Tennis Tuesday: Winston Rice-Herrington

Shirt comes off the married-with-Onlyfans tennis pro  BELOW.

Remains of the Day (12/31)

 

Brian Ferrari: Gay porn stars who died in 2024 

NPR: How to fight ageism in the world around you -- and in yourself

Yardbarker: The 20 best LGBT couples in movies

Queer Happened Here: With 2024 coming to a close, New York has lost a number of notable LGBT icons including Ken Page, Morgan Jenness, David Garrard Lowe, and more

CBS News: Russian man arrested for allegedly running travel agency for gay customers found dead in custody in Moscow

Instinct: Gay wrestler Hunter Gallagher brings glam and fab energy to the wrestling ring

Stolen Holiday: Theda Bara, up from the ashes

Jonathan Martinez: I’m a gay, first-generation college student. My fraternity is where I belong.

GCN: New Year’s Eve co-hosts Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen returning for eighth year

NBC News: How Jimmy Carter made early progress on gay rights amid a hostile political climate

Hot Cat of the Day: There's got to be a twist

RIP: Linda Lavin -- who was just passing through as TV's Alice Hyatt -- dies at 87

Weekend Tennis Roundup

 

Tennis is finally restarting, with United Cup and regular events Down Under. See the highlights BELOW.

Jimmy Carter Dies at 100

 

Rest in peace to the only Democratic presidential candidate I ever voted against -- in my fourth-grade mock election at Hiller Elementary School (Southerners were a big turnoff in suburban Detroit) and then again in 1980 at Rhodes Junior High, when I inexplicably championed John Anderson (chalk these two up to youthful indiscretions!). Reaching 100 is remarkable, yet I'm so sorry he lived to see what he saw. xo

Read the former president's New York Times obituary HERE. One of its writers died in 2017(!). 

TV Party Tonight!

 

This illustration reminds me -- I've been meaning to check out the Christopher Reeve documentary his children did for Max. 

On a related note, Because I can no longer read or watch anything related to the news -- and can't concentrate enough to read pretty much anything -- I've been watching A LOT more television during the past seven weeks and imagine I will continue to do so for at least four more years.

Here's what I can tell you so far:  

I wouldn't say I was ever a TV snob -- I've watched more documentaries and low-rent true-crime series than the rest of the world put together -- but I was extremely finnicky about the scripted stuff I consumed. 

So if it wasn't set in the '80s about a tennis-playing Debbie Harry fan I would probably skip it. 

No longer.

So here's a quick rundown of some of the things I'm watching BELOW. 

Remains of the Day (12/27)

NYP: Gee, I can hardly wait to fly into Phoenix for my (Maryland) brother's upcoming birthday gala with the family. (My former home won't be happy until it's gone full-on Florida.) 

Out: 20 LGBT shows that ended or got canceled in 2024

Matthew's Island: Will you settle for five men in jockstraps?

NYT Style Magazine: Stop the presses -- there are gay bookstores opening around the country!

Saturday 'Stache: Who wants to take a ride on Cheyenne Jackson?

Interview: “Tall blond with a big dick”: 18 men ask Edmund White some sexy questions

The Advocate: New York City man bleeds out in his husband's arms after fatal stabbing

The Gay Curmudgeon: Worst new year ever

BBC: The U.S. gay clubs dance style from 1970s headlining an Indian show

Greg in Hollywood: Looking forward to this mother-son film from Billy Eichner

THR: Hallmark star John Reardon is recovering from tonsil cancer

NBC News: Florida pizza delivery woman stabbed a pregnant customer 14 times over bad tip, authorities say

People: Alfa Anderson, singer with Chic, dies at 78

Buzzfeed: Gay man reflects on having child with straight friend

Speedo Sunday: Happy birthday to the man whose skimpy swimsuit on "WKRP in Cincinnati" hastened my homosexuality! 

Hot Cat of the Day: One of President Biden's favorite holiday tails

Gr8er Days: RIP to actor Geoffrey Deuel, 81

BriGuy: Dusting off some holiday favorites

AP: Depressing but not entirely surprising news from federal officials today: The U.S. saw an 18.1% increase in homelessness this year, a dramatic rise driven mostly by a lack of affordable housing as well as devastating natural disasters and a surge of migrants in several parts of the country.

Sour note: My friend Mark reminded me today that Tiny Tim once recorded a song called "Santa Claus Has Got the AIDS This Year." (When it was finally released around 1986, it was paired with "She Left Me With the Herpes.") During a live show in 1994, Tim claimed he had written it in 1980 or '81 -- "not to make fun of anybody, not for humor" and before anyone knew about the severity of the situation -- when there was a diet supplement on the market called AYDS, which he found funny. But anyone familiar with the history of the epidemic can tell you the disease at that time was known as "gay cancer" or GRID -- gay-related immune deficiency -- and the first usage of the term "acquired immune deficiency syndrome" wasn't until late 1982 -- so something about this whitewashing doesn't add up. (If he sincerely meant no harm, why would he then release it in the mid-80s and still be performing at the height of the death toll, the year before the cocktail was made widely available?) 

P.S. I'm certainly not a prude -- this is just the kind of thing Howard Stern used to play for laughs. But here's at least hoping this Songtell entry was written by AI, because it seems to take Tim at his (false) word and I don't think the "meaning" jibes with the reality at all -- the insertion of the word "the" before AIDS being the most obvious tell.

2024 Year in Review

If you're anything like me, you desperately wish you had a social-media intern to keep up with all that stuff. But at the end of the year it is nice to reflect on the fruits of your labor, as seen here on my Instagram Top Nine. 

Follows always appreciated HERE.

Santa’s Secret Is Out

After spending a memorable Christmas Eve in New Jersey with Damian and my in-laws, I returned to the city on Wednesday to work -- and then after be my friend Greg's plus-one to "Santa's Secret," which I would describe as a cross between an NC-17 version of the Rockettes Christmas Spectacular and a talent show in the basement of your local gay bar, where the entire staff is very hot. (Who else remembers the '90s?) More photos BELOW. 

On the Rag, Vol. 839

Abelardo's got all the right moves; 25 years of DNA; Dmitry is virtually unforgettable; and more in this week's rag 'n' mag roundup BELOW.

25th December

Here's wishing you and yours a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

"Little Prayer" by Danez Smith

let ruin end here 

let him find honey 

where there was once a slaughter 

let him enter the lion’s cage 

& find a field of lilacs 

let this be the healing 

& if not let it be 

Damian was moved by this poem he saw on the subway, so shared it with me. As we face great uncertainty going into 2025, perhaps you'll get something out of it, too. xo 

Dreaming Is Free

 

Did someone order a WHITE CHRISTMAS?

Weekend Tennis Roundup

 

Brazilian Joao Fonseca came out on top at the  Next Gen ATP finals. Full report plus all the half-naked vacation photos that are fit to post BELOW.

A Marshmallow World

Was tickled to see some snow actually stuck overnight, so took a stroll through the park after brunch at Friedman's. It's about 25 degrees outside -- and feels like 11 -- but there's nothing more magical than seeing the city covered in a white blanket! More BELOW.

#BornThisDay: Jane Fonda (Dec. 21, 1937)

So many worthwhile blogs have come and gone -- The WoW Report with its fascinating posts by Stephen Rutledge comes to mind. But what I find amusing is that we've all been tricked into thinking they're "dying off" because of lack of interest, or "replaced" with social media, when in fact blogs are just as popular as ever -- they're now just called Substacks and you have to pay to read them.

With that in mind, I encourage you to follow Stephen on Facebook -- free of charge -- where he just posted a terrific piece about the legendary Jane Fonda, who turned 87 today! 

Read BELOW.

Remains of the Day (12/20)

Variety: Kit Williamson’s new scripted half-hour comedy series, “Unconventional,” has been acquired by LGBT streaming network Revry

The Caftan Chronicles: David Nimmons is developing a model where younger gays live with and care for older gays in exchange for inheriting their property

SCMP: Meet Jaymes Vaughan, the singer married to "Gay King of Xmas" Jonathan Bennett

NBC News: Michigan man admits planning mass shooting of gay people

Saturday 'Stache: He's what we call a "Kenneth special"

Variety: Drag king reality competition show to be hosted by "Somebody Somewhere" standout Murray Hill

Socialite's Life: Meet Instagram hottie Enzo Carini

NYP: Lord & Taylor, America’s oldest department store, to make a comeback after years of devastating financial hardship

Columbus Dispatch: Ohio man who extorted gay men online, including an OSU student, sentenced to prison

Speedo Sunday: Feast your eye on newly out tennis player Joao Lucas Reis Da Silva's sexy boyfriend in a navy square-cut bathing suit HERE.

The Advocate: "The Pradeeps of Pittsburgh" stars Sahana Srinivasan and Nicholas Hamilton on their TV romance and representation

SNT/AP: Gerald Radford, who is accused of killing a gay man at a Tampa dog park, admitted to using gay slurs but denied knowing that they were offensive

PinkNews: Stephen Fry slammed for saying he no longer supports Stonewall charity over "nonsensical" trans policies / See also: Biden administration abandons efforts to protect transgender student-athletes from discrimination

Deadline: Netflix Renews "The Boyfriend" Japanese gay dating show for Season 2

Song of the Day: Susanna Hoffs and Elvis Costello share cover of the Rolling Stones “Connection” to mark Keith Richards's 81st birthday

Hot Cat of the Day: "Well according to the charts adopting me and participating in regular petting sessions has paid off as your blood pressure has now dropped to a normal level."

RIP: The dedicated life and tragic death of gay publisher Troy Masters

Obituary: Marisa Paredes, icon of Spanish film, dies at 78

Un-friendly fire: By now you may have heard that "English Teacher" creator/star Brian Jordan Alvarez has been accused of having sexually assaulted a onetime friend-cum-colleague named Jon Ebeling. The incident, which took place nearly a decade ago, was first reported in a poorly written article on New York Mag's Vulture vertical. Although I largely believe that the accuser wasn’t entirely comfortable with everything that transpired, the boundaries between the men were so vague -- and so ever-changing -- that I can see no reason why the public suddenly needed to know about this in 2024 for any other purpose than to try to exact some type of revenge. Jon Ebeling's parents must be so proud of their petty and vindictive son. 

P.S. For what it’s worth, I think “English Teacher” is entertaining but not nearly as great as it’s being made out to be -- and find Brian to be a bit obnoxious -- so certainly wasn’t predisposed to want to side with him. But this whole thing just reeks. 

Billy’s Birthday

☘️❤️🙏

As we mark another solemn Dec. 20 without my beloved brother Bill, my brother Terence, Bill's widow (Jacqueline) and I are busy picking the winner of the ACES Bill Walsh Editing Scholarship, which you can learn more about HERE.

UPDATE from Bill's widow:

Unexpected WaPo birthday present (and victory) for Bill!

The Big Bing Theory

 

I happened to have some time to kill in my old neighborhood this afternoon, so popped into Best Buy in Chelsea to look at laptops. (Yes, I'm still Team PC.) 

While playing around with an HP Envy, I typed in my blog name in the browser that was up to see what would happen -- I've come to realize that you get completely different results on a computer that isn't the one you regularly use -- and before I could even think, it auto-populated the name plus "meaning," which gave me this result:

Kenneth in the 212 is a cultural phenomenon that captures the essence of New York City's urban landscape. It has evolved from a humble beginning to an influential cultural cornerstone. The name "Kenneth" is a nod to the island of Manhattan.

My first thought was that it was some sort of AI thing -- especially because I'm not aware of any way (besides me!) that Kenneth is related to the island of Manhattan. (Kenneth means "handsome" or "born of fire" and is of Gaelic and Scottish and Gaelic origins.)

But then I began to have doubts because when I google "Kenneth in the 212 meaning" at home, the result specifically says it's an AI overview and is a completely different write-up -- way less flattering! -- before finally realizing I had done the initial search on Bing.*

I would make fun of Microsoft for still trying to make its search engine happen. But if it's going to be this kind, consider me a convert! 

*Bing seems to have used information from something called Chiseled Magazine, which wrote kind things about my blog that I am only seeing now. 

"Visitor interactions have transformed the blog into a buzzing forum where New Yorkers and global observers alike dissect the latest urban trends and stories. This connectedness propels the blog’s content into the realm of collective experience." LOL

P.S. Also weird to see what Bing chooses to break out as subtopics, or whatever you call these headers, when I just type in my site's name.

On the Rag, Vol. 838

Did someone say big 'n' blond?; Mike Ruiz will make you "woof!"; Lukas Gage talks "Companion"; and more in this week's rag 'n' mag roundup BELOW.