The Gayest Things You'll See This Week

I think Katy Perry is okay. Not fabulous. Not amazing, Just okay. I am certainly sick to death of "California Gurls," a song which seems to be everywhere, all the time. Not that its a bad song... just enough, already. 

And while "I Kissed a Girl" was sort of a gay anthem for a while, once there were 8 billion versions of "I Kissed a Boy" on YouTube, I immediately lost interest.

There are tons of parodies of Katy's songs. I even saw one of "California Gurls" done by the models at Dirty Tony (a gay porn site) partially shot during a pride parade (may be NSFW, depending on where you work):

I hope their 'acting' is better than their dancing...

And of course, there's that parody done with the creepy old guy, which I will never subject you to again.

Now, for the first time, comes a gay parody version of one of her songs which I have seen before seeing the original video (via):

And while there has yet to be an official video for "Peacock," you can hear it here. So what it is that makes Perry's songs so ripe for parody? Bubblegum pop has always been the subject of parody, I suppose, and while Perry's lyrics are certainly more suggestive than some, the songs may have well have been performed by The Archies or Josie and the Pussycats.

And now that I've mentioned The Archies, I have to give a thumbs up to Archie Comics for introducing a gay character in the next issue of "Veronica." Blue-eyed, blond hunk Kevin Keller is Veronica's new love interest. But to her consternation, he shows no interest in the brunette sex kitten. To the writers' credit, the teens in Riverdale are totally unaffected by Kevin's revelations and take his sexuality in stride. Of course it seems utterly bizarre to your Uncle P that teenage characters in a comic book display more social sophistication and emotional maturity than many real people...

More, anon.

Prospero

LOL Actors

Just a quickie... 

So, we've finally started some real blocking on Top Girls. It's the first scene of the play, a sort-of fantasy dinner celebrating Marlene's (the main character) promotion. She is joined by five historical/literary characters including Victorian traveler Isabella Byrd; Pope Joan; Buddhist nun Lady Nijo; Bruegel's Dull Gret and Patient Grizelda from the Canterbury Tales. They're talking (sometimes all at once) and drinking and carrying on throughout the scene.

We stopped for a moment to clarify something and someone asks, "So what are we doing when we aren't speaking?" 

"Eating," was my answer. So we pick up the scene again and three of my six actresses immediately break into "Nom-nom-nom-nom..." sending all of us into fits of laughter over the dumbest Internet meme, ever. It could only have been better if they'd actually sung the song:

And people ask me why I love the theatre...

More, anon.
Prospero

Singing in the Reign

I was going to do a post about the Emmy Awards tonight, but I became so enraged at NBC's sound engineers for making most of what the usually hilarious John Hodges Hodgman had to say unintelligible, that I turned it off. I was also upset that the Academy didn't recognize the genius of Michael Emerson's performance on the final season of "Lost," though I must admit to being thrilled by Kyra Sedgwick's win for her work on the always excellent "The Closer."

I know I just blogged about Gene Kelly and his extraordinary dancing prowess. But I ran across the video below on Bits and Pieces, and just had to take a few minutes to talk about it. 

This certainly isn't the first time that the song Singin' in the Rain has been used for a Sci-Fi movie. Most notoriously, it was used in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange. The song is sung as Alex (Malcolm McDowell) and his 'droogies' commit a heinous home invasion and rape. I couldn't embed a clip, but you can see it here. I love that the doorbell in that scene plays the first four notes of Beethoven's 9th Symphony... Death certainly knocked on the door that evening...

So, what does it mean when an Imperial Stormtrooper and his two Mini-Mes do their own version of the iconic number? I have no idea. I just know it's fun. Enjoy:

A packed rehearsal schedule for Top Girls and the seasonal shift change at the day job may mean that Uncle P might not be posting much this week, though I promise to do my best to keep you informed and entertained (assuming I do either if those things for you).

More, anon.

Prospero

The Other End

Have you ever had to call for tech support and been routed to a call center in India or Pakistan? It can be very frustrating. For the past week or so, I've been dealing with my PC manufacturer's tech support people. The first time I called, I was routed to Pakistan. The gentleman to whom I was finally connected was most helpful and I thought the issue was resolved. 

Silly Uncle P... 

Because I had called them late at night, when they found there was still a problem, they called me late at night, usually after I had gone to bed. It was very annoying and I am afraid I got a little upset with them. Finally, I agreed to call them. After a ridiculous amount of transfers, I was finally routed to a gentleman in India. Rohit was (I hope to God) finally able to resolve the remaining problem, and even helped me to get rid of some programs that were just taking up memory for no good reason. Both Rohit and the supervisor (at whom I spent more than a few minutes yelling) were patient and understanding. I ended up apologizing to both of them, knowing it was neither of their faults. Hopefully, I will never have to talk to them again.

A few months ago, I posted a long list of things to do and not to do in order to get help from a Customer Service agent. And tonight, I was guilty of at least one of those infractions I so vehemently warned against. To their credit, neither gentleman got upset and both were very pleasant, throughout. Having been on the other end of the line for once, has made me appreciate how difficult their (and my) job can be.

Be kind to the Service reps you encounter on such calls. They are there to help you, and if you let them, they will.

Of course, this experience has made me appreciate this so much more:

More, anon.
Prospero

Not-So-Happy Meals and Other Horror Movie Nonsense

I guess you have to find your heart wherever you can, though the Tin Man there seems to have gone a bit overboard, don't you think? 

I wish I knew where I found this image, so I could give some proper credit. But like many things in Uncle P's scary mind, it's lost forever...

As another "Schocktober" draws close here at the Revenge, I thought an End of Summer Horror post would be fun. And to start it off, here's a short that's apparently been around for a while, but I just discovered today. Coulrophobes be warned... this won't be pretty. Ladies and Germs, I give you Happy Meal:

I'm lovin' it!

So what other horrors await us at our local multiplexes this fall? Let's see...

Well, this weekend we have The Last Exorcism:

That looks interesting, if nothing else...


September 17th brings us Devil:



I'm willing to give Devil a go, even if M. Knight Sham-Movie-Maker is involved. At least he didn't direct it.
We are also supposed to finally see the much-delayed release of the Renee Zelwegger, Bradley Cooper, Jodelle Ferland thriller Case 39:



And October brings us the 7th (really?) entry in the Saw franchise, Saw 3D:



Then there's Hayden Christensen, Thandie Newton and John Leguizamo in Vanishing on 7th Street:

And director Darren Aronofsky has Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Barbara Hershey in the ballet-themed thriller, Black Swan:

But Uncle P is most looking forward to AMC's original series, "The Walking Dead:"



It seems like Uncle P will be very busy this fall, even after his show closes...

More, anon.
Prospero

Getting Better All the Time

Stephen Rader Did NOT Draw This

I feel like I have to apologize for last night's rant. Uncle P isn't exactly sure what set him off. We all have our moments, don't we? And while I don't exactly feel like Batman riding a rainbow unicorn over a purple sea of frolicking dolphins, I'm certainly in a better mood tonight.

I think it has something to do with yet another terrific rehearsal with my very smart cast. Top Girls is proving to be the most challenging play I have ever directed. Not that I didn't know that going in - just reading the damned thing is a challenge. Still, playwright Caryl Churchill raises questions without answers, leaving it up to the audience to answer them for themselves. Of course, that means the director and cast have to provide their own answers, whether they are the same as the audience's or not. It's most definitely the kind of play that uses the subjectivity of art to its fullest extent. Right now we're still doing a lot of discussing and sussing, trying to arrive at our own answers as we explore this multi-layered play.

Of course, it could just be my mood was elevated by a friend who posted the video below on Facebook, tonight. I love synchronicity, and the whole Queen theme that seems to have invaded my life these past few days has to mean something...

Oh, Muppets! How silly can you get? And of course, I dare you not to laugh at this:



There, that's better. A little nonsense, now and then/Is cherished by the wisest men.

More, anon.
Prospero

Today's Mood (NSFW)

So, directing a powerfully feminist, socialist play has got me thinking about some of the men in my life (not all, and certainly none of the current ones) and how I've been treated by some of the major asshats I've dated and/or loved. 

That's not to say that every man I've ever dated and/or loved is/was an asshat. Sadly, though, the majority of them are/were. Still, I'm at the point in my life where I have given up on ever finding someone to spend the rest of it with (I apologize for the terrible grammar, but that's what happens when I get worked up). I'm not getting any younger here...

Now I know this clip has been all over the web, recently, but it's such a happy tune combined with a rather negative message that it somehow makes me feel good and expresses just how I'm feeling at this moment, I had to post it:

 
 

Don't worry, Uncle P isn't descending into one of his bouts with depression... at least he hopes not. Still, the song below has become my theme song of late:

See what happens when I don't have rehearsal?

More, anon.
Prospero

PS - I'm sort of annoyed by Blogger's new tools. I have to figure how to format all over again. Urgh!