I've always said that the best folk music comes from the Dutch

Since last summer, Wikipedia has removed every reference to Brandi Carlile's being a lesbian from its info on her. Way back when I'd spend most days at my internship listening to a loop of her self-titled album and Regina Spektor's Begin to Hope, I decided, during "Happy," that this girl was kind of gay, so I went to the internets for confirmation. (Also, just look at the cover of her debut CD--pretty gay.) Then, the Wikipedia article claimed she'd come out in 2003, and there was a link to an article in some Washington university's paper in which somebody connected with the Brandi Carlile Band said something like, "Brandi's a lesbian, so our shows are always full of girls." That link was still there a few months ago. Now it's gone. What the eff? Is someone shoving her back into the closet? Is she not a lesbian anymore? (How is that possible?) Was she ever a lesbian in the first place? I don't know anything anymore--but I do know that she wore a Boy Scout uniform to her tour opener in Oregon. That's pretty gay, right? (Picture stolen from againtoday.com)

While I'm talking about Brandi Carlile, I'll add this to my "I love country music, and I have to kill myself" story: one of her new songs "How These Days Grow Long," which I fucking love is even more country-fried than "Closer to You." So there. That's all.

Also, she did a video for "Turpentine," and in it, she is wearing this horrible vest (with nothing underneath it--which has to mean she's either a lesbian or Ani DiFranco--and Ani's at least half gay), and the whole time I was watching the video, I was not really paying attention to the song or the story, because this exchange was running through my head:

Gretchen: Regina, you're wearing sweatpants. It's Monday.
Regina: So...?
Karen: So that's against the rules, and you can't sit with us.
Regina: Whatever. Those rules aren't real.
Karen: They were real that day I wore a vest!
Regina: Because that vest was disgusting!

Because, y'all? That vest was disgusting. But it did let me see that Brandi has matching tattoos on her upper arms of what looked to me like balls of snakes, but were most likely not actually balls of snakes. I'll have to watch the video again to see what they really are, but seriously. That vest. It kills me. I've even seen her wear it before, but she was wearing a t-shirt under it then, and so it wasn't so bad.

Also! In some shots, she looks orange, like they put bronzer on her or something, which--unnecessary. On the whole, though, she looks more like real Brandi than she did in the video for "The Story," but I just totally don't love it when they put all that Hollywood makeup on her.

That vest, though. I wouldn't let her eat lunch with me if she were wearing it, either.

Oh, of course I would. She's Brandi Carlile, and I'm certainly no Regina George. I do prefer the Boy Scout uniform shirt, though.

On a completely unrelated (but still important) note, why do the Red Sox do this to me every year? 3 and a half games? When once it was 14? What the fuck? Every year. And every year, the Yankees suck until the All-Star break, and then they're like, "Later, suckers!" and they steal every hope and dream away from Boston. (Except for 2004, which was sweet, but seriously, if that shit only happens once every eighty-six years, I will cry tears of blood.) 14 to 3 and a half. 11 games left. Good Christ, please, please, please, don't blow this, Boston.