Lady Gaga concert

Had the best time, loved it.
Had a nap and then had to run around getting ready. I went to Sarah's hotel to pick her up and put on my makeup to find she had lost her eyeliner, or "guyliner" as we had been calling it so there was none of that and no time to go get more.
I put on the purple eyeshadow to go with my top and it looked really good, I was surprised. Then I thought about making cats claws out the side, then I did the under eye and I didn't look good anymore, more like a $2 whore. D'oh. I tried to wash it off, it didn't come off, and we had to go!
The line at the ACC was long and we didn't really know where to go. We found the line just after 6. My friends didn't bring a coat and the 1.5 hour wait was quite cold. While I was waiting in line my cousin Sarah came over to me to say hello. She said "It's Sarah!" and I thought, Sarah who? She had dyed her hair dark and look much more like a woman then the teenager I remembered. She looked really good, it was great to see her.
The tickets said doors 6:30, show at 7:30. So at 7:45 they let us in!
We made our way to the floor and had a really amazing spot in front of the stage. The opening act one came on and they were crap. Another 20 minute wait and Kid Cudi came on, whoever he is. When you come out to perform your concert wearing a white t-shirt and a baseball cap, that's not a good sign.
I saw one song and had enough. Half the crowd was gay men, I don't think any of them were into it either. I sat down for a while, there was no chairs on the floor, standing room only, until security shone a flashlight into my face to make sure I was okay, then I had to stand.
After this crappy opening act we had another 30 minutes to kill while they played Michael Jackson's greatest hits. The crowd and I were really getting into dancing to MJ.
Sarah's friend said we would have a better view of the stage if we moved to the back, so we did and it turns out they had a better view as they were too short to see from the front of the stage. My view, on the other hand, was far worse and further away. The rationale was also that we would have more room there and it wouldn't be so hot. Of course, as soon as GAGA came out we were surrounded by people and the temperature went up 100 degrees.
We had some time to kill, so while dancing to Michael Jackson, these two drunk girls came up to me and one asked to kiss me on the cheek, which was fine. She complemented my outfit, apparently it was a big hit. Sarah and her friend seemed to done down their outfits more than we had originally planned.
Anyway, I explained how we had a lack of eyeliner. The heavy drunk girl said she had some eye shadow and proceeded to apply more purple, and some yellow. I had no mirror so it was all good.
We were standing beside some guys and this fellow with a mustache was quite hot, he reminded me of a young red-haired Rhett Butler. I thought he was the straight one of their bunch, he seemed to be there with his blond girlfriend. After the show Sarah's friend Ashely said he was the biggest gay in the place, that he was singing along and knew all the words to all the songs. Dammit! I should`ve said something!
So finally just after 10 the show started. I don`t get why there`s always opening acts. When I go to author readings at Harbourfront, you always have to sit through 2 hours of readings by people you`ve never heard of to get to yours. What is this? I hate that.
The show was amazing. So many costume changes. Such fashion, such imagination.
The encore, when she sang the opening notes of "Bad Romance" it was like I had experienced an electric shock. It woke me up, made me alive, I danced like I have never danced before. No inhibitions, total freedom and joy. I loved it.
This is the before shot as we were leaving:

The opening act, hands on hips "Clap, bitches!"

Kid somebody making a fashion statement "I just woke up and put this on"

Lady Gaga in the dark forest for the song "Monster"

Just dance.

As Cleaopatra

Singing

Striking a Madonna like pose.

After the show. All of us can't hear anything. We spent 30 minutes saying "WHAT?!?!"
This one is my favourite.

Wisdom from Quentin Crisp

"It is explained that all relationships require a little give and take. This is untrue. Any partnership demands that we give and give and give and at the last, as we flop into our graves exhausted, we are told that we didn't give enough".

"It's no good running a pig farm badly for 30 years while saying, 'Really, I was meant to be a ballet dancer.' By then, pigs will be your style".

"Never keep up with the Joneses. Drag them down to your level".

"I recommend limiting one's involvement in other people's lives to a pleasantly scant minimum"

Lady Gaga is the new Jesus

I am in love with Lady Gaga. She is the new Jesus. I am going to her show in 2 weeks and I need it to be today. This video for "Bad Romance" is the best video I've ever seen. Who cares if she can't see, she looks amazing. Seeing is over rated.
For the concert I have a bright purple shirt and a matching purple striped tie. I also have a purple tiara to wear but I'm trying to find a ridiculous hat instead. We'll see. I'll be posting photos. My co-worker Sarah is wearing green pants, a white tank and a yellow faux fur skull cap with green makeup. We'll be awesome.
I haven't been posting lately as I have an infection of the esophagus and my day involves not eating until I get home, then eating as I'm starving and lying down in pain for the rest of the night unable to move. I haven't eaten yet so I'm still upright for now.

I see a lot of people buying poppies for Remembrance Day. Back when the first World War and the second World War started there were mass protests in the street, people saying that we shouldn't send our children to fight for a country we no longer live in. People objecting to taking the poor and the underskilled and using them as the front line of defense like they were targets. I would have been one of those people. I marched down the streets in February when the US threatened to invade Iraq. I don't believe in war. As such, I will never wear a poppy.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc

Fantastic editorial by Matt Mills in today's paper.

On Oct 25, 1,000 people or more marched silently from Church and Wellesley Sts to the spot where, on Oct 18, Chris Skinner was horribly murdered.
It was a beautiful and elegant celebration of his life and protest of the ghastly way he died. In the mainstream press, accounts of the on-going investigation into his murder now focus on the idea, put forward by Toronto police early on, that the attack may have been precipitated after Skinner “intentionally or unintentionally” came in contact with the SUV that ran him down seconds later. (See story page seven and go to Xtra.ca for more details and to see the video for yourself).
Skinner hit the SUV immediately prior to the attack, is the implication whispered by police and shouted by the mainstream press, he was therefore beaten to the ground and crushed to death in retaliation. He at least partly brought it on himself. If he hadn’t hit the SUV, he might not be dead. What nonsense.
Police say the final piece of CCTV video they released documents the near miss between Skinner and the SUV. They say they have an eyewitness whose story adds credibility to that scenario. But although there’s not too much to see in the video, I’ve watched it again and again and I can’t see anything to suggest Skinner came in contact with or dodged the SUV.
In the video he doesn’t flinch or flail. His head doesn’t spin around in the direction of the departing SUV. He certainly doesn’t take off in retreat or pursuit. When, after a long pause, he walks slowly out of frame, he clearly has his head down, engrossed by his cellular device or merely his own feet, not up glowering at the backside of the SUV about to grind him under its wheels.
Let’s be clear: Police seem to be taking this investigation seriously and, with the obvious exception of there being at press time no arrest, are handling it well. At press conferences lead investigator det Stacey Gallant seems genuinely angry that someone deliberately chose to run Skinner down.
Gallant’s suggestion that there may be a traffic dispute element to the motive in this crime may be calculated to keep people from jumping to erroneous and early conclusions, but it doesn’t necessarily imply that homophobia wasn’t a factor in the attack, nor does Gallant’s suggestion that there is no evidence that Skinner was targeted only because he was gay.
All discussion of motive in this case is speculation at this stage. Assigning motive requires insight into the heart and mind of the bastard driving the SUV that ran Skinner down, and so far we don’t even know who he is.
But since we’re all speculating, I have another theory.
I didn’t know Skinner but by all accounts he looked gay, acted gay and sounded gay. He was fey. It’s possible the attack against him unfolded without a single homophobic epithet being flung. But even in that case it’s possible, even likely, that Skinner’s attackers decided to kill him, or precluded mercy, after one look at him and just a few words from his lips.
Had he spoken with the clipped cadence of a professional hockey player, had he been wearing a Leafs jersey or a baseball hat that night, would the outcome have been different?
I don’t know the answer to that question any more than I know whether they called him a faggot before they killed him.
What I do know is that Skinner, a gay man, was horribly murdered in his own city just blocks from home. His is yet another in a very long list of stories about gay and lesbian people violently killed or injured under mysterious circumstances.
That alone is more than enough to raise a crowd to the corner of Church and Wellesley.