It's the wee hours of September and Buddy's host a birthday drag party show for their own Annie. I've been to a couple of long drag shows, but this one has to take the trophy for the longest. I can't even tell which Annie is which, since Brad and Chris both dress up like Annie too. The lineup of performers is endless. But through all the celebration, some of the best drag numbers are seen in this city. Vonda Dupoint's theatrical entrance and wild getup causes a ruckus. Mia Fellow's mud speared performance is a showstopper. And the group of drag queens consisting of my drag great grandmother Donatella Nyone, Vonda Dupoint, Mia Fellow, Ashely Love, my drag great great grandmother Godiva and bartender Chris put on a hilarious laughfest with a Vagina Monlogue sequel. And Yoko Oh-No is the host and closes the show with a Japanese number. Gotta give the girl props, even though she isn't Asian.
I completely am ignorant about Alberta's Centennial Celebration. With my hectic work schedule and working shifts around the clock, I am unaware that September 1st is Alberta's 100th birthday and that a big fireworks display is in the works. My supervisor at work allows us to leave 15 minutes early so that we can catch the fieworks. Happy Birthday Alberta!
On my way home on the LRT, it is packed. Not as packed as I've seen it before, namely in 1997 when I was sardined in after the U2 concerts. Nevertheless there is a crowd. I find it that young people aren't as respectful of their elders nowadays. If there is an elderly person, or one with a child, one better offer a seat to them. I couldn't believe that nobody else offered his seat to less mobile persons. Maybe I'm just riding my high horse, but I was taught at an early age to be that considerate and kind. Let's go Canada...we're a better people than that.
Mariah Carey has made chart history time after time in 2005. Once again she does it again. Already tops among female artists with 16 Billboard number ones, Carey becomes the first female artist to lock down the number one and two positions, with her mega-hit "We Belong Together" marking its 14th week atop the Billboard Hot 100 and her new single, "Shake It Off," right behind. "Shake It Off" is the Hot 100's greatest gainer in airplay for the fourth out of fifth weeks and is on the verge of overtaking "We Belong Together" at #1. It will be the first time a female artist will replace herself in the top position.
"We Belong Together" also goes into a 5-way tie for second longest #1 on the Hot 100. Mariah Carey still owns the record with Boyz II Men for "One
Sweet Day," which spent 16 weeks on top. "We Belong Together" must have spent more weeks at #1 on Billboard charts than any other single in history.
Where has the time flown by? Alana begins her first day of school. Just half a day of kindergarten in the morning, then the school bus picks her up again and drops her off at her daycare.
Finally it has happened. Congratulations. It's about freaking time. Kelly & Sorina are in town for the Labor Day weekend. We meet up at Starbucks on Whyte and we see Sorina in all her pregnant glory. I'm so excited I'm going to be an uncle this coming January. On Sunday, Fung has a BBQ/poker game at his place in some imaginary 9th Avenue. I believe it's in Devon, or Leduc, or one of the satellite communities. Judd is a sport and ends up barbequing all the food. Linda and Judd brought with them vegetables so this time the meal isn't all meat. The Texas Hold 'Em game is long. But in the end and after a good fight from myself (I finish third), Ray takes down Trevor to win the pot. Sorina, Judd and Linda play Rook instead. Apparently they have other business to discuss.
The show of the year in Edmonton is the Pearl Jam concert. I haven't seen such a white bred concert in my life. But I'm glad I'm there to add color to the sea of whiteness. The t-shirts sizes are quickly gone and I have to settle for my third and fourth choices. The show is loud and rocking with over 2 hours of the best band of the 90's. My seat is behind the stage and it is fairly decent. Eddie Vedder pays a lot of attention to us. After the concert, I come home to download the live bootleg of the show. Already at the forefront of issuing authorized "live bootlegs" of its shows, Pearl Jam launches its own digital download store via its official Web site. Hours after their completion, full concerts from the group's fall tour will be available for $9.99 as 192K MP3s, which are nearly 50% higher than the standard bit rate. Each show will feature special artwork; a slide show with photos from the performance will run while the files download. As with past incarnations of the bootlegs, which were initially available only on CD, the material will be mixed on the fly by longtime Pearl Jam engineer Brett Eliason. Eliason's company, Basecamp Productions, also developed the software to power the download store.
It sometimes is difficult whether to buy a DVD or not. Especially with TV DVD's. Considering the retail price of over $50, is "Lost" something I will
watch over and over again? Or is it more feasible for me to download the shows off the Internet? In the end, I do pick up the DVD. I guess my DVD collection
is more important than saving money. Within 5 days, I watch the complete first season. That's 20 hours during one of my busiest weeks working. It'a amazing
how much sleep I go without and how I can squeeze episodes in between jobs.
The 2005 Lady of Soul Awards awards Mariah for "Best Solo R&B/Soul Single: We Belong Together" and "Best R&B/Soul Album, Solo: The Emancipation of Mimi." The 10th Annual Lady of Soul Awards is taped at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, CA. on Wednesday, September 7th, 2005 and broadcast in first-run, national syndication in a window starting September 17th through September 24th, 2005. Mariah was not present though.
Jostein's annual art show is once again at the Front Gallery. But after a long week of work and watching too much of "Lost," I inadvertently forget my camera in my car and don't take any pictures. I really disappoint Les.
A quick note on "Shelter From the Storm,'' the networks' big telethon for the victims of Hurricane Katrina. It is a class act, from Randy Newman doing "Louisiana 1927'' to Dr. John filling in for Fats Domino on "Walkin' to New Orleans.'' You got some sharp performances from Mariah Carey's "Fly Like A Bird," Paul Simon singing "Take Me to the Mardi Gras'' with a Dixieland jazz band and U2 offering a gospel-tinged version of "One'' with Mary J. Blige. Most of all you got a lot of emotion for a good cause.
Jordan and I shop. First I need my Sunday fixing of McDonald's Quarter Pounder With Cheese Meal. Being the health conscious guy that I am, I have a salad instead of fries. Then we're off to Best Buy for the Preferred Customer sale, although they are handing out 10% off coupons to everyone at the door. I finally pick up the Simpsons Complete 6th Season on the day of the launch of the 17th season of the animated series on Fox TV. After we browse through the racks of Mexx and I end up buying a wardrobe of clothes. It's a fun day although I have a headache.
September 11 marks the 17th season premiere of "The Simpsons." The secret of The Simpsons - and other seemingly inexhaustible cultural franchises such as
James Bond and soap operas - is devastatingly simple. Unlike real life, in which inevitably we grow older, these characters do not change in any meaningful
way even as the world around them changes. In the episode titled "Bonfire of the Manatees," Marge, outraged after discovering Homer allows Fat Tony to film
a "gentlemen's" film in their living room in compensation for his football gambling debt, flees, leaving Homer with the kids. While on her journey of
self-discovery, Marge befriends Caleb Thorn (guest-voice Alec Baldwin in his second role), an attractive marine biologist on a quest to save not only the
endangered manatee, but Marge from a husband who doesn't seem to appreciate her.
U2 play new songs as Fall dates get off to a flyer in Canada. Eighteen thousand Canadians got the third leg of Vertigo '05 off to a deafening start at Toronto's Air Canada Centre. After a month away, the band appears rejuvenated and a blistering 23-song set suggests the Fall dates are going to be among the best of the whole year. "Hello, hello...Toronto!" announces Bono as the set opens with "Vertigo" and races into the familiar quartet of "I Will Follow," "Electric Co.," "Elevation" and "Beautiful Day." The first surprise came with the opening chords of "In A Little While," making its return to the stage for the first time since the Elevation Tour. "We haven't played that in a little while...it's fair to say!" Almost every song receives an ovation as Toronto is delighted to have U2 back. "Don't get too big for your boots Toronto!" joked Bono. "With your film festival and all, don't forget your rock'n'roll. Tonight this is a rock'n'roll festival." Later the other surprise is the arrival of "Fast Cars," a track that many fans had never heard before - and one, as Bono admits, the band has never played live. "I'm going nowhere where I am it is a lot of fun. They're in the desert to dismantle an atomic bomb. I watch them channel hop, check the stocks, I'm in detox, I want the lot of what you've got if what you've got can make this stop..."
Toronto Setlist: Vertigo / I will follow / Electric Co. / Elevation / Beautiful Day / In a little while / Still haven't found what I'm looking for / City of Blinding Lights / Miracle Drug / Sometimes you can't make it on your own / Love & Peace or else / Miss Sarajevo / Pride (in the name of love) / Where the streets have no name / One / Zoo Station / The Fly / With or Without You / All because of you / Fast Cars / Yahweh / "40"
Unfortunately Mariah does not replace "We Belong Together" at #1 with "Shake It Off." "Shake" remains at #2 as Kanye West's "Gold Digger" jumps 19-1, mostly based on a record amount of digital downloads. Kanye's live on-air critique of George Bush also help propel his sales of both "Late Registration" and his single.
Mariah has had a long and memorable history with the World Music Awards. The World Music Awards were founded in 1989 as an international awards show that
annually honors recording artists based on their worldwide sales figures, which are provided by the various organizations including record companies and the
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). The awards show is conducted under the patronage of H.S.H. Prince Albert of Monaco, Monte-Carlo.
Until 2003 the show was staged in Monte Carlo. The 2004 show took place in Las Vegas and the 2005 show is staged at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre. Mariah Carey
has won the most 'World Music Awards' for a female artist (twelve awards), second only to Michael Jackson with fourteen. The Awards ceremony was held August
31st and is broadcast September 13th on ABC. Mariah wins World's Best Pop Female Artist and World's Best R&B Artist. In addition, Mariah is honored with the
award for Best Female Entertainer Of The Year and Best Selling Single. Mariah now has 16 World Music Awards, more than any other artist! Mimi also performs
a hot rendition of "Shake It Off." U2 also wins the World Music Award for World's Best Selling Rock Artist.
With its witty dialogue, sophisticated character development, and classic slapstick situations, FRASIER is a prime example of television comedy at its
finest. Featuring guest appearances by Christine Baranski, Woody Harrelson, and Teri Hatcher, this collection presents all 23 episodes of the series' Emmy
Award-winning sixth season--including the classic episode "Merry Christmas, Mrs. Moskowitz," which finds Frasier pretending to be Jewish in order to win
over his new girlfriend's mother.
Another one bites the dust. My ex messages me five hours before the tribute show and asks if I want to accompany him. Being who I am, I'm not one to miss or concert, or pass up a free cocnert. Steve knows how much I'll appreciate a concert more than most others. But it's a bit strange to be hanging out with him in just as friends. This is the first time we do something after we broke up. The night of "Queen - It's a Kinda Magic" is a pretty special thing. I haven't been to many tribute shows, but being that Freddie Mercury is dead, this show is pretty damn good. I know that the actual band Queen will start touring with a new lead singer, but it just won't be the same. This show begins a bit slow, but the crowd is on its feets several times, including dancing in the aisles for "Crazy Little Thing Called Love." Several showstoppers included "You're My Best Friend," "Love of my Life," "Somebody To Love," and the Queen classics "We Will Rock You," "We Are The Champions" and "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Melissa O'Neil, a 17-year-old powerhouse from Calgary who won over fans with her emotional vocals and poised stage presence, is the latest Canadian Idol.
Ms. O'Neil embraces runner-up Rex Goudie of Burlington, Nfld. as host Ben Mulroney declares her the winner of the televised singing contest. "Oh my God,
thank you so much," Ms. O'Neil ecstatically yells, throwing a shout-out to her hometown. "Calgary, yes! Calgary! Canada, thank you so much!" She's the first
woman to take the Canadian Idol crown. The athletic teen initially auditioned for the show straight from playing in a basketball game. She also has a passion
for rugby. During the competition, she occasionally found herself in danger of being voted off, at one point forgetting the words to a song. She always
recovered, however, receiving praise from the judges for exuding a maturity beyond her years. In other singing news, or shall I say "singers who try to
sing" news, Britney Spears gives birth to a baby boy. Well she didn't give birth but rather opts to have a Caesarian section.
It must be the full moon or something. Friday night before the Harvest Moon, I'm out at Buddy's. None of my buddy's have shown up but Scottie the hottie
is there and we discuss going to hockey games. We chat all night till the stripper arrives. Then Patrick finally does show up. But Scott and I end up
leaving. He crashes at my place looking at three of my many photo albums. He shows a genuine interest in my photography and travels. Hopefully he'll end
up modelling for me, or even better yet, go on one of my muscial-filled trips. In the morning we race to Ticketmaster but there's already a line up. It's
great to see that the Edmontonians are craving for NHL hockey. I drop Scott off and then I have to start the day with my girl Alana.
The dentist recently pulled out Allana's baby teeth. She's adorable without her front teeth. We end up at Holt Renfrew because I'm out of face wash, and my skin has been out of sorts lately. I end up spending way too much on the stuff and I feel like such a metereosexual. The saleslady even asks if Allana is mixed, and mentions that she's cuter than this Chinese star who she resembles. I take Allana to visit Alana at Panache. Little Alana ends up painting some flowers for Lany. Lany's busy with a customer and the phone rings. I end up answering and it's Rose who is away on vacation. And then I help out a customer. Almost seems like I never left. We leave and Allana is on a mission. Ever since the start of kindergarten, she has books to read. And those books need to fit in her backpack. The one my mother bought her isn't big enough. So we finally find a Hello Kitty bag which will suffice. Then Allana thought it would be nice to buy some Disney clothes and socks. I really have to stop spoiling her. I spoil myself by buying hockey tickets for October.
It's a Suede night of martinis and gin and tonics. Judd asks me to do a slideshow for him. I can't wait.
Reese Witherspoon's new movie "Just Like Heaven" does some heavenly business in its opening weekend. Ms. Witherspoon's love-from-beyond-the-grave romance
debuts with $16.5 million in box office receipts, enough to capture the top slot and help push overall weekend receipts higher than this time a year ago.
Happy Birthday goes out to Seattle Dan. Hope all is well in Seattle.
The Emmys awards "Lost" as Best Drama series and "Everybody Loves Raymond" wins for Best Comedy Series. Felicity Huffman defeats castmates Teri Hatcher and Marcia Cross for Best Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for "Desperate Housewives."
Allana tells her mother that she should ask me to buy her skincare products. Apparently Allana thinks she needs it to make herself more beautiful. I guess when she sees me buying way too many products in skincare, and seeing how beautiful I am, it's only natural for her to come to that conclusion.
September 20th is "Shake It Off" day on iTunes. Mimi releases her exclusive "Shake It Off Remix" featuring Jay-Z and Young Jeezy on the online musical
outlet. Even better yet is anyone who buys the digital track is illegible to enter a contest on mariahcarey.com to win dinner with Mariah. It turns out to
be a Mariah day as she leads the nominees for the American Music Awards with four nods for favorite pop and soul album as well as female singer in both
categories. Kelly Clarkson, 50 Cent and Green Day had three nominations each. The 33rd annual American Music Awards will be hosted by Cedric the Entertainer
on Nov. 22 at the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium during a three-hour ABC-TV special.
The new television season is in full swing. Maggie wins over Yvette on "Big Brother 6." JD Fortune becomes the new lead singer of INXS as revealed on
"Rock Star: INXS." The audience finally discovers what or who is in the hatch on "Lost" during the first few minutes of the second season premiere. It's a
man...but who is he? And why is he in the hatch? It's going to be a long season of more mysteries. "The Apprentice: Martha Stewart" debuts to low numbers.
The original Donald Trump "Apprentice" fairs only slightly better.
On Days Of Our Lives, Sami Brady walks down the aisle...again. This girl has been unlucky in love how many times? Will she marry Lucas Roberts? Or will the man that she drugged, Austin Roberts, and Lucas' brother and Sami's sister's former fiance, have something to stop the wedding. It turns out that Sami's archnemesis shows up at the wedding dressed up as Stan, Sami's alter ego. Yikes!
It's wet underwear contest at Buddy's. I end up going with my ex Steve. Sometimes it's not so great hanging out with exes. Trying to be friends is difficult. I wish him luck. Yohko Ohno hosts the wet underwear contest and she makes me be one of the sprayers. She wants me to prove how great of an Asian I am. I obviously finish spraying my water first, with my great forearms, and I win a T-shirt for a prize. I give it to Steve but he ends up losing it.
It's bad enough that I barely have enough closet space, but then when I can't find anything I want in my closet but search through my father's, then that's a completely different story. I do find a nicely-cut lined leather jacket in his closet. And it's the perfect accessory to make my outfit. When I go out to celebrate the Roost's 28th birthday, the oldest and longest-running gay club in Canada, I receive praise and compliments from my ensemble. It's quite stellar.
The Citadel Theatre 2005-2006 season begins with the play "Blithe Spirit." This year I am a third wheel as Dan and Angela have tickets with me. "Blithe
Spirit" is the story of a sophisticated couple, Charles and Ruth Condomine, who live rational and orderly lives in the English countryside. Charles, a
writer, is beginning a new novel. He has asked a local medium, Madame Arcati, to come to their home to conduct a seance as part of his research. In the midst
of the seance, things go terribly wrong. Elvira, Charles' first wife, returns from the other side. She is a ghost with a goal. Confusion reigns and the
household is turned on its ear as everyone, including Elvira, tries to take control of the situation. No one is spared Coward's dry wit in a show that flows
like a Viennese waltz: crisp, quick, elegant, stylish and full of breathtaking twists and turns. My high school for my first semester (Old Scona) did this
play wonderfully. The Citadel's production far exceeds those of amateur teenagers.
I drive my parents to the airport willingly and quickly. My parents are travelling for a month to China and Hong Kong. I wish they were going for better reasons, but my aunt (dad's sister) has breast cancer and my other aunt (mom's sister) is also sick. I wish my aunts the best of luck and better health.
After I leave the airport, I end up shopping at Ikea. I need red sheets after all. Then I also do more shopping at South Common. I end the day visiting Dirk, to retrieve my DVD he borrowed, and then I also visit Vanessa at her new condo. She's on the phone with her boyfriend Brian and he wants to talk to me. He teases me with his bucket full of Smurfs.
Mariah releases a new track titled "Don't Forget About Us" and it's HOT TAMALE! Listen to it first at AOL Music! This instant smash hit was produced by Jermaine Dupri and Mariah so you know it's worth a listen or two... or million!!
Sophie does another wonderful job with my hair. This time I only have two colors put in: blue and purple.
I meet Andrew online and finally the time has come to meet in person. First it's coffee at Gay Cup and then after we discover that we're both cute and not grotesquely ugly, we decide to have dinner. Both of us are indecisive, so picking a restaurant takes awhile. I finally decide on going to the new L'Azia in the northend because I have yet to see the design job Panache has done on it. Andrew loves the place and can't stop thanking me for bringing him there. We end the night at Buddy's watching the Girls Gone Wild drag show, which isn't the best of shows. Some straight guy invites Andrew over to drink with him and his girlfriends. Andrew says he's with me and I'm invited over. I feel a pang of jealousy as everyone finds Andrew so hot. I drop him off at his apartment, the building where Judd and I used to stay at. I can't wait to hang out with Andrew again.
September 29 is the season premiere of "Will & Grace." This will be the last season of the hit show and the premiere will be filmed live twice, once on each coast. I miss it because I have to work for the man. But it's not a waste of a night since it's half price night at the Globe. After a long, but successful, training sesssion, Rich, Christy and my supervisor PJ, down some suds.
, video games and other emerging media, network brass are now being
faced with an even more frightening scenario: many ardent television viewers are deciding to forego the first runs of even their most beloved shows, opting to
wait instead for their inevitable appearance on DVD, where they can be enjoyed uninterrupted by annoying ads, blaring promos, reruns and other vagaries of
modern televison viewing. September sees the releases of "Lost: Season 1" (Sept. 6), classic Jim Henson show "Fraggle Rock: Season 1" (Sept. 6), brilliant
comedy "Frasier: Season 6" (Sept. 13), young superhero "Smallville: Season 4" (Sept. 13), trampy and cult hit "Desperate Housewives: Season 1" (Sept. 20),
and reality show "Amazing Race: Season 1" (Sept 27).
