Small Talk: Interior Illusions Lounge

[JakeyJokes]

At least two of our local bars are still doing their viewing parties (haven't checked on the third one). Baby, us central time zone gays are gonna possibly be getting our drink on at 7 PM ... Oof!

I'm very interested to see how much the ratings improve (if at all). As I said before, not one fan in my social world is happy/excited about it being on Friday. But we'll see how the viewing parties go and if the vibe is different at all.

I usually work Saturday mornings, but not only am I off that weekend, but guess who is appearing at the viewing party on 3/24 that I'm attending? ALYSSA FLIPPING EDWARDS. I've "met" quite a few queens but never her, so I am ridiculously excited. My friend works for a newspaper in Dallas and got to interview her! So jealous.

[JakeyJokes]

On 4/7/2016 at 9:50 AM, goodbyeglittergirl said:

Went to the Divas of Drag tour in my city last night. Wanted to give you guys a recap! The lineup is different in each city so I hope some of you guys go and tell us how it was for you!t home and I had kids to get to school at 7a! Too old for those shenanigans! I hope some of you catch the Divas of Drag your cities and provide your reviews. Watch for groupon tickets - you could have gotten $20 tickets for our stop a few days before the date - and that would have been a great bargain.

OK, remember when goodbyeglittergirl gave us this great recap of the Divas of Drag tour and mentioned that Milk told her that Alyssa didn't ride on the bus with everyone else and then she only did a few numbers? So, Trixie and Katya are on the latest episode of Hey Queen (you can find it on YouTube, it's a hilarious gay talk show), and Trixie spilled T that Alyssa was chronically late and she and Mimi Imfust almost came to blows and that Milk had to physically separate them at one point. She was masterfully diplomatic about it while still conveying that Alyssa had some 'tude and punctuality was not her forte. Interestingly enough, Alyssa is appearing at my local club tonight and I'm wondering what time she'll get there. (The viewing party is at 7 because we're in central time, and BeBe Zahara Benet is co-hosting, and then I think my roommate and I are gonna go home and take a nap and then go back).

Last night I went to an event and Max was the featured performer! They showed videos of his newest project, Agent Max, which is short films in which he's like a femme fatale/ass-kicking vigilante. The writing and the fighting aren't ..... great (to be fair, I only saw the one episode) .... but it's a really cool concept to see an unconventional figure in that kind of role, and the production values are very good. Anyway, I was there with my heterosexual twin brother and he was really drunk and starstruck (he doesn't even watch the show, I think he was just blown away by how tall Max was), and I was getting rather embarrassed, but Max couldn't have been nicer and even encouraged me to finish my tequila shot. He sang "Call Your Girlfriend" by Robyn LIVE and sounded great, and I was horrified because someone had just spilled where he was performing, but he never fell. I saw him again at the makeshift coat check spot and said "I'm not stalking you, I promise" and he smiled and said it was fine.

[Machiabelly]

Are there any spoilers out there on the 14th queen?

[Xazeal]

Yep. It's basically confirmed to be

Spoiler

Cynthia Lee Fontaine

Her voice was heard in the background of an interview RuPaul did last summer during filming, and since then it's been widely speculated that she's on. She had no gigs at the time of filming. She has hung out with several other S9 queens the past six months. She owns the same wig as the queen we saw in this episode. It's her.  

Either that, or it's the most elaborate fake out ever.

Edited March 25, 2017 by Xazeal

[Machiabelly]

Thank you muchly.

[twinkietwin94]

I love her I how it's not a fake out. Thanks

[ClareWalks]

Re: the returning queen, 

Spoiler

I am actually really glad Cynthia got another shot. She was fantastic and such a genuinely nice girl. Probably not finals material but she will be great fun. I can't wait to see her cucu :)

[JakeyJokes]

That convo about Pulse just *got* to me. As an (albeit aging) bar star, I can tell you that gay men across the country (if not the world) have had that conversation. It could have been us; our bar; we're not as safe as we think we are; this goes double for queer people of color.

I remember the day my neighborhood had a candlelight vigil and I was in a funk all day but blamed it on a hangover. I got home from work and my roommate and I picked up a friend and walked to the park. My candle wouldn't light, it was cold, and I didn't feel anything until my mother called (we're very close and I hadn't heard her from all weekend) and I thought of the man calling his mother from the club and the mother who drove down to the club to try to find her son and I JUST LOST IT. Strangers even tried to comfort me.

 

My mother put this shower curtain up in my apartment that following Monday. She told me it was for our upcoming Pride party and she would have put it up anyway, but I think it was more than that. I regret that you can't see her face because I think it is my favorite picture of her. To me it is a picture of love, community, of moving forward. A rainbow is what comes after the storm. Last week on the Internet, a conservative Christian radio host/shock jock went viral for saying that gay people stole the rainbow from God. I look at this picture and wish people like that would understand that this is proof we can share it.

(I wrote a longer version of this here, but save it for your damn blog, hippie.)

Edited April 8, 2017 by JakeyJokes

[kieyra]

24 minutes ago, JakeyJokes said:

That convo about Pulse just *got* to me. As an (albeit aging) bar star, I can tell you that gay men across the country (if not the world) have had that conversation. It could have been us; our bar; we're not as safe as we think we are; this goes double for queer people of color.

I remember the day my neighborhood had a candlelight vigil and I was in a funk all day but blamed it on a hangover. I got home from work and my roommate and I picked up a friend and walked to the park. My candle wouldn't light, it was cold, and I didn't feel anything until my mother called (we're very close and I hadn't heard her from all weekend) and I thought of the man calling his mother from the club and the mother who drove down to the club to try to find her son and I JUST LOST IT. Strangers even tried to comfort me.

 

My mother put this shower curtain up in my apartment that following Monday. She told me it was for our upcoming Pride party and she would have put it up anyway, but I think it was more than that. I regret that you can't see her face because I think it is my favorite picture of her. To me it is a picture of love, community, of moving forward. A rainbow is what comes after the storm. Last week on the Internet, a conservative Christian radio host/shock jock went viral for saying that gay people stole the rainbow from God. I look at this picture and wish people like that would understand that this is proof we can share it.

(I wrote a longer version of this here, but save it for your damn blog, hippie.)

<3

[ClareWalks]

Gia Gunn came out as transgender recently. Congrats to her! 

[kieyra]

K, I'm on a cruise right now (sadly not a drag cruise), and they're doing this 'lip-sync battle' in the atrium. A twelve-year-old kid is doing Don't Stop Believing, and I'm sorry but he needs to sashay away. He didn't even pad. 

Meanwhile, I play online video games and I've noticed these guys I play with, who are like, white Canadian bros from the back woods of Halifax, use the term "throwing shade" when we're in voice chat. Sometimes I want to yell at them: DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHERE THAT COMES FROM!?

Being snarky, but enjoy seeing the ripple effect on popular culture. 

(ETA: Now they're doing one of those Adele songs that I've either seen Ginger Minj do during her season (?) or at BOTS, can't remember which. I have to go on one of the drag cruises, dammit. Anyone ever been?)

Edited April 21, 2017 by kieyra

[Cosmic Muffin]

I just had my annual review at work, and it went well, although I'm glad it's over. I don't think anyone likes performance reviews, even when they're positive. Anyway, I think I might have talked too much about Drag Race. My supervisor mentioned one of her children is really into the show. She asked (kindly, but baffled) why I like the show. She mentioned that she saw the episode where someone picked the other lipsynker up. I said, "Mimi Imfurst! Drag is not a contact sport!" she repeated Drag is Not a Contact Sport and laughed.

So that was interesting...

[cpcathy]

So I am going to Dragcon tomorrow, not even sure what to expect! There are so many queens I'm looking forward to seeing!

[MaryWebGirl]

On 4/28/2017 at 10:11 AM, cpcathy said:

So I am going to Dragcon tomorrow, not even sure what to expect! There are so many queens I'm looking forward to seeing!

How was it? I moved to LA last fall and had been looking forward to going but then an opportunity to go to Europe came up so that's where I was. Next year!

[cpcathy]

It was crazy and crowded, but a lot of fun! Never got to see Rupaul, he stays behind curtains signing autographs and taking photos, a photo was $60 and an autograph was $40. Too rich for my blood! I saw a lot of my favorite queens, Thorgy, Pearl, Darienne Lake, Tatiana, Delta Werk, Detox, Shangela and the top of Violet's hair. I saw a lot of this season's queens including Eureka (her knee is good), Peppermint, Sasha Velour and Aja. Farrah Moan was impressive, she's so pretty in person, her photo area smelled like roses!

All in all, a great day, if you go next year, get there early, bring plenty of cash and make sure you get in line for the panel discussions on time. It won't hurt to by a $100 VIP pass, either (which we did not do).

[ClareWalks]

18 minutes ago, cpcathy said:

Never got to see Rupaul, he stays behind curtains signing autographs and taking photos, a photo was $60 and an autograph was $40. Too rich for my blood!

That's...kind of ridiculous. I would only support something like that if all the money were donated to charity or something.

[cpcathy]

The lines to see Rupaul were certainly long, so somebody is earning! There were booths for Planned Parenthood and ACLU, so who knows, maybe some of it was for charity.

I also forgot to mention that I saw Miss Fame, Trixie Mattel and Milk.

[Sister Spooky]

2 hours ago, cpcathy said:

It was crazy and crowded, but a lot of fun! Never got to see Rupaul, he stays behind curtains signing autographs and taking photos, a photo was $60 and an autograph was $40. Too rich for my blood!

Wow!  That's actually pretty good prices!  I expected Rupaul's photos and autos to be a lot higher. I go to a lot of sci fi cons and for instance, photo ops with Jared Padalecki or Jensen Ackles from Supernatural are usually around $159 and their autographs are $129.

[MaryWebGirl]

1 hour ago, Sister Spooky said:

Wow!  That's actually pretty good prices!  I expected Rupaul's photos and autos to be a lot higher. I go to a lot of sci fi cons and for instance, photo ops with Jared Padalecki or Jensen Ackles from Supernatural are usually around $159 and their autographs are $129.

But this is HIS event. I assume he's already getting a cut of just about every dollar spent there. @cpcathy was he even in drag?

[cpcathy]

He was not in drag. A couple of his suits and a few of his gowns were on display, as was his Emmy award. The only photo I took was of the Emmy!

[MaryWebGirl]

Trixie's album has been bouncing around the top ten list in iTunes and was up to #2 at one point! It's at #6 while I'm writing this.

https://www.apple.com/itunes/charts/albums/

[JakeyJokes]

So my dad is a bookworm and I was at his house and couldn't sleep and tried to find something entertaining. I stumbled upon I'll Sleep when I'm Dead, an oral history of the occasionally troubled musician Warren Zevon. Anyway, it turns out that among his many tumultuous relationships (the man was VERY promiscuous, apparently) was a young journalist for Rolling Stone named Merle Ginsberg! They dated off-and-on and her telling of it is rather sad -- he told her he was sober and he fell off the wagon and didn't tell her, et cetera. It was interesting to have a glimpse of who she was in her younger days.

[okerry]

Speaking as someone who's not exactly part of the scene - I'm a straight grandma, lol - but as someone who's watched and enjoyed RPDR for years, it seems to me that what's changed in the last couple of years is that now we've got lots of social media and club queens on the show instead of the "classic" drag that it seemed to feature at first.

Club kids seem to mostly do it for themselves and their friends, while old-school drag queens seemed to be doing it as an art to entertain an audience. Maybe that's why club queens don't translate very well to a wide audience like a stage, must less a TV show. Just a thought.

The show just hasn't been nearly as much fun for someone like me this time around, and maybe that's because I'm such a fan of old-school classic drag. IMHO, the more recent queens seem to forget that "DRAG" was originally a Shakespearean theater term that meant an actor was "DRessed As Girl" for a female role, during a time when women were not permitted to perform on stage.

I guess to me, a "drag queen" should still resemble a woman and the art of drag is supposed to be about creating that illusion. There are many different sorts of women, of course, but that basic illusion should still be there or else - what's the point? I adore cosplay and have been going to sci-fi conventions longer than many of you have been alive, lol, but while drag might be cosplay not all cosplay is drag. To me, what Nina does is not drag. It's cosplay. Different show.

I realize that not everyone feels that way, and that's fine; I was just trying to figure out why RPDR hasn't been nearly as entertaining this time. So feel free to educate Grandma, lol. 

[JakeyJokes]

Young queens are probably much more influenced than queens they've seen on this show than anyone else. You get your exceptions -- Robbie Turner (S8) was influenced by old school movie stars because it's the only thing he was exposed to as a child -- but for the most part, young gay boys are growing up with this show and deciding to be drag queens.

There is a different aesthetic for everyone. Some people love a fishy queen, some people love a bawdy comedy queen, some people love a fashionable pageant queen with rhinestones for days. I think this season had a rather well-rounded cast in that department (our final four is an artsy hipster cerebral queen, pageant queen, and two who are on the contemporary comedy side and can still turn it out).

At the end of the day, it depends on who YOU would spend money on to book (as a promoter) or see (as a fan), and I think a lot of that is simply personal preference.

[Ananayel]

According to the good listing folks at Zap2It, or whatever it's calling itself these days, Monday night (June 19) on @Midnight (11:30, Comedy Central) will have Katya, Alaska, and Ginger Minj as guests. If you haven't seen it, it's sort of a cross between The Soup, Whose Line Is It Anyway? and [pick a random game show, or several]. The lineup isn't set in stone for some reason -  I had to wait weeks to see Wayne Brady, even though he kept being listed, but it's worth it. If you miss it, or they change it up, keep checking, or try to see it on demand or streaming or some such.

[themajormotoko]

On 6/17/2017 at 9:46 AM, Ananayel said:

According to the good listing folks at Zap2It, or whatever it's calling itself these days, Monday night (June 19) on @Midnight (11:30, Comedy Central) will have Katya, Alaska, and Ginger Minj as guests. If you haven't seen it, it's sort of a cross between The Soup, Whose Line Is It Anyway? and [pick a random game show, or several]. The lineup isn't set in stone for some reason -  I had to wait weeks to see Wayne Brady, even though he kept being listed, but it's worth it. If you miss it, or they change it up, keep checking, or try to see it on demand or streaming or some such.

I watched that @Midnight episode last night.  It was a thing of beauty.  Very funny and well worth the second viewing.  All the queens did well.  Here's hoping for another all queen panel.  

[MaryWebGirl]

If anyone is going to be in Seattle this Saturday, you could get a private drag show from Uber, and Robbie Turner and Latrice(!) are two of the queens participating.

https://www.uber.com/blog/seattle/sea-pride-on-demand/

[Rai]

Here's a weird thing that happened recently: My boyfriend asked me to introduce him to Drag Race (this isn't the weird part), and I showed him a couple of episodes from Season 4, which I'd purchased on iTunes a while back. He was totally into it and wanted to complete the season, and I certainly didn't mind rewatching it, so I went to buy the rest of the episodes. Only they're not available! All the other seasons of Drag Race are still up on iTunes, but not season 4.

I then checked out Amazon and Google, and they also didn't have season 4 -- but only season 4 -- available. On Google, every episode said "season only" and a season buy available, but I didn't want to risk them not actually playing, even after purchase.

Anyway, point is, why is season 4 so hard to watch right now? I get the difficulty of season 1 being available, but not 4. Is it a royalties thing or something? Kinda bummed I can't rewatch the whole thing now.

(PS -- I don't pirate)

Edited June 27, 2017 by Rai

[Egg]

Season 4 was available on Amazon Prime until they started airing Season 9 (because Prime only makes a certain number of seasons available), so it can't be a super hard and fast rights thing. 

[Fex]

I was just browsing through Netflix (Canada), and saw RuPaul's Drag Race on there! It's just season 8, for some reason, but I'll take it! And hope for more to come...

[marsha]

2 minutes ago, Fex said:

I was just browsing through Netflix (Canada), and saw RuPaul's Drag Race on there! It's just season 8, for some reason, but I'll take it! And hope for more to come...

I know!

I actually screamed for joy when I saw it in Netflix .... then I screamed again in horror when I saw it was Season 8. I watched it again though and as I've almost entirely forgotten it there were some things that I remember now with affection like the divine Chi Chi DeVayne, the artistry of Kim Chi and ... what else? Oh David and Amy Sedaris as judges who have fucking watched the show and fucking get it (as did Chris Stein and Debbie Harry).

I don't get why it's only Season 8 but, as Fex said: "...I'll take it!" 

[Jesse]

Bob, Katya, Jiggly Caliente, and Detox were all on the finale of Playing House, FYI.

[Cosmic Muffin]

I had a dream where I had just arrived at my cube at work, and Katya came by and asked to borrow some money. She was out of drag, so I guess she was Brian. In the dream I wasn't surprised that he seemed to work with me. He said he needed to borrow money, I pulled two fives and a twenty out of my pocket and asked if he wanted to borrow 5, 10 or 20 dollars. He took the twenty and left.

There was more, but that was the Drag Race part. I blame the eclipse. I wish our interaction was more exciting in the dream. 

[Rai]

I went and saw the New York show of the Werq the World tour last night! It was great. Bob the Drag Queen hosted since Bianca is working on her second movie (with Katya!), and I don't know why Michelle wasn't available. It was a great line-up! KIM CHI was in the house! And she even vogued briefly, although overall, I'd say she's still not a great walker nor dancer. But her number was really funny. Peppermint did a couple of her own songs and was just exuding fun energy. Acid Betty weirdly got the least applause during the introduction, which surprised the hell out of me. But she honestly had the best performance of the night, IMO, and it was the tightest production too. So at the end, she got her rightful recognition. Although she did start her performance off by shading the hell out of Valentina and the whole mask thing, and I'm not quite sure why she'd even care about that. But it set up the rest of her performance well.

LATRICE ROYALE!!! She got the most applause all night long. And she did one hell of a Missy Elliot act. Valentina did a lovely dance routine and even a lip sync with it, but much like Kim Chi, it's more improvement than slaying it. Violet did a really great burlesque routine. She was just so sexy. She gave off a young Catherine Zeta-Jones vibe in the face. I was never a huge fan of hers, but she did well on this tour. Lady Bunny did a parody of "Vogue," which slammed practically every RPDR contestant, and Shangela was the grand finale. She still looks about the same as she did on her season, in my opinion, but she's so high-energy. All-Stars 3 will be interesting, for sure.

Bob is the best host, and even gave drop-dead glam a couple of times. She referred to herself as a "fixer-upper" in acknowledgment. She also ran a "Wig in the Box" contest with some audience members where they come up on stage, grab a wig, and do a quick lipsync. One of the contestants was a thirteen-year-old girl, and she got Cher. "I know who she is, but I don't know any of her songs." She gave it a solid go though, and presumably, this will be a pivotal moment in her life, so that's pretty great to imagine.

Contest came down to an older professor guy who was INTO IT and got dubbed "Bearyonce" by Bob and an NYU student who called himself "Zebra," and who was wearing knee-high red PVC boots. He did Bob's "Purse First" song and once he busted out some vogueing and a flying split, that was it. The place legit went nuts. As nuts as they did for Latrice, I swear. 

By the end of the night, I swear I'd lost my hearing and my voice, but it was so much fun. The only thing -- and I gotta share as a way to caution my fellow RuGals -- is there was a lady in my row who would yell "Purse First!" at every pause in Bob's routine. Don't do that. Be chill. Let the pros work. She stopped once Bob actually did the "Purse First" song, but up to that point, she was clearly trying to be cool and witty, and instead, everyone looked really uncomfortable about it for various reasons. Once is cool. After that, let it be. 

I went home and immediately reorganized all my makeup, because what else do you do after seeing so many fierce queens?

[Cosmic Muffin]

Thanks for the recap, Rai!

[JakeyJokes]

I can't believe I am going to this on Monday. My roommate is even driving one of the queens from the airport. The prices were steep, but all of the proceeds are going to Puerto Rico and the queens are paying for their own rooms and airfare and donating all of the tips. I am really impressed with Phi Phi O'Hara for putting this together, and I can't believe it's happening in MINNEAPOLIS.

 

 

 

[OnceSane]

Has anyone watched "Cherry Pop"?  It's on Netflix and has some of our Drag Race queens (and a former ANTM contestant) in it!  Bob, Detox, Latrice (out of drag) all have good roles and I loved it!

[e.gregious]

2 hours ago, OnceSane said:

Has anyone watched "Cherry Pop"?  It's on Netflix and has some of our Drag Race queens (and a former ANTM contestant) in it!  Bob, Detox, Latrice (out of drag) all have good roles and I loved it!

Hi @OnceSane, I am going to watch it after catching up with this season of RPDR.  Thank you for pointing it out. 

 

Does anyone else think Milk is just unlikeable? Condescending, with no sense of humor.

 

Anyway, love this show, been watching since it began.

No one understands my love of the girls and this show.

I am a 57 year old woman, I find these women fierce and fascinating.

 

Just starting watching "The Bitchelor".  

"Rosebud" LOL!

Edited February 11, 2018 by e.gregious
add a word

[JakeyJokes]

Bianca del Rio kicked off the American leg of her new show, Blame it on Bianca, in my city last night. If you're a fan of hers, GO. She riffed for 90 minutes and then did a Q & A. At one point she was cracking up too much at her own Ru impression that she had to stop doing it.

[buttercupia]

is anyone else watching drag race thailand? it's a hoot and those girls are fierce.

[e.gregious]

On 3/8/2018 at 1:00 PM, buttercupia said:

is anyone else watching drag race thailand? it's a hoot and those girls are fierce.

Thanks for the tip! I will be watching for sure.

[Glade]

On 3/8/2018 at 8:00 AM, buttercupia said:

is anyone else watching drag race thailand? it's a hoot and those girls are fierce.

I'm watching the fansub and I really like it.  It's such fun and the cultural differences are making all the challenges so fresh and original.  It's also wonderfully refreshing to me how far outside of the shackles of American masculinity it is.  

[2727]

I'll have to look up the Thailand version -- sounds fun!

On a somewhat related note, I lived in Samoa for a while and was intrigued to learn about the tradition of fa'afafine, which is a third gender identity (primarily boys dressing as girls). It's so normalized there that the Catholic church sponsors an annual pageant for them.

[e.gregious]

4 hours ago, Glade said:

I'm watching the fansub and I really like it.  It's such fun and the cultural differences are making all the challenges so fresh and original.  It's also wonderfully refreshing to me how far outside of the shackles of American masculinity it is.  

What is a "fansub"?  I am still learning.  :)

[Glade]

1 hour ago, e.gregious said:

What is a "fansub"?  I am still learning.  :)

A fansub (short for fan-subtitled) is a version of a foreign film or foreign television program which has been translated by fans (as opposed to an officially licensed translation done by professionals) and subtitled into a language other than that of the original.

[Fiero425]

On ‎3‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 3:57 PM, TheLukeP said:

I think there's still an opportunity to start the night out in bars with watch parties.... at least up here in MI, the bars don't really pick up until 10:30 or 11 ... it's super strange, because our bars are only open till 2a ... and I don't really see it being a problem in my second home Chicago, as the two bars that I can think of that would do viewings can and will most likely easily do them during Friday nights... (yay Roscoe's and SideTrack!)

eta: Just verified with Roscoes and SideTrack, and they're both doing viewing shows on Friday nights for the season... so no sweat for me.

I haven't been to either bar in years even though close by! In my day, our viewing nights usually encompassed 2 shows; "Brothers" which played on Showtime and clips of "In Living Color" with "the hated it girls," "Men on"....Antoine & Blaine! Boy am I old! lol! ;-)

[e.gregious]

On 3/10/2018 at 9:10 PM, Glade said:

A fansub (short for fan-subtitled) is a version of a foreign film or foreign television program which has been translated by fans (as opposed to an officially licensed translation done by professionals) and subtitled into a language other than that of the original.

Thank you GLADE!

[buttercupia]

I've been catching the Thai show on dailymotion, no subtitles. I'd love to know what they're saying!

[Fiero425]

Watching the show live for a change and I'm shocked with all the commercial breaks; 4 min. in, then again after 13 min.! Is this the norm? The All-Star show has gone all out; those dancers were gorgeous! Bringing back the eliminated queens again just to stir the $#!t! Why give them so much power in selecting the final 2? Oh well, let's see what happens! ;-)

[Schnickelfritz]

8 hours ago, buttercupia said:

I've been catching the Thai show on dailymotion, no subtitles. I'd love to know what they're saying!

Set the CC to English.