Across My Universe

It has been exactly 2 months since I last posted in my blog, why? probably becuase I was busy, maybe I ran out of words (hmmm yeah right!) sometimes we just need a break to accumulate lots of life events to plaster over the net.

First I have to comment on the movie I saw, Across The Universe, I don't want to call it a musical because that wouldn't exactly describe what I saw. To me it would be more of a musical reinterpretation of The Beatles' songbook. As you may have guessed by my eloquent and poetic definition, I LOVED this movie. To begin, you have the most adorable and sweet man playing the main character: Jude (Jim Sturgess). Some of you may know that I have a soft spot for deep and expressive eyes... add eyelashes for days and a sensual voice and you had me at "Close your eyes and I'll kiss you...."

Because the last few musical movie experiences had not been up to par with my expectations, I was anxious but cautious. This was one of those movies that captured me right from the first note coming out from his mouth. Musical magical experiences in movies are hard to come by, Moulin Rouge comes to mind. Each song was a mini video in itself, to point out my favorite on or ones is a task. T.V. Carpio did an exceptional job retooling and interpreting I want to hold your hand this set the tone for what would become a succession of amazing visuals and music. Two songs/visual combinations have to be mentioned in this blog.The ensemble's performance of Because, an incredible acapella arrangement that just makes your skin crawl, and the choreographed I want you (she is so heavy).

I've always liked Beatles' songs but this rendition of their art was true to the times they lived and the transition from romantic early-mid 60s to the revolutionary Vietnam era America was smooth and real. This is going to be a sure DVD purchase, I will second anyone who proposes a Broadway adaptation of this magical work.

No Hay Burro

A nice way to start the weekend is with this mulato brasileiro nicknamed Bandido.

He is obviously the object of the cameraman in this video clip whomever he might be, Thank You.
On Sunday I went with the boys to see Stardust, I admit I wanted to see it because of Michelle Pfeiffer. She is in my opinion an incredible actress that is not as appreciated as her work of art deserves. The last time I saw her in a worthwhile flick was in "What Lies Beneath". I was not disappointed. The movie was fun and not overly ambitious, with the right amount of subtle adult humour and eye candy. Prince Charming was one of those adorable brunettes that can pull off long hair.

But don't let those droopy eyes, furry chest, bitable lips,the "protect me" aura............... ehm... where was I? oh, don't let those qualities fool you, he is a up and coming actor that is also putting in jeopardy the long lasting position that Jake Gyllenhall has had in my "allowed to cheat with" list.

In general the whole ensemble was cohesive and fun with beautiful cinematography and enough fx to keep us die hard fantasy/scifi geeks interested.

Monday and Tuesday were days of remembrance, another anniversary of 9/11. So much has happened since then and at the same time so little has changed. I really try not to think much of it, every time I see documentaries and TV specials about that dark day emotions take a hold of me and cloud my judgement. I really think our nation and the world is ready for some real Hope and some sort of global reconciliation... how we will achieves this... I don't know but if History has taught us anything is that " No hay mal que dure 100 años, ni burro que lo aguante".

After 5 years of singing with the Gay Men's Chorus and besides all the drama that has come together with the musical commitment, I realized this Wednesday in rehearsal that this group of men and the institution per se is one of the main anchors of my sanity. It keeps me grounded with short term achievable goals and a group of friends/brothers that accepts me with all my quirks and personality traits (or at least they make me believe they do).

Second week of my working out at the Park with Les, I have increased the interval to 3 times a week.... I am loosing weight, I have more stamina and in general I think my endorphins levels have increased to an addicting level. Let's see if I can pull it off... for my birthday/Xmas concert I expect to have a Montreal '04 level of fitness.

Cambio y Fuera

Piropo

Pi-ro-po \pi-‘ro-po\n. pl-pos [Sp. Piropear]1. An amorous compliment 2: A flirtatious remark.

There are those words that are very hard to translate without them losing all of the impact and significance they have in it's original language. Piropo is one of them. In Latin culture there is a very common practice among men to compliment women with smart little poem like phrases. Women ( and gay men also) usually act nonchalantly towards these comments because it is the right way to react ( well bred people) but in most cases they just love it.

In American culture the closest thing we could find that has a similar appeal is the pick up line. Although the pick up line, as the name implies, has a defined purpose; the piropo does not. In context the piropo is just meant as a token of admiration of the beauty or sexiness of the "victim" and usually it is done in a public environment where there is an increased chance of not seeing the admired person ever again.

The reason for this blog entry is that this week as I was walking down the streets, sunglasses and ipod blasting Chayenne's Salomé and maybe I was sort of walking with the rhythm of the music- well this guy passes by me and says "It should be illegal for something this hot to be out in the streets with this heat wave"... I could only smile and feel refreshed that after all these years of cynicism and aloofness these kind of gestures totally make my day, what the heck it made my year.

With all this culture of sexual harassment and political correctness it bring hope back to life's routine to know that old fashioned courting and spontaneity is still alive ion the XXI century.

Sloppy Seconds

I saw this movie at home the other night, you know those nights when there is absolutely NOTHING to see on the stupid box. I thought it was time to grab one of my gay flicks from my "to see" list. There are some movies with the homo thematic that assume that just because it has man on man love scene we LGBT members should just run and see it. Well, we do. We do it for the same reasons we go see every single Broadway musical adaptation into movie, we buy every Cher, Xtina, Madonna and Kelly CD before listening the them.... to keep them coming.

Seriously, some of these movies don't even try, they just grab a bunch of hot straight actors who are "comfortable with their sexuality" that are hoping that they will be the next Jack Twist or Ennis Del Mar. This movie, Eating Out 2: Sloppy Seconds" (yes, a SEQUEL), is about this gay lonely average looking gay guy (American Idol alumni Jim Verraros) who is dumped by his "out of your league hot" boyfriend Marc (Brett Chuckerman, look at those eyes Daniel-pic #1). Of course he and his pair of nymphomaniac fag hags have the same art class.... and guess who is the male model for the day, sexually confused Troy (Marc Dapper- Sorry Matt he IS mine). To get into Troy's pant they join into a Coming In group of ex gays where they meet Octavio (Adrian Quiñones) and we have the trio of male hunkiness needed to make a gay flick...well, gay.

At the end it turns out that after making Marc jealous with Troy (and Troy discovering he is bisexual....ehmm yeah) Jim Verraros ends up with Marc and they live happily ever after. I would not call this the worst gay movie ever.... but definitely worth it if you have a friend who has the DVD because the pseudosex scene between Marc and Troy is really HOT, and I know about hot scenes on the screen. ;)

Ay Dios Mío!!!

Anyone who knows me can attest that I just love men in cloth. Repressed Catholic urges? My admiration for his willpower to be chaste? I wasn't abused by my Priest when I was a kid?

I came across this thought after going to Mass on Sunday with David, after a long absence from church, and seeing this advertisement for sexy priests calendar.

Going deeper into my Id I can probably discover that all these emotional symptoms of infatuation with unavailable men can be somehow explained by what my therapist told me 12 years ago: I had an incapacity to love.

It isn't as terrifying as it sounds, although nobody warned ME about that when he just splashed it at me. What we discovered together is this fear of being hurt and left alone. I create all these expectations that are so hard to fulfill. So, to avoid being disappointed, men who are unable to engage in a relationship (married, vows) are easy target for my affections. I don't have to worry about being hurt because it will never sublimate

beyond a crush or an affair. I've tried to let go of those impulses to pursue normal "healthy" flirtations. As expected, I loose interest. Now before y'all label me as an emotional stunted Hobbit, I have to mention that I have been in relationships, and very mature ones too. The problem is that as I grow older and " wiser" the list of Dos and Donts just increases leaving less space for spontaneous spur of the moment flings.

It could also be that THE person just hasn't shown up, I admire those who can just meet a guy and shackle up after 3 weeks. I am just waiting for someone who shows up with a dozen daisies at my doorstep ( and real flowers please... sorry you know who) and invites me to go to Ramona to see the shooting stars on a blanket and a thermos with coffee.

Until then, I'll just confess myself with Padre Patricio on the left.

ATWT 8-17-07: The K iss (Short Excerpt)

I don't watch Soap Operas but this was televised today... first teenage gay kiss in tv daytime history

Rufus Wainwright - Rules and Regulations: Closed Captioned

And my Rufus has a new video. His Melancholy is so sexy, I definitely dig that in guys.

Doh!!!

Last week I went to see The Simpsons Movie with Daniel and Mateo. I have been a fanatic of the show since I can remember. In Chile it was shown very very late at night because of the "adult" language. My fan status can be proven with the simpsonized picture of myself on the left done on a website call SimpsonizeMe.

There are few thing in life that can catch my attention beyond 90%. Actually, Matt said it the other day, I have the attention span of a humming bird. True, I can't deny it. Little to late to take Ritalin ( or maybe not). Well, I usually do multiple thing at a time while watching TV, but when The Simpsons are on I just wiggle my tail and sit with my puppy eyes watching the stupid box. Why? I think the main reason I enjoy it is of its subtle but in-your-face criticism of our society with multiple uses of pop culture references. Those obscure jokes that only the hardcore trivia junkies laugh at. Besides that I can relate so much with Lisa Simpson, the studious over achiever goody two-shoes that believes in the goodness of humanity and in eternal search of the "perfect boy".

I would normally get irritated by Homer's stupidity and laziness. Somehow he finds a way to make me empathize and take his side. I mean how can you get mad with someone who saves a pig from being slaughtered and makes up a song for him. Spider Pig...Spider Pig.

Homer is right, how foolish it is for someone to pay to see something he can see for free on tv.... but, isn't foolishness what makes us attractively human and not a cartoon?

We are ALL just Stardust...

Last weekend I went with Wes to see the movie Sunshine. I admit it was mainly because it had two things I enjoy in a big screen: Scifi and Chris Evans. To my surprise the movie had a very well woven plot with many philosophical messages. When you go see these type of movies you have to put the hardcore science aside and submerge yourself with the premise of the flick. The whole story happens 50 years in the future. Our Sun is "dying out" there is no apparent explanation for this as we all know the Sun will not die of natural reasons for another 5 billion years. So we are left with the idea that "something" happened maybe some sort of Q-Ball hit it.

What did strike me throughout the whole movie is how small and vulnerable we are compared to the immense space. Humans had to use all fissable material from earth to create these two stellar bombs with their respective ships. The bombs were the size of Manhattan and even that in stellar size is minuscule. This bomb has to be dropped into the Sun and "reignite" it. The meat of the movie relies on the journey and not on the mission per se. As we reach the climax of the story one of the character quotes Carl Segan and says "We Are All Just Stardust", I was amazed how this resonated to my Catholic self.

Sometimes I find spiritual/religious meanings in the most random places. Being an out gay man people assume I am just an atheist sex machine with no moral or spiritual compass. Maybe I do project that to make myself more "unreachable" and theoretically not prone to disappointments. On the other hand people who really know me can see how far from the truth that premise is.

As we watch the news and read the headlines about all the trivial things that happen around us I ponder on all the reason we find to compartmentalize ourselves; race, sexual orientation, nationality or political affiliation. In the end aren't we all made up of the same leftover molecules from millions of years ago. Maybe love is just that... you meet someone whose molecules come from a star that was orbiting the supernova your stardust came from and your gravities just want to get back together.

Girls Night Out

Last night a group of friends got together for a "girls night out"... It was one of the funniest gatherings I've had in a while. You know, when you don't have to worry about impressing the date or watching that you don't sound to aloof or to clingy. It was Yudi, Brent, Eric, Jeff and I. The conversation went from pop culture to men type. It always amazes me how different people have such diverse taste in men, in a sense it is comforting. I guess the real dilemma is that you have to find a guy that is your type AND at the same time YOU are his type.

After dinner we grabbed our asses and went to MO's to check out the crowd, we ran into many chorus divas line dancing their hairdos away. I have never line danced or 2 stepped or anything remotely close to white choreography. Well, they started teaching a new choreography and I said "why not" I grabbed Brent's hand and we all went to learn it. Wow, and I thought vogueing was hard... I never felt so "white" learning the new steps, next time I will not wear flip-flops and I will arrive at 6 to learn the moves beforehand. This is happening again, I am having a good time doing fun group stuff...Board games and spin the bottle are coming next.