Month: February 2007

home magazine feature

Phoebe‘s turning one this week, and to mark the occasion, we’ll be having some people over this weekend. Which is very exciting. We used to have parties about twice a year. But due to some various new changes to our household and leisure activities, it’s been quite some time since our last fête. Anyhow, since we’ll be having people over soon, this means we should probably get out the rakes and shovels, and try to find the living room.

Which reminds me. We recently had an interview with American Hovel Magazine, the magazine dedicated to lowering acceptable neatness standards in the home. I’m proud to say that they’ll be featuring our home in the upcoming April, 2007 edition. I’m sure you’ll all be running out to the newstands to pick up your copy (unless you already have a subscription). But since you must be impatient, I thought I’d share with you some of the highlights from the interview.

Highlights from our American Hovel Magazine interview

Alejna: Welcome! Please come in. [Ushers interviewer in through tunnel from front door.] Please have a seat. If memory serves, I think the couch is over here. [Dislodges items from the top of what appears to be a large pile of books, electronics and toys.] Yes! I thought so! Please, have a seat.

American Hovel Magazine: Thank you. [Sits down, accompanied by sound of cat yowling.]

Alejna: Oops! That was a surprise! We don’t even have a cat. [Pulls cat out from sofa cushions.] Hey, little guy! Did you chase the squirrels in here? [Cat jumps away to disappear under a nearby pile.] Sorry about that.

American Hovel Magazine: Don’t worry about it. The last house I was in, there were raccoons in the sofa. Well, let’s get to the interview. First, let me tell you how impressed I am with your home. It’s rare that we see conditions like this that don’t involve natural disasters. Are you sure you didn’t have a bit of help from a tornado? You can tell me off the record.

Alejna: [laughs.] No, no tornado. Though we did have a bit of help. [Sits down on a big pile of clothing.]

John: [muffled grunting] Hey! [The pile Alejna is sitting on shifts. John emerges, standing up and brushing a few squirrels off his shirt.]

Alejna: [standing] There you are! [kisses John on cheek.] I was afraid you’d miss the interview.

American Hovel Magazine: It’s good to have you both here. Let’s get on with the questions. Tell me…

Alejna: Oh, wait, you haven’t met Phoebe. I think she’s around here somewhere.

[A small face with chubby cheeks and big blue eyes emerges from an otherwise empty toy box, and Phoebe crawls across a mound of plush toys.]

Phoebe: mama dada yaya.

American Hovel Magazine: Ah, yes. This must the help you mentioned. Tell me, how long have you…

[ring, ring…the muffled sound of a phone ringing is heard.]

Alejna: Excuse me a moment. John, could you find the phone? I think it’s on the kitchen counter. [John deftly pulls out a phone from beneath a tower of credit card offers, catalogs, supermarket flyers and handouts on compuational linguistics, but a passing squirrel causes the tower to topple, temporarily burying Alejna.]

Alejna: [emerging from the mountain papers, several minutes later.] Okay, where were we?

American Hovel Magazine: I was just about to ask you some questions. I’m sure our readers would absolutely love to learn about how you…

Phoebe: Waaah. Dipe. Waaah.

Alejna, John: We’ll just be a moment. Please, help yourself to some snacks in the meantime. There should be plate of donuts under that laptop. We hope you don’t mind the squirrels.

American Hovel Magazine: Um…thank you.

[Alejna, John and Phoebe return several minutes later]

Alejna: Sorry that took so long. We had a bit of a laundry landslide. But the good news is we found that we have another room that we’d forgotten about.

American Hovel Magazine: Ah, how wonderful for you. I’ve just been dying to ask you about…

[ding, dong…]

Alejna: Excuse me just a moment…

chirp…ribbit…glug glug

We’re back home now. After a somewhat bizarre ride home.

While down in New York, we’d visited John’s aunt and uncle for a bit, who gave Phoebe a new toy. (Actually, this gift was largely provided as a distraction to keep Phoebe from eating the cardboard jigsaw puzzle pieces that were spread out on their coffee table.) Phoebe’s new toy is also a puzzle, a wooden one with little cutout shapes with pictures of animals. When you pop each piece into place, once the batteries are installed, it emits a noise corresponding to the animal on that piece. John’s aunt and uncle didn’t have the two AAA batteries needed for the toy, so we didn’t get to hear the animal sounds till we got back to John’s parents’ house. There, we found some batteries, and installed them in the puzzle into the little compartment that is held closed by a phillips head screw. I tell you this for a reason.

Last night, as we were driving home, with various piles of stuff and bags of toys in the back of the car, we made a discovery. When the puzzle gets cold, it doesn’t need to have the pieces inserted or removed in order to activate the sounds. And we didn’t have a phillips head screw driver in the car with us. Or other tools, such as a hammer, that could be used to smash it open. The puzzle nearly got abandoned at a rest area. Happily, it did eventually quiet down when the car warmed up.

Lesson: When travelling with battery operated noise-emitting toys, consider removing the batteries first.

Request to toy makers: Please always include an “off” switch on your battery operated toys. Especially those that need tools to access the battery compartment.

Fun game: Can you identify these animal sounds?

oink

Happy New Year! As you may well already know, it’s Chinese New Year. It’s year 4705 (For some fun information and descriptions of traditional Chinese New Year’s traditions, check out these couple of cool posts on the topic by YTSL.)
piggybank.jpg
Anyhow, this year is year of the pig. (Also called year of the boar. But I prefer pig.) And while I may not be able to manage much in the way of festivities for the day (I’m away from home and forgot to pack any festive red clothing), I offer this post as a small token of celebration. To welcome in the new Year of the Pig, I’ve put together a small list of some of my own favorite pigs. (These are a few of my favorite pigs…)

  1. Piggy. Nine Inch Nails. This song has these great opening words:

    hey pig
    yeah you
    hey pig piggy pig pig pig

    2. pigs.jpg

  2. Piggies. The Beatles. A classic song. “Have you seen the little piggies, living piggy lives”
  3. Small Pig, by Arnold Lobel. This was one of the first books I ever read. It’s about a little pig (a small pig, if you will), who liked to lounge around in a mud puddle. When he gets kicked out of his puddle and forcibly cleaned up, he runs off to find a new mud puddle.( Acceptable neatness standards be damned!)
  4. Charlotte’s Web. E.B. White. That Wilbur is “some pig.” This is one of my all-time favorite books of childhood. (I haven’t seen the recent movie, by the way, and not sure I can bear to.)charlotteweb.png
  5. Piglet. From the books by A. A. Milne. In the world of Winnie-the-Pooh, I identify most with Piglet. I’m a worrier. (Strangely enough, I couldn’t score a Piglet on the 100 Acre Personality Test. I got Pooh, and when I tried to adjust my answers to be what I thought was more Piglet-like, I got Owl, and then Kanga…)
  6. The Flying Pig sketches from The Kids in the Hall. Bruce McCulloch plays Flying Pig, a flying pig who appears on the scene to rescue people from boredom while they are standing in line. (By the way, I once bought a “flying pig” mug in the airport Cincinatti, Ohio, while waiting for a connecting flight. That city seems to have adapted the slogan “where pigs fly,” based on the “when pigs fly” idiom. And developed a lot of merchandising to go along with it. I bought the mug because of my affinity for the Kids in the Hall, and their flying pig. And my affinity for coffee mugs. And I suppose somewhat for my affinity for pigs.) Anyhow, back to the Kids in the Hall flying pig. I found some of the sketches on YouTube. Here’s one. Enjoy.


[update 4/28/09: the old video was taken down, so I replaced it.]

wearing my late-night cranky pants

We’re down in New York again, to visit John’s parents. John’s father has been in and out of the hospital since July, when he (re)broke his hip. So we’ve been coming down here to visit quite often. (Actually, this summer, we estimate that we spent more time here than at home.) I’m glad that we are able to come down here pretty easily, as it’s only a 3 and half hour drive for us. And it’s so important to be with family, especially in difficult times.

Anyhow, John’s father is back in the hospital again, and here we are. To offer help and support. My main job is to offer Phoebe, who offers much cuteness and huggage. Never underestimate the power of distraction.

But, while I’m glad we can be here, and even pushed for us to make this trip down this week, I also (selfishly) am going batty. Because I have even less time to myself than I have at home. I don’t know why I expect to get things done on these trips. I had in mind all sorts of work I’d get done, and packed accordingly. Book to read for my class. Stationery for writing the last of my seriously overdue thank you notes. Soundfiles on my laptop for annotation. Microphone to do some recordings for work. Articles to read for work. But the days slip away with socializing with John’s mother, visiting the hospital, and caring for Phoebe, who is going through a tough teething period. The most I’ve gotten done of my work was to start the reading for my class, and then get distracted…

And once again, here it is really freakin’ late at night. And rather than sleeping or getting to any of the work I should be doing, I sit here with my laptop writing about the work I should be doing and the sleep I should be getting.

behind

The passage of time seems to be a recurring theme in my life these days. Or perhaps a running theme. I always seem to be running late, or otherwise running behind schedule. (At the same time, I do very little actual running. Since I’m mostly sitting on my behind.) (Sorry, I can’t resist a pun. It’s a sickness.)

So here I am. Doing my reading for my sociolinguistics class. Which is not until Tuesday. It’s Friday night. So that means I’m way ahead of the game, right? Well, I should be. I mean, I’m reading the right chapter for this week. But here’s the deal. I’m reading from an old edition of the textbook. So far, it hasn’t been much of an issue. But now we’re reading the chapter on Language Planning. And it’s a little bizarre to be reading about language policies in the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia “today”. So you see, even though I’m a couple of days ahead, I’m still more than a decade behind. This edition came out in 1992.

15 years ago.

This has lead me to reflect upon a number of things.

As I mentioned before, the class I’m taking is mostly full of undergrads. Probably mostly around 20 years old. At that time my edition of the textbook came out, I was 20 years old, and an undergrad. At that time most of the other students in this class would have been in kindergarden. In 1992, they would have been reading, what, Dr. Seuss? Books in the “I Can Read” series? The Berenstein Bears?

And what seems particularly striking to me, as I read this outdated chapter, is that these folks probably have no firsthand memories of the existence of the Soviet Union or Yugoslavia. And they grew up without knowing the Cold War.

Anyhow, I don’t have much time to write more about this now. The reflections I’ve had about growing up in the Cold War era. About the impact of the Cold War on U.S. culture and pop culture. But at some point I may write more…and maybe even make a list.

Ok. Back to my reading. And I wonder why I’m running behind?

kick-ass women TV shows I don’t know well (or at all)

Here’s another list for my ongoing kick-ass women project. (For your reference, I have an index to previous lists in the project.) I seem to be getting to the end of my lists, and soon I’ll be moving on to phase two: world domination. No, wait. That’s Starbucks. My next phase will be to start actually working at qualifying and quantifying what it means to be a kick-ass woman. Or at least what I mean when I say “kick-ass woman.” But first, a few more lists.

Anyhow, this list is following up on my last 2 lists of favorite kick-ass women TV shows (1 & 2). This time, the list is of shows I either never watched, or didn’t see much of, but that prominently feature (or at least appear to prominently feature) kick-ass women. And this list includes some of the glaring omissions from the previous lists. (Again, shows are listed chronologically by start date.)

Some kick-ass women TV shows I didn’t watch

  1. The New Avengers (1976-1977)
    Starred Joanna Lumley as Purdy. The most I have seen of this show was actually as a snip in an episode of Absolutely Fabulous. This show is supposed to bear little resemblance to the previous Avengers incarnations, aside from the presence of Patrick MacNee resuming his role of John Steed. But I’m still pretty curious.
  2. Cagney & Lacey (1982-1988)
    This cop series with Sharon Gless (Cagney) and Tyne Daly (Lacey) was on for quite a few years, but I’m not sure I ever saw a single episode.
  3. The X-files (1993-2002)
    I never watched this show, but I have, of course, heard of it. My spy network informs me that Gillian Anderson kicked ass as Dana Scully.
  4. Xena: Warrior Princess (1995-2001)
    I’ve seen maybe a couple of episodes of this, or possibly only parts of episodes, but actually had trouble getting into its particular flavor of campiness. (I realized many of the shows and movies I enjoy are definitely campy.) I think it was mostly the other characters that I found irritating. But I fully acknowledge the supreme kick-assedness of Xena.
  5. Dark Angel (2000-2002)
    Never saw it. Don’t know much about it. Jessica Alba stars as a “genetically enhanced superhuman prototype.” Which sounds like definite kick-ass potential.
  6. Kim Possible (2002-????)
    Don’t know much about this animated show. I understand it’s about a girl (voiced by Christy Carlson Romano) who can do anything. Which sounds appealing.
  7. She Spies (2002-2004)
    I know nothing about this beyond, well, the title. I’m guessing it’s a spy show. With females. Hence the feminine third person subject. Was somewhat short-lived. Starred Natasha Henstridge, Natashia Williams and Kristen Miller. (Funny –how often do you have 2 Natash(i)as in the same cast?)
  8. Commander in Chief (2005-2006)
    Geena Davis plays President of the US. (That is potentially an even cooler role than pirate.) I should probably see this. I’ve read that it’s good. And I like Geena Davis.
  9. Heroes (2006-????)
    A new show about superheroes. Haven’t seen it. I’ve heard it’s pretty good. I don’t know all the details, but there had better be at least one kick-ass woman on the show. (Anyone care to enlighten me?)

    10. One more item:

  10. Charlie’s Angels (1976-1981)
    I’m not sure what I think about this one. Strange as it may seem, I don’t really remember watching this show as a kid. It was certainly a presence, though. I must have seen a few episodes. And I remember kids playing Charlie’s Angels, etc. Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson played the brunettes, and a string of others (Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Ladd, Shelley Hack & Tanya Roberts) play the blonde. But I’m not sure to what extent these women kicked ass. Isn’t this the show about which the expession “jiggle TV” was coined?

getting over V.D.

blahblah.jpgI have reasonably fond memories of Valentine’s Day from my elementary school days. Craft projects with doilies. Decorating pink and red construction paper hearts. Exchanging enormous quantities of little cutesie valentine cards with all the other kids in class. Eating little candy hearts.

I don’t remember when our relationship went sour, mine and Valentine’s Day. I don’t think we had a fight. And Valentine’s Day didn’t exactly run out on me. I think it’s more that we just grew apart as I got older.

Elementary school days passed into junior high days, and Valentine’s Day stopped bringing me those special treats. No more craft projects or bags full of valentines. The little candy hearts lost their magic.

Those were awkward times.

Then came high school, and suddenly Valentine’s Day was all about the pressure. All Valentine’s Day pretended to care about was romance. And while Valentine’s Day was off having romantic interludes with so many other girls in my school, I was left feeling lonely. Rejected. I wasn’t getting the cards and flowers, or the heart-shaped boxes of candy. It was hard to believe that we’d ever had that connection, Valentine’s Day and me.

Perhaps it was then that bitterness set in. Followed by jaded cynicism. I knew that Valentine’s Day was shallow, all about greeting card sentimentality. Valentine’s Day pretended to care, to be about love. But really, it was all just for show. I knew Valentine’s Day was full of crap.

biteme-yellow.jpgrong.jpgscru.jpglusr.jpg
Little candy hearts courtesy of ACME heart maker.

This post is being submitted to the //engtech monthly contest, under the topic “why I hate Valentine’s Day.”

eat your hearts out

It’s Valentine’s Day again. And one thing that means is the annual return of little candy hearts. Little chalky-tasting pieces of candy, shaped like hearts, and with text printed on them. These are a bizarre tradition, but apparently one that’s been around for well over a hundred years.

The original traditional candy hearts were started by NECCO, The New England Confectionary Company, in the 1800’s, and that company still dominates the little candy heart trade today. The official name of their hearts is “Sweethearts® Conversation Hearts”. Typically, the little hearts have sayings like “be mine” and “kiss me” stamped on them. I hadn’t realized, but apparently they change the assortment of sayings on the hearts from year to year. This year, according to their website, the theme is inpired by animal lovers, with sayings such as “top dog”, “my pet”, “purr fect”. (These may be particularly popular among furries this year.)

and.jpg I picked up a box of the NECCO Sweethearts at a local convenience store. Not because I like to eat them, or give them. But because I was amused to see that “and” was stamped on a couple of the hearts. Now with conjunctions! go_home.jpg (My set didn’t have the animalistic sayings, though. Perhaps I have some of last year’s batch. But how can you tell if these things are stale? Does chalk go stale?) Other than “and,” though, there weren’t any other random function words. But there was “go home,” which seemed oddly cynical for these folks.

And in case the sweetness of the traditional hearts is too saccharine for your tastes, you can now buy BitterSweets:

Now available in TWO unique collections, “Dejected” and “Dysfunctional,” featuring up to 37 unique sayings each!

“Dejected” sayings include:

I MISS MY EX | PEAKED AT 17 | MAIL ORDER | TABLE FOR 1
I CRY ON Q | U C MY BLOG? | REJECT PILE | PILLOW HUGGIN
ASYLUM BOUND | DIGNITY FREE | PROG FAN | STATIC CLING
WE HAD PLANS | XANADU 2NITE | SETTLE 4LESS | NOT AGAIN

“Dysfunctional” sayings include:

RUMORS TRUE | PRENUP OKAY? | HE CAN LISTEN | GAME ON TV
CALL A 900# | P.S. I LUV ME | DO MY DISHES | UWATCH CMT
PAROLE IS UP! | BE MY YOKO | U+ME=GRIEF | I WANT HALF
RETURN 2 PIT | NOT MY MOMMY | BE MY PRISON | C THAT DOOR?

What with technological advances, we now can also get virtual little candy hearts. Here’s one generated just for me when I filled out a quiz. And unlike some other results I’ve had on these things, this one kinda fits me.


Your Candy Heart Says “Get Real”


You’re a bit of a cynic when it comes to love.
You don’t lose your head, and hardly anyone penetrates your heart.

Your ideal Valentine’s Day date: is all about the person you’re seeing (with no mentions of v-day!)

Your flirting style: honest and even slightly sarcastic

What turns you off: romantic expectations and “greeting card” holidays

Why you’re hot: you don’t just play hard to get – you are hard to get

But for many years, I’ve wanted to compose my own little candy hearts. And while NECCO can print up special batches of hearts for you, I’m not sure I’m ready for this level of commitment:

Got a special message for your sweetheart? NECCO can custom imprint Sweethearts Conversation Hearts, if you’re willing to buy a full production run – approximately 3,500 pounds of the six-flavored candies or 1.6 million individual hearts.

But have no fear. Now there are websites that let you make up your own candy hearts, and spare you the sugar overload. One such is this one, which has allowed me to engrave the following sentiments in virtual candy:

istalku.jpegloser.jpegsucking.jpeg

But while the large size of the candy hearts above allows for longer expressions and therefore a greater range of possibilities, my favorite little candy heart generator is the ACME Heart Generator. Like the hearts I remember from my childhood, and like those you can still find today, the size of the heart is small. The text is limited to 1 or 2 lines of 4 characters each. And these constraints provide a bit more of a challenge.

Here are some of the ones I’ve come up with. Enjoy.

biteme-yellow.jpgblahblah.jpgoop_ack.jpgbro-ken.jpgdick.jpgdorkface.jpgfishlips.jpgfoot.jpgholyshit.jpgmyass.jpgrong.jpgscru.jpgyousuck.jpgbit-chy.jpgin_hell.jpglusr.jpgmilf.jpgmoo.jpgno_hope.jpgoh_crap.jpgwtf.jpgyo_dude.jpgdumb_fuck.jpgran-dom.jpg

dude looks like a lady, lady looks like a dude

Or, the clothes make the man (look like a woman or the woman look like a man)

As I promised last night, while reflecting on the cross-dressing tendencies of the females of our household, I’ve put together a list of some cross-dressing instances in theater, film and TV. The entertainment media show us a host of reasons for donning the garb of the opposite gender. Whether it’s a lifestyle choice, or for some pragmatic or work-related reason, we see a variety of possible benefits.

The list below is a bunch of movies, shows and plays that feature some sort of cross-dressing, that have further been tagged and sorted by additional features.

1. We have two main types, as in two main genders. So representatives will be tagged:

  • (m->f): male dressing as female (dude looks like a lady)

    • and

  • (f->m): female dressing as male (lady looks like a dude)

    • 2. (kaw) Also note that a lot of these movies and shows also have been highlighted in lists of my kick-ass women project, so I’ll tag them, too. Especially those involving women dressing in men’s clothes. (Coincidence?)

    Movies, shows and plays that feature cross-dressing

    1. First, we have movies featuring transgendered or transexual folk:

    • Some dramas:
  • Glen or Glenda (1953) (m->f)
    Ed Wood stars, Ed Wood directs. Ed Wood wears fuzzy angora sweaters. Known (as are all of Ed Wood’s films) as a wonderfully bad movie. I need to see this some time.
  • The Crying Game (1992) (m->f)
    Yes, I know I just spoiled the surprise ending.
  • Boys Don’t Cry (1999) (f->m)
    Hilary Swank plays a teenage boy who was born biologically female. (Another one I haven’t seen. I hear it’s very good.)
    • Drag Queens of the stage:
  • Kinky Boots (2005) (m->f)
    Chiwetel Ejiofor plays Lola, a drag queen who needs some new shoes.
  • The Bird Cage (1996) (m->f)
    Nathan Lane plays a stage queen. Also pretends to be a woman off the stage to fool some folks.
  • La Cage aux Folles (1978), La Cage aux Folles II (1980), La Cage aux Folles 3 (1985) (m->f, m->f->m)
    Haven’t actually seen these. “The Bird Cage” was based on the first one. The second involves man pretending to be woman pretending to be man, from what I understand.
    • Road-tripping drag queens:
  • The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994) (m->f)
    A drag queen goes on an Australian road trip.
  • To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar (1995) (m->f)
    Wesley Snipes, Patrick Swayze, John Leguizamo as drag queens in an American road trip movie.

    • 2. Often, cross-dressing can be a work-related activity. In many cases, it can be about landing a job:

    • For example, for men who aspire to become a nanny, it may be helpful to pretend to be a woman:
  • Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) (m->f)
    Robin Williams impersonates a woman to land a role as his kids’ nanny.
  • Arrested Development (2003-2006) (m->f)
    Ther was a story arc about Mrs. Featherbottom: Tobias (David Cross) “disguises” himself as a woman to play a nanny in the spirit of Mrs. Doubtfire. His family pretends to be fooled because they got a cleaner house out of the deal.
    • Police and spy jobs often require clever disguises for undercover work. And what could be more cleverly disguising than opposite-gendered apparel?
  • Barney Miller (1975-1982) (m->f)
    Periodically, the men/detectives of the cast/department dress up (unconvincingly) as women in order to entrap potential solicitation offenders, muggers, or others.
  • Charlie’s Angels (2000) (f->m)
    Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore disguise themselves in suits and facial hair to infiltrate a tech company.
  • White Chicks (2004) (m->f)
    Shawn Wayans and Marlon Wayans play FBI agents. Two (black) dudes masquerade as two (white) chicks. For some reason or another. (Haven’t seen it.)
  • Supercop a.k.a.Police Story 3: Supercop/Jing cha gu shi III: Chao ji jing cha (1992) (m->f, kaw)
    Uncle (Bill Tung) makes an appearance as the mother of Jackie Chan and Michelle Yeoh, who are pretending to be brother and sister for an undercover assignment.
  • Supercop 2/Chao ji ji hua (1993) (m->f, kaw)
    Jackie Chan makes a cameo. In drag. I’m not really sure why.
    • Getting into, or out of, the military by way of getting into transgendered clothing:
  • MASH (1972-1983) (m->f)
    Klinger (Jamie Farr) spends several seasons dressing in women’s clothes to try to get out of the army.
  • Mulan (1998) (f->m, kaw)
    A girl pretends to be a boy in order to join the army.
  • Futurama (1999-????) (f->m, kaw)
    The episode with balls. Bouncing balls. (Called “War is the H-word”) Leela disguises herself as a man to join the army to keep an eye on Fry and Bender (who joined the army to get a discount on gum.)
    • Getting onto the screen or stage:
  • Shakespeare in Love (1998) (f->m)
    Set in Elizabethan England, when/where only men were allowed to act on the stage. Gwynneth Paltrow pretends to be a young man in order to land a role in Shakespeare’s new play.
  • Tootsie (1982) (m->f)
    Dustin Hoffman dons wig and dress to land a soap opera role.
  • Victor/Victoria (1982) (f->m->f)
    Julie Andrews plays a (male) female impersonator.
  • Farewell My Concubine/Ba wang bie ji (1993) (m->f)
    Leslie Chung (a man, by the way…ambiguous name and all) plays an actor in the Peking Opera who plays female roles on the stage.
    • And like for the Peking Opera and the Shakespearean stage, sometimes real-life actors in more recent times play roles of the opposite gender:
  • Peter Pan (f->m)
    The play written by J. M. Barrie. Stage performances of this play written by J. M. Barrie commonly feature women (Maude Adams, Mary Martin, Sandy Duncan) playing the lead role, a boy.
  • Iron Monkey/ Siu nin Wong Fei Hung ji Tit Ma Lau (1993) (f->m)
    The young boy, Wong Fei-Hung, is played by a girl (Sze-Man Tsang).
    • There’s the related sketch comedy tradition:
  • Monty Python’s Flying Circus (1969-1974) (m->f)
    The chaps (Graham Chapman, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and Eric Idle) don dresses, and speak in sqeaky voices. (I don’t remember Terry Gilliam ever appearing in a dress.)
  • Kids in the Hall (1988-1994) (m->f)
    The kids (Dave Foley, Scott Thompson, Mark McKinney, Bruce McCulloch and Kevin McDonald) wear a lot of dresses, and a lot of wigs. And sometimes make very convincing women.

    • 3. And finally, we have a bunch of miscellaneous reasons for cross-dressing. Prizes! Disguises! Housing! Respect! Modesty!

  • News Radio (1995-1999) (m->f)
    The episode where Dave Foley wins a costume contest by donning a wig and a little black dress. A bit of a tribute to his Kids in the Hall days.
  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon/Wo hu cang long (2000) (f->m, kaw)
    Zhang Ziyi runs off with a stolen sword and disguises herself as a young man. (Leading to that incredible scene where she fights a restaurant-full of men. And trashes the restaurant. Not that I condone the trashing of restaurants. I just love that scene.)
  • Twelfth Night (f->m)
    Play by Shakespeare. Made into bunches of movies, including She’s the Man (2006). Woman Viola pretends to be her brother. (I’m not actually sure on the motivation for this. Shamefully haven’t read or seen the play. Or movies.)
  • Just One of the Guys (1985) (f->m)
    Haven’t seen it. High school gal pretends to be a high school guy in order to be taken seriously.
  • Some Like it Hot (1959) (m->f)
    Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon disguise themselves as women to hide out from the mob. (And get to hang out with Marylin Monroe.)
  • Bosom Buddies (1980-1982) (m->f)
    Peter Scolari and Tom Hanks pretend to be women in order to get a good apartment.
  • Splash (1984) (w->m) (f->m)
    Daryl Hannah plays a mermaid who arrives in New York City without a wardrobe of her own. Staying at the apartment of Tom Hanks (not the one shared with Peter Scolari), she puts on one of his suits before heading out for a shopping expedition in order to avoid further displays of public nudity.