Work and a Little Vacation

I'm in Mexico for a few days for a meeting for my day job. It's nice to get a trip out of town that I don't have to pay for, but I'm ready to go home.

What the...French?

I saw two very interesting French movies this weekend. The first was called Two Days, One Night (or Deux Jours, Une Nuit for the Francophiles out there). Marion Cotillard starred as a woman who's in danger of losing her factory job unless she can convince at least 9 of her 16 coworkers to give up the bonuses they were promised (1,000 Euros). If the majority of workers agree to forego their bonuses, that money would be used to keep Marion on the payroll. She has one weekend (two days, one night) to track down her coworkers and try to convince them to help her out before they all vote via secret ballot on Monday morning. The movie was fascinating not just because this woman had to basically beg her coworkers, who didn't have much themselves, to forego needed money, but because employment laws must be totally different in France that here in the US. Marion basically stalked her coworkers. She called them if she had their phone numbers and showed up at their homes unannounced. If someone did that in the US, they'd be fired on the spot. You can't hunt your coworkers down and harass them at their homes! Crazy.

The second French movie I saw was called Eastern Boys about a middle aged Frenchman who picks up a hustler of Eastern European descent at a train station and the hustler and his thug friends end up cleaning the Frenchman out. They descend on the Frenchman's condo, proceed to drink his liquor, have a party, break things and then take the things they didn't break (like the artwork on his walls, his TV, computer, etc.). But, even after this, the guy still wants to have a relationship with the hustler who set him up in the first place. He falls for the guy and wants to help him get away from the Eastern Bloc hoodlums he's running around town with. Again, crazy.

Merry Christmas (or Enjoy Your Day Off)

Merry Christmas and for those who don't celebrate, enjoy your day off. I'm just glad I'm not buried under several inches of snow this Christmas. Some folks don't like having a green Christmas, but I'm not one of them. Hey, temperatures in the 40s with a little sunshine sounds great to me. I have to travel next week for work, so I'm looking forward to spending some time doing absolutely nothing. I wish there were better movies out right now to see. I wish the Leonardo DiCaprio movie was out here now because I'd like to see that, but since it isn't, I guess I'll have to stick with Netflix or the Godzilla marathon on El Ray.

Enjoy!

Food and Grog

I blogged earlier about Chipotle and the problems the food chain has been having  but I read an article this morning from Bloomberg Businessweek about the E. coli outbreak that just hit me in the gut. The article featured the story of a man who was sickened after eating a Chipotle chicken bowl. No! Not the chicken bowl! As a fan of the chicken bowl, I was devastated to hear that's what took this dude down. He used to do P90X and his kidneys almost shut down because of a Chipotle chicken bowl. Sad and terrifying.

In grog news, I've recently discovered a great (and cheap) white wine at Trader Joe's that I like (and, no, it's not Two Buck Chuck). It's Espiral and it's tasty.

Free At Last...For Now

Finally, my day job is in the wind for a few days so I can enjoy the Christmas holiday and relax a little. Free at last! It's been a stressful few weeks so I'm looking forward to the break. Maybe I can get some writing done. Plus, the Grinch was on TV tonight and The Year Without a Santa Claus was on earlier this week. (Yea! Heat Miser/Cold Miser!) Good times.

Standing on the Top

I immediately thought of the Rick James song "Standing on the Top" when I came up with the title for today's blog post, but that's not what the post is about. (As a sidebar, I remember where I was when I heard Rick James died. I was at a jazz concert in Philadelphia watching saxophonist Steve Cole and he announced it during the show and played "Give It to Me, Baby.") But I digress. I watch a lot of gay movies and, sadly, a lot of them are bad. I understand gay films can't get the kind of budgets that films featuring straight couples can, but I find it hard to believe that they can't get better scripts. The movie I saw over the weekend was called Monster Pies and it was about two Australian teenagers who fall for each other while they're working on a school project about Romeo and Juliet. Fine, right? Wrong. This movie was such a downer. One kid's mother was brain damaged and confined to a nursing home as a result, that same kid's father was an alcoholic who beat him, the other kid was bullied at school and ended up losing his after school job at a video store after a woman falsely accused him of harassing her (when she was the one harassing him). And, just when you thought things couldn't get any worse, the kid with the brain dead mother and alcoholic father hangs himself in the end. Oy. What a depress-fest. I just wish more gay-themed movies didn't end on such a tragic note. Why can't the gay guys or lesbians come out on top at the end? Why can't they reign victorious and overcome the shit they've dealt with in the movie? Why can't they be standing on the top when the credits roll? I know every gay-themed movie isn't terrible and/or depressing, but a lot of  them are. I know life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, but it's not all gloom and doom either.

Aren't They Over Yet?

I saw Tina Fey and Amy Poehler trotting out their tired Sarah Palin/Hillary Clinton imitations on last night's SNL. Aren't these two over and done with yet? God, I find them annoying. Maybe they were amusing back in 2008, but not now. I find them both smug and condescending and not particularly funny.

As a non-science-fiction fan, I have no desire to see the new Star Wars movie. I keep wondering when some non-Star Wars movies are coming out. Did the studios just throw in the towel for Christmas because of Star Wars? The last movie I saw at the theater, I think, was the Amy Winehouse documentary and that was a while ago. There just hasn't been anything out that I wanted to see.

The Deciders?

I'm tired of states like Iowa and New Hampshire being the deciders in which presidential candidates get pushed to the front of the pack and which ones bite the dust. This archaic process needs to stop. Iowa and New Hampshire have to be two of the least diverse states in the country, yet the citizens of these states (and South Carolina, to a lesser extent) get to be political kingmakers? It's not right. The system needs to change.

Chipotle

I walked past my local Chipotle restaurant yesterday around lunch time and there was only one person inside eating. On a typical Sunday afternoon, that place would be packed but not now. No one wants to take a chance that the burrito ordered might come with a side order of diarrhea. I haven't had a chicken bowl or anything from Chipotle in weeks. It's sad because I like Chipotle, but I just don't want to take the chance that I'll get sick from the food especially since the company can't seem to pinpoint the source of the E. coli outbreak. Until some additional information comes to light, I'm keeping my distance from Chipotle.

Enthusiasm Curbed

My sister has been in a tizzy lately over the hit Broadway show Hamilton. (She's going to see it next year.) She's downloaded the soundtrack and she keeps up with news about the play and its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda. She's also trying to get me to be as enthusiastic as she is about the show, but I'm not biting. History and hip hop? Thanks, but no thanks. I just can't get into it. I listened to some of the show's music during our drive from Detroit over Thanksgiving, but I can't say I enjoyed any of it. Nothing against Miranda (I'm glad he's out there doing his thing and putting people of color out in front in a Broadway show), but historical battle raps just aren't my cup of tea.

My enthusiasm was further curbed when I watched the indie movie Tangerine over the weekend. This movie, about two transgender prostitutes, was supposedly filmed entirely on iPhones. If that's true, I commend the director(s) for doing an excellent job. The movie looked good. I wish I could say the same about the movie itself. The dialogue wasn't really more than one person after another cursing at someone and there wasn't much of a plot either. But I will say I thought the film presented a realistic view (or what I think is a realistic view) of street sex workers and how they live very hand-to-mouth. They say pimpin' ain't easy? Well, ho'ing ain't no walk in the park either, apparently.

Dry Bubbly

I just watched Michael Buble's Christmas special and found it quite dry this year. He didn't even seem to be into it. Other than Celine Dion's numbers and Bubbly's finale of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" the show was kind of a bust for me. The comedy skits were lame and his family wasn't even there. Last year's show with Babs Streisand and the one the year before with Mariah Carey were much better. I think having the show in Hollywood this year rather than New York helped to put a damper on it. Plus, Bubbly didn't really do a lot of songs that I liked. (The Chipmunks' song? Really, Michael? Sigh.)

Santa Baby?

I just want to go on record and say that I'm not a fan of sexy Christmas songs like "Santa Baby" and "Baby, It's Cold Outside." Since when did Christmas become a sexy holiday? Uh, never? During the Christmas show I went to last Saturday night (see my previous post), a few of the drag queens performed "Santa Baby." This song is just wrong for Christmas. Slip a sable under the tree for me? No! Not that I'm against gift giving during the holidays, but asking Santa for a fur coat because you've been a "good girl" seems sleazy and self-indulgent.  Now I have nothing against sleaze and those who read my books should know that by now, but I do have something against sleazy Christmas songs. Something more clean and fluffy like "All I Want for Christmas (Is You)" is perfectly fine with me. But songs about pimping yourself to Santa for a sable just go too far!

No Bueno

I went to see the Chicago Gay Men's Chorus perform their holiday show "Miracle on Thirty Funk Street" last night and, sadly, I found the show disappointing...so much so that I left during the intermission. The chorus itself was very good, but the comedy skits and solo numbers in between were no bueno. I kept watching thinking things would get better, but they didn't. (Maybe the second act was better, but I didn't stick around to find out.) I expected to see entertaining performances with great singing and dancing, but what I got was amateur hour at a community theater. I should have known when "Uptown Funk" closed out the first act (I hate this song--sorry Bruno Mars) that it was time to go. I saw a much better gay-themed holiday show at Hamburger Mary's in Chicago a few years back. I wonder if they have a show this year as well. I should look into that.

Sad Clown

When I was in Detroit last week for Thanksgiving and attended the Thanksgiving parade, I was shocked and saddened to see how the balloon of the clown (who really serves as the parade's mascot) was in such bad shape. That poor clown float looked terrible, as you can see from the picture my sister took. His clothing was peeling and it was clear he'd been patched many times. I'm surprised the parade folks even saw fit to let him roll down Woodward Avenue for this year's parade. It's time for a Kickstarter or Go Fund Me account to get a new clown balloon. The parade company's site does take donations so maybe that's the place to begin. The parade clown is supposed to be happy, but this clown was just sad. I love clowns and it breaks my heart to see this one in such bad shape.

Now What?

So Rahm Emanuel fires police chief Garry McCarthy (finally) and now what? Business as usual? Rahm should have fired himself too, but I know he won't do that. The City of Chicago and the whole State of Illinois are a mess. Double-digit murders pretty much every week, no state budget, no lottery payouts over $600, dirty cops, dirty school leaders. Can things go any worse around here? Possibly. I do hope with McCarthy's ouster that some serious changes happen with the police force that reduce the shootings in Chicago and clean up the police department. And I'll end this post with a message for annoying Daily Show host, Trevor Noah who "joked" that he wanted to come to Chicago but was afraid of getting shot. Here's my message to him: STFU.