Drama

No, not with me.

This...


David LaChapelle can make anyone look dragilicous!

Blame It On The Boogie

There's nothing like losing yourself in the music, moving to the beat, swaying to the rhythm and generally having a gay old time on the dancefloor...until your back aches the next day.

Yes, I have begun to suffer from boogie backaches. Tragedy.

Maybe it's the way I go at it, maybe it's the thrill of a challenge (how low can you go, baby) or maybe when you're dancing on the podium (ok, so maybe they're just speakers but hey, they were raised and the music was good) and your friends are egging you on, you just go with the flow.

And went I did. It's Monday, and my back still hurts. I'll live to shake it another weekend.

Watching this took my mind off the pain...



US Americans...love 'em!

Shiny & New

So a new song by Mrs Ritchie's been 'leaked'. Have a listen.

This is a tough one for me. I'm sure it'll grow on me but for now, my official response is "And then?", not that I won't be shaking what my momma gave me to this.

How about you? You likey?

Deja Ewww

When I moved to KL, one of the things I had to contend with, besides the logistics of uprooting my base to a new city, was unfinished business with R.

R was a fella I had met years ago, and then lost touch with, and then met again a few months before I left HK. It was a random hook-up of sorts, tinged with a hint of history (if you can even call it that), but suffice to say that it was familiar, it was comfortable and with the attendant stress of the move, he was a welcome respite.

And then it all went pear-shaped, what with unreturned phone calls and unanswered text messages, and just a general sense of WTF. It was a bit much to deal with, and it didn't help that he stood me up for dinner on my last night in HK.

I eventually let it go. What can I say, I like to give people I care about many chances to prove me wrong. That was 5 years ago, and time has helped us settle into a tentative, cordial 'friendship' of sorts.

So I was in HK this past weekend and had arranged to meet R for drinks. Which we did at the club, but R was busy with a new dancing partner who he was getting super chummy with on the dancefloor. I was too busy catching up with my mates at the bar to bother.

At about 4am, R comes stumbling to me, saying he thought his drink might have been spiked and that he wasn't feeling well. He asked me to help him home. Given that I was about to head back to my hotel room anyway, I obliged.

After a short cab ride, a bit of him upchucking on the side of the road and lots of stumbling, we were in his apartment. Then he asked me to help him undress, which I did, cos I'm a good person and he was genuinely out of it.

I didn't expect him to then snog me and start to generally make out because all I was thinking was "You've just thrown up and you've not washed your mouth!"

We eventually fell asleep but I woke up with a horrible cramp on my right arm where R had laid his head and fallen into a deep sleep. I had about 3 hours to clean up and pack to catch my flight, so I got up and made my way out of his apartment. But not before I noticed that I was covered in cat hair (his Persian's) and that there was tobacco all over his bed.

What a difference 5 years can make. Or rather, not.

Her Name Is Nicole...and his is Clay...

The lead Pussycat Doll, Nicole Scherzinger has a solo album out October 16, and her first solo video has hit the web. It's hot. In parts.



The dancing seems very so-so, which is odd given that Nicole has the moves.

There's also a 'leaked' second track called Super Villain. Not sure about this one yet, but I'm sure it'll grow on me.


The album cover is, in my opinion, ech.


Nicole's gonna be on every magazine cover in the weeks to come...but will this make it to my pop-whorific Top 10 of 2007?

And even though Clay Aiken meant this to be funny, it just turned out...well, have a look at the clips of his covers of Like A Virgin...


...and SexyBack.


Happy Monday.

The Kylie X Project

So Ms Minogue will return with a new album just in time for Christmas and it's rumoured to be titled "Kylie X".

My other fave music blog has a report on the so-called 'leaked' tracks. Interesting, if it's true.

No new music but Kylie's also contributed vocals to UK buzz act Just Jack's US version of his current album. The song is called "I Talk Too Much", and you can stream it here!

ps: picture courtesy of H&M, and no, people it's not the new album cover...unless I'm totally psychic!

The Numbers Game

I'm back in HK for a few days for work meetings, and got to spend some quality time with the people in HQ. Which is always a good thing.

I also got the chance to attend the Gwen Stefani concert - cute, nice but it needed to be fine-tuned as a show. Gwen so needs to work with a cool new producer besides Pharrell Williams on her next project...oh wait, she's returning with No Doubt next year with a new album...but I digress.

HK's made me feel as welcome as I've always felt and this time around, I'm actually making time to meet friends who I've long rescheduled and put off catching up with. No more excuses. Time to complete the circle, so to speak.

Lessons from the land of Suess and the adventures in June are interestingly paying dividends, both in the present and I think it'll be safe to say, over the next few months too.

In, Out & Everywhere

Bit of an intense week, but I just wanted to share something with you cos I've been thinking about this all night.

American TV legend Merv Griffin died a few days after losing his battle with prostate cancer. He was 82 and will be remembered for hosting one of the TV's longest-running talk shows, and also for being the man behind Wheel Of Fortune & Jeopardy. He was well-respected, much-loved and he leaves behind a personal fortune that some reports have estimated to be in the tens of billions.

Then I came across a report from writer/commentator/activist Michelangelo Signorile who wrote on this blog about Merv Griffin's Dangerous Closet. I had also not known about the palimony and sexual harassment lawsuits filed against Mr Griffin in 1991. Perhaps the news wasn't relevant for non-Americans, or maybe this had happened before the internet made nothing secret, but I had no knowledge of these 'scandals'.

I have mixed feelings about what Mr Signorile had written. While it's not ethical to speak ill of the dead, he was making a valid point with regards to an individual's perceived failure to do good despite their wealth and access to power.

And the coming out and homophobia bit? I don't know. I think it's wrong to out people who have their reasons for keeping a tight lid on their sexual lives. But I think it's also important to know that living honestly and doing your part can be the most empowering thing anyone can do, while still maintaining the right to privacy. Not that it's the easiest thing to do, of course.

Cake, Sweat & Tears

It was a Saturday like no other I've had in a long, long time. It started with tears at 10am, and ended with tears at 4am.

I logged onto Stephen's blog in the morning and saw his beautiful pictures of Leh that he had painstakingly uploaded on a dial-up connection, and for reasons that I will leave to you to speculate, I started tearing up.

The photos were really beautiful and I was really happy that Stephen's travel plans on paper had become real. I was very proud of my friend that he achieved what he had set out to do on this leg of his journey back to India.

I then went on (almost non-stop) to get a haircut, meet a friend for lunch, buy a gift for another friend's birthday party I was attending later, squeeze in a sweaty workout at the gym, meet another friend for a post-workout coffee, buy a new shirt (I so heart Ted Baker!), get my groceries, rush home to shower and change and then head back out to the birthday dinner.

Edwin's 33rd birthday party was a hoot and a half and the peanut-butter cake was out of this world! After dinner, we headed on to Zeta Bar, which was home to a so-so cover band and a super-odd assortment of patrons. But we didn't care and proceeded to have our own party in our corner, hamming it up for Facebook pictures and other private galleries.

I left the party around midnight to meet with a friend who was going through his own painful drama: rejection, denial, failure to comprehend and just a feeling of being lost and not knowing how he was ever gonna get out of his depression and hurt - he was in deep. I was also a bit concerned that he was trying to be strong and was keeping it all bottled in.

It was good to see him cry and just come to terms with his situation. Or at the very least, begin to let the hurt move him along in the recovery process, instead of shutting him down numb. It also gave me some perspective on where I stood in terms of how I had dealt with stuff when I was his age, and where I am now, and one thing remains the same - hurt is hurt.

Like i said, it was a Saturday like no other I've had in a long, long time.

SingFest Summary

I'm back in Singapore to attend the inaugural SingFest, a 2-day concert that features an eclectic mix of artists, with Cyndi Lauper & the Pet Shop Boys being my personal faves.

Before I forget it all (it's been 24 hours, and I've been sitting out the effects of a big nite after the concert) but Cyndi Lauper was way cool (love her!) and the Pet Shop Boys - oh my god, can 2 fellas past 40 be any cooler?! They closed the 1st day's concert at around 1:30am, and even though I was sweat-drenched and knackered, it was such a good show, despite Sugar Ray and (I kid you not) the Eye Candy Twins.

Here are the pictures, courtesy of Alexis' fan-cam:

Cyndi's True Colors stance...

On the guitar for All Through The Night

Neil & Chris - fab!

The hunkiest back-up singers, ever!

I'm enjoying my visits to Singapore more and more. I'm sure the universe is trying to tell me something but the music's way too loud to hear anything else...

The Butterfly Effect?

A week ago, my friend Stevie was filmed doing his best karaoke version of the infectious tween hoochie anthem "Lipgloss". That incriminating footage was posted on Facebook and I was transfixed. For some reason, I had never heard of the song - or maybe it was Stevie's ultra-hoochified version that threw me - but I couldn't get Lipgloss out of my head.

Stevie quickly saw to it that I had all the info I needed, and in 7 short days, I've become addicted to this silly song, and I can't wait to get in on the channel. Here's the original -


I'm grateful to be able to count Stevie as one of my closest and dearest friends. Besides being a good sounding board, he's also a great influence and barometer on what's in, what's now, what's poptastic and beyond. A solid review or pitch from Stevie always leads me to interesting new discoveries, which I then pass on and that eventually becomes an altogether new experience for a new group of people, including the channel's viewers.

So here's a shout-out to you, Mr Wong - may our friendship, like your fantastic music blog, continue to grow from strength to strength, you butterfly.

And in sorta related news, 8 weeks after my eventful Bali trip, I bought myself a bicycle. Yup, I finally did it. I've not broken or sprained anything and I'm struggling with balance, and the pedals slapping against my shins is not a good feeling. Standby for pictures. Of the bike, not my shins, mind you.

PS: For the 1st time in my life, a bird pooped onto my lunch at an outdoor restaurant.

SingapoReality

So I'm back in Singapore for 3 days, checking out all the indie music action at Baybeats, and experiencing the theatrical Mercury Rev, and catching up with my lovely bunch of friends here.

The powers-that-be are working overtime to make Singapore a lot more vibrant and loose than the uptight city I left in December 1995. And a friend from my HK posse has upped and made Singapore his base - welcome to town, Andrew!

It's been an altogether fun weekend, what with the usual random bits thrown in, and it's making me rethink if this could be the place for me to reconnect with and eventually come back to. It's been almost 12 years, and lots have happened since then, including Singapore's very first Pride celebrations, IndigNation. Like I said, a lot has happened.

And then I came across a report on how a scheduled lecture by a Canadian professor on anti-gay laws, was banned by the authorities. The reason given for this was that it was "...contrary to public interest...". Right...

I'll leave you with a clip of Sir Ian McKellen, who was in Singapore not too long ago, being interviewed on a morning news program and being oh-so 'controversial'. Enjoy!

Fumbling Towards Me

It's been about a month since I've returned from my unscheduled and unexpected trips to Bali, Koh Samui & Penang. Lots have happened since then, what with the return to routine and coming to terms with a revived awareness and feelings that were stirred up when I had time just for me and nothing else.

Initially, I had thought that the reconnection was purely within, and to a certain extent, that was true. Dealing with where I was, what I was feeling, recognizing what I wanted and learning that as private as I thought I was, I am a very public mourner. It's reinforced what I knew about myself - if I feel it, it will show and they will know.

For someone who can fake it real when I have to, I fake it bad when it comes to me. I have to remind myself that that's a good thing.

The past couple of weeks have also allowed me to see more clearly who I have in my family of friends, from Damansara to Dharamsala. And that there is love. Lots of it. And that's an even better thing.

Now if only I can get some proper sleep...