Gone Fishin'

I can only imagine how crestfallen Tommy Paul was to realize he'd made a huge mistake playing in Delray Beach this week when he could have been reelin' 'em with the boys in Doha! More hooks, lines and sinkers BELOW.

Pride Flag’s Removal From Stonewall Violated Federal Law, Suit Says

Longtime readers know I used to be pretty obsessed with New York's tabloids, even briefly working at one of them. I haven't been paying much attention to any news outlets since the 2024 election, but I was heartened to come across these two recent covers of the Daily News. With reports of a lawsuit against the administration over the flag's removal, might a third front page be in the works? 

 

Tennis Tuesday: Coach Rob

Rob is co-founder of the M2 Performance Academy and a multiple Grand Slam–winning coach who has guided Wesley Koolhof, Joe Salisbury and Rajeev Ram. But it's how he looks in a tux that I'm most impressed with. See for yourself BELOW.

Remains of the Day (02/17)

SCMP: Meet Paul Anthony Kelly, who plays John F. Kennedy Jr. in "Love Story"

Gallup: Pollster says LGBTQ identification holds at 9% in U.S.

Erasing 76 Crimes: What to expect around the world in LGBTQ rights in 2026

USA Today: For LGBTQ Winter Olympians, visibility matters just as much as medals

IG My friend Noonan's first time in a driverless car

ABC30: Enrages me slash breaks my heart to see that 40 years after I graduated from high school, gay kids are still having to deal with this crap

Born This Way: "Grease 2" edition

Tennis: Aussie Destanee Aiava exits tennis in expletive retirement post, calling the sport racist, misogynistic and homophobic

E News: How is everyone coping with Hudson Williams's coming out as straight?

Instinct: Do you code-switch when you date? The quiet calculations gay men make.

NYT: Braden Peters, known as "looksmaxxing" proponent Clavicular, might be the saddest person I've ever read about

The Caftan Chronicles: Phill Wilson -- HIV longtime survivor and founder of the Black AIDS Institute -- is working on his memoir, living with his nephew and exploring an adorkable new hobby with his current partner 

US Weekly: Don't ever change, Florida

WPLN: Tennessee’s newest anti-LGBTQ bills go against U.S. Supreme Court rulings

Out: Paul Codi and Travis Connor discuss their new porn based on "Heated Rivalry"

Hot Cat of the Day: Was Orangey the most important movie cat ever?

Padam Padam: The Kylie Barbie has arrived

RIP:  Jesse Jackson, civil rights icon who called for marriage equality, dies at 84

Robert Duvall, chameleon of the silver screen who dazzled in "The Great Santini," dies at 95

Billy Steinberg, who co-wrote five No. 1 hits including "Like a Virgin," "Eternal Flame" and "True Colors," dies at 75

Chrissie Hynde's got that right: "Night in My Veins" is probably the best song the band ever recorded after the first three albums.

Billy Steinberg, Chrissie Hynde and Tom Kelly in 1992

Weekend Tennis Roundup

 

Titles for Shelton, de Minaur, Cerundolo and Muchova. Full report plus all the ATP beef that's fit to post BELOW.

Fate for 'Breakfast'

 

Here I am earlier today in front of The Odeon, where I dreamed of hanging out since I read “Bright Lights, Big City” in high school. The Twin Towers -- also seen on the novel’s cover -- are becoming a distant memory these days. But it’s reassuring to find the venerable restaurant perseveres, even if Tad Allagash was nowhere to be found.

Before we ate, we caught "Breakfast at Tiffany's" over at the Metrograph, which is becoming the only cinema for me in town. It was amusing having finally read Truman Capote's novella, because instead of being surprised by how different the two were -- which they are, in rather fundamental ways -- I was slightly taken aback by how faithful it was to the original. (The way Holly and "Fred" support themselves is pretty subversive even today, let alone in 1961; in addition to the fact that Doc and Sally Tomato made the cut, both of whom I'd somehow forgotten about.) 

However, not even a Santa Monica Boulevard hustler could have been more surprised than Damian -- who wasn't familiar with the work at all -- to learn that George Peppard's, um, backstory didn't actually originate with Truman Capote, whose body of work of course, is littered with mixed chromosome sex workers! (Note: My hubby would have gladly hit the ATM for a crack at Fred’s blond part.) 

We then tried to catch "Pillion" back in our neck of the woods, but were somewhat surprised to discover that no tickets were left -- a gay S&M rom-com SOLD OUT on the Upper West Side -- thus proving that "Heated Rivalry" fever has yet to break.

Now in keeping with the nostalgia theme, tonight we're going to revisit my other literary high school obsession, LA's answer to Jay McInerney: Mr. Bret Easton Ellis himself. Like the film adaptation of "Bright Lights, Big City," the screen version of Ellis's "Less Than Zero" was also ruined by a miscast lead. So instead we're watching "The Rules of Attraction" -- which I enjoyed reading even more than his debut -- in honor of James Van Der Beek, whose death has rattled Gen X to its core.

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!