activists putting a condom over his house! I love how 90’s the girl who calls him the devil looks.
04
Jul
Jon: Meet Freddy 4…
To find out exactly who Freddy is, check out the first post of the series here.
To see all of the posts, click the link in the bar to the right.
12.) “Freddy has a tricycle. He likes to ride it around and around the house. He must not go a long way down the street.”
13.) “Do you like to go on a picnic? Freddy does. There are a lot of good things to eat in the picnic basket.”
14.) “No Freddy! Do not use the sweeper on the sidewalks. Please use the broom indtead.”
…good riddance!
I don’t care if it’s not nice. This guy was a total dick. In the Senate he tried to end government funding for HIV/AIDS research, painting the illness as a gay disease and that those who had it were only getting what they deserved. He was also a notorious racist and woman-hater. Seriously, I hope he suffered.
…the new largest buiding in the world!
The past few years have seen a massive, ambitous construction boom in places like Russia, Dubai, and China. It’s fascinating to watch architects try to out-do each other, and kind of too bad that the US isn’t a part of it. Crystal Island was recently approved for construction in Moscow. The finished building will be the size of 5 Pentagons, easily the largest structure in the world in terms of floor space and also one of the tallest.
What really makes this project interesting besides its size is that it will incorporate a variety of uses. There will be shopping, a school, a hotel, a museum, office space, and apartments for 30,000 people. Some are saying that it will be the world’s first acrology (a combination of the words architecture and ecology), meaning a self-sufficient human environment.
It’s kind of a case of science fiction becoming reality. while Crystal Island won’t really be an isolated community a lot of the ideas behind arcologies are present. The project definately has a green ideology behind it. By centralizing work, residences, and enterntainment in one location the effects of people on the environment is mitigated. Also, the building will power itself through solar panels and wind turbines.
Beth and I are pretty much obsessed with the instant viewing documentaries found on Netflix. Lately, my favorite one is This American Life hosted by Ira Glass. Apparently, the show started as an NPR radio hit back in 1995 and was so good the creators decided to make it into a TV show… This is all new to me.
For those who haven’t heard about this show here is the general concept. Ira Glass documents and interviews people throughout America who have a peculiar stance on life and the world around them. As the stories are told by the people living them, we get a greater sense of who they are as people and also a greater understanding of American culture and our own place within it.
For example, one story documents a 7th grade boy who says he doesn’t believe in love. In fact, he says he doesn’t even love his own parents and thinks love destroys everything that is really important about individuality. Another story looks at a group of elderly people who are beginning a new life by participating in an original screenplay.
One of my favorites was about a Texas cattle farmer who has a tamed bull named Chance. Considered to be a domestic animal, Chance is allowed outside of the gated corral to wander around the family’s yard. Through Chance’s gentle behavior, which is quite atypical for a bull, this man gets national attention. He has pictures of celebrities sitting on the bull and has been on the Letterman show. Eventually, Chance dies and the heartbroken man turns to animal cloning in order to create another bull, Second Chance. The real kicker is that this man actually believes the second bull is his beloved companion’s soul reincarnated. He firmly keeps this position even after Second Chance plows through him numerous times…something the original Chance would never do. This just goes to show how delusional the guy is and how he is blinded by grief and idealism.
Anyways, it is a really great show! I can’t wait for the second season to come up on Netflix.
Here is the preview:
…and the true face of our beloved childhood friends.
Korean sculptor Hyungkoo Lee recently debuted his new collection, Animatus, at the Natural History Museum in Basel Switzerland. The series studies an imagined biological reality within deeply rooted American animation icons. Lee sculpted life-like skeletal systems for well known characters such as Huey, Dewey and Louie, Bugs Bunny, and Wyle E Coyote. The startling visual effect created by these pieces is largely a result of their transferral of perspective from fantasy based viewing to scientific based viewing.
Seriously, what is up with the shape of these well known characters’ bodies? It is a question that we have become so accustomed to not asking, that when it is brought up we are put into a jarring stasis. Hyungkoo Lee has effectively debunked whatever preconcieved notions we have about the normative reality we build around these childhood loved-ones. It is the subconcious cultural importance that we have applied to these characters that ultimately makes Lee’s art so important. By seeing the “truth” within their forms, it is now possible as adults to once again see our animated friends as artistically relevent figures.
Tragically Un-Heard Of:
Crazy For Jane
The only band pairing that is more disgustingly sweet than a hetero married couple is the brother and sister duo. Such a bond is acceptable only if the sibling duo makes interesting music. Similar to the Fiery Furnaces, the German based Crazy For Jane, push the boundaries of wordy pop music. Their music is always enchanting as they boldly make atypical pop structures work for those beholding short attention spans. Stringing together narrative stories atop of acoustic arrangements intertwined with a bit of jazz, classical and anti-folk, Crazy For Jane is a band for those who are desperately romantic at heart. Their stories are tales of the lovesick, playful romantic encounters, tongue twisted riddles and imaginative colorful imagery found in everyday life. They have released two albums, Desperate Serenade (2006) and Watermelon Cloud (2007) and have frequently toured the USA and Europe. As they prepare for an August tour of their homeland, Germany, Brother Phillipp Conrad and sister Josepha Conrad were kind enough to answer some questions for Tragically Unheard Of.
Listen: “Do You Have a Jane?”
What is the story behind your band name, Crazy for Jane?.
Phillipp: Josepha came up with the awesome band name, Crazy Jane Meets the Family… I said, that’s too long, how about Crazy for Jane. Josepha said, OK, that’s catchy!
Josepha: Philipp and I are both love Yeats and he has this character called Crazy Jane. So it started with Crazy Jane, but both of us soon realized that “when you start looking for Jane, she appears everywhere.”
Was there music in your family while growing up?
Phillipp: Our dad always played songs for us on his guitar. Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, never-ending Blues with improvised lyrics. This was our typically after-breakfast Sunday ritual. Josepha and I didn’t sing together much growing up, but we were both members of the same advanced choral ensemble (although years apart), so around Christmas, we’d always sing two-part harmonies to songs we learned.
When did you decide you would play music together as brother and sister?
Josepha: Crazy for Jane started when Phil asked me to play a show with him opening for Tony Decker from Great Lake Swimmers. We had never thought of ourselves as musicians or that we would form a band together. We had both written a few songs and when we played them on that first show of ours it felt really good even though we were shitting in our pants.
Is it easy, difficult or gray working together as siblings?
Josepha: Being siblings and having a project together, sharing a muse, that is Jane, is really an awesome thing. It is going on an adventure with my favorite person in the world. I know Philipp since the day he was born and he is amazing.
Sometimes I feel like we share one brain, or that we can tap into a common brain. Of course we also want to kill each other sometimes, but more than anything we are committed to each other.
Even tough fights have not rocked our Crazy for Jane boat. Right now Philipp is living in Vienna finishing his B.A. and I am sure if we weren’t siblings that would be the end of Crazy for Jane. But because we are tied in so many ways, it is not hard to imagine Crazy for Jane beyond this time.
Your songs are extremely complex stories that deal with the minute aspects of everyday life, fantasies and love. Do you collaborate on lyrics?
Phillipp: Josepha writes almost all the lyrics. Sometimes I’ll suggest a better word, or something…
Josepha: Even though I wrote most of the Crazy for Jane songs, they become totally transformed when Philipp absorbs them and takes them through his world of guitar playing and harmonies. I have tried to play some of these songs without Philipp and they simply don’t work without him.
Where do you write your lyrics? In your head? On paper?
Josepha: I do write lyrics on paper. Sometimes little frazes will come to me on a walk or while hanging out, but I never shape this stuff in my head. I usually get out pen and paper or the computer. I love writing on the computer. The clack clack clack always makes me feel very productive.
Are your words works of fiction or brush with reality? Has anyone ever thought a song was about them?
Josepha: Philipp often thinks songs are about him and there have also been friends that have thought certain songs are about them. But that probably has to do with that often songs are about particular people or particular events. I did write this song called “This song is about you” where I mixed many little details about different people I know to create a broad feeling of paranoia and sense that this song is in fact about you, I mean about them.
Do you have any songs you are particularly proud of? Why?
Josepha: Songs that I am particularly proud of are: The Circus and Memory: A Portrait. They are also songs that I always feel very transported by when we perform them.
Phillipp: I’m particularly proud of Everything Strange. I wrote all the music for that. Also The Ship. The song Desperate Serenade is also all mine (including lyrics)…. At the end of the day, we both shape the songs
Listen: “Meow, She’s a Black Cat”
Your music is quite eclectic in range, mood and instrumentation. Do you hire studio musicians to play the additional parts or are they friends?
Phillipp: Everybody who worked on the recordings are friends. The only people we hired were the studio/technicians. We do our best to pay our friends what we can, but we work with people with whom we have a connection.
Who are some of your musical inspirations? Any “Tragically UnHeard Of” favorites you have met in your travels?
Josepha: Tomi Simatupang and Ben Montgomery are Philipp and my big musical inspirations and we have been extremely lucky to play shows with these two amazing men and to record with them and to share a friendship with them. I am not sure if they are “tragically unheard of” but they are definitely musicians/songwriters to pay attention to because they are awesome. “Watermelon Cloud” was also recorded with them and with some very old friends from Chicago whom we grew up with.
Any plans to take additional members on tour or do you prefer to work closely as a duo?
Josepha: In a perfect Crazy for Jane world where the laws of geography do not apply, we would all be on stage together serenading you and Jane. Philipp and I also have an older sister, Anja, who is a wonderful musician and singer and we would also love to have her and all her lovely kids with us. Our dad also sings on both albums and whenever we can we drag him on stage. So in many ways we are not really a duo. We are simply the core.
Josepha, I have heard you say that you would prefer to be someone’s secret rather than have your music be famous. What makes you take this angle?
Josepha: A secret has a certain energy. Something that gets passed between friends, something that travels strange ways. Like the game telephone. Of course we want to reach people and we want to be out there sharing our music, but fame is something that can be a lot of hype and can take the energy out of your hands and into a strange consumer obstacle course. We have been lucky that we have been able to travel a lot and play a lot of shows and record and we have been able to make up our own rules as we go and hang out with friends. Philipp likes the idea of taking helicopters and I do hope that one day we get to be on a helicopter ride together. It would just be so fun to watch his face.
How would you both describe success as a band? As individuals?
Phillipp: We find the band a great success. People who come to our shows thank us for our work. People who listen to our songs get inspired. People have fun when they see our energy on stage. They get lost in the words, and take hold of the melodies. I wish we could play more.
Josepha: I never thought I would ever be in a band, make music, or even play an instrument, it seemed too far away to even have fantasies about, so when I think about success I feel like in many ways I am already way beyond anything that I would have dared to imagine for myself. I do hope Philipp and I keep being able to tour together and write songs together, that would be amazing.
You have toured all over Europe and America. What are your favorite countries/regions to play?
Phillipp: The Czech Republic was great fun. The people were very thankful for our presence, even if they didn’t understand the lyrics.
Josepha: England would be great because they speak English and it does feel really good when the audience actually understands all the words we sing. I particularly loved touring the States with Philipp even though these were our hardest tours also. Talk about sibling craziness. Some of those drives were very long and we didn’t always have cozy places to stay and often we would get very grumpy. But there were some shows that I will never forget like playing at High Energy Constructs in L.A., the Dearborn House in Seattle, or at a pizza place called The Rimrock Patio in Torrey Utah.
Where are some places you would like to travel to play music that you haven’t been to yet?.
Phillipp: We would love to travel to Japan, England, more of France, anywhere really….
Josepha: I would love to go the Japan with Philipp. We have always talked about how much fun that would be. We love everything Japanese.
Any plans for a new record? What’s next for Crazy for Jane?
Josepha: Our next goal is to work on our new album “Crazy Jane meets the Family”. We are playing some shows together this June and July and going on a mini tour in Germany in August and hopefully we will find time to work on some new songs.
Finally the June gloom has passed over Portland and it is summer! Here are my favorite gaycondo moments from June:
Jon: Meet Freddy : Remember how the knome, from the movie Amelie, would send picture postcards to document it’s travels? Similarly, Jon’s grandma had a very cute hobby where she would take pictures of a stuffed bear named Freddy in many situations around the house. If only she was fueled by the evils of capitalism and transformed these images into a best selling coffee table book…
Tragically Unheard Of: Swallows: You love our taste in music, film, fashion, etc….so it only makes sense that you will love the music we make in our band, Swallows. This post details our postmodern method of transforming a song from it’s original context. We use Mama Cass’s hit, “Words Of Love” as an example.
Jon: The Puzzling Art of Kent Rogowski: Wow! This guy must have a lot of creative time on his hands! I betcha one day his artwork will actually be turned into a puzzle you can attempt to put together
Jon: Exile in Guyville’s 15th Anniversary : I seem to be the only one who hasn’t heard EIGV in it’s entirety, however, Jon’s impeccable music taste has drawn me in. This post also includes a mini doc about what a whole bunch of famous rocker guys think about Liz Phair’s monumental record.
KEEP IT ON THE BROWNLOWE: Juno, WTF?: Yep, I’ll say it again: Juno fucking sucked!!! (or rather, maybe she should have instead!)
Jon: This Just In, I’m Lazy: June may have been a lazy month at gaycondo, but Jon did manage to find the most amazing thing we have ever seen….LIVE sand animation…. no joke, you will be mesmerized!
Jon: Gummi Lighthouse?: Looks like a gummi you-know-what to me
Paul: Latte Art: Baristas - take note on how to get better tips.
Swallows: Remix Sneak Peak: Take a listen to some down n dirty remixes Y-TRON has done for Jon and Em’s band Swallows!
Jon: Pass This On By The Knife: Jon has finally discovered the Knife! WOO!
Jon: Multimedia artist Nagi Noda’s hair hats: I admit, I am pretty ignorant to most “high fashion” (which I find to be over indulgent and hideous)… however, I had no idea that a hair made from human’s hair, molded to look like an animal’s head could give me such daydream nightmares…
Paul: Friends Don’t Let Friends Read Perez Hilton: Dear readers, we love you because you spend time praising us here at gaycondo instead of following the masses and worshipping Perez… I had no idea that he could be so homophobic towards Lohen + Samantha. (and I had no idea that he sports a pair of guy-normous man tits!)
Jon: Neil Barrett’s Spring 2009 Collection: Some great fashion tips for all the guys/fagettes with style.
Paul: Carl’s Jr Ad…too gay for TV: Paris Hilton, you got one upped by this sexy/comedic commercial for Carl’s Jr… gay is always better, anyhow
01
Jul
Paul: Miracle Fruit…
…if you REALLY love our blog, you’ll send us some of these.
Miracle fruit are these little berries that are all the rage amongst foodies these days. Why? Well, they mess with your tastebuds to make everything have a sweet flavor. Limes taste like candy, grapefruit slices seem like they are coated in brown sugar. It’s like LSD for your tongue. There are a couple of places that you can purchase them over the internet, mostly from growers in Florida. The catch is that with shipping they are about 3 bucks a piece. The effects last for about 30 minutes. If you’re our real blog-buddy you’ll send us a few. I simply MUST try this!
thanks to sister Sarah for the tip.
29
Jun
Paul: Music Video Monday
Courtney Love - Mono
I admit that I have a thing for Hole, Live Through This was truly a kick-ass, high-quality album. In spite of this I’ve basically ignored Courtney Love’s solo career, for some reason I’m just not interested and all the snippets I’ve heard have been pretty crappy. I think it’s best to remember the Courtney Love of yesteryear, but this 2004 video is an exception. The song itself is pretty mediocre, but stick it out until at least the 1:10 mark and I promise you won’t be dissapointed, (little girls with chainsaws!!!!!!!!).
…and it is still Liz Phair’s only good album.
And by good, I mean fucking amazing! When EinG originally came out I was only 11 years old, so I didn’t get to enjoy the first wave of fandom. When I eventually heard it for the first time in 1998, EinG immediatly stood out to me from the sea of similiar angsty-girl-with-a-guitar albums, which by that point had become everyday top 40 fodder. Instead of utilizing overly sentimental weepy music and lyrics (*ahem* Jewel *ahem* Sarah Mclacklan), Liz Phair tugged the heartstrings intellectually. It also helped that her deep voice and unaffected vocal arrangements were miles away from anything else that was popular at the time. EinG was also a spotlessly perfect album. Not a single bad or filler song. Each of the 18 tracks is a stand out.. Check out this mega cheesy 90’s video for the song “Never Said” (which, I must admit is not one of my absolute favorites from EinG)
The big bummer about Liz Phair though, is that after putting out Exile in Guyville she never had another album that even came close. In fact, she never even had another album that was worth listening to. A lot of artists seem to suffer from the same pit fall. Their first album if full of all the songs they have been working on for their whole careers up to that point. Then when it comes time to write something new, they find that they have nothing left, so the rush to put something out, and it sucks.
Well, the 15th anniversary of EinG occurred this year, and the album has been re-released with 4 bonus tracks that were all recorded at the same time as the original album. In addition, the CD will come with a 60 minute documentary exploring the original creation of EinG. Yay! Here is the trailer for the film:
Phair has also stated in interviews that she is writing new material that is similiar to the sound of EinG and that she is really excited about how good these new songs are turning out………but because she has let me down so much in the past, I am approaching this news very cautiously… hopefully it will be awesome…… but most likely it will be an over-produced turd, much like her last several releases.
PS: There has been a lot of talk around Gaycondo about how the early 90’s are coming back in style full force and I just wanted to point out that this whole Liz Phair thing is just another drop in the bucket.
My buddy Carlos has updated his business plan for MINI LIFE…. and has made a nifty lil 45 second commercial to help spread the word:
Dig? Check out MINI LIFE 2.0 where you can listen to underground bands on streaming radio, download select songs and watch exclusive live video!
…they tell them to read Gaycondo instead.
I am so tired of this overexposed jerkoff. I hereby vow to never read his crappy blog again. What’s really upsetting is that he is one of the most powerful gays out there. I mean, who else is as prominent in the media, Ellen? I can’t really think of many others. I understand that to carve out a place in mainstream media you have to be subtle about gay issues, but his posts are laden with homophobic undertones and he is constantly gushing over straight celebs, their relationships, and their children. Personally I am soooo over straight people getting married and having babies. I mean, is there anything as played out as that?
What really did him in for me was this post. Of all people why does the big gay blogger have to be the most mean spirited about the fact that Lindsay Lohan is in a same sex relationship. If he were at all responsible he would defend her. He repeatedly refers to Samantha Ronson as ”saMAN”. So she’s not femme, that’s not a reason to trash her. It would be inappropriate to gay bash him for being too flamboyant or faggy, and trashing her appearance and clothing is not a bit different. I think that it screams internalized homophobia. He has millions of readers who are overwhelmingly straight, and when they read him making comments like that they percieve that it’s okay to talk the same way.
His position in the media gives him a rare opportunity to open up positive discourse around queer issues, like Ellen did by grilling McCain on gay marriage. Unfortunately he has failed to do so, and as smart and responsible homos/allies I think we should all be done with his sorry ass.
