From the "Stars, They're Just Like Us" file: It may be a different brand of tennis camp, but it's still cute to see that even superstars like Andy Roddick have to make the best of the situation when dirty clothes begin to pile up off the court. Sure looks like someone wasn't planning to be around for Week 2 ...
Finally got around to watching the first episode of "Glee," Fox's highly touted new high school musical dramedy. It's true that there's really nothing new here -- all of your archetypes and couples-who-are-obviously-meant-to-be-together-but-are-with-people-they're-obviously-not-meant-to-be-with are covered. But you can't help but fall in love with Matthew Morrison's earnest-but-sexy Mr. Schuester, and that alone is enough to make me care enough to want to see what will happen next. And if his glee club keeps delivering performances like this one -- a rousing boy-meets-girl rendition of Journey's classic "Don't Stop Believin'" -- then the progress report I'm sending home is most encouraging.
"Gods of Football: The Making of the 2009 Calendar" is now available everywhere, including Netflix. More than 40 of Australia’s sexiest pro rugby players got “Naked for a Cause” and posed for the 2009 charity calendar. A video crew was there for every hot minute of the photo shoots. Check out some risque moments -- including a video of the fun -- AFTER THE JUMP. ----->
On Tuesday, my friend and KIT212 contributor Frank Anthony Polito's second book, "Drama Queers," was released. I caught up with the Fresh Prince of Hazeltucky -- who made me laugh me ass off with his "Band Fags" debut -- earlier today to get all of details from backstage:
KIT212: Congratulations on the success of your first book, "Band Fags." Your follow-up, "Drama Queers," just came out this week. What can readers expect this time around?
FAP: Thank you! It’s been an incredible year since BAND FAGS! went on sale last June. With DRAMA QUEERS!, readers can expect more 1980s fun and frivolity in Hazeltucky, MI. This time around, the story is told from the POV of Brad Dayton, the secondary/best friend character from BAND FAGS!
When my editor at Kensington asked me for another book, I really didn’t have an idea for one. Then I gave it some thought, and realized there’s a chunk of BAND FAGS! where Brad completely disappears. He and his best friend, Jack, have a falling out during senior year, and since BFs is Jack’s story, we only see Brad a few times during those 100 pages. We learn that he’s got a part in the school play, and he takes a trip to New York City to audition for Julliard School of Drama, and that he gets busted hanging out at a gay bar -- but we don’t SEE it happen. Now in DQs, we do!
KIT212: Was it difficult to write a similar story from another point of view? Did you ever have to recheck your facts to make sure the stories meshed?
FAP: The original idea for BAND FAGS! was to alternate chapters between Jack and Brad, telling the story from each of their POV. But because I only had about a year to write the story, I didn’t know if I could actually do this. Much of Jack’s life is based on my own, so I knew him much better than I did Brad at the time. After finishing BFs and having time to think more about Brad, I found it easier to tackle telling his story. Since my background is in playwriting, I have a pretty good knack for writing in different “voices.”
And yes, there were many times I had to refer to BFs, to make sure I was “filling in the blanks” correctly. I think there may actually be one or two moments in DQs that don’t quite jive, but I don’t know if readers will notice -- unless they’re diehard fans, of course. Then I want them to call me out!
KIT212: Now you say "Band Fags" is a novel. But I know you pretty well so I know some of it is drawn from real-life experiences. What was the reaction back in Hazel Park? Didn't you attend your high school reunion right around the time the book came out?
FAP: I did attend my class reunion back in September, after the book had been on sale for about three months, and most everyone treated me like I’m some Big Star. (It was about time!) That June, I did a reading in Detroit and a lot of my high school friends who I based characters on were there. A couple, I hadn’t seen since the ‘80s, so that was awesome.
One in particular, “Luanne the Lesbo” I don’t paint a very nice portrait of, and she was there. Fortunately, she hadn’t read the book yet! But I did stress to her that it IS a work of “fiction” and that anything negative that Jack says about Luanne, is NOT a direct reflection on my feelings for her. I think she punched me and told me to shut up.
KIT212: What has been the highlight of being a published author?
FAP: I’ve made a lot of new Facebook Friends, and met some really cool people as a result. I get e-mails from readers who tell me they enjoyed the book, and accuse me of stealing their story. Which is totally cool, considering I thought my experience was so unique. It’s great to hear how many guys also had gay best friends while they were growing up, and what kind of adventures they had together. One of the highlights was walking past the (now-closed) Oscar Wilde Book Shop here in NYC and seeing MY book in the window!
KIT212: What surprised you most about the experience?
FAP: The fact that nothing really changes once the book hits the shelves. I mean, yes, I’m more “famous” than I was a year ago. I’ve been invited to appear on radio shows, and to attend book club meetings. There are people out there who know who I am now! But at the end of the day, I’m still the same guy working a part-time job, struggling to “make it.”
KIT212: Will we be hearing from Jack and Brad and the gang again anytime soon?
FAP: Fingers crossed! I’ve recently started working with a manager and an agent, and we’re hoping to develop both novels “for the screen.” One of the strong points of both books, I feel, is the characters -- not just Brad and Jack, but the supporting ones, too. I hope to be able to develop their lives more, and flesh out the world even more, either in a film, or even better, a TV series. (Calling all potential producers! If you’re looking for an ‘80s-themed show with a gay teen protagonist … Give me a shout.)
KIT212: Will you be doing any readings to promote "Drama Queers"?
FAP: I have two readings planned thus far: Monday June 1st, Barnes & Noble, 82nd & Broadway in New York City, at 7 p.m. and Thursday, June 18th, Barnes & Noble, 500 S. Main St. in Royal Oak, Mich., at 6:30 p.m. I’m also having a book party at “1984” at The Pyramid in the East Village (101 Avenue A, between 6th & 7th streets) on Friday June 5th. This will include a special screening of the 1978 classic “Ice Castles” starring Lynn-Holly Johnson -- the slut from “Where the Boys Are ‘84.” All readers of the (212) are welcome. And if you say the secret code at the door (“Robby Benson”), cover is only $5!
KIT212: Great. So I guess I'll see you at Monday's reading. Thanks for checking in.
FAP: No, thank YOU!!
For complete details about the book readings, click HERE.
With the exception of an apperance on "Sex and the City" about 10 years ago, I'm not entirely sure I've ever seen Bradley Cooper in anything. (He sure works a lot though: IMDB has him slated to be in SEVEN upcoming projects, yet I always get him confused with Scott Cann, who I think is about half his height) Whatever the case may be, Coop's hot. Consider "The Hangover" a date. (More photos at Details)
Myk and Andrew, my married friends in L.A., sure will be happy to hear that not all of their rights have been taken away.
What's making headlines in community newspapers in the (212):
New York Blade: With recent polls showing support for marriage equality waning in New York, should we kiss gay marriage goodbye?
My first reaction to seeing these photos of Levi Johnston changing baby Tripp on GQ.com was, Oh -- no wonder Bristol Palin didn't want him to have unaccompanied visits with their son. But then I remembered the teenage media whore (or should I say media whore and whore whore) had already posed with the kid on the cover of People magazine (on a break from teaching kids how to abstain from sex) and that Levi was the "classy" of the two. It's surprising how entertaining stupid people can be sometimes.
If Michael Ontkean, Sam Elliott and Christopher Atkins were the early stars of my childhood sexual fantasies, then model Brian Buzzini was one of the biggest fantasymen of my post-coming-out early 20s. Classically handsome and All-American while still maintaining a slight edge, it's because of Buzzini and his countless International Male appearances that I'm able to be sexually aroused today by even the worst-dressed men in the world. See Brian in his best outfit yet -- i.e. birthday suit -- on the jump page here.
I'm happy to see that my reports of ATP "senior" Tommy Haas' French Open demise were premature. Not only did the 31-year-old German hunk not lose in the first round, today he held on for a five-set victory over 22-year-old Argentine Leonardo Mayer, who had disposed of James Blake in the first round. Looking good, Tommy!
His hypocrisy is anything but cute
Tucon's favorite son Scooter LaForge: I knew him when
According to a review of Craigslist ads in ten American cities, New York City has the highest percentage of topmen in America. And while everything may be bigger in Texas, it probably won't do you much good:
“A whopping 73% of Houston's Craigslist-using inhabitants were seeking tops. Miami, San Francisco and Los Angeles were also bottom-heavy with 69%, 63% and 61% top-seekers, respectively.”
Kenneth and James on the real Melrose Place, circa 1992
Both of us hated Orange County with a passion (he was from there, I had crash-landed at a friend's after getting my first job out of college at The Orange County Register), so would spend our days and nights plotting our escape to the City of Angels, where our lives were going to be way more glamourous. On my unconventional (Wednesday/Thursday) weekend, we'd trek up to West Hollywood in James' beat-up Datsun 240Z and bar-hop all night, longing for the day that we could do that and not have an hour drive home. I'll never forget the evening this hunky dark-haired motorcycle type approached me at Mickey's while his friend -- Dennis Stewart, aka Crater Face from "Grease" -- came up to James. (We both exchanged numbers with our "new guys" and were sooooo excited the whole ride home, and then played my double "Grease" LP all night when we got back to the O.C.!)
After much planning, plotting and saving, we finally made our big move in the spring of 1991 -- to a sparse two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment on South Bundy Drive, just a stone's throw away from where Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman would later meet their tragic ending. Things started out great --there was always something exciting happening nearby and we were meeting so many new people. But eventually both our schedules changed (I was now commuting 55 miles each way to The Register in a beat-up '83 VW Rabbit) and James and I began to spend less and less time together. (No more EVERY THURSDAY at Newport Station or Hot Tub Wednesdays back at Sea Spray Condominiums.) It also didn't take long for us to realize that our decision to live on the Westside -- "to not be total queens" -- was just stupid (we WERE total queens, total queens who had to drive through A LOT TRAFFIC to go to Rage every night), and decided not to renew our lease, one we had deliberately only signed for six months in case things didn't go as planned. At that point, we started looking in West Hollywood, sometimes together, sometimes solo, as things had grown more complicated when James tried to fix me up with a sexy coworker of his, only to (perhaps) regret his decision when Marc and I became good friends (he played tennis, too) instead of lovers.
WeHo gallery boys James and Kenneth, with John Davis, circa 1992
Jim Kenney and I get off on Gay Street
Now there are silver foxes and then there are silver foxes. This fox stumbled into the world modeling after escaping Los Angeles after the Northridge quake in '94. After being rejected by agencies all over South Beach, he walked into one more and two weeks later he was shooting with Bruce Weber for INTERVIEW magazine and then a Vesace shoot with Claudia Schiffer. Read Jason Kanner's complete interview with the Frosted Mini-Wheat-loving Richard HERE. (Via Major Model Management)
L.A. ex?
David Ferrer: best belly
Roger Federer: best legs
Fernando Verdasco: best everything
Rafael Nadal: pretty in pink?
Marat Safin: last hurrah?
Tommy Robredo: Mr. Handsome
Novak Djokovic: blue-suede tennis shoes?
Click to revisit the heyday of Chelsea's 8th Avenue
My blog is featured in Susan Olsen's tell-all about the ill-fated "Brady Bunch Variety Hour"!
Growing up in Madison Heights, Mich.
The Web leads to an unexpected return to a house I grew up in.
Carlsbad, Calif. (2008)
Go Behind the Music of my high-school band, A La Plage
Little Larry left us too soon.
With Debbie Harry
With Robert Buckley
With Roger Federer
With Ed Burns
With Thomas Roberts
You've read the blog -- now read the book!
My memoir is available at Three Lives & Co. in the West Village
Like my book on Facebook here.
