Far from a dirty word, “lesbian folk music” is a term that has the power to pique my interest and make me run to check out the woman holding the title. While the stalwarts like Amy Ray and Jill Sobule are still around doing great work, a new generation has emerged to carry the torch. To the likes of Chris Pureka and An Horse comes Nicole Reynolds. The Pittsburgh native (and former attendant of local Goucher College) has a tiny, heartwrenching voice that is the perfect medium for some big ideas.
She busted out her powerful track “Like an Ocean” at the DC-are Iota Club for us back in January. It’s has a great message about persecution and self-reliance that should make sense for anyone who was told that they grew up wrong. Check it out!

Substitute Daughter and Mother

Here’s a perfect twisted movie for Mother’s Day- Secret Ceremony, based on a prize-winning short story by Argentine civil servant Marco Denevi, starring Elizabeth Taylor and Mia Farrow as Leonara and Cenci who have come together in a lesbian charged substitute mother/daughter relationship.

NY Times review describes it as “…..confidence men—drawn into the frank needs of the insane, until their confidence roles become a personal truth about them.”

Plot

An aging prostitute, Leonora, played by Elizabeth Taylor, spots Cenci, played by a Mia Farrow staring at her on the bus. Cenci reminds Leonora of her daughter who died at a young age, and as we find out later, Leonara is the spitting image of Cenci’s mother.

Cenci is intrigued so she follows Leonora around as she visits her child’s grave. Somehow she invites Leonora to the fabulous mansion where she lives to act as her mother. Liz is playing a prostitute so we don’t really know if Ceci offered her cash and she was going to go lesbo or not.

Cenci fixes Leonora breakfast and one of the highlights of the film is hearing Liz Taylor burp during the sumptuous meal- real class.

Cenci acts as though the hooker she just took in is her mother and Liz Taylor’s character, Leonora assumes the role and moves in and wears the real mother’s clothes, designed by Christian Dior which are all fabulous! She even passes herself off to Cenci’s aunts as the dead woman’s sister.

Stunning purple fez by Christian Dior

The two of them have some real lesbo moments: Leonora imitates an orgasm for Cenci, they take a bath together and Cenci massages Leonora’s back in bed.

Who needs their back washed?

Will Liz get a happy ending?

After a conversation with Cenci’s step-father, who was banished from the house by his dead ex-wife, Leonora figures out that Cenci is a sexual psychotic who tried to seduce her stepfather.

Cenci goes more mad as the film goes by and you kind of wonder, did she kill her own mother and is that what’s going to happen to Liz Taylor’s character?

They eventually end up fighting a lot and Mia Farrow, who had just filmed Rosemary’s Baby where she gets pregnant by Satan is now, in this film, faking a pregnancy by stuffing a doll up her dress. When Leonora calls her out on the fake pregnancy, Cenci freaks and tosses her out.

Eventually, Leonora returns and begs forgiveness but Cenci is already planning to kill herself so she throws her out.

Spoiler after the movie poster

At Cenci’s funeral, the step-father shows up and Leonora stabs him.

Julia describes sex as a Sewage Treatment Plant next to an Amusement Park to her curious daughter.  Then, she introduces her daughter to internet porn.  Her daughter, Mulan, then extrapolates what gay sex must be like and explains it to her mother.  LOL  Finally, Mulan is completely stumped by lesbian sex and cannot figure that one out!!  LMAO!!!!!

Rihanna getting her boobs dusted

Maybe that’s why she let Chris Brown beat her so- she’s not into receiving pleasure.

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We could have had anyone on the show- Janet Jackson, Paula Abdul. Today we have comedian Suzanne Westenhofer! She is very very sexy and very funny. Suzanne Westenhofer, she’s what Feast of Fun is all about.

As a stand-up comedian, there was never a time when Suzanne Westenhoefer wasn’t out and proud on stage. For 20 over years she has boldly entertained audiences with her hilarious outlook on life and culture.

In 1991 Susanne was a guest on Sally Jesse Raphael’s talk show for an episode titled “Lesbians Who Don’t Look Like Lesbians” in a good natured attempt to rip apart lesbian stereotypes. By today’s standards, the title of the show would be deemed offensive, but for 15 years after her appearance, she was still receiving fan mail.

Listen as Suzanne shares with us hilarious stories of working as a young comedian in Provincetown 20 years ago, dishes the dirt on the Dina Shore Classic and the changing face of gay and lesbian humor.

Plus,

The insanely colorful world of Fiestaware collectors.

Singing with the Indigo Girls.

And are we too hard on celebrities who come out of the closet?

Featured Music:
Basia Bulat – Heart of My Own: iTunes

I love how slutty these dance girls are in this B movie “The Horrors of Spider Island.” The dance troupe auditions are so campy that I’d love to see drag queen recreate it. Bonus, there’s even a lesbian couple among the girls.

Plot: A plane crash leaves an all girl dance troupe stranded on a deserted island where a mutant spider bite turns the troupe’s male manager into a monster.

In this, episode two, they talk about the ever-sticky subject of self identification. Enjoy and be sure to check out the original post at The New Gay!

http://thenewgay.net/2010/08/at-the-space-bar-w-megan-and-lynn.html

Kayla is 19 year old lesbian who works at Hooters in Rockford, Illinois.

–Read more on After Ellen

Behold The Love Parade. Germany’s peace-loving, electronic music celebration took a wrong turn last Saturday when 21 people were crushed to death in a tunnel that lead to the festival site.

Jessica Halem - photo by Fausto Fernós

Today we’re joined by Jessica Halem who recently made some Chicago politicians very nervous in her stand up act talking about men having sex in the newly renovated public bathrooms at the gay beach.

Listen as we talk about about the perils of love, New Orleans, and St. Agatha of Sicily, the patron saint of trans men.

And of course, all the hot news:

Elisabeth Hasslebeck implies that her co-hosts on the View are lesbians.

Amina Tariq, the hard core animal rights activist is arrested in Jordan for wearing a hijab made out of romaine lettuce.

Facebook status updates from hell

And some advice for porn-stars turned killers, if you don’t want to do the time, don’t text message your crime.

Featured Music:
Rachael Sage – Delancey Street: iTunes

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Also, the district agreed to follow a non-discrimination policy, though it argues such a policy was already in place.

Lesbian High School Student Constance McMillen Gets $35,000 Settlement For Canceled Prom.

This August, Comedian Marga Gomez is sharpening her cougar claws, packing up her insect repellent, and heading off to the remote woods of the Wolverine State for the legendary Michigan Womyn’s Music Festival.

You might think that this women-only event is just a genteel celebration of folk music, but for many it’s a wild adventure filled with hot sounds and sexy good times.

Today Marga Gomez shares with us her experiences at the event over the years, including her fear of porta potties and the time when bondage loving lesbians dropped pamphlets over the crowds from an airplane to gain acceptance at the event.

Join us as we talk with Marga about the legacy of her work as an innovator of the “one person show” and her role in the sci-fi thriller “Sphere” where she and Queen Latifah got eaten by a giant squid and jellyfish. Oh, Marga gives us the dirt on Queen Latifah!

Marga also takes us down the bumpy road of the gay rights movement, where diversity means we have to share spaces with skanky people and the commodifcation of Pride or as Marga calls it “the Rainbow Road to Hell.”

Featured Music:
Ferron – Impressionistic DOUBLE CD: iTunes

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Chicago Representative Deb Mell announced the engagement to her long-time girlfriend on the floor of the Illinois state house in Springfield with this emotional, heartfelt speech. We share her disappointment that she has to cross the Mississippi into Iowa to marry rather than marry her partner here where she grew up. Hopefully her plea will sound a chord with the other lawmakers.

Find out more.

Comedian Heather Gold is gay for the internet, and for a whole lot of other things.

On her weekly cutting edge show on the art of social engagement, Heather discusses politics and relationships with web celebrities. The unusually named Tummelvision refers to the Yiddish word, Tummler which is an entertainer or master of ceremonies who encourages audience interaction.

Today we kick off our series of interviews from deep in the heart of Texas in Austin during the South by Southwest Interactive Conference.

As one of the creators of Equality Camp, Heather works to bring tech experts and activists together to organize the gay marriage movement.

Listen as Heather shares with us her take on the queering of this year’s technology conference, techno chickens, how Sarah Palin works the internet and why entertainers need to embrace social media to keep their audience.

Featured Music:
Nakia – Water to Wine: iTunes | Amazon

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For gay, lesbian, bi and trans folks telling our stories is vital to our personal growth.

The internet creates a safe space for people to discover the sexier side of themselves by reflecting on their experiences with others.

Today we continue our series of interviews with well known bloggers who know how make it happen. We have kinky writer, queer butch top, Sinclair Sexsmith of the Sugarbutch Chronicles.

Listen as we chat with Sinclair about her journey writing erotica, coming out in your blog and New York City’s Lesbian Sex Mafia!

How do you avoid getting your site blocked because of its sexy content?

The controversy over Hot Top Butches, dealing with haters on your blog and why losing guilt over sex may be the most important thing you can do.

Visit our sponsor:

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Featured Music:
Spinn – She Was Heartache: iTunes

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Comedian Sabrina Matthews was scuba diving off the coast of Myanmar when she was attacked by a barracuda that sliced through her diving mask and slit her left eyeball wide open. A year and several operations later, Sabrina sees the world in a whole new way.

Being a comedian and having a disability is like being a superhero in a comic book with the heightened powers of keen observation. Sabrian’s noticed almost all eye injuries portrayed in movies involve the left eye while the right eye is the untouched or sacred eye of film?

Join us as Sabrina fill us in on her life and experience as a stand up comedian. Just because she’s gay doesn’t mean that she hasn’t noticed what men do with their own packages. Why do guys touch themselves so much? Why do comedians look down on dick jokes? We have the answers.

Also:
Australians up in arms that over emu and kangaroo flavored potato chips because the animals are the national symbols of Oz.

Safe and sustainable fish to eat.

Santas in Estonia give up their whips so they won’t frighten the children.

And a statue of Michelangelo’s David on Texas lawn is dressed up as a sexy St. Nick which leaves children asking “Why is Santa naked?”

Featured Music:
Kristine W – The Power of Music: iTunes | Amazon
Kristine W – Be Alright (single): iTunes | Amazon

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Claire and Gretchen on Heroes.

Characters get married, have babies, die or visit alternate universes in order to stop an army of organic/mechanical hybrids that eat thermometers to stay alive–which seems plausible now that I’ve seen it on “Fringe.”

It seems lately that more shows are having characters get their gay on.

Two “straight” characters on two different TV shows have same-sex experiences recently–OK, chaste, harmless experiments. On “Heroes” immortal cheerleader Clare Bennett, played by Hayden Panettiere, shared a kiss with Gretchen, her college roommate. On “Gossip Girl” manipulative antagonist Chuck Bass locked lips with a tertiary character named Josh. Both main characters–Claire and Chuck–were passive participants in these closed-mouth kisses. There was no reciprocal smooching going on.
Claire seemed afraid and Chuck seemed bored–but maybe that’s just Ed Westwick’s poor acting.

Is this same-sex smooching something the gay community should celebrate? It brings homosexuality and bisexuality to the forefront on TV. Or should the community admonish the showrunners for using gay story lines only for shock value to increase ratings?

Read the entire story on Chicagonow.

Getting a hold of celebrities is difficult, especially when you call the wrong number. It’s very nice when the person on the other end of the line is polite though. Leave it to the Canadians to be like that. They’re just happy to get a phone call, even if it’s a wrong one.

When we finally get out and proud comedian Elvira Kurt on the phone, we are surprised that she has become a lesbian dad to a real live human baby. We never find out the name of the baby but we are glad that Elvira gets to experience the joy of parenthood since so much of her act is based on her growing up. That’s the best thing about parenting, you get to put your kid through all the things your parents put you through.

In her act, Elvira channels the spirit of her mother, Irene, a bleak Hungarian immigrant. Elvira practically becomes Irene who has a think accent and always sees the dark side of things. For Irene, life is hard, bleak and everything you love will break you heart and disappoint you. Elvira claims that the Eastern European stereotype of despair and gloom is based on her mother.

We chat with Ms Kurt about Girls School, an all-girl comedy movement. It seems that girls in girls schools perform better than girls in co-ed schools so they figure that girls on an all girl comedy tour would perform better without men. It’s sort of an comedy version of the Michigan Womyn’s Festival.

Our lovely Gem Sweater Diva and a FoF favorite guest Leslie Hall performed in the review. She even stayed at Elvira’s house. Did you know Leslie has a tail? She doesn’t really but Elvira says that she leads a “marsupial” lifestyle. We think she means “nocturnal,” but you never know, so don’t be surprised if you see Leslie hanging from a tree someday.

Elvira is a widely successful Canadian comedian both north and south of the border. She’s made many TV appearances and even hosted her own talk show in Canada. You can find out more about Elvira at her website.

A big thanks to Nick for tirelessly working to bring celebrities like Elvira Kurt on the show!

[Originally posted on 05.02.07]

Make a comment on today’s show using twitter- Include #fofa525 in your update for it to magically appear on the site. To learn more about Twitter hashtags and how the work, please visit the Twitter Fan Wiki.

Featured Music:
Actor Slash Model – Cheap Date: Site
Zrazy – Dream On: iTunes | Amazon | Site

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Late last year comedian Sabrina Matthews was scuba diving off the coast of Myanmar when she was attacked by a barracuda which sliced through the side of her diving mask and slit her left eye.

She was rushed over the Burmese border to a Thai hospital and underwent surgery which was just the start of a lengthy battle to save her vision.

On today’s show Sabrina shares her extraordinary ordeal of the fish attack, her unusual treatment at a foreign hospital, and how the US government almost left her to languish in Thai prison.

How did she survive this chaotic incident? And was the food good in the Thai Hospital?

Listen as we talk about why fast food popcorn shrimp may be destroying our seas and why Barracudas are turning to cannibalism in order to survive. What can you do to help the ocean?

You can catch Sabrina’s act along with Jason Dudey and Ant at the Baltimore Comedy Factory on July 19th and at Blue Moon in Rehoboth Beach on July 22. And for the ladies, you can see her with Vicki Shaw at the tip of Michigan’s thumb for Windover’s Comedy Weekend on August 29.

Michael Jackson news- his memorial will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

According to his will, Michael Jackson asked his mother to raise his children and named soul legend Diana Ross as an alternative guardian in the event of his parent’s death. Will Diana eventually become the head of his estate or will Deborah Rowe get custody?

Due to climate change, wild sheep in Scotland are shrinking in size.

A woman forces her lover to surgically remove at least one of his penises.

Universal Studios wins a bidding war for the rights to the 80s video game Asteroids and has plans to adapt the popular board games Battleship and Candyland to the big screen.

Check out today’s sponsor:

How Are You Healthy? Find out at Lifelube.org
A blog on sex, drugs, physical, mental and
emotional health, spirituality and more.

Featured Music:
Dragonette – Galore: iTunes | Amazon
Heart – Barracuda: iTunes

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Way before Melissa Etheridge and k.d. lang came out of the closet as loving the ladies, Gretchen Phillips wrote songs about the joys of being queer. Being a lesbian in her view was not only fabulous, but hilarious! One of her biggest hits was with the band Two Nice Girls and their song “I Spent My Last $10 (on Birth Control and Beer)” gained national attention, including a mention in Rolling Stone Magazine.

The band broke eventually up, but their music lives on. Last year, they re-released their first album on iTunes for everyone to enjoy.

Since then, this living lesbian legend has been part of The Gretchen Phillips Experience, Dusty Trails, Joan Of Arkansas, Phillips & Driver, Lord Douglas Phillips and The Gretchen Phillips Ministries as well as performing as a solo artist.

She has more bands than I have ex-boyfriends!

Listen as Gretchen plays some hits from the past and performs songs from her first new album in five years, I Was Just Comforting Her.

Join us as we talk about how survive creatively when your band breaks up, appropriating Southern Christian religious right wing culture and the magic of low-fidelity music in a digital world.

Featured Music:
Gretchen Phillips – I Was Just Comforting Her: iTunes | Amazon | CD Baby
Two Nice Girls – 2 Nice Girls: iTunes

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