Giving Thanks

 

Another family holiday in the books. These things are never easy -- travel logistics and personality conflicts, declining health and declining patience -- but I'm enormously thankful to be able to spend time with my mom et al. this week in Phoenix. xo

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Homo for the Holidays

 

En route to the airport. Wish us luck in the Grand Canyon state!

U.S. Government Will Not Commemorate World AIDS Day

 

The ghost of Ronald Reagan would be proud. 

Weekend Tennis Roundup

Italy pulls off a Davis Cup hat-trick; Jonathan Eysseric heats up Tennis OF; Fabien Reboul is giving it away; and more in this week's round-up BELOW.

Central Park Quest

 

When we decided to leave Chelsea for the Upper West Side, proximity to the park was definitely a major factor. And more than four years later, I'm more convinced than ever that it was the right call. Not only is Manhattan’s 843-acre crown jewel a short walk from our apartment, we also have Riverside Park -- considered by many the connoisseur’s preferred green space -- just steps from our building, making a “walk in the park” both literal and metaphorical in our day-to-day lives.

Heads-up: We're flying to Phoenix on Tuesday for my mom's 84th birthday and Thanksgiving, so blogging will be sporadic. Hope everyone has somewhere special to be this thanks-based holiday. And for those who don't, here's hoping you're spending the day doing something that makes you thankful -- whether it's reading a good book or rewatching a favorite movie. xo

Sign Language

 

I may be down a brother, but at least the one I still have is a keeper! 

BTW: Follows always appreciated on Threads, Instagram, Facebook and BlueSky.

Remains of the Day (11/21)

Boystack: Remembering Frank Diernhammer, the Hollywood photographer whose best (and gayest) work was not granted life until he died -- and could have wound up discarded (NSFW)

Greg in Hollywood: Happy 80th birthday to the one and only Goldie Hawn!

MNPP: Jeff Bridges vs. Kurt Russell

Attitude: "It’s a Sin" actor Callum Scott Howells shows latest results from his ongoing fitness journey 

Mug Shot Friday: If looks could kill, I'd be lying on the floor

TLOBF: Having signed off with "International," likely Saint Etienne's last studio album, Sarah Cracknell walks Alan Pedder through her personal highlights of the trio’s 35-year career

DNA: It's always a cause for celebration when Zane Phillips strips down

Out: Cheyenne Jackson channels a "horny Disney character" in his Broadway return 

THR: Gay hockey romance series "Heated Rivalry" acquired by HBO Max in U.S. and Australia

Saturday 'Stache: FBI ups reward to $15 million for ex-Olympian Ryan James Wedding on the run 

Interview: Sissy Spacek remembers that time she met Andy Warhol

PinkNews: Suspect in the death of gay actor Jonathan Joss -- who played Wamapoke Indian Chief Ken Hotate on "Parks and Recreation" -- formally charged with murder, but remains out on bail

MetroWeekly: Who's up for some Paula Poundstone?

Attitude: David Geffen’s divorce from David Armstrong set to be signed off in days -- but financial row remains

Speedo Sunday: Color me green with thigh envy

Hot Cat of the Day: Finally, a book club I'm interested in joining! 

Stevie Nicks: The Edge of Octogenarianism

 

Realizing that at 77 the clock was ticking for seeing Stevie Nicks live in concert, Damian and I made a last-minute decision to pay an ungodly amount of money -- the most I've ever spent -- to get good (but not great) seats for her show at the Barclays Center, and I'm here to report we've no regrets. 

To clarify, I've seen Fleetwood Mac twice -- once when Christine McVie was on hiatus and once with the classic line-up. But Stevie wasn't inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice for nothing, so getting to see her not share the spotlight three ways was something I've long wanted to do, and we've been kicking ourselves for years since passing on seeing her with Chrissie Hynde supporting because we had recently seen Fleetwood Mac and the Pretenders individually, so decided it wasn't necessary. (Don't get me started on how I felt when I learned Chrissie had filled in for Tom Petty on "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around," for which I'm guessing she merely had to tone down her masculinity a bit for the part.)

Wednesday's show was wonderful, with Stevie looking and sounding incredible for any age. Yes, there are songs I wish she had done ("Sara"!!!) and songs I wish she hadn't bothered with (not one, but two covers?!!!). But the woman is a living legend -- and a living legend who is still on the mend from a fall she suffered in August -- so she can do no wrong. 

Highlights of the evening: "Gypsy," which she doesn't always do on solo tours; a quasi-medley of the title tracks of her first two solo albums ("Bella Donna"/"Wild Heart"); "If Anyone Falls"; and a spirited version of "The Edge of Seventeen," which of course criminally stalled at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 when everyone knows it's a No. 1 smash! The tour continues Monday in Boston with five more cities after that. Go if you can. Painful as it is to acknowledge, we won't have our divas forever, as we were reminded by the choice of Christine's "Got a Hold on Me" as the exiting music. xo

P.S. I've avoided the Barclays Center like the plague -- I didn't move to the greatest city on earth to schlep out to Brooklyn -- but I will admit it's more intimate than its Manhattan peer (MSG), and the concessions and staff were all very civilized. Also, the 2/3 goes express from my apartment and lets out directly in front of the venue, so it could be much worse. (Kings Theatre, anyone?!) 

P.P.S. Just scored some shockingly reasonably priced tickets to see New Pornographers next year. The band is reeling from having its drummer arrested in a very unfortunate situation, but is moving on and releasing new music soon. Info HERE.

‘Winter’ Wonderland

 

Bryant Park is ready for Christmas ... even if you're not. 

UPDATE:

The Upper West Side is ready, too! 

On the Rag, Vol. 884

This week's rag 'n' mag roundup features Benjamin Verbeck, Brunette Leo, Jaidus, Henry Moodie, Flavio Cobolli, Hollywood's new class of leading men and more BELOW.

Remains of the Day (11/19)

The Times: His work told him to resign or abstain from drinking

Outreach: A transgender Catholic(!) on what it means for the church to walk with LGBTQ people

Queerty: From showstopper to rock bottom: John Whaite says steroid addiction killed his sex drive and destroyed his body ... but at least he once looked like THIS

Boystack: "Pen Pals," Michael Griffo's warm and funny show constructed entirely of letters, is both a gay son's valentine to his late mom and an unqualified later-in-life success for himself

Wrestle Wednesday: When you're a dom top on the mat

The Caftan Chronicles: Javier Muñoz replaced Lin-Manuel Miranda in "Hamilton" -- then he had a shocking recollection about his past

Attitude: Spanish soccer player Nacho Ruiz addresses homophobic abuse from fans: "Let’s not normalise this"

Greg in Hollywood: Feast your eyes on Tom Daley in his knitted Budgy Smuggler

NYT: As rights are taken away, transgender trailblazer Robyn McCutcheon seeks refuge abroad

The Atlantic: The locker room, once a place for casual and normative nudity, had quietly become a place where modesty was expected. (I posted about this a couple years ago on my Facebook account and it got more comments than anything I've ever written!) 

Grab: "Sauna" gets extra hot in this foreign drama

Attitude: U.S. State Department reverses plan to invalidate trans passports after "X" gender marker confusion

Bammer: The age gap in my relationship is right on par with the gays Mike Balaban informally surveyed!

CBS8: Three women injured in pellet gun attacks at San Diego LGBTQ bars ... in 2025

PinkNews: Jonathan Bailey meets "roommates" Bert and Ernie on "Sesame Street"

Hot Cat of the Day: How was your day?

Simply the Best?

 

I’m not sure what a “British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules,” as Radio Times is described, knows about tennis. But I do know that lists like this exist solely to stir up discontent. Case in point: If you’re going to mix eras -- including Rod Laver -- then John McEnroe absolutely deserves to be above Andy Murray, as would Stefan Edberg, Boris Becker, Mats Wilander and even six-time major winner Carlos Alcaraz. Ivan Lendl probably deserves to be above Andre Agassi, who trails in majors, total titles, year-end championship wins, year-end No. 1 finishes and overall weeks at No. 1. And as much as I respect and adore Bjorn Borg -- whose ability to win the French and Wimbledon back-to-back is unparalleled -- he surely belongs under Pete Sampras. Yes, he retired much sooner. But the list should be based on what a player accomplished, not what they might have, and Pete has three more majors and more than double the number of weeks at No. 1.

And this is the Radio Times women’s list, which I don’t have any strong quibbles with: 

But along the Bjorn lines, Monica Seles should probably also be placed based on what she accomplished -- putting her after Billie Jean King and Margaret Court -- rather than on what we assume she would have achieved had she not been stabbed. (Talk to Little Mo about "would haves.") And calendar Slam winner Margaret belongs ahead of Billie Jean, who has half her majors in singles and trails by six in their head-to-head. (Even if you erase all of Margaret's Aussie Open crowns, she still has more majors than BJK.) And a case could be made for any of the top three to sit at No. 1 -- Serena Williams with the most majors (23), Steffi Graf with just one fewer (having retired a decade younger than Serena) and the only one of the three to win the calendar Grand Slam (with the corresponding Olympic gold medal), most weeks at No. 1 and most year-end No. 1 finishes, and Martina Navratilova for the most combined majors (59), including 18 singles titles despite playing in an era when two of the four Slams weren't routinely contested, plus the most WTA titles (167 to Serena's 73), the most match wins (1,661 to Serena's 858), and more weeks at world No. 1 than Serena. But even as an ardent Steffi/Chrissie Evert fan, this feels about right.

TV Party Tonight!

 

In case you need recommendations or want to exchange notes, here are a few things off the top of my head that we’ve been watching lately ...

“The Couple Next Door”: Season 2 is every bit as juicy as the first, and new man Sam Palladio somehow manages to fill Sam Heughan's gigantic shoes. 

“I’m Sorry”: We discovered Andrea Savage on the brilliant “Episodes,” and her move to center stage might be one of the most brilliant things I’ve ever witnessed … we had to constantly rewind because we were laughing so hard we kept missing half the thing! (And Tom Everett Scott is sublime as her straight-man hubby.)

“Platonic”: Season 2 is just as awkwardly hilarious as the first.

“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”: Why didn’t anyone tell me 20 year ago that this is the best show of all time? It’s like a funnier version of "Seinfeld" if the gang had even less character.

“I Love L.A.”: A smart and witty send-up of influencer culture.

“Nobody Wants This”: My solo show that Damian cannot stop eavesdropping on.

“Malice”: Just started, but Jack Whitehall is deliciously evil.

“Shameless”: Ancient, I know, but something I never considered watching until Damian finally gave it a look and now we're into it. Remains to be seen if we'll stick around for all 208 seasons.

“The Studio”: We’ve been slogging our way through this for months. One episode left ... not my fave, but usually just enough to keep it worthwhile-ish.

“New Girl”: We always joked that we’d probably have to watch the seven(!) seasons of this show if a second administration of you-know-who ever happened ... and sadly, it has. Unlike "Baby Daddy" -- Damian’s coping mechanism during the first term, which I later watched and he happily rewatched in full -- "New Girl" is much more uneven. But I like all the actors involved, and Jamie Lee Curtis and Rob Reiner popping up as Zooey Deschanel’s parents is always a treat.

Previously: My 2024 list is HERE.

Jon Cryer Theads the Needle

 

Bravo, Duckie! 

Rediscovering 'The Drag Queens of New York' on the Bowery

Damian and I spent Saturday afternoon on the Bowery at HA/HA taking in "Then & Now," a gallery tour, discussion and video screening marking the 30th anniversary of "The Drag Queens of New York."

Julian Fleisher, who wrote the seminal book about the '90s NYC drag scene, guided the event and introduced the speakers, bringing the kind of insider affection that could only come from someone who lived and loved this history in real time.

This crowd was no drag 

As he ushered us from room to room, Julian reminisced about the interviews he conducted with the reigning queens of the day -- all of which were prefaced with lengthy questionnaires ("Who did I think I was?") -- and steered us toward the eclectic collection of ephemera on display throughout (including the queens' handwritten responses) from the passion project that still clearly means a lot to him: First and foremost, Julian explained, he "was a fan," who used the project as an excuse to "hang out with people I admired."

'The Last Drag Supper,' as seen in Out magazine (photo by Joshua Kessler)

He then brought to the stage drag historian Joe E. Jeffreys, who gave a smart, engaging overview of the cultural landscape that shaped Fleisher’s book, with shoutouts to predecessors such as Carlton E. Winford's "Femme Mimics: A Pictorial Record of Female Impersonation" and Avery Willard's "Female Impersonation." His context underscored just how prescient the work was -- drag is strangely mainstream in a lot of ways now -- but also how much more there was to the art form beyond the late 20th century NYC time capsule Fleisher so brilliantly documented. 

He was followed by the ever-hilarious, delightfully self-effacing Miss Guy, who shared that he never actually considered himself a drag queen -- androgynous is more like it -- but was offered a chance to be on stage so ran with it as a means to an end to kickstart his music ambitions. When forced to pick a drag moniker, he says he opted to keep his given name -- dolled up with a femme honorific -- so that decades later people wouldn't be screaming "Hey, Melinda" from across the room(!). 

Guy then played a rarely seen 1995 interview with former go-go boy Mark Allen for the downtown cable show "Party Talk." The segment follows the two of them romping around Guy's memorabilia-packed apartment, eating cereal, getting prank calls and talking about “queer” rock 'n' roll in the early days of the Toilet Boys, Miss Guy's glamtastic band whom I saw open for Blondie back in '99. (There’s even early performance footage from Squeezebox, Guy's notorious party night at the erstwhile Don Hill's.)

 

Guy mentioned he still lives in the same place 30 years later, and that the clip contains the only footage of his late kitty, giving the moment an unexpectedly touching edge. Guy then screened additional videos from his career (Wigstock, Lollapalooza ‘95) -- providing a momentary mini–Miss Guy retrospective -- but adorably seemed to again shy away from the attention as he half-pleaded with the audio/visual guy to cut them short: "Events like this remind me how much I miss ... social distancing," he quipped.

As for Mark, it was so nice seeing him and meeting his handsome boyfriend, Will McLeod, whom I know from Instagram. Mark shocked me by revealing he hadn't been in the city in almost two years(!) -- and it was his first time with Will -- which is hard to imagine for a guy whose East Village apartment used to be live-streamed for the world to watch before that was even a thing.

If you haven’t stopped by yet, the full exhibition "The Drag Queens of New York" is on display at Howl! Happening through Nov. 30. It’s a lovingly assembled slice of LGBTQ New York history -- absolutely worth catching before it’s gone.

DQNY30!

The silver lamé pants did things to me ...

Miss Guy's the limit!

The Watergate tapes have nothing on these 

And now a word from our author ...

With Miss Guy

Julian Fleisher, Miss Guy and Mark Allen

Putting the meat in a Will and Mark sandwich