There are three new cuties on the block. Adorable baby lion triplets made their debut Friday at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Bronx Zoo, and the Daily News has provided an exclusive sneak peek. Even better -- New Yorkers can join in the fun by helping to name the toothsome threesome. Submit your baby-name ideas HERE. (I'm in love!)
Dad's already losing patience ...
ESPN: The Magazine cover man Roger Federer enters the Grand Slam season on a three-match losing streak. Still, his new Serena-like approach to the game has everyone believing he can add to his record 16 major titles. The 28-year-old legend tells the magazine that he hopes to play until he's 35 in part because he’s like his twin daughters to get the chance to see him play. I'm sure Andy Roddick is just thrilled ...
Caution: This review of Wednesday's night's Hole show at Terminal 5 may disappoint with its lack of drama and other theatrics. The Internet was abuzz after Tuesday's show that Courtney Love was up to her old tricks, coming out and playing just 25 minutes and then a brief encore before calling it a night. It sounded like her typical routine -- give or take a microphone stand in the head -- so I went the following night prepared for anything (and less). Instead, Courtney -- looking like she was fresh from the beauty parlor ("Give me the Loretta Swit!") -- and her fake Hole-sters treated the crowd to a great show -- filled with old songs, new songs and a handful of interesting covers -- and then she called it a night. (It was kind of like going to a regular old concert.) But even while they were still onstage, my concertmate was already graciously trying to write me a headline for my review of Wednesday's show, with "Snore Through This" as his suggestion. Later, I caught up with someone I know who is friendly with Courtney who swore he loved the show, but then kept almost apologizing by saying she's "not the rock star she used to be" knowing that this was my first time seeing her live.
Afterward, I couldn't help but think of Jim Morrison, who, after getting arrested on obscenity charges for allegedly exposing himself during a concert in Miami back in 1969. Once this happened, Doors concerts ceased being about the music as everyone was now showing up to see what Morrison would "do" next. Without theatrics, however, the Hole show was about the music -- and that was just fine with me. Sure, Courtney lacked a little stage presence for someone who has been around as long as she has. But I couldn't help but wonder if performing not completely out of her mind was a whole new experience for her. To be honest, I wasn't aware of how many devoted fans she has and was almost taken aback when the crowd knew every word (and breath) to every song she did off "Live Through This" -- "Miss World," "Violet" and "Doll Parts" -- and "Celebrity Skin" -- the brilliant title track, "Malibu" and "Northern Star." I have to say it's entirely different experience to hear hundreds of fans sing along to these angry anthems versus, say, a Madonna song. She did seven tracks of the new record, plus two Rolling Stones covers that she's been doing throughout this tour. In addition, she surprised us with "Gold Dust Woman" -- which the old Hole recorded in '96 for the soundtrack of "The Crow: City of Angels" -- and Big Star's classic "13," in a nod to the late Alex Chilton.
I generally don't look at my watch much when I'm having fun at a concert. But I did jot down the set list, and by my count the band did 17 songs, which sounds like a completely normal-length -- one might even say typical or boring -- show to me. I haven't read many reviews from this tour, but I sure hope people don't beat Courtney up for being punctual and professional. At 45, it's far too late for her to die young. Instead of longing for the messy "rock star" days, I say her fans should fully embrace Courtney 2.0 -- who, assuming she stays relatively clean, I can see aging into a Debbie Harry by way of Marianne Faithfull type -- and enjoy the fact that she's still making good music.
Hole, live @Terminal 5
April 28, 2010:
"Sympathy for the Devil" (Rolling Stones cover)
"Skinny Little Bitch"
"Miss World"
"Violet"
"Nobody's Daughter"
"Letter to God"
"Pacific Coast Highway"
"Gold Dust Woman" (Fleetwood Mac cover)
"Someone Else's Bed"
"Malibu"
"Celebrity Skin"
"Samantha"
"Play With Fire" (Rolling Stones cover)
"Doll Parts"
"13" (Big Star cover)
"Northern Star"
"Never Go Hungry"
Twitter fans won't want to miss this hilarious article in The Times about the "Twitter police" by my friend John Metcalfe:
Leslie Buck, the designer of the Anthora cup, has died at age 87. Read all about the history of the iconic New York coffee cup HERE.
NOTE TO READERS: As part of SLDN's Stories From the Frontlines: Letters to President Barack Obama campaign, each day about two-dozen bloggers -- including myself -- will be posting heartfelt letters to President Obama from members of our armed forces who want Washington -- and the world -- to know the importance of repealing "don't ask, don't tell." The campaign is already making waves, and was even mentioned on Ed O'Keefe's Federal Eye blog in The Washington Post.
The writer of today's letter is from Capt. Rebecca H. Elliott (separated), pictured here with her sister.
The bad news is drag star and fellow Detroit gal Sweet has been hospitalized in recent weeks and, like many Americans, does not have health insurance. The good news Sweetie is on the mend and is loved by many, a number of whom threw a wonderful benefit for her on Wednesday night at Elevate. I happened to be in the neighborhood and stopped by to wish the voluptuous blonde well. And then stayed around for a bit of the big Pink Cross fundraiser, which featured performances by the likes of Peppermint, Julie Atlas Muz, Dina Marie, Greg Scarnici, Cherry Jubilee, Bridgett Everett, Tigger! David Ilku, Adam Klesh, Princess Diandra, Go-Go Harder, Lady Bunny, Poison Eve, Brandall the Magic Lady and Randy Jones. Cherry was a delight before the show. And Randy -- who was admittedly "well-lubricated after having access to four open bars" earlier in the night -- was a charmer. But it was hostess Linda Simpson who had me in stitches all night. (Now I know why I don't usually like drag queens: most of them think a couple of "big cock" jokes is all it takes to be a performer. Linda, on the other hand, is witty, smart and talented. Funny how that works.)
With the girls of the evening, Sweetie
With the enchanting Cherry Jubilee
With the lovely and talented Linda Simpson and Sylvia London, star of "Bitches in the Sky"
Village Person Randy Jones meets Chelsea "boy" Kenneth Walsh
Meanwhile, Next has Kevin Wiltz of Wednesdays at Su Casa, where "fashion fags and their hags drink and dance the night away."
As a nonmember of the Cult of Apple and the frequent target of (gay) members of it, I love that 
NOTE TO READERS: As part of SLDN's Stories From the Frontlines: Letters to President Barack Obama campaign, each day about two-dozen bloggers and I will be posting heartfelt letters to President Obama from members of our armed forces who want Washington -- and the world -- to know the importance of repealing "don't ask, don't tell."
Very sad to hear that Harry Wieder, a self-described "disabled, gay, Jewish, leftist, middle-aged dwarf who ambulates with crutches," was killed Tuesday night after being struck by a taxi leaving a Community Board 3 monthly meeting at P.S. 20. Wieder was a well-known LGBT rights activist as well as a transportation and disabilities advocate. He was 57.
Given my deep disdain for the interminably annoying Alexandra Wentworth, I have purposefully avoided original programming from the underdog Starz cable network, figuring that if they'd give her a show ("Head Case"), then I want no part of what they're offering. But in a nod to the world of advertising, a poster for the heavily promoted series "Party Down" finally caught my eye the other night, so I watched the two episodes from this season and became instantly hooked (who doesn't still love seeing a shirtless Steve Guttenberg?!). I immediately recognized Adam Scott who played Palek in the shouldn't-have-been-canceled HBO drearfest "Tell Me You Love Me," but couldn't place the hilarious "new chick" on the catering squad with the flat, nasally accent.
Turns out it was Megan Mullally, proving you can play a completely different character even if you are really well-known for playing someone else if you ... are talented. ("Thanks, Ted.") With John Enborn, Dan Etheridge and Rob Thomas of "Veronica Mars" fame plus the hilarious Paul Rudd as creators and writers on the show -- who knew? -- it makes sense that it's so great. Now I'm kicking myself for not watching Season 1, which apparently featured a pre-"Glee" Jane Lynch. (WHY isn't this available On-Demand, Starz? I'm demanding!!!)
Now does this mean I should check out the network's upcoming suicide-support-group show, "Gravity"? I'm pretty sure I saw my guy Ivan Sergei (of "The Opposite of Sex" and "Jack & Jill" fame) in the commercial ...
Although I didn't realize it back in 1982, apparently not all B-52's fans thought "Mesopotamia" was the perfect record I did. Don't get me wrong, I loved their first two albums. But even there I'm in the minority, favoring the slightly more polished "Wild Planet" to the quirky debut.
Sure, "Rock Lobster" and "Planet Claire" are timeless, but the rest are weaker versions of those. I'd take the equally fun "Quiche Lorraine" and "Private Idaho" plus the plaintive "Give Me Back My Man" and haunting "53 Miles West of Venus" over the debut any day.
Perhaps that's what made "Mesopotamia" so perfect. With just six songs, there was no room for filler. Each song was was special, with "Deep Sleep" still ranked in my mind as the coolest song of all time and the title track that never fails to make me happy. It was only later that I learned that the EP was intended to be the band's third LP, but unraveled mysteriously when David Byrne of the Talking Heads was reportedly fired from the project. In the ensuing years, I've scoured the Internet looking for "the lost tracks," convinced that an album's worth of material had been recorded, but the label salvaged the six best songs. Ten or more years ago, I believe I even asked Fred Schneider what he recalled about the recording sessions when I ran into him on the street one time (he must live near me in Chelsea because I see him constantly, most recently eating at Le Pain Quotidien the other afternoon). As I recall, he was the typical celebrity who remembers WAY LESS about the details of his career than his fans do (like when I had to explain to Debbie Harry what "The Beast" was in a club in Georgetown when another fan asked her something about the lyrics!) and offered no new information.
Jump to last week when my pal Mark Allen sent me a link to a fantastic blog post about the history of "Mesopotamia." Although none of the "lost" tracks are discussed -- rumored to be early takes of "Queen of Las Vegas," "Big Bird" and "Butter Bean," all of which were rerecorded for "Whammy," plus "Adios Desconocido," which is described as a "Fred Schneider ballad" (oh, my!) -- it does have the "David Byrne mixes" of the songs that did make it on the EP -- including very different recordings of "Cake," "Loveland" and "Throw That Beat in the Garbage" -- versions that apparently made it on some early pressings of the EP in the U.K. and that are far less commercial-sounding than what fans know to be the final mixes.NOTE TO READERS: As part of SLDN's Stories From the Frontlines: Letters to President Barack Obama campaign, each day about two-dozen bloggers and I will be posting heartfelt letters to President Obama from members of our armed forces who want Washington -- and the world -- to know the importance of repealing "don't ask, don't tell."
April 28, 2010
In an exclusive interview in the new issues of INSTINCT U.K. pop sensation Will Young talks about everything from winning the inaugural "Pop Idol" title -- which later spun off into "American Idol" -- to the media storm that erupted when he came out ("It was like the second coming!") to the heartbreak brought on by an ex-boyfriend that would later inspire some of his best music yet. Read an excerpt from the piece HERE.
Happy to announce that I'm joining about two-dozen bloggers in a new media campaign organized by the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network -- STORIES FROM THE FRONTLINES: LETTERS TO PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA -- to help underscore the urgent need for congressional action and presidential leadership at this critical point in the fight to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT). Every weekday morning as we approach the markup of the Defense Authorization bill in the Senate and House Armed Services Committees, SLDN and a coalition of voices supporting repeal -- including myself -- will share an open letter to the president from a person impacted by this discriminatory law. We are urging the president to include repeal in the administration’s defense budget recommendations, but also to voice his support as we work to muster the 15 critical votes needed on the Senate Armed Services Committee to include repeal. The Defense Authorization bill represents the best legislative vehicle to bring repeal to the president’s desk. It also was the same vehicle used to pass DADT in 1993. By working together, we can help build momentum to get the votes!
April 27, 2010
