…and I guess Jesus is pissed off about it. I think? Maybe?
So, on the plane ride home from Las Vegas yesterday, Paul and I were talking about an article that appeared in the Inflight Magazine about something stupid (I don’t even remember what) and I declared “Jeez Louise, this is retarded!”.
I know, I know…. I am such a midwestern lady….
Anyway, it got me wondering. Why do people say this?
Why did I say it?
On the plane, I speculated to Paul that at some point there must have been a lady somewhere named “Louise” who was constantly doing stupid things that pissed people off around her.
Maybe she was a klutz and was breaking things. Or perhaps she lacked social skills and was constantly making offensive statements. I imagined that this “Louise” must have had some sort of superficial or monetary power over people. Her family and friends would always wish they could just slap her or simply stop spending time with her, but they had no choice. If they wanted that inheritance (or something), they would just have to stick it out…. So, in order to deal with their frustation over the situation, they would simply mutter “Jeez Louise…” under their breath everytime she annoyed them…
“How exciting!” I thought. “I can’t wait to get home and do some research. This ‘Louise’ person must be absolutely fascinating!”
And then…… I was totally bummed.
I found out that the root of the saying dates back to the early 20’s. The word “Jeez” is just a slang form of “Jesus” that people used in order to not get in trouble for using the lord’s name in vain. And the name Louise was just picked because it rhymed… BORING!
The first time I saw Purple Rhinestone Eagle they were signaling the cold spirits of Halloween in a very crowded humid basement…each member dressed as characters from Lord of the Rings. I went as a “gay-fetish” which of course meant handle bar mustache and extremely short shorts. Lucky for my bare legs, Purple Rhinestone Eagle filled the basement with their hot riffs and percussive thunderstorms. The trio moved from Philadelphia to Portland and have been heating up cold basements and venues ever since. PRE stir a black cauldron, mixing obscure psych bands from the 60’s with sexed up punk rock call and response vocals similar to The Third Sex or “The Woods” era of Sleater Kiney. Summer 2008 looks hot n heavy for the gals as they will embark on a bi-coastal tour and will release an album of hard hitting music.
How long have each of you been playing music? What inspired you to play music in the first place? How did the band form? When?
Andrea: I have been playing guitar for about 11 years. Before that it was a little piano and some woodwind. Mainly the music that was coming out of the Northwest (Bikini Kill, Heavens to Betsy, Sleater-Kinney, etc.) in the early to mid 90s is what inspired me the most to play guitar, those bands and Jimi Hendrix. The band formed in West Philly summer 2005. We were a lot different then. It’s taken us a couple of years to cultivate our sound and we’re pretty darn proud of it.
Morgan: Purple Rhinestone Eagle is my first band. I really only started playing bass when Andrea and Ashley and I started playing together. I started getting into punk when I was about 12, and it was the first thing I ever felt passionate about. I guess I wanted to be a part of whatever it was that inspired me so much as a kid, and continues to be one of the most important things in my life.
Ashley: I also started on piano, but I got sad and quit when my instructor gave me a hard time for not being able to read music. I started playing the drums when I was 18. I did not take it seriously for another few years when i got my first drum kit for my 20th birthday. Even then, I was moving around the county and didn’t really have a steady band until Purple Rhinestone Eagle started. I met Morgan at a potluck. She was wearing an All Girl Summer Fun Band Shirt. We decided it would probably make sense if we started a band together.
Watch PRE live:
Purple Rhinestone Eagle moved to Portland not so long ago yet seem to have dived right into a nicely knit scene. That is awesome you moved here together. Why did you all decide to move to Portland? What was your first impressions of Portland? How does the Northwest compare to the Northeast?. How does Purple Rhinestone Eagle experience the house show mecca of Portland and the queer scene?
Andrea: We went on an east coast tour with New Bloods. Adee was a friend of mine from before that tour. Ashely, Morgan and I were all suffering from varying degrees of stress and anxiety living in Philadelphia (for a multitude of reasons). New Bloods came down from above like angels, stroked our heads and beckoned us to the land of chill out. I personally like Portland a lot. It’s not as ethnically diverse as I would like it to be but outside my band I have really strong friendships with other people of color here, a lot of whom are in bands as well (which rules). The Northwest is a completely different culture than back east. As far as the show scene, it’s really friendly here and people are willing to help you out more. As far as queer issues go, I’m the only gay person in the band. We try to make our music accessible to people of all identities. We all come from very different backgrounds (race, class, sexuality, geographical locations, etc.) and we want to be as inclusive as possible to honor all of those varying identities. We don’t want to portray ourselves as anything but.
Has being a woman affected your music experience? Why or why not? Who are some of your lady heroes?
Andrea: Most definitely it has affected my music experience. When I was younger I was denied being able to play guitar in this one band I was in. It was a band of all dudes besides me. They were just intimidated that I was a better musician than them. Then I quit that crappy band and made a conscious decision that if I was going to be in any more serious music projects, it was only going to be with other ladies. My lady music heroes include: Carrie Brownstein, Etta James, Nina Simone, Odetta, Alice Coltrane, Grace Slick, Yoko Ono, and Kate Bush among many others.
Morgan: It’s strange to me that so many people still see it as a novelty of some kind for women to play music. I like playing in Portland because it’s less of an issue here than it was in Philly. Personally, I love Kim Shattuck, she is definitely one of my musical lady heroes. She has a great, not at all pretty voice and completely holds her own in a male dominated genre. And Joan Jett. She’s pretty great.
Ashley: Being a woman has had an affect on my musical experience for sure. People have some dumb, macho things to say sometimes when they see an all female band, but for the most part people are pumped to see our band because they are into the music. Right now, living in Portland and being able to play shows with so many great female (as well as male) musicians is wonderful. Some of my personal favorite female musicians include: Moe Tucker, Janet Wiess, Palmolive, Yoko, Slant 6, Kim Gordon, Amy Farina, Satomi Matsuzaki, Mary Timony, Tina Turner.
While your music is very heavy, I can’t help thinking you have a bit of a sense of humor! What is the story behind the name Purple Rhinestone Eagle?
Andrea: I’ll let someone else answer our name question.
Morgan: I think it’s important to maintain a sense of humor, about yourself and the world, but at the same time we are generally pretty sincere. Everyone always asks about the band name… sometimes certain images or phrases need to be recaptured and owned anew, casting aside preconceptions and arbitrary values… why should the eagle be resigned to a cartoonish emblem for capitalism, or rhinestones seen as worthless? The eagle is majestic and fierce, and I’ll take a rhinestone over a diamond any day.
What inspires your music and lyrics?
Andrea: As the main lyric writer, a lot of things inspire my writing. Lately my lyrics have been getting more witchy (e.g. casting circles, calling upon natural forces, prophetic dreaming). I like writing/singing about mental health as it’s related to the health of the planet, friendships, fun times, shitty times, political/social struggle, and of course sex. Musically we are inspired a lot by the music that came out of the 60s and 70s, especially music that came out of what can be labeled the more “obscure” scenes and bands.
How would you describe your own music?
Andrea: Our music is rock-n-roll-pyschedelic-garage-stoner fury.
What else is coming up for Purple Rhinestone Eagle?. What do you hope to be your legacy?
Andrea: We want to put out our recording on vinyl so we’re doing a little record label shopping right now. After our two summer tours we want to follow it up with one in the fall. Other than that we’re trying to do a lot of song writing. Legacy? Hmm. One day when I’m old and gray, I’d love to pass the torch on to some young girls who want to make rock n roll (or whatever kind of music) too. I want to be as inspiring to young kids as my music heroes have been to me.
Me and Jon are gaying it up in Vegas, so enjoy this post from a while back!
…French Pop is way more interesting than american
Back in the mid-sixties she was an up and coming 18 year old pop star, and he was a recording artist/songwriter pushing forty. They were never officially an item or anything, but he was a notorious player with a taste for the young girls and pictures like this one of them doing Bonnie and Clyde make you wonder. During her heydey he wrote almost all of her music and lyrics. One of her biggest hits was the song “Les Sucettes”, a song about a girl who likes lollipops which is actually a not-so-subtle metaphor for giving head…
Believe it or not, France Gall didn’t get the double meaning, and just look at this translation of the song’s lyrics:
_______________________________________________________________________________
Annie likes lollipops,
Anise lollipops.
Annie’s anise lollipops
Give her kisses an anise flavour.
When the anise flavoured barley sugar
Sinks in Annie’s throat,
She’s in heaven.
For a few pennies,
Annie gets her anise lollipops.
They have the color of her big eyes,
The color of happy days.
Annie likes lollipops,
Anise lollipops.
Annie’s anise lollipops
Give her kisses an anise flavour.
When on her tongue lies only the short stick,
She takes her legs to her body (To run off)
And goes back to the drugstore.
For a few pennies,
Annie gets her anise lollipops.
They have the color of her big eyes,
The color of happy days.
_______________________________________________________________________________
Apparently when someone clued her in she was very upset. Seriously though, how naive can you be?
The lyrics to this one include:
I’m a wax doll.
His (or sound) doll.
My heart is full of my songs
Wax doll, sound doll
I’m the best and the worst
As a mannequin
I see my life as a piece of pink candy
A wax doll, sound doll
This seems to suggest that she’s basically his puppet, and that on her own she has no real substance. I wonder if she ever critically analyzed the words to this one the way she failed to with the other one. It’s a really good song, but I like it a little less now that I know what the lyrics mean. I could do without the misogyny.
Guess what?? Paul and I are on vacation for the next week, so I thought I would treat you to some of my favorite early Gaycondo moments rerun style! Most of you haven’t seen these, so it’s new to you anyway. Enjoy!
…is making it so that we can all “travel through time (sort of).
In the year 1977, the two voyager space crafts were launched on a mission to study and send back information on Jupiter and Saturn. A countless amount of priceless knowledge was gained in this study of the outer planets of our solar system. However, Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were concieved as martyrs. No return route was possible, so eventually, the two crafts would reach a point where they escaped our solar system, and then eventually passed the point where communication was possible. In fact, this occured in the last decade.
Knowing that this would eventually occur, a team headed by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan was formed to create a sort of time capsule of life on earth to include on both space crafts. The form for the time capsule was a golden record:
This analog format was chosen because it was important to insure that any intelligent life that discovers it will be able to figure out how to use it as easily as possible. Images carved on one side of the disc explain mathimatically (and quite eliquently) how to play the record.
The opening letter of the “program” begins with this message
“This is a present from a small, distant world, a token of our sounds, our science, our images, our music, our thoughts and our feelings. We are attempting to survive our time so we may live into yours” -Jimmy Carter
A small sampling of the contents of this record include:
Salutations in 55 languages
115 images documenting human life
the sounds of birds, whales, thunder, and the ocean
Navajo Indian chants
“Johnny be Good” by Chuck Berry
Several pieces by Bach
In addition to these, another very touching audio recording was included: The sound of a beating heart belonging to a woman who has just fallen in love. The heart in question belonged to Ann Druyan herself.
Watch the interview below to hear about it in her own words:
Love breaking the barriers of both time and space? Literally moving forward for all time? Now if that is not a heavy real life metaphor, I don’t know what is.
Currently, the voyager space crafts are still 40,000 years from reaching the nearest solar system (and that is at an impressive 35,000 mph), which will be the first feasable time that intelligent life may be able to find them. By that time, human kind will either be extinct, or drastically changed. The existance of these records will most likely eventually be the oinly documentation of our having ever existed at this time.
Though the odds of it ever being discovered are slim to none, as Carl Sagan said, “the launching of this ‘bottle’ into the cosmic ‘ocean’ says something very hopeful about life on this planet“, and I believe that hope is a kind of transcendence through time. That maybe we can all exist forever.
Guess what?? Paul and I are on vacation for the next week, so I thought I would treat you to some of my favorite early Gaycondo moments rerun style! Most of you haven’t seen these, so it’s new to you anyway. Enjoy!
….how noble of them (unless you count the snarky architecture).
FROM WIKIPEDIA:
“The Lou Ruvo Brain Institute is a planned research center which is being built in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Institute will become a national resource for the most current research and scientific information for the treatment of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and Huntington ’s diseases, as well as focusing on prevention, early detection and education.”
WOW! How important. That is just fantastic!
Philanthropist Larry Ruvo founded the Keep Memory Alive Foundation as a heartfelt reaction to his father’s (Lou Ruvo) detrerioration at the hands of Alzheimer’s. This truly astounding foundation has raised over 20 million dollars by throwing some of the most popularly attended celebrity-irific galas Las Vegas has ever seen. This is all great.
But then things take a wierd turn.
In February of 2007, ground was broken on the Lou Ruvo Brain Instute, which was designed by architect Frank Gehry. Let’s take a Gaycondo sponsored “walking” tour of the planned design….
Hey, that’s pretty modern and minimalist. Maybe it reminds me of a pleasant stack of (Lanvin) shoe boxes. That’s nice. I like that. It’s calming. I wonder what the rest of this serene structure must be like?
OH MY GOD! The back of this building is like some sort of fucked up, very literal interpretation of a drawing by M.C. Escher. Somehow, I feel like if I was having mental collapse, I wouldn’t want the building I was recieving treatment in the be a ridiculously “in the now” postmodern representation of my ailment.
Do all high profile publicly funded (the state of Nevada kicked in a cool $12 million ) buildings built in the last couple of decades have to be so insanly (no pun intended) over designed? Wouldn’t a tasteful concrete box have sufficed???
Am I out of my miond for thinking this? (still no pun intended)
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
PS: This building is TOTALLY AWESOME!!!! It’s like when I see it, every other cool building I’ve ever seen just gets absolutely erased from my mind!! Like, maybe after seeing the outrageous super fantastic-ness of this design I might even forget where my house is. What does Gaycondo look like again????
(that last one was in fact actually a fucked up joke about Alzheimer’s by the way….)
Me and Jon are gaying it up in Vegas, so enjoy this post from a while back!
…this is what happens when you let a bunch of gay burnouts make a kids show.
Now Let’s Go CRAZY!!!
In case you don’t have cable or know any small children, Yo Gabba Gabba is the gayest kids show around. It might have scared me a bit as a child but as an adult I think it’s pretty great. I’ve never really had a thing for Elijah Wood, but I think he looks smokin’ hot here. Oh, and Jon says he has nice eyeballs.
The Discovery Channel aired a program called “Bridging the Bering Strait”. Technology really blows my mind. People are actually fathoming building a bridge in one of the most harsh arctic climates on Earth. This global highway would join US and Europe allowing people to drive from Alaska to Siberia in under an hour. The Bridge would essentially connect The Western Hemisphere with the Eastern Hemisphere, making it possible to drive from North America to Europe, Asia and Africa.
With today’s outlandish gas prices why the eff would such an idea even be proposed?. One of the obvious motives for this bridge is the fact that Siberia holds tons of oil and natural gas resources underneath it’s desolate grounds. By tapping into the well, the United States oil dependency would continue, except we wouldn’t have to deal with the Middle East’s drama and would have an enormous supply closer to home.
The 105 Billion dollar design would feature 3 levels, one for cars and trucks, a middle section for high speed trains and a third level for oil pipelines. Similar to the Great Wall of China, this bridge would be seen from outer space. Since both sides of the bridge would basically end on nothing (uh, rural Alaska and barren Siberia) 4,000 miles of new highway would be built into central Europe and through Alaska leading to the bridge.
I’m still not too keen on the idea…The weather conditions are extremely harsh, sometimes reaching 135 degrees below 0F. Think of the people who would have to build this thing, if they didn’t have the proper clothing they could die in such temperatures in under a minute. I can also see horrible nightmares forming as people drive across the bridge with violent waters full of ice caps in an environment “utterly hostile to human life”…
Save it for the movies, perhaps?
Guess what?? Paul and I are on vacation for the next week, so I thought I would treat you to some of my favorite early Gaycondo moments rerun style! Most of you haven’t seen these, so it’s new to you anyway. Enjoy!
….is not so chunky after all.
The first time I saw a Chunky Pam video I thought “holy crap, who is this hot chubster rapping on the internets!?” She was a viral phenom, and the songs are really catchy. The first two videos were produced as MTV promos (one for Christmas, one for Valentine’s Day). They have insanely high production values, including sexy male backup dancers and blinged out junk food. The third video, which appeared last summer, seems a lot more DIY. It’s called Dirty Jerzy, and all members of Gay Condo love it, especially Jon(who grew up there).
However, once I actually paid attention to what Chunky Pam was singing about, I was kind of offended. In “Merry XXXLMas” and “Pampered” she mostly raps about how much she loves to eat junk food. We so rarely see fat women sexualized in our culture, I like Chunky Pam just because she’s undeniably hot while being unabashedly fat. But, then, she also falls into the same old traps that most other media about fat peopledoes- she’s the butt of a joke about how much fat people love to eat. Dirty Jerzy is really just about New Jersey, though, and when I pointed out to Jon that Pam is eating a huge meal in a diner during the video he said “But that’s what everyone does in New Jersey!”
The strangest thing about Pam, though, is that she isn’t real. The actress that plays her is Ashlie Atkinson, a member of the Gotham Girls Roller Derby. She’s been on Rescue Me, had a pilot on Showtime, and appeared in a fat suit (!!) in an Off-Broadway play called Fat Pig. In an interview in AmaZe Magazine she talks about only wanting to play positive fat roles, so I guess she feels ok about Chunky Pam’s love of milkshakes.
The other two people behind Chunky Pam are Geremy Jasper, the slim, male lead singer of The Fever,a mediocre New York indie-rock band and Meredith DiMenna, lead singer of Saint Bernadette. Meredith is the voice behind Pam and Geremy wrote the lyrics. Knowing a skinny man and an average sized woman are the reality behind Pam, it definitely makes me love her less. America seriously needs more fat babes. Only a jerky bro could say Pam isn’t hot. Even if you’re not into fat, she’s still one very attractive lady.
Too bad the most famous fat babe of the past year was actually a joke created by thin people.
Me and Jon are gaying it up in Vegas, so enjoy this post from a while back!
this was me and Jon’s first “song” - early 2002
I saw Mirah play at Siren Nation here in Portland not too long a go. I hadn’t thought of her in ages but seeing her reminded me how much I liked her music and what an endearing performer she is. Anyways this song was on the 7″ “Small Sale” which almost nobody has, but we do! On Valentines Day 2002 she played at the Hampshire College Red Barn and we asked her to play this for us, and even though she could hardly remember how to play it she was a good sport and did. If you’re not familiar with Mirah, this is what she looks like:
Guess what?? Paul and I are on vacation for the next week, so I thought I would treat you to some of my favorite early Gaycondo moments rerun style! Most of you haven’t seen these, so it’s new to you anyway. Enjoy!
Don’t call it a skirt….
So, as many of you already know, my real life “non-blog” job involves me absorbing a lot of detailed information on all types of fashion. A part of this involves doing written reports (seriously) on mall chain store websites. I know, it really glamorous.
Well, I just did a report on Hot Topic. Good old Hot Topic, selling mid-nineties alterna-teen clothes for the last 15 years. Remember these from 1997?
Yeah they’ve got those.
How about this little number?:
Still for sale!
While looking at the page for the “man skirt” above, I noticed something odd about the word choice.
“These black one-legged pants feature removable chain straps and D-ring and grommet accents. 66″ leg opening. 100% cotton. Wash cold. Dry flat. Imported.”
Excuse me? Was that ONE LEGGED PANTS?!?!
Look at this kid:
Are we truly meant to believe that he is so insecure about his gender identity that he will only buy a skirt if it is referred to as “one legged pants”? Come on!
I also thought the 66″ leg opening part was pretty genius. Do the men who wear these have to have one giant monster appendage instead of legs? As though the description is saying, “Big cock? Here is a comfortable pant solutuon!”.
Yeah goth kid, your cock is huge…..
—————————————–
Oh, and though it has nothing to do with goths or Hot Topic, I couldn’t help but think of this
while working on this post
Me and Jon are gaying it up in Vegas, so enjoy this post from a while back!
…more about the lucky bitch.
In case you didn’t read my recent post about Ms. Sevigny, please check it out here. I just happened upon this amazing music video in which she stars. It’s for “I Feel Like the Mother of the World” by Smog. It’s really amazingly well acted by her. The man on the tv in it is Bill Callahan, who is Smog. It’s wierd that I never saw this before since I’ve been a fan of both of them for years. Anyway, here it is!
Apparently Sevigny gets infuriated when people refer to her as “model” or “style icon” Chloe Sevigny. She prefers to be known for her acting, which she is admittedly quite talented at, but how can she blame people for thinking of her ties to fashion when she’s always going out in the most over-the-top, amazing clothes? Just take a look at these examples:
Clearly she’s hot shit, people make fun of her but I think she looks great and is simply ahead of the curve. She is definately on the fringe when it comes to the movie-roles she takes (there’s no Oscar for best blow-job), and her fashion sense is no different. She even designs her own clothing line for Opening Ceremony. I think it’s great, especially the gingham slacks. If millions of people bitch and moan about how fugly you look when you go out, you must be doing something right… right? Anyway, check out this video where she discusses the aesthetic of her line, which seems to be very much inspired by 90’s alterna-teens. This is something regular readers of my posts will already know appeals to me.
Guess what?? Paul and I are on vacation for the next week, so I thought I would treat you to some of my favorite early Gaycondo moments rerun style! Most of you haven’t seen these, so it’s new to you anyway. Enjoy!
I recently learned about a new term used to describe a type of modern advirtising. “Greenwashing” refers to:
“ when a company or organization spends more time and money claiming to be “green” through advertising and marketing than actually implementing business practices that minimize environmental impact. It’s whitewashing, but with a green brush” -Enviromedia
With all the enviromental empathy/panic that has been dredged up in the hearts of mainstream America recently, every suburban SUV owner has decided to “go green”. Think reusable shopping bags at Whole Foods. Because of this (mostly) symbolic shift in the lifestyle of the middle class, using “green” catch words (Hybrid! Clean! Energy Security! Renewable!) has become a real cashcow.
I remember a few years ago when media literacy was such a buzz topic! “Oh, adbusters this! Oh Naomi Klein that!” It seems we have all but forgotten to be critical of what we are told in marketing.
Thank god for a new website called The Greenwashing Index . They have created a project where advertising that is using green ideas to sell a product is judged by the public. After viewing different ads, they are ranked on a 1(true)-5(lie) scale, and voters can leave comments.
Prior to leaving gaycondo for a gaycation in Las Vegas, Jon felt it necessary to post this note on Beth’s door:
I realize that for queers, cats + dogs + fish are equivalent to children but I think this note is worthy of the Passive Aggressive Notes archive. Beth and I just so happen to be people who LOVE cats and live vicariously through other people’s cats so we don’t have to do the 1-5 things mentioned in Jon’s note.
However, unlike plants, we are not in the biz of starving or neglecting cats.
Alien waits for her daddies to return to gaycondo
Carlton does what he does best: being cute and photogenic
So, on the plane ride home from Las Vegas yesterday, Paul and I were talking about an article that appeared in the Inflight Magazine about something stupid (I don’t even remember what) and I declared “Jeez Louise, this is retarded!”.
