Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter


Saturday, March 30, 2013

The Sunshine of My Life


Not sure if I want to see "The Place Beyond the Pines" or not, but I sure wish I'd been lurking around the Landmark Sunchine Cinema Thursday night ...


RIP: Phil Ramone


Via NYT: Phil Ramone , who worked with some of the biggest stars of the last 50 years, defined the role of record producer as being equivalent to that of a movie director. He was 79. Read HERE.

Friday, March 29, 2013

God Said Haas




Not even an Easter-egg-dye-colored T-shirt could keep Tommy Haas' fairy tale ride alive in Miami, where he lost to human backboard David Ferrer in the semifinals, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. It was an incredible run -- and here's hoping he has plenty more in the tank in the year ahead!.

Rivers Homo


Watch Joan Rivers misunderstand my question on HuffPost Live but I still love her!

Move Over, Alex Kelly


Hotel rape charges dismissed against real estate mogul Keith Hartigan

Leave it to the New York Post to be tacky enough to refer to an accused rapist as a "strapping 6-foot-1 broker and CEO." That's my job. Read HERE.

Rogers That


Freed of a Secret’s Burden, 
a Soccer Player Looks Ahead 

Via the New York Times: If Robbie Rogers returns to professional soccer, he would become the first openly gay male athlete to compete in a major American team sport. Read HERE.

Song of the Day: 'Calculated' by Brett Gleason


The latest from Brett Gleason, with whom I had brunch this morning! Learn more HERE.

Suits Me Fine


Happy to see that even GQ agrees with me that those flood-pants suits are ridiculous.


Five-Letter Word for Psycho Killer


Jackie Storrer, right, tries her best to figure out the clues on a giant crossword as J-A-R-E-D Loughner, a volunteer, stands in the background during the Tucson Festival of Books. (Arizona Daily Star/March 14, 2010)

Filthy/Gorgeous


Just now seeing this great shot of Jake Shears and Debbie Harry from V Magazine's New York issue. (Photo by Mario Testino)


Sister Act


The story that was custom-made for the big screen is finally happening. In theaters May 10 -- and on iTunes April 4.

Synopsis:
VENUS AND SERENA takes an unfiltered look into the remarkable lives of the greatest sister-act professional tennis has ever seen. In a sport where they were not welcomed, the indomitable Williams sisters faced the opposition with grace and courage, not only breaking new ground for female and African American athletes everywhere, but dominating the women's game for over a decade. The film tells the inspiring story of how these two women, against all odds, but with the help of visionary parents, made it to the top.

More info HERE.

Morning Wood


Page 1 Consider (03/29)










Thursday, March 28, 2013

Virtually Friends

Follow me on Twitter HERE.

Become a Facebook friend of KIT212 HERE.

Reporter Plotted to Murder His Childhood Rapist


'It felt like the right thing to do': How reporter meticulously planned to kill the man who brutally raped him when he was 7  

Journalist David Holthouse was 7 when his 17-year-old high school football-player neighbor raped him in the basement of his house. He wasn't even sure what had happened to him until many, many years later, then decided to murder his attacker when they crossed paths as adults, a plan that was foiled when Holthouse's mother discovered his childhood diary and he feared the motive would be too obvious:
He first shared the story about his desire for revenge in a 2004 article for the Denver Westword, and it was featured on This American Life. The story is now being turned into a play in New York. Holthouse, who is now married with a son, said he would encourage any other rape victims to enact their revenge. 'Not only do you have the right,' he said, but arguably, you have the obligation to exact some form of revenge on the person who sexually assaulted you when you were a kid. 'You have that same special, critical knowledge that I had. You know, beyond any doubt, the identity of a kiddie rapist.'  Read HERE.
Horrifying and fascinating story. And even though he ended up confronting the man and recieved an apology that he seemed to believe -- the guy said it was a one-off event and that he had felt horrible about it ever since -- I kind of admire his enduring vengeful attitude. I've always felt that if I or someone I cared about were the victim of a violent crime, I could (and probably would) seek deadly revenge -- and that I would not lose a minute's sleep over it. Perhaps when push came to shove, he realized this was not the case. I hope I never have to find out.

Splash


The Daily Mail found Andy Cohen taking a "well-earned break" in Miami from "Real Housewives" catfitghts in Beverly Hills ...


Meanwhile: Try to guess which of Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger's sons is "hanging out" with confirmed bachlor Taylor Launter ...


Patrick and Christopher on vacation in Hawaii

On the Rag, Vol. 244

A weekly look at what's making news in the free gay rags:


Next features Michael Ure on its cover: His big CBS sitcom may have bitten the dust, but Michael Urie won’t be deterred. He’s moving to New York for good this time with a new play and a few films up his sleeve. Read HERE.


Inside, this week's issue explores the ins and outs of New York’s gay sex culture in 2013. Read HERE


Metro Weekly: Mika has taken inspiration from the Catholic Church, Cole Porter and being gay in developing his unique style of pop music / Read HERE.


Rage's other Jaymes Vaughan cover is nice, too. Online edition HERE.


Because print is slowly dying, many of the weekly gay rags I used to feature are no longer coming out weekly. As a I result, I'm looking for additional titles to feature. After adding the Detroit rag Flame a few weeks ago, which appears to be a monthly -- this week I am adding my other home town's, Echo. This one's been around for a while as I can remember it from my youth. To view Echo's pride preview edition online, click HERE. Echo's site has the latest on the so-called "bathroom bill" targeting the transgender community, which advanced this week in a partyline vote in the Arizona Legislature. Read HERE.

Don't Mess With the Missionary Men


FYI: Utah's governor and attorney general are NOT a gay couple. From HERE.

Boy Bandits: 'The Rise and Fall of Puberty's Child'


From the incorrigible Mike Diamond and his partner in crime, Greg Scarnici:
When Mike Diamond and Greg Scarnici decided they wanted to shoot a mockumentary about two middle-aged men trying to pass off as boy band, Puberty’s Child, there was just one name that came to mind: The Weather Girls' Martha Wash. As the legendary voice behind such hits as Black Box’s “Everybody, Everybody” and C&C Music Factory’s “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now”), she was the perfect person to lend her vocals to the hit “songs” Puberty’s Child uses to get famous. “When I read the script, I thought it was a trip,” said Martha, who instantly realized they were poking fun at her stint in the early '90s as the booming voice producers recorded and then had models lip sync to in music videos. A month later, they were recording the ridiculous tracks in Greg's studio in Brooklyn, New York.
Watch what happened:

Final Design for St. Vincent's AIDS Memorial Unveiled


Via Popnography:
The streamlined design will feature an 18-foot steel canopy as the dramatic gateway to the new St. Vincent's Hospital Park in the West Village. As it's described in a press release, the memorial also will feature "a central granite fountain, granite benches, and a granite paving surface carved with educational and commemorative text. The text will be curated by a team of historians, artists, community members, and activists led by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning playwright Tony Kushner."
I think I need more information before I can decide if I like it or not. Right now it just looks like a giant, garden-variety abstract sculpture rather than a tribute to the thousands and thousands of New Yorkers who lived and died during the worst plague of our time.

TIME Is on Our Side


TIME Cover: How Gay Marriage Already Won  

The article is right, but I still prefer to really win, too. Read HERE.


Meanwhile, David Mixner takes at look back at coverage of the gay movement ("Homosexuals in Revolt") in a 1971 issue of Life magazine HERE.

Mug Shot Thursday


 From HERE.

Recalling NYC 1993


With thanks to Chip Duckett, who pointed me to Recalling 1993, an fun exhibit at the New Museum that looks back to 20 years ago as a pivotal year in the changing of New York City. In addition to the museum exhibit, you can call 1-855-FOR-1993 from any pay phone in New York City and hear someone reminisce about what 1993 was like in the immediate vicinity. Chip is one of the storytellers:
I talk about nightlife and what it was like then and how it changed, so my phones are scattered around Tompkins Square (1984 started at Crowbar on 10th Street between A/B). I just heard my own story on the phone at the NW corner of 10th & A!
With Chazz Palminteri, Nile Rodgers, James St. James, Robin Byrd and everyone in between, they've got the city covered, although it might be a little "too 1993" to actually touch a payphone these days. More info HERE.


My most vivid memory of New York City 1993 was being with my then-lover, Rafael, who owned a leather goods business in Washington. We were visiting a deadbeat client on Greenwich Avenue and when the guy refused to pay up, Rafael, his assistant Fabian, and I began to remove the items from the store that were from Rafael's line. The shop owner did not respond kindly to our Repo Men strategy, and suddenly pulled a shotgun out from behind the register and aimed it at us. I nearly shit my plaid shorts, but Rafael -- who had been held hostage along with his entire family in their home in Bogota years before -- was completely unphased, and lunged for the gun, while screaming for me to run.


Not only did I not need to be instructed to run, I kept running until I was sitting on a bar stool at Uncle Charlie's with a Cape Cod in front of me -- long beofe Fabian and Rafael arrived after finishing up "business." I've never been so scared in my life -- and have never been since -- but once I calmed down and the magnitude of the situation hit me, I began laughing uncontrollably the rest of the night, one I now think of as one of the best of my (coulda been short) life!


  A badass in chambray

Hit Me With Your Best Shot


I've heard of not keeping your eye on the ball before, but Agnieszka Radwanska takes it to the next level with this drop volley!

Divine Inspiration


Ursula/Divine 

 According to Oh No They Didn't, Divine was the inspiration for the look of Ursula the Sea-Witch in "The Little Mermaid" (1989). See others HERE.


And speaking of Divine, check out the great post about the superstar's life and death over on FindADeath.com HERE

Song of the Day: 'The Whole of the Moon' by the Waterboys


   Got in the mood for some Waterboys last night after hearing from a friend that leader Mike Scott's memoir -- "Adventures of a Waterboy" -- was a great read. The book's been added to my reading list, but if you don't have it already, download his band's 1985 release, "This Is the Sea," one of the defining albums of the era.