Donna Summer, 1948-2012

Donna Summer Dead at 63 [TMZ]
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I would have been 15 or 16, visiting the Lane County Fair. As I passed a tent, this dubbadubbadubbadubba music was playing. It was intoxicating. It was a revelation.

It was “I Feel Love”.

“Four Seasons of Love” was it for me. All those synths, all that simulated sex, the fold-out calendar…

She worked hard for her money. I loved her music.

Noooooooooooooooooooooo!!!! Loved her!

Gay America (which now seems to be the entire country) is officially in mourning.

I will not be surprised if this year, instead of merely closing Pier 54, some group of demented fans burns it down instead.

Time to shave the porn-stache and hang up the assless chaps.

@Benedick: Or shave the ass and grow a pornstache. We all mourn in our own special ways.

@nojo: Yeah. That’s good shit.

@Mistress Cynica: FUCK CANCER! (June is the six-month Do I Need a Biopsy? Mammo.) Lovely.

@Benedick et ¡Andrew!: How the hell do you shave your ass without nicking something like your nutsack?

@I’m passing for white: A hot shower: a boyfriend; vodka; non-metholated shave cream; patience; the promise of good things to cum.

@Benedick: And you sing this in the shower, no?

Hey — been reading up on The Public Schools. I only knew of Hogwarts. Figures that dumbass James Blount is a Harrovian. Did you go to one?

@I’m passing for white: I did attend a public school. Nothing as grand as Harrow. Mine was founded by an Elizabethan actor. The quad was used as the exterior locations for The History Boys. I loathed and detested every minute of my schooling which was notable mostly for being publicly shamed by masters for books I was reading. I caught total shit for Old Goriot and have been unable to stomach Balzac since. I learned basic carpentry, how to read a map, and if you’re unlucky enough to be forced to take part in cricket what are the best fielding position to get some reading done (hint: never be Silly Mid On. And yes, that is what one of the fielding positions is called.) And no, I have no idea why you have to change ends every over, all I can tell you is that it is extremely irritating. On the upside, everyone tends to look good in white flannel.

The public school/Oxbridge nexus is designed to perpetuate the class system that pollutes British life.

@I’m passing for white: I’m a disco apostate. I never really got it. All sounds so mechanical to me.

@Benedick: A lot of dance music is. If it has a driving beat–some kind of hook that keeps you moving, that’s all that matters. We did start to have drum machines at one point, but once hip hop started using them, sampling and loops, yeah. Scratching and mixing–good DJs use them to shame you if you can’t keep the beat. There would be pauses of maybe two seconds or more, and folks would look all confused, like, “Er. Should I keep dancing or what?” Yes, you keep dancing, because if the beat is in your head, once the DJ starts again, you’re still on the beat.

I’m not talking that John Travolta shit, either.

@Benedick: Okay then–so how many times a day did you have to change clothes?

“Silly Mid On.” Either language changes incredibly over time, or someone has a wicked sense of humor.

So, which one are you? ;-P

@Benedick: Oh. Did you see the play/movie, er, the one with Rupert Everett and Colin Firth about them there fancy pants schools?

@I’m passing for white: That’s Eton. One sees a perfect illustration of England’s caste system: toffs v the rest. Excuse me while I go and throw up. Also to remember, the toffs were being trained to run the empire. They left their parents by the time they were 6 or 7 and didn’t return till they were in their mid-20s. We didn’t wear top hats. We did wear blazers with boaters in the summer, caps in winter. This is why I left school at 15 and never went back. BTW, the 9 Up series about class in Britain (don’t mean to confuse the hamsters with different terms for the UK: style note; ‘England’ denotes a frame of mind and attitude as much as it does a place. EG. the Queen (or Brenda) lives in England; Eton is in England; Knightsbridge is in England; London is in Britain. Hope that clears things up. ‘Britain’ denotes the nation though it’s more properly the UK.) is staggeringly good

I loved R&B. Disco always makes me think of the High-Limey poofter’s remark when asked about the Battle of Mons in which he participated: My dear, the people! and the noise! Everything bores the English.

Another Country. Very good. Good play. Though I never could quite understand how being queer made you betray your country. There is a glorious novel by the American David Leavitt along similar lines called While England Sleeps. Slightly over-heated sex (no one seems to fuck lying down, which gets exhausting to read about) but a grand story.

Cricket is daft. Also extremely boring. Its only real plus is the clothes. The apotheosis of amateurism. It all changed when India and Pakistan showed the English how it was played. It’s still unbelievably boring. I went with my father once to Lord’s (a bonding experience: didn’t work) and the only action took place when I went to buy a choc-ice out of desperation. There is Silly Mid On and Mid On; other fielding positions include Deep (good to get some reading done), Mid-Deep (am I making this up?) Pansy Point; Poofter; and Whoops. I was famous at school for once being overtaken by a need to display athletic prowess, grabbing the ball, making my preparation to bowl out Jenkins Major or some other twerp, making my run at the wicket, releasing the ball, which instead of slicing down the green at JM’s balls, went straight up in the air and landed behind me. Important thing to remember when you’re next at a cricket match, whenever anything happens (it’s possible though not likely) you are supposed to show Owzat! (how’s that). Don’t ask me why. It’s also important that you shout this in a bored manner.

@Benedick: it always devolves to Sport around here.

@nojo: Great article on the making of I Feel Love. Eno said it would be hugely influential when he first heard it.

http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/oct09/articles/classictracks_1009.htm

@Benedick: Oh, and I don’t think he turned commie bc he was gay. I think Firth’s character plus whatever bad happened to him (Firth’s character — can’t remember), influenced Rupert’s character. Plus the idea, not played out well, that all are equal in a communist society. Just some are more equal than others.

That’ll do, pig.

@redmanlaw: And turkeys. I am impressed that Bene went deep.

@redmanlaw: Saved for later. I really like the Safari “Reading List” feature.

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