neglected valentine

love n happiness, originally uploaded by the Beevers.

Dear Beeverliving,

It's been too long. I miss you. I think of you often, but at inappropriate times. And sometimes I just don't have the right words.
I hope this note finds you well; I promise to write again soon.

xo
Trixie

love(ly and weird) for sale

We just finished our 2+days studio moving sale, and it was a successful and satisfying venture.

Our efforts were greatly enhanced by Saturday's dream team of Katrocket and Monsieur French, who catered our lunch, merchandised our cast-offs into desirability and transformed passers-by into charmed and happy customers.

Lots of our lovely and weird stuff found new homes with lovely, sometimes weird people. Like the wedding-card "mailbox" my brother made for us: a deep wooden box covered with brown fun fur. Ange tried to throw it out last week, and we had a little snark about it because I wanted to put it out at the sale, even for free. She managed to give it to a crazy cat lady / feisty and resourceful independent older woman for her cats to play in, who happily fastened it to her mobility scooter, along with a 28" tv and an 80's jigsaw puzzle of the Manhattan Skyline. She had once bought a 72" bookshelf home on that scooter, she assured us, and that "the oldest cat is the only one skinny enough to fit in the box, so he'll really love it."

On both Friday and Saturday nights, we had left a set of 4 stage props outside the doors of the studio, with no takers. They were made of carved foam, painted and glittered into dark frowny clouds on one side, goofy sparkly sunshine on the other. On sticks. We made them for a Scandelles performance to back a modern dance piece to "Golden Streams" by the Hidden Cameras (a sweet song about pee), which ended with the 2 dancers joyfully spinning long-tasseled gold pasties. Finally, on Sunday afternoon a nice man took them for a downtown church's sunday school and day camp to "dress up the yard" and perhaps use in the drama program. *Squeal!* I'm pretty sure there's no residual slutty queer cooties on them.

Then there's this little guy, clutching a stuffed pug named Corndog (won at the EX, of course) and resting among the sparkly fabric remnants we found in the loft in the last hour of the sale. He came back inside seeming still a little dreamy and selected a tube of holographic pink glitter and a BBJ ring as well. And then he really perked up when he saw something brightly-coloured in his mom's arms and wanted a better look. It was an adult doodle book - that classic draw-in-the-genitals gag gift - along with a pair of dyke-produced porn videos for some friends (ahem). Lovely. Only a bit weird.

Move it again, girls

What a weird summer. Toronto had a lot - A LOT - of rain over the last few months, and it made for some lovely photos and gardens, but a lot of people had major messes to clean up. Ours was minor compared with folks who had sewage run through their homes, but we had enough with a studio basement that flooded 10 times in 14 months. It was only storm water, but it brought sand, dirt and little stones with it, and left behind a legacy of black mold. See ya!

After much turmoil about possibly combining our home & work space again, and looking at several not-quite-right spaces, we heard about a small unit in the opposite corner of the studio building that would soon be vacant. We looked, we talked to the current tenant, we negotiated with the landlord. Yay! We aren't moving our entire lives 2 months before our biggest show (and money-maker) of the year!!

We've started moving in and setting up, and we're excited about the fun-sized new space. Now to get rid of some stuff! In ten years of living together and working creatively, we've amassed a lot of things that we want to pass on to new owners. And some of them are quite interesting things.... Lots of pop culture ephemera like pin-up books and Playboy magazines (70's -90's), craft supplies (awesome glitter selection), hardware, weird stage props (some for free) and stuff we've made for art installations. We promise that this is not your average garage sale; don't miss out.

1132 Dundas St East
(between Carlaw & Logan)
Saturday & Sunday, Sept. 12 -13
10am - 3pm - no early birds please

In a Cabin in the Woods...

It was a bit windy when we were dining al fresco at the Lovely Bella Donna (our friend Serena's cottage near Haliburton). And of course dark, as cocktails and sunsets were a bigger priority before eating. The tea lights kept blowing out, so Lukas grabbed some plastic cups and water and all of a sudden voila:
Candlelit dinner for six.

Showgirls, Unicorns, Clams - oh my!

Wow, it's been a few weeks since our last post. And a lot has happened since the end of May: we road-tripped to Woodstock, NY to celebrate love and marriage in fine dyke style, Michael Jackson died, and I got to perform onstage in one of the great roles of the modern era, Cristal Connors from Showgirls. Yes, the one that Gina Gershon embodied so fabulously in that incredible, glorious piece of cinematic trash.
That's Kitty Neptune of The Scandelles as Nomi Malone who created the number. She's brilliant, hilarious and not all angry-crazy like the character - but her dance moves convince that she'll cut ya!


We also had an in-store party at Doll Factory by Damzels, a pre-Pride shopping event in our fave Leslieville boutique. Last year at Toronto Pride, Ange & I joined the Damzels on the pavement to rent a booth, trying to capture interest and a few dollars amid the chaotic party atmosphere. It was okay..., but we felt like we were missing out on too much for too little. Cocktails, cupcakes and proper change rooms were a better fit for both companies this year, and it gave Ange an excuse to make a unicorn, and pretend to be one.


Later the same week BBJ threw in with the Toronto Roller Derby community to sponsor Clam Slam, the first bout of all-queer skaters in Canada. The Clam Diggers came from the local league's teams, and were victorious over the "away" team Vagine Regime, whose skaters hail from Victoria, Edmonton, London, Ottawa, Kitchener and Montreal. We had always wanted to check out a roller derby bout since the league started up here 3 years ago, and we were so happy we chose this event as our friday night of Pride weekend! I'm no sporty girl, but this, I could get into: characters and costumes, impressive skating and tough girls hitting each other to score for their team. We will certainly be checking out some of the regular season bouts as they move to their new home at Downsview Park. Which hopefully hasn't been turned into a temporary dump like George Bell Arena's parking lot. Garbage strikes stink, roller girls rock.

California Dream-Killin'

Here's that awful mix of sadness and pride again. I just learned that California's Supreme Court has upheld Prop 8, or Prop HATE as many of our facebook friends have angrily typed.

Last November, we were so thrilled with Barrack Obama's election, but felt sickened by the wave of intolerance that swept in on the same ballots that made him victorious. We were sad and hurt for everyone in California who had worked so hard to fight the bigotry blown their way, and sad for the gay and lesbian couples that had been told by their fellow citizens that their unions were not valid.

The religious right and opponents of progress are always using the "think of the children" line. What about all the children who are/will be queer, and those being raised in loving queer families? Those well-funded voices of hate have once again told these kids that their love, their families don't count, and don't deserve the state's protection or respect.

So that's the sadness, and here's my pride: we are Canadian, married queers. I am happy and grateful every day for the love I have in my life, and for the country that supports the commitment we made to one another almost 5 years ago. Funny thing is, this morning I scanned a photo of us that appears in the current issue of Toronto Life, which appears along with portraits of 8 other couples as the #4 "reason to love Toronto: 5,493 same-sex couples have married here since 2003".

Photos by John Cullen, published by Toronto Life.
The text by Gerald Hannon reads:
"Toronto was the first city in Canada to ban discrimination in municipal hiring on the basis of sexual orientation — back in 1973. After the police raided four bathhouses in 1981, a series of protests welded a community of gays and lesbians and their straight friends into a potent political force. The next big battle — for the right to marry — came to a dazzling end on June 10, 2003, when Ontario's Court of Appeal ruled that the law was discriminatory and ordered the province to begin issuing licences that very day (Parliament would extend the right to all Canadians two years later). Today Toronto is a gay rights beacon, especially to Americans weary of their country's patchwork of indecency laws, and of the religious right's seemingly unstoppable ability to quash marriage initiatives, even in such ostensibly liberal places as California. Last year, 747 couples got married in Toronto, 342 of them from abroad. It's so profoundly accepted that's it's not such a big deal anymore. Talk about it outside the country, though, and watch the faces. They glow with admiration. It's no longer Oz they see over the rainbow, it's our town."

I don't post this to gloat, of course. I passionately wish that every person who craves the freedom to marry has access to it. Even more, I wish for an end to the oppression of gays, lesbians, and transpeople everywhere. There are far more devastating consequences than political loss and denial of a couples' desire to wed, but this defeat is a reminder of how many battles remain, and how much hatred and ignorance lurk even in this "historical" era in the USA.

Will the real Jane Fonda please stand up!

Being obsessed with all things pop culture we tend to get a little excited with our little brushes with celebrity. We figure we can do the six degrees of Kevin Bacon with lots of brand name stars.

Today we received an order for five pairs of Barbarella cufflinks from one Jane Fonda, c/o another lady's name in NYC. Turns out Jane is there on business producing and performing in a Broadway show called "33 Variations". Could it be her? We are telling ourselves it is as we admire and respect Ms. Fonda's work tremendously. In fact we have a glitter portrait from "Klute" hung in our living room: Bree Daniels looking alluring but afraid in that blue sequin dress.

So though we would like to think about Jane Fonda owning (or giving) some of our work, there are a couple more celebrity stories we do have. Usually the stories come from our customers who have shops or have met people at events like comicons and such.

Malcom McDowell enjoyed and autographed our Clockwork Orange Belt Buckle for one of his fans.
Weird Al Yankovic owns a T.V. Dinner ring . Jessica Alba wore a Goldfish buckle in the movie "Honey" and is wearing a Diana Ross buckle in the publicity shots for "Honey" as well.

Diane Keaton bought some buckles at a boutique in Winnipeg. While Molly Ringwald was shopping here in Toronto she pointed to the "Pretty in Pink" ring and told the shop owner "That's me." The shop owner then realized it really was her when she paid with her credit card.

Annie Sprinkle,the revolutionary artist, sex educator and "pornstar with a Phd" had us make a collection of brooches with her and her wife Beth in them a couple of springs ago. Annie wears a lotus crystal pendant with much pride.

And I can't forget the Canadian celebs backing us up. Comedian Elvira Kurt has a collection of buckles. And Ron Sexsmith rocks a Johnny Cash buckle as part of his wardrobe. Canadian music darlings Kathleen Edwards and Grant Lawrence both have been spotted wearing BBJ buckles. And Lucas Silveira of "The Cliks" also sports a fancy deluxe skull buckle to his photoshoots.

Last summer we made some product for Elaine Overholt who was a judge on "How to you Solve a Problem like Maria?", a nation-wide search for the actor would would play Maria in Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber's Toronto production of "the Sound of Music". There had been a joke about Richard Gere and the gerbil on air. Elaine thought it would be funny to get all the guys gerbil cufflinks. So Sir Andrew as well as David Mirvish are proud owners of said cufflinks.

Like I said little brushes with celebrity, it's much better from a distance as we have never sent a celebrity anything free. Good chance I've forgotten some people, save it for another time. Including our Oscar Peterson story.

I hope Jane really likes our cufflinks.