somewhere over the (insert voice breaking down here)

so last night we went to the hollywood bowl to see rufus wainwright perform his fourth and final homage to judy garland (previously seen at carnegie hall, the olympia in paris and the palladium in london). what did rufus bring us? a voice that couldn't keep up much beyond the first third of the show. and what's a rufus wainwright concert (much less a judy garland homage) without some old-fashioned, tree-rattling belting? unfortunately, the only one who provided us with that was lorna luft, judy's other daughter, in a pink dress that had to be seen to be believed.

that said, wainwright blows the socks off most other performers and is pretty genius no matter what shape his voice is in, so it was worth it. that said, i was ready to turn in my gay card after spending the evening around some crazy ass queens that apparently never get out of the house. i heard people addressed as "sister" multiple times, without irony. also, there were lots of beads of various sorts. on men. see what i mean? however, uber-hets rebecca romaijn formerly-stamos (or whatever) and her husband jerry o'connell (of 'stand by me' and 'kangaroo jack' fame) were in attendance, as were jake gyllenhaal and hilary swank, though the latter two i didn't see for myself.

the highlight: martha wainwright singing 'come rain or come shine' and 'stormy weather.' she brought the house down. she is as talented as her brother, and you owe it to yourself to pick up her album if you don't have it. interestingly enough, martha and rufus' estranged father, loudon wainwright iii, was seemingly not in attendance even though he lives in l.a. (and is enjoying a career resurgence due to the success of 'knocked up,' for which he wrote the majority of the music; 'grey in l.a.' is another must hear).

biggest surprise of the night: the chilly damp weather. thank god i wore my fur (and beads) and a fierce attitude, sister!

speaking of star-sightings, the mister and i went down the block to blair's for lunch today and who should we spot but miss dita van teese. she is literally flawless. sister!