Vote For Us! The Shortbus Official Movie Site and Salon has been nominated for the 11th Annual Webby Awards (see website) in the Movie and Film Category. While the Academy selects The Webby Awards' winners, the online public selects The People's Voice Award Winners. The Webby People's Voice voting starts April 10th and ends April 27th.

Take a moment to register as a member and cast your vote for Shortbus in the Movie and Film Category by clicking here. (All voters must register to ensure fairness in voting...)

------------------------------------------------------------

April 12th, 2007 New York City
SPRING CELEBRATION at UNISEX SALON
*performance event and dance party*
hosted by John Cameron Mitchell and Justin Bond...
see myspace.com/unisexsalon for details...
click to enlarge flyer

----------------------------------------------

So He Tried a Little Freddy...
MIKA

Picking up where Freddy Mercury left off, Brit singer/songwriter MIKA is the newest English glam rock sensation, surpassing even Scissor Sisters with his queeny falsetto vamping and setting a new high mark in irresistible pop faggotry. Listen to his UK hit song 'Grace Kelly' here. Or see the video on YouTube.

----------------------------------------------
Shortbus
Autographed Memorabilia Auction

Musicians On Call brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients in healthcare facilities. Click here to bid on a cast autographed poster, DVD, and CD.
(bidding ends April 17th)

---------------------------------------------

UPCOMING EVENTS

April 18th, in New York City:

JAY BRANNAN
*see recent performance on YouTube

The Shortbus actor and singing/songrwriting heartthrob Jay Brannan will be performing at New York City's Living Room, April 18th. See jaybrannan.com/ or the Shortbus cast profile.

Weds 4/18 9pm
The Living Room (21+)
154 Ludlow between Rivington & Stanton
tel. 212 533 7235
$7 advance / $10 at door
see livingroomny.com

---------------------------------------------

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE THE SHORTBUS DVD!
on Amazon.com, available to ship 3/13/07

Below is the Italian Shortbus Movie Poster www.shortbus.it
click to enlarge poster

-----------------------------------------------

Shortbus wins *PRODUCERS AWARD* at
The 2007 INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS
in Santa Monica, California...

Feb 24th. The team of Howard Gertler and Tim Perell, producers of Shortbus and Pizza, received the 10th annual Axium Producers Award, which honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The winner of the Producers Award receives an unrestricted grant of $50,000 funded by entertainment accounting and payroll services company Axium International. See Spirit Award details and footage on IFC.com
----------------------------------------

Upcoming performance....

Shortbus Darling

TAYLOR MAC
will perform
Saturday, March 10, 8pm
in DUMBOLIO
at the Powerhouse Arena
in Dumbo, Brooklyn
see dumbolio.com for details and tickets

Taylor can also be seen live at
JOE'S PUB
Monday, March 12th, 9:30pm
see JoesPub.com calendar for details

Taylor's website is taylormac.net

Taylor Mac's original song Palace of the End on Revver.com:

-----------------------------------------
Video of the Day: What Makes a Good Party? --1950s stag movie and anti-drug propaganda mash-up.

Song of the Day: Rising by Yoko Ono (with DJ Spooky)

Yoko Ono's delightfully weird new album Yes, I'm a Witch, features collaborations with The Flaming Lips, Cat Power, Antony, Peaches, Le Tigre, DJ Spooky, and others. In the disco brothel track "Rising," Ono grunts, scats, and monkey-screams her way through DJ Spooky's Chakachas-like jungle fever beats--it's fantastic! But the real jewel on this album is "Revelations," a duet with Cat Power's Charlyn "Chan" Marshall. Set against Chan's amazing voice and spare piano, Ono's voice rises above with surprising gospel soul and power.

-------------------------------------------------

Upcoming Shortbus cast performances and queer ephemera...

Song of the Day: Collage by the Three Degrees
from the 1970 album Maybe

Video of the Day: Haven't Been Yourself
by Seventeen Evergreen, 2005.

This trippy, sci-fi orgy-in-the-mud video was directed by Encyclopedia Pictura, the production company that also made a mind-blowing new video for Grizzly Bear's 2006 song Knife, click here to see that bit of perversity...grrrr!

---------------------------------------------------

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

Tuesday, February 27th...New York CityBITCH and The Exciting Conclusion

at Joe's Pub, NYC joespub.com

Photo by Angela Jimenez

Armed with an electric violin, a ukulele and a bass guitar, Bitch (formerly of Bitch and Animal) takes the stage with her band The Exciting Conclusion, featuring The L Word's Daniela Sea. Interesting, intelligent, provocative and prolific, Bitch offers up a new, genuine and potent voice in the current soundscape. Blending influences as wide as her vocabulary, her opinions and her closet, her music is reminiscent but never derivative of her folk, hip-hop, rap and rockabilly influence. *See Bitch and Daniela Sea in the Shortbus cast pages.

--Tuesday, February 27th 9:30 Joe's Pub Tix New York City

Listen To BITCH AND THE EXCITING CONCLUSION Here Bitch - Unstick.mp3
--tour dates at bitchmusic.com

---------------------------------------------------------

Saturday, Feb 17th 2006 NYC...New York City: DOCTOR DONUT Show

I, DOCTOR DONUT (Bradford Scobie, see Shortbus cast) beckon ye to my ooky-kooky hideout for and evening of sex, violence, and crullers! Accompanied by my band of Wacky Wierdos, my sidekick, MISTER FEZ on piano (Ken Zwerin) my ex-sidekick, French pervert, MONSIEUR CROISSANT on drums (Fisherman) and my soundman, MISTER SOUNDMAN, (Momotaro) I shall hatch my evil scheme to take over the world!

But which meddling super hero will foil my diabolical plot this episode? Why it's my arch-nemesis/ex-girlfriend, USA WOMAN, (Laura Sweeney) crashing in on her Incredible Invisible Motorcycle! BLAMMO! WAMMO! BITCH-SLAPPO! She will surely beat the cream filling out of me, but not before I give that star-spangled slut-bag a facial grudge-hump she shan't soon forget!

One Night Only!

Saturday, February 17th, 10pm

Mo Pitkin's, 34 Avenue A

www.mopitkins.com

$10 at the door

See Dr.Donut vs USA Woman on YouTube, below...

----------------------------------------

Feb 15th: Weekly UNISEX SALON party!

see scenedowntown.com for weekly info

New York City UNISEX SALON at the Delancey

Come to our Valentine's Detox this Thursday, February 15 with DJ Johnny Dynell and a special fetish party in the basement hosted by Anastasia Andino. Also celebrating the book release by Dahlia who will be performing a very special set.

Unisex Salon
Thursday, February 15
10PM-4AM
$10 or $5 w/RSVP
The Delancey Lounge
(168 Delancey between Clinton and
Attorney. J/M/Z to Bowery.)

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted at L.A.'s new Beverly Center Cinemas Shortbus/Hedwig double feature last weekend (see pic below)...

-------------------------------------------------------------------
click to enlarge album cover
Vintage Music Rave:
1979 UNCLE JAM WANTS YOU by Funkadelic

Subtitled "Rescue Dance Music from the Blahs," this is one of the most underrated Funkadelic albums, so far ahead of its time it only now makes sense. As a sequel to One Nation Under A Groove, the album extends the P-Funk mythology to establish Funkadelia, a musical funk uptopia; and takes a more explicit political standpoint, from its cover art with George Clinton striking a Black Panther-style pose to lyrics in such songs as "Foot Soldiers (Star Spangled Funky)." Thrilling.

1/25
Song of the Day: Freak of the Week --by Funkadelic, off the 1979 album 'Uncle Jam Wants You'

Video of the Day: Turn On with Me by Giada & Felix, 2006, myspace.com/littlewonderfilms

---------------------------------------------------------

Mondays in February: 12th, 19th & 26th...New York City Talk/Show with Justin Bond
at Joe's Pub, NYC joespub.com

See Justin Bond, the Mistress of Shortbus (cast profile), in his latest incarnation as host and arbiter of Talk/Show. He and his very special celebrity guests trenchantly dissect the burning issues of the day and throw in a couple of musical numbers for good measure. A heady blend of Charlie Rose, Jack Paar and Dinah Shore, Justin will guide us to the heart of the matters that keep us up at night and provide us with the politcosociocultural catharsis that these trying times call for.

--Monday, February 12th 9:30 Joe's Pub Tix --guests Jane Adams, Michael Musto, Jay Brannan
--Monday, February 19th 9:30 Joe's Pub Tix --w/Debbie Harry, John Cameron Mitchell, Daniela Sea
--Monday, February 26th 9:30 Joe's Pub Tix --guests to be announced

----------------------------------------------------------------
If Nancy Was a Boy 1972, gauche on paper
by Joe Brainard (1942-1994) joebrainard.org

Video of the Day: Chelsea Dagger by The Fratellis, from the 2006 UK album 'Costello Music'
Song of the Day: Funkier Than A Mosquito's Tweeter by Nina Simone, on the 2006 album 'Remixed & Reimagined'

--------------------------------------------------
Through February 18th: Kiki & Herb at Joe's Pub in NYCJustin Bond (see Shortbus cast) and Kenny Mellman as
Kiki & Herb at Joe's Pub joespub.com

Jan 28 2007 11:30P	Joe's Pub	New York, New York
Feb 4 2007 9:30P	Joe's Pub - Superbowl Special	New York, New York
Feb 11 2007 9:30P	Joe's Pub	New York, New York

EXTENDED! Feb 18th 11:30P Joe's Pub New York, New York

-----------------------------------------
January 26th: Scott Matthew performs in Brooklyn, NY

SCOTT MATTHEW (see cast)
The Shortbus soundtrack artist performs with the band Botanica
Friday 01/26/2007 09:30 PM
at STUDIO B (see website)
259 Banker St btw Meserole and Calyer
Brooklyn, New York
Cost: $10 tickets thru ticketweb

------------------------------------------
1/20
Video of the Day: Scenic World by Beirut, shot at the Sweet-n-Low factory in Brooklyn, NY 2006
Song of the Day: The Grey Funnel Line by Jolie Holland, from the album 'Rogue's Gallery' 2006
------------------------------------------

Toronto, Canada Jan 24th & 25th
Shortbus Special Screening and Q&ASook-Yin Lee
in person at The Royal January 24th and 25th at 9pm

608 College Street in Toronto, Ontario. tel: 416.323.0970

Come on in from out of the cold and see Shortbus and a short film. Shortbus star Sook-Yin Lee, widely known as a filmmaker, actor, musician, former Much Music VJ, Terry Fox advocate and host of CBC Radio's Definitely Not the Opera, will be with us to introduce and answer questions for one of the most talked about films in recent memory, John Cameron Mitchell's ode to the joy and sweet release of sex--Shortbus. Join us as we start the night off with a special screening of the acclaimed short film that Sook-Yin wrote and directed, GIRL CLEANS SINK.

Sook-Yin Lee is at myspace.com/sookyinlee and in the cast section of this website.

------------------------------------------
BOWIE BALL Sunday, Jan 14th, with DJ John Cameron Mitchell...

Bowie Ball, New York City
when: Sun 1.14 (10pm)
where: Don Hill's (511 Greenwich St, 212.219.2850)
price: $10 / $7 with RSVP and costume

Gotham's flamboyant nightlife impresarios, promoters, and alpha-Door Bitch unite for the first-ever Bowie Ball. Dust off your platforms (you know you still have them) and totter to the West Side for free ring pops, glam-o-rama makeovers, and gender-bending performances from drag divas including Mistress Formika, Sweetie, Shasta Cola, and the World Famous Bob. Motherfucker resident DJ Michael T and Hedwig and the Angry Inch creator John Cameron Mitchell spin both glitter-rock mainstays and their flashy 21st-century offspring. And don't worry about blowing any New Year's resolutions with your debauching; a portion of the proceeds go to the Matthew Shepard Foundation.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
1/14
Video of the Day: I Got You, Babe by David Bowie and Marianne Faithfull, 1973
Song of the Day: After the Curtain by Beirut, 2006 beirutband.com
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEW MUSIC:

The not-so-secret dirty truth about Walt Whitman (below left) is exposed in this new song/video by the band My Robot Friend (below right)... click here to see the brilliant video online. Walt sure was a flamer!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Weekly UNISEX SALON PARTY continues...

New York's salon-themed party UNISEX SALON has been a smash success. The line-up changes week-to-week, so check scenedowntown.com for details. One of last week's featured performers was singer-songwriter and Shortbus star PJ DeBoy (pictured below).

UNISEX SALON
Thursdays
5 bucks before 11pm/10bucks after
5 all night long with rsvp at:
unisexsalon@scenedowntown.com
168 Delancey Between Clinton and Attorney
details at scenedowntown.com

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

And don't miss Shortbus stud and salon emcee Murray Hill's recent video on YouTube (below):

**SHORTBUS DVD**
out MARCH 13th, 2007
You can have your name listed on the actual DVD
CLICK HERE and help spread the word!!

HOT WINTER NIGHTS Shortbus cast performances and news in December...

We all get it in the end, my love...
James Brown, died Dec 25th, 2006, age 73...see bio.

The "Godfather of Soul" died this morning, Christmas Day, of course: his album FUNKY CHRISTMAS is perhaps the only holiday record we can listen to without cringing--it's pop-funk genius. Thank you, James, for all your gifts.

Songs of the Day:
1. Signs of Christmas (1968) by James Brown
2. Ishmael (1997) by Abdullah Ibrahim, South African Jazz pianist and composer, see bio & website.

Video of the Day: Your Love Was Good for Me (1970) by Marva Whitney, aka "Soul Sister Number One" in the James Brown Revue.

--------------------------------------------------

SHORTBUS UNISEX SALON
weekly NYC performance party review:

Click to enlarge (from the Dec 29th issue of HX magazine, NYC)------------------------------------------

Dec 22nd & 23rd

Bradford Scobie (See Dr.Donut in Shortbus cast) presents:
Ole my gorsh, you goyz!

It's me!

Moisty the New York City Snowman!

And there's only two measly nights left of my show!

The MOISTY the SNOWMAN Show!

Moisty Meets the Abominable Snowman!!!

Join me, MOISTY THE SNOWMAN (BRADFORD SCOBIE, see Dr.Donut in Shortbus cast) and my side-kick, JACK FROST (BRADFORD'S LITTLE SISTER, RACHEL SCOBIE) as we skip down the Candy Cane Lane (which so isn't a rip-off of The Yellow Brick Road, you goyz) to see SANTY CLAUS!! (STEPHAN VARA) Along the way, we totally meet THE BABY JESUS (A PROP) and come face-to-face with THE ABOMINABLE SNOWMAN!!! (AJ JOHNSON) Zoinks!

Only $8

9pm, Friday & Saturday

December 22nd & 23rd

The Slipper Room (corner of Orchard & Stanton)

slipperroom.com

---------------------------------------------------------------

Weds, Dec. 20th, 9pm
KIKI & HERB
Christmas Happens at Bowery Ballroom

for TICKETS click here. Listen to Kiki & Herb live in Sydney: here.

Christmas wouldn't be bearable in New York City without Justin Bond (see cast) and Kenny Mellman's KIKI & HERB. The world-travelling cabaret duo lance the pustulating boil of Christian hypocrisy and enforced joyfulness, helping us laugh and sing our way though this most dismal time of year. Christmas Happens is wicked, it rocks, and it's not to be missed. And at the after-party, you can blow whatever brain cells or ass-shaking abilities you have left with like-minded people, see invite below...


12/18
MURRAY HILL presents
A MURRAY LITTLE CHRISTMAS
with THE WAU-WAU SISTERS, DIRTY MARTINI & more

MONDAY, DECEMBER 18 at 7:30 & 9:30pm
at COMIX (353 West 14th St. East of 9th Ave)
Get tix at www.comixny.com
or call: 212-524-2500
SHORTBUS pals, enter code: MH1 for $5 off !

Murray crashes his comedy sleigh into COMIX with his annual Yuletide nightlife tradition: a bawdy, ballsy, boozy holiday show that has become a Big Apple destination event. Murray gives the gift of cheesy holiday songs; Hill-arious skits; bodacious burlesque; and a heavy snowstorm of wacky and wild downtown acts. Murray will once again perform his full-bodied figure skating routine, complete with skates, jazz hands, and mesmerizing dance moves, a.k.a. "Murray on Ice."

He's got his very own dysfunctional showbiz family together again for another HILL HOLIDAY EXTRAVAGANZA! This year's mind-blowing, tassle-twirling, tap-dancing, naughty and nice guest stars: THE WAU-WAU SISTERS, award-winning fan dancer DIRTY MARTINI, neo-burlesque front runners THE PONTANI SISTERS, and of course, the holidays wouldn't be the same without LANCE CRUCE, Joan Rivers and Murray's longtime piano player, tickling the ivories all evening with classic holiday tunes.

Find out more at MrMurrayHill.com
---------------------------------
12/14

Video of the Day: A Ribbon by Devendra Banhart, 2006
Song of the Day: Sister Winter by Sufjan Stevens, from Songs for Christmas, 2006

---------------------------------

Shortbus' WAU WAU SISTERS (see website)

Dec 12 @ Union Pool, Brooklyn
484 Union Ave. (L to Bklyn)

The Wau Wau Sisters visit their favorite neighborhood haunt for some holiday hooch and hilarity! We've been bad all year and tonight we're going to be even worse!

w/The Cheap Dates @ 8:30!
w/ Moi? @ 10:30!! ( www.moitheband.com )
and The Wau Waus in between at 9:30!
484 Union Ave. L to Bklyn, $10 doors open 8pm

Dec 14 @ Ars Nova, NYC, 10pm

The Wau Wau's A CHRISTMAS CAROL Holiday Extravaganza!
Three Ghosts at Xmas time? We'll scare the Dickens out of you! w/Neal Medlyn as the little boy with a trick leg & Mario, Queen of the Circus, as the other important character.
511 w. 54th st. bet 10th & 11th, $15

(See their YouTube video Wau Wau's Conquer New York--click here)

Dec 16th
Shortbus' JAY BRANNAN (see cast)
solo show at Ars Nova, NYC, 8pm
511 w. 54th st. bet 10th & 11th, $10
see the singer-songwriter at home on YouTube--click here





...don't forget to bring your Granny--we want to meet her!
(Young@Heart seniors sing Schizophrenia by Sonic Youth, below)

----------------
12/8

Video of the Day: Muppet Face by Xiu Xiu (see bio), 2006, animation by Chris Cruise. The San Jose-based band Xiu Xiu (pronounced shoo-shoo) continues to be one of the most original, unnerving forces in post-punk music. Gifted singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart, with bandmate Caralee McElroy make intensely queer, spooky songs influenced by New Order and The Cure, yet more emotionally disturbing, with Stewart's beautiful spooky voice set off by frenzied autoharp; Xiu Xiu swoops from ambient to up-tempo, angry to kinky. Their new album is Air Force.



Song of the Day: Don't You Call Her No Tramp by Betty Davis, from the 1974 album "They Say I'm Different." Cult figure and funk diva Betty Davis (see bio) was the second wife of jazz genius Miles Davis, introducing Miles to Jimi Hendrix (Hendrix was her lover) and Sly Stone. Betty's openly sexual, thematically twisted albums were never a commercial success, but today she is highly regarded among soul and funk collectors and critics. John Cameron Mitchell is a long-time Betty fan! (Song via Moistworks.com)

PAUL DAWSON (see cast) writes from Taipei, Taiwan:

The UK premiere of Shortbus at the 50th BFI London Film Festival a few weeks back marked a kind of coming full circle for me. It was at this festival exactly fifteen years ago, during a year I lived in London, that I saw My Own Private Idaho for the first time. Although in different ways, the movie--and particularly River Phoenix--was as influential to me as it was to my character James, particularly at an age when I was searching hard to find a character I could comfortably identify with reflected on screen.

For James, this defining incident occurred in his hometown, but in reality, Idaho didn't play anywhere near the farm where I grew up. It's that out there. So it was an uncanny surprise to get the invitation to represent Shortbus in early November at the Cucalorus Film Festival in Wilmington, North Carolina. Wilmington is a beautiful and historic port city situated between the coast and the Cape Fear River about a hundred miles down the road from where I was born and raised.

The last time I was in Wilmington was, ironically, just after that year I spent in London. Wanderlust ignited, I embarked on my first cross-country road trip from there, coast to coast via Interstate 40, commencing with a swim in the Atlantic at Carolina Beach. London had left me with little patience for the limited vistas I was reared among, and I was eager to continue my quest for new visions of myself.

Wilmington's festival takes its name from a film set apparatus more commonly known as a "cookie." A cucalorus is a perforated plate placed in front of a spotlight in order to create a patterned lighting effect on a subject or background. The grassroots festival, now in its 12th year, has earned its name screening an array of films not likely to make it to the local Cineplex.

I have watched Shortbus in seven countries now (I write this from Taiwan), and I have grown pretty relaxed sharing the experience with audiences. But when the lights dimmed in Wilmington's Thalian Hall, just past midnight on Remembrance Day, I was trembling. My best friend from high school was sitting right next to me in the gloriously ornate theater, which dates to before the Civil War. As stragglers searched for seats--even the two wraparound balconies packed to the rafters--my friend pointed out something a couple rows in front of us that sent time backward for me: two young men who had come to the film together but had left an empty seat between them so that no one might mistake them for together together.

"Those guys aren't going to make it past the first ten minutes," I whispered.

When James appeared on screen, I saw something that I hadn't yet seen in some dozen viewings of the film: a freak. I was suddenly looking at myself through the eyes of the people around me, or at least as I perceived them to be seeing me--the same way I had viewed myself through adolescence.

"Home," as the ex-mayor of New York says, "can be very unforgiving." The sound system was primitive, but that line has never resonated so loudly for me.

In spite of the low volume, the audience was rapt. The only time they missed a line was when they were howling too loudly from the moment before. Nervous laughter, I suppose. Our discomfort would mount to a bursting point, and then the film would throw us something hilarious to release the pressure. I hadn't realized how sublimely John and our outstanding editor Brian Kates had crafted the film to accomplish this.

It was even easing my own tension. Hearing my old friend laughing next to me, I recalled riding to school with him, doubled over at the rude lyrics we would make up to pop songs. By the time we reached the closet scene, and James confesses that he is still seeking the same things he was when he was twelve, I was in tears with him. But then, Wilmington is known for its ghosts.

There were a lot of us who seemed quite stirred in the end. Even the two guys down in front of us stayed for the duration. There was much talk of my "bravery" afterwards, and I recognized that for many, finding a comfortable and honest identity as a gay man remains no easy task.

"I'm afraid it says a person like River and me will never find what he's looking for," I wrote on November 19th, 1991.

There in Leicester Square last month in the very same theater where I had seen Idaho, I mused what if that younger me could have known that one day I would be here again, so blessed with love and the opportunity to do exactly that which enchanted me so. One thing that growing up where I did taught me is that you have to make and live a reality as great as you can imagine it, even and especially if the rest of the world is not ready for it yet.

--Paul
(visit Paul at myspace.com/pauldawsonnyc)
-----------
Video of the Day: December Will Be Magic Again by Kate Bush from the BBC's 1979 Winter Snowtime Special
Song of the Day: The Old Main Drag by The Pogues, from the 1985 album Rum Sodomy & the Lash. This brilliant song about drinking, pilling, whoring and dying with the 'he-males and she-males' in the streets of London plays over the end credits of My Own Private Idaho.
-----------

Earl Dax and James Coppola present...
Weekly UNISEX SALON in New York City
next party Thursday Dec, 7th, 10p.m. to 4a.m.
The Delancey, 168 Delancey (btw Clinton & Attorney)

Thanks to all of you that came out to the opening night of UNISEX SALON, the new performance art party at The Delancey in New York City! The night was filled with interesting, creative and diverse people--onstage and off. This coming Thursday, you won't want to miss week 2 of UNISEX as John Cameron Mitchell works the turntables, and Murray Hill hosts a midnite Performance Art Gong Show! If you're interested in being a contestant, e-mail earldax@scenedowntown.com. Yes, you might get gong-ed, but it's all in good fun. Plus, you'll get to perform before an illustrious panel of judges including Penny Arcade, Douglas Carter Beane and Martha Wilson, the founder of Franklin Furnace. See SceneDowntown.com for details.

Video of the Day: That Leaving Feeling by Stuart Staples, in a duet with Lhasa de Sela, from the 2006 album Leaving Songs. Singer-songwriter Stuart A. Staples fuses country pathos with vintage R&B stylings in this wonderful new solo album. In the duet with Lhasa de Sela, the pair sound like Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra off Nancy & Lee. Staples is reminiscent of Al Green at his most meltingly romantic, but the pop melancholy is pure Gordon Lightfoot--make yourself a cocktail and wallow in it. See stuartastaples.com

Song of the Day: Cunts Are Still Running the World by Jarvis Cocker, from the Children of Men soundtrack. We first heard this song when it was sung by Kiki DuRaine (Justin Bond) at Joe's Pub last night. Nobody in the audience had ever heard it before. After the concert, this set list (at right, click to enlarge) was found (trampled in urine and whiskey) in Kiki & Herb's dressing room. If you're a Kiki fan, this is a holy relic. Note the pre-Alzheimers handwriting...it is urgent that you see Kiki in these final years, folks!

Cunts Are Still Running the World
Lyrics by Jarvis Cocker (*see the video!)

Well did you hear, there's a natural order?
Those most deserving will end up with the most?
That the cream cannot help but always rise up to the top,

Well I say, "Shit floats."

If you thought things had changed,
Friend, you'd better think again,
Bluntly put, in the fewest of words:

Cunts are still running the world...

Now the working classes are obsolete,
They are surplus to society's needs,
So let 'em all kill each other,
And get it made overseas.
That's the word don't you know,
From the guys that's running the show,
Lets be perfectly clear boys and girls,

Cunts are still running the world...

Oh feed your children on crayfish and lobster tails,
Find a school near the top of the league,
In theory I respect your right to exist,
I will kill you if you move in next to me,

Ah, it stinks, it sucks, it's anthropologically unjust,
Oh but the takings are up by a third,
Cunts are still running the world...

The free market is perfectly natural,
Do you think that I'm some kind of dummy?
It's the ideal way to order the world;
"Fuck the morals, does it make any money?"

And if you don't like it? Then leave.
Or use your right to protest on the street,
Yeah, use your right but don't imagine that it's heard,

Not whilst cunts are still running the world,
Cunts are still running the world...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

KIKI & HERB
This season, Justin Bond (see Shortbus cast) continues to mesmerize audiences around the world as Kiki in Kiki & Herb, the cabaret theater show co-starring Kenny Mellman. The boozie chanteusie's shows were sold out at NYC's Joes Pub, but will continue in the U.K. at The Reindeer in London (Dec 1st to Dec 16th). Info at KikiandHerb.com, tour dates posted on myspace.com/kikiherb.

**Most recently, Kiki broke down onstage in NYC, ranting about impending eco-disaster--see it here on YouTube.

The SHORTBUS SOUNDTRACK has finally arrived! With artists ranging from Yo La Tengo and Animal Collective, to performances by SHORTBUS stars Sook-Yin Lee, Jay Brannan, Justin Bond and Scott Matthew, the SHORTBUS SOUNDTRACK is not to be missed. David Swanson of ROLLING STONE says "[John Cameron Mitchell] has the touch to deliver a sentimental collection of indie rock that could teach Zach Braff a thing or two." Click here to purchase: team-love.com

SHORTBUS TEE SHIRTS
Official SHORTBUS gifts including cute tees, mugs and messenger bags are now available. Check them out at cafepress.com/shortbusfilm and check back often as the cast creates their own customized one of a kind shirts.

SEX TOYS
Curious about the sex toys featured in SHORTBUS? Been itching to experiment with the remote control vibrating egg? Or perhaps you want to shape up your flogging skills? BABELAND is offering an exclusive discount to you at babeland.com or at any of their retail locations. A perfect gift for you or your lover; slip it into her Easter basket!

Book Review:
Sleeping with Bad Boys
by Alice Denham
reviewed by Stacey D'Erasmo
in the NY Times Sunday Book Review Nov.20/06

"Ah, for the days when the Big White Guy Writers roamed the streets of Manhattan, swooping down on comely maidens in the Cedar Tavern and carrying them off to their lairs for a bit of ravishing in between reciting lines from 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.' When Styron, Mailer and James Jones fought it out--sometimes literally--for the title of heavyweight novelist champ; when Brando and Dean ruled Hollywood with their inchoate masculine agony; when women had basically two choices: good girl or bad. The good girls got the wedding ring, the kids and the house. The bad girls got everything else. Alice Denham, who was a smart, pretty, rebellious college student in 1951, never doubted which kind of girl she wanted to be. As soon as she could, she headed straight for New York City, where she eked out a living as a model and pinup girl. But the boho life was her real vocation. She immediately befriended James Baldwin (at the San Remo), Jack Kerouac and James Dean, who became an occasional lover of Denham's. (He liked to nuzzle, and smelled like vanilla.)..."
For the entire review, go to the NYTimes here.
------------------
Reviewer Stacey D'Erasmo is the author of Tea and A Seahorse Year. You can listen to and download a reading from Stacey's novel-in-progress in the Shortbus reading room.






-----------------
Video of the Day: Thanksgiving Prayer by William Burroughs, 1986
Song of the Day: Who Knows Where the Time Goes by Cat Power (2006) written by Sandy Denny in 1967

America's Folk-Punk Sweetheart:
TAYLOR MAC

Song of the Day: Iraqi War Report by Taylor Mac, NYC performance artist and playwright (pictured at right). Taylor's original video ballad Palace of the End (about a bizarre link between Lynn Cheney and Saddam Hussein) can be viewed in the Shortbus featured video room. You can also catch up with Taylor's current projects and calendar of performances at www.taylormac.net

Video of the Day: Who Did You Exploit Today? --a segment from 'Kids on the Beat' on Wonder Showzen (2005), the MTV2 comedy show.