Soybeans & Beer...

I've been doing quite a bit of reminiscing, and remembering stories and events from the past. It's all been very interesting. Most of what I have blogged about can be found on my other blog "musings from the marsh...". "musings" has developed a certain tone, and I think this tale to be better suited for this blog ("42")...which has become sort of my 'general' blog. A place for 'everything else'.

It was the early '80's. Around 1983-84. I was attending Georgia Southern College (it has since become a University), and as I did on a number of occasions, I headed over to the campus apartment complex 'The Pines' to hang out with friends. Before I start rolling along with the story, I'll point out that I'm not 100% sure of one of the individuals involved in this little escapade. Here is the cast of characters as I remember them: me, Mark, Lisa #2, one of the neighbors from the apartment below, and (here's the person I'm not completely clear on) Alan. Mark and Alan were the friends whose apartment I was visiting. My best friend, Sandy, was there but took a pass. Also, I'm not sure if Jay or Glenn was residing there with Mark and Alan at this particular time, but it doesn't really effect the story either way. Whomever it was had opted to stay behind. See? Irrelevant.

We were hanging out engaged in our usual time of watching TV and drinking mass quantities of beer. There was probably the usual amount of juggling going on, too. It was what we basically did most of the time when we weren't in class...aside from hanging out at the radio station, which is what I did a lot. BUT...I digress...

Since I've already mentioned "one of the neighbors from the apartment below", I think it has been established that Mark and Alan lived on the second floor. The downstairs neighbor (whose name escapes me) was a bit of a tool, and I seem to remember that there had been past scuffles with him over loud music. I don't know why he happened to be included in this, but he was. (Now that I'm thinking about it, I think there was a certain amount of flirting going on between the neighbor and Lisa #2.) So we were all drinking mass quantities of beer, most likely Milwaukee's Best...at $5.00 a case, who would pass that up? It was your basic piss in a can, but crappy beer + college students = good time. It was during that evenings buzz that an idea was born.

GSC is located in Statesboro, GA, a town most known for the Allman Brothers tune "The Statesboro Blues". I'm sure it has grown since those days, but at the time it was kind of a wide place in the road. A town surrounded by farm land, and the like. There were a few spots outside of the confines of the campus that students would visit. I remember one was a covered bridge...don't recall the allure of the location, other than it being a covered bridge on a dirt road. Another was the center of the brilliant idea. On a quiet road that ran between soybean fields was an old house. Most of the students thought it to be haunted. At least that's what the rumor was. It was a creepy looking place. Two stories high, with scraggly trees around it. A fence with 'No Trespassing' signs on it ran around the little plot it occupied. The only other signs of habitation were a farm house a few block lengths down the road on the opposite side, and a trailer in the other direction that sat a short ways off from the house. It was known to be the abode for the caretaker of the haunted property.

So...what was the brilliant idea? To try and go inside said haunted house. We were a small band of buzzed twenty-somethings. How could our little plan go wrong? Correction. We didn't really have a plan. In retrospect, the only plan we did have was to drive to the vicinity of the house in my Corolla station wagon. The rest would be figured out later. Actually, I think we just ended up making it up as we went along. (The more the story forms in my mind, the more Alan is coming into focus...I'm pretty sure he was in attendance.) Grabbing jackets and flashlights, we piled into my car and were off.

The roads were dead quiet. Not that it was a shocker, or anything. There weren't really any streetlights, so it was extremely dark. If you looked up, all of the stars were present and accounted for. As we neared our target, we made note that the farmhouse to our right was dark. As we neared the haunted abode, the trailer looked dark, as well. Perfect. I did a casual drive by, and turned around to head back the other way a bit. We had spotted a small dirt road that went along a fence. Obviously there for farm equipment, and such. It was decided that it was the best place to pull the car off. We would proceed the rest of the way on foot through the field. We were having a great time at that point. What could go wrong? Aaa, who were we kidding...we were a bunch of idiots...

Lisa #2 was probably the most nervous of the group. Mark and "the tool" were in the lead, and me, Lisa #2 and Alan followed. We were traipsing along between bright green rows of soy bean plants. Rows that had been watered not too long before. It was very muddy...and very sticky. We all had mud caked on our shoes. As we crept forward, we came close to a rickety old barn that stood outside of the fence barring us from our destination. Wait...did you hear that? A faint rumbling. Like an engine being started. *flick* Are those headlights? It seemed that the inhabitants of the trailer were there after all. Slowly the truck (it was a pick-up truck) pulled down the drive and out onto the asphalt of the road, and carefully made it's way past the posted property. All of us dove into the mud below the soy bean plants. They were good cover. Lucky for us. The truck made it past our location, we heard it go up the road a short ways, turn around, and head back toward us. *flick* What the...is that a spotlight? At that point I think we all may have peed a little. Visions of shotguns danced through our heads. My first thought was that they must have seen my car parked behind the fence. They knew we were there. Somewhere. They sat there scanning the field for any signs of life, and we stayed low in the mud and silent as the grave. After a few minutes, I guess they...well, I have no idea what they must have thought. Whatever conclusion they came to, they drove back up to the trailer, went inside, and it went dark once more.

Okay, here's where it really gets interesting. All was quiet except for the usual country crickets, and low laughing and whispers from us. Mark was on a mission. He was determined to find an area of fence that he could maneuver. The field side where we were was not that manageable. I think the difficulties stemmed from barbed wire, but for some reason I'm vaguely remembering something about an electrified fence...I could be wrong though. At any rate, Mark and "the tool" headed to the fence that ran behind the house. Mark hit pay dirt and found a section that was passable. Then...

Did I hear something? There was a dull rustling/rummaging sound over by the house. We couldn't see a thing as it was pitch black in the houses immediate vicinity. Something didn't feel right. There was another sound...like the dragging of a chain. Simultaneously, our mental bulbs flickered on. There was a dog on the property. That's all we needed. For the dog to start yapping. If anyone was going to start the chained canine barking, it was going to be Mark. As I remember, Alan took off quickly towards Mark to alert him. Then it happened. An ear piercing scream knifed through the air. Maybe not so much a scream as a blood curdling screech. Like an irate Banshee. Mark, Alan, and "the tool" were hauling ass towards me and Lisa #2. Not only did the house have it's own watch dog, it also had a watch peacock. (Peacocks are known to be effective watch animals because of the noise they make...something we experienced first hand.)

I think we probably would have made the Keystone Cops proud. All of us were assholes and elbows, slogging through the muddy field. Lisa #2 lost a shoe in the muck, and insisted on going back for it. Was she new? I mean, that WAS her standing there next to me when all hell broke loose...right?! Alan helped her get her shoe back, but I think he was about to the point of leaving her to deal with it herself. The lights were on at the caretakers trailer. No idea how long they had been on by the time we started booking it between the soybean bushes. At that point I just wanted to get back to the car and get the hell out of there.

We made it back to my car, and piled in. I do remember the truck coming back to life and start to follow us. They probably had just been sitting inside out of the chill, waiting for something to alert them to our location. They knew we were out there. They were right. The truck was on the road with the spotlight on when we made it back to the car. I was a little freaked out, and I;m pretty sure I wasn't the only one. I managed to get the key in the ignition, fire up the engine, and back out onto the road where I slammed the car into first and floored it. Our mission thwarted, the guys watched out the back window as I sped off. The truck didn't follow. Thankfully. Getting in a car chase with some shotgun wielding farmers wasn't something I was prepared to deal with.

We got back to the apartment in one piece. Mud was dealt with, and mass quantities of crappy beer were consumed. I don't recollect the response given by those we shared our story with...I'm sure they thought we were nuts. (hehehe)

Mark and Alan, I'm hoping that you can fill in some blanks on this. Maybe you remember some stuff too, Sandy. I remember a number of the key points, but I'm sure you three might remember some details that I don't. There might be some of the stuff I mentioned that you remember differently. Please share.

Ah, the recklessness of youth...snerk...

This Day...What A DRAG...

Had another one of my sleepless nights. (I have been passing out and sleeping through most of the day time hours...annoying, but I am getting some rest.) In the wee hours of Monday morning I was channel surfing and happened upon a documentary film on the LOGO network, 'Trantasia'. Drag queens have always been a fascination of mine. I had a few gay friends growing up, but the number increased starting in my late teens - early twenties. My mother always had an eclectic mix of neat friends, and when she rented the bottom floor of a big purple house in mid-town Atlanta she was right in the heart of 'Boy's town'. The house was about a block away from Piedmont Park, so the annual art festival (she had had paintings of hers in the art show there before), concerts with a picnic in tow, and whatever else was happening were usually on the schedule of events. I lived with her a few times in the early to mid-80's...I was in and out of college for a bit there, and crashed with her during the 'out' periods. During one of my stays with her, I became acquainted with the current Queen of Drag, RuPaul. My mom's landlord, Barbara, knew Ru. Ru came to the house to see her on a couple of occasions when I was home. I happened to be coming or going when Ru was coming or going, so...there ya go. Ru was really nice, but I don't remember her as being the Diva that she is now. I knew about the gay/drag club in Atlanta, but had never been there to see a show. Think that's where Ru had her beginnings. I'm not 100% sure, but I seem to remember it being called "Illusions". (Which might be why the backstage lounge on her 'Drag Race' show is called the "Illusions Lounge".) On a day-to-day basis, I would see a drag queen here and there. However, those days didn't really compare to when I eventually moved to California, and lived in West Hollywood. WeHo (I really hate that abbreviated name for it...) is kind of the Gay capital. Or one of them. I think at one time it was San Francisco, but I think West Hollywood is at the very least tied with SF now. I would see flamboyant, drag, tranny...everything you can think of it's there. A number of years back when La Cage Aux Folles (msp?) was still there on La Cienaga, I took in a few shows. Really spectacular. Those boys really knew how to be girls. (hehehe) There were also a couple of yearly events that took place very near to where I lived. Every Halloween was the big carnival down on Santa Monica Boulevard. That was quite the experience. It was always amazing to see the costumes, and some of those ladies looked amazing! Unless someone said "hey, that's a guy" I don't think that a lot of people would have been able to tell that they were men and not women. The year 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert' came out, there were queens strolling around with ostrich hats on, and everything else imaginable. They really go all out. The other event is the Gay Pride Parade. It would always line up on my street. As much as I support gay rights, I really wish they would have lined up somewhere else. When you are trying to sleep in on a Sunday morning, and are awakened by loud Donna Summer music and shrieking drag queens...well, you're glad it's only one day out of the year.

So...when I came across 'Trantasia', I had to watch. The housework I was trying to complete became sporadic, and then was shelved all together. It would just have to wait until the show was over. Here's the basic premise per IMDB:



"Las Vegas promoters planning a review starring Jahna Steele invited transsexuals to participate in "The World's Most Beautiful Transsexual Pageant," a two-day contest from which eight or so women would be offered jobs in the review. About 20 women arrive for all-night rehearsals and the pageant itself: swimsuit, evening gown, and talent competition, the selection of eight finalists and three prize winners. We follow the women backstage and get in-depth profiles of six: two from Chicago and one each from LA, San Francisco, San Antonio, and Columbia, South Carolina. We meet their families, and we learn about their lives and their journeys of self-discovery and acceptance."

There was quite a mix of personalities, and drag ethics (if that makes any sense). There were a few of the 20 gals that were really turned off because of the sleazy/trashy sensibilities of some of the others. Some consider themselves to be ladies and conduct themselves as such, while others are dressing like street walkers and flashing their hormonally created breasts. At the end of it all, with a few differences (like the changed plumbing...which I don't think the majority of them had), they are people like everyone else. They just happen to have been physically born the wrong gender. For me the most interesting part of the film was when they did their individual bio's on some of the contestants. To hear their back story, and most interesting, to see how their families felt about them. For me the most touching back story was when they were focused on Mimi (Mark). She had it rough in school, but her family was extremely supportive. Her sister was saying that she knew before Mimi even said anything. It's a shame that all families can't be accepting. We're all human, after all. At the end of it all, Mimi was the winner. She and one of the others were absolutely stunning. I can usually tell, but in Mimi's case I don't know if I would know she wasn't a biological female unless someone told me. See what I mean?



That was the beginning of my 'Day of Drag'. The whole day on LOGO was back episodes of 'RuPaul's Drag Race'(which I didn't subject Glenn to...hehe), and the new season premiered last night.



I watched the previous two seasons, so I had to catch the opener for season three. Unlike the other two, I already have a favorite for the win, Raja. He/she totally thinks outside of the box, and does it so well. She won both challenges in episode one. Think that's a good measure of how far she will go. I'm no expert on drag. Can't even begin to know what it's even like to be gay. That being said, I've known a few drag queens and they always talked about how it was about feeling feminine but having fun. There is plenty of room for being camp and over the top, but doing it in a polished and tasteful way. Raven was a bit like that last season, and Raja is definitely like that this season. I think all of the other girls need to watch out.

I recommend it. It's fun, but not without it's drama. Those queens can bite, and they do. I stayed tune for the "Untucked" 30-minute episode that aired immediately after 'Drag Race'. It's of the Queens backstage. The cat claws were definitely out. I'll be curious to see how things progress.

Views & Reviews...

Seems I'm suffering from split blogging. My new blog, "Musings From The Marsh", is clearly going in a specific direction...metaphysics, astrology, astronomy, and the like. Glenn refers to it as my "spooky" blog. This blog (42) has been quiet for a couple or three months. I'm officially shaking it awake, and will be using it for...everything else. There ya go.



Last evening we watched our latest Netflix flick, "9". It was absolutely terrible. Visually pretty? Yes. Story wise? A waste of time. If I hadn't been crocheting during most of it, I would REALLY have felt that I had wasted my time. I won't give anything away in case anyone who reads this is still planning on seeing it. It didn't engage me at all. I didn't care about the tiny robots (the '9') which I was clearly supposed to. Ya know, I don't want to waste anymore time explaining my reasons for not liking it. Next...



The DVD we got before the aforementioned '9' was the pilot to 'Blade: The Series'. I watched all of the episodes when they aired on Spike, and I was extremely disappointed when they cancelled it. The movies with Wesley Snipes were good...not equally, but good nonetheless. Hip Hop artist Sticky Fingaz plays Blade in the TV version, and he's quite good in the role. The casting over all was great. British actor Neil Jackson played the main baddie, Marcus Van Sciver, and played him quite well. He played the vampire role with a nice mix of evil and pathos. When he's describing the vampire way of life to the newly turned Krista, he makes it sound pretty good. He sells the family honor and history card well. Krista, the main femme fatale (of sorts) is played by Jill Wagner, who you may know as one of the hosts of the crappy TV competition show 'Wipeout'. (That show is an extremely bad take off on 'Ninja Warrior' if you ask me, but that's another entry though.) When 'B:TS' went off the air, it was just another example of a decent show going bye-bye while the crap keeps getting picked up. I enjoyed seeing the pilot again, and look forward to seeing the rest. In the not too distant future, Glenn and I will have to get an XBox so we can watch Netflix stuff on demand instead of having to get the DVDs one at a time. Now that we've started watching more series, it's annoying to have to watch them in such a drawn out manner. I prefer the marathon method. We've got another series I really liked in the cue, 'Space Above & Beyond'. Can't decide if I want to wait until we've seen all of 'Blade' first, or if we should stagger the discs between the two. I know we can watch them on the computer, but that's a bit of a hassle. Decisions, decisions...



The Logo Channel has been showing mini-marathons of a show I was completely addicted to, and one that I greatly miss. "Buffy The Vampire Slayer". I'm not even going to mention the feature film starring Ms. Swanson...but then I guess I just did. I'm not going to talk further about it then. (hehehe) The series was far superior. I loved everything about it. The writing, the casting...everything. All of the seasons on DVD have been on my wishlist for some time.

I watched a couple of the episodes Logo was airing the other night, and it made me think of all of the noise about the 'Twilight' Franchise. I haven't read one of the books, nor have I seen any of the movies. I don't plan to either. It just looks like 'Dawson's Creek' meets '90210' with blood suckers. I am a huge Vampire fan, but 'Twilight' doesn't interest me. Sparkly vampires...sheesh...give me a break. Yes, a number of the characters in Buffy are young, and there is a bit of drama that goes on...and yes, there is mortal/vampire love going on...it's all in how it's handled. There is a comic booky/campy edge to things that is kind of balanced with a huge dark streak running through the middle of everything. I think Joss Whedon was trying to make up for the terrible movie...don't think the world created in the feature is how he envisioned things. Think I may have read that somewhere in an interview with Joss.

I have really been enjoying the episodes I've seen recently. I've missed the Sunnydale gang. Spike was my fave from his first appearance. Marsters played him wonderfully. Spike was an evil dude, but you couldn't help but like him. Giles is my second fave. However, he lost favor with me towards the end when he went in on a plan to kill Spike (Spike was being controlled by The First, and any time he would hear a song his mum used to sing to him he would vamp out and attack people). Running a very close third on my favorites list is Willow. Alyson Hannigan played her so well. The quirkyness and the 'Willow Speak'. Brilliant.

The last thing I want to mention on the Buffy front is something I have major mixed feelings about, and there is a part of me that hopes they don't "go there"...but they are, so I'll just have to be torked off. The last reports I got on a projected Buffy feature film were that Whedon and...well, anyone else associated with the original series or the original film will NOT be involved. The new screenwriter, A 29 year old chick, Whit Anderson, says that 'Buffy' was at the center of her TV viewing when it was originally airing. I'm just not feeling very optimistic about what she's going to do with the property. I read a few articles about the new project, one of them a kind of intro to Anderson. The growing impression I got as I continued to read was that those involved with the new feature went out of their way to not involve any of the old guard...behind or in front of the camera. To me it's just too soon to be doing this with the franchise WITHOUT the original cast or Whedon. Yes, the original cast members are a bit older, but they still look damn good. James Marsters, for example. I've seen him on several shows over the past bit, and he's looking really good. Geller and Hannigan look great, too. This is all a big mistake. In my opinion. Whedon has responded to things, and in his response there is one sentence that stands out.

"I always hoped that Buffy would live on even after my death. But, you know, AFTER…"

I agree. Too soon to be doing what they're doing. They're making a movie that I personally am planning to pass over on principle.