Retro: Freddie Mercury "The Great Pretender"

Peter Straker and Roger Taylor joined Freddie as the backup chorus gurls.  

Here's an image from Straker's Instagram:

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A post shared by Peter Straker (@peterstraker1)

Retro: Arcade Fire - We Exist (Official Music Video)

This video features actor Andrew Garfield.

Feeling It

I took advantage of the (too rare) opportunity to dress over the Halloween weekend -- and it felt great. I have a small wardrobe, but I enjoy the occasions when I can dig out my secret stash. 

Looking at Instagram today, I found a short video by Dani Andretti that expresses how I feel while femulating (even though this is not me and I do not look nearly this good):

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A post shared by Dani Andretti (@danidjcd)

Retro: Sorority Boys

This was not a good movie, but some of the themes were worthwhile and the gurls sometimes looked nice:

Retro: The Crying Game

 Jaye Davidson was nominated for an Oscar for this performance. 

Retro: Bosom Buddies

 When Cillian Murphy won the Oscar for Oppenheimer, I noted that the talented actor had femulated in multiple films. Tom Hanks, of course, has multiple acting Oscars and began his career in a dress. I'm guessing many young people in the community don't know that.

Here's a peek at the credits:

It seems very difficult to find any more substantial videos of the performance en femme. 

Retro: The Odds

From 1993, it's "Heterosexual Man" featuring video appearances from some members of Kids in the Hall. Spoiler: towards the end of the video the entire band femulates. 

Here's an image of Dave Foley from the video. 

Retro: David Bowie

David Bowie - Rebel Rebel • Top of the Pops. Anyone know of a live action video that feature's the song's story?

 

Retro: The Kinks

The Kinks - Lola (Official Music Video). Does anyone know of a live action video of this song that is not merely from a concert or TV program?

 

Retro: Lou Reed

Lou Reed - Walk On The Wild Side, with help from some of Andy Warhol's superstars.

 

Heidi: A favorite "amateur"

Last post, I commented on my love of "amateur" gurls like Sherri Brown -- those in the community who are neither professional (or aspiring) drag queens nor gurls in transition via medical assistance.

Heidi Phox has been posting content to the internet for so long that it hardly seems accurate to call her an amateur, but by the standard I'm using she is. I first posted about her in 2009 and she has frequently appeared on this blog -- though many of the original image files suffer from link rot. Sigh. The video content remains, however. And she still has a public Flickr account. 

If you follow Heidi's content, you know that she has many friends in the community, goes out and about with her supportive spouse, undertakes destination trips to dress, etc. She's an amateur "star." 

Here's a recent fun video sort of in the same spirit as Sherri Brown's. 

Sneaky: Still an amateur?

I've blogged previously about Zach "Sneaky" Scuderi, a gamer who often crossplays. Now, however, Sneaky is posting some pics in "regular" gurl clothes and on June 25 wrote "it's not a joke anymore" followed by a sad face and the #femboy. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it, but it seems like a not-so-subtle transformation in image. 

Here are a couple of recent pics from Sneaky's Instagram page.  It's certainly growing more interesting over there. This is the June 25 pic I mentioned:

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A post shared by Zach Scuderi (@zachscud)

And this was from earlier this July:

 

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A post shared by Zach Scuderi (@zachscud)

Amateur Hour

I love stumbling across attractive gurls who are neither drag queens nor post-op transgurls. Don't get me wrong, I often appreciate their web content too, but "amateur" videos and photos have a particular appeal to me -- a fellow amateur, at best.

In this video, young Sherri Brown dances and lip-synchs to Madonna's Like a Prayer. Sherri is/was so petite and feminine! With great legs!

I wrote "is/was" because Sherri's first video was posted 11 years ago, according to YouTube. And in that video she is in the same room and she looks the same as in the original recording. Over the last 2 years, Sherri has posted a number of other short videos that are from that same room and time. It looks like a trip through the archives, but I'm loving it anyway. 

Maybe soon Sherri will post some more recent footage -- or images. 

Right now she has 580 subscribers. Can we get that to 1000 ASAP?

Update: after 48 hours her subscriber count is up by 77 -- that's about 13%!

Tayce dancing

 Drag queen Tayce won the UK's Strictly Come Dancing Christmas edition in 2024.

Blu Hydrangea can dance

Drag star Blu Hydrangea was on a recent season of Ireland's version of Dancing with the Stars. I missed this when it happened. Sorry. 

Ukraine

 The world recently marked the 3-year anniversary of the tragic war in Ukraine. Make no mistake, Russia invaded Ukraine in a case of naked aggression of a type that has been against international law since the end of World War II. The USA has long attempted to defend countries threatened in this way, though I realize the US has also used force under dubious pretexts (Iraq, for example). In any case, Donald Trump's performance in the Oval Office yesterday lecturing Volodymyr Zelenskyy was shameful for all Americans. If the US does not want to support Ukraine anymore, OK, Americans can make that decision (via Congress, which appropriates aid and arms transfers). 

But the US under no circumstances should embrace Russia's point-of-view on the war. The idea that Russia felt threatened by the expansion of NATO and the EU towards them is not going to go away even if they take Ukraine. There are plenty of other neighboring countries that have made the same choice. Incidentally, there are far fewer armed troops surrounding Russia than there were during the Cold War. Putin is afraid of the idea of western democracy more than troops and arms.

How does this tie to this blog? At the start of the war, Ukraine made it illegal for men aged 18 to 60 to leave the country because they might be needed to fight to defend the country. 

There have been accounts of men who fled (or attempted to flee) Ukraine disguised as women. Last May, thie unfortunate man was caught attempting to use this ploy. A lot of the coverage is tabloid-style, as readers might imagine. You can find an image and video on social media as well: 

🧳Чарівна «Сергієтта» спланувала подорож за кордон

44-річний мешканець Золотоноші, переодягнений у жінку, намагався перетнути кордон з Румунією з паспортом сестри.

➡️https://t.co/pHokot7ED6 pic.twitter.com/FDYbHJ39Ob

— Державна прикордонна служба України (@DPSU_ua) May 6, 2024

I'm sure many readers of this blog would be better prepared to disguise themselves for this kind of emergency exit attempt.

Resist: Support Drag on Campus

"After L’Beau’s first performance, Audacity Twinx, Angel Divinity and Vivi Dreams took the stage one-by-one. Photo by Menghan (Han) Zhang."

I found this news story from last April about students at the University of Arkansas, yes Arkansas, holding a drag show despite threats from the state legislature to ban their expression. 

One of the performers in April 2024 was the beautiful Vivi Dreams.

 

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A post shared by Lo ♡ (@laurenmadis0n)

The show also featured the lovely Audacity Twinx, but she does not seem to allow for embedding of her Insta pictures.