Older Gays Offering Advice

I saw this video the other day where someone interviewed some older gay Americans about what they'd say to current generations and ended it in tears. You must watch.

To Get Over Hump Day

For whatever reason, I'm really dragging this week. If you are, too, here's two distractions to help you get through it.

First, go read about the first male/male couple chosen to share the first ceremonial kiss for the homecoming of USS San Francisco.

Then, watch this video someone made, putting all of Severus Snape's scenes in chronological order. He's a tragic figure already. This just nails that point home.

The amazing Annie Lennox

All my Hozier love last week was validated last night at the Grammys. Of course, that's mostly due to his getting paired with the astounding Annie Lennox.

If you haven't seen the video, you must. I have loved her since the 80s when the Eurythmics pretty much defined my high school self. Her "Why" remains one of the most powerful songs I've ever heard. She is still stunning, mesmerizing, and absolutely astounding on stage.

And the song that started my lifelong love affair, from a performance in Japan on tour in 1987...

Fan Video for Outlander

It's been a busy week, and more than a little fun. How to Get Away with Murder is back. I got to see Tim Minchin last Sunday. The short story I'm working on is sexy and sweet.

And someone created this fan video of Outlander to the Queen song, "Bohemian Rhapsody." (There's wedding night footage in it, so not completely SFW.)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

An Evening with Tim Minchin

Last night, my husband, kids, and I went into San Francisco and saw Tim Minchin at the Nourse Theater. If you haven't heard of him, he's an Australian songwriter/pianist/comedian/performer. His brand of musical comedy is irreverent, mostly social satire with some keen insights along the way. My family just adores him, so seeing him perform live was a real treat.

We own the Blu-ray of his Royal Albert performance, but this was just him, a bare stage, and his piano. Our seats were pretty good, center of the balcony about six rows back, but only because I found out about the show too late to get orchestra seats. Those would've been amazing. His show consists of performances with short comedic stand-up bits in between songs while he probably catches his breath. Most of his songs are pretty manic. It's no wonder his encore was two quieter songs, one of which was a preview from the musical version of Groundhog Day that he's working on. I absolutely love that movie. I told my husband afterward that the second that shows up on US soil, we're going.

Anyway, if you haven't heard Tim before, here are videos of two of my favorites of his songs. The first is called "Lullaby," and I still giggle hysterically when I hear it. It's one of those songs that starts out slow and slowly cascades into hysterics. Plus, it's an excellent showcase of just how talented a pianist he really is:
This second song is called "Prejudice," and it's pretty typical of how subversive he can be:

The New Into the Woods Trailer

Because the film version of Les Miserables disappointed me, I've been pretty jaded about the same thing happening to Into the Woods. I knew Meryl sings, but I kind of hated her in Mamma Mia, and I wasn't completely sold on some of the casting. And then this extended trailer came out yesterday. And now we're all pretty sure we're going to go see it on Christmas Day.

Fan Adventures in Buffy

In my post over at the Amber Pax blog, I shared pictures of men who were the same age as Jett and Trev in Flesh and Kisses. One of them was the scrumptious Alexis Denisof, who turns forty-eight this year. For those who don't know who he is, he played Wesley on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and then on Angel. He's gone on to do Joss Whedon's Much Ado About Nothing, and he's currently in the TV series Finding Carter.

But finding that picture of Denisof put me in a Buffy mood, so color me tickled pink when I found this video yesterday:

It's a fan-made introduction created for an imaginary animated series for Buffy. Fans will recognize so many of the Easter eggs scattered throughout, but seriously, I smiled and laughed so hard. Enjoy!

Start Monday with a laugh

Let's start Monday off with a laugh, shall we?
 

Typewriter Art

I've been in a bit of a creative funk this week, but then this older video popped up to remind me that our creative limitations are only what we place on ourselves.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Spray paint art

I saw this minute-long video on Facebook of this guy doing his spray paint art, and am still amazed at the end result. He's only posted it there so you have to click through, but it's worth it.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Dominique Christina - "The Period Poem"

I posted this link on Twitter yesterday, but I love it so much, I'm posting it on the blog today, too, to boost the signal on it.

A Smile to End your Week

And to end this busy week, this adorable video of a dad singing along with his three-year-old to "Let It Go:"

Have a great weekend!

One of the reasons I dislike Facebook

I'm not a big fan of Facebook. I'll admit that straight up. I have a professional one, only because I needed to join a group that I could only talk to on FB, and a personal one, because when half your family lives on a different continent, it's the only way to stay on top of what's happening to everybody, but that doesn't mean I'm particularly happy with it. Especially their arbitrary removal of photos they deem inappropriate.

Josh Rimer of The Sassy Scoop did a video earlier this month on the photos Facebook doesn't want you to see. It truly is a bit ridiculous what they take off...

PBS remixes Reading Rainbow

I was already a teenager when it launched, but any show, children's or otherwise, that promotes books and imagination is a winner in my book. Reading Rainbow was on the air for 23 years, inspiring children and adults alike, and PBS just did one of their infamous remixes with it.

Watch. I dare you not to smile.

Who's got the X Factor?

Contrary to what it might be about to sound like, I'm not rabid about X Factor. We let them pile up on our DVR over the past few weeks and ended up watching a lot of them all at one go, just to make room for other shows to get recorded.

In the process, I discovered I have favorites. Who knew?

The ONE guy who makes me ache, who gives me goosebumps every time he opens his mouth, is Vino Alan. I liked his blind audition a lot, and he's just gotten better with each subsequent performance. L.A. wonders if he's got the package, if people are going to vote for him or if he's too tough. My answer?

Oh, hell yeah.

Yes, he's got tattoos. Yes, he's got a metal edge to his voice sometimes. But he's riveting. And there's something so hot about that tough exterior around all that pain. He didn't pursue music all this time so he could raise his kid, for goodness sake. If America doesn't react to that, then they just don't deserve him, frankly.

The performance he gave of Pink's "Sober" last week at L.A.'s house was just amazing. So if you didn't see it, here it is.

A Bad Lip Reading

Generally speaking, I don't read YA. It's just not a genre that interests me enough to add to my TBR repertoire. However, like everything else in life, there are exceptions. The biggest is The Hunger Games trilogy.

I only read the first book because my  twelve-year-old daughter begged me to do so before I took her to see the movie last March. Only...I didn't do it before we went. I enjoyed the movie enough, though, to pick it up that week. I then devoured the next two. They're not perfect--the choice to use 1st person narrative forces information dumps in the last two chapters of each book in order to get all the information out that Katniss isn't privy to, which is extremely annoying--but each one gave me an emotional wallop when I finished it. I just love the characters, and the world, and its rawness, and...well, I loved them enough to see the movie six more times over the next four months.

All that being said, when I saw this video on YouTube yesterday, I giggled like a ten-year-old. The humor in it is childish and a little stupid, but, well, yeah, I still laughed at it. Maybe you will, too.