summer

Blood, Sweat, and Queers from BitchTapes on 8tracks.

I have now been here for exactly a month, and we're finally getting consistently beautiful weather. I'm glad that person who said the weather would be literally perfect after July 4th wasn't lying. But really. The ten-day forecast predicts sun every single day with a 0% chance of rain. You heard me correctly, 0% chance. Portland, I see what y'all have been looking forward to. I sure as heck wouldn't want to be boiling in the heatwave in the mid-Atlantic right now. That is not what the precious pomp on my head needs. Nooooo, thank you.

So, now that things are getting hot 'n' sweaty, you need to be geared up, right? Sun block, check. Muscle tee, check. Cut-off shorts, check. Phresh summer haircut, check. Comfy dancing shoes, check. Cuties to dance with... wait, did I say geared up? I meant queered up. Here's a bunch of jams by some super fun queer folx who will help you get yr Portland (or wherever you are) summer officially rollin'. Hey, and some of these steamy queers are playing this summer in a town maybe near you! Yay!

Unlike Miyazaki, Hosoda embraces our dependence on virtual worlds, but not naively. He's aware of its dangers and isn't above satirizing it; the resemblance of the OZ hub to Murakami's deranged pandas, combined with its toothy, walleyed grin, makes even the pre-Love Machine OZ appear fun, but slightly dangerous, and the entire Love Machine storyline is a cautionary tale against putting all of one's faith in online solutions. That combination of wariness and recognition of digital culture is something I don't think we would ever see from Miyazaki.

In our monthly newsletter (sign up on in the sidebar on the right!) we poll Bitch staffers and readers on their top five picks in a given category, posting the results here on the blog. Help us out and give us five, or suggest your own answers in the comments after the jump!

Every month in our newsletter (sign up on the homepage!), we survey our staffers and readers on their top five in a given category, complete with options, results and further comment space here on the Bitch blog. Lend a vote and give us five, or share your own idea after the jump!

It's nearly officially summer, and in the Northwest, the sun takes its sweet time getting here and staying for the season. So, for those that need some help getting into the summertime mood, or just want a soundtrack for the season, here are some literal and figurative songs about summer, warm weather, and their varied effects on us.