Florence kicks some ass with her machine

I've stumbled upon this new artist, named Florence. Hailing from the island of Britain, she has done something that I really wasn't expecting. She has created something different. Not Lady Gaga different, where you put a new sheen on something that we've heard before. My dear Florence has actually taken many different genres and fused them to best suite her voice. Which in my humble opinion is what being a true artist of music does. Much like Amy Winehouse, really though we all know that was alot of Mark Ronson's doing. But Florence writes her own music, and also collaborates with many other musicians that she says knows her and her process (hence the machine). Listen below, I like and hope you do too. This is my favorite song off the album.

Let's Start Again, with some Vampire Slaying!

It's 2010 and I feel like the time to start my blog up again is nigh. In this first blog of the new year, it will be almost a retrospect, but really not. It will blow your mind (probably not, but lets pretend). I'm going to talk about one of the most important things of my high school life, but also something that I get to enjoy every month in print comic form. That's right noble gay geek readers, its BUFFY!!!

Now for all that maybe lived under a rock in the late 1990s to early 2000s, Buffy was all the rage. It was a show that was about, yes vampire slaying, but really more so about the relationships that Buffy and her best friends (nicknamed "The Scoobies") had with one another.

During the course of it's 7 year run, Buffy died twice, Angel died once, Spike became a goody goody, and Willow blossomed into a lesbian. All this is so much more than I think I have seen any show ever do; especially on the "character becoming gay" storyline. It was the first, and it did it well. Willow coming out of the closet, for me personally, was the biggest TV moment of my teen years. More on that later in the post.

Buffy is something that I can watch over and OVER again. Joss Whedon, the show's creator for those rock people, is someone that I would follow to Neverland if he asked me to. He seems to always create worlds, not just in Buffy, that come to life and make you want to invest. He has his finger on my geek pulse, and I'm better for it. I suggest if this post makes you want to watch Buffy again or for the first time you also check out Whedon's other works: Firefly and Dollhouse.

I wanted to go over my favorite parts of Buffy with a LIST!! I don't know why I haven't done lists in past blogs, cause I love them. Countdowns are my favorite! So here we go...!

Favorite Things from the Buffyverse

10. The Bevy of Killed Off Characters

Now Buffy was known for kicking some Vampire ass, but it was also known for killing lots and lots of people. Remember Jenny Calender, Angel did her in when he went all bloodlusty. Larry is another, oh poor Larry, he was gay and got killed by the Mayor. And my last favorite was Kendra, the African American, ultra hip slayer that was a good foil to miss whitey prom queeny Buffy. She was like Buffy but with more edge. Sadly Drusilla gets the best of her, which was really weak and a total let down, btw! Getting killed by hypnotism...quite anticlimactic.

9. The Episode "Hush"

This is the best stand alone episode of Buffy, ever. It centers around demons named The Gentlemen who steal your voice then cut out your heart. Intense is the least you can say about this episode. Willow running around trying to yell for help but can't with the Gentlemen right behind her, classic. Plus the Gentlemen might be the scariest looking of all the Buffy baddies.

8. The Musical Episode "Once More with Feeling"

Joss Whedon started something copied by many other shows, the musical episode. A demon is conjured that makes everyone sing what they feel. Its funny, the music is downright addictive, and there is even a major plot point of that season at the end. Its a great episode and I think that everyone should see it, Buffy fan or not.

7. The End of Season 6 and Dark Willow

HOLY SHIT!! That sums up the end of season 6 for me. Tara being shot and killed and Willow going all veiny and evil. It is something that I can't fully explain because it this the end of the season and it's like the lid flying off a pot of boiling water. I also love it because story wise it was a point that the characters could never come back from. They had crossed lines that they couldn't uncross, and it made the next season that much better.

6. Buffy's Boyfriends

A nice part for the ladies, and men who don't like ladies that way are the parade of men that Buffy let ravish her. My personal favorite was Riley, he was the college Abercrombie hunk and had that whole military thing too. Angel was sensitive and Spike was a bad boy, but they still didn't beat Riley. Trust me when I say there might be a notebook of mine with his name written all over it.

5. The incarnation of Dawn Summers

Alot of Buffy fans would disagree with me on this one, but I think that Dawn brought a shift to Buffy's character that she needed. Buffy was always more or less concerned with Buffy, but Dawn brought her into a more mature and parental light. I also love how when they brought her onto the show Whedon did it in a way that we all had no clue what was going on. I thought it was genius how everyone knew who Dawn was except the audience and then he turned it around during the course of the season. It was incredibly engaging to be a part of.

4. Andrew Wells

Oh my dear and lovely Andrew. He tried to kill Buffy and the Scooby Gang which lead to Tara's ultimate death, but Andrew's true stride in the series was when he became a part of the gang in season 7. He is the comic relief of the season, but he does it so well that I welcomed it with full heart. Plus he's most likely gay, but has no clue which just adds to his fun character.

3. Faith's Redemption

Now I love Buffy, but if I had to pick a slayer to go on a cruise with it would most definitely be Faith. I loved how Faith was always a very complicated character. She always wanted to do the right thing but never had faith in herself (get the irony...oh Whedon). She always feel short and help the evil in Sunnydale because of all her issues. However the greatest thing Whedon ever did with Faith was turn her force powers to the light side. She finally became the slayer she was suppose to. It was something I wanted to see from first meeting the character of Faith, and I thank you for that Joss.

2. Willow

If you know me and see that Willow is number 2 you might be a little shocked. Willow Rosenberg will always be my favorite part of Buffy. Her character wins the most changed award of the series. I also love that she wears her emotions on her sleeve cause I personally identify with that. She wasn't the prom queen and wasn't the most confident, but in the end she became the most powerful of the Scooby Gang even more than Buffy herself. And as I said before, the gay thing was handled with the most class than any other TV series I have ever seen. Willow rocks my socks period.

1. The creation of Season 8

The best thing about Buffy is that it lives on in comics. Written and overseen by Joss Whedon himself. So far season 8 has been great with a slight slump in the middle. It is one of my favorites to read each month and they are really taking the characters to the next level. Its a great thing for the Buffyverse and for comics in general. And even other canceled shows have taken this cue and brought the continuing seasons in comic form. Once again Joss is on the cutting edge.

So that's it folks, starting off the new year right with talking about one of the most influential shows of the late 90s. It started a whole new trend of funny/dramatic/scary teen shows that still continues today *cough*Vampire Diaries*cough*. And even though I like the Twilight series, I know that Buffy could and would totally kick all of their asses.

BUFFY FTW!!!

Randomness

One of my favorite moments, from one of my favorite shows. Will & Grace.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFAWboTNSUQ

NEW MUPPET MOVIE IN WORKS!!!!

I am so happy because of what I just stumbled upon the internet. A new Muppet movie is in the works!! It has been named The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made. Its supposedly going to be written by Jason Segel, famous for How I Met Your Mother and Forgetting Sarah Marshall. It makes me feel much more positive about the project hearing this news. Just because of the ending of Sarah Marshall. I think Segel will do a great job. A new Muppet movie!! The world is right again!

Visit here for more info.

Gay Stuff

Is that a gay shirt???

YES!!!!!!

In my time they were also called women's blouses. Men do not have cleavage! Why then do we need a deep V-neck shirt?

Also.....

Is this a Gay Asian I'm sick of seeing??

YES!!!!!

Please go back into obscurity...you're annoying.

Is Hipster the new Emo

A Hipster...a new breed in our crazy label obsessed community. Wikipedia, which is really the new Encyclopedia, states that a Hipster is "types of young, recently-settled urban middle class adults and olderteenagers with interests in non-mainstream fashion and culture, particularly alternative music, independent rock, independent film, magazines such as Vice and Clash, and websites likePitchfork Media. In some contexts, hipsters are also referred to as scenesters".

Now I don't know what half of those words meant. And a scenester? Are we serious. To me a Hipster is this:

See those scarves, that is your first sign that what you are seeing might be a Hipster. To me they look a little British, like 70s Liverpool British. Also if they have earbuds in their ears that is a good sign too. Most people going to see Where the Wild Things Are will be Hipster. Also I think that maybe Gordon Levit Lewis might be their king. Apparently they love the word "deck" which means cool or fresh, if you live in the 80s and worship the fresh prince. Gays, this would be like how we slash words, terrific becomes terif, totally becomes totes. OH PS. Fierce is GONE, stop using it....thanks Tyra.

But know that Hipsters are not EMO. THANK GOD. They are much better in mood and fashion sense, I mean they look a little like vagabonds, but at least they aren't in black all the time, with eyeliner, ugh. They are also very green and love soy. They are the people that would create their own composte, and only eat organic.

They hate corporate america, and bands that sell out, aka. Green Day, they really hate them. Much like in the 90s when grunge was rampant they also hated the selling out to corporate greed. They believe that bands should love the music, and not want to be thrown into popular culture, which I never understand.

They shop in thrift stores, again with the whole against popular culture. I think that some also shop at Hot Topic...but don't tell them I said so.

Hipsters are here, well for now at least. And I for one welcome them! Maybe one day, there will be a great battle between them and Emos. One can only hope.

Review: Where the Wild Things Are

Rating: 3 out of 5

As movies go this one is definitely a cut above the rest. The writing and cinematography are some of the best I've seen this year. And the special effects mixed with puppetry gives me the same emotions as I had when I was a child watching anything Jim Henson. You stare at wonderment at these Wild Things. They feel so real that you want to meet them and romp around with them just like Max.

There were many things in the movie that would make me sit and stare, unable to blink because of the beauty. Especially the parts when it is a desert landscape with the sun either rising or setting. Speaking of the setting, Spike Jones has crafted something that most directors couldn't dream of doing. It's the feeling of childlike wonder and also comfortability in the setting.

This is the central theme in the movie. You can almost feel like you have your childlike imagination back. When you were a kid the small woods by your house was a deep forest to you, a rock pile was a mountain. Spike Jones takes you back to that same feeling because you are looking through Max's eyes. You can literary see his imagination in play. When that hits you at certain points you can't help but smile. You feel like a kid again.

The writing is spectacular. It doesn't dumb things down to a childlike level. It feels like a real child talking when Max speaks. There is a part when he first meets the Wild Things and he begins to tell tall tales about himself. I've heard kids do this. I taught preschool for a time and kids come up with the craziest stories, all to impress you. Max does the same. The Wild Things are childlike too, but also adult. I didn't understand this as much. Sometimes they talk to Max on his level, sometimes above, and sometimes below. It doesn't seem as fleshed out.

Now I bet your saying, why do you say all of these great things and give it three stars. Because I didn't leave going "This is one of the best movies I've seen." For me, PERSONALLY, I didn't fully get it. It was funny at times, sad at times, but never really picked what it was about. It was too random maybe for my tastes. Even though when you meet KW's friends, that was my kind of random! The movie in it's entirety didn't gel for me. I also had this feeling that I was missing something. Like I wasn't getting small things that would make sense of it all. Again though as a movie it is very good. I didn't walk out going "GOD IT SUCKED!". I walked out not understanding the full meaning.

Also, I hated Max. I'm not a big fan of kids in general, especially the older than 8 range. So I found Max as a character annoying and selfish. The actor though was great, his timing and emotional portrayal was incredible. I think he played him exactly like Max was written. The problem however, I was never in Max's corner. He was a brat who was acting out because his Mom wouldn't play with him ALL THE TIME. And I didn't find the Mom to be that horrible. She was stressed and trying to do the single mom thing. Did she mess up, yes. The whole boyfriend thing was proof of that. But she was never horrible to Max, even when he destroys a room. I understood the whole "escape to the Wild Things", but it was hard to really get invested when I didn't like the main character.

Now I say this in closing, if you liked the books you will like this movie. I sat by my best friend and she LOVED it. She got the thing that I did not. So this can be fully enjoyed by someone, I saw the proof. I have never read the book, so I think that had something to do with the whole not fully understanding the movie. The very last thing I will say is that I loved KW...alot. She was the best thing about the movie for me, cause she was the most well rounded of all the characters. I say see the movie and give it a try, you may like it alot, or like me, just a little.