9.30.2005

StinkyLulu's Televidiocy

Started this entry thinking it'd be a "week in review" kinda thing -- talking about the two really interesting & totally different movies StinkyLulu caught this week, Grizzly Man & RollBounce -- each very poignant, each very odd. Yet it seems that the realm of televidiocy beckons...so StinkyLu takes that familiar dive into the idiot box.

See -- the thrilling annual torturefest of Big Brother 6 finally ended last week -- with Janelle smelling like a rose & EEEEEvette & Skaggie just smelling -- & StinkyLu's reality-tv plate needed some fresh filling. Gratefully, two favorites dishes are on the fall menu. At the same time. Decisions decisions.

Option #1:
NBC's favorite ex-con has been catching grief from all sides -- particularly for her irreality showcase, The Apprentice: Martha -- what with folks picking on her ratings, her vibe, and even her opening credits. But StinkyLulu -- ever the contrarian -- just loves this kindler gentler & wierder Martha Stewart. (And -- goldarnit -- running "Sweet Dreams" under that opening montage gives StinkyLu the chills everytime.) If only the "Apprentice" famewhores weren't so intent on insipid (& nearly unwatchable) bickering. YET -- alas, lovely reader, StinkyLu must confess to an embarassing fixation on the worst of this bunch, Jim -- a particularly evil, loathsome yet captivating version of one of StinkyLu's favorite genres of cuteboy, The Snerk (you know the type -- snarky, skinny, primped, overripe with entitlement). And he hasn't been fired yet.
Gotta love that Martha!

Option #2:
Over on UPN, StinkyLu's becoming increasing weary of Tyra at the helm of Martha's main competition. Nonethe, Ms.Banks' franchise, America's Next Top Model 5, remains one of the simplest & most reliable pleasures on television today. With a reality formula at least as solid as any of Mark Burnett's or Bunim-Murray's, this season of ANTM promises to be as good as any (even without uber-freak Janice Dickinson -- who will be sorely missed, I'm sure). Even better, Lu recently discovered FourFour's brilliant screencaps -- such a noble & heroic effort, making all the best fun of ANTM available to those without the benefit of broadcast. (Though Lu won't miss a one.) Not sure if there's a Lulu fave yet, though something about Coryn did stand out even before those -- hee!hee! -- terrible rumors started swirling. But no-matter, Lulu always ends up pulling for the "non-a-model/transformer" who never wins anyway -- hi Elyse, Shandi, YaYa & Kahlen!). And it's not really clear who that would be in this bunch. So, 'twill keep y'all posted.

Thankfully the wonders of technology permit Lu generous servings of both.
StinkyLu does love that reality-teevee. Yum yumyum yum.

9.23.2005

Taco Chick, Salsa Girl, Mimi the Donkey & Deliriously Jen!

It's astonishing how easily StinkyLu can forget the importance of "movie therapy" (without which StinkyLu quickly devolves into a StinkyMeanie). Gratefully, as part of StinkyLu's personal contribuution to The Sophia Sorority's Season of Celebration, MrStinky & Lu took in a pile of flicks toward the beginning of the week.

Starting with the "Boys Shorts" bill at the increasingly impressive 2005 Southwest Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. The Lu does love the assemblage of gay short films (indeed, as a child StinkyLu's favorite kind of dinner was "smorgasboard" and, while a roster of 6-10 gay films will inevitably provide some disappointments, there's inevitably at least one delectable delight to savor). And -- without doubt -- the prize of StinkyLulu's favorite short gay film ever (or at least since Monday) goest to Kurt Koehler's freakin'ilarious Taco Chick and Salsa Girl.

Mexicamp queerness at its finest: Oscar Quintero (as "Kay Sedia") and J.P. Torres (as "Anita Nacho") are simply brilliant in the title roles -- the whole production reminiscent of a latin episode of StinkyLu's favorite teevee show (& lunchbox) circa 1977: ElectraWoman & DynaGirl.

Other highlights of the festival included the sweet, sexy & surreal Sadness of Johnson Joe Jangles -- a movie that is possibly the only genderfuck Cowboy romantic soap opera -- the forthcoming Brokeback Mountain notwithstanding -- where the title character gives birth to a donkey puppet (named "Mimi"). The birth of Mimi the donkey, the pivotal musical number, the striptease in front of a bunch of drunken frontierswomen -- Jeffrey St. Jules' strange little film is extraordinarily effective. See it if you can. (StinkyLu was just as pleasantly surprised by Oedipus N+1, a queer-cyborg-dystopic romantic thriller from France! Dare ya to buy a ticket for that at your nearest googaplex...)

But the unexpected surprise of the festival had to be Angus Oblong's Deliriously Jen, a tv pilot featuring the impossibly funny Jen Manley in the title role. Now, this movie/tv show/whatever has had MrStinky choking with laughter all week. All the Lu has to do is repeat a line ("I'm making a poo--" or "No thanks, I'm really good at this--" or "From the homeless--") and MrStinky's wheezing & gasping with giggles all over again. As the credits finished, MrStinky's uncharacteristically loud sustained laughs got the crowd chortling all over again. (And, truth be told, StinkyLu thought the film funny but nothing special at first glance.) But now? Having witnessed its impact on MrStinky over this past week? Priceless... So, count StinkyLu a huge fan of not only of Mr. Oblong's short-lived animated series, The Oblongs, but also of his latest creation of wrongess, Deliriously Jen... (see the delirum of Jen for yourself by clicking the previous link).

That was some of the fun had on Monday night alone. And, think, StinkyLu's not even had the chance to recap the amazing movie Junebug or the brilliant work of ex-con Martha Stewart on her new reality show... Good things all.

9.20.2005

Buon Compleanno, Sophia!


Not everyone gets to grace a magazine cover so remarkably. (And just a few days before their birthday, no less!) But today -- September 20 -- marks that special day for Ms. Sophia Loren (& for StinkyLu too)!

So here's a happy birthday shout-out to all September 20th babies. That means YOU Kristen Johnston and Your Mom and MrStinky's mom and Gunnar & Matthew Nelson and Asia Argento and Dr. Joyce Brothers -- it's your day! Put on that extra-special outfit & join StinkyLulu in doing your best Sophia impression! Cuz, if you're a September 20th baby, you're part of the Sophia sisterhood!

Happy happy, babies.

9.18.2005

deProdundis @ Quarai

Just in from a delicious nuevomexicano afternoon with MrStinky -- barely/finally back from his week of yogadventures in SanFran -- as well as a motley gaggle of fabulons. (Well, that is, IF "gaggle" can be construed to refer to the gents of Thistlecot & Pablito of "magic fingers" fame...)

See, a week or so ago some bee settled in StinkyLulu's bonnet to get some culture & some out-of-doors. So, the Stinky gaggle piled into a borrowed Sporty Utility Vehicle, braved the perils of carsickness, & dragged off/up/over the Manzano mountains to the ruins of a 17th century Franciscan church. There, the astonishing ruins at Quarai created a truly wondrous setting for an afternoon of surprising, smart & skilled acapella singing from the men of de Profundis.

Now ere a couple weeks ago, StinkyLu knew not of either Quarai or de Profundis, but somehow it happened that the Stinky gaggle got themselves sitting there, within the walls of this ancient church of a forgotten pueblo. Flagstone and sandstone bricks, still securely stacked after 300 or so years, reached to meet a ceiling of New Mexico sky. Where a roof might have met the walls, wildflowers sprouted, creating a surprising fringe of color several stories above our heads. And before us, where a colonizing priest might have ministered a few centuries prior, stood 13 tidy men standing in a cozy semi-circle. At first glance, these guys looked "churchy" -- in that way of prissy nerds & nerdy sissies, you know -- but then those boys started to singing. Or -- more precisely -- singing, hollering, yodeling, & yelling, in careful harmonic precision. The first song -- a three part, call & response folk song traditionally sung by groups of male field workers in Georgia (the former Soviet Republic, that is...) -- started the afternoon's program &, had StinkyLu been wearing socks, might have knocked 'em right off. The next hour brought all kinds of male choral music (not StinkyLu's favorite genre, to be sure) with de Profundis' selections blending the ancient & contemporary, global and local, all with an ear toward the abstract. All told, the combination made for a uncommonly exhilarating convergence of voice & scene.

Then the Stinky gaggle toddled over to some benches for a delicious picnic of cherry cider, Pablito's homemade oatmeal-nut-raisin cookies, assorted crudite & Lulu's very first try at a muffaleta sandwich -- a New Orleans (via the Italian deli) sandwich/casserole which, when wrapped & prepped & popped in the fridge is about the size of a moderately sized watermelon, or securely swaddled infant. Amazingly tasty pile of cold cuts. Yum yumyum yum.

A delightful afternoon, really.
And the whole thing was just so...so...so...civilized.
Who knew the Lu could behave like that?

9.16.2005

Muppet Reality

How's this for the blend of 2 of StinkyLulu's most treasured televidiocies?
Apparently, the genius of Muppetland has imagined an American Idol-America's Next Top Model-ish spoof of reality-tv called America's Next Muppet where Kermit, Piggy & the gang go looking for the next big Muppet thing.

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

StinkyPussycat

You know? The web is a wonderful thing. Sometimes one just stumbles upon a website that's just hours & hours of fun for the whole family. The latest to fall into StinkyLu's path -- StuffOnMyCat.com -- a website where folks send in pictures of their cats in all kinds of compromised and compromising positions, as below:

via the shutterbugs at StuffOnMyCat.com

Silly pussies just make StinkyLu giggle.
Have fun.

9.15.2005

StinkyLulu's "Manthems" Mix now available on iTunes

StinkyLulu's Manthems mix is now available for your perusal as an "iMix" -- just the most recent innovation by iTunes (a baby-step really in the long march of transforming how even yahoos like StinkyLu encounter and purchase music). O'course, the link requires that you open iTunes -- so sorry for the overt corporate shilling...

StinkyLulu's Manthems mix is -- as the little blurb suggests -- a collection of diva ditties done over & delivered fresh by dudes. StinkyLu spent a goodly portion of last spring researching & compiling the list of songs, the only criteria for which is that it should be nearly-to-totally iconic for some diva (& then that some guy do it over as well or better). The mix has a nice alternarock edge to it that Lu didn't anticipate (see "I Will Survive" by Cake for the best example). But there should be something for nearly every taste... so check it out (it rate it kindly should you so wish). It's sorta appropos that Lu can list it on iTunes as many of the songs were unearthed there (& nearly entirely acquired through StinkyLulu's favorite product-promo of the year-- the one where they have iTunes codes under every 3rd Pepsi bottle-cap. It's the only way to get StinkyLu to willingly switch over to the Diet Pepsi column...) So enjoy.. & do "holla backatch" laLu with your thoughts...

9.06.2005

Why they call it academentia...

...StinkyLulu just encountered this parodic assemblage of "academic interviews."

'Twould be funny even if'n'tweren't so twue... (Lu had to look twice to be sure that the "Trauma Scholar" & the "Irish Rave Ethnographer" weren't former colleagues...)

9.01.2005

Sad face


The Katrina situation is just...a wow. The whole thing makes Lu just heartsick. And all the moreso with the tragically ineffectual response of DaPrez & his crewe... Who cut Gulf Coast flood-preparedness funding by upwards of 40% since 2001? Who created the newest/biggest/least effective federal bureaucracy -- which has been MIA during the last week -- for the sole purpose of emergency preparedness? Who sent the 1000s of Louisiana/Mississippi National Guard troops so far away? Who expects private donations to foot the FEMA bill? The one thing StinkyLulu had to say for the Doofus-In-Chief was, that four years ago, he somehow became sorta Presidential... This week -- having long-squandered that singular moment of StinkyLulu's goodwill -- the Doofus has accomplished what StinkyLulu once thought impossible: StinkyLu's expectations of his leadership ability and his administration's competence are substantially lower than they were just a week ago. Wow.

What's that Bonnie Tyler song? "Holding Out For a Hero"? As silly as it sounds... that's where StinkyLulu's at...

Sad. Sad. Very very sad.

...gratefully, MrStinky & Lu are off to the mountains for a weekend of rest, relaxation and retreat. 'Twill be nice to be away... Sweet peace, beloveds...