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Personal HomepagePhoto CollectionPrevious Page
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Last Modified 2004-08-18 |
Stephen Dery - Personal |
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IntroductionThanks for dropping by my personal homepage! Unlike my regular homepage, this part of my website is a more personal venture into the life of Steph - it provides more information on my background, my pet peeves, and my interests. I hope you find this webpage interesting, and if you want, feel free to drop me a line at chacal_chanel@yahoo.com. Personal InformationSo you want a little more background info on Steph. Well, to answer your first question: Yes I'm Queer!!! But if you're interested in more info, here's a brief summary: I was born in Toronto, Canada in 1968 from parents of a French-Canadian background, but grew up in the village of New Liskeard, Ontario. We spoke French at home and all of my schooling was in French schools. After completing high school, I completed both a Bachelor's (1991) and Master's (1994) degree at York University in Toronto, Ontario. I then obtained my Ph.D. (2001) at McGill University before making the move to the New York City area where I worked for Columbia University as a post-doctoral research scientist. Currently at Princeton University I will soon be moving to Prince George in Northern British Columbia to begin another chapter in my life. In the next few paragraphs, I will summarize some my interests, ambitions, and pet peeves... Just my way of expressing myself, I guess you could say... MusicAnyone who knows me intimately realizes that I'm quite fond of music from the 80's. Being an impressionable teenager and young adult during that decade, my environment back then has shaped many of my interests to this day. This is especially evident in my musical tastes. There are a number of artists that I'm especially fond of that have their origins in the 80's. The two that I prefer are the Pet Shop Boys and New Order. Even before I came out, I felt a certain connection with these two bands whose lyrics in the 80's were sexually ambivalent. I have claimed for the longest time that "True Faith" by New Order is my favourite all time song, although their song "1963" is just as good. The Pet Shop Boys have so many good songs that I could not list them here. My current favourite is off their "Release" album entitled "Sexy Northerner" which I claim to be written about me... Another is the French band Indochine who's lyrics are just so gay! I love them! Another residual of my teenage life is my taste for heavy metal. From Judas Priest, Def Leppard, Poison, to Motley Crue, I still love this type of music... Call me crazy!! Bang your head... MoviesMy taste in movies tends to be quite eclectic. Very rarely will I see Hollywood productions - the stories lack originality and contain too much violence. Of course, they represent state-of-the-art technology in terms of computer animations and graphics; I just wish we could say the same could be said about the writing and the acting. My preference is for movies from two very different countries. I have a great passion for French cinema. My all-time favourite movie is called "Au Revoir les Enfants" directed by Louis Malle. Most of the French movies I've seen have incredible stories and are extremely well acted. Some of my favourites are: "Tatie Danielle" about an older woman who just terrorizes her family (including her gay grandson); "Le Placard" that concerns the life of a desperate man on the verge of losing his job in a latex factory that he finally saves by pretending he's gay; "Indochine" with Catherine Deneuve (without a doubt one of the best actresses in the world) playing a plantation owner in Viet-Nam in what is a truly epic story. I'm also quite fond of movies that originate from Hong Kong. My favourite Hong Kong director is Wong Kar Wai, the master of such films as "Chungking Express" and "Happy Together". Tony Leung, the star of these two movies, is by far one of the cutest and most competent actors in the world today. I also have a crush on Jet Li, but please don't tell anyone! I'd lie if I said that I didn't like British or Canadian movies. I just saw a movie entitled "Get Real" with the actor Ben Silverstone, possibly the most beautiful man on earth today... And wonderful Canadian films such as "Les Feluettes" and "The Secret Garden" have reached cult status amongst queer people world-wide. Oh yeah, let's not forget our own little Devon Sawa, a gay and proud Canadian actor. Yay Canada!! BooksI love to read. Since my childhood, I've had a passion for books. My collection is quite large, and I've bought numerous books over the years. You can thank the Cobalt Book Shop for their cheap and huge collection for that. I have a definite preference for several authors. One is John Steinbeck, whose novels "The Grapes of Wrath", "East of Eden" and "The Winter of Our Discontent" had huge impacts on my life. His body of work is unparalled, and I really do love to pick up one of his books now and then since they portray the human condition like no one else can. My preference is for turn-of-the-century novelists, from Oscar Wilde to André Gide... I'm also a huge fan of Albert Camus, Antoine de St-Exupery, Fyodor Dostyevsky and Tolstoi. I also am a big fan of some contemporay novelist, including our own Douglas Coupland, James Rollins and Stephen King. I'd be hiding something if I didn't mention "Tintin". For many, Tintin (authored by Hergé) is perhaps the first book they will ever read. Of late, I have returned to reading Tintin with the perspective of a gay man. In so many ways, I have come to the conclusion that Tintin is gay. In the 22 stories written by Herge on Tintin's adventures, there is essentially no female presence at all. Tintin hangs out with "Capitaine Haddock", a bearded mariner who is an alcoholic (Loch Lommond whiskey, anyone?) and with "Professeur Tournesol", a deaf scientist who has no clue what's going on. All of Tintin's friend are male (except for Bianca Castafiore who is, more than likely, just a large man doing drag) and, quite possibly, gay. Tintin has a definite crush on his Asian friend Tchang whom he saves from the Yeti (the Abominable Snowman) in "Tintin au Tibet". His other young male friends includes Zorrino whom Tintin meets in South America and Abdallah from the Middle East. Whatever Tintin's sexual preference may be, the stories and art conjured by Hergé remain one of the masterpieces in 20th century art that, I hope, will be read by many more people in the future. TelevisionI admit it! I've been watching too much television this last little while. Call it one of my faults. I assure you, though, that I have little interest in most American shows. My all-time favourite series is a jewel of a British series called "Absolutely Fabulous". The story of two middle-aged women named Edina and Patsy, AbFab brings humour to a new level. Patsy and Eddy are two drunks and drug addicts who live their lives in the unhealthiest of ways. Who cares? This may be your last day on Earth, and they are certainly not willing to waste any time. Patsy and Edina are my eternal heroines! I love satirical shows. Another one I like is Mystery Science Theater 3000 which definitely has a cult following, but remains unknwon to the general public. Their recipe? Take a stupid B-movie and make fun of it! Mike, with the help of his robots Crow ("I'm different") and Tom Servo, go at it with the worst out there. So funny! Yes, there are American series that I like: "The Simpsons" and "Futurama", both the brainchild of Matt Groening, are outrageously funny. BTW, you should check out his comic strip "Life in Hell" that has these two gay boys (Akbar & Jeff)... So damn good! As for Canadian shows, I miss "This Hour has 20 Minutes" and "La P'tite Vie", two extremley entertaining series that I simply don't have here. Sports.
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