Someone is actually putting their dog to death in Tennessee because they believe it's gay, since it humped another male dog. Dogs humped me as a kid--so were they child molesters? Dogs humped my mom, too--how else would I conceived? I know who needs to be put to death and it ain't the damn dog.
You gotta love a scholarly paper where Dorian Corey is quoted as the subject's preeminent authority! (She was the Paris Is Burning queen who left a mummified body of her ex in her apartment for decades, it was discovered after her death.
"We remember the queens of Paris Is Burning; we remember how they lived and most of us do so in admiration. The proliferation of "throwing shade" is a small victory for them, a happy ending of sorts for people who thought a lot about the mark they were leaving, a realization of what was once all a dream. When we use it, we are saying "hooray for them," and we are serious, no T no shade."
FROM MOVEON.ORG: On October 31, 2012, VIM Pharmacy, a beloved neighborhood fixture in Washington Heights, closed its doors after 37 years due to an exorbitant rent increase. City-wide, many local businesses are being forced out by inflated rents and replaced with big chain stores. This undermines community well-being and quality of life, the viability of the neighborhood and hurts the local economy.
So I created a petition to Christine Quinn, Speaker and Mike Bloomberg, Mayor, which says:
Throughout NYC, the trend of skyrocketing retail rents is forcing premature closures of many valued mom and pop shops, preventing the opening of new small businesses and creating a climate where only national chains can survive.
There needs to be legislation in place to protect and empower small businesses, which in turn would protect and empower communities. Keep New York City a collection of vibrant, innovative and unique neighborhoods.
I doubt if many of you will watch this, but it's a real an eye opener. Torture is out of sight, out of mind for most of us. But as Zero Dark Thirty heads to the Oscars and Obama prepares to appoint John Brennan to head the CIA--despite the outcry against Brennan from the human rights community during the president's first term--torture is back in the headlines. A few shockers from this long interview for those who won't watch--as if you've even read this far--the guy was audited every year after being accused, his wife was harassed and the judge on his case mysteriously changed her opinion of his 30 month sentence from adequate to light in three months. The US is breaking laws with it's use of torture and placing itself in the category it had previously distanced itself for their use of "enhanced interrogation." No one who practiced torture has been prosecuted except for this guy who blew the whistle on it for moral grounds. He claims that Obama's foreign policy is an extension of Bush's, the only difference being that Obama has killed so many more people overseas. I didn't see Zero Dark Thirty, but this spy thriller is free. And true. (In two parts.)
Former CIA agent John Kiriakou speaks out just days after he was sentenced to 30 months in prison, becoming the first CIA official to face jail time for any reason relating to the U.S. torture program. Under a plea deal, Kiriakou admitted to a single count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act by revealing the identity of a covert officer to a freelance reporter, who did not publish it. Supporters say Kiriakou is being unfairly targeted for having been the first CIA official to publicly confirm and detail the Bush administration’s use of waterboarding. Kiriakou joins us to discuss his story from Washington, D.C., along with his attorney, Jesselyn Radack, director of National Security & Human Rights at the Government Accountability Project. "This ... was not a case about leaking; this was a case about torture. And I believe I’m going to prison because I blew the whistle on torture," Kiriakou says. "My oath was to the Constitution. … And to me, torture is unconstitutional."
A very sad article which claims that it's unlikely that anything will be done in Obama's 2nd term, and that democrats are just as much to blame as republicans. As we've just seen with the Senate democrats caving on the filibuster, prepare for lowered expectations on gun control, the budget, climate control, immigration or anything else. How can our government legislate against it's corporate paymasters? To help the people they represent? Get real! Congress: GUILTY! Obama: GUILTY! 5 SIGNS LIBERALS ARE FAKING IT from NATIONOFCHANGE.ORG:
More silicone booty injections gone bad in Florida. Just a word of advice: Is this the face of a doctor on duty? But she gets points for this brilliant line when entering the court room in a fur coat: "You need to remember who the bitch in charge is."
XL was jam-packed last night for RuPaul's Drag Race Season 5 launch party. I was deejaying the affair so here's a blow-by-blow recap. Sugga Pie Koko and the cast of Friday's regular dragstravaganza Hot Mess opened the marython with a demented Lion King number that brought the house down. Hot Mess has made Sugga a bonafide NYC drag star--she's totally unique, crazy. So talented that even the sublimely artsy Antony of Antony and The Johnsons' fame was wowed by her when he caught her miming to a medley of circuit hits at Wigstock years ago. This opening number was expertly choreographed by previous Drag Racer Milan. Former contestants Manila Luzon, Carmen Carrera, and Morgan McMichaels were on hand to cheer them all on along with Mobwives' Big Ang and transsexual icon Amanda Lepore.
Bianca Del Rio was on fire as usual in the role of deliciously hateful and filthy emcee. She's so quick-witted that I laugh even when I don't get all of her jokes! (I'm serious.) I'm forgetful bordering on senile and know few contemporary pop references so I do miss a lot--but the crowd ate them up. After one queen who worked a wind machine during her number Bianca quipped "That fan is the only thing in here that'll blow you!" Contestant Vivienne Panay's bra slipped during her number and Bianca noted that it looked like "Her boobs had gone South for the winter." To another girl who wasn't the most scene-stealing, she smirked "You know SHE ain't gonna win." The place howled! I was essentially Miss Del Rio's "straight man" and got in one or two lines in between her constant reminders that I'm old, fat and a whore. As if senility would force me to forget my core qualities! Bianca did ask me where Mimi Imfurst had gone, since Mimi had djing earlier that night in the same spot I was and wearing a dark wig. I replied "I am Mimi--I just changed my wig and lost weight."
(ALL PICS BY JEFF EASON)
Snooki and Jwwow were on hand to co-host this event. I'd met them in their room at the Out hotel, which is adjoined to XL, and they seemed genuinely sweet. Snooki took to Bianca immediately and admired her foundation garments, yet she was reluctant to acknowledge me for some reason. Maybe because I need better foundation garments. Maybe? Or maybe just a diet. Or both. F#ck you all! But when the drinks kicked in later and Bianca had intimidated her enough to warrant a talk to the hand "Whatever, bitch!" moment, Snooki became fixated on me and tried to drag me onto stage to dance. Even though I wasn't playing any music. I tried to explain to her that my toe was broken so I wasn't up for dancing--to no music. Earlier, Snooksters had also been similarly grabbing at a publicist from LOGO. We all know that type of party girl--the "clutcher", whose heels are as high as their blood's alcohol level. But who wants to see a sober female reality star, anyway? Both Jersey Shore cast mates seemed to have been coached to say things like "You all are amazing" and "We can't wait for Drag Race", but the crowd wasn't exactly expecting scholarly essays from them. Both were very good sports. And with a gay crowd, the girls didn't have to look too hard for steroid users. They just probably wouldn't be looking back at them this time!
The lengthy revue show featured Drag Race winners from the first four seasons although Bebe had backed out. Miss "Cameroon" will always be the first winner so she's entitled to skip a cattle call gig like this. First up, Tyra Sanchez. She's huge, beautiful and wore a gorgeous 1940s meets disco perm wig that was also massive. Along with her trademark realistic breast plate. Tyra's pleasant and very laid back. But until this glamazon hits the stage, you could her shyness could come off as standoffish.
Season 3's winner Raja performed Crave You by Flight Facility, a song so cute that I'll now start playing it. Looking like an asian Vanessa Williams in an late 1960s Cher wig with a Pocahantas flair, she was cloaked in a dark, slinky gown with a puffy, white wrap which Bianca described as a tampon. The crowd beat the walls for her as she sulked around the stage, drink in hand, getting ready to work the runway as only she can. When she put the drink down, the crowd knew she was about to march. I have to fuss with a variety of ridiculous props and custom-made tracks for my own act, but all that flawless bitch has to do is strut. The song really doesn't even matter. If we weren't such good friends, I'd be forced to hate her! Also on hand from LA was Detox, who is known as Detox Icunt when she isn't appearing on RuPaul's Drag Race. She slayed the crowd with an inventive rendition of Starships' Nothng's Gonna Stop Us Now from the Kim Catrall vehicle Mannequin. You might say she put the "man" back in Mannequin as she collected tips in her clutch purse between striking jaunty poses, looking like another 80s classic: Anjelica Huston. This 80s classic didn't recognize the movie or the song--but Detox is from Hollywood, natch!
Sharon Needles interrupted the Jersey whores from the Jersey Shore to storm the stage and the joint exploded! She has a rare ability to connect with people and this cheering crowd was no exception. Hawking her new cd which comes out in a few days and features Amanda Lepore, Jayne County, and The Scissor Sisters, she performed a dance number from it. It sounded good, although I couldn't quite make out the hook's lyrics. She also plugged her boyfriend Alaska (aka Alaska Thunderfuck), who competes on the show this season, claiming that her own win last year proved that "smart and interesting" drag can prevail. Bianca wasn't too impressed by Sharon and began to needle her with a tongue so sharp that the crowd literally gagged. I had to suggest that Miss Del Rio lighten up just a little since Sharon had been kind enough to name her debut album after Bianca. It's titled Hail, Satan. I'm RuPaul's former roommate, so I know for a fact he'd be very proud that his devil's handiwork of promoting a demonic transvestite show for mainstream audiences has literally spawned Satan, who spawned Ru to begin with. So it was a family affair of sorts!
Alaska's very fun number, a comical live cover of My Girl by the Temptations, was indeed smart and interesting. I'm unable to go into details about each contestant's performance since the show was so long and and most of us had only just met so I don't know all of their names yet! New York was represented by three queens including the lovely Ivy Winters, who performed a nutty striptease to an Ella Fitzgerald scatting ditty in a cute ensemble she'd made. I cannot take my eyes off of Roxxxy Andrews and I'll be watching the show just to see what she looks like out of drag. Her eye make-up is unbelievably spectacular and to the max! I've ogled her Facebook pics like a tranny chaser over the years and lately she's been doing this new nose contour which drives me absolutely wild. It's slightly Streisand! And her costume reveal revealed that she has a real woman's ass--complete with cellulite!
Coco Montrese is a friend of mine from Las Vegas, so of course I'll be rooting for her. She proved last night that she doesn't need my help. The pint-sized diva has an enormous stage presence and has all the polish of the Las Vegas showgirl (currently appearing in Frank Marino's glitzy Divas Las Vegas) that she is. Penny Tration is this season's big girl and she did a very credible lipsynch of Gloria Gaynor's I Am What I Am in the evening's sparkliest fabric. Though it was an updated circuit mix, the number was so old school that I think it may have even revived a few t-cells in the crowd. Which is sickening! Or perhaps a better word is unsickening?
Season 5's theme is goddesses, which you can't really go wrong with. This was confirmed after the trailer showed Ru in regal gold and white flowing attire, birds flying out of the contestants' hands and a variety of stunning new graphics. There does seem to be a greater emphasis on beauty and realness among this batch of bitches. Or maybe this younger crop of queens has been watching and studying the padding and contour that many of Ru's contestants are known for. San Francisco's first ever entrant, Honey Mahogany, didn't need any padding and stripped down to just pasties! Kentucky's Monica Beverly Hills even looked more "fishy" out of drag than in! Some precision lipsynchers in this crew of painted ladies--this is going to be quite the heated contest! Alyssa Edwards is a professionally trained dancer and proved that she's not only stunning, but that you don't mess with Mesquite, Texas--where she hails from.
Lots of wig-slinging, lots of Beyonce in last night's show. It seems like someone would ask who is doing what before they put together a show this long. Otherwise, you get a mini-concert of someone who is already played out , in my opinion. But I guess to many young queens, dressing and dancing and lipsynching to Beyonce remains the very pinnacle of doing drag. I don't see it, but the much of the crowd seemed to know every note and hit of even the Queen B's live recordings. But if you must do impersonate her, why not do her most recent and best song ever--LOVE ON TOP? Or fumble with your imaginary earpiece and get the words wrong in a spoof of "Oh Say, Can't You Sing?" from the inaugural? I don't get it but as Bianca reminds me, I'm old. And this packed, dynamite show was just the teaser to ensure that my old ass will be watching Season 5 this Monday night! Also, next Friday night Hot Mess celebrates it's one year anniversary at XL with the return of one of the hottest messes of all time, Tan Mom!
In December, you helped put the brakes on the Federal Communications Commission’s rush to allow more media consolidation. Together we turned the tables on the FCC, mobilizing more than 60 members of Congress to oppose the agency’s plan and delivering more than 200,000 petition signatures in opposition.
Meanwhile, Rupert Murdoch has been on a spending spree. He just confirmed to journalists at the L.A. Times that he wants to buy their paper. His lobbyists have kept the pressure on Chairman Genachowski, who remains poised to push through a rule change that would allow Murdoch to expand his media empire. Tell Murdoch and the FCC you won’t stand for this.
All the pieces are coming together for Murdoch. The Tribune Company, which owns both the L.A. Times and the Chicago Tribune, just emerged from bankruptcy and is eager to sell off its papers for some quick cash. And Murdoch has been on the hunt for new properties, gobbling up new cable channels and more.
Murdoch is hoping we’ll stop fighting. The FCC is hoping we’ll stop fighting. But I’m betting that you won’t stop fighting. Help us raise the volume and let the FCC know that you won’t stand for more media consolidation.
Media consolidation is good for Murdoch — but bad for diversity.
FROM FOOD AND WATER WATCH: As we heard in his inauguration speech this week, President Obama is getting serious about fighting climate change and investing in renewable energy. Today, we want him to hear from 10,000 citizens that fracking isn't clean, and it shouldn't be part of his clean energy plan.
It's remarkable and heartening that the President made climate change a highlight of his inaugural address this week. He told us: "The path towards sustainable energy sources will be long and sometimes difficult. But America cannot resist this transition. We must lead it." At the same time, he recognized the need to protect "our forests and waterways, our crop lands and snow capped peaks." We need to make it clear to him that fracking for oil and natural gas is neither sustainable nor safe.
In the past, Obama has championed fracking for natural gas as a way to transition to renewable energy. But the truth is, it's a dirty energy process that pollutes our water with toxic chemicals, and pollutes our air with greenhouse gases. If fracked gas is exported overseas, ordinary Americans will pay the price. We need the President to be a leader in moving us towards truly clean energy sources, like wind and solar, and away from dirty energy like fracking.
As the President starts his second term this week, and starts planning for the State of the Union, we want one thing to be at the front of his mind: fracking isn't safe, and Americans don't want it. Tell President Obama to ban fracking now.
Even the NRA agrees that we should look at mental health as part of the problem of gun deaths. I agree with the NRA! But how far should these mental health exams extend? Adam Lanza's mom didn't lock up the guns around her mentally ill son. Isn't that kinda crazy? And she was also a gun enthusiast who was so alarmed by the downturn in the economy that she was prepping for something disastrous by stockpiling weapons and food. I wonder what that disaster would translate to in her mind? Would it be shooting down people who came to steal her canned goods? Or would it be a mixed race president named Hussein sending in his muslim, communist goons to terrorize her and her family? Or both? And if so, isn't that crazy?
Times are tough, but anyone entertaining such notions must at least border on some sort of advanced paranoia or hysteria. And there's a lot of people in this country who feel the same way she did. Let's REALLY look at mental health, and focus on Fox News, ultra-conservative talk radio and anywhere else where people like Mrs. Lanza are getting whipped up into such a frenzied state of fear that they feel they need an arsenal. I'm told that even churches are spreading this paranoia--and I know that churches in at least two states are now offering shooting lessons at their place of worship, where they worship the Prince Of Peace though firearm instruction. That ain't crazy to you?
How about pro-lifers so extreme that they legitimize rape? Surely anyone who spouts or buys that crap is mentally ill. How about the assertion that women's body can shut down against pregnancies from rapists or pro-lifers so extreme that they hunt down the doctors who perform abortions and murder them, after burning down a barn owned by the now-murdered Dr. Tiller with his 17 horses in it, which all died in the fire? Pro-lifers who kill people and animals. Hmmm. If those people don't have mental health issues, who does? The ones who torment the doctors' children at their schools? Let's start the mental health screenings. My suspicion is that so many Americans will be institutionalized that a lot of jobs will suddenly open up.
2.3 million people in this country behind bars. It's an industry. 90% of those accused of felonies DON'T EVEN CONTEST IT because if they plead guilty, they get a lesser sentence and I guess if you are a certain color in a certain neighborhood you figure you're likely to wind up in jail anyway. A new HBO documentary profiles several lawyers who are public defenders--the state-provided lawyers which we are all entitled to by law. This interview with the filmmaker and one of those lawyers is as touching and inspiring as it is sad. Glad that Sundance is screening stuff like this and that HBO is airing it. And how on earth does Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow.org, with no distracting graphics or pleas for us to follow her on twitter, manage to get her butt to Sundance to cover this with no budget? I guess you don't need a big budget to tell the truth. And bless her heart, she cuts right through the talking points into scary core issues in society like how we are actively creating a criminal underclass. This is a real eyeopener.
I was asked to contribute a Huffingtonpost.com article on drag queen tips and wrote this. I was very pleased with the way it turned out. Too bad I'd confused what the article was supposed to be about and am completely off-topic so it was instantly rejected. Pop another pill, gurl! So I'll post it here and hope you enjoy this trip down Live or Memorex lane! PS: No version of spell-check can help me determine what the correct spelling of lipsynch, lipsync, lip-synch, lip-sync is or if it changes when it's lypsynching so FUCK IT!
One of my favorite drag tips was when I asked a drag queen known simply as "Bubbles" from Lee's Mardi Gras drag boutique if there were any tougher hose than the expensive shimmer tights I use. I complained that my stockings ran after only one or two wears. She asked me where the runs originated and I told her near my toes. She barked "Cut your toenails!" I was goofed, but she was totally right. Lady Bunion has never and never will be known for her dainty feet or pedicures but at least her hose don't run as quickly now. I wish Bubbles was still around, because I'd love to ask her why my stockings also run at the knees a lot, where they get quite dirty for some reason, too. And this usually seems to happen whenever I drink vodka...
The legendary Lypsinka taught me another valuable lesson, not about cutting toenails, but about cutting one's show tracks. Billed as The Goddess Of Show Biz and The Personification Of Pizzazz, the Lyp has always been something of a mister/sister to me. And one tends to heed the advice of an OLDER sister. Meow! Yes, there is one queen left who is older than I am. (Besides RuPaul.) I'd seen other drags lipsync to homemade medleys before, often going from a lesser known song by an artist leading into their bigger hit. These medleys were presumably made with the help of a deejay friend since this was decades before Garageband and ProTools existed, kids.The longer mix enabled the queen to work the stage for longer and make more tips. But Lypsinka took this to a whole new level in the 1980s, when she took the NYC theater scene by storm with intricately edited soundscapes the length of entire plays. She'd incorporate a snippet of one song, jump to another with a perfectly timed costume change, add sound effects a la Psycho while having a breakdown onstage and then possibly end with the first tune to bring it all home. I'd never seen anything like it. While I was already a fan of the art form (yes, I said it!) of lipsynching, Lypsinka elevated it to the level of theater, complete with detailed lighting cues and sets. Then her manic character would be interrupted by a ringing tone and she'd start answering imaginary phones all over the stage in a chaotic climax. And she'd answer them by lipsynching to insanely campy dialogue from movies which wound up audiences until they were shrieking. Lyp was the first person I knew of to incorporate Faye Dunaway's outrageous dialogue from Mommie Dearest. Since then, it's become a drag staple and many performers include "No more wire hangers, ever!" in their mixes.
Now that computers have made editing more accessible, mixes are now very popular with queens who lipsynch. Many, like the sizzling Shangela from RuPaul's Drag Race Season 2, add whipping sound effects to their tracks which add punch to dance songs as they forcefully fling their "hair" with each crack of the unseen whip. It's very dramatic, and Lypsinka was the first person who I saw using sound effects in this way. When you're lipsyncing, you can be limited to whatever is on the recording--unless you add sound effects, other songs or dialogue to personalize it. But Lyp taught me and many others the freedom of changing up the track to make your mix unique and more entertaining. And with the short attention span and drunken state of nightclub audiences, this has been a very valuable tool for me.
Oh, and while technically not a drag queen, Beyonce just taught me a valuable tip to make your synch more convincing: adjust your ear piece as if you are struggling to stay on pitch. It makes people think you are really singing. Sadly, this trick only works for about 24 hours.
...BUT I LIVE ON ONE CALLED THE EARTH. AND SHE IS VERY SICK. Please sign if you agree!
Dear President Obama,
It was with great relief and gratitude that we welcomed, at long last, a clarion call in your inaugural address to "respond to the threat of climate change" — the greatest threat, challenge, and opportunity of our time.
We thank you for these words, because your words are powerful, and necessary for change. But words are not enough. We need action.
Mr. President, you are the first leader in our history who will be judged by what you do — or do not do — to protect your people from the already-begun ravages and disruptions brought about by fossil fuels.
So far, Mr. President, you are failing in the face of our earth heating up, and the damage accelerating.
Just a few months ago, we witnessed New York and New Jersey swallowed up by our still-rising oceans. Our worsening nationwide drought, after the hottest year on record, is clear evidence that our planet is not healing, but is hurtling toward greater climate disruption.
The simple truth is that you will continue failing in the fight against climate change, as long as you continue an energy policy which treats equally the fuels that are hurting us and those that will save us. To meet your call on climate change, your "all of the above" energy policy must end.
Your support for fracking and drilling, coal mines and pipelines, continues to obliterate the progress you could be making with your administration's gas mileage rule, or your investments in renewable energy. Even if you finally issue a carbon pollution rule that addresses existing sources of pollution, it will mean nothing if you are simultaneously lighting the fuses on carbon bombs by approving the Keystone XL pipeline, Arctic drilling, or fossil fuel export projects.
You must use the power of your office and our federal lands to stop promoting fossil fuel development, and reject these projects outright.
While we recognize that a majority in the House of Representatives are clearly not on the side of science or sanity, you can and must find a way — within Congress or the power of your office — to end fossil fuel subsidies and giveaways, and put a price on all greenhouse gas pollution, so that fossil fuel executives can no longer get rich from the destabilization of our climate, and so fossil-free energy can thrive. If Congress remains in the way, you must fight to change Congress.
You must invest significantly in sustainable sources of energy as part of a plan to rapidly transition our nation from fossil fuels. And these efforts should be coupled with resources to help our cities, states and industries prepare for the damage that climate change is already bringing. (The $50 billion Sandy relief package and the drought's impacts on food prices are just two painful reminders that the cost of inaction is enormous, and untenable.)
Confronting climate change also happens to be our best opportunity to create the broad-based economic revitalization that your policies have largely failed to achieve. This is not simply an empty trope of idealistic environmentalists, it is the truth.
Mr. President, we are urging you to do as our other Illinois president did when confronted with the great moral issue of his time: to take bold, decisive action to end one great societal ill, changing the economy in the process, and usher in a new era of American freedom, security and prosperity.
This is the moment. We will support you. But you must lead and take action, starting first and foremost with your rejection of the presidential permit required by the Keystone XL pipeline, which is your decision and yours alone.
THIS FRIDAY AT XL! A HUGE LINE-UP. AND THAT JUST REFERS TO THE DJ'S WAISTLINE! (ME!) ALL THE DRAG RACE SEASON 5 QUEENS, THE 1ST 4 SEASON'S WINNERS, THE CAST OF HOT MESS AND SNOOKI AND JWOWW?
HATE THE FACT THAT CONGRESS CAN GET NOTHING DONE? Sign this and it could help out--a lot! We know that politicians take few bold actions and them hearing from you let's them know that we support and need bold action to fix our broken government NOW!
"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has sent an ultimatum to Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, giving McConnell until Thursday to agree to a watered down filibuster reform package.
However, if McConnell does not agree to the watered down package of reforms, then Sen. Reid has threatened to pass a much stronger filibuster reform package, and to do so with only 51 Democratic votes. Further, according to the Washington Post, this stronger package would include one of our two primary demands—flipping the burden on filibusters to the minority party.
We need to let Senator Reid know that he would have our support if he decides to go that route.
Please sign our petition to Senate Majority Leader Reid, letting him know that you support him if McConnell's inaction forces him to pass the powerful "flipping the burden" filibuster reform with only Democratic votes. We will email the signatures to his office early tomorrow morning as the final decision is being made."
