Forest at the Opera House

Apologies for taking so long to get this up, but I wasn't sure how to convey the feelings of the evening. Being such a staccato/legato experience, I figured it's easier to make it read almost like a haiku.

Outside. Rain.
In Line. Hipsters. Suburbanites. Bad Cowboy boots on one girl. Yelling Teenagers. "Ben!"
Inside. Foliage. Foliage. Construction v Nature. Smoke: columns, haze. Singer. Lost Masses. Contemplation of Outside and Inside.
Outside. Posters: 39 Steps - the Musical, Hamlet @ Belvoir.
Opera Bar Alien.
Home, James.

Gossip Girl: An OC-Lover's Guide

Josh Schwartz's latest project, Gossip Girl, has started showing in Australia, exclusively on cable.

I've been debating whether to write this post given there's so many (check out a few, below) others, especially this article doing practically the same thing.

The thing is, they're just a wee bit too simplistic. Sure, you can map most of the characters from the OC pretty easily to their Gossip Girl equivalents, e.g.

Marissa Cooper is cooler and more worldly as Serena van der Woodsen.



Kaitlin Cooper gets bigger exposure as Jenny Humphrey, as does Oliver as Chuck Bass:




Luke Ward has his equal in Nate Archibald:



There's also the 'trouble' with fathers: Nate's likes a little too much of a sniff of the coke , whereas Luke's is gay. The mapping is supposed to continue in the second season, with a storyline where he gets to see an older woman played by Central Park West's Mädchen Amick (remind you of anyone?):



Seth's first girlfriend, Anna Stern, becomes Dan's friend Vanessa Abrams:



Of course, Sandy Cohen translates Eastward as ex-rocker Rufus Humphrey



And his wife Kirsten becomes the love of Rufus' life, Lily van der Woodsen (cue the semi-incestuous storyline):



But that's when it gets more complicated. For example, Little Jenny's brother, Dan Humphrey, is a bit of a mix of Seth Cohen and Ryan Cooper:



Serena's best friend and Queen 'B', Blair Waldorf, is very much the mix of Summer and Julie Cooper Nichol:



Kiki, Julie and the Noopsies get younger as they turn into the girls' clique at St Jude's:



(FYI, I've missed a few of the secondary characters in the right-hand side of the photo).

The relationship between Dan and Serena is a blend of Summer and Seth and Ryan and Marissa, with all the angsty-ness, Dan's longstanding up-until-now-unrequited obsession with Serena, and the insider-outsider aspect of the relationship:




Similarly, the friendship between Blair and Serena isn't as reminiscent of the stick-by-you Summer and Marissa as the on-off semi-but-still-ultimate-BFFness of Kirsten and Julie:

JK-BS.jpg

And the relationship between Lily and Rufus is complicated by her courting of billionaire Bart Bass, a pseudo Caleb Nicholesque character:



Finally, Luke's relationship with Marissa in the first season of OC translates to childhood sweethearts Blair and Nate:



So, that's a really basic starting guide. You know, I love it.

[People.com: Gossip Girl: The New O.C.]
[Socialite Life: Chace Crawford Checks Out An Older Woman]
[meeVee: "Gossip Girl" - "The O.C." Without the Heart]
[Muckety: Gossip Girl resurrects OC themes]
[Metromix Chicago: 'Gossip Girl'... in 'The O.C.'?]
[NY Observer: The O.C. Goes N.Y.C.]

Those disconap boys, I think they're on to something...

I've said it once, I'll say it a million times. Bless her highness, Roisin. She's back, and sexier than ever.

She's beautiful, sings like an angel and I dare anyone having sex to The Time is Now not to be getting it on in the right way.

Well, unless you're having hard and fast sex that involves whips and blood. That's what Pure Pleasure Seeker and Indigo are for. Anyway, here's the clip.

BTW, I had a rather unfortunate incident in LA where people proclaimed not to know who Moloko were. This is WRONG, people.

UPDATE: I only just noticed the Roisin Overpowered Remixed myspace page. I officially love the Loose Cannons mix.

[Disconap: Oh God. Oh God. Oh God.]
[Roisin Murphy on MySpace]
[Roisin Remixed on MySpace]

here i thought brothers and sisters was getting too much SD-6 action

WARNING: Spoilers ahead (this is for Lady M)

OK, so four days into SF and i've barely had a chance to experience this city. That said, I've caught up with a lot of TV watching, meaning I've gotten very confused with the shows that run however many weeks ahead here. For example:

• Eva Longoria is engaged to the watersports senator from Sex and the City
• Evil Francie from Alias is Madison from Grey's Anatomy's best friend
• The bastard daughter in Brothers & Sisters is committing adultery with one of her half-brothers-in-law
• OH, and I just watched Tyra Banks freak out at the sight of furry animals on her chat show - to the point where she knocked over half her set.

I forgot how weird this country is. Oh, and the one night I did go out:

• I got serenaded by a wannabe opera singer. Cute, but not as cute as
• The filmmaker I met in the smoking room of the bar
• or the Dutch travellers and their pseudo-boyfriends at Badlands

More later...

Best. Salon Movie Scene. Ever. (*Sniff*)

Dear Jennifer Coolidge,

You know I love your work.

There's just something adorable about your turn as the gloriously gold-digging Anna Nicole-Smith-esque Sherri Ann Ward Cabot in Best in Show. Then there's your oh-so-hilarious turn as Stifler's mum in the American Pie movies. And I still bemoan the fact your Paulette Bonafonté (aka. the adorable hairdresser-cum-best fried of Elle Woods) was never put to full potential in Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde, even with the whole styling-the-senators schtick...

But you know, I think the film-viewing public absolutely MUST be made aware of your most spectacular stylist role - one that has, much to my shame, only come to my attention recently (aka. in the last two days whilst stuck in bed with the flu and hence catching up on trashy DVDs). This is your AMAZING turn as Betty, the gay boys' therapist/hairdresser, in The Broken Hearts Club.

You know, I have avoided this film for years, thinking it was one of those absolute gobshite gay films where everything's too pat and sweet etc. And it is. Even if the boys in it are rather pretty to look at, especially the guy who Brenda dumps for Nate in Six Feet Under (incidentally, did you know he played the spunky black cowboy dude with the stutter that Janeane Garofalo's character picks up in Romy & Michele's High School Reunion? I completely forgot, but there it is, right on his official website).

I digress. It is crap, except for this one scene where 'gay men's therapy' is elaborated. There you are, your hair askance, your dowdy olive cardigan-ish cardigan-wrap thing tied around your chocolate dress, just bouncing through this one scene where you cut everyone's hair while these boys crap on about their meaningless lives (hell, I know I do it with my beloved Adam - and he's a friend!) and you only deliver three lines. It's all so beautifully executed - especially your final gem:

'It's a gift.'

It's just so wonderfully delivered. I can't help but love it!

That's all.

Kisses,

Bads33d.

PS. You know, QueerPenguin (supposedly) loves your work so much he wants to
inflict Ben Affleck on you... (Maybe it's the diet screwing with his head and) I know he has the more widely read blog, but I could never be so cruel. Pick me as your favourite! Pretty please?

PPS. Please don't misconstrue my last postscript - I love QueerPenguin very much as a dear friend. I just don't understand how he can be so cruel to you. I mean, quite obviously Jennifer Beals would have been a better choice for Bennifer 3. She could flashdance him into submission and then leave him for a stone butch local at some poker tournament. Or - even better - for Jennifer Garner (after a particularly grilling session at the local dance studio). Wait, does that make me sound straight?

PPPS. Would you ever consider having a faux-hairdresser-off with Leisha Hailey?

if daisy duke lived in the ghetto and was male, he'd be wearing...

a sleeveless yellow hoodie, short! (almost hotpant short) denim shorts and green footy socks that had sagged over his/her sandy hiking boots.


Well, that's what I wore to sleaze. thanks to J, especially, for the costume idea. anyways, some responses on seeing the costume:

Co-worker IM Convo
> omg
lol
it was my outfit for sleaze ball
> Have you ever heard of Daisey Dukes?
> cute
> lol
> you couldn't find shorter shorts?


The McNinja response:

> Love it! You look terribly ghetto fabulous darling!
> Hee hee.

S1:

> Promise me you'll NEVER dress up for me! I love you, you know that but
> I'm seriously creeped out right now.

S2:

> Your hot. I love it!!!

Hmmm... When added with the comments about my legs (people kept grabbing my arse, i had drag queens openly wishing they had them, one guy couldn't stop talking to my crotch...) resounding success, I think.