She actually started out as a country singer but as her career evolved, lang added pop, jazz standards, and torch songs to her repertoire. lang prefers to perform barefoot.

She has also covered a few Joni Mitchell songs, including “Help Me.” I almost like lang’s version better than the original, which is saying something since the original is great. Her voice is pure like Mitchell’s, but it packs a little more power. Check out her interpretation in this video from a Joni tribute concert.

Also worth a listen is lang’s cover of Mitchell’s “A Case of You.” I almost feel like crying each time I hear it, it’s so beautiful. So maybe don’t listen to it in public, ha.

Thanks for sticking around while I raved about these great singers. There is just so much talent out there in this universe. Remember to visit NPR’s list and vote for your 5 favorite great voices.

Did the Beatles borrow from a 1956 jazz hit before their song was shamelessly copied by a 1990s alternative group? How did Rod Stewart get around a plagiarism lawsuit? Does Seal’s mega-hit Kiss From A Rose borrow from Natalie Cole? Did Keith Richards and Mick Jagger really never hear k.d. lang’s Constant Craving? Why am I writing the intro in question format? Could it be because the Copy Borrow Steal posts are not intended to directly accuse songwriters of plagiarism (except when they do)? Shall we proceed to the meat of the post?

* * *

Jorge Ben – Taj Mahal (1976).mp3
Bob Dylan – One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later) (1966).mp3
Rod Stewart – Do Ya Think I’m Sexy (1978).mp3
Steve Dahl – Do You Think I’m Disco (1979).mp3
It didn’t go down well when Rod the Mod donned the leopard-print spandex tights and satin shirt to cash in on the disco boom. His fans were appalled, the disco purists even more so, and the disco haters went into overdrive. Radio jock Steve Dahl was prompted to organise the despicable record burning at Chicago’s Comiskey Park in part because of Rod’s single (for my views on Comiskey, go here). Dahl later released the non-genius spoof Do You Think I’m Disco. In the outrage, few noticed that the chorus of Rod’s song (and, for that matter, Dahl’s) was lifted almost wholesale from Brazilian jazz maestro Jorge Ben’s samba-funk workout Taj Mahal, which he has recorded at least three times since its first appearance in 1972 (featured here is the 1976 version).

Do Ya Think I’m Sexy was written by Stewart with his drummer, Carmine Appice. But clearly, it was largely plagiarised, so Jorge Ben threatened to sue. Rod deftly outmanoeuvred him, and Ben (who also wrote the bossa nova standard Mais Que Nada) saw no profit from it. Stewart grandly announced that future royalties of his ripped-off track would go to UNICEF, at whose proto-Live Aid show he sang “his” song. Ben — now known as Jorge Ben Jor, after somehow royalties due to him were paid to George Benson — later complained that UNICEF never even contacted him about the agreement. He was not happy about having been ripped off, but would have been fine with his melody being lifted if only Stewart and Appice had asked him.

It is said that Da Ya Think also lifted from Bobby Womack’s 1975 track (If You Want My Love) Put Something Down On It, but I don’t have it, nor have I heard it. The Can-Smashing Robot blog, however, believes to have spotted another subtle rip-off: Al Kooper’s organ hook at 2:59 in Bob Dylan’s One Of Us Must Know (Sooner Or Later). You decide. But as you do, think about this: Dylan’s track appeared on Blonde On Blonde; Stewart’s on Blondes Have More Fun. Coincidence?

.

Humphrey Lyttleton – Bad Penny Blues (1956).mp3
The Beatles – Lady Madonna (1967).mp3
Sublime – What I Got (1996).mp3
The piano riff of Humphrey Lyttleton’s Bad Penny Blues, played by Johnny Parker, allegedly inspired Paul McCartney ivory-tinkling on Lady Madonna. Engineered by the legendary Joe Meek (who should have received the producer credit), it was the first British jazz number to reach the UK Top 20. Lyttleton, a jazz traditionalist, did not like the song on account of Meek’s innovations.

The aristocratic Lyttleton, who died in April last year, was a colourful character. Apart from playing jazz, he was also a cartoonist for the Daily Mail (which at the time evidently still employed left-leaning characters). At school, he played in a band with the journalist Ludovic Kennedy, who died last month. The trumpet was his constant companion, it seems. During the war, he reportedly landed on Salerno beach during Operation Avalanche with gun in one hand and trumpet in the other. On VE Day, the BBC filmed him celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany sitting in a wheelbarrow playing his trumpet. For 40 years he presented a jazz programme on BBC radio, retiring the month before his death. He also appeared on the BBC radio comedy quiz show I’m Sorry, I Haven’t Got A Clue; one of his replacement after his death was the magnificent Stephen Fry. And in 2001, he contributed to Radiohead’s Life In A Glasshouse.

To spoil a good story, McCartney says that the piano on Lady Madonna was in fact inspired by Fats Domino, whose vocal style he also tried to replicate. And, in fairness, I can’t hear much similarity between Lyttleton’s and McCartney’s songs.

There is, however, more than just a little similarity between Lady Madonna and alternative rock outfit Sublime’s 1997 hit What You Got. The latter’s first verse melody is almost identical to that of the Beatles’ song. Apparently the Sublime song, released after lead singer Bradley Nowell’s death, was based on a song by called Loving by Jamaican dancehall singer Half Pint. He gets a writer’s credit; McCartney doesn’t.

.

Natalie Cole – Our Love (1978).mp3
Seal – Kiss From A Rose (1995).mp3
You’ll have to make your own mind up about this: to me, the piano intro of Natalie Cole’s 1978 song Our Love sounds suspiciously like the scatted intro of Seal’s 1995 hit Kiss From A Rose (a song I can’t say I’m particularly partial to, though I’ll allow that Seal’s vocal performance is pretty good).

Natalie Cole’s song was written by Chuck Jackson & Marvin Yancy, and covered in 1997 by Mary J Blige, though I don’t remember her version at all. Cole’s version was a US #10 hit; Seal’s, written for the Batman Forever soundtrack by Seal and Trevor Horn, topped the US charts.

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k.d. lang – Constant Craving (1992).mp3
Rolling Stones – Anybody Seen My Baby (1997).mp3
One of my favourite passages in Timothy English’s fascinating book on songs that have copied, borrowed or stolen, Sounds Like Teen Spirit (website and buy) concerns the Rolling Stones’ Anybody Seen My Baby from the mostly mediocre Bridges To Babylon album. It’s 1997 and Keef is playing the soon-to-be-release album to his daughter and her friends. As the chorus of Anybody Seen My Baby begins, the girls launch into the chorus of k.d. lang’s Constant Craving. Richards and Jagger denied having consciously heard lang’s mammoth hit of 1992 (nor, as English pointedly notes, did the producer, engineer, session musicians or record company honchos, it seems).

However, by the time Ms Richards and pals had alerted Keef to the potential plagiarism, the marketing machine for Bridges To Babylon was already in overdrive, and the track could not be pulled. The pragmatic, and honourable, solution was to add Lang and her co-writer, Ben Mink, to the writing credit. As for Richards, he later told CNN: “If you’re a songwriter, it can happen. You know, it’s what goes in may well come out.”

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More Copy Borrow Steal

PARCE QUE C’EST TOUJOURS LA FÊTE À QUELQU’UN DE PLUS IMPORTANT QUE TOI.

David Schwimmer: 43

K.D. Lang: 48

On November 2:

1755 – Marie Antoinette, Queen of France was born.

1868  New Zealand officially adopted a standard time to be observed nationally

1898  Cheerleading is started at the University of Minnesota with Johnny Campbell leading the crowd in cheering on the football team.

1899  The Boers began their 118 day siege of British held Ladysmith during the Second Boer War.

1913  Burt Lancaster, American actor, was born.

1917 The Balfour Declaration proclaimed British support for the “establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people” with the clear understanding “that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities”.

1930 Haile Selassie was crowned emperor of Ethiopia.

1936 The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was established.

1936  Italian dictator Benito Mussolini proclaimed the Rome-Berlin Axis, establishing the alliance of the Axis Powers.

1936 The British Broadcasting Corporation initiates the BBC Television Service, the world’s first regular, high-definition (then defined as at least 200 lines) service.

1938 – Queen Sofia of Spain was born.

1942 At El Alamein in Egypt, the 2nd New Zealand Division opened the way for British armour, allowing the Allies to force a breakthrough and send the Axis forces into retreat.

1942  Shere Hite, American author, was born.

1947 Designer Howard Hughes made the maiden (and only) flight of the Spruce Goose; the largest fixed-wing aircraft ever built.

1960 Penguin Books was found not guilty of obscenity in the Lady Chatterley’s Lover case.

1961 – K.D.(Kathryn Dawn) Lang, Canadian musician, was born.

1983 U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

1988 The Morris worm, the first internet-distributed computer worm to gain significant mainstream media attention, is launched from MIT.

Why do I always miss this?  Just feckless, I guess.

Anyway, this past month of October was GLBT History Month.  In their yearly highlighting of 31 GLBT icons, the Equality Forum singled out at least two Buddhists:  avant-garde composer John Cage and singer-songwriter k.d. lang.

For more, visit http://www.glbthistorymonth.com.

So this week I went to the library to check out some new (new to me, that is) music from jazzy-pop artists. I always like doing that, to hear how the greats did the songs that I do in my act. I often look for CDs where I recognize song titles, and this week I borrowed from the library the 2002 CD “What A Wonderful World” by Tony Bennett, who’ll I’ll call Grandpa for the purpose of this article, since he looks and reminds me so much of my own grandpa, and k.d. lang, whom I’ll call The Jazzy Lesbian. The CD was produced by T. Bone Burnett, giving it added hipster cred.

Now you would think that I, being a singer of the Great American Songbook, would be a huge fan of Grandpa. But, I am not. I don’t do his music in my act. No “I Left My Heart In San Francisco” for me. I just don’t like the guy’s tone and delivery. Is he a cool guy? You bet! As a person, how can you not like Grandpa– I remember when he was on MTV in the 1990s with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and thought, “Wow, Grandpa’s not dead. If anything, now his career is officially revived.” And since then, Grandpa has been on TV loads of times and recording up a storm. When he got with Canadian female crooner k.d. lang, whom many of you know for her early 1990s adult contemporary radio, the gorgeous “Constant Craving,” there was, as they say, “something special there.” So the two have collaborated, and on this “What A Wonderful World” CD, though I am not a huge fan of Grandpa’s voice, The Jazzy Lesbian’s voice is right “on point” for me. I am so glad The Jazzy Lesbian didn’t stick to just “alt-country” music, where she first made her mark in the 1990s. Her voice is so well-suited to singing classic jazzy-pop that I would say I’d be honored to duet with her someday.

“What A Wonderful World” has 12 songs on it; of the 12, most of which feature piano, warm strings, and smooth bass, a few made my “download-worthy” cut: “La Vie En Rose,” “A Kiss To Build A Dream On,” “Dream A Little Dream Of Me,” “I Wonder” (this song’s brand new to me), “That Lucky Old Sun,” and the title track.

from “Eye of the Beholder”

Det är så gott att vakna ibland. Att utan någon särskild anledning bara vara fånigt glad för att det är en ny dag. Att – trots att det är mulet ute och att man inte har något annat att göra innan kvällen än att städa, handla, tvätta, röja, slänga, sortera – bara nöja sig med att det känns skönt att vara vaken.

Kaffet står på bordet, k.d.lang strömmar ut ur iTunes, hennes förträffliga och smakfullt nedtonade platta Hymns Of The 49th Parallell. Ahh. Perfekt. Snart ska dammvippan fram. Kul! Och första högen ska in i den trötta tvättmaskinen. Kanon! Och det ska handlas i en svindyr närbutik för att det är för jobbigt att släpa sig bort till Hemköp. Äntligen!!!

När man hamnar i det här läget handlar det inte bara om att njuta av det i stunden. Det gäller att hålla kvar det också. Att, varje gång det börjar slutta nedåt, påminna sig om morgonkänslan, klamra sig fast vid den som hängde det på livet, inte ge sig förrän man baxat dit den igen, att inte låta de själsligt förlamande sisyfosuppgifterna ta bort känslan av att – allt är bra idag.

Men jag oroar mig inte för det. Inte idag. Idag har jag lätta fötter, mitt bröst är fyllt av livgivande syre och jag blickar uppåt, mot höjder där frihet, kärlek och glädje härskar. Jag blundar och njuter av denna morgon, så vacker och fulländad.

Och det är med den här fridfulla känslan som utgångspunkt som jag drar min slutsats, nämligen att Sverige krossar, mosar, förnedrar och gör finmald slarvsylta av Danmark ikväll! Kom igen nu! Go Zlatan!!!

So get out there and celebrate!

GLBTHistoryMonth.com is providing a bio of a GLBT icons for everyday of the month, kicking things off with Alvin Alley Jr. The site will also profile the likes of Zora Neale Hurston, Alfred Kinsey, K.D. Lang, Rachel Maddow, Yves St. Laurent and many more.

October also has National Coming Out Day. This year’s celebration coincides with National Equality March in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 11.

I listened to Abbey Road (Beatles) in the morning because everyone here agrees on that. It was about 6:30. My CD player was set to automatically do this, digital numbers blinking against a color-changing glow-screen LCD.

Classic rock radio on the way to the train station. Also, motown.

On the train, via noise-canceling headphones, I enjoyed The Replicants (Paul D’Amour after the Tool schism) and Daniel Johnston (called an outsider musician; seriously ran away and joined the carnival as a teen) on my Macbook and first-wave Zune (size of a brick), respectively. Unfortunately, the Zune charge ran out.  I was without the USB cord & unable to charge. This meant no music between classes unless sitting down. That, or hold my open laptop like a serving girl with a platter as I jostled from one building to another. Or not.

A stranger walking by was listening to some rock track blasting through ear buds. I couldn’t tell what band it was.

Queen, Stevie Ray Vaughn, Mountain, and Led Zeppelin on the way home. Also, some generic jazz improv.

At home, my mother absentmindedly sang portions of “I’m Down to Last Cigarette,” K.D. Lang.

Deleting obscene comments added by friends to my band’s Myspace music profile, I heard the first 4 seconds of the crusade!

Before I crash, I’ll put in Lifted and I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, two favorite albums by Bright Eyes.

My best friend is currently playing a song he wrote via iChat video conferencing.

In the morning, KMFDM.

Here’s a song we know was proposed for a James Bond film. The official title is Surrender, it was written by David Arnold and Don Black and performed by k.d. Lang. We know this because it was used in the film Tomorrow Never Dies — in the end titles rather than the main titles.

With the editing software available today and with YouTube as a distribution channel, it doesn’t take much imagination to figure out how things would have turned out had Eon boss people Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli opted for that song instead of the Sheryl Crow song that was used in the main title. It might have gone something like this:

k.d. lang is everyone’s favourite Canadian pop/country singer-songwriter. Whether she’s singing covers or originals – and I’m including both – her voice is something else. There’s a lot of brash and flashy music about and k.d.’s stands out for peeling it back. She lets you stop and go into yourself. So let’s get into it, shall we?

“Constant Craving” (lyrics here)

“Crying” (originally by Roy Orbison; lyrics here)

“Hallelujah” (originally by Leonard Cohen; lyrics here)

She’s a delight, isn’t she?

Não, não estou maluco.

Depois de quase três meses sem postar porque eu estava de férias e muitas coisas acontecendo na minha vida ao mesmo tempo, estou de volta pra ficar (como sempre, rs).

O título do post se refere ao fato de que meu décimo-oitavo ano de vida se aproxima de seu fim para que o décimo-nono comece. E junto com isso vem uma nova fase no blog. Admito que ainda não decidi todas as novidades, mas posso adiantar que mudanças visuais acontecerão, os posts serão mais freqüentes e vou começar a escrever coisas mais pessoais e reflexivas (sem abandonar os outros assuntos que aqui foram sempre presentes) já que quem não tem terapeuta, desabafa no blog.

Só pra esclarecer mais esse negócio de reflexividade pessoal: eu preciso me livrar da dificuldade de escrever o que eu penso e imagino. Eu adquiri essa dificuldade durante o ensino médio, quando a dissertação direcionada ao vestibular reinou nas aulas de redação e na minha vida em geral. Isso me seqüelou gravemente, como você pode perceber no meu estilo de escrever, que ainda tem traços de redação de vestibular. Mas eu sou um artista por motivos expressivos e como tal penso que não posso me prender a convenções extremamente racionalizadas de escrita (ou qualquer outro tipo de meio). A partir do momento que o blog proporciona espaço para minhas experimentações e tudo o mais que der na telha (com interação dos leitores, que é importantíssima), porque não usar isso ao meu favor, no meu desenvolvimento como roteirista, escritor, desenhista, fotógrafo, músico et al?

Esses meses que estive ausente foram intensos. E os meses a seguir não sinalizam nada diferente. Muito estudo, muitas sensações, muitos sentimentos, muitos acontecimentos. Crescer é uma delícia, mas às vezes cansa.

E vamos em frente, rumo ao Verão, porque há muita coisa a ser dita e mostrada.

I’ve been hesitant to actually make this move as I’m so used to how things work at my former residence. However, Half Hearted Dude touted the ease of WordPress and, knock on silicon, so far, so good.

A quartet of tracks in motion…

The Cars – Moving In Stereo
from The Cars

Paloma mentioned her affection for The Cars the other day. She also declared her feelings that they haven’t gotten as much due as they should.

I think I’d agree that maybe they haven’t gotten as much hoopla as some bands of their era. If you were listening to radio in the late ’70s/early ’80s – especially during the summer of ‘84 – you certainly knew their songs.

Primal Scream – Movin’ On Up
from Screamadelica

There are a handful of songs that never fail to make me smile. Movin’ On Up is one of them.

k.d. lang – Just Keep Me Moving
from Even Cowgirls Get The Blues soundtrack

Even Cowgirls Get The Blues always seemed to get the most attention, but, when it comes to the works of Tom Robbins – from whose Half Asleep In Frog Pajamas we adopted our name – I much prefer Skinny Legs And All and Jitterbug Perfume.

Anyhow, Just Keep Me Moving was a nice contribution by k.d. lang to the soundtrack.

Neneh Cherry – Move With Me (Dub)
from Until The End Of The World soundtrack

One of the best assembled movie soundtracks of the ’90s was the one for Wim Wenders’ Until The End Of The World. In fact, it was the lure of a new Peter Gabriel song that prompted a roommate and I to catch the movie in the theater (putting us in the company of a select few).

The hypnotic simmer of Move With Me is likely to surprise folks who only know Ms. Cherry from her 1989 hit Buffalo Stance.

Listen to me when I tell you this, Dear Breeder: Lesbians are cooler than everybody else.

Let that sink in for a moment, while you rearrange your throw pillows and consider building a rec room. The only reason you never heard of us before is because we’re so cutting edge. In fact, you’ll just start getting into us five years from now, when your kids are starting high school and they all want to grow up to be lesbians.

“Sure,” you say, “You lesbians have been cool before, but nothing ever comes of it.” Well you know what, Dear Breeder? Nothing ever came of your career in online gambling either. And you know why? Because of lesbians.

EXHIBIT A: Paul Revere

Paul Revere kicked it all off with his shiny black boots, blousy shirts, and three-quarter length pants—a truly organic look, native to the Northeast, that he ripped off from early lesbian settlers, who never died and in fact still live in Northampton today. Revere loved horses, had a popular daytime talk show way before Rosie, and was voted “Founding Father Most Likely to Process His Feelings in a Supportive Group Setting.” To this day, we marvel at those lesbian hands! Raise your silver teapot high in a tea party toast to this classic icon of Lesbian Chic!

EXHIBIT B: Vanity Fair Was Simple Then, Too

You’ve seen it before and you’ll see it again: This magazine cover poster is the poster child for Lesbian Chic! k.d. lang is so cool that her beard is practically shaving itself with those razor-sharp cheekbones! Watch out, Cindy, this lower-case lesbian is hot for you. After all, why would you capitalize your name when you already have an international supermodel capitalizing on your lesbianism? Mad props to Cindy and her pet monster hair for coming along on this wild ride of momentary mainstream interest in a lesbian.

EXHIBIT C: DJ Sapphic Fever

Totally cool. We just love you guys. Here especially. Doing lines off a fudge pop again, Lilo? Come on, girl, you know that leaves a trail! Sam, I always think you look soooo cute trying to look soooo cute. Awwwwww, kittens.

There’s just no way to get around it, Dear Breeder. Lesbians rule no matter what we’re doing. Whether we’re saving the world practically every day or just mostly being interesting people who are self-aware and awesome, it’s obvious enough why mainstream culture wants so little to do with us: You are jealous, and I don’t think you’re ready for this jealousy.

Ain’t no party like a lesbian party cause a lesbian party don’t stop.

Exhibition dates: 2nd July – 18th October, 2009

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“How I wish this selection had been available to me when I was young and trying to make sense of my reactions to the world. How inspirational to have had portraits of the great and the good staring out at me telling me that I was not by any measure on my own.”

Sandi Toksvig

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Jill Furmanovsky
‘K.D. Lang, Le Meridien Hotel, London’
© Jill Furmanovsky
1992

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“The first portrait exhibition to celebrate the contribution of gay people and gay icons to history and culture. 60 photographs selected by Waheed Alli, Alan Hollinghurst, Elton John, Jackie Kay, Billie Jean King, Ian McKellen, Chris Smith, Ben Summerskill, Sandi Toksvig and Sarah Waters.

An important photography exhibition, ‘Gay Icons’, at the National Portrait Gallery (2 July–18 October 2009) will celebrate the contribution of gay people – and the significance of the gay icon – to history and culture. Ten selectors have worked with the Gallery to make their own personal choices of six individuals, their ‘icons’. Not only does this exhibition include many well-known icons, who may or may not be gay themselves, it also reveals some surprises and will encourage a wide audience to think about familiar faces in new ways.

The ‘Gay Icons’ shown in the exhibition will include those people, living or dead, whatever their sexual orientation or interests, who the ten individual selectors regard as inspirational, or as a personal icon. Gay Icons brings together portraits of those people who are regarded as especially significant to each of the selectors, alongside those of the selectors themselves, all prominent gay figures in contemporary culture and society.

Coinciding with the fortieth anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York, this exhibition focuses on portraits of both historical and modern figures. The choices provide a fascinating range of inspiring figures – some very famous, some heroic, others relatively unknown. Each icon is presented with information about their personal, and sometimes public, significance, some of it relating to the sitter but much of it linked to the selectors who have been prepared to share their experiences and feelings in their own exhibition texts.

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GisËle Freund
‘Virginia Woolf’
© GisËle Freund
1939

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Paul Morrissey
‘Joe Dallesandro’
© Paul Morrissey, 1968
1968

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Themes running through the exhibition include inspiration and how the ‘icons’ have inspired each selector in an extremely personal sense to realise their full potential, human rights, stemming from the specific consideration of sexuality, and how this might lead us to consider parallels between the struggles of different minority groups, re-discovery, or rescuing the reputations of figures who might otherwise have been forgotten or, worse, actively disregarded and surprise at some of the perhaps unexpected choices.

The project was developed from an initial proposal made by Bernard Horrocks, Copyright Officer, at the Gallery. The concept quickly evolved to include invitations to ten gay people – each distinguished in different fields – to act as selectors. They were chosen in consultation with their Chair, Sandi Toksvig.

Each selector could freely choose six ‘icons’, although the Gallery decided to limit the choices to photographic portraits, and therefore to subjects who had lived, more or less, within the last 150 years. This also seemed appropriate because within this same period homosexuality was gradually accepted and made legitimate in Britain.

The selectors are Lord Waheed Alli, Alan Hollinghurst, Sir Elton John, Jackie Kay, Billie Jean King, Sir Ian McKellen, Lord Chris Smith, Ben Summerskill, Sandi Toksvig and Sarah Waters.

Sitters include artists Francis Bacon and David Hockney, civil rights campaigner Harvey Milk, writers Quentin Crisp, Joe Orton, Dame Daphne Du Maurier, Patricia Highsmith and Walt Whitman, composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky, musicians k.d. lang, Will Young and Village People, entertainers Ellen DeGeneres, Kenneth Williams and Lily Savage, and Nelson Mandela and Diana, Princess of Wales. Their fascinating stories will be illustrated by sixty photographic portraits including works by Andy Warhol, Linda McCartney, Snowdon, Polly Borland, Fergus Greer, Terry O’Neill and Cecil Beaton.

Sandy Nairne, Director of the National Portrait Gallery, London, says: “Gay Icons is an exhibition in which inspiring stories – both private and public – are shared. These are stories of brave lives and significant achievements, told through iconic photographic images chosen by selectors who are themselves icons.”

Text from the National Portrait Gallery website

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Lewis Morley
‘Joe Orton’
© Lewis Morley Archive/National Portrait Gallery, London
1965

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Fergus Greer
‘Quentin Crisp’
© Fergus Greer
1989

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“Gay Icons explores gay social and cultural history through the unique personal insights of ten high profile gay figures, who have selected their historical and modern icons.

The chosen icons, who may or may not be gay themselves, have all been important to each selector, having influenced their gay sensibilities or contributed to making them who they are today. They include artists Francis Bacon and David Hockney; writers Daphne du Maurier and Quentin Crisp; composers Pyotr Tchaikovsky and Benjamin Britten; musicians k.d. lang, the Village People and Will Young; entertainers Ellen DeGeneres, Lily Savage and Kenneth Williams; sports stars Martina Navratilova and Ian Roberts and political activists Harvey Milk and Angela Mason.

Their fascinating and inspirational stories will be illustrated by over sixty photographic portraits including works by Andy Warhol, Snowdon and Cecil Beaton together with specially commissioned portraits of the selectors by Mary McCartney. McCartney. All are set in a striking exhibition design conceived by renowned theatre designer, Robert Jones …

This exhibition brings together ten selectors, chaired by Sandi Toksvig, each of whom is a prominent gay figure in contemporary culture and society. Each selector was asked to name six people, who may or may not be gay, whom they personally regard as inspirational, or an icon for them.

Their choices provide a fascinating range of figures – some heroic, some very famous, others less well known. In the exhibition the selectors write about their choices and share their own convictions, experiences and feelings. The display also features specially commissioned portraits of the selectors by Mary McCartney.”

Text from the National Portrait Gallery website

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Bertram Park
‘Ronald Firbank’ (detail)
1917

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Unknown Photographer
‘Winifred Atwell’ (detail)
c. 1950s

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Elliott and Fry
‘Alan Turing’
© National Portrait Gallery, London
1951

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National Portrait Gallery
St Martin’s Place
London WC2H 0HE

Opening hours: Daily 10am – 6pm.
Open until 9pm
Thursday and Friday.

National Portrait Gallery website

When I was a child, music was something that was listened to regularly at my house. Country, Rock, Blues.. just about everything. Records spun on the big radio in the living room. We even had a handful of 8-tracks. One of the records was Melissa Etheridge’s second album, “Brave and Crazy”. Even as a child I felt that there was something that Etheridge was saying to me in those lyrics.

Melissa's album 'Brave & Crazy' played through my house when I was a child

As times went on I had my obsessions with musical artists. I longed to be the 6th New Kid on the Block. Since I knew that I couldn’t, I just idolized Jordan Knight to the point that my peers started realizing something was a little different about me. I had my hair done the same way – even with the same off-center line that Jordan had shaved in his hair. I thought I was cool beyond cool.

Melissa & k.d. lang smooch at the end of the Lifebeat Concert

In 1992 a new artist grabbed my attention. Newly “out” lesbian singer, k.d. lang. On a fluke, I happened to be in a bookstore at Genesse Valley Mall in Flint, MI and looked up to see this boy-looking girl on the cover of The Advocate. I stood right there and read the whole article. I had seen this woman before… my mother and aunt had made MANY a joke about her being a man in a dress for years. So started my obsession with k.d. lang – same hairstyle, same clothes – but luckily she has moved onto wearing men’s clothing (I even dressed up as her for Halloween last year).

Yes I Am - helped me to come out and be strong

Soon after that a familiar name was mentioned as just “coming out” – Melissa Etheridge. Wait, the same Melissa Etheridge that sang to me as a child? It was now 1993 and her album “Yes I Am” was climbing the charts and not an hour went by that you didn’t hear “Come to My Window” on the radio. That loop, “I don’t care what they think. I don’t care what they say. What do they know about this love, anywaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyyyyy?” - is STILL my favorite line of all time! It spoke to me and let me know that I was not strange, I was not wrong. Even though I was not yet out to my family… I knew that one day I would be just like Melissa and I not care what anyone else thought.

Melissa during her Live and Alone tour

I have seen Melissa Etheridge enough times in concert, I think that I could have hands down paid for at least one of her 4 kids education at Harvard or Yale. Her music has been there to sing me to sleep during times of love, heartbreak, struggle, and success. I think of all the musicians that I listen to her – Etheridge has the more personal lyrics and soothing voices. She also puts on one HELL of a live show, sometimes going on for 3.5 hours. After a Melissa show I feel that I am just as tired from singing and dancing as she must be. Though her ticket prices have gotten high, they are still worth EVERY cent!!

Melissa and ex - Julie Cypher with Beckett (left) and Bailey

Melissa has been the face of coming out, gay relationships, gay parenting, and gay divorce. After her break-up with Julie Cypher (to whom her first two children Bailey and Beckett were born), she showed us that you can love again and get everything you want in. She met, dated, fell in love, and married Tammy Lynn Michaels (now Etheridge) and her music has not let up any in its passion. Melissa and Tammy now have twins to add to the Etheridge household. Melissa also has been the face of survival with her battle against Breast Cancer.

Tammy Lynn and Melissa at their wedding

Melissa helped me to come out and be the out, proud, political person I am today. When I start to sway from activism I can listen to “Silent Legacy”, “Scarecrow”, or “Tuesday Morning” Her music has helped me in my own break-ups, my own hardships and times of glory. Each of her albums bring something to the table: personally, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually. She is a complete artist if there ever was one. Plus, let’s be honest – even at 48, she looks damn good with a guitar (even to a gay man).

Promo shot from the Greatest Hit album - I love Melissa's short cut

If you are not familiar with Melissa Etheridge, I HIGHLY recommend checking out her music. If you get the chance to see her live, do it! You can find page upon page of live stuff on Youtube. You can also learn more about her at www.melissetheridge.com or at her Facebook or MySpace pages.

Melissa and Tammy

My dream in life is to be able to sit down to lunch or dinner and just talk to her. I would love to just be in her presence to feel her spirit and energy. I also think the we would be very close friends! Maybe a dream, but I think we would have many things to talk about and very similar opinions on life, love, and the journey we’ve both walked.

Melissa at the Democratic Convention

So in the chance that you or Tammy may read this little blog, from a simple man in Richmond, VA – know that you have help this guy through the best and worst of times and I look forward to your new album (which began work this week). Also, if you may need another gay in your life…. feel free to email me! I am always looking for more lesbian friends!!!

Tammy (with my current haircut) and Melissa