My iTunes Shuffle Baker's Dozen 7/17/16

Remember when I posted these regularly? For that matter, remember when I posted ANYTHING regularly?

I've been listening only to specific playlists for a while, and I forgot the simple joy of the shuffle.




Love One Another - Cher
I'm Not The Man I Used To Be (Smith And Mighty Version) - Fine Young Cannibals
Love Shack - The B-52's
Country Sunshine - Dottie West
Getting Away With It - Electronic
Go Insane - Lindsey Buckingham
Dazz - Brick!
It Don't Come Easy - Ringo Starr
The Main Main Event (mashup) - RuPaul/Barbra Streisand
Dedicated To The One I Love - The Mamas & The Papas
Giving You The Benefit-Extended Club Mix - Pebbles
Don't Leave Me This Way (Featuring Sarah Jane Morris) - Communards
I Loves You Porgy - Nina Simone

I'm Back! With "Pride"

Hi there! Remember me? I used to blog. I got away from it for many reasons -- partly related to laziness, and other things I won't talk about right now (or maybe ever) -- but I want to get back to it. I need to get back to it.

So, as we go along perhaps I'll get to some other stuff I've been meaning to post. For now, though, here's a little iTunes Baker's Dozen. Not a shuffle from my collection, but from iTunes Radio's special LGBT Pride station. I'm trying to figure out exactly where the "LGBT" comes in, how this is different from any other pop-oriented radio station (other than the inclusion of the old Cher hit). Also, at some point in the near future, will Pitbull appear on EVERY song?

Rock Your Body - Justin Timberlake

I Will Never Let You Down - Rita Ora

Chandelier - Sia

Wut - Le1f

Drunk in Love - Beyonce feat. Jay Z

Into the Wild - LP

Song for the Lonely - Cher

Hideaway - Kiesza

Dark Horse - Katy Perry feat. Juicy J

Exotic - Priyanka Chopara feat. Pitbull

Summertime Sadness (Cedric Gervais Remix) - Lana Del Rey

Fancy - Iggy Azalea feat. Charli XCX

Problem - Ariana Grande feat. Iggy Azalea

Quick Review: Burlesque

Many people want to compare "Burlesque" to "Showgirls." I've never seen "Showgirls" except for a clip here and there, so I can't make a direct comparison but from what I know about it, I'd put it this way: "Burlesque" is a cleaned-up, sugary, bright and sunny version of "Showgirls." It's like a fantasy-world combination of "Showgirls" and "Flashdance" and and any old sitcom or movie where the gang gets together to put on a show to save the orphanage or theater or whatever. It's like a cartoon without the animation. And it's pretty gay. Christina Aguilera hops on a bus from the middle of nowhere and escapes to Hollywood hoping to become a famous singer, and ends up as a waitress at a burlesque house owned by Cher. Christina has talent to burn but needs a chance. Cher needs to make lots of money quick or she'll lose the building. There's singing, dancing, romantic melodrama (Aguilera and Cam Gigandet --if I recall correctly from three days ago, with all the implied sexuality, he's the only one to get naked, even if only for a couple of quick butt shots), some humorous lines, villains of sorts, and what are the chances that everything isn't somehow going to work out? Even Kristen Bell (the burlesque show's star prior to Christina's arrival), who drinks a lot, doesn't seem to suffer all that much. It's like cotton candy: it's not healthy, it won't fill you up, but you just want to eat it all up anyway. My grade: B.

Outfest: Pride And Prejudice

Before I discuss Outfest itself, here are a couple of pictures I took on Wednesday when the Rainbow Flag was raised at City Hall in honor of LGBT History Month. I hadn't realized that the flagpoles in question were sitting at ground level and didn't go extremely far up. Still, it's a nice honor. I did read that the flag was only raised temporarily, and then taken down until the 15th because they had to put back up the Puerto Rican flag that was raised in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month (mid-September to mid-October). That seems to be a slight to both, in a way. Perhaps they'll work things out differently next year.

The Rainbow Flag after being raised

Mayor Michael Nutter speaking

As for Sunday, when I got downtown and walked down 13th Street towards the festival, the first thing I saw was the protesters. There's a small group of religious nuts that shows up every year at the Pride festival in June, as well as at Outfest. The reactions to these protesters ranges from trying to reason with them (complete waste of time) to heckling to making jokes to angry yelling. There's always a police presence to keep the peace, which is a good thing because if there weren't, I know there'd be trouble.

This year, in addition to the small group standing near the barricade with the loudspeaker blaring their message of hate, there were a few people walking around the festival with t-shirts saying "God hates you" and "God hates sinners" -- sort of like what the Westboro Baptist creeps wear, but none of them actually said "God hates fags," as the Phelps nuts wear. Also, their sayings were either written in pen or painted. They were quite crudely written. I guess those people were too poor to afford anything better.

Meanwhile, I almost literally walked into a film crew walking backwards. I had no idea who they were filming until I looked at one of their credentials.