Rebecca Nay's Weblog

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2008-09-14T14:43:00.000-07:00

This is a test post for a class to listen to a podcast here.

This is not an active blog

2007-04-26T19:57:00.000-07:00

Visit http://www.trannywreck.com for my podcast and blog entries.

Transgendered student sues CU for discrimination - News

2007-03-15T08:46:00.000-07:00

Transgendered student sues CU for discrimination - News

My review of Transamerica

2006-02-01T20:52:00.000-08:00

I finally saw this movie and of course I loved it.. I was not as eager as Bree to dump my past but it sure was tempting. I am glad I didn't. I am a much better person today for keeping my family and friends in my life. I think that was one of the underlying messages of this movie. It was a campy movie, but it added to special message it was trying to send. If this movie re-creates the transexual stereotype then we are moving in the right direction.

Felicity's performance was masterful. If she does not get the Oscar then it's a crying shame.

Transamerica Reviews

2006-01-30T19:09:00.000-08:00

I was reading the Williamette Weekly last week (which is a local progressive rag) and ran into the following review of Transamerica. Here is the review and my response. Oh and there will be no show this week, I am taking a break as the last two shows were ALOT of work. In my next show I will examine reviews of this movie throughout the country to see how many of them are as bad as this one...

Monday, January 30
home | culture | Issue #32.11 | PREVIEW | 1/18/2006

Lost In Transition

Felicity Huffman's life-changing journey in Transamerica.

BY BYRON BECK & DAVID WALKER | bbeck at wweek.com

Transamerica
Felicity Huffman is not a man. It's important to keep that in mind while watching her in Transamerica, where she plays a pre-op transsexual man awaiting final gender reassignment so convincingly that you'll start to wonder what's under her skirt. But she is not a man. Felicity Huffman is just a damn good actress.

"There was a really short list of actresses I thought could play this," said Transamerica writer-director Duncan Tucker during a recent trip to Portland. "It was always going to be an actress, not a guy in a dress. I wanted to honor where the character was going and not mire her in what she left behind."

Huffman, in a performance that nabbed a Golden Globe Monday and will probably garner an Oscar nomination, stars in Tucker's wonderfully bittersweet film as Bree Osbourne, a person caught in a sexual limbo—not quite a complete woman, still partially a man—as he/she awaits the final surgical procedure needed to make the transformation complete. Just as Bree is about to undergo the final operation, he/she gets a call from Toby (Kevin Zegers), a teen boy looking for Stanley Osbourne. It turns out that before the hormone treatments started, Bree was Stanley. And during a "failed lesbian experiment" in college, Stanley fathered a child—the nearly 18-year-old Toby, now leading a troubled life as a hustler. Bree is reluctantly forced to deal with this unexpected surprise from her/his past, while keeping the truth from Toby.
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"I joke that Transamerica is the Lord of the Rings of transsexual movies," says Tucker with a laugh. "Bree has to go on a journey to get rid of something she doesn't want, just as Frodo did. They are both in a way coming-of-age stories."

Bree's journey comes in the form of a cross-country road trip, where she/he and Toby gradually form a bond, and she/he wrestles with parental concerns and responsibility. Even relying on an age-old cinematic convention to convey personal growth and enlightenment, Tucker manages to keep Transamerica from degenerating into a jumbled mess of road-trip trappings. Instead, he infuses the film and his characters with quirky humanity that keeps them from becoming clichés and stereotypes—especially Bree, who is painted with finely detailed brushstrokes. In fact, it is the depth and complexity that Tucker and Huffman bring to Bree that give the film its heart and soul. Seldom are transgender characters treated with such cinematic respect that they're allowed to be more than comedic relief or a tragic subplot.

"I think the main thing that is subversive about this movie, if it is subversive at all, is the fact that the main character is a transsexual woman—but it's not a movie about transsexuality. It's like a sheep in wolf's clothing," explains Tucker. "It's a very sweet celebration of life."

Comments on "Lost In Transition"
| 1 comment(s)
Posted by "Rebecca Nay" | Thu, January 26
Lost In Transition

I am writing in response to Willamette Weekly's review of Transamerica. This review included a very important quote from director Duncan Tucker about casting lead character Bree Osbourne. "It was always going to be an actress, not a guy in a dress. I wanted to honor where the character was going and not mire her in what she left behind."

I find it REALLY ironic that Byron Beck and David Walker included this quote in their review because unlike Tucker, they refer to Bree as a "pre-op transsexual man" and use the term "he/she" through the entire article. While they praise the director for treating Bree with "cinematic respect", they fail to do that themselves. In a culture that turns a blind eye to the beating and murder of transgender people, I would expect a progressive publication like Willamette Weekly to treat this subject with more sensitivity. Being a transsexual WOMAN myself, I get sick and tired of the media blatantly disrespecting us. If gender has to be defined (which it shouldn't), then it should be determined by what's in between our ears, NOT our legs.

Rebecca Nay
Podcasting from Portland, Oregon
http://www.trannywreck.com

Larry Miller can kiss my ASS!!

2006-01-11T18:05:00.000-08:00

I am sitting here at Costellos coffee house on 22nd and NE Broadway here in Portland. I just ate a delicous dish of vegetarian lasagna. I might have to give up meat :) I am going to the Portland Podcasting Meetup in about an hour.

As I write this blog, I am listening to the 4th quarter of the Utah Jazz vs. Philadelphia 76rs game. Utah is in the lead but it's close. I have been a Jazz fan my entire life so it was really disheartening to learn of Larry H. Miller's (owner of the Jazz) bigotry. Apparently he had Brokeback Mountain scheduled to show at one of his theatres in SLC and then withdrew it once he heard it was about two gay cowboys.

We briefly mentioned this in TW12 but I was too tired to rant about it, so I'll do it here. What the fuck Larry? You bigoted piece of shit. You have not even seen the movie and your already judging it because it has gay characters. Maybe you need a cock up your ass, so you will loosen up. I know you think you are sticking to your Mormon "morals" by not playing this movie. Maybe you think your promoting a "homosexual agenda" by playing it? Let me tell you what.. There is no such thing as a homosexual agenda, there is just people who want to live their lives and assholes like you make that more difficult. I don't know what kind of message your trying to send, but it's not one that is consistent with your religion.

As a life long Jazz fan, I can't just stop rooting for the team. But I can tell you this Larry, you won't see me in the Delta Center as long as you are the owner. I am glad I live in Portland so I can see the Jazz whip on the Blazers at the Rose Garden. Hopefully you will have a stroke or something in the next 10 years so I can purchase Jazz merchandise again and attend a game in the Delta Center.

LARRY MILLER, GO FUCK YOURSELF!

Just created a profile on My Space

2006-01-10T21:58:00.000-08:00

Check my profile out. I uploaded a bunch of pictures on there and filled out a bunch of bio info. I will eventually put alot of this on my homepage as well. My space is an excellent way to network the show.. My biggest motivation was that my sister is on there alot.

I recorded TW#12 with my new equipment. The audio quality is not as good as I would like it to be, but I think I can fix that for my next show. I plan on doing some more networking by leaving audio comments on a few podcasts that I listen to over the next couple of days.

Why can't I get what I pay for?

2006-01-08T22:24:00.000-08:00

It seems that there is a problem with the Podcast Factory mentioned in my last post. As of right now, my voice only records in mono, which I don't think is right but I am not sure.

Created a skit for TW12 that I think you will enjoy. For those who are easily offended, you probably should not listen to this show. I am working out all the bugs right now but I plan on recording the show tommorrow night and will have Alex as my co-host.

Just got New Equipment...

2006-01-02T22:43:00.000-08:00

For my podcast you sicko! What kind of equipment did you think I was talking about? :) But since we're on that subject, I might as well announce that I am very close to getting my SRS with Dr. Sanguan Kunaporn scheduled. Yes this is BIG. I have been approved for a home equity line which will allow me to consolidate my bills and get myself on his waiting list. It is not finalized yet, but most road blocks seem to be out of the way.

Now getting back to podcast equipment. I just purchased the M-Audio Podcast Factory. Which is a significant upgrade in hardware and software from what I am using now. I am very confident that my first show of the year will be my best yet. I have a skit in the works for my first show and hope to learn in the next week how to create some professional loops using Ableton Live Lite 4 software. My goal is to put out TW#12 this weekend.

I'll keep you posted on this and my SRS situation.

Podcast Headache

2005-12-27T22:38:00.000-08:00

This hobby will either drive me crazy or create a career for me... My lack of techical knowledge and just pure bad luck is making it difficult to create my last episode of the year. Yesterday, I bought an USB microphone just to realize that my laptop's soundcard will not work with it. Today I decided to create a "year end show" and have spent all evening putting together clips in Audacity just to have it crash and lose all my work.... ARGGH!!!

Home sweet home

2005-11-27T19:56:00.001-08:00

I arrived in Portland at 10 p.m. last night on a Southwest Airline flight from SLC. The remainder of the week I spent time with family and friends. Had a few fights with my sister Rachel who is having a very difficult time with this tragedy. I can definitely say that I have closure and am at peace. I forgive my Mom for this selfish act.

Tommorrow is my first day back at work. It will be good to get into a routine again. I was not on my computer enough while in Utah to work on my show. I will do my next show this up coming weekend. I will start putting together some content this week to make TW#8 my best show yet.

Mom's Funeral

2005-11-22T17:59:00.000-08:00

The service was absolutely beautiful. I had some reservations about it being held in a Mormon chapel, but this particular bishop handled things very well. Because I used to be the really religous one in the family, I was asked to give a prayer during the viewing. I was able to get through it without assigning a gender to God and using the "thee" and "thou" verbiage which is typical during a Mormon prayer. Grandma was an absolute warrior. She lost her legs when she first saw her daughter's body, but considering her health condition, she was very strong. Nobody should ever have to see their child in a coffin. The ward Relief Society cooked a meal for the family. It was your typical yummy Mormon food and it was truly theraputic.

This tragedy has brought out everybody's true colors and told me who in the family I will be able to be close to from this point on. Most have expressed a desire to be close. I am basically a member of the family again. It would not have happened so soon if Mom had not done this. This is where the true healing begins.

Family re-unites and body preparation

2005-11-19T22:27:00.000-08:00

The funeral is scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m. in a Mormon chapel in Taylorsville, Utah. I don't know how I feel about a Mormon service since Mom didn't have alot of love for the LDS Church. My step dad (who grew up Catholic) truly believes she would have preferred a Mormon funeral. The bishop is going to try and make the funeral comfortable for people of different beliefs, so we'll see how that works out.

I have seen alot of family members in the past 24 hours that I have been separated from for 4+ years. I still will see more on Monday, so the stress level is still high. The person I am worried about the most is my grandma. No one should have to attend their child's funeral. What makes matters worse is that grandma had open heart surgury just months ago. I am worried about having to attend two funerals in a week. That would be a tough roll.

Our immediate family saw our mother's body this morning. We were worried that the funeral place would make my Mom look different, so we did our own preparation for the viewing. I was not able to do much other than view her body. It gave me the creeps when I touched her cold body. I cried a whole bunch this morning. Everybody was also able to have some time alone with her. It was all very theraputic. I feel confident that I will have closure on Monday so I can be strong for some of my family. I'll keep you posted :)

Tragedy in the family

2005-11-18T01:36:00.000-08:00

I just posted a special announcement in my podcast feed about my mom's suicide. It's hitting 2 a.m. here in Portland and I will be boarding a plane to SLC in about 6 hours. I will try and get a few hours of shut eye but im not optimistic. I have gone through alot of shit in my life which gives me strength I need for my family right now. My younger sisters are a mess and I need to get to them ASAP. I will try and keep all of you posted.

TG Music

2005-11-16T21:34:00.000-08:00

Georgie Jessup is going to mail me her CD's to play on the show. I am really impressed with the samples of music that I have heard on her website so far. So I am excited about that. I also encourage her to get her music on the Podsafe Music Network.

Also recieved the OK from Nancy Nangeroni from Gendertalk to play her song and video "In Memory of Rita" for my Day of Remembrance Show this Sunday.

I love this stuff. God I wish I could do podcasting full time.

Yay, my first donation!!

2005-11-14T22:33:00.000-08:00

I just recieved my first donation from for my podcast. It comes from Jason and Anna from the Delta Park Project. Thank you so much to both of you. I am going to keep a tally on the donation page of my website. I hope nobody can hack into my paypal account and steal it :) That would totally blow ass.

Just created my first promos this past weekend as you may have heard if you listened to my last show. Here they are if you want to listen to them.

My promo that includes a DSC spoof that I submitted to podshow to be played on Adam Curry's Daily Source Code.

My promo for all other podcasts.

Hope you enjoy.

Family Issues

2005-11-09T23:12:00.000-08:00

I Found out last night that one of my sisters living back in Salt Lake tried to committ suicide last Sunday. Thankfully she did not succeed. I was really close to her until my mother got in the way. My mother is a mental case. Child services have temporarily pulled my sister out of the home. I can't be more thankful for that. There is the ever so slight possiblity she could end up living with me. It would certainly be a challenge as a blessing for both of us.

Attended my second Portland Podcasting meetup tonight. So much helpful info to help me improve the show. Still working on putting more content on the website. Currently working on my "bio" page. That should be done by the weekend.

Discussion with the department manager

2005-11-03T20:34:00.000-08:00

I spoke with Traci (my department manager) today and discussed my concerns regarding the position I was turned down for. She made it very clear that experience and qualifications were not factored into this hiring decision because in Philip's (the hiring manager) view, the qualifications were "equal" for all the applicants considered. Apparently Philip made the decision based on who he thought would be the best "fit" on his team (aka popularity contest). Traci also told me that I was considered for the position and could have been hired without a current interview because of a prior interview with Philip. She readily admitted that the hiring process for this position was not handled well and she will address that with Philip.

Did my TG status factor into me not getting this position? Very possibly so but I will never be able to prove it since others of "equal" qualifications were supposedly turned away for this position (apparently there two applicants with more seniority than me). Traci wants to work with me to help me get a job that is a better fit for me. She is willing to do individual career counseling with me. Considering she has 5-6 managers report to her and over 200 employees as indirect reports, I am pleased she is willing to do this. I think she understands my situation and wants to make up for this blunder.

I have decided for now to put this behind me because I don't want the job anymore, nor do I want to take it away from the person who got it. I could still go to HR, but my dissatifaction with this process has been noted and I see nothing else positive I could accomplish by pushing the issue further.

Am I being discriminated against?

2005-11-02T21:23:00.000-08:00

A few weeks ago I posted for an internal position within my company. It would be a lateral move (I have plenty of experience in that job function) and I simply wanted a change. I found out today that the position was filled by a friend of mine who openly admits to having less qualifications than I do. What bites my ass is that I was not even interviewed. I emailed the hiring manager and he told me that he didn't need to interview me because he already was "aware" of my qualifications from an interview (for a different position) last year. I plan to speak with the department manager on this tommorrow and possibly go to HR.

If qualifications were not a deciding factor in this position, then what was?

Welcome to my new blog home...

2005-11-01T22:21:00.000-08:00

on http://www.blogger.com. Now you can respond to my posts and I don't have to deal with the problems that I listed on my server blog at http://www.trannywreck.com/index.php?mdl=5. Since my battery is getting ready to die and it's late. That's all I am posting for now.. Later...