Kissing ain't no crime

A friend has just alerted me to this story. Read it and grimace. One might have hoped that we'd moved on in these enlightened times. Granted, doing this in some pub in the ghettos of Hackney or some other equally rough and homophobic pocket of the UK might not have been such a good idea, but Soho....?!

Oddly enough I am probably heading there tonight and am tempted to go and join in the kissathon!! Wooohooo!! Power to the Homos!!!

No longer the apple of my eye

Read this and disapprove of what Apple approves. I did!

The ultimate irony is, I bought a new iPod today. Kind of wish I hadn't now...

Thanks to my blogging pal Eva for bringing this to our attention...

Sex and the City 2

Well as you'd gathered I went to see it yesterday - it was only a matter of time before I succumbed to the hype ... After reading a barrage of damning criticisms that said it was a travesty of the original show; that it was like seeing old friends being murdered in front of you; etc etc, I've got to say that I think a lot of people have actually been pretty damn harsh. There was a lot to appreciate and enjoy about SATC2 and I've seen far, far worse!

Yes, so they've pretty much exhausted the SATC franchise now and it's hard to envisage where else they could take the characters. The last SATC movie brought things to what I thought was a logical conclusion with a happy ending for everyone. However in the fictional world of romance and relationships, happiness is never eternal and so the writers have clearly contrived further ways to wring out even more drama. This they've managed to do fairly convincingly, but I really do think this should be the last outing for Carrie and the gals now. Of course one can't help surmising that one of the reasons SATC2 got made was because the four actresses couldn't get (much) work elsewhere (particularly Cynthia Nixon, Kim Cattrall and Kristin Davis - has anyone seen them in anything else post SATC?? Nothing I can think of...) Or am I just being a bit cynical and bitchy here?

In case you weren't aware, the main focus of the new movie is on the four lead gals taking an impromptu trip to Abu Dhabi - Samantha receives an all-expenses-paid invitation there as part of her job and decides her pals just have to come with her. That's about halfway through the film though - up until that it's the normal SATC shenanigans and we see where the four friends are at in their lives since the events of the last movie. Samantha is now 52 and trying to keep her libido with hormones alive while dealing with menopause; Charlotte's two children are a handful and she's worried that husband Harry is attracted to their nanny; Miranda is battling with a boss who doesn't like strong and independent women and Carrie's marriage to Mr Big has settled down, though they differ on how to spend their spare time: she always wants to go out, he would prefer to stay home and watch television some evenings. Whilst none of this is exactly ground-breaking stuff and the "plot" as it were meanders along at a fairly non-urgent pace, it's still done decently enough, and I should add, better than your average Jennifer Anuston, I mean Aniston, type rom-com piece of fluff.

The Carrie/Big stuff probably rings true for a lot of people who are a few years down the line in established relationships - marriage isn't always a bed of roses and couples do have their differences even when they're "settled" - a situation which is convincingly conveyed / acted by Sarah Jessica Parker and Chris Noth. Later on there's an even bigger challenge to Carrie's marriage in the form of ex lover Aiden who Carrie happens to run into in Abu Dubai, and who she snogs, leading to typical SATC angsty-type stuff. Rather too convenient and again contrived, but then, where would the drama be without it?

Sarah Jessica Parker is as good as ever and I love her philosophising voice over bits, a hallmark from the original series that still works. She is looking a bit haggard and drawn now though (okay the claws are coming out again now) - sometimes I can't work out if SJP is attractive or not. I've always liked her unconventional, off the wall ways but looks wise she is definitely, erm, different. Dazzling smile though! It also has to be said that she and the other gals still look incredibly well groomed and gorgeous in a variety of swish outfits and hairstyles. Kim Cattrall continues to imbue Samantha with her usual brand of sophisticated sluttishness, giving hope to all women in their 50s (well Joan Collins did it as Alexis back in the 80s I suppose, just not so, erm, overtly). Samantha gets the usual batch of rude but funny lines which I searched the net for and couldn't find, owing to the fact that I've forgotten what they were. (In fact the general dialogue in SATC2 is still of the witty, sharp and observational variety, which went quite some way towards putting the film in my favour). Kristin Davis is okay as Charlotte (she was never my favourite character) and I couldn't help laughing when her young daughter shoves two hands covered in red paint all over her white "vintage" trousers. Miranda's brittle persona seemed to have mellowed since last time and I felt she was side-lined a bit - the potentially interesting plot line about her sexist boss was only given brief attention.

Then there's the trip to Abu Dhabi which as I said occupies at least half of the narrative. There's already been tons of comments about this aspect of the movie, mainly centred around its "racist" and stereotypical portrayal of Middle Eastern culture. Wellll....firstly this has to be one of the first times the action is focused somewhere other than New York and admittedly that is rather strange. I wouldn't say the portrayal of the Emirates is particularly offensive, but then again there's nothing very enlightening about all of it. There's potential for an interesting storyline here - the culture in Adu Dhabi forbids public displays of affection between men and women, and as for open displays of sex - well you can guess who lands herself in trouble because of that one. Bar this and another very funny scene where Samantha screams at Muslim men that she does have sex and then throws lots of condoms into the air, the whole patriarchal culture of the Middle East is dealt with very uncritically - a missed opportunity given the liberated attitudes of those SATC girls and the resultant culture clashes - I'm sure Carrie could have dedicated a lot of column space to writing about that. There's also a rather bizarre scene in which a group of burkha clad Abu Dhabi women tell the NYC gals that they love fashion and labels and then - gasp! - reveal designer clothes underneath their robes. Making a "point" in a rather forced and corny way really.

Other stuff: I did like the gay wedding (Stanford and that vile queen Anthony) at the beginning, and Big's reactions were amusing, not to mention the presence of Liza Minnelli doing "Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It)" - though her singing voice is sadly way past its prime.

So, by no means a disaster, more a visual and oral meringue - sophisticated, sweet and gorgeous to consume, but not particularly substantial or good for one's health either. Having said that, I've always been the indulgent type and I can't resist sweet tasting things. Ultimately though, I still think it's time Carrie put her manolas to bed once and for all and we were left to imagine what happens to the SATC girls from this point on... Happy Ever After for good, surely.

3 out of 5.

Rendezvous with the Woo!

Shame I only took the one pic...!

A couple of weekends ago I had the very good fortune of meeting the lovely Alan - who was visiting the UK for the first time ever! This was my first ever meeting with a blogger and it couldn't have been more pleasant. Some bloggers are kind of reticent about meeting "in the flesh", preferring to maintain their privacy etc, which I can understand up to a point. The whole virtual communication thing is funny really - you can get to "know" someone over the net and even feel a real kinship with them, but it's not always the same when you actually hook up face-to-face - sometimes you can end up feeling disappointed and your expectations are dashed - a bit like online dating?! Fortunately nothing went wrong on this occasion (well I'd hardly have written this post and embarrassed Mr Woo if it had, would I?!!)

Alan comes from Vancouver in Canada but is actually a Yorkshire boy, born and bred - from Bradford no less - his parents used to run a fish and chip shop - eeeeh bah gum - well, you can't get much more Northern than that! Alan's parents emigrated when he was a wee nipper, so his Blightey trip was a chance for him to see his roots - very exciting! He'd put in a whistle stop tour and visited not only London, but also his relatives in Bradford and Cardiff too (Dr Who land, how I approve!), plus a trip to Paris and back! I caught up with him during his last few days' stay in London - we met in a bar close to Soho and (appropriately - but I really wasn't trying to tell Alan anything!) in ... Chinatown. He's a very warm and friendly fellow indeed and having a joint love of all things pop-cultural, as well as both being gay boys, we had loads to talk about. We then moved onto Village Soho, and sat and nattered some more about all kinds of stuff. As he had to be off early the next day, it wasn't a late one but it was still a great night, lovely to meet him and I felt like we really clicked.

Who knows , perhaps one day I'll visit Canada, not to mention the US of A, having never bloody been ...!! I'm actually considering a visit this Summer ... it has to be done. After all I'm now 41 and not getting any younger .... *sob*

Anyway Alan, hope you're safe and comfortable back home now - well actually I see you took a trip to Portland to ward off the post-Vacation blues ... don't blame you!!

A Single Man

It was my birthday the other week. And I turned ... well you can probably guess, can't you?

32?

Yes you guessed right!!

Ha ha ha ...

If only.

Add 33 to that number i.e. 32, then subtract 40, multiply by 2, add 1, and you'll probably get the right age ... if you can be bothered to do all of that ...

Anyways, to celebrate my b'day I went uptown for a very nice meal to a tried and tested place, followed by drinks and dancing at Escape. Prior to all of that was a visit to the cinema, which made the day even more divinely indulgent, helped by the fact that the movie I saw was very good indeed. And the movie was ...

... A Single Man. Based on the novel by gay author Christopher Isherwood, it's set in early 1960s Los Angeles and tells the story of George Falconer (played by Colin Firth) a middle-aged English university professor who, since the death of his longtime male partner Jim, in a car accident, has struggled to find meaning in his life and as a result is now seriously contemplating suicide. The film depicts events in a single day of George's life but also provides a lot of back story through a series of flashbacks that have a bearing on the here and now.

I loved it, for a number of reasons:

1) Colin Firth's brilliant portrayal of George. Prior to "A Single Man" I wasn't exactly his greatest fan. Regardless of all that hoo-ha about him as Darcy getting his shirt off in "Pride and Prejudice", I'd never been into him and also found him utterly annoying as the "modern" Darcy in the Bridget Jones movies - wet, boring, humourless, repressed and asexual - pretty much encompassing all those British stereotypes that non-UK people have of us, except in this case the character wasn't just a bunch of stereotypes, he really was like this. Although perhaps I am slightly forgetting the fact that Darcy is fictional, not real and probably nothing like Colin Firth the actor ... I dunno though, quite how the delightfully ditzy Bridget fancied such a dull as ditch water bloke was beyond me ...

Anyhow, Firth defied expectations for me in "A Single Man. He's a revelation - and in the film his quintessential Englishness and restrained mannerisms and behaviour are actually a virtue. The scene in which he receives a phone call from the brother of his partner, to tell him that Jim has been killed, is brilliantly acted - George keeping it together vocally as he talks to the brother, but his face telling a very different story as the grim reality sinks in. We then see his true reaction when, breaking down, he dashes next door in the pouring rain (slightly obvious symbolism) to see his best mate Charley for a (literal) shoulder to cry on (Charley played by the estimable Julianne Moore, more (excuse the pun) on her in a moment...) The meticulous way in which he lays out all of his belongings on his bed, including legal documents and letters to friends, as he plans his suicide, smacks of Englishness too, but rings true, so it's heartening to see George's attitude change near the end - and then by contrast hugely saddening when things then take an unexpected turn. I won't say any more for people who haven't yet seen it.

2) Julianne Moore as the Upper Class socialite Charley, George's best friend from the UK who also happens to be his next door neighbour. Moore is one of my most favourite actresses - I loved her in Safe and Far From Heaven, and she excels here too, playing an entertaining but not entirely sympathetic character - an alcoholic, self-indulgent and self-obsessed one to be precise (not a million miles away from Patsy from Absolutely Fabulous ...) The dinner scene with her and George is a great piece of drama, with the pair getting progressively drunker and ending up hurling insults at one another, and Charley attempting to kiss George at the end of the night (still hoping and believing, after all these years, that she can "turn" him). Regardless of the selfishness of her character, she looked and sounded, erm, absolutely fabulous, with her glamorous 60s style and I loved her pink cigarettes, not to mention chic apartment with orange trees in the lobby. Mmm, think I wanna emigrate to California ... A pity the character isn't actually in the movie for very long.

3) The other male characters, all of whom were pretty hot, but also convincingly played. George's dead lover Jim was a handsome fella without being conventionally good-looking and the flashback scenes where we see the two lovers together - on the couch at home reading, or lying on the beach, are convincingly played, with that sense of easy familiarity and "couple banter" that people who've together in relationships for a long time maintain with one another. We also witness George and Jim's first meeting in bar, when Jim is a sailor on visit to the town and the undercurrent of flirtatiousness between them both is well observed - this was after all the 1960s and gay men couldn't be so blatant.

Nicholas Hoult is also very good as Kenny Potter, one of George's students who after one of his lectures, starts a conversation with him, becomes fixated on him as a kindred spirit and later on turns out to be his saviour. There's further clever observation in the way the film depicts the undercurrent of attraction between Kenny and George, always there and strongly hinted at (when the pair get drunk and go skinny dipping or later on when a soaking wet Kenny self consciously strips in front of George and stands there staring at him) without being properly verbalised or fully consummated (again perhaps a product of the sexually ambiguous times when it was a lot harder to be upfront about one's real inclinations and desires).

And there's also the male hustler played by Jon Kortajarena Redruello (bloody gorgeous!!) who George runs into, gets propositioned by and turns down - God knows why - old George seems to get more offers from men in one day than most would in a lifetime!

4) The attitudes towards homosexuality. As I mentioned there's an interesting level of ambiguousness in some of George's relationships with the men he meets - is something going on or not? - which is a hallmark of the time. But the prejudice and ostracism that gay men received back then is also dealt with, and whilst deplorable, I found the scenes which showed this to be the most truthful and telling of all. When George speaks to Jim's brother on the phone and is told that he hasn't been invited to the funeral as he is "not immediate family", you could almost hear the hiss of disapproval from the audience - the refusal to recognise George and Jim's relationship as a "proper one" grates massively but is (regrettably) indicative of people's attitudes at the time (and to be honest, still is in some backward quarters). This is reinforced even more in the dinner scene where a drunken Charley blurts out that she and George could have had something "real" and that she never thought that what he had with Jim was "real love". F**k off!!! Insulting and deeply ignorant, but nevertheless, the kind of views that I myself have heard people spout from time to time.

5) The look and cinematography of the film. American fashion designer Tom Ford makes his directing debut here and his design and style roots come through clearly in the movie - it's sumptuously shot and made - the 60s style being prevalent throughout (loved the profileration of ladies' beehives!) George's glass house is also pretty funky and trendy (though a bit of a nightmare for those craving privacy?!) and there's a funny scene where he sits on the toilet spying on his neighbours through the window, before one of them clocks him watching.

All in all, one of the best gay movies I've seen in a long time and proof that Colin Firth really can cut the mustard.
4 out of 5.

Question from the Cheeser

Q: Could John Barrowman have come up with anything less cliched, stereotypical and obvious by way of a title for his new autobiography???

A: No.

What do you lot reckon??

Boozin' and boogying...

...is what I was doing last night, down one of my favourite bars, called Escape (snapshot above). After the week I'd had, a night out was definitely needed. Am feeling slightly fragile today but it was worth it!!

I've been frequenting the place for years, in fact my hubbie was the one to introduce me to Escape, if memory serves correctly. And here's why I like it:

- It's very central, in the centre of buzzy / trendy / gay-mecca Soho - but fortunately, unlike other "swank" establishments in the same district, it doesn't attract too many of the "I'm so cool, rich and trendy I'm up my own a*se" types. The clientele there are pretty laid back and friendly and every time me and Gustavo have been, we've ended up having conversations with complete and utter strangers (who we usually never see again, but it's better than sitting there all night with no one to talk to and adds to the enjoyment - I'm a social butterfly really.)

- It's small and intimate - some people are fond of huge, sprawling night clubs but Escape is basically just one (fairly small-sized) room. Sounds like a nightmare to some and admittedly it does get packed when at total capacity, but I really like the cosiness of the place. In fact the size is probably what creates the friendlier atmosphere.

- They play a fab mix of music, both modern and retro. Sample songs last night included: "She Wolf" - Shakira, "Voulez Vous" - ABBA, "I Gotta Feeling" - David Guetta, "Ma Baker" - Boney M, "Like A Virgin" - Madonna, "Poker Face" - Lady Gaga, "Jump" - Pointer Sisters, etc. Sometimes they show videos which play a camp counterpart to the songs, even though they're something totally different e.g. clips of Alexis and Krystle from Dynasty engaging in catfights. Hilarious!!

- It's a gay bar!! Gay bar!! Gay bar!! Which is obviously a good thing for me and others. However it still attracts a very mixed crowd i.e. quite a lot of straight people, many of whom are women. And why not?? Last night we befriended a trio of ladies from North London who were GREAT fun and FANTASTIC dancers - in an indie, quirky sort of way. I even took one of the girl's numbers and suggested meeting up again (gosh, people WILL talk). I've never been much of a fan of male-only establishments and it can sometimes create a bad atmosphere - very testosterone-charged, macho and unfriendly with chock loads of posey gay men all vying and competing for attention. It sounds like a cliche but I love having women around me, not just gay boys! And if we really are moving towards an equal, diverse and accepting society, all people should be able to frequent the same places I think. Okay, so you get the occasionally homophobic types who want to come and "laugh at the gays", well yeah, they should be barred. But as long as people have the right attitude and beliefs, why shouldn't they be there??

Anyways. I did have a good time and now I shall go and nurse my hangover. (Actually I've got a ton of marking to do, noooooooo!! Fortunately I have Dr Who to look forward to later on, some light at the end of the (time?) tunnel). Hope your respective weekends have been going well, my fruities.

One final question: What's YOUR favourite watering hole? Where is it? What's good about it? (Er, that's more than one question). The Cheeser wants to know! Answers on a comment please....

And you know what? Looking back at the title of this post, I STILL don't know if that's the correct spelling of "boogie" with "ing" at the end. Anyone got any ideas about that one?!

Tatty Bye....

OC xx

RIP Stephen Gately

Stephen Gately's funeral took place today. Yet another tragic loss to have occured this year, following the deaths of both Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett a few months back. He was only 33. By way of (admittedly very small) recompense, the post mortem has since revealed that his death wasn't from drug-related causes, so at least the stereotype of gay men as drug-popping thrill seekers hasn't been perpetuated this time round. However this hasn't stopped some of the newspapers printing nasty and narrow-minded articles like the one Lubin Odana reports on.

I was never a huge Boyzone fan (my hubbie is!) finding their music pretty bland and boring but it's still a sad way for one so young to go. His husband must be absolutely devastated. And by all accounts, Stephen G sounded like a very nice chap indeed. By coincidence he was born on the same day as me (17th March) - a Pisces - and I bet if I'd ever met him we would have had a lot in common - sensitivity, a kind-heart, creative approach and open-mindedness for one (all typical Piscean traits - and yes, I do believe in astrology up to a point). Yep, I think we would have clicked. Louis Walsh has been quoted as saying that Gately was the "glue that held Boyzone together". And when it came to looks Mr Gately was a genuine cutie - those pretty boy features and dreamy expression certainly did it for me and many others I should imagine. RIP Stephen. What do the rest of us think about it?

I'll never have that recipe again

Hell, I don't seem to have much time on my hands at the mo. I'm about to start marking exam scripts for an exam board which I do once a year to make extra dosh and I kind of wish I wasn't...it's usually very intense and I have to go into hibernation for several weeks in order to get it all done (as if I've never done that before as a teacher...) But this time I'm only marking about 2oo scripts (Only!! I hear you cry) as opposed to double the number which I did before ... Well, I've got to have SOME kind of life. Anyway it will be worth it when it's over and I can spend the cash on my much-needed Summer holiday...

Meanwhile, last weekend it was hubbie's birthday and we had a good 'un. As part of the general celebrations, we went to see a matinee performance of "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" at the Palace Theatre on Shaftesbury Avenue. And it was absolutely brilliant! Much better than I'd hoped and more so than the film itself in fact. Even the most narrow-minded, homophobic, transvestite-hating of "citizens" out there will have heard of "Priscilla" but if you haven't, well, it's about about three drag queens (two gay men, Tick (aka Mitzi) and Adam (aka Felicia) and a transexual woman called Bernadette) driving across the Australian outback from Sydney to Alice Springs, where they're scheduled to perform a show at a Casino. To make things slightly more interesting, the Casino is run by Tick's wife and he also has a young son... And the gender benders' method of transport just happens to be a large bus called Priscilla.

So why did I like it so...Firstly the show expands on the film by featuring many more songs than the movie - some you'd heard before like "I've Never Been To Me" and "Finally" but some new ones which slotted in very well into the narrative - "Hot Stuff" as Adam gets dragged up for a "night on the town"; "Boogie Wonderland" as staff at the Alice Springs casino (with some very hot male dancers in tight shorts I might add) performing perfectly synchronised routines; "Don't Leave Me This Way" sung slow-then-fast when Bernadette's partner dies; "I Say a Little Prayer" sung by Tick (Jason Donovan in rather good sensitive mode! Gasp!) when he's meditating on his faraway son...and my own personal favourite "Macarthur Park" - the Donna Summer classic with the fabulously weird-inane lyrics: "Someone left the cake out in the rain / I don't think that I can take it /Cos it took so long to bake it / And I'll never have that recipe again / Oh nooooooo!!!"

Which leads to the next brilliant thing - the costumes and dance routines - "Macarthur Park" for instance has the dancers dressed up as giant cup cakes and there are loads of other similarly inventive bits too numerous to mention here.

The leading drag queens sport many hilarious and outlandish outfits, kind of modelled on the ones from the movie, but going even more overboard than that, if atall possible.

One of the most striking bits in the entire show which I won't ever forget (again inspired by the movie) is the sight of Felicia, sitting high atop the "Priscilla" bus on a giant high heeled shoe, cloak billowing in the wind, whilst lip synching and gesturing theatrically to the sounds of Italian opera. Visually and orally stunning (the pic above kind of doesn't do it justice - you HAD to be there). The guy playing Felicia must have had real guts also, as the "high heel" actually moves out above the audience (we're talking pretty high up here) and wobbles alarmingly!

But he's not the only one suspended from a height as the show also features three very theatrical divas who provide a kind of greek chorus (and the real song to which the trannies lip synch) coming down from the ceiling on wires at regular intervals and looking amazing and sounding amazing throughout. Occasionally they do come down to earth - see above for proof.

Special mention must also go to the "Priscilla" bus, the interior of which we also get to see ...

And finally, the performances. As I mentioned before, Jason Donovan was actually rather good as Tick, giving a convincing performance (he plays the role performed by Hugo Weaving in the movie). Having once played Frankenfurter I guess he's getting a taste for women's clothing now...And he's still in pretty good shape too, stripping off and showing off his hot bod in the first few moments of the show! Mmm mmm. Tony Sheldon does a pretty good job as Bernadette, though perhaps lacking the sardonic, sour qualities that Terence Stamp exhibited so humorously in the film (though I was glad to see they kept in the line when he/she says to the overweight, narrow-minded, small town dyke: "Why don't you light your tampon and blow your box apart, cos it's the only bang you're ever gonna get, sweetheart!" Yehaaah!!) There's loads of other good lines too which I can't remember now ... And finally Oliver Thornton as Felicia is equally as venemous and bitchy as Guy Pearce's version, though personally I prefer Mr Pearce...

Anyways an excellent show that leaves you with a big smile on your face. I wanna see it again... and I don't go to the theatre often enough.