57 Channels and Something On
Here’s a something about the TV we’ve been watching lately. It didn’t dawn on me until now just how gay these shows are. We’re talking wrapped in a rainbow flag, tottering around in pink platform heels GAY. My viewing habits aren’t really that gay. I watch a lot of PBS, too — and not just In the Life. Anyway, here goes:
- Kathy Griffin: Strong Black Woman (Bravo) Premiering last night, Griffin’s latest stand-up special premiered is being repeated often this week. Hilarious as usual, even though she tells a dog story that goes on too long and there’s not enough of her trademark no-holds-barred celebrity dish during this go ’round. C’mon, you just know she could fill a few hours alone on that bitch Star Jones.
- Will & Grace (new episodes on NBC and repeats on Lifetime Television for Women™) Full disclosure: I never got into W&G until the last year or so. It always seemed too unbelievably stupid to me, a bunch of gay people prancing around and talking about their own gayness. But then I impulsively TiVo-ed the episodes with hunky guest star Bobby Cannavale and started realizing how good the scripts are. Now we’re doing double duty, cramming on two repeats a night while viewing the new shows every Thursday. I have to admit that the show really did hit a serious slump in 2002-04 from which it never fully recovered. The new episodes remind me of the later years of Friends in that it’s morphed into more of a soap opera with laughs than a true sitcom. Will that keep me from catching the series finale on the 18th? No way.
- How It’s Made (Discovery) and Back to the Blueprint (The History Channel) Two great programs that delve into how things are made and built. How It’s Made is a solid French Canadian import that demonstrates just what the title says on various common household items, with unobtrusive narration and a no-frills style. I love seeing the multitude of steps that go into the manufacturing process, and those automated robot arms are always fascinating to watch. Blueprint follows host Marty Dunham as he renovates and shares neat background info on various historic home and building styles. The combo of history and how-to might be more appropriate for the HGTV channel, which is probably why the History Channel slots the show into an unforgivably bad Saturday morning time slot. New episodes have popped up in the last few weeks — catch ‘em while you can.
- Bette Davis Month (Turner Classic Movies) Bette Davis is probably my favorite actress, and TCM is giving me plenty of opportunity to savor her more obscure films. Bette’s tasty Pre-Code era has already been broadcast, but there’s plenty left later this month. I highly recommend the enjoyable new documentary on her life and career — Stardust: The Bette Davis Story — which will be repeated on May 18th and 25th. The doc deals in familiar territory, but before this I never realized the full extent of hatred daughter B.D. Hyman had for her famous mom. What a sour-faced, unpleasant woman.
Spinning Wheel
Circa ’70s NASA illustrations of what a space colony of the future might look like. Thanks to Chris for sending this my way.
Gruesome Twosome: Crazy About The La La La Edition
Massiel: “La, La, La”
Spanish Eurovision Song Contest entry, 1968
Joëlle Ursull: “White and Black Blues”
French Eurovision Song Contest entry, 1990
Today I look at an entity at once comforting and strangely alien: the Eurovision Song Contest. I’m an American who finds this annual competition fascinating: the pageantry, the kitsch, the inter-country squabbling. Amidst all the hubbub, it’s easy to forget that Eurovision has produced some catchy, kick-ass songs over its fifty year history — all under three and a half minutes in length. 1968′s winner, Massiel’s rousing “La, La, La”, is typical in being grandly melodic without losing its essential Euro-ness (which is why Lesley Gore’s English language cover of the tune sank like a stone). Joëlle Ursull’s 1990 entry “White and Black Blues” finished third for its year, but comes through winningly with its unusual percussion and Ursull’s winsome vocal — and check out the fly backup dancers on the video. That’s Eurovision gold. Wikipedia offers an amazingly thorough history of the event with year-by-year breakdowns of all entries’ vote totals.
Postscript
We put our cat to sleep today. The vet and her assistant arrived at our home and gave the shot while Eames was napping on his favorite blanket on my bed. I can only hope that the experience wasn’t stressful for him, more like recessing into a deep sleep. I didn’t cry, although I came close when we swaddled his body in his favorite pillow case and buried him in the back yard, in a grassy area dotted with California poppies and bachelor’s buttons every Spring. He loved taking walks in the backyard (on a leash). I thought about the happiness he gave us, and how he used to take these hilarious high speed sprints across the house whenever we came home, slipping and sliding across the wood floors. Eames was a special, warm and easygoing cat and he’ll always occupy a cherished place in my and Christopher’s hearts. To anyone who has a pet cat or dog — give it a hug for me.
Kitty Eames c.1991-2006
We will be undergoing a bittersweet weekend, since we decided to euthanize our special cat this coming Monday. Christopher has the full story. I’ll miss you, Eames.
Stitch My A**
It must be a sign of the scatterbrained, random goings on here that I haven’t bothered to write about Julie Jackson’s Subversive Cross Stitch book until now. Chronincle Books has had it out for a month. This book serves as the dead tree companion to Julie’s web business, where one can order delightfully vulgar cross stitch pattern sets like the classic GO FUCK YOUR SELF. On paper, a completed version of that design (and many others not shown at the website) is pictured alongside a pattern showing how to make it yourself — I love books that are both lovely to look at and useful! An introduction demonstrates a basic tutorial on how to cross stitch, fitting both the advanced and novice crafter. I contributed four small illustrations to the “how to” section. The book also contains one of my SCS button designs, and Julie lists yours truly among the thank-yous in the back. Cool!
Chronicle also has a nifty notecard set and forthcoming 2007 wall calendar available. Congratulations, Julie!
Casa Cucaracha
Below, an artist’s hastily drawn rendition of a quiet night at home with myself and Christopher:
Yes, the roaches have us by the balls. Happens like clockwork every year when the weather starts heating up. They only appear one of two at a time, but still. No matter how many preventative measures we throw at ‘em, our otherwise lovely home never fails to get a new batch of the critters each Spring. We spray, set traps, plug up any holes that they might be coming though (all the while observing how many cracks and holes an 80 year old house can have), but they keep coming back. One night last week. we were watching TV in our dark living room. I could feel a feather-light itch on my one bare foot placed on the floor. We turned the lights on, and sure enough a roach was hiding under the couch. A special sort of roach who dared to scurry over my foot — ewww!!
The only halfway gratifying thing to come out of all this is that, year by year, we appear to be winning the cockroach battle. Christopher has perfected a roach catching technique that only involves one plastic sandwich bag and a lot of courage. He catches the roach with the bag around his hand, seals the bag and suffocates it to death. Nice. (artist’s rendition of a dying roach at right)
Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens
Lileks posted this 1977 Frederick’s of Hollywood Catalog about a month ago, but I haven’t seen it ’til now. Nice illustrations of Charlies Angels-esque models wearing hideous jumpsuits and huge wigs. The outfits look not so much sewn but as if they were concocted in test tubes at Dow Chemical.
