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About Ramblings of a Hopeless Khowaga

Welcome to my Web site. My name is Chris, and I’ll be your host. I live in Austin, Texas, with my partner, Ray, and our child dog, Mocha. You can read more about me, learn 100 random things about me, and if you’re wondering what the heck a khowaga is, click here. Feel free to browse, read, and leave comments!

Tag: ‘RBD’



Same old, same old

Sunday, March 25th, 2007

I’ve been feeling uninspired lately, like my life is stuck in a bit of a rut. To some degree, it is — it’s late spring and for the first year since 2002, I’m not gearing up for some massive summer project that is taking up my time and energy. I’m trying not to let it show in my blog posts, with the result that I’m going in long stretches without posting anything (which is OK, because most of the people stumbling on this site go directly to the page where I mention Christian Chavez’s gay wedding. He’s gay, folks, get over it. From what I can tell from being in the supermarket checkout line, it’s in every Spanish language tabloid known to man). I’m kind of sorry that I brought it up … but weirdly proud of the high readership it’s generated. I *so* need help.

I’ve started on the garden, but we’ve gone as far as we can without professional help (or at least a rented tiller to scour up the rest of it), and since it’s heading toward the end of the month the heart may be willing but the wallet is thin.

As a brief aside, we dog-sat for some friends this weekend — the same friends who take care of Mocha when we’re out of town. Ray picked their dogs up on his way home from work, and by the time I made it home they’d already broken off the jalapeno plant down to the ground, trodden through the oleander, and kicked the gravel every-which-way. Better still, one of the two guest dogs decided that Mocha’s hole wasn’t big enough, so he dug it down to the point where he could lay in it with his head poking out at ground level. He did such a good job of dispersing the dirt that we’re waiting for it to rain so that the hole will fill back in, because that’s the only way it’s going to happen. I created a makeshift fence out of tomato stakes and it kept them out for the rest of the weekend — that and my going ballistic every time I saw one of the dogs heading in that direction. Mutts.

Eros Ramazzotti - 9Anyway. I’m also in this weird musical rut — this happens with me, where I acquire or two CDs and wind up listening to them over and over and over and over and over again to the exclusion of just about everything else. At the moment, my iPod is probably tired of playing Eros Ramazzotti’s album 9 (it was his ninth album, hence the title, and for the record I’m listening to the Italian version, not the Spanish), and my car is sick of The Damnwells’ Air Stereo and Keane’s Under the Iron Sea. The worst thing is that I can totally see what’s next: Per Gessle’s new album En händig man (A handy man) comes out on June 12, and that will be stuck on constant replay until well after the New Year. I have no plans to travel to Sweden for the subsequent tour, however, since Sweden is one of the most expensive countries on earth.

My TV viewing has gone down because everything I watch is on hiatus, which is a nice way of saying “not coming back” when we’re talking about Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. I’m growing weary of Lost — I just don’t care who dies in the next episode because it’s going to wind up being someone no one cares about anyway (my money is on Rodrigo Santorio’s character — whatever his name is — because he’s had about five minutes of air time all season).

Rome ends tonight for us in the US, and it should come as no surprise what’s going to happen with the big characters (Octavian wins — as much as we’d all like to slap him silly — whilst Antony and Cleopatra die. This is all basic history), and I have this sneaking suspicion that the two ‘main characters’ of the show — Pullo and Vorenus — are going to have to fight each other to the death for some stupidly contrived-yet-heartbreaking reason. I don’t expect this one to be as gut wrenching as the end of Six Feet Under, which had me depressed for days afterwards. I still can’t hear Sia’s “Breathe Me” without getting a little verklempt.

This evening is also the season finale of Battlestar Galactica, which isn’t coming back until January (!!), and great shocks and surprises are promised. (Entertainment Weekly had the following irritating description: “Of all the characters I thought would be a Cylon: him??” Ugh.) After The Sopranos ends, there won’t be anything to look forward to on Sunday nights anymore. I can’t go back to The Simpsons

And so, it’s Sunday afternoon. The laundry is in the drier, the dog is tired from her now-departed guests (no walk today), and it’s still threatening to rain … but probably won’t.

Here’s hoping you’re having an interesting Sunday, wherever you are!

Christian Chavez’s Wedding

Monday, March 5th, 2007

[jLanguage default=”english”][english][/english][spanish][/spanish]

[english]
¿Buscas al español? Haz click aquí …

‘cuz I’m a giver: I’ve noticed a bunch of people stumbling on my site by looking for the now legendary photos of Mexican pop star Christian Chavez from the group RBD getting hitched to his boyfriend, BJ Murphy, in Canada. And after a few simple keystrokes, I found ‘em: here ya go, boys and girls! Love the kool-aid red hair… And don’t say I never did nothin’ for ya.

P.S. There are some more links to article and interviews below (after the jump if you’re on the main page). Check them out …

Since this seems to be such a popular post, I figured I’d add a little bit more.

I’ll be honest: I still don’t really know who this guy is. I’ve never heard of the band, but since I posted the original item three days ago, hundreds of people have accessed this page looking for more information about him, so this is my attempt at being nice (and keeping the traffic going. Maybe some of you will pause to read some of the other, non-Christian things on the site?).

Note: There is both a Christian and a Christopher in RBD (Christian is the one with fluorescent hair). Christian is the one who is gay, while Christopher is not.

Christian Chávez: A Married, Assuming Rebel, Now Much More Beloved an article (in Spanish) from an Argentine gay magazine.

México Supports Christian for Being Gay (in Spanish) Another positive article in reaction to the announcement. There are additional links to related articles, which I haven’t read, but I do enjoy the one with the title Do I have to congratulate Christian Chavez? It’s so good to remember the important things in life…

You can find much more by doing a search of Google News, which you can do in one click here. Needless to say, there’s far more available if you read Spanish and search Google Mexico (which you can do here).

I haven’t seen any photos of the wedding that are different from the ones posted on LatinoGossip.com at the link above. I think those must be the only photographs of the ceremony itself.

Updated Update (Thursday, March 8):

Christian now claims that someone was trying to blackmail him over his sexuality, which would put him in the same situation as Stephen Gately from the now-defunct Irish boyband Boyzone (and not in the same situation, as much as he’d like to claim that he was, as Lance Bass.) More here from Mexico City’s El Universal (en español): Trataron de extorsionarme: Christian Chávez

Christian says he doesn’t want to be a gay icon in an interview with La Reforma, which I do not have a subscription to. 20 Minutos has a rundown of the pertinent information.

La Opinión Digital calls him “brave and honest” in an editorial.

And, finally, La Crónica de Hoy asks the important question: Who will be the next to come out of the closet?

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[spanish]

La Boda de Christian Chavez

Wanna read this in English? Click here …

Escribí sobre el “salimiento del armario” de Christian Chavez por primera vez en un articulo llamado “Random Round-up” (en ingles sola), y fue demasiado interés en ello y por eso he encontrado las enlaces aqui.

En este enlace se puede encontrar las fotografías famosas de la boda del Christian Chavez, del grupo méxicano RBD, y su novio, BJ Murphy, en Canada. Hay muchas copias de ellas en la Red (tambien alguien ha hecho un videoclip en YouTube con subtítulos estúpidos), pero todas las fotografías de la boda que he visto están allí. ¡Disfrútalos! (y, ¿¿que pasa con el color de su pelo??)

P.S. Hay más enlaces á artículos y entrevistas que siguen debajo. Mireís …

Eso debe ser uno de mis articulos mas populares, y por eso pensaba en poner unos poquitos enlaces más a la página.

En el espiritú de estar completamente honesto, no conozco a Christián Chavez ni sobre su musica ni sobre su persona. He visto los CDs de RBD en las tiendas (y les presté attencíon por culpa de su pelo rosa fluorescente), pero no los escuchaba. Pero despues de escribir en mi blog sobre su ‘salimiento del armario,’ cientos de personas han visitado mi sitio para saber más, y por eso pensé en usar la Red para su utilidad intendido: accesar a información. Y puedo practicar mi español antés de mi viaje a México por el verano. (¿Y puede ser que algunos de vosotros queridos visitantes pausen á leer unas cosas más que los pocos artículos que hablan de Christián?)

No he visto unas fotografías de la boda que son differentes de los que se puede ver en el sitio de LatinoGossip.com en el enlace encima. Creo que estos deben ser los unicos fotografías de la boda …

Nota: En RBD hay un chaval llamado Christián (él con el pelo florescente) y un llamado Christopher. Es Christián quien ha declarado su homosexualidad, mientras Christopher no es gay.

Christian Chávez: un rebelde casado, asumido y ahora mucho más querido– un articulo de una revista argentina para la communidad GLBT.

México apoya a Christian por ser gay — Este es un otro articulo positivo sobre las noticias. Hay enlaces a articulos relacionados – no los leí, pero me gusta el sigiento titulo: ¿Tengo que “felicitar” a Christian Chavez? Porque sobre todo es muy importante recordar las cosas más importantes en la vida …

Hay mucho mas en una busqueda de Google Noticias que se puede hacer con un click aqui.

El Juéves, el 8 de marzo:

Ahora, Christián dice que alguién trató de extorsionarlo sobre sus preferencias sexuales, que le pondrá en la misma situación que Stephen Gately del grupo musical irlandés Boyzone (y no en la misma situación que Lance Bass). Más aquí de El Universal desde México D.F.: Trataron de extorsionarme: Christian Chávez.

Además, Christian dice en una intervista con La Reforma que no quiere ser un ícono sexual. Porque no tengo una subscripción a La Reforma, hay una versión alternativa aqui desde 20 Minutos.

La Opinión Digital opine que Christian es “valiente y honesto”.

Y, finalmente, La Crónica de Hoy pide la pregunta más importante de todo: ¿Quién será el próximo valiente en salir del clóset?

[/spanish]

Random Round-up

Saturday, March 3rd, 2007

I’m a bit zonked from spending all day in the sun freezing my ass off–in Texas, who knew that was even possible?–and shepherding lots of small children and their families about. The event went rather well, nothing much to say about it, but about an hour before everything wound down all at once the exhaustion just hit me and from then on the time seemed to crawl.

Also, I have a horrible case of hat hair (this being one of the two days out of the year I might actually wear a hat), a sunburned nose (just ‘cuz it’s 55 degrees doesn’t mean you can’t burn), and–I’m so ashamed to admit this–the battery in my camera died early in the day because I didn’t have it fully charged. I am so not worthy of calling myself a photographer. (In my defense: I would have had more motivation to make sure I had a fully charged battery if today’s event didn’t look exactly the same as last year’s or the year’s before. I can totally use some of the photos I took in previous years in our newsletter and no one will be able to tell the difference.)

But there’s nothing like coming home, checking the news and reading some of the more interesting headlines out there. Let’s look at some of them together, shall we?

Ann Coulter Called John Edwards a ‘Faggot’

OK, two things here. She didn’t actually call him a faggot. She said that she couldn’t call him a faggot because she’d have to go to rehab. Subtle difference: the second one is so much bitchier, and we all know that la Ann doesn’t like to do anything halfway. Last year, Ann called Al Gore a total fag.

Now, let’s take stock here. If I were straight and had no taste (this appears to be common), I might find Ann attractive. However, Ann isn’t married. Ann’s getting past the age where marriage is appropriate. Ann calls everyone else gay (or stops short of doing so). She seems to have some weird fixation on homosexuality and making sure that everyone is looking at other people and wondering if they’re gay.

I’m not suggesting anything about Ann. I’m stopping myself just short and letting you complete the paragraph above all by yourself. Yes, that’s right. I went there. She can do it, why can’t I?

Update: Response from various parties includes some of the following tidbits:

Rudi Guilani: “The comments were completely inappropriate and there should be no place for such name-calling in political debate.”

Spokesman for Mitt Romney: “It was an offensive remark. Governor Romney believes all people should be treated with dignity and respect.” [My guess is that this was a rewrite. The original draft probably said something along the lines of, "You go, girl!" before someone on the campaign staff realized that this might make their candidate seem a little too gay and that they had to butch it up.]

The Director of the Christian Defense Coalition responds: ”Frankly, I would have loved to have heard Ann expose and dissect the radical agenda of Senator Edwards instead of resorting to cheap name calling.” Um. Yeah. Someone here has a radical agenda, dude, but are you sure it’s him?

My favorite is from la Ann herself: “C’mon, it was a joke. I would never insult gays by suggesting that they are like John Edwards. That would be mean.”

I just don’t get Ann Coulter, honestly. Liberals hate her. I don’t know a single conservative who likes her, either (‘course, what passes for conservative in Austin is still pretty liburl). Why do people listen to her when she says shit like this?

Oh. Wait. It’s because she says shit like this, isn’t it? Damn.

A Mexican pop star has come out of the closet.

christian1.jpgChristian Chavez, of the band RBD (I don’t know them, but I don’t listen to boy bands in English that much, so it rather follows that I also don’t listen to boy bands in Spanish), revealed that he’s gay after a Web site published photos that it claims are of him and his partner getting married in Canada.

Unlike the case with certain other boy band members who’ve recently come out, Christian is part of a band that’s still popular in Mexico and isn’t on hiatus while one of its members–not the one who’s gay (or at least admitting it publicly)–goes on to a bigger and better career but still wants something to fall back on in case his solo career doesn’t go anywhere.

He’s also the first entertainment-world celebrity to come out in Mexico, which is still deeply conservative and Roman Catholic, or so the articles say, which is interesting because I think Mexico is going to have us beat pretty soon in the number of states that allow gay marriage or domestic partnerships. (I mean, come on. If Coahuila can do it, why the hell can’t Texas?)

But most intriguing to me is the following quote in the Associated Press article on the topic from 16-year-old Carla Gonzalez who’s not down with the boys being gay, adding that when it came to Christian, “You couldn’t tell.”

… because the ever-changing fluorescent color of his hair wasn’t a clue?

A Team Hired by the Discovery Channel Claims to have Found the Tomb of Jesus.

… and he was still in it (or was, until they reburied the bones in accordance with Jewish law).

Now, I’m not the most active church-goer–what with the being agnostic and all–but even I have to stop and scratch my head on this one. There is, statistically speaking, a 1-in-600 chance that the tomb that was found was the tomb of The Jesus. 1-in-600. Those are pretty small odds. And consider this: Let’s say that Jesus did marry Mary Magdalene and they had a kid and they all lived to be a ripe old age happily ever after. Don’t you think that maybe they might have noticed Paul and the Apostles running around creating a religion that used their names a bit?

Only in the post Da-Vinci Code world–which is technically also the post Foucault’s Pendulum world–would that not only be considered good science but merit its own freaking television special. (Foucault’s Pendulum being the more intelligent, less stupid tale that instead makes its readers feel stupid because you have to look up every other word even though it’s been translated into English.)

And then there’s the part where James Cameron endorses it. So, having conquered the field of underwater exploration as seen in the spectacularly accurate film Titanic, he’s now an expert on Biblical archaeology? Didn’t Trent Lott pull this crap when he diagnosed Terri Shiavo by watching stock footage of her on CNN? (Back in the days when CNN reported actual news instead of the Anna Nicole Smith funeral, post funeral, post-post funeral, and interviews with the people that prune the lawn in the cemetery where they decided not to bury her?)

Ugh. As Bill Engvall keeps saying: heeere’s your sign.

And that’s Saturday. I hope you’re enjoying yourselves, wherever you are!

 

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