SotW: The Graveyard Near the House by The Airborne Toxic Event Monday, May 9 2011 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 6:41 pm

Alt Nation has been playing the song “Changing” by The Airborne Toxic Event a lot lately. I like that song, so I thought that I would check them out and see if I liked their most recent album, All At Once. After giving the samples a listen on iTunes and watching a few of their videos on YouTube, I decided to download the album.

It’s a really good album, and once I started listening to it I fell in love with several of their songs. My favorite right now is “The Graveyard Near the House,” which is an amazing love song. Here’s a video for it from YouTube (the Bombastic videos are a series of acoustic vids — they’re all amazing versions of the songs):

It’s kind of tongue in cheek and macabre in parts, but I love this song’s view of life, love, and death. PJ and I are old enough now that these kinds of conversations happen from time to time. Much of this song sums up everything I want to say to him. I think it’s a beautiful song.

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Catechism Cataclysm: A Review Monday, Apr 25 2011 

movies and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 1:31 pm

Friday PJ and I went spent the evening at the Athens Film Festival, where we saw Catechism Cataclysm, a new movie by Todd Rohal, an alum of my college. It’s always great to see our students’ and alumni’s work, but I was tempted to just stay home — it had been a long and busy week. But I went out, and I’m glad I did, because I really enjoyed this movie.

The movie stars Steve Little as Father William Smoortser, a goofball who seems more interested in watching funny clips on YouTube than in preparing his parishioners for salvation. Consequently, his superior decides to send him on vacation a little early, encouraging him to think deeply about his calling before coming back to the church.

Father William arranges to meet up with his childhood hero, the guy who dated his older sister in high school, Robbie Shoemaker, played by Robert Longstreet. Robbie is everything Billy isn’t: cool, experienced, and world-wise. The two embark on an afternoon canoe trip, but after Billy accidentally drops his Bible into a used toilet, things start to go increasingly awry for the two acquaintances.

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SotW: S&M by Rihanna Monday, Mar 7 2011 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 9:58 pm

I’ve not been a big Rihanna fan apart from “Umbrella” — I tried to resist it, but it was too powerful for me — but I keep hearing her newest single, “S&M,” and again I find myself unable to resist.

It’s a fun song and video, sexy but in a funny way. And the lyrics are catchy. I love it!

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SotW: This Time by Cassidy Haley Saturday, Feb 19 2011 

music and queer culture and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 10:47 am

I  saw the video for Cassidy Haley‘s new single, “This Time,” on Towleroad and love it:

Haley’s video obviously uses Fight Club as a metaphor for a romantic relationship. While this is a rather pessimistic view of romance, the concept is interesting and well done. It captures much of the spirit of the movie but also gives it its own twist.

As usual, I immediately noticed how hot both of the guys — including Haley — are: I can be just as shallow as the next gay man. But I’m also impressed by the visual contrast between the guys’ hotness and the blood and violence of the fight club imagery. This contrast creates an interesting comment about relationships, gay or straight, I think. On the one hand, romance can be beautiful and sexually hot; on the other hand, relationships can be destructive and hurtful to the participants. Something that starts so beautifully can end up being tragically wrong. By the end, the video seems to ask why we do this to each other. Why do we hurt each other so much when we should love one another instead. At least that’s how I read the sadness of Haley’s face in the final part of the video.

Of course the video is also a commentary on the queerness of Fight Club. Weren’t we all expecting Ed Norton and Brad Pitt to make out during it?! This video is what should have happened!

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SotW: Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” Friday, Feb 11 2011 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 8:37 pm

Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” was released today, so I immediately listened to it on YouTube and then downloaded it from iTunes. As I’ve written before, I think Gaga is a genius:

I’ve already been reading that people are comparing it to Madonna’s “Express Yourself.” I can hear a few slight similarities, but overall it seems entirely different to me. In particular, Madonna’s never explicitly acknowledged anything but heterosexuality in her lyrics. For this song’s political and social message alone, I think it’s revolutionary. Maybe I’ll teach Gaga in my GLBT lit course next year!

But it’s also just a fun dance track!

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SotW: Ricky Martin’s “The Best Thing about Me Is You” Friday, Jan 14 2011 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 11:53 am

Like most people, I’ve long thought that Ricky Martin is hot — or at least I have since he cut his hair shorter! For example, in recent pics (one’s in which he’s got short hair and has matured) Martin is HOT:

I don’t think he was all that hot when he was younger and had long hair:

Now that he’s out, he’s even hotter. I first heard this single when he sang it with Joss Stone on Oprah. At the time I was skeptical about it. It felt wrong for him to be singing a heterosexual love song after having just come out.

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Strapped: A Review Sunday, Jan 9 2011 

movies and queer culture and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 6:20 pm

Last night, PJ and I watched Strapped, a small gay independent film written and directed by Joseph Graham. Ben Bonenfant plays a male prostitute who easily adapts to each client’s needs. After coming home with a John — literally, since the character’s name is John — the hustler becomes trapped in an apartment building, meeting some of its various tenants. He sleeps with some of them, but he learns a little more about himself from each person he meets. Here’s the trailer:

We first see him with a client who tells him a story about the guy he loved when he was a teenager in Russia. Bonenfant’s character immediately replies with his own revealing tale of childhood abandonment. He then meets a queen, instantly becoming a queen himself and pretending to be a version of Keanu Reeves’s character in My Own Private Idaho. He hooks up with a closeted married guy while pretending to be straight himself, blows a guy at the queen’s party, and gets fucked by an older gay activist who’s grateful for the opportunity to have sex with a such a hot guy. He also runs into a guy who just wants to kiss and have his soul penetrated.

The Hustler–we never know his name in the film–adapts to each client’s needs, but he also shares tender moments with most of the men, connecting with them in some deeply personal way. But is it really connection? Or are the tender moments just another part of his professional toolbox?

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American Idiot: A Review Friday, Dec 17 2010 

music and song of the week and theater thisgaudygildedstage 2:46 pm

While we were in New York, PJ and I really wanted to see Green Day’s American Idiot. We both love the original album, and we both have crushes on John Gallagher from seeing him in Spring Awakening. So, we got tickets from the TKTS Booth. Our seats weren’t the best, but we enjoyed the performance. Here’s a sample of the musical from when the cast was on Letterman:

Before seeing the show, we had heard a little about the production (in addition to knowing the original Green Day album well). What we had heard was that there are three plot lines but that they three stories don’t really jive together well. We had also heard that it’s all a little confusing.

After seeing it, we thought that these comments were ludicrous. The plot does revolve around three guys. They want to move to the city and start a band, but one of them ends up not being able to leave their home town because his girlfriend gets pregnant. The other two go anyway, but they soon part company when one of them joins the army and the other one becomes a drug addict. The show follows their separate lives over the course of about 6 months or so.

All of it is very clear and not only easy to follow but also engaging, at times dazzling, and very entertaining.

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SotW: Kiss Like Your Kiss by Lucinda Williams Thursday, Dec 2 2010 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 8:42 pm

PJ and I love Lucinda Williams’s music, so I was delighted when I stumbled across a new song from her, “Kiss Like Your Kiss,” which features Elvis Costello:

This song is off the anthology album True Blood: Music from the Original HBO Series Vol. 2. I love the show, but I hadn’t paid attention to the album coming out — it’s been out since May. It also has songs by M.Ward, Jakob Dylan, Jace Everett, and Eels that I like.

“Kiss Like Your Kiss” is a beautiful love song, though it’s rather mournful and dark, as I suppose is appropriate for True Blood. It’s immediately become one of my favorite songs of the year!

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SotW: Changing Your Mind by Bob Schneider Wednesday, Oct 20 2010 

music and song of the week thisgaudygildedstage 11:02 am

This week’s song of the week is Bob Schneider’s “Changing Your Mind,” which was featured in the movie Harmony and Me. Here’s a live version I found on YouTube:

This song is great in the movie, but it’s also just a great song. I didn’t know anything about Schneider’s music before now, but I definitely want to check more of it out. What I’ve learned so far is that he’s an Austin-based musician, which speaks well of him in my book. Also, his newest album includes a version of this song with Patty Griffin, also a plus.

I think the sense of sad resignation in “Changing Your Mind” is what appeals to me most. There are times in life when someone in your life makes a decision that drastically affects or perhaps even ends your relationship and there’s nothing you can do about it. This song captures that moment really well, I think.

But it’s also kind of upbeat. The last verse recalls what appealed to you about that person in the first place. And even if the person is gone, at least you have the memories of what was. In other words, to quote a song from Tina Turner, something beautiful remains.

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