He Ain't Heavy

Had a jam-packed weekend with my brother Terence, who came up for a visit from Frederick, Md. On Friday we caught up over beers at the Emerald Inn, which would be my local Irish pub -- replacing Peter McManus in Chelsea -- if not for an unfortunately placed bathroom that frequently makes the bar area unbearable. (WTF?) 

On Saturday we walked to our local theater, the Beacon, to see comedian Mark Normand. Damian and I happened to see him in November as part of a benefit for the National Coalition Against Censorship and thought he was pretty funny for a non-female, non-gay stand-up. It turned out my brother was a fan, so we snagged the last three tickets on the final night of his sold-out run.

And then on Sunday we caught the matinee of "Aristocrats" at the Irish Repertory Theatre. I'm not very knowledgeable about theater -- I did see "The Aristocats" when I was child! -- but the show is part of a three-play series of works by Brian Friel (1929-2015), who has been likened to an "Irish Chekhov." 

While I don't know much about Chekhov either -- Woody Allen's "September" was modeled on Chekhov's play "Uncle Vanyabeen" (1899), so by the transitive property I guess you could say I'm on it -- I do know dysfunctional Irish families quite well, and thoroughly enjoyed this modest production -- which was helped by the fact that Casimir (Tom Holcomb) and Willie (Shane McNaughton) were most easy on the eyes, and Alice (Sarah Street) was a scene-stealer as the family alcoholic. 

So great to see my brother. And there's nothing like an out-of-towner to make you take full advantage of this fair city of ours! xo 

Remains of the Day (01/31)

The Messenger: An oral history of the 1999 gay rom-com "Trick," with a stage musical adaptation in the works -- and why that sequel never came to fruition 

WaPo: Texas AG seeks transgender records in Georgia as part of his wider probe

The Advocate: Doctor blames man's chronic back pain on gay sex, couple says. (I'd need more information!) 

NYP: Woman transforms her sister’s 200-square-foot NYC apartment into a shockingly luxe space

Wrestle Wednesday: When you were born to wear a singlet

Disappeared: What happened to Brian Klecha? Florida investigators need tips to solve case of gay man who went missing in 2017.

Washington Blade: Another gay cruise, another gay overdose

KIRO7: Seattle’s gay community crying foul after Police Department joins liquor agents on "premise visits"

GT: Gay, teenaged and online: LGBT Indians fight for safe space

Ad Watch: Skivvies on laundry day!

MetroWeekly: Horrific story, but I thought gays were "queer"(s)

Jesse Green: How watching gay coming-of-age stories has helped repair a heart still stuck in the past -- and still scarred by a less welcoming world

DM: Pete Sampras at 52

PinkNews: Yikes: Jeremy Allen White’s Calvin Klein advert has been recreated with a gay bear

NBC News: "White Lives Matter" member gets 18 years for firebombing church that planned drag events

Hot Cat of the Day: This little cutie in the L.A. area needs a home! Info HERE.

RIP: Broadway legend Chita Rivera dies at 91

The Second Coming of 'Adam & Steve'

Some exciting news for fans of "Adam and Steve," Craig Chester's modern-gay classic: The writer/actor has penned a sequel -- just shy of 20(!) years later -- that is being workshopped for potential investors.

Craig tells me he's "getting the band back together," after posting the following message: 

A year ago, Malcolm Gets called me and said ‘let’s make the sequel to “Adam & Steve”.  We started talking about what it’s like to be over fifty-five and how it’s not exactly what we thought it would be like - to say the least. 

I wrote the script and started workshopping it in Palm Springs and then, last night, did a reading in NYC to investors with an incredible, hysterically funny group of actors, including Malcolm and @chriskattanofficial and @carycurran, reprising their roles -- hard to describe what that was like but fair to say we may still be damaged goods, but we’re still goods none the less.

I'm tickled by the news, which is ironically more salient given that Damian and I -- for reasons that are largely unclear to either of us -- recently started watching the entire run of "Caroline in the City." (We also completed "Suddenly Susan," another show we never watched contemporaneously.) For those who don't recall, the 1995-99 sitcom was ostensibly a vehicle for Lea Thompson, who played the titular cartoonish Caroline Duffy. But from the two seasons we've seen so far, it's really about Malcom Gets's not-quite-starving-artist Richard, around whom all plots seem to revolve. Though hardly top-drawer material, Gets is a highlight. And while it's Eric Lutes, who plays Del Cassidy, who brings the beef to the show, every so often Gets breaks free from his '90s fashions to reveal his shockingly fit body! 

Here's hoping this project gets off the ground. After being cockteased with "Trick 2: Electric Boogaloo," I don't think I could handle another sequel interruptus. 

Sadly, I'm hearing Parker Posey is a no-go.

Tennis Tuesday

 

For new dad Robert Farah, it can't be easy playing peek-a-boo with an ass THAT BIG.

Remains of the Day (01/29)

PinkNews: The life stories of three gay NFL players who paved the way for Carl Nassib

The Citizen: Gay single man spent $125,000 to have a baby by himself

Boy Culture: Backup singers Niki and Donna step to the front

ESPN: Kamila Valieva disqualified, banned; Russia to lose '22 skating gold to U.S.

Manspread Monday: Get your jollies from this giant in green

NYP: Christopher Reeve displays buff bod as he works out for "Superman" in never-before-seen 1977 photos

Washington Blade: Gay Democratic reps demand Pentagon resolve cases of "don’t ask, don’t tell" dishonorable discharges

Brian Ferrari Blog: That body could turn anyone into an artist

Variety: Melanie, singer who performed at Woodstock and topped charts with "Brand New Key," dies at 76

The Advocate: Meet Roberta Kaplan, the lesbian lawyer who won a verdict against Crazy D

Hot Cat of the Day: For $50, a New Jersey animal shelter will "neuter your ex"

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka won big Down Under. Full report plus all the ATP beef that's fit to post BELOW.

Remains of the Day (01/26)

 

Variety: Try to guess if the French series "Escort Boys" is my new favorite thing on TV

AP: The hot young thing? At 71, six-time Grammy winner John Leventhal has made a debut album 

IG: When Olympian turned underwear model Peter Paltchik had his "Brokeback" moment

THR: SCAD TVfest to honor Matt Bomer, Joel Kim Booster, Josie Totah, who stole the show in the "Saved by the Bell" update

Saturday 'Stache: He's what we call selfie-assured

NYP: "Feud: Capote vs. the Swans": Meet the glamorous women in Truman's inner circle

WaPo: Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova write that they did not help build women’s tennis for it to be exploited by Saudi Arabia

GQ: A pal of mine had a hair transplant and documented every step of the way

DM: Naomi Watts cuts a glamorous figure in black mini dress as she dances with her "hero" Debbie Harry at swanky party

NPR: Man helping LGBT youth remembers how hard it was to come out as gay to his parents

Passport: Win the ultimate Palm Springs experience at Santiago Resort

The Atlantic: The U.S. should apologize to gay people 

ABC: The time that kid got AIDS on "Mr. Belvedere"

SoHo Playhouse: Anyone else itching to see Del Shores's "Wounded"?

Speedo Sunday: Bodacious in blue

Hot Cat of the Day: Retirement goals

Read an oral history of the short-lived series "Looking," which I still blame all the negative nellies out there for getting canceled. I don't have any use for MANY popular LGBT things, but you don't hear me bitching about them 24 hours a day. Still not sure why people who didn't like it couldn't just leave the show to those of us who did. (Piling on mainstream things is different.) 

Maybe because “Victor/Victoria” wasn’t her story to tell?

On the Rag, Vol. 793

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

Gloss: Celebrating black sexcellence in film and television

The Advocate: 86-year-old George Takei's inspiring love story

Jodie Foster on the special bonds of gay friendships

Between the Lines: What the LGBT community means to Ann Arbor Folk Fest performer Lizzie No

Out: With "Rustin," Colman Domingo is poised to make Oscars history. But as a leading man, he's already changing Hollywood.

Lavender: Getting in shape with well-proportioned Pridefit founder Sam Leicht

Trending: In the room with Kirill Strunnikov

Georgia Voice: Out on Film announces new executive director

Dallas Voice: "The Golden Girls" are back with brand-new laughs

MetroWeekly: At 78, Andre De Shields is an everlasting legend in the world of Broadway

San Francisco Bay Times: The history of Castro and Market and plans for its future

Russell Leung Awarded ACES Bill Walsh Scholarship for 2024

Thrilled to announce that Russell Leung, a student at Northwestern University. has been selected winner of the 2024 editing scholarship named after my brother Bill.

Many thanks to everyone at ACES: The Society for Editing for helping maintain this wonderful tribute to our beloved Billy. Every day is a still a struggle, but things like this do help make the painful reality a little more tolerable. xo

Read the news release BELOW.

Social Misfit

According to a recent article I read in The Wall Street Journal, "blog audiences migrated to social media in the 2010s." (Ouch.) 

How do I put this tactfully? I am a bit old-school, as are many of my readers. (I've heard from many of you who also lament the death of the daily email Google used to provide of my site.) But if you'd like to see me at least attempt to enter the 2010s, feel free to follow me on INSTAGRAM or THREADS!

As thanks, you have my word that I will never start a podcast.

Remains of the Day (01/24)

"Love Connection": OK, what's the catch with this hunky catch? 

People: Cher remembers Norman Jewison, famed director of "In the Heat of the Night" and "Moonstruck" who just died at 97

Gay Times: 17 of the most anticipated LGBT films of 2024

Wrestle Wednesday: Large and in charge

Us Weekly: TV twins Shannen Doherty and Jason Priestley lament "sexual undertone" of their "90210" characters

The Onion: White girls explain why they love Stanley Cups: “I don’t know, but ever since I caught Dad wrestling with Mom’s sister, he won’t stop buying me them.”

Pitchfork: Frank Farian, man behind Boney M. and Milli Vanilli, dead at 82 ... BTW: We finally watched that "Milli Vanilli" documentary and as excellent as it was, hard to believe that it couldn't answer the million-dollar question of whether the guys were willing participants in the fraud from the get

HuffPost: Will Ferrell shares the "transition" he experienced after his best friend came out as trans"

NBC News: A "renaissance of gay literature" marks a turning point for publishing

NYT: Man found guilty of murder in wrong-driveway shooting in Upstate New York

PinkNews: Single woman shares experience of having baby with gay best friend

Greg in Hollywood: It never gets old seeing Michael Ontkean in just a jockstrap on ice

Hot Cat Dad of the Day: Bravo to Buffalo Bills placekicker Tyler Bass for getting the word out that violence against our furry friends is sickening and completely unacceptable -- and to the organization he represents for supporting him as well!

Billboard Dance Chart for Jan. 15, 1983: Get Up and Do Your Thing

Looking at the past through rose-colored glasses might not always be fair. 

But there's no doubt that popular music -- where a pre-Top 40-fame Thompson Twins, Patrick Cowley, Sylvester, Weather Girls and an unknown chick from Detroit co-mingled with the likes of Prince, Marvin Gaye, Grace Jones and Hall & Oates -- used to be insanely good. 

BTW: I didn't even mention Indeep's "Last Night a D.J. Saved My Life," which may just be the best song the week. That might explain why it's been sampled a million times since! 

Tennis Tuesday

Did anyone catch Andrey Rublev's fitness coach, Marcos Borderias, "adjust" himself Down Under? See for yourself BELOW.

 

Remains of the Day (01/22)

IndieWire: The horrifying real-life story of what happens when the police succumb to tunnel vision

Washington Blade: 2024 already outpacing 2023 in anti-LGBT legislation

MetroWeekly: A trio of transgender candidates in Ohio will remain on the Democratic primary ballot despite not having their deadnames on their election paperwork

Evening Standard: Samantha Fox arrested after alleged drunken scene on plane

Clothing Optional: How do you sleep?

People: David Gail, who drove me wild on "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Savannah," has died at 58 from complications of "sudden cardiac arrest" 

Ball Boys: I'm a Laver not a fighter (podcast)

The Advocate: Gay Chechen man escapes Russia following kidnapping, beatings by strongman's relative

Gay Times: It’s time to break the silence around eating disorders in the gay community

The Athletic: Robbie Rogers goes from a "forbidden" gay soccer player to a Golden Globes nominee

OpenDemocracy: The dizzying tale of Uganda’s latest "ex-gay" campaigner

The Guardian: Fifteen months after two men were shot in a gay bar in Bratislava, evidence suggests the killer may have been helped by an unidentified U.S.-based extremist

People's World: "Hippie Faggot Freak," memoir of a pathetic youth and emerging gay liberation

CBS News: Bishop Gene Robinson on why he thinks God called him out of the closet

Gr8er Days: Feast your eyes on legendary bodybuilder Steve Reeves

Hot Cat of the Day: Add "Klute" to my list of films that I should have seen ages ago but finally watched! Jane Fonda was magnificent, of course, with Damian pointing out that "people don't speak like that anymore." (Sadly, how right he is.) Bonus points for the cat not getting harmed, which far too many films and television shows make light of. 

We also watched Bette Davis's legendary "Now, Voyager" (makeover heaven!) -- as well as four decent gay films: "Like You Mean It" (Bergman meets Boystown), "My Fake Boyfriend" (sexy and farcical), "The Pass" (Russell Tovey is hot as a closeted footballer, even if the sum of the parts is greater than the whole) and "Goodbye Seventies" (carefree turns deadly serious ), which was written and directed by Todd Verow whose latest, "You Can't Stay Here," is making its way across the country now! 

More info HERE.