Fine, so “Carol” didn’t exactly slay at the Oscars. In fact it got totally shut out. Mostly I was just hoping that Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara would reenacted their Glove Lunch on the red carpet. Alas, none of it was to be. But at least we still have Kate McKinnon’s brilliant parody of “Carol” to celebrate. Kate and her Independent Spirit Awards co-host Kumail Nanjiani recreated the famed Glove Lunch scene for the awards show on Saturday night. Everything about it is, well, perfect.
Though, not to be outdone, Cate and Rooney tried to upstage them once they got to the podium. Well played, ladies, well played.
Sorry, kittens. I am STILL sick. Pretty much I have been doing the "Sleeping Lady" all week. Well, that is in between spastic, gag-inducing coughing fits. But I finally went to the doctor and got some meds. So let's hope I can rejoin the world of the living soon. Until then, there's always My TV Wife Tina Fey to cheer me up. Happy weekend, all.
p.s. Also, I think we can all agree buying the workout gear is the only fun part of working out.
It’s Ellen! Squared! Kate McKinnon’s Ellen impersonation remains one of my favorite things about her. I’ve been watching “Ellen’s Design Challenge” again this season. And I can attest, Ellen certainly does have some definite personality quirks. And Kate, Kate captures the essence of them just perfectly. And she ain’t a half-bad dancer either.
So today I’ve posted my final “Jessica Jones” recap of the season. As I’ve said before, I will never stop wishing Trish and Jessica were a real romantic couple. But I am immensely happy they’re at least a real couple of best friends. The bond they’ve depicted in this first series is truly special. It’s also sadly still a relatively rare sight on television. These are two women who – romance or no romance – are clearly soul mates. And that matters. So thanks for following along with the all my “Jessica Jones” recaps on AfterEllen. On to season 2.
Hi, Kittens. I have been sick these last couple of days. Like meld with the couch and cease to function sick. So apologies for not posting and such. I will be back up to full speed, hopefully, soon. Until then, please enjoy my comrade in slothiness. Now if only I also had some tasty carrots, too, to help me feel better.
So – don’t get me wrong – I’ve loved having “The X-Files” back. But now, as the final episode of the revival is set to air tonight, something in this short season has just felt … off. The tone has been a little off-kilter, even in its best episodes (which in my humble opinion were the lizard man and garbage man episodes). Maybe it’s that they’ve focused so much on Scully’s parental guilt. Granted, I tailed off watching “The X-Files” during those final pregnancy seasons. So perhaps it makes sense given how they left things. But I was looking for more of that old “X-Files” magic. The scary and the absurd and the profound. Plus there was that whole infuriating initial pay disparity thing. But hey, like I said, I’m not complaining too much. Anything that brings Gillian Anderson’s glorious face, and other attributes, back to my TV is A-OK with me. Also, I feel like I should leave offerings to the TV gods for giving us this gloriousness this season.
Oh, Special Agent Dana Scully, we’ll miss you so.
But, seriously, have I mentioned how much?
EDIT: Nevermind, I just watched the finale. What the fuck kind of ridiculous anti-vaxxer nonsense was that? Ugh, I was trying to be nice, but this "season" was just so...bad. It was bad.
There is perhaps no communal lesbian experience as universal as singing along at an Indigo Girls concert. The Girls were playing a two-night stint at The Fillmore and I was lucky enough to go see them the first night. As expected, they were glorious. And, of course, the encore was “Closer to Fine.” For an added splash of gay, as if we needed any, they were joined by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus for the number. Here is just a little taste. Go ahead, I know you know the words. Happy weekend and thanks, y’all.
p.s. I remain similarly convinced that it is a universal fact that there are only two kinds of gay gals. Those who love "Chickenman" and sing along full-throated or those who loathe it and fast forward whenever it pops up on their playlists. There is no middle ground.
If you haven’t had a chance to watch this clip of President Obama’s sit-down with Ellen DeGeneres from last week, make the time. It’s moving and it’s deserved. And, most of all, it is a reminder of how important it is to society – and to history – to have a president who is on our side. No matter our differences, let’s make sure to elect another one come November. We simply can’t go back. We won’t.
Well, this is just delightful and I don’t know how I haven’t seen it until now. It’s the perfect little video to brighten your Wednesday. Makes me want to go see the movie again, actually.
p.s. There are still zero Rey dolls that I can find on store shelves. They appear to be all sold out. So, I don’t know, maybe make some more? GET ON THAT, toymakers.
I still need to catch up and watch “Clouds of Sils Maria.” I mean, K-Stew and Juliette Binoche, come on. Though, lezbihonest, I think there might be less subtext than initially hoped. Though I could be wrong, like I said, I haven’t seen it yet. While I’ve done a bunch of atonement binge watching so far this year, there are still plenty of things I’m plenty behind on. What follows is just a partially tank-topped list.
Alycia Debnam-Carey
I haven’t had a chance to watch any of Season 3 of “The 100” yet. Talk to me about all the Clexa I’m missing.
Sherri Saum
As much as I truly appreciate the show, “The Fosters” is a show I’ve respectfully decided to drop. But I still love Sherri and Teri, naturally.
Brie Larson
I am going to see “Room” at some point, but I just never seem to be in the mood to watch a movie about a mom and son held in forced captivity for years.
Tina Fey & Amy Poehler
*whispers* I haven’t seen “Sisters” yet. I KNOW, it’s TINA AND AMY. Don’t worry, I’ve already given myself 50 lashes in penance.
Viola Davis
Now, I have caught up on “How to Get Away with Murder” and I can say it is rodiculously entertaining. Much more entertaining than a show as ridiculous and as this show is should be. Like, everything that happens is preposterous, but I love it. And, of course, I love Viola. Those arms alone ... *low whistle*
So “Rizzoli & Isles” is back tomorrow for six episodes to round out season six (the symmetry, the beautiful symmetry). Then, this summer, it should start its final season. Siiigh. Well, we’ll always have the fan videos. This one, in particular, is delightful. Thanks, @kabensi. Proper ringtone selection is an art, Jane. An art.
I don’t normally post on the weekend because – you know – weekend. But since this is Valentine’s Day I thought I’d share this video as my valentine to all of you. Yes, I know, it’s an ad. But it’s a damn good ad. And Honey Maid has been a wonderful supporter of love, in all its many forms, over the years. This, indeed, is wholesome. BRB, buying all the graham crackers in the world. Happy Valentine’s Day, kittens.
While others made New Year’s resolutions to eat better and exercise more, I have been all about the binge in 2016. Binge-watching, that is. Fine, sometimes there’s a lot of popcorn involved, too. I’ve considered the start of this year an atonement for missing and/or being late to catch up on some shows I’ve been wanting to watch for a while now. So far this year I’ve caught up on: “Transparent” Season 2, “Master of None” Season 1, “Making a Murderer,” “How to Get Away with Murder” Season 1 & half of 2 and “The Great British Bake-Off – whichever season of that is currently streaming on Netflix. And I can honestly say I’ve super enjoyed them all.
Obviously, they’re wildly different despite “Murder” being in the title of two of the shows. Though, bonus points for “Transparent,” “Master of None,” “How to Get Away with Murder” and “The Great British Bake-Off” all having some super gay elements. So, huzzah for being lazy and watching TV in 2016. I’ll probably get into what I like specifically about some of these shows in more detail in later posts. But for now I just wanted to give a shout out to all this shows. Of course now these leaves me in a quandary. What to watch next? I’m thinking “Sense8.” I know, I know – like I said, I’m atoning. Happy weekend, all.
p.s. I have already caught up on "The 100" seasons 1-2, though am admittedly behind on season 3.
Well, never mind. Looks like they aren’t making that Lesbian Barbie after all. Mattel has been replying to fans inquiring about when they could buy an Abby Wambach Barbie by saying it isn’t going to be available for purchase. Instead they are saying it was a “a one-of-a-kind doll created for Abby.” Gee, I wonder if Abby knew that. Because she seemed pretty excited about the prospect of giving people who don’t think the current dolls reflect how they feel “another option.” I doubt she would have said that if she knew this was the only one just for her.
But, hey, that’s cool. I get it. So essentially Mattel wanted all the goodwill of introducing an Abby Wambach Barbie, without ever having to actually produce an Abby Wambach Barbie. Cool, cool. We don’t mind being used just for show. Please feel free to reap the benefits of seeming inclusive without actually being inclusive. We don’t mind one bit. Not one tiny little bit.
Yeah, fuck that noise. I knew there was a reason I was a Star Wars Action Figure girl instead. I knew it.
Inspired by the ultimately respectful comments conversation (I know, it’s almost an oxymoron) on my “Jessica Jones” recap today, here is a little love for BFFs Jessica and Trish. They are one of my favorite friendships on TV today, period. Fierce, loyal, tender, unbreakable. While I’ll never apologize for hoping and pushing for more queer female couples and representation on television and in entertainment, I also clearly celebrate what these two ladies have.
p.s. Spoilery stuff in the video, so if you haven’t watched the whole series probably don’t watch until the end.
I have had the very good fortune of interviewing Anna Silk four times now. She had been, as I’ve said before, really lovely each time. You can read the previous one, two and three times here. This most recent fourth time was most likely the last time I’ll interview her about “Lost Girl,” which is bittersweet for sure. You can read that interview today over at AfterEllen.
Now, I’ve been writing about pop culture for a long time now and I can unequivocally say it’s a rare and wonderful treat to have a star who is as open and accessible as Anna has been throughout the course of “Lost Girl.” In short, we’re lucky to have had her for as long as we did.
Just a reminder, this is the lovely, lovely, lovely video message she sent to fans when “Lost Girl” was canceled. Come on, that’s a class act.
Oh, Anna. We will miss you so, so much. And those tank tops. Siiigh.
Look, I was never a Barbie girl. Growing up I had exactly two – Malibu Barbie and Malibu Ken. How I ended up with the least clothed of all the Barbies is beyond me. So half of my playtime with them was spent fashioning clothing out of Kleenex and Scotch tape. Also, Jesus Christ, what the fuck was wrong with her feet? To be perfectly honest, I was a Star Wars action figure girl. And since Barbie towered over those guys, she only came in handy when they were under hostile attack from an Amazonian race.
Still none of my contrarian childhood playtime nostalgia in any way dampens my excitement about what’s happening right now with the plastic toymaker. Because right now there’s an Abby Wambach Barbie. Obviously, none of this negates the unrealistic expectations that decades of physically impossible body proportions have wreaked on girls and women as a whole. But for one of the most popular toy brands in the world to create a doll in the likeness of an out lesbian athlete with an obvious alternative lifestyle haircut? Come on, that’s a Big Fucking Deal, Joe Biden. So huzzah for the first out lesbian Barbie (I mean, we all had our suspicious about Skipper, but still).
Sadly, you probably won’t find Abby Wambach Barbie on store shelves near you soon. She appears to be part of the “Shero Collection,” which was first released last year and included Ava Duvernay, Emmy Rossum and Kristin Chenoweth dolls. While those dolls were sold commercially, it appears it was in rather limited number as part of their adult collectibles line. So whenever Abby does go on sale, you’d better get your gaymo Barbie quick.
As Abby helped introduce the doll earlier this week at the Makers conference, it was an unmistakably awesome moment for little girls who maybe didn’t quite fit into the standard Barbie mold. Like Abby said herself at the unveiling, “Maybe if our doll doesn’t look exactly as you feel, here is another option.” Another option, indeed. Happy weekend, all.
EDIT: Fuck, shit, damn. It looks like Mattel is NOT making the Abby Wambach Barbie available for purchase. It was a "one-of-a-kind" doll created just for Abby herself. Wow, so basically they just wanted the publicity of being gay-inclusive without actually being gay inclusive. NOT COOL.
I will stop posting about Cate Blanchett when she stops being delightful. So, in other words, nope - not yet. Still delightful. And bendy - soooooo bendy.
Guess what? Tomorrow I have an interview with the always lovely Anna Silk tomorrow morning. We’ll be talking about the final few episodes of “Lost Girl,” which began airing this week on Syfy. I know many of you have already seen the series – thanks to your friends in Canada/The Internet. So I’m opening the interview up and taking your questions for Anna. Whether you’ve seen the final episodes, whether you’re watching them for the first time. All questions will be accepted. I’ll try to get as many answered as I can, because after all we’re all just fans together. And this is a way for you to also thank her for five years of being, well, just lovely. Pitch me your questions below. I’ll take them until 9 AM Thursday morning (Pacific Time). Ask away, faebians.
Congratulations! We made it through the first actual real human voting of the 2016 presidential election. Only nine more months of this shit, America. Yeah, I think that deserves a picture of Cate Blanchett in a white shirt and suspenders, don’t you? Well, now that we’re all agreed on that, I hope we can keep on agreeing on some other things. Like that I am as thrilled that Donald Trump lost as I am horrified that Ted Cruz won. That, kittens, is your classic lose-lose scenario. On the other side, I’m thrilled Hillary won, and not horrified by Bernie’s showing. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I like Bernie. I just like Hillary more. And I very, very much want her to be president. So that’s that. But, again, let’s focus on the important issues here – and that is Cate in those suspenders.
p.s. I will announce the winner of the "Freeheld" Blu-Ray a little later today, so watch this space. What? You know you want another excuse to come ogle Cate.
p.s.s. Congrats to btvsobsessed623 who is the winner of the Freeheld Blu-Ray. Check your email, friend.
Do you know how I knew (aside from having already seen her on “The Big Gay Sketch Show”) that Kate McKinnon was going to be a big star? Because on her very first episode as a cast member of “Saturday Night Live,” back in 2012, she delivered like bananas on this sketch. This, to this day, is one of my favorite SNL sketches of all time. Yes, all time. I lump it in with stuff from the early casts and stuff from Tine Fey and Amy Poehler. It’s that funny. In fact, just thinking about it sometimes makes me giggle. Now, what’s better than that for yet another damn Monday? Enjoy the shiny, glossy goodness. Refrigerator!
