Well, I got back from my vacation in one piece.

This year's trip to Serbia was great, as expected. I'm a little jet-lagged and still trying to find the words for my trip. I'll have full details soon (hopefully later this week).

One note: if you ever get the offer to go to Exit, Serbia's answer to England's music festivals, you should definitely go. It was the best time I've ever had. It didn't hurt that we got VIP treatment as well. ;)

Queued Up: Bob Sinclar - World, Hold On

Ooo … so nice and shiny. DHS has redesigned their logo Terror Alert graphic from its once so Pride-friendly glory. Oh, and you don't hear much about it these days, do you?

I bet you'll hear about it as the elections roll closer this November. Then again, it can't be used to help Bush get re-elected (THANK GOD!), so I doubt it'll have as much usefulness as it once did. In fact, given 1–2 years from now, it probably won't even exist.

Queued Up: AFX - Every Day

"Straight Acting" is exactly what the term describes- an act. Most straight acting people I've met are very poor actors.

— "Rey", over at Joe.My.God.

The quote is in reference to the discussion caused by Joe's original post, "Watching the Defectives", a missive he issued at all those "straight-acting" gays who say that Pride parades hurt our community by only showing the extremes.

I've complained about this very same thing in the past and have recently come to believe that my thoughts about Pride being too freaky for me were wrong. Someone I talked to this past weekend at Midsommarfest said the smartest thing about the parades, "It's a parade, since when are parades normal?"

It wasn't the "straight-acting" queers who secured the status we have today, as much as they'd like to believe it (I used to be one; hey, it's what fratboys like to hear). It was all the people who had (or used to have) the balls to be themselves; the bull dykes, the drag queens, the trannies, the bears, the over-the-top nellies.

It also says volumes that my sister, who just came out to me this year, values what Pride is to want to come to it. Pride is not a "freakshow". It's a time for all of us to join in solidarity and enjoy our company. It shows that we're not afraid to let the traditional media stereotype us, because in reality we know exactly who we are.

On top of that, I'd like to say to everyone "Happy Pride!"

(Photo courtesy of Evolutionary Girls Club.)

Queued Up: Egoexpress - Live At Sirius Prime

I think this is the only time in my life I will ever have something to say that is positive about Fox News.

Watch Fox anchorwoman Julie Banderas take down Shirley Phelps-Roger, of the hateful bigots ofWestboro Baptist Church, about going to soldiers' funerals and protesting them.

As much as I despise Fox News, this is exactly what someone needed to do to those Christianist freaks.

(Hat tip to Towleroad.)

Queued Up: Apparat - Wooden

Not that I'm a huge Kylie fan, but this is great news:

Kylie joins Dannii on stage
Cameron Adams
12jun06

KYLIE Minogue has made her first concert appearance since her cancer diagnosis.

Kylie joined sister Dannii on stage at a London nightclub on Saturday night.

Dannii had just finished a half-hour set to promote her new best-of album when she welcomed her sister on stage, prompting a thunderous ovation.

Kylie was visibly moved by the reception from the mainly gay audience.

"I couldn't let this occasion go by without coming here to support my sister," Kylie said.

The sisters performed a brief duet of Dannii's hit Jump to the Beat.

"I was doing my best to stop the tears," Dannii said after the show.

Melbourne music industry identity Molly Meldrum was at the show. "I've never been to a club that was so hot, but when Kylie got on stage with Dannii it was like the heating had been turned on full," he said.

"I'd been in Munich for the World Cup the day before and that was loud, but the noise when Kylie and Dannii got on stage almost upstaged the World Cup."

For what I would give for this to have been two months ago when I was at G-A-Y.

Update: The video quality is terrible, but the point is to hear how the crowd reacted when she came onstage. Wow.

Queued Up: Paul Kalkbrenner - Gebrünn Gebrünn