Panda Week 2008: Dream Pandas

I don't know about you....but I'm sorta sad that Panda Week 2008 is over already. It seems to have just flown by with the blink of an eye.

There is no better way to finish Panda Week 2008 off than with a rousing rendition of Dreamgirls!



HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Michael is reading his "Judge of Election" manual to get ready for Tuesday. Illinois is forecasting an 85% turnout!

Panda Week 2008: It's Panda-licious!

Panda Week 2008 continues on as Panda Fausto takes on Fergie.

Due to problems of getting the video to Youtube click on the picture or HERE to go to the video.

You will not want to miss this performance.

If you miss the North Halsted Halloween Parade you'll be sorry that you did!  It kicks off at Belmont/Halsted at 7PM and snakes it's way up to Addison and then back to Roscoe where the ever-tasty Miss Foozie will host the evenings events.

See you at the Parade!

For more info: For a full listing of events check out the Halsted Halloween Site also visit the Feast of Fools and sign up for the #1 downloaded GLBT Podcast on iTunes.

 

Panda Week 2008 continues on with Michael Panda telling everyone what his name is NOT! http://ping.fm/csG1C

Panda Week 2008: That's Not My name

Oh my oh my, everything is better when it's a Panda!

Somehow I got tangled up with those crazy and wonderful boys over at the Feast of Fools and we turned ourselves into Pandas.  First it was that Annoying Asians Dance and then Marc as the wonderful Edit Piaf and now it's my turn:

If you don't know the Feast of Fools you really need to go over and check them out. Visit the Feast of Fools and sign up for the #1 downloaded GLBT Podcast on iTunes.

Michael as a panda- grrr!

Michael as a panda- grrr!
Originally uploaded by feastoffools

It's Panda Week 2008.........Don't I look F-I-E-R-C-E? LOL!!! Yeah as fierce as the cowardly lion.

If you're in Chicago you'd better be going to the Halsted Halloween Parade, it's gonna be off the hook this year and what a great way to kick off the weekend.

I'll look for you, but it might be easier for you to find 3 giant pandas!

We're watching A Charlie Brown Christmas - why was Charlie Brown bald, isn't he like 8 years old?!?

I'm so excited, I got my papers to be a Judge of Election yesterday!

Panda Week 2008 continues: Panda as Piaf

No introduction is needed as Marc Panda recreates Piaf!

OMG - I AM going to be a Judge of Election

Well I don't know if my rant worked (ha ha, I want to believe it did) but I received my Official Commission letter from the Board of Election Commissioners.

It was suspiciously postmarked October 25th, the same day as my post, I want to believe that someone read my rant and rushed my name to the top of the list....but alas, I know that it's just governmental bureaucracy.

But I'm excited now, because "Here comes da' Judge!"

See you on Election Day!

What are you doing for Halloween? I'm gonna be a Panda!

Guess what I'm going to be for Halloween? Done guessing?

I'm going as a Panda with Marc Felion and Fausto Fernos from The Feast of Fools. We had a "dry run" of the costumes and makeup yesterday and while we were at it we shot some video.

Check out this madness:

Oh My F'in God, you have got to see this video I made with the Feast of Fools boys! OUTRAGEOUS http://ping.fm/2weZx

Got a busy day scheduled today, going to a show with my friend Rick Aiello, then more films and a housewarming tonight.

It's a sad day today, it doesn't look as though I'm going to get to do my part for democracy. http://ping.fm/SFFfk

It's a sad day

I'm a little sad today. I'm not sad that the week is over and it's Friday. I'm not sad that I've been watching screener films from the Reeling Film Festival for the past two days. No, I'm sad because I don't think that I'm going to be a Judge of Election for this upcoming Federal Election and that the local Democratic Chairperson has let me down.

What's a Judge of Election you ask? A Judge of Election is that person that sits behind the table on Election day and helps you through the election process. I was a Judge for the 2000 election and I loved it. Not only are you doing your civic duty and getting to see the Election process first hand, you get to have the pride of saying that you were part of it.

Several months ago I applied to be a Judge of Election. The process has been changed recently and instead of applying directly to the Chicago Board of Elections you now have to submit your application through your local Democratic Representative, who just happens to be Carol Ronen here in Chicago. When I dropped off my application those months ago I was greeted with quizzical looks by the volunteer staff because they weren't sure what to do with it. But I had faith that it would get to the right place.

Now I don't know if it has or hasn't, but all I know is that the election is 12 days away and I have not received any kind of information regarding my application. Did it get to the Chicago Board of Election? Is it sitting on someone's desk? Was it tossed in the trash? Now mind you, I have been trying to follow up, but that's been a waste of time.

I don't have all of my timelines in order because I didn't think that I would need to know when I did something but here's sort of what I recall.

But I did "search" my Google Search history and somewhere around the end of August I searched for the Chicago Board of Elections and from there I printed out my application and dropped it off on my way home from work as Carol Ronens office is only a few short blocks from my house.

And then I waited......and waited.....and then waited some more. So then I decided to follow up with Carol's office, where the only thing I could do is leave a message, and then I left another message. Finally I decided to stop by and actually talk to someone, only to be met by clueless volunteers (not their fault, they were only volunteers) who promised that they would forward my details onto someone and have them give me a call back......and then I waited some more....
The last time I was a Judge of Election I was notified right away and I applied an an even later date because I had just moved to Chicago from Atlanta.

Then several weeks back on a Sunday evening I got a nice robo-call on my landline from Carol Ronen asking me to vote Democrat and then at the very end she said "If you need any help, call me." So I hung up the phone from her lovely robo-call and dialed the number that Carol just gave me and again I left another message saying how I was trying desperately to become a Judge of Election but hadn't heard anything yet.

I even stopped in at the offices again and spoke to another volunteer (clueles) who promised to pass my name and number onto someone that would call me back - never happened.
This week I called the Chicago Board of Elections again and got to speak to someone in the Judges Department, but the only thing I was told was "The Board is closed, if you don't receive notification in the mail this week then they couldn't place you."

So I'm sort of in a lurch because I don't know if my application was ever received and the local Democratic Chairperson won't even return my calls. I mean it's not like I was looking for donations or anything, I'm trying to HELP OUT IN THE PROCESS!!!!

All I can say is that I feel really let down by the whole thing, I've been excited about being part of the process of this wonderful and exciting election that we're about to go through and now I'm just gonna have to be a "regular voter" like everyone else. That really sucks!

I'd just like to say "Thanks" to Carol Ronen and all of her staff for doing nothing to help me try and contribute what I can to this campaign.....perhaps I should vote Republican this year, I know my family would like that!

I am pooped! Just got done watching 4 more films from Reeling Film Festival. Otto is fabulous!!!

Seriously - High School Musical

Ok, I'll be the first to admit that I have NO IDEA what this whole High School Musical thing is all about....but did I just hear correctly that there's a character in that show called Sharpay?

I thought this was a sharpei

....I'm really confused....so I guess Ashley Tisdale (ok, I just googled it) doesn't mind playing a character named after a dog.....so is she a bitch on the show? I don't know I've never seen it.

America's Next Top Model

I watched America's Next Top Model aka ANTM and I'm confused - is this a new season or are they re-running old shows?

When did ANTM get so freaking predicitible? I mean I know they caught their stride a few seasons ago when they started doing the same things, like the make over and the hair cuts, but they've gone overboard. But I can swear that tonights episode was so cliche.

There was the girl that got claustrophobic when she had to put the mask on, there was the girl that was "so sick that she couldn't go on" but did go on - and ended up puking on camer, and there was the diva fight. What's wrong with ANTM?

It seems as though the competitors have figured the game out as well. Tonight was the episode where they got to do their first Covergirl commercial...and honestly, almost all of them were really good. Which only tells me one thing - the girls have been practicing and they know what's coming down the road. If ANTM doesn't bother to change it's formula how much fun can the show really be? I mean what's the use of watching the exact same show every year only with a different cast of characters. If we're bored, imagine how bored the girls on the show must be.

At least the other reality tv shows shake things up by having different types of obstacles, games, and challenge events, but ANTM just doesn't want to let go of the past. I guess they figure that they can just use the same tired formula until EVERYONE in the world knows what it was. Perhaps the whole point of the show is to get everyone in America up to speed on what the show is all about so that everyone in America can enjoy the experience personally - like an Amusement ride.

Imagine going to Disney World and riding "It's a Small World" over and over and over again and expecting it to get better the more you watch it. That's what ANTM has turned into, a show that's exactly the same as it was the last time I watched it and the time before that....and the time before that.

I sort of imagine ANTM as one of those "Mysteries in a Box" party games. As soon as a model shows up on the set, they're handed an envelope telling them exactly who they're going to be on that season. Just imagine the poor girls suprise when she opens the envelope and finds out she's going to have bulima that season or the one that gets to freak out at the short haircut. That's so 1980's.

And what happened to the Tranny girl on there? Did they get rid of her already? Too bad : -(

I did watch Sylista though.....and that woman is what I imagine Madonna is like.

And that poor boy that got kicked off....how embarrassing that he lost out to the chubby girl. I thought for sure she was going to be the one to go and that's why everyone was being nice to her. You know that his friends are giving him a good workover for that one!

Should I be freaked out?

I don't know if I should be or not, but I just was over on YouTube and when you search for "Lip Dub" two of my videos are in the Top 10.

My Miley Cyrus "See You Again" is currently in #4


And my Katy Perry "I Kissed A Girl" is #10


Yeah, I'm sufficiently freaked out. Even more so when "whatsaboytodo" came up as a suggestion when you search for me.

Yeah, Britney is free!

You can all breathe a sigh of relief....Britney Spears has been acquitted of ALL CHARGES that were levied against her in Traffic Court.

Remember last year when she was arrested for a Hit-and-Run AFTER the fact? Well, she was also cited for not having a valid CA license (even though she posesses a valid LA license). Britney in all of her wisdoom decided to buck the system and take it to trial.

A jury of 12 of her peers (wait, does Britney really even have peers) sat for a period longer than the actual trial in deliberation and was dead-locked at a 10-2 vote. Those people could just not get to terms that Britney wasn't guilty!

So finally, the judge today declared a mistrial and the prosecutors said that they were not going to pursue the case any further - so Britney is off scott-free!

Now she doesn't have to worry about going to jail, she can instead spend her time at home with her lovely husband and children....oops, wait, that's wrong.....she's divorced from him and he's got the kids. Well hey, now she can just sit by the pool and enjoy the silence.

YEAH BRITNEY!!!!!

Why I don't support gay marriage

Because I know that this would be me:



I can't stop watching this!!!!!

A new lip dub: So What by Pink

Well I have once again gone and made one of those lip dub videos. A few weeks ago my friends, Gregory, Marc Felion, Tracy Tyler and I, went to the ImprovEverywhere MP3 Experiment in Lincoln Park. While we were there we decided to make a few videos.

First we shot some video for my friend Gregory:


Then we shot something with Marc & Tracy


And we shot some video for me as well, this past Saturday I spent the day running around my backyard putting the final touches on this great new lip dub - So What by Pink that's going to be released on her new album "Funhouse" that's going to be out later this year.

So without further introduction, I give you:

We're off to the What Not To Wear Episode with Amanda...I hope to god I'm wearing the right thing, I've only changed 3 times!

Palin is busy fucking over America

Feast of Fools with Ben Lerman: 4 Minutes

I am in love with this video!!!!

Those crazy boys over at the Feast of Fools invited me back on their show - when will they learn?!? http://ping.fm/EzSod

Project Presidency!

When will those boys over at the Feast of Fools learn?

Fausto & Marc invited me over last night to watch the mash-up of the Presidential Debate AND the finale of Project Runway!

You should just go on over to Feast of Fools and listen to it yourself

A Weekend In The Far West

Click on the picture to see all of the photos from Des Moines

Well it wasn't really the Far West like China or anything...but it was offically the furthest west I have ever driven, so it's the Far West to me!

Des Moines, I must say, I never would have visited if it weren't for Super Blogger StevieB, so for that I give thanks. He and his "herd" (their word, not mine) traversed mountains and rivers and streams to drive from Denver to Des Moines, while I just had to cross some flat plains and a big river called the Missississississippi (I can never remember how many iss's there are and plus I like saying mississississississ).

I got to town early in the day (since I only had a 5 hour trip) and spent the afternoon walking around a mostly desolate downtown - I couldn't tell if it was always like that or if it was because it was a Friday and everyone decided to take the afternoon off to start the weekend. We stayed at the fabulously historic (i.e. old) Hotel Fort Des Moines, and even though it was old it was a beautiful hotel. My room was huge (I upgraded to the suite so I had two rooms), with a kitchen area, living area and huge bathroom, it even came with free internet access!

The boys got to town late in the evening and after a bite to eat we headed off to check out the bar scene.....or what we thought the bar scene would be. Growing up in a small town I sort of knew what to expect but I was actually quite surprised...the gay bars aren't gay bars at all, they're gay bars that have a LOT of straight people in them. Now don't get me wrong, I loves me some straight people...but don't they have their own bars? I guess that only goes to say that the Gay Bars in Des Moines ARE the place to be - so I could only imagine how lame the straight bars are.

Fortunately, I had a whole crew of muscle bears to keep me occupied. Since Stevie B and I already "knew" each other from the interwebs, it gave me a chance to get to know the rest of his crew. Everyone was friendly, funny and HOT - I felt like the ugly duckling amongst them - it's fun hanging around with the Hot Boys!!! During our "discovery" phase it turns out that one of the guys was actually from Pennsylvania, and grew up about 20 miles from where I lived - what a small world!!!!

Saturday we applied the George Bush "Shock & Awe" approach to our descent into the culture of Des Moines. As we walked around a huge farmers market that took up a good 10 block area of downtown, I don't think we saw ANY other homos. After a light lunch Shawn and I headed off to get some culture at the local art museum - only to find out that the downtown branch was just that....a branch. So we jumped in the car and drove out to the real Museum, where we were quickly suprised at the vast and varied collection of Art that Des Moines has. The museum was half "classic" and half "contemporary" with each side of the building designed around the art it was showcasing - I was very impressed. After we got back, StevieB's boyfriend - Fuzzy - and I went for a walk to go look at a big church that had a rotating cross on the top of it.

When we got to the church we found that one of the doors was unlocked and the place was empty, so Fuzzy (who happens to be a trained organist) jumped at the chance to play some showtunes on the huge pipe organ. Well he didn't play showtunes so much as he played Tocata in Fuge (you'll have to look it up, but I knowy ou know it) It was VERY cool to be sitting in a huge, dark church with the only light coming from an amazing stained glass dome that was bigger than any I have ever seen. On our way back to the hotel we stopped off at another church where he got the chance to play another organ. I tell ya, that Fuzzy's an organ playing fool - very talented and quite the showman!

We returned to the hotel and I tried to grab a quick nap - but that didn't work, before I knew it the boys were knocking on my door to grab a pre-show cocktail. Everyone was dressed in their finest and all were excited because we were going to see Dixie's Tupperware Party. I mean, that was the purpose of this whole trip after all!

Two of the boys were in on a big surprise though - the tickets they bought for the show were not in the audience like the rest of us peons. No, they were going to be ON THE STAGE with Dixie during the entire show, sitting on nice big comfy couches, while hoping that Dixie would be "nice" to them and not make too much fun. I was super jealous as I sat there in my front row seat!

Dixie's show was FABULOUS - I really don't know how to explain it other than it's a laugh riot. You think you're going in there for a nice show where you get to sit back, relax and maybe have a few laughs, but it's quite the opposite. Dixie is a loud mouthed Southern woman who has no problems wagging her finger at you and telling you "no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no" when she asks you if you own Tupperware. She intereacts with the audience by running up and down the center aisle and across the front, it was almost like being at a Gallagher Concert without the need of plastic wrapping. No one is safe from Dixie, she was grabbing unsuspecting men and pulling them up on stage to demonstrate a can opener and forcing a raffle winner to demonstrate how she would tickle her spouses testicles - ON STAGE!!!

Dixie was a delight, I haven't laughed so much or so hard in a long time. She took it pretty easy on the boys on the stage by only referring to them as "homosexuals" (which I think we were the only ones in the audience). The audience consisted primarily of housewives, women with their girlfriends, a few women with their suprised husbands and a huge contingent of retired folks (who didn't want to laugh but ended up having the most fun).

Even though the show was a laugh a minute, the best part came after the show when Dixie invited all of us to have dinner with her, we were a bunch of lucky boys!!!! We sat in the restaurant until 12:45am, laughing, joking, telling stories and forcing Dixie to share all of her secrets, it was FABULOUS!!!!!

Unfortunately since we were out so late, we decided to call it a night and get back to the hotel for some sleep. Morning came too quickly as the alarm went off at 7:40am, I tried to wipe the sleep out of my eyes and headed down to the lobby to say goodbye to my new found friends! We all hugged, said our goodbyes and they jumped in their mini-van and headed back to the Far Far West! I went back upstairs, grabbed my suitcase and headed out the door myself! 5 hours later I was back home, while the boys were not quite halfway through their journey.

I can't wait to hang out with the boys again!!!!!

You've got to love Contextual Ads

I bet he won't have problems losing those 30 pounds - now that he's DEAD!

What Not To Wear - The Premiere

You may recall that a friend of mine - Amanda Steinstein from that amazing podcast "Feast of Fools" was picked earlier this year to be on the TLC program - What Not To Wear.

Well guess what....it's finally time for the show to air.

This Friday at 9:00 PM Eastern (8:00 PM Central - you'll need to figure out the rest on your own) Amanda's show is going to be broadcast, on TLC. So if you don't have cable you'd better get it installed this week or head on over to a friends house to catch it.

Even though I had the chance to be there for some of it firsthand, I'm so excited to see the whole thing put together and see Amanda's transition. If I'm lucky, I might be in the show as well, or at least fleeting glances of me - but I'm gonna claim it was my national TV debut regardless of whether I'm on the show or not...LOL!!!

If you are in Chicago, The Feast of Fools has partnered with Hydrate for a special viewing party from 7PM-9PM so head on down there and watch it with us, I know it will be a blast.

Fausto was told several times that Amanda was "the most challenging" guest and from the preview below you can see that Clinton and Stacy are almost at their last wits - I love it!


WNTW + FOF Commercial: "Amanda" from Clinton Kelly on Vimeo.

A Rant

This is only a rant.....because I'm tired....

Had a great trip over to Des Moines yesterday and got to meet up with StevieB and his Crew of Men from Denver (who had a 12 hour trip from Denver) and we even had a chance to see all of the Night Life that is Des Moines.

Early this morning, 7:31 to be exact, I hear a knocking and then a YELLED "SURPRISE" only the suprise wasn't for me....it was for the girl who's getting married who's room is next to mine. Apparently the grandparents had been waiting since 5:00AM to come give their well wishes to the bride.

Her room is at the end of the hall, so she's kept her door open to receive visitors - and it's been one visitor after group of visitors after group of running children visitors - up and down the hallway.

I'm not one to bitch, because it is her wedding day afterall and I'm sure it's something she'll regret in about 5 years, but that's neither here nor there.....but it just amazes me that they think that they're the ONLY ONES in this hotel. I almost called the front desk, but I don't want to be that mean man that tells everyone to be quiet at 7:30 in the morning.......

Why do people think they're the only ones in the world and that no one else matters?

Society is going downhill.......maybe if I see her later I'll throw rice at them.....over hand : -)

End of Rant....I'm off to have a great day with the Denver Boys!!!!!

I'm in Des Moines, you should check out what happened on the trip here, I made a video for you: http://ping.fm/a6xiv

I'm in Des Moines

I jumped in the car this morning with my girlfriend Flo Mingo and headed off to meet StevieB

So what did we do in the car for 6 hours....check it out yourself:

Sassy safely delivered me to Des Moines and now I'm just waiting for the Denver Gang!

I'm off on my road trip, I wonder how many times I can sing 99 Bottles of Beer?

I've seen all kinds of animals in the city, racoons, possums, rats but tonight was the first time I ever saw a SKUNK it was huge!

Isn't it funny how Target is trying to be the new Walmart and Walmart is trying to be the new Target.....

I'm heading off on a Road Trip tomorrow and I need car games to play....help, it's gonna be 6 hours! I need to be entertained!!!

The Chicago Marathon

The Bank of America (formerly LaSalle Bank) Chicago Marathon takes off this Sunday morning at 8AM.

I'm heading out of town this weekend, so I'll miss it, but I wanted to share this video with you. In 2004 I grabbed my camera and chased the marathon around the city. If you've never been to Chicago this is a great tour.



PART TWO

44 Degrees

44 Degrees. I can't believe it, it seems like it wasn't that long ago that we were battling temps boarding on 90 degrees.


I think that Autumn is officially here, well officially it's been here for almost 2 weeks already, but I just haven't wanted to accept it, I want summer to keep going on! The past few weeks have been ultra crazy as everyone in the city is in the same mode, you know the one I mean: "Get as much done outside for as long as you can cuz we're gonna be stuck in the house all winter mode"


I do enjoy this time of year though, the air is crisp (I've been sleeping with the windows open for almost a week now), you get to wear layers - can you say t-shirt, pullover, button up all at the same time, its one of the few times each year I get to color coordinate with nature. The trees are starting to change colors, although not in full bloom yet, but you can see the changes already.


I'm looking forward to the end of the week though, it's time for a roadtrip. I haven't been on a Road Trip since last year when I took MegaBus down to Ohio to meet up with Andilicious. A while back Stevie B from Nice To See Stevie B made the mistake of saying that a group of boys were heading off to see a Drag Show in Des Moines.


Of course I took that as an open invitation and I somehow invited myself along. So this Friday my friend John and I are jumping in the car and heading over to Des Moines to meet up with "The Denver Crew" It's the perfect time of year to travel across the lovely states of Illinois and Iowa, so I'm hoping that the color show will make the 6 hour drive that much easier.


I have no idea what we're going to do in the car for 6 hours though, do you have any suggestions?

**UPDATE** Unfortunately due to some health issues my friend is not going with me...so now I really need ideas of what I'm going to do in the car...for six hours.....A L O N E!!! I hope I don't go crazy.

We pawned Improv Everywhere's MP3 Experiment

Improv Everywhere had their MP3 Experiment today in Lincoln Park. Marc Felion and Tracey Tyler from the Feast of Fools went along with me and my friend Gregory to partake of the fun.

Despite the rain we had a good time, Tracey & Marc actually joined in on the Experimental Fun while Gregory and I used the experience as a backdrop for some videos that we're working on.

Enjoy

I think I like rugby now

I had NO idea that rugby was like this at all......I had no plans this afternoon but I think I just figured out what I'm gonna do!

Enjoy

Sarah Palin's Facebook Page

Have you seen Sarah Palin's Facebook page? My friend Emily posted this and I just had to share.

Click on it to embiggin

An Eyebrow Waxing Goes BAD!!!!!