Punk Smurf pens a bilingual blog

A couple of weeks ago AfterEllen.com ran an article on a movie called “The art of being straight” (the movie, in short, is a comedic drama about two college friends questioning their careers and sexuality in east Los Angeles). Read it here. The trailer looks interesting.

Apparently, Salon.com’s Andrew O’Hehir posted his review earlier today:

You have to hand it to writer, director and actor Jesse Rosen, who has managed to make his debut film, a pleasant but completely familiar post-collegiate, welcome-to-the-big-city indie comedy, into a minor news event. Barely feature length at 67 minutes, “The Art of Being Straight” follows Jon (Rosen), a 23-year-old with a Casanova reputation, to a new life in Los Angeles. He’s living with his standard-issue homophobic-dude roommates but working at an ad agency, where he gets hit on by his studly gay Latino boss (Johnny Ray Rodriguez). To his own surprise, Jon goes for it and pretty much digs it. But the next day he does the deed with that slutty chick who was diggin’ him at the pool hall, and … wait! Is he gay but overcompensating? Is he straight but foolin’ around? Or is there — gasp! — another possibility, somewhere between 100 percent hetero and full-on homo?

I don’t mean to be snide. OK, I do, a little: It just seems that every generation has to discover for itself that sexuality hardly ever fits all the way inside our preordained envelopes. (I am so immeasurably much older than Rosen that I came of age during the David Bowie era, when it was socially beneficial to pretend to be bisexual, especially when you weren’t.) The frankness and sincerity of “Art of Being Straight” is infectious, and Rosen gets some nice performances, especially from Rachel Castillo as Jon’s pot-smoking, lesbian college pal who’s feelin’ the unexpected hots for the hipster guy next door. But if you’re going to make the “bisexual movie,” it badly needs some actual sex appeal, which both includes the on-screen bodies and transcends them. This one is just bland and pretty after the fashion of so many L.A.-made indies; it could be a viable industry calling card, but it lacks the erotic undertow and cinematic verve of the mainstream TV series Rosen thinks he’s mocking. (Now playing in New York. Opens June 12 in Los Angeles, with other cities and DVD release to follow.)

Skunk Anansie is currently doing a greatest hits tour in Western part of Europe. They’re scheduled to play Paradiso in Amsterdam (NL) on November 8 - with ticket sales starting on May 30 (the day I drove down to see Bruce Springsteen headline Pinkpop festival on Saturday). With ticket offices closed on Bank Monday I tried getting tickets on Tuesday. I found out it was completely sold out. Darnit.

The next day I found out they added another date to the tour, November 9, with ticket sales starting today. I was supposed to try and get tickets, but I totally forgot about it. Until a few minutes ago. It’s too late to get tickets now, and with the ticket offices closed tomorrow I have to keep my fingers crossed and hope there will be tickets left on Monday.

UPDATE: Alas, the second date sold out very quickly, too

I’m counting down a week and a half till Montréal and Quebec City - before returning to the Maritimes. I’ve already decided to get a two-way bus ticket for the Montréal - Quebec City corridor as it’s way cheaper than getting there by train.
Today’s Globe and Mail ran an article on the horrific tragedy that happened last year, and it got me slightly on edge:

The scream that haunts the forgotten passengers of bus 1170

Ten months later, the witnesses of Tim McLean’s horrific murder aboard a Greyhound bus have lost the lives they had before.

Read the article here.

Even though I know I’ll be perfectly fine (I was so the last time), I can’t shake the feeling I need to be more vigilant this time. I know it’s crazy, and that I’m overreacting but combine that with the Air France plane vanishing on its way from Brazil to France… Did you know people are still alerted about the Mexican flu in Canada? (Half the new cases are in the province of Ontario.) Although the flu is the least of my concerns: I was in Hong Kong shortly after the height of the SARS pandemic.
Oh, the excitement!

Did you hear the sarcasm in that? Good.