‘Old’ Lang Syne

Twenty-FOUR? Now you’re just f**king with me. Happy new year, kids! 

Remains of the Day (12/29)

KIT212: I've written about the downfall of Tempe's Mill Avenue, which was once a hotbed of eclectic independent businesses (thrift stores, restaurants, record stores, book shops, bars and live music venues). Turns out Nicholas Holthaus and Chris Valentine released a documentary about this very subject in 2008, "Mill Avenue Inc.," which already seems kind of quaint now that even a misguided attempt at corporatization of the area has largely gone bust (The Gap, Ruby Tuesday, Barnes & Noble, Hooters, Pizzeria Uno, Bath & Body Works and Chili's have all come and gone.). Still worth a watch, though, for its great footage and interviews, including Gayle Shanks (owner of Changing Hands Bookstore, where I bought my copy of "The Joy of Gay Sex"), Kimber Lanning (owner of Stinkweeds Records) and Megan Irwin (Phoenix New Times). Watch HERE.

The Root: First HBCU football player to come out as gay entering 2024 NFL Draft

Boy Culture: Barry Keoghan's nude "Saltburn" shimmy -- uncut!

Page Six: Cher files for conservatorship of son Elijah Blue Allman amid his addiction struggles

Saturday 'Stache: "Ass you like it …"

NYP: Beloved teacher says he was fired from Long Island Catholic elementary school for being gay / Sign the petition to get him reinstated HERE.

Brian Ferrari: Gay porn stars we lost in 2023

AP: Stigma against gay men could worsen Congo's biggest monkeypox outbreak, scientists warn

MetroWeekly:  Is Los Angeles really the country's gay-horniest city?

WaPo: A terminally ill fan hoped to meet Dolly Parton. She surprised him with a call.

People: Gypsy Rose Blanchard, who murdered her mother (who had tortured Gypsy via Munchausen by proxy), released from prison early 

The Randy Report: Republican Gov. Mike DeWine of Ohio vetoed a bill on Friday that would have banned transgender minors from receiving gender-affirming care

The Advocate: Toxic masculinity may not prevent some men from going to a gay bar, but it does prevent them from saying "I love you" to their family

Variety: I always thought 3-D printing would be my bugbear, but it turns out it's AI. (Bravo to The New York Times for suing.)

Speedo Sunday: Are those leopard-print swim briefs or underwear?

Hot Cat of the Day: "What??? I thought you said you wanted helping taking the tree down."

RIP:

Rosie O'Donnell: Bobby Rivers, actor, TV critic and host on VH1 and Food Network, dead at 70

ICYMI: Anyone know why my post about the hunk from 'Til Tuesday's "Voices Carry" video having died from complications of HIV has suddenly gone viral? Wondering if he's featured in Madonna's AIDS tribute.

P.S. I Hate You

(Click to read)

I've been really tickled since discovering this in a box of old papers, which ironically came the day after I'd been admiring a bitchy letter written by Frank Sinatra (and the way Mike Royko responded).  

After marveling at my pen pal's craftsmanship, I immediately looked up Darren -- with whom I have had no contact since receiving this gem of a (dis)missive -- and sent him a photo of it with the note:

 Merry Christmas, Darren! 🎄

I then took great delight in sharing it with virtually everyone I know, garnering responses such as:

"What did you do to Darren?! With that Best Western stationery I wasn’t sure if he’d offed himself after the trauma."

"What did you say back in 1991??"

"I need to hear every goddamn detail about that day. And what came after!!!"

Sadly the funniest part of this story is how comically proud I am to have received the letter -- and that I have it decades later. 

Essentially I have been known to get frustrated with myself on the tennis court -- so might scream at myself when I miss a shot -- and apparently Darren couldn't differentiate between my attacking him versus self-hatred. (Did anyone actually think John McEnroe was berating his opponents???) 

Still, I'm content with the way things turned out  -- I'm nothing if not self-aware enough to know that I'm not for everyone -- and think a friend put it best when she said: 

It sounds like Darren had just started therapy when he wrote that.

Game, set, bitch! 

UPDATE: Just received this from a pal in San Diego! 

He goes on to say: it's mostly funny to me because it sounds like something I would do as a Virgo, to be unnecessarily formal 😅

UPDATE 2: 

With thanks to a sleuth-y reader, who tells me Darren has had a whopping nine run-ins with the law, including this. What were the odds that someone who would compose a letter like that would go on to be charged with making a "threat over phone"? (LOL) Sounds like I got off easy! 

A friend responds to the latest revelation! 

Remains of the Day (12/27)

 

NYP: Don't think for a minute the O'Neal family drama is over just because patriarch Ryan is dead

Boy Culture: Watch Madonna's full AIDS Project Los Angeles speeches from 1987 and 1990

Chicago Sun-Times: When an incredibly thin-skinned Frank Sinatra went at it with columnist Mike Royko  

Wrestle Wednesday: Oil check in progress

John McWhorter: Nice to see that my late brother's editing prowess is still being recognized:

In 2015, the Washington Post copy editor Bill Walsh asked, “Allowing ‘they’ for a gender-nonconforming person is a no-brainer. And once we’ve done that, why not allow it for the most awkward of those ‘he or she’ situations?”

ABC7: Pets remembered at secret Central Park tree

People: Patrick Schwarzenegger, model Abby Champion engaged after nearly a decade

The Advocate: Man using Grindr to target gay men for robbery and assault busted and taken into custody

NYT: Once told he would never be a leading man if he came out, Matt Bomer defied such predictions and, in projects like “Fellow Travelers” and “Maestro,” is getting some of the richest roles of his career

Erik Piepenburg: This QVC host can help you sell yourself

Salon: GOP Rep. Tim Walberg traveled to Uganda to support country's anti-LGBT bill, widely called the "Kill the Gays" law

The Randy Report: Tom Smothers of "The Smothers Brothers" dies at 86; I'll always remember him as one of Eunice's (rotating cast of) brothers on an episode of "The Carol Burnett Show" (RIP)

Hot Cat of the Day: I'd been hearing there was a new "first cat" in the White House -- and now here Willow is!

Weekend Tennis Roundup

With tennis largely on pause, this week is almost nothing but gratuitous ATP beef. See for yourself BELOW.

Song of the Day: ‘Christmas at the Airport’ by Nick Lowe

 

Leave it to the guy who knew you've gotta be "Cruel to Be Kind" to make getting stuck at the airport on Dec. 25 entertaining -- something I experienced at JFK in 1985. 

These days I like to avoid long-distance travel altogether … 

Preferring to spend Christmas Eve with my hubby and the rest of the Veron bunch!🎄

A New Wave Xmas

 

Hope you're all having a Merry Christmas! I'm actually working today -- the news never stops -- but I had a wonderful time with my in-laws last night celebrating the birth of Christ. (That's what this is about, right?) While I was in Arizona for Thanksgiving I came across a bunch of old photos I didn't even know existed, mostly from the early '80s when I segued from Oliva Newton-John into my Debbie Harry phase (I'm holding the Blondie singer's official 1983 calendar, above) which continues to this day! More BELOW.

My mom really went cuckoo that year, shopping at the "punk" store called Roads to Moscow in Old Town Tempe!

¡Que pases una feliz Navidad!

Merry almost-Christmas, everyone! Our weekend got off to an emotional start when hubby and I took his 84-year-old mother and four sisters to see "The Gardens of Anuncia" at Lincoln Center yesterday. That it was the true-life story of a woman also born in 1939 growing up in Peronist Buenos Aires -- and the strong women who raised her -- might have strongly resonated with our brood. (There wasn't a dry eye among us!)

¡queso!

The musical was followed by an equally wonderful dinner at P.J. Clarke's -- the only thing more festive than the decor was the bottomless Sancerre -- where we toasted the woman of the hour! 

Lincoln Square

Then we headed back to our place for Christmas music and dessert, capping off an unforgettable outing that will pick up tonight at Mom's in New Jersey! xo 

Song of the Day: ‘The Night Before Christmas’ by Ben Taylor & Sophia Hiller, Featuring Carly Simon

 

I finish my list of holiday gems you may not know with this aptly titled number, written by Carly Simon and performed by her, son Ben Taylor and Sophie Hiller, I sure hope you have a wonderful Christmas wherever you are! xo 

The original first appeared on the soundtrack for Nora Ephron's "This Is Your Life," a film that wasn't nearly as good as the ex-Mrs. Taylor's accompanying soundtrack, and was my Song of the Day in 2012.

On the Rag, Vol. 789

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

HotSpots: Ring in the new year with David Fernandez and Alexander Zenoz

Between the Lines: How cookbook author Jon Kung left law school to launch a viral TikTok(!)

DNA: Max definitely has is the next big thing

Georgia Voice: Keeping up with Bob the Drag Queen ahead of Positive Impact show

Wiremag: Here's hoping Quinn Biddle is a ho-ho-ho!

Grab: I've probably said this before, but has a year ever looked more preposterous?

Trending: Is Kirill Strunnikov your locker room fantasy?

Dallas Voice: The year in review

Da Man: Actor-virtuoso Maxime Bouttier shares details about his creative journey and musical ambitions with his band, no persona

Q Salt Lake: A tale from the Big Gay Fun Bus

MetroWeekly: Jacob Elordi is one of the hottest rising stars in Hollywood right now -- and we use the word "hottest" in multiple ways here.

Madonna celebrates four decades of hits and rebellion with the high-energy, heartfelt “Celebration Tour”

Get Out!: Holly Dae is one of New York nightlife’s busiest queers

San Francisco Bay Times: The Most LGBT-friendly countries for San Francisco travelers

Song of the Day: 'Christmas Day' by Dido

Day 5 of my holiday gems you may not know: Today's pick appeared on the fifth edition of "A Very Special Christmas," the iconic holiday album Jimmy Iovine put together in 1987 as a way of coping with the death of his father. To be honest, I don't think I even knew they'd made more than two of these, but the 2001 edition ("A Very Special Christmas 5") featured Macy Gray, Wyclef Jean, Eve 6 as well as established acts like Darlene Love, B.B. King, Tom Petty, Jon Bon Jovi and Stevie Nicks. 

But it was this contribution by Dido, who was on top of the world with her quadruple platinum debut, "No Angel," that subtly stole the show. 

ICYMI:

How a 1987 Christmas album changed the way the holiday sounds 

Year in Review

 

Although Hamas and Russia put a catastrophic damper on the global scene, my year was filled with lots of laughs and lots of love. (Something it took me 40+ years to truly learn: You can only control what you can control -- and your ability to be happy is one of those things.) Here's hoping 2024 doesn't pull a fast one. Follow me on Instagram HERE and Threads HERE.

Remains of the Day (12/20)

NYP: Wide receiver Braxton Berrios is stacked for your pleasure

WSJ: The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde on the state of music

MSF: Support the Matthew Shepard U.S. postage stamp campaign

Wrestle Wednesday: Singlet on or singlet (half) off?

GCN: Jeanne Hoff, first trans psychiatrist to serve trans people, dies at 85

Mashable: Grindr Unwrapped 2023: "Padam," Jennifer Coolidge, "Heartstopper" reign supreme

WaPo: This country is obsessed with "Gilmore Girls"

The Guardian: Police crash SUV into St Louis gay bar, lie about it, then arrest owner for assault (seriously) 

Page Six: The five saddest words I've ever heard: Sam Asghari has lost 40 pounds

GQ: This was the year gay sex onscreen got really good

The Nation: The new “Lavender Scare” in America’s schools

Los Angeles Times: "All of Us Strangers" is a ghost story, a gay romance and the year’s best movie

Hot Cat of the Day: "Oh, we're hanging out on the couch?" -- Harvey

Song of the Day: 'Just Like Christmas' by Low

Day 4 of my holiday gems you may not know: First off let me say THANK YOU to everyone who has written me with suggestions for this series. So many great songs that I indeed did not know. Today's selection is especially poignant in that it's both a song and a group I was not aware of -- whose singer/drummer Mimi Parker died at 55, the same age my brother was. (And honestly, sometimes what you really need is a melancholy Christmas song.) 

My pal Brian writes:

Do you know the band Low? I didn't. They were around for 30 years -- the lead singer/drummer died of cancer last year. They did a Xmas LP in the late 90's that I never heard of. This song has become a favorite of mine -- I thought it was Aimee Mann. Their Xmas album also has "Taking Down The Tree" that Tracey Thorn covered on her Xmas collection.

I've had it on all day and it's just like Christmas over here. xo

Her version of "Blue Christmas" is really something, too. Listen HERE.