Goldfrapp is Coming!!

Dear Matty,

Your favourite band in the world, Goldfrapp, is coming to my town! I'm getting my tickets today and I can't wait!!!

Pre-sale is today; general sales start Friday!

TV Trashin' : Dynasty Season 1

See this DVD cover? How misleading is that? I watched all 13 episodes of Season One of Dynasty and not one glimpse of Joan Collins!!!! Alexis, where are you?? I didn't want to see the dreck of Krystal and Blake, or the plight of Krystal and her ex-lover Matthew. Who cares!!? Where were the cat fights? The shoulder pads??? Emma Samms? Why is the Nancy Drew girl playing Fallon??? I'm so confused!!!

The only thing interesting was the gay storyline, which I found to be quite innovative and progressive for its time. However, I wasn't too attracted to young Steven Carrington. And Blake needs to go to jail for killing his son's gay lover!

I don't know though, is it worth it to go on?

YVR: Vancouver Art Gallery

The recent exhibit KRAZY! at the Vancouver Art Gallery could have you cooped up for days if you're not careful. The exhibit is a study on comic books, anime, manga, and video games. Given enough time, you could spend all day reading all the comic strips they have framed up on the walls, sitting and going through all the graphic novels at a rest station, or taking a breather and playing some video games including an old school original Pac Man arcade machine. An interesting exhibit with lots to see and do, especially for folks who don't normally go to the art gallery but are interested in this genre of pop culture.



Meanwhile, two floors up, a new exhibit has just opened, featuring Chinese artist Zhang Huan. His pieces were more on the creepy and shocking side, with photographs, videos of his live performance installations, and painting/sculpture. One photo that stood out for me was of the artist doing a live installation inside an outhouse in Beijing, where he sat naked for an hour on top of the toilet, covered himself in fish juice and let flies cover and attack him.

Eating Out: Cibo

I dined out at Cibo yesterday. It's a new restaurant located in the lobby of the renovated Moda hotel on the corner of Seymour and Smythe. For those in the know, this was the location of the infamous Dufferin, the sleaziest gay bar the city had to offer that was sadly shut down in order to accomodate for the new sterilization of Vancouver.

The Dufferin was a mainstay, or so we thought. It had regulars, was a home to many hustlers and their johns, and filled a niche for the gay community that no other place could. I remember the days when they would have strippers down in the back room, who looked like they were street youth recruited off the street. At least they were making some money, right? A friend of a friend had recorded on his cell phone an incident in the Dufferin bathroom where a man was so drunk out of his mind that he fell right into the urinal he was peeing in. And next door, the karaoke lounge was always full of characters, including the emcee who always insisted on singing Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean."

The Dufferin was the only place where you could do the Neutron Dance, do some voguing, and then jump right into the Macarena, all in a matter of minutes.

But this is entry is about Cibo, the restaurant that has taken over the space where the karaoke lounge used to occupy. It's been cleaned up, modernized, and turned into an Italian eatery whose food is pretty good, decor is chic and sophisticated, and not a drop of the Dufferin can be seen. I'm sure the place will be a hit, especially with the Moda's wine bar UVA right next door. Yet, part of me still longs for the days when I could order a beer and a plate of soggy disgusting nachos from the Dufferin. Good times!!

It's Amazing What Eggs, Tea, and Sleep Can Do

Thanks Momma, for your comment on my previous entry. I felt validated for feeling the way I did and yes, I'm sure we all have issues, but as a Gay Asian, I'm sure a lot of those issues are similar and run along the same vein.

So I had a good night's sleep. It helps to go to bed hours after my noisy neighbours turn in for the night, rather than try to lay there listening to them holler and cackle down in the courtyard, which is RIGHT BELOW MY WINDOW.

This morning I had some scrambled eggs, which I have been craving all week long and I'm now drinking some lovely tea from Beijing. I'm feeling less ugly and less fat today and less old today, too. Interesting how one little glance from someone can reduce me to a pile of insecurity, eh? Or maybe it was the Killer Kool-Aid talking. (Thanks for the drink, Chris! I haven't had a Killer Kool-Aid in over a decade!)



I forgot to mention some other highlights from last night, including running into this Filipino guy I know who is mad hot and a total sweetheart. It was nice to see him. As well, Nelson Wong was there, whom I've known since elementary school and who is now an actor and has appeared alongside Chad Allen in the Donald Strachey gay detective movies. Nelson brought with him the director of those movies, Mr. Ron Oliver himself, whom I had the pleasure to meet last summer and who kindly allowed me to add him to my Facebook. His blog is listed on the left there, and he's in town shooting more movies. In fact, he's just done a film with none other than Shannen Doherty. I asked him how she was and he said she was terrific and a sweetie. I of course revealed that I couldn't wait for 90210 this September and he agreed.

There Was a Time When We Were Young

I just returned from clubbing. God I feel old. Dancing to hip hop music for a few songs? That's not my scene at all. Even Madonna's 4 Minutes felt out of place. Moments of ecstasy included Britney's Gimme More and Break The Ice, as well as Kylie's In My Arms.

I don't know, maybe it's Vancouver, maybe it's cause I was sober, maybe I just wasn't in the partying mood, but I just felt old and fat and ugly. Maybe it's cause there was 50% straight people there. And this ISN'T the gay club that's already known for having lots of straight folks (Celebrities). This was The Odyssey, which has a back door entrance for the boys, while females have to line up out front. Yet, the floor was packed with Japanese girls, straight guys trying to hit on the Japanese girls, and annoying people in between. I hated everyone. I hated the people in the bathroom. I hated the people in the bar. I hated the people on the dancefloor. Bah humbug.

While I was flailing about on the dancefloor, I accidentally grazed this guy and so to be polite, I touched his shoulder to say "Sorry about that" and he gave me this dirty look/glare. Maybe I mis-read it, but it certainly didn't seem friendly. Did he think I was hitting on him? Is he that self-centered? Or was he thinking, "Don't touch me, you ugly Asian." Yeah. I obviously have some issues. He probably didn't even think twice about it yet here I am a few hours later putting the experience into a blog entry.

Racism is a big one. The other day, my ex was telling me how his niece is becoming racist. In my head, I thought, "What do you mean 'becoming'?" Since I've met her, I had already decided that she and her parents were already racists. When she refers to Asian cars as 'rice rockets' and says things like 'All the Asians are keeping my friends out of university.' Meanwhile her father's going on about immigrants taking away the jobs from Canadians. (What jobs, asshole? Like making happy meals at McDonald's? Fuck you.) That is pretty fucked up shit. So my ex tells me how he was driving her to lunch and there was this Asian woman driving near him and she stopped for him, but he let her pass, etc. etc. and his niece says, "Those people are such nervous drivers." WTF you little privileged cunt! Why don't you go back to summer camp and brainwash the rest of the children of the corn? Go back to Alberta and get your teaching degree (no shit) and go into the public school system to help spread your ignorance.

Yeah, I'm in a bad mood. Whatever.

I don't want to think about being single. I don't think I will find another boyfriend or relationship. It's not something I want to work for anymore. And it IS a lot of work! The dating, the cruising, the rejection, it's just too tiring to think about. Sex is easy to find. A partner, not so much, and I'm too exhausted to make the effort anymore.



(Above is a video from Canada's pop group from the 80s, One To One.)

Literally: Red China Blues

Just read Globe And Mail reporter Jan Wong's Red China Blues, her account of visiting and living in China from the early 70s to modern day. What an amazing life she has had. From being a teenage Maoist in Montreal, flying to China to take part in the Cultural Revolution only to find out things weren't all they were cracked up to be, and then returning to China in the 80s as a reporter and witnessing first hand the tragedy of the Tiananmen Square massacre. It's no surprise that the book is banned in the Motherland. It reveals the dark underside of China that they don't want outsiders to see, let alone experience and then write about. A fantastic read, considering I'm not one to read non-fiction all that much.

A Room Without Books is like a Day Without Internet

And so there was a fire the other day in the business district of downtown Vancouver. It was underground and it managed to bugger up some cables. Some very important cables. Cables that supplied power and electricity to 1/5 of the downtown corridor, including my workplace's Internet Service Provider. This meant that I spent all day Tuesday sitting at my desk with no Internet to surf. I didn't even have a book handy to read, like I normally would. Things were back up and running yesterday for us, but there are still shops and businesses with no power. My friend Chris lives close by and his apartment building has no electricity or hot water, and hasn't had it for the past two days. The folks at BC Hydro are hoping to have things fixed by this evening, but that's 3 days total! Gee, if it's so easy to make part of the city buckle at the knees like this, one hates to think how we'd recover from a natural disaster or a terrorist attack, eh?

TV Trashin' for Monday July 14

Weeds



Warning : Possible spoilers ahead.

I heart Mary-Louise Parker!!

How happy am I that Weeds has returned for its 4th season!!? And judging by the first 4 episodes, so far it seems like this is one of their best seasons to date!! The other seasons were great as well, witty, funny, and brilliantly written. But this season, the characters are all developed, and there is so much going on! From the newly introduced Albert Brooks character to Nancy's evolution in drug dealing, the action is faster paced and leaves me wanting more week after week! Tonight's episode, will uppity Celia join Nancy on the dark side!? Seeing Celia in jail all made up as someone's bitch was downright hilarious! And where is that little lesbian daughter of hers? I want more Isabel!

Little Britain USA



Speaking of lesbians, Rosie O'Donnell will be one of many major celebrities making a guest appearance on the new American version of Little Britain!! "Hello, dahling!!!" Rosie will be attending one of Marjorie's Fat Fighter's meetings, so that oughta be interesting! I can't wait for this, as it's been so long since we've seen anything new from the Little Britain fellows! I wonder how American audiences will take to their brand of humour, and characters like Daffyd, Emily, or Anne? At least it's hitting HBO so we can assume the people tuning in will have a more liberated mind.

Big Brother 10



I wasn't going to, but I did. Did you? There's a lot of yummy young men on this season... Steven, the gay rodeo guy is hot, but who is he kidding when he says he's not telling anyone that he's gay? And as for Renny being loud at night and waking up bodybuilder Jessie? Yah, I would be totally annoyed too. I HATE NOISE especially when I'm trying to sleep, so I can totally relate. I hope she gets the axe and Jessie gets to stay, if only so we can see him with his shirt off some more!

Movies: W.A.L.L.-E.

Doesn't it totally look like it would be a Short Circuit rip-off? I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't. In fact, it was nothing that I expected at all! It was very interestingly done, with minimal dialogue, almost like a silent movie. The story revolves around the destruction of Earth and how our garbage has contributed to that. This eco-friendly theme is timely and poignant, and the movie moved me with its tender telling of a robot left to clean up the Earth all on his own. One day a female robot visits from outer space and our lovable WALL-E tries to win her heart. It's sweet, has funny moments, and impeccable animation.

4 out of 5

Movies: Kung Fu Panda

Saw Kung Fu Panda on Thursday night, and is it as "awesome" as it claims? Hmm, I'm not sure. The bar was set by Finding Nemo and nothing has matched up to it since, in terms of humour and storyline. The panda is cute, for sure, and the animation is beautiful to look at, but it wasn't as funny as I thought it would be or maybe I'm just not a Jack Black fan? It's a cute kid's movie though.

3 out of 5

Eating Out: Go Fish!

Yesterday I met up with Philip and we went for a sunny afternoon lunch at Go Fish, which is a little pier-side fish and chip shack located at the edge of Granville Island. Having grown up with fish and chips (my parents owned a shop in England and again here in Canada), I have become quite the fish 'n chips conneisseur. And I must say, these are definitely recommended! Of course, it's not a well kept secret so that means there's a long queue for the food but it's totally worth it!

Eating Out: Burgoo (Main St. Edition)

The new Burgoo on Main Street is a welcome addition to a neighbourhood rich with fun and good restaurants. It's also the first real "patio" restaurant the street will get! And with the sunny weather we've been getting lately, it's perfect for the summertime!



But if you think their menu is all stews and soups, don't forget that they change it up with the seasons and are offering a fantastic summer menu which includes summer greens, their classic grilled cheese sandwiches, BLT's (with added melted cheddar), jugs of white and red sangria, and a delicious strawberry lemonade that is sure to refresh you! I've already gone several times, and love that it's steps away from my place! Beware of long line-ups though, the patio is popular and the wait can be up to 30 or 45 minutes at a time if you want to sit outdoors.