I Am Brady

MOVED!

2009-11-19T15:15:00.002-06:00

This blog has moved to www.iambrady.com

Imogen Heap - Elipse; Now streaming!

2009-08-17T18:27:00.001-05:00

The Album Cover Meme

2009-02-22T01:08:00.001-06:00

1 - Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random
The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.

2 - Go to "Random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.

3 - Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.

4 - Use photoshop or similar to put it all together.

15 Albums

2009-02-21T19:09:00.005-06:00

Think of 15 albums that had such a profound effect on you they changed your life or the way you looked at it. They sucked you in and took you over for days, weeks, months, years. These are the albums that you can use to identify time, places, people, emotions. These are the albums that no matter what they were thought of musically shaped your world.

I was able to name 30.

Blondie - Parallel Lines
The first album I owned and probably the start to my love of music
ABBA - The Album
This showed up at the doorstep as the album of the month (my mom's account) and I opened and played it before she had a chance to send it back. The rest if history.
Erasure - The Innocents
Reminds me of high school and is probably one of my top albums of all times.
Madonna - Like A Prayer
My senior year of high school and the original packaging of the CD smelled like patchouli.
Tori Amos - From The Choirgirl Hotel
The fourth album by Ms. Amos, but the first album that really caught my attention. This reminds me of 1998 and being in love in New York City.
Nanci Griffith - Flyer
The first album I listened to by Nanci and too reminds me of New York City in 1998.
Madonna - Ray Of Light
This album has serious power when I listen to it. I am immediately in my loft apt in NYC in Hell's Kitchen. It's like a time machine - the smells, the emotions and the feelings are all extremely present.
Sarah McLachlan - Fumbling Towards Ecstasy
I thought this album was a bore with the first listen but over the spring of my last year in college (1994) I played it while I worked and was eventually amazed.
10,000 Maniacs - In My Tribe
Summer 1987 just before my junior year. Driving around Austin in the heat.
Liz Phair - Liz Phair
2003 in Austin. Miserable, working at Golfsmith and dealing with someone dying in the hospital. Some people call this album pop trash. I think it's brilliant.
Liz Phair - WhiteChocolateSpaceEgg
Driving around Ireland in October 1998 with Jennifer and Eric. Sun shining and driving on the opposite side of the road on tiny Irish roads.
Maria McKee - Maria McKee
1989. The transition from high school in Austin to college in Waco.
Patty Griffin - Flaming Red
New York City in 1998.
Alanis Morissette - Under Rug Swept
Driving from San Francisco to Sacramento and back every week in 2002 for a project.
Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself
Gosh. Driving to my miserable job at SpeakWrite in Austin in 2006. I'm remembering driving through Westlake Hills in the rain with all of the other dumb Austin drivers.
The Reivers - End Of The Day
Between my junior and senior year of high school in 1988. This album reminds me of Kristin Goodman.
Sophie B. Hawkins - Whaler
Walking (for exercise) in the cold winter Dallas air going over and over in my head whether I should move to New York.
Maria McKee - Life Is Sweet
Working at Mitchell Madison Group at night in New York City. This album had been out for years but it was at this time that I gave it a chance and wished I had done so earlier.
Lily Allen - Alright Still
2007 in Austin and the beginning of 2008 in LA. "Sun is in the sky. Oh, why? Oh, why would I wanna be anywhere else?"
PJ Harvey - Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea
2000 winter to spring in New York City on a rooftop in Brooklyn.
Hush - Hush
Taking the train from Queens into Manhattan when I first moved to NYC in 1996 and living in Hell's Kitchen with Matt, Will and Joe.
RENT - Original Broadway Cast Recording
NYC in the fall of 1996. This show was the definition of my life in New York at the time. I had never heard anything better.
Erasure - Erasure
Fall 1995 in Dallas. Driving from Dallas to Chicago with Jenny Wehner for the Brach's Holiday Parade.
Chicane - Behind The Sun
San Francisco in early 2001. Working on Market Street at the One Market Center and taking the BART from my apartment in the Mission to work every day.
Mary Chapin Carpenter - Come On Come On
Being in love in New York in 1998. After Eric left NY for Ireland and it was over, I couldn't listen to this album for a few years.
Jackopierce - Woman As Salvation
Staying at Jennifer's house between NCA camps in the summer of 1993.
Indigo Girls - Indigo Girls
Transition from high school to college in 1989. Living in the freshman dorms away from home for the first time.
Hole - Celebrity Skin
New York City in 1998 feeling like life was perfect. This album also reminds me of driving around Ireland like Liz Phair - WhiteChocolateSpaceEgg
George Michael - Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1
Football season 1991 singing "Freedom" at the tops of our lungs during Saturday night parties at Jason Schulze and Brian Blackstock's apartment.
Beirut - Flying Club Cup
Fall/Winter 2008 in Austin Texas. Everything coming to an end and a new life in LA starting.

Choral Music

2009-02-18T00:19:00.004-06:00

Ever since visiting Westminster Abbey in London this February (2009) I have been obsessed with choral music. I play it while I work and I am completely mellowed. The vast history combined with the nobility of the Abbey is felt on repeat and I am transported away.

Psalms from the Psalter: Choir of Westminster Abbey
Westminster Abbey Choir
Genre:Classical
Price: $19.99 (via iTunes)
Release Date: November 28, 2005

Mandy & Patrick are Married!

2009-02-17T23:35:00.003-06:00

February 14, 2009 marked the day that Mandy Steckelberg and Patrick Fabian tied the not. The ceremony was beautiful and the reception unique and full of class. Both were held at the Hotel Figueroa in downtown Los Angeles.

Mandy And Patrick's Wedding

Autumn Corn Festival

2008-10-19T18:09:00.000-05:00

Music Video?

2008-03-17T17:16:00.004-05:00

Tucson, Arizona's Music Video? is a great electronic band that made a good showing at SXSW last week in Austin. Check out the write-up on NPR.

Music Video? on NPR

A Two-Minute Broadcast

2008-01-02T23:23:00.000-06:00

Our Lady Hillary has posted a two-minute broadcast before the Iowa caucus. Happy New Year!

R.I.P.

2007-12-27T20:19:00.001-06:00

Benazir Bhutto
Former Pakistani Prime Minister and the country's current opposition leader. She was assassinated today at a political rally in Rawalpindi. This is a sad and troubling day that will have a greater impact later.

More
Red alert in Pakistan

image source: www.harrywalker.com

The Queen's Christmas Speech

2007-12-26T23:33:00.000-06:00

Queen Elizabeth, a.k.a The Queen of England, gave her annual Christmas speech this year but posted it to YouTube simultaneously with the television broadcast. It was 50 years ago that she first delivered her speech via television and noted "...the speed at which things are changing all around us."

To an American, what the English Royalty have to say may mean only 'rubbish', but the English are deeply enthralled by this once-a-year chance to listen to the Queen speak. Al Gore can't even command this kind of audience.

More
Queen Elizabeth's first televised broadcast 1957

Holiday Message

2007-12-24T00:00:00.000-06:00

Song: Carol Of The Bells - The Bird And The Bee
Download it from iTunes

Hillary's Presents

2007-12-22T19:10:00.000-06:00

More
Hillary Clinton's website
Contribute to Hillary

Related
The Hillary I Know

2007 Shortlist Music Prize

2007-12-22T17:13:00.001-06:00

The 2007 nominees for the Shorlist Music Prize were announced yesterday (Dec. 21). Albums released between January and November 2007 and not yet having been rated gold by the RIAA for shipments in the US for 500,000+ were eligible.

IAB mentions that are nominees are Feist, M.I.A., LCD Soundsystem, Blonde Redhead, Iron & Wine, Keren Ann, Of Montreal, Peter Bjorn & John, PJ Harvey and The Bird and The Bee.

More
The Shorlist of Music

Related
RIAA Certifications on Billboard

RollingStone's Top 50 Albums of 2007

2007-12-22T16:55:00.001-06:00

RollingStone, in addition to Q, has released their idea of the top 50 albums of 2007. There are some surprises, at least in my opinion. The top 10 is posted below.

More
RollingStone's Top 50 Albums of 2007

1. M.I.A. - Kala
2. Bruce Springsteen - Magic
3. Jay-Z - American Gangster
4. Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
5. Kanye West - Graduation
6. Radiohead - In Rainbows
7. LCD Soundsystem - Sound of Silver
8. Rilo Kiley - Under The Blacklight
9. Against Me! - New Wave
10. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Q Magazine's 'The 50 Best Albums of 2007'

2007-12-22T12:16:00.000-06:00

Q Magazine has posted their choices for the top 50 albums of the last year. You can also send your top 5 album choices to Q@emap.com and you'll be entered for a prize. They will compile the submissions into the Q Reader's Top 10 next year (2008). Below is the top 10.

I have heard or own most of the albums in the top 10 including Arcade Fire. But number one?? Does Chris Martin's name reside in Q's masthead? Arcade Fire is as overrated as their groupie-band, Coldplay. But I am happy to see The Boss and Arctic Monkeys back for critical acclaim in addition to Rufus Wainwright, even if I think his latest album is weak.

More
Q Magazine's 'The 50 Best Albums of 2007'

Neon Bible

THE ARCADE FIRE

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Icky Thump

THE WHITE STRIPES

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Favourite Worst Nightmare

ARCTIC MONKEYS

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In Rainbows

RADIOHEAD

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The Good, The Bad & The Queen

THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE QUEEN

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Magic

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

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Because Of The Times

KINGS OF LEON

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Wincing The Night Away

THE SHINS

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Boys And Girls In America

THE HOLD STEADY

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Release The Stars

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

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Big Art Group [B!G News] 2007

2007-12-22T11:00:00.000-06:00

Caden Manson and Big Art Group have published the goings on with their organization via newsletter. If you are lucky enough to be in the same location across the pond be sure to check them out.

More
Big Art Group website
Big Art Group on MySpace

Related
The Wooster Group
Rob Roth on YouTube



HAPPY NEW YEAR! Dear Friends of Big Art Group, Thanks for being such an important influence and all the generous donations last year. I wanted to take this opportunity to update you on our past years’ activities, plans for the future and to invite you to become a part of the experimentation and performance by considering a year-end tax-deductible contribution to Big Art Group this season. No amount is too small -- and every amount makes a big difference. We need your financial support to continue to bring experimental American performance to audiences worldwide! Best Wishes for the New Year, Caden Manson & Jemma Neslon

2007 Wrap Up We started off ‘07 by presenting DEAD SET #3 at the Kitchen with some of the best reviews we’ve received yet from the New York Press: TimeOut NY called the piece “visually and sonically ravishing...leaving you rattled, amazed and perhaps a little queasy;” and the NYTimes described the performance as “an orgy of spectacle...live theater itself seems under assault." The production was a partnership with the Hebbel am Ufer in Berlin, MAC Creteil and the Festival d’Automne in Paris. After our successful run in NYC we toured the piece to Belgium, Germany and Austria. Last spring the company took an exciting new direction with THE PEOPLE. After a residency in Polverigi, Italy, Big Art Group produced a site specific performance that involved the community of this close-knit italian town. The results were so positive that we’ll be repeating the project at Theater der Welt in Germany next June 2008.

2008 In January we start another big year with a commissioned premiere of “CINEMA FURY: THE IMITATION” as part of the 100th anniversary of The Hebbel Am Ufer in Berlin. We are very pleased and honored that the Hebbel commissioned us to help celebrate their anniversary. For 2008 we are working on two other new projects, SOS (a coproduction with the Vienna Festival) and THE PEOPLE for Theater der Welt 2008 in Halle, Germany. Both promise to be as creative and innovative as our audiences have come to expect!

HELP MAKE THE WORK HAPPEN Your individual donation makes all this possible. We need your help to achieve our goals. We need funds for equipment, rents, salaries, and other day-to-day operations as well as for the continuous cycle of creation and experimentation. Please send a check, or even easier, donate online via the links below. Checks can be mailed to Big Art Group, PO BOX 1034, New York, NY 10276. Please support the arts, creativity, and critical thinking and make a contribution to Big Art Group. Donate -->

BIG ART SPACE Are you on Myspace? We are! Come join our page for an inside look at Big Art Group. Check back often for pictures and video of us on tour and in rehearsal. Big Art Space ->

INTERN Join an international dynamic team of interns working with Big Art Group. We offer internships based around your interests as well as needs for the company. We are also always looking to expand our base of performers and lighting, set, and costume designers, please send work samples and resumés to info(at)bigartgroup(dot)com. Always include a cover letter to let us know your specific interests and experience. INTERN ->

CHECK OUT If you're in NYC this January, check out these other performances... Under The Radar Festival (January 9 - 20, 2008) Crime or Emergency (Janaury 11-13, 2008) Everyone (January 14 & 15, 2008) Maybe Forever (January 30 - Febuary 2, 2008)

THANK YOU! Thanks to our funders, supporters, co-producers, and host theatres who made Big Art Group 2007 possible: Theaterworks - Singapore, Hebbel Am Ufer, Festival d’Automne, MAC Creteil, Künstlerhaus Mousonturm, Donau Festival, de Singel, Inteatro, IFA, The Greenwall Foundation, Kings Fountain Foundation, ONDA, Florence Gould Foundation and étant donnés: The French-American Fund for the Performing Arts, James Davison, and Diane White. Board of Directors • James Davison • Cyd Margulies • Caden Manson • Jemma Nelson • Kim Gill
Caden Manson / Big Art Group Caden Manson & Jemma Nelson - Artistic Directors PO BOX 1034, New York, New York, 10276 www.bigartgroup.com

2007 End Of The Year Songs

2007-12-21T16:24:00.000-06:00

Working from home warrants a lot of time to listen to music and I mostly tend to play my 'Current Music' playlist in iTunes. While I am concentrating on work there are songs that wrestle with my subconscious, causing me to come to and take notice. I have compiled these tunes that have been swimming in my head for the past month and a half, into one playlist called '2007 End of the Year Songs'. I think these songs are the best from the best of the best.

	Bat for Lashes What's a Girl to Do?	Creepy, sad and so well executed. One of the best songs, videos and bands of 2007.
	Duran Duran Falling Down	Classic Duran Duran yet with a contemporary sound.
	Beirut Cliquot	Sexy and classic-sounding French village music from a musical savant just barely old enough to drink.
	The Bird And The Bee Carol of the Bells	The enigmatic re-do of the classic Christmas carol (with lyrics!). The only thing wrong with this song is that it is the only child of a non-existent album.
	Erasure Sucker for Love	Yes, Erasure.
	Jarvis Cocker Running the World	A poignant song sung with the right ingredients of the rock-n-roll spirit and pop catch.
	Just Jack Starz In Their Eyes	Everyone wants to be a pop star. Even Just Jack.
	KT Tunstall Saving My Face	As usual, I love the album that is not the commercial success of the two. Give it a try...
	Matthew Sweet & Susanna Hoffs Different Drum	A brilliant pairing of artists that find their voice in the songs of the 60s. This song still applies to life today.
	Pink Crash & Burn	This is a bonus track on I'm Not Dead that has become the mantra of my personal life. Pink describes the busy and demanding rock star life from an airplane, massaging it into the positive spin of "I'll never crash and burn."
	Iron & Wine House By the Sea	I am immediately withdrawn into the world of Gordon Lightfoot and Dan Fogelberg but with an alternative music spin. This is good working music.
	Bruce Springsteen Radio Nowhere	I am a product of the 80s and damn proud of it. Unfortunately this also means my 'first experience' with a lot of classic music acts is disgraced with some of their worst music. The Boss is in this category and I am happy to change my mind with his latest effort.
	Tegan and Sara The Con	This song is like an Indiana Jones movie; it starts with quick opening credits that dive straight into non-stop action. If inclined, check out the brutally honest lyrics online.
	Rilo Kiley The Angels Hung Around	I don't know why this album is so different from Rilo Kiley's others. This song sounds like a classic 70s country song sung with the crystal clear voice of a Southern Belle.
	Maria McKee Late December	Maria is the best musician alive and probably one of the most forgotten if ever known. Of course, she is my number one.
	M.I.A. Paper Planes	Controversial? You decide. War profiteering epitomized into children's voices, gunshots and the 'cha-ching' of a cash register.
	Lavender Diamond Open Your Heart	Channeling Olivia Newton-John circa the mid to late 70s. If you like this song, get the album. If you want to keep liking the album, don't ever watch the band's videos on YouTube.

Visit the iTunes iMix

HRC Weekly Update from Joe Solmonese

2007-12-21T16:19:00.000-06:00

Dear Friend,

The air was misty and cold on November 7, 2006. Deep into the night and into Wednesday morning, we watched election returns roll in. As the dawn broke we knew that the elections had brought change, and hope. Just months after Congress had debated the Federal Marriage Amendment, anti-GLBT titans fell. Rick Santorum (R-PA) lost his Senate seat and his bully pulpit. Nancy Pelosi, whose career began with AIDS activism, would take the Speaker's gavel. As HRC staffers returned from campaign victories across the country, the hope and excitement here were palpable. We bid goodbye to the FMA, goodbye to hostile leadership, and welcomed the opportunities that lay before us.

2007 was a year that began with great hope, and ends with promise. Looking back on this momentous year, I am proud of how far we have come. In 2007, the nation's most conservative institution-our military-demonstrably shifted toward equality, with 28 flag officers coming out in opposition to Don't Ask, Don't Tell. Eric Alva, the first service member wounded in Iraq, became HRC's spokesman on the issue, capturing the hearts and minds of Americans everywhere. Business support for GLBT rights continued to grow, with 195 corporations earning a score of 100% on HRC's Corporate Equality Index, over 50 supporting tax equity for domestic partner benefits, and 153 Fortune 500 companies protecting transgender workers from discrimination. For the second time, major presidential candidates came to a forum and discussed GLBT issues for a TV audience. HRC's Family Project published the first ever guide for foster care and adoption agency leaders working with GLBT foster and adoptive parents. HRC brought 230 clergy from every state in the country to the Capitol to lobby Congress on our legislative priorities.

While the 108th and 109th Congresses saw our community attacked through cheap election-year politics, the 110th Congress portended hope for a new politics of possibility. That hope translated into results. Hate crimes legislation covering the entire GLBT community passed both chambers of Congress by wide margins; in the Senate, hate crimes was one of the few progressive priorities able to muster the 60 votes needed for cloture. It was the first time that the bill had passed the House as a stand-alone measure. Embroiled in Iraq war politics and facing a strong veto threat, the legislation was dropped from the Department of Defense authorization bill, but now we know that without this anti-GLBT president standing in the way, it would become law. And with all of the Democratic candidates supporting the hate crimes bill, 2008 brings great promise for its passage. HRC has worked for over a decade to make this law a reality; we are committed to getting the job done.

For the first time, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act was introduced with protections for transgender employees. This marked the culmination of years of lobbying, drafting, and educating members of Congress. The measure secured 173 co-sponsors, a strong showing for the first session it existed. And although the House ultimately voted on a more limited bill, the vote was a historic one: it passed 235-184. In the 108th and 109th Congresses, merely holding a vote to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation would have been impossible-leadership focused on the FMA and the House even passed a bill to prevent GLBT people from having our day in federal court. But in 2007, we won. We have more work to do, particularly educating members of Congress about how to protect our entire community. But our high hopes translated into tangible progress.

Now the year is coming to a close, and the traffic through the halls of Congress has slowed. Behind us is 2007, the year of hope, when our community's voice was more powerful and more relevant than it had ever been. Down by the White House, the National Christmas Tree glows beneath a grim grey sky. It is a beautiful sight. Like so many Washington traditions, from Fourth of July fireworks to election night parties, it reminds me that we are in the center of everything. In 2007, George W. Bush lit that tree for the seventh time. Ironically, he is what keeps us in the periphery, at the brink of great accomplishments, but short of making law. By this time next year, we could be celebrating the election of a supportive president. We know that this is what it will take to translate promise to results, and we are committed to making it happen.

From all of us at the Human Rights Campaign, happy holidays and a peaceful New Year.

Warmly,

Joe Solmonese
President, Human Rights Campaign

Quote For The Week

2007-12-17T15:38:00.000-06:00

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."
-Albert Einstein

(source: quotationspage.com)

More
The Existential Primer

M.I.A. - Paper Planes

2007-12-17T14:29:00.000-06:00

M.I.A. has made a video for Paper Planes and has found the song hitting roadblocks with the censors. Apparently, the gunshots used in the chorus are too much for America to handle and the meaning of the song has been convoluted into a pro-violence mantra - which is all too ironic.

M.I.A. performed the song on Letterman and during the middle of her performance, realized that the gunshots had been "censored". Watch the performance on YouTube. It is obvious that she was unaware of the change from her earlier sound check because she turns her head to the DJ during the first chorus as if to inquire about what was going on. MTV also joined in on the skewing of ideals by censoring out the gunshots in the official version of the video as well. She responded to it all on her official MySpace blog.

M.I.A. on the Asian Pacific Post

HRC Weekly Update from Joe Solmonese

2007-12-14T18:35:00.000-06:00

Dear Friend,

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday season and are finding time to relax as this rollercoaster year draws to a close.

Republican presidential candidate Governor Mike Huckabee made news this week when the Associated Press reported on comments he made in 1992 advocating the isolation of AIDS patients from the general public. In the offensive statements, Huckabee also stated that he opposed increased federal funding in the search for a cure and said homosexuality could "pose a dangerous public health risk." In a FOX News interview on Sunday, Huckabee stood by his remarks and said he still believes today that people living with HIV and AIDS should have been "isolated" even after it was determined the virus was not spread through casual contact. Huckabee's repugnant comments reflect ignorant views that stifle discussion, hinder resources and delay action. In response, the Human Rights Campaign, in partnership with The AIDS Institute, sent a letter to Huckabee requesting that he meet with Jeanne White-Ginder, the mother of Ryan White, to further explain his views. As you may remember, Ryan was diagnosed with AIDS in 1984 and captivated the attention of millions as he battled the disease and, ultimately, succumbed to it.

When asked if he would meet with Ryan's mother, Huckabee said that he would, but a date still has not been set. The story has attracted national attention. To read some of the stories, go here and here. Ms. White-Ginder appeared on CNN's American Morning on Wednesday and MSNBC with Nora O'Donnell earlier today. This story draws attention to the continued need to support AIDS research and treatment via the federal Ryan White CARE Act. To view some of the news coverage and track the latest developments, visit the HRC Back Story blog at www.HRCBackStory.org.

The Child Welfare League of America's 2007 Foster Care and Adoption Training Conference was held earlier this week in New Orleans. The conference brought together 500 child welfare professionals from across the country to develop new skills and improve their practice. Featured prominently at this event was HRC's new All Children-All Families initiative, led by our Family Project and supported by some of the nation's most prominent child welfare authorities. Our Promising Practices Guide, a comprehensive manual for creating welcoming and competent practice with GLBT foster and adoptive parents, which was unveiled at the conference, was received with tremendous enthusiasm from adoption professionals eager to do more to open their agency's doors to GLBT families and provide greater leadership on the issue of fairness for GLBT adoptive parents. More aspects of the All Children-All Families initiative will be rolled out in the coming months.

Last week I told you about the successful Equality Workshops that HRC and One Iowa held throughout the state. Almost 200 people participated in the mock caucuses aimed at arming fair-minded Iowans with the tools to advocate for GLBT issues-despite that fact that the state was covered in snow and ice! To accommodate those who were not able to make it to the workshops, we have added two more. On Tuesday, December 18, there will be another workshop in Des Moines, and the next day, there will be one more in Mason City.

That's all for this week. Have a great weekend!

Warmly,

Joe Solmonese
President, Human Rights Campaign

Tori Amos Will NOT Be Disrupted

2007-12-14T13:36:00.000-06:00

Tori Amos interrupted Code Red to tell two audience members on the front row to 'get the fuck out'.

Amy Winehouse - Love Is A Losing Game

2007-12-13T00:25:00.000-06:00

Amy Winehouse has made a video for my favorite song from her album Back to Black. How, do you ask, do they get Amy Winehouse to pin down a video despite her having a habit of canceling concerts and meandering around her neighborhood in a bra and jeans at 5 a.m.? The solution is to splice together existing concert and candid footage into an Olan Mills-style montage complete with dramatic fades and double exposure.

Quote For The Week

2007-12-09T19:28:00.000-06:00

"Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less."
-Marie Curie

(source: quotationspage.com)

More
Marie Curie Biography

The Bird and The Bee - Carol Of The Bells

2007-12-09T12:40:00.000-06:00

That weird juxtaposition of Christmas and creepy that we like.

Download It
amazon | iTunes

More
The Bird and The Bee Website
The Bird and The Bee - Again & Again

Related
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Suburban Sex Parties Draw Complaints

2007-12-09T11:16:00.000-06:00

I thought this headline hysterical because it reads nonchalantly, as if it is yet ANOTHER suburban sex party. To top it off, the party mentioned in the article is close by in a conservative "city" south of Dallas called Duncanville.

Suburban Sex Parties Draw Complaints (source: Brietbart.com/AP)

More
Duncanville Online
Duncanville Sex Parties on Google News

Related
Naked Twister on YouTube
Swingers Online

Flashback: When I Wasn't Gay

2007-12-08T23:44:00.000-06:00

Sandra Bernhard put out an album in 1994 called Excuses for Bad Behavior, Pt. 1. I don't remember why I bought this CD since the most of what I really knew of her was from her lesbian kiss on Rosanne. It was my last years of college and I remember not taking to it immediately, but loving every track in the end. A few years later I moved to NY and saw Sandra Bernhard at the Westbeth Theatre and was completely blown away. She has the magic.

Album Highlights
Manic Superstar, Sympathy For The Devil, Phone Sex (Do You Want Me Tonight), 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover

This marks the first entry in a recurring blog focused on recently revisited/rediscovered things from my past, mostly music, that are clear indicators of my inner-queer but from a time when I wasn't out. Oh the things time will tell.

More
Sandra Bernhard's Website
Sandra on MySpace
Album Review on All Music

Related
Maurice
REN Rose Centifolia Facial Wash

Wombs to Rent

2007-12-08T23:32:00.000-06:00

British couples are traveling to Anand, India to outsource their pregnancy. Won't you rent this nice lady's womb?

Is this really better than working customer service for Sprint?

Wombs to rent: Childless British couples pay Indian women to carry their babies (source: Daily Mail)

Beirut - Elephant Gun

2007-12-08T18:14:00.000-06:00

Zach Condon, a.k.a. Beirut, is a young buck-of-a-talented musician. His style is his own and seemingly well thought out and mature despite having not really had that much adult life. Grab some wine and cheese and enjoy the traveling, spirited and very French sound of Beirut. The video is great visually and adds a life to the song that is different than when heard alone.

More
Beirut Website
The Flying Club Cup
Beirut at The Avalon in LA

Jackass-abee

2007-12-08T17:59:00.000-06:00

Mike Huckabee wanted to isolate AIDS patients and put a stop to federal funding for AIDS research. Hate, hate, hate. I hope we are back to the Christian right presenting polarizing and extremist caricatures of Republican nominees that will never win.

Huckabee wanted to isolate AIDS patients. (source: Yahoo News/AP)

More
Huckabee Stands by AIDS Statement (source: Breitbart.com/AP)

Worst Album Cover Ever

2007-12-08T17:01:00.000-06:00

It is Star Wars meets "hey, I just started using Photoshop!" Even if you take away those two elements, what is the thought and decision behind the main photo? Let's say it together, "Gay face". Lastly, am I supposed to connect deeply with the concept of the 'two faces of Blake'? The idea is nothing new and recently overused. There were the two faces of Britney in the video for 'Gimmie, Gimmie' and Kelly Clarkson fighting with label execs over exposing her rough-edge, rock-n-roll side. Now Blake Lewis is letting everyone know.

More
Blake Lewis album review on All Music (2-1/2 stars)
Blake Lewis Official Site

Check Out This Music

2007-12-07T08:00:00.000-06:00

If you like sampling new music, have a gander through my suggestions below. All music has value to me and on paper, songs are just bars and notes. Most of the time the production makes an album and that is what truly creates the idea of what the songs are personally. Whether arranged for live performance or for over-indulgence in the studio, production is the expression of the musical artist while song writing is the source.

Generally I will give an album four spins before establishing an opinion and most times this method has kept me from disregarding music by mistake. New music is like a new haircut in that it deserves the time for the newness to wear off on you before you can truly decide if you like it or not.

Beirut - Flying Cup Club (website | iTunes)
Duran Duran - Red Carpet Massacre (website | iTunes)
Bruce Springsteen - Magic (website | iTunes)
KT Tunstall - Drastic Fantastic (website | iTunes)
M.I.A. - Kala (website | iTunes)
Bat For Lashes - Fur & Gold (website | iTunes)
Tegan & Sara - The Con (website | iTunes)

Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians

2007-12-07T00:53:00.000-06:00

As a balding individual, I especially appreciate this blog: Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians. Not only does it have its own voice, it makes me laugh every day. What does my going bald have to do with this website? It is my conclusion that these men all look like old lesbians because they have full heads of thick, stylish hair during the later ears of life. I'd rather be bald than look like a man that looks like a woman that looks like a man.

Neil Finn. Singer. Songwriter. Mullet-y leader of New Zealand

From: Men Who Look Like Old Lesbians

Bat for Lashes - What's A Girl To Do

2007-12-05T20:16:00.000-06:00

Bat For Lashes has made an incredible video directed by Dougal Wilson. It is one part Donnie Darko with a hint of Lily Allen's original video for 'LDN', fried in the 'one-take' batter of a Feist video.

When You Love Someone

2007-12-01T18:39:00.000-06:00

This video was not made by a 10 year old girl from Indiana.

Thanksgiving 2007

2007-11-24T00:23:00.001-06:00

Thanksgiving was different for me this year in that I remained in Austin. Since 1998 I have traveled to London to visit my friends and it has now come to be tradition. With the price of the dollar to the pound and the fact that Kyle and Dan, who I usually stay with, are traveling in Australia and New Zealand, there was no other wise choice but to hang out with family and local friends.

Rebecca and I ate dinner with our parents at their place and then headed over to Chip and Sioban's for a second meal and gathering. There was tons of food at both places and I was thoroughly stuffed; so much so that I only nibbled at my second meal. I drank plenty of beer and everyone rocked out to the video game 'Rock Band' which is the same as guitar hero but with a bass, drums and microphone. Afer a few ditties from Hole and The Clash, Sioban took the microphone and showed everyone how it was done by busting out some Beastie Boys.

Thanksgiving 2007 @ Casa de Pumphrey.

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A Week of Fantastic Music

2007-11-11T16:17:00.000-06:00

Last week was an overdose of live music that I thoroughly enjoyed. Starting off the week, I shook my thang with M.I.A. at Hogg Auditorium on UT campus and then parked it at Stubb's on Tuesday and Wednesday for Regina Spektor and Tegan & Sara.

I have spent such significant time and money at concerts that I have started to contemplate which career move would subsidize my love of music. Until that happens though, you can read about my concert experiences here - as an amateur.

Tegan & Sara @ Stubb's BBQ, 7 Nov 2007, Austin, TX

I am a recent disciple of their music though I've heard their name and have had other friends recommend them for years. I am disappointed that I didn't pick up an album sooner.

They opened the show with Dark Come Soon and finished with a three-set encore which included Rihanna's Umbrella. Covering Umbrella solidified their greatness in my heart and head.

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Regina Spektor @ Stubb's BBQ, 7 Nov 2007, Austin, TX

Usually I am irritated when I turn up at a concert and the artist performs an entire acoustic set. It tends to be boring and monotonous to the point of demystifying how seven notes can create millions of different songs. But Regina was an exception and she held my interest as she softly walked the audience through the musical manifestations of her brain.

Regina Spektor's music is interesting and "alternative' in how it is written and performed on the recorded CD. She uses her voice in a stylistic and somewhat quirky way that is fast becoming her trademark. When you hear her music live, it takes on a new layer of interesting and, yet, the songs sound more conventional and straight forward.

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M.I.A. @ Hogg Auditorium, 7 Nov 2007, Austin, TX

M.I.A.'s stage show leaves something to be desired and I think she should go by way of Bjork and produce her sound live. With only a single DJ, there was man power to play MP3s of her music minus the vocals, layered with sounds of gunshots and other politically influenced noise controlled by said DJ. The output is great like her albums, but the argument here is really about expectations and necessities around a live show's energy.

M.I.A. consistently moved about the stage and worked every minute of the show to get the fans involved and dancing. Hogg auditorium presented its own challenges as well by having irremovable seating in the floor area. Like a true professional, M.I.A. made due and improvised by bringing everyone up to the stage for a song or two instead.

Overall, M.I.A. was excellent and the concert was mash-up.

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HONESTLIVING IS DEAD

2007-10-26T13:32:00.000-05:00

It is official. www.honestliving.com was laid to rest on this day of October 26, 2007. It was 10 years old and had a beautiful life of many versions.

But out of the ash arrives I Am Brady - The Blog. I have converted and am through with personal website maintenance. Let someone else resize my pics. Let someone else figure out why your comments aren't showing on my blog. Let someone else figure out the RSS feed. I'm just going to babble, sort images and care not about the reality of things 'behind the curtain'.

My strategy is now to use online (mostly Google) tools to recreate the same content that was available on honestliving.com. The end result is something that is more robust than anything I could or would want to build myself. I also get the added benefit of 'drive-by traffic' from people browsing other blogs or linking through to my content.

For Images
Using Picasa2 I sort and organize my images and then upload them as online photo albums. You can sort, download, view a sideshow, buy prints and make comments.
I Am Brady Photos

For Videos
Using YouTube I sort and organize my videos and then upload them into my YouTube Channel. Using Playlists, I group the videos so that they coincide with the I Am Brady Photo sets. You can view, comment and save the videos to your own YouTube favorites.
I Am Brady Videos

About I Am Brady
Using MySpace and Facebook, I can almost keep up with everyone I know or knew from the past. In fact, I keep in contact more easily than I could before and with more people than I ever imagined. Social networking sites, to me, take off the pressure of writing individual emails keeping everyone up-to-date on the daily mundane things in life that only a person can care about when it's about themselves. I make an effort to cross pollinate the content (photos, videos and this blog) on each of these sites and cross-link between them so as to create the user experience of surfing on honestliving.com (RIP).
I Am Brady @ MySpace
I Am Brady @ Facebook

Professionally: IAB
Since I Am Brady (IAB) is also my professional brand, I have reserved iambrady.com for that purpose and to have email at that domain. This website will host my portfolio, business objectives, methodologies, secured client information and any press/rewards/client comments that I may gather over the years. Unfortunately, the only user interaction available on this site will be the 'Contact IAB' form. Stay tuned for the launch of IAB by the end of 2007.
IAB (www.iambrady.com)

I will also be using LinkedIn as my professional networking site and I will cross-pollinate content with iambrady.com.
I Am Brady @ LinkedIn

Best In Drag Show

2007-10-24T11:53:00.001-05:00

I attended a benefit in Los Angeles at the Orpheum Theatre. It was called 'Best in Drag Show' and it raised money for AID for AIDS. That night they raised over 300k!

The show consisted of a beauty pageant format with three sections: swimwear, talent and evening gown/question. Each contestant was from a different state (of their choice) and performed hysterical routines in extravagant displays of fashion and accessories; if one can call the Taj Mahal an accessory.

Best In Show

I Am Brady

2007-10-01T02:08:00.000-05:00