Indies And The Underground Is On Facebook!

Remember a few months ago when I blogged about starting a new venture (i.e starting a music blog)? Since then things have been going pretty swimmingly. I've gotten a few promoters to send me promos CDs and digital albums/singles regularly and have even managed to snag a few interviews (even though I still trying to track down B Slade!). Well now the blog is on Facebook! You can follow the blog and get instant updates on anything I post. Here's the link:

http://apps.facebook.com/blognetworks/blog/indies_and_the_underground/

Please follow as I need followers to boost my fragile ego *smiles and bats eyes girlishly*:).

Madonna: My Grand Diva!

I remember the first time I heard her voice. It was in the middle of a karate class when I was seven years old. Out of the radio speakers sprang a vibrant, exuberant voice full of life singing over a gentle piano melody. I was transfixed. Sure at the time I was knee-deep into my Whitney phase (I was living for The Bodyguard soundtrack my mama played constantly at the time) but this was different. I didn't know the song's name was "Borderline" or that its singer was a white chick from Michigan named Madonna, but I knew I liked it.

I heard her again late at night, but this time it was a ballad. I can still remember the first time I heard the chorus. It was like being wrapped in silk. "I've always been in love with you/I guess you've always known it's true," she sang, her voice surrounded by romantic strings. As a little black boy growing up in a small southern town, Madonna wasn't on my radar. My musical world consisted mostly of the aforementioned Nippy or Anita Baker, and the old Al Green, Earth, Wind and Fire and Stevie Wonder records my dad would play in the evening.

Occasionally the classical music I learned in music lessons made its way onto my sonic palette. Gospel music was another dominating sound, along with the occasional dose of homophobia served up in church. The closet was calling. It would be a few years before I heard her again.

"You're frozen/When you're hearts not open," her voice rang out over the school bus speakers. This was supposed to be the new Madonna, the serene New Age thinker who preached spiritual enlightenment and reflective introspection instead of sexual exhibitionism and eroticism. And I didn't like her. At 12 years old I loved Aaliyah, The Spice Girls, Mariah Carey, Usher and TLC. I wanted to dance along to "Are You That Somebody," not think about the state of my soul. I wasn't ready to go there yet.

Happy Birthday To Me!

I'm officially no longer in my early 20's :tear lol:. And I'm at work--but I went out last night, so it's all good:). Of course I'll give you the pleasure of guessing my exact age(all you have to do is dig through the archives to figure it out--I won't make it that easy suckas). Anyways just thought I'd let you know.

"Mama Wu" Stands Up For China's Gays

Wu Youjian's son came out to her in 1999. Rather than react with shame like many parents in her country, the 63-year-old retired magazine editor accepted him and has since earned the nickname "Mama Wu" for her tireless activism on behalf of China's LGBT community. According to CNN.com:

Zheng Yuantao, 30, knows how lucky he is to have such a mother.

"Many of my gay friends are afraid of going home during holidays, because their parents would ask about girlfriends and press them to get married," he said.

"I grew up in a very open-minded family," he added. "I didn't have too much of a struggle about my sexuality."

Wu now devotes her time and energy to speaking up for gay acceptance by family and society. Her small frame belies her big role in China's gay community, where she is affectionately called "Mama Wu."
She taught herself to use a computer three years ago and now writes a blog that has clocked more than 2.2 million hits. She also tweets frequently, has launched a hotline and founded the country's first PFLAG - Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays - group in her hometown.

 

"I just followed my instinct and my love for my son," Wu said.

Homosexulity is not illegal in China, but gay activists often face resistance from state authorities including police raids and shutdowns of gay establishments. Wu herself has faced online criticism, but remains undaunted.

"It doesn't matter if our children are gay or straight - just like it doesn't matter if they are left-handed or right-handed," she said. "They are always our children."

Read the whole story here.

In Case You Missed It....

No one can freak out like a group of middle-aged women (with a few gays sprinkled in:). Watch the clip below:

Random Thought: Dr. Dre's XXL Cover

Is it me or is Dr. Dre serving us butch queen realness in this pic or what?

I See Your True Colors Shinin' Through....

I jacked this quiz from Mr. Toddy English's blog (who actually hijacked it from Wonderman's blog--I guess everyone's in jack mode today lol). Apparently the different colors in this test are supposed to represent your personality. And I would say my color, Green, is pretty accurate, with the exception that contains nothing about being creative, at least the artistic/musical sense. I'm a pretty logical person and doing the same thing over and over does bore me. Being a cashier made me want to gouge my eyes out once I'd got the basics down. Here's the full profile:

GREEN - Value Knowledge - I'll think about it


You are an exceptionally creative problem solver who brings your ability to think outside the box to the workplace. You are a conceptual, analytical, and logical thinker. To you knowledge is power and your insatiable thirst for understanding and information is what drives you. You are an incredible problem solver but once the goal is accomplished you lose interest and need to move on. The challenge is in the ideas and not the details or implementation of your creations. Leave those things to another type that enjoys doing these things.

You are an independent worker who detests routine and prefers to work alone on projects and you often gravitate toward leadership roles. You could be a good computer programmer, scientist or researcher. You usually find entrepreneur and independent contract work appealing, but see the book for a more thorough list.

You can take the quiz here.

New Music: B Slade "Kick" Ft. Ohene

B Slade throws another musical curveball on this track, trading in the ferocious rock and rage of "BSSF(Rated R)" for smooth jazz stylings and 40's harmonies, mixing them with his trademark bold, uninhibited lyrics. And as usually the result is sublime. Listen to the track below and download it here:

Guilty Pleasure Movie Picks: A Diva's Christmas Carol

Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Yes, my fellow gay boys(and girls if any are reading) Vanessa Williams' turn as Ebony Scrooge, a bitch-on-wheels diva heading for self-destruction in yet another reimagining of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol, had me hooked from the first time I saw it back in the day. I swear they'll be redoing that story until the apocalypse comes. Which might not be that far away, if the Mayans are to be believed. 2012, the end is near! But I digress.

It wouldn't matter if they showed this in middle of July, it always manages to put me in good mood, Partly because 1) I'll watch practically anything featuring Vanessa; 2) My girl Chili makes an appearance-- too bad they couldn't get Left Eye and T-Boz to be the twin Ghost Of Christmas Future or something, cause ya'll know that would've been a beast! 3) It's something light and funny with enough sharp one-liners to override the made-for-TV movie cheesiness.

Plus I giggle with glee everytime I hear "Heartquake." "You can't be serious/It must be some mistake/Am I delirious/Or do I feel a heartquake." I know Ms. Vanessa had to be like "you want me to sing that? Can't I just do a house remix of "Save The Best For Last" or "The Right Stuff?" But it is a catchy tune nonetheless.

Granted it's beem a minute since I've seen the movie (I guess VH1 can actually rerun something too many times) so I can't recall too many lines at the moment. But I died everytime I saw the scene where Ebony is walking up to her hotel and a Santa Claus asks her for money. She turns, contorts her face into the best hell-to-the-naw expression she can muster, and says "Save for the suckers grandpa!" Priceless. Watch the clip of the performance of "Heartquake" below:

Eat Snatch Or Die!



Call me Kitty Kat....


No this isn't your worst gay nightmare come to fruition (although I guess it could be if you ever find yourself in this position--pun intended). Apparently West Viriginia resident Melissa Lee Williams was so in heat that she burst into her ex-husband Danny and his friend's room four doors down, proceeded to stripped to her nether regions and demanded oral gratification. I guess sometimes a vibrator or a trusty finger just won't do. According to The Smoking Gun:

While Danny Williams “declined said invitation,” the other man, Adam Watson, told cops that he “agreed to perform at her request.” However, as Watson approached Williams, “he became overwhelmed by horrible vaginal odor emitting from Melissa Williams.” Watson, understandably, “declined to proceed any further.”

At which point Mama pulled out a switchblade and bellowed a command that will forever be immortalized in the history of law enforcement:

"Somebody is going to eat my pussy or I’m going to cut your fucking throat.”

Unfortunately for Ms. Melissa both men opted for door number 2. Williams was arrested and is currently out on bond. Hopefully ol' girl can buy a box (or two) of Summer's Eve before then.

H/t Boy Culture.

The Rent Is Too Damn High: Auto-Tune Remix!

Hilarious. Watch the clip below:

Mad Men: My New Television Obsession

Yes, I know I'm about three years and four seasons late, but Mad Men is my new favorite show lol. I decided to check it out after reading an article on Jon Hamm, a.k.a Don Draper, in Details and I'm glad I did! The set design and costuming is exquisite, and the writing is sharp and intelligent. I love how the show isn't just a nostalgia trip.

While the shows creators are clearly paying homage to an era, they don't ignore all of the 'isms of the early 60's (i.e racism, sexism, antisemitism, homophobia). The show (and the reality of what we the viewers know what will happen to such attitudes over the next 50 years) gives an critical, biting insight to what certain attitudes were back in the day, as well as how minorities--meaning everyone that wasn't white, male, straight, Anglo-Saxon and Christian--navigated around them.

The show does have a certain rainbow appeal, and its name is Joan. Babay, Joan can act like Mama Bear: Protector of the Secretaries one minute, then Sheeba Queen of Throwing Shade the next if she's feeling bitchy. Not to mention her dangerous curves and threads that are always on point. But I digress.

Of course I've only watched the first season, so the rest of the series could be a pile of hot garbage, but I don't think I'll be disappointed:). Click on the clips below to watch them on Youtube, since embedding has been disabled:(.