It’s 5 AM in New York, 11 in Paris, and I am wide awake. I’m being true to my media agnostic aims and putting up a “traditional” blog post, as podcasting would be a little too loud for my soundly sleeping partner. However, I do want to let you know I am still here, and a few other things that are relevant:

1) There is a reason why I have been too busy to make media, but I am not able to discuss it yet. I will as soon as I can. This trip has been a disaster when it comes to scheduling and not being able to do everything I wanted to do.

2) It’s not “The Gay Ex-pat” with a dash, it’s “The Gay Expat”. The prefix “ex”, which roots from the latin preposition “ex”, in this case means “out” as in “one that is out of one’s own country”. It does not mean “former” as in “ex-husband”, which I find interesting, because I’ve noticed that people that have incorrectly used the dash may have some issues with my expatness – an issue we’re going to cover next week. The word “expat” is, however, a shortened version of the word “expatriate”. See the dictionary.com entries for more details.

3) The Cranky PWA has a new video up after being on hiatus for a couple of weeks. He’s highly recommended.

4) I want to save most of this for a podcast, but instead of being sad here as I feared, I am actually more happy and grateful. I do feel a bit gross, however, eating such crap food and not recycling everything as I do at home. I think the thing that has struck me most of all – although I already knew this – is how blissfully and dangerously unaware Americans are of their own overconsumption and overdisplay of wealth. The wide open spaces, the snowballing of concern for climate change popping up in American media, and the ever-interesting cast of American characters have been somewhat heartening.

5) We leave for Paris tomorrow afternoon. Everything will get back to “normal” on Monday.

…where I am finding myself frightfully, frightfully busy in attempt to fit in time with former Chicago coworkers and friends in the space of three days. There’s also some business to be done, so there’s precious little time to put out engaging podcasts and video for you. In the meantime, I refer you to Nik In Paris if you need a bit of a Parisian fix, as he is thankfully back on his (new!) microphone keeping the gay Anglophone Parisian podcast juices flowing. If you’re looking for more Paris-based sociopolitical and world market chat, hit up Max and Stacy’s karmabanque.

Lots to show you and talk about when I have the moment to do it, and I will as soon as I can.

….around here getting ready to leave for the US and for some other personal goings-on (if you really need to know, e-mail), so I’m going to post when I can from now until I get back from the US on the 30th. Stay tuned.

 Standard Podcast [19:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

After a great comment from John at Blue Bayou, I start a discussion on congressional democracy vs. parlimentary democracies or coalition governments. Let’s turn this one into a discussion.

Comments on the Serial Culture video series from Daniel in Portland (Do you have a link for me, Daniel) and Michael The Gay Buddhist.

All Gay Expat Videos on YouTube.
Subscribe to the feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/thegayexpat
Subscribe via iTunes by clicking on this text.

E-mail me: thegayexpat@gmail.com

Skype/Jabber/ichat: thegayexpat

Voicemail (US):+1.206.666.3691

Click on the image to view in your browser. (QT 13.6 MB)

All Gay Expat Videos on YouTube.
Subscribe to the feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/thegayexpat
Subscribe via iTunes by clicking on this text.

E-mail me: thegayexpat@gmail.com

Skype/Jabber/ichat: thegayexpat

Voicemail (US):+1.206.666.3691

Click on the image to watch in your broswer. (QT 28.69 MB)

Part IV of a series examining the differences between US and UK serial dramas. Here, we look at two prominent teen storylines featured by Eastenders and As The World Turns. What differences do you see? I had to use the sources I had available, so the quality of the clips may not be as good as normal.

All Gay Expat Videos on YouTube.
Subscribe to the feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/thegayexpat
Subscribe via iTunes by clicking on this text.

E-mail me: thegayexpat@gmail.com

Skype/Jabber/ichat: thegayexpat

Voicemail (US):+1.206.666.3691

 Standard Podcast [37:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Houston Chronicle: Former Texas Governor Ann Richards Dies At 73

Richards’ 1988 Democratic National Convention Keynote Speech

All Gay Expat Videos on YouTube.
Subscribe to the feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/thegayexpat
Subscribe via iTunes by clicking on this text.

E-mail me: thegayexpat@gmail.com

Skype/Jabber/ichat: thegayexpat

Voicemail (US):+1.206.666.3691

Last night at 2:30, after finishing our third bottle of wine, my guest informed me that I would be seeing her off at 8 AM instead of noon. Quelle surprise!

I am currently convelescing, and will post the video I was planning post today tomorrow, after the I post the podcast. I tried, kind readers/viewers/listeners, but it just wasn’t happenin’.

 Standard Podcast [55:44m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I have a guest in town presently and can’t record a podcast, so I’m posting the latest episode of Remarkably Mark, which he describes as follows:

“The Gay Expat joins me for a spirited discussion about the actions of nations with regard to psychic pain and the principles by which we live. Sparked by Benjamin Netanyahu’s appearance on Bill Maher, we ask several questions. Are Israel’s actions in Lebanon the result of a collective psychic trauma? Does the United States cease to be the light of the world by sacrificing its principles for the sake of security? Does collective psychic trauma cause nations to act against their stated principles? Does having been wronged in the past justify any action against one’s “enemies”? Is it OK to write on the American flag? Let me know what you think.”
All Gay Expat Videos on YouTube.
Subscribe to the feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/thegayexpat
Subscribe via iTunes by clicking on this text.

E-mail me: thegayexpat@gmail.com

Skype/Jabber/ichat: thegayexpat

Voicemail (US):+1.206.666.3691

Click on the image to view in your browser (QT 10.25 MB)

Here, I put up video from two raves (underground electronic music parties) that were busted by the police in Spanish Fork Canyon, Utah in the US, and in Greenwich, near London, in the UK. Compare and contrast.

Program Note: As this is primarily an English-speaking blog, I will be using the UK for cross-cultural comparison and contrast more than I will be using countries in which English is not the primary language spoken.

All Gay Expat Videos on YouTube.
Subscribe to the feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/thegayexpat
Subscribe via iTunes by clicking on this text.

E-mail me: thegayexpat@gmail.com

Skype/Jabber/ichat: thegayexpat

Voicemail (US):+1.206.666.3691