Chatsubo

The Chatsubo, or simply The Chat, is the bar made famous by William Gibson in his 1984 cyber-punk masterpiece NEUROMANCER. The Chat is where the cyberjocks, razorgirls and joeboys came to gather information and kick back. Please feel free to do the same here.

The Vampire's Lair has moved.

by JoAnn Roberts - CyberQueen

I started last month with a caution for IFGE regarding Transgender Tapestry (or whatever they call it this month). I've heard from several people regarding the magazine and the split is running 50-50, like-dislike. Personally, I think attempts at "mainstreaming" Transgender Tapestry, or any other transgender magazine (Yes, even LadyLike) will meet with only very limited success. Look, here comes Mr Closet-TV into Barnes & Noble. He sees Transgender Tapestry or Cross-Talk on the rack. He picks it up, flips through the pages, maybe even memorizes an address of an advertiser or a support group and then puts it back on the rack. Why? Mr. Closet-TV isn't going to walk up to the cashier and buy a "transvestite" magazine out in plain view of everyone. Those who are clued-in to the community are likely to have subscriptions already. Cross-Talk has thrown in the towel on trying to make it on the newsstand and Transformation can't get on regular newsstands. I spoke to a distributor about mainstreaming transgender publications and his response was: "...the transgender magazines just don't sell well enough to take on more." This is what Cross-Talk experienced. However, one place our publications do sell well is in gay and lesbian bookstores. A gay distributor has been snapping up transgender books left and right for sales to g/l/b bookstores. As the owner put it, "Drag is hot."

Drag is hot in the media, too. Julie Andrews has revived Victor/Victoria as a Broadway musical to rave reviews if the New York Times is any measure. (I wonder if Transgender will cover that next?) Robin Williams and Broadway actor Nathan Lane will reprise La Cage Aux Folles on the silver screen as The Bird Cage this month. (By the way, we had it all wrong in these pages a while back-Williams is playing the macho Renato and Lane is playing Albin/Albert). Finally, the week of Valentine's Day saw RuPaul as the hostess for the SciFi Channel's Strange Love film festival. At the other end of the spectrum is the ad for Bijan with Bo Derek. To the far left is the shapely Ms. Derek in bra and panties donning a silky shirt. At far right is Ms. Derek fully clothed in a menswear suit complete with shirt and tie.

From the net comes this message by a friend, Jami Ward: "On another note, I want to broach a subject with you. I don't know how you feel personally about the whole O.J. Simpson deal, but I'm more than a little irked by it all. And now there's his video! Well, I do volunteer work at a local shelter for abused women, and one of the staff members there said that as a form of positive protest against that tape, rather than just boycotting it, folks have started taking the $29.95 cost of the tape and donating the money to a local women's shelter instead. Since you have a greater public presence than I do, I wanted to ask if you could disseminate this idea in a future column or anywhere else you see fit. I will also be asking Cindy Martin (TGForum), and anyone else I can think of, to do the same because I believe it's an idea that deserves exposure. I would like to think that with enough grassroots activism, the shelters would make more money than O.J. from this." Well put Jami and a great idea, too. Readers, it's up to you to act.

I spent a weekend last month in Toronto with Virginia Prince as guests of Paddy Aldridge at Wildside. Paddy set up a gig for Virginia and me so we could talk with members of the Ontario transgender community. I had a great time and met lots of new folks as well as renewing some old friendships. The Canadian transgender community is slowly coming into its own and its likely we'll see some important community leadership emerge from our Northern sisters. I met briefly with leaders of Gender Mosaic, Xpressions, and the Monarch Social Club. Xpressions expressed some interest in affiliating with Renaissance. That would make us a truly international organization. Way kewl!

Well, it's time to get down to fashion notes and news... Science and Technology triumph again. This time it's pantyhose without seams. Yes, truly an amazing feat. And Calvin Klein, that little devil, is the first to offer it. Sorry, no price quoted, but first-adopters of new technology never worry about what it costs.

Thank Goddess most of us (and most other women for that matter) don't pay attention to the runway crowd. I mean, really. Gobs of blue eyeshadow and unruly hair. Yecch! Most drag queens look better than the runway models. Earth to fashion world... wake up!

So what is up with the fashion world? Here's six hot looks for Spring... Citrus Juice colors... The Trench look in both coats and dresses... Split-personality skirt lengths, either macro-ankle length or micro-thigh length... Definitely-Not-June-Cleaver shirtdresses... Slack suits... Pop-Art prints on everything. The one color I really dislike this Spring is the light, lime green. It reminds me of the color of some 1968 Plymouth Dusters.

They say Practice Makes Perfect... marie claire magazine had a makeup artist estimate how long it took certain fashionable women to put on their face. Leading the pack with the shortest time was Linda Evangelista at 1 minute: no foundation, no eye makeup, just blush and lipstick... Next was Courtney Cox (Friends) at 30 minutes...Famke Janssen (The latest James Bond arch villain) at 1 hour... and trailing the pack at 2 hours was Loni Anderson. Anderson's makeup was characterized as "very high maintenance, superglam Hollywood" including no less than 12 steps. Gee, I don't feel so bad at 45 minutes.

Down the aisle, past the torque wrenches...Sears has gotten into cosmetics in a big way with their Circle of Beauty section in stores nationwide. What's so cool about this for tg people is it's self-service. Just open a big drawer and pick out what you need.

Biological Bust Boosting? Researchers at the Carolinas Medical Center and the University of Michigan have experimented with growing breast-like tissue for implantation. Fatty cells similar to breast tissue were cultivated in vitro and then attached onto soft sponge-like forms. These forms were implanted in lab rats where the tissue continued to develop and even vascularize. Someday, it might be possible to create an implantable breastform from the patient's own body tissue. No rejection.

Computers and computer modeling are becoming more commonplace daily. The latest trend is to use computers and 3-D modeling to preview the results of plastic surgery. Making the rounds of medical conventions is a software package that lets plastic surgeons "see" the results of surgery without touching a scalpel. The patient's face is captured onto the computer screen via a video camera and the surgeon can then manipulate the image.

Speaking of images, women seem less satisfied with their bodies today than 10 years ago. According to a recent study of 800 women between the ages of 18 and 70, more than 45 percent were displeased with their weight, waist, hips, buttocks and legs. Only 16 percent said they were content with their body. The same survey done 10 years ago, turned up only 30 percent who were dissatisfied. Interestingly, in both studies African-American women were much more satisfied with their appearance than other groups, probably because of African-American culture's greater acceptance of differing body shapes. We have become so accustomed to seeing images of runway and advertising models, who represent a statistical extreme in terms of body shape, that we begin to believe all women should look like them. One designer who seems to really know women's bodies and how to design good looking clothes is Dana Buchman.

You know you're mainstream when they start making fun of you...Donna Karan sued a New York T-shirt manufacturer for trademark infringement. He was selling T-shirts with DKFU on them. But Ms. Karan has missed a few knock-offs, like the cartoon in the New Yorker with a couple in leisure suits reading DKNJ, and the D(Y)K(E)NY T-shirts.

Quotable: "A fashion is merely a form of ugliness so unbearable that we are compelled to alter it every six months." -Oscar Wilde.

I'd swear a TV asked this question. Someone wrote in to Glamour magazine and asked if a sequined cocktail dress was appropriate for a daytime wedding.

This is a test. Punctuate the following: Woman without her man is a savage.

Chanel has a mission: introduce unorthodox nail colors that will double sales like Vamp did last year. First they tried Pink Alert which is the color of bubble gum. Their newest is Metallic, a silvery polish that gives a slight pearlescent shine.

I'm sick of seeing white (as in snow), but that's the latest word for spring-white eyeshadow, nail polish and lipstick. Everybody's gotten into the act, too, like Bobbi Brown, Chanel, Lancôme, and M*A*C. Prices range from $17 (Bobbi Brown shadow) to $50 (Chanel shadow). Try using chalk dust and Whiteout. It's cheaper.

So, those are my opinions, but, hey, what do I know? I think if you turn your back on this community, eventually it will turn its back on you.

Comments? Email them to CyberQueen@cdspub.com.

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