Remember when I blogged about my mom getting knocked down by a golf cart earlier this month -- at the hand foot of my 19-month-old niece, Ally? Well, as it happens it was in the midst of a photo op (can you tell that I'm related to these people -- it's always picture time!). And if you look very closely you'll see behind my nephew, AJ, his tiny little sister is the one pushing on the pedal, which in turn sent my mom -- clearly surprised by the cart's sudden movement -- to the pavement and later to the operating room for extensive surgery on her right wrist. As bad as I feel for my mom, I have to say this is going to make a great story one day for little Ally: "Remember the time you broke Grandma?" ...
It was the first week of 1984 and Newsweek had a Technicolor Boy George and Annie Lennox splashed across the cover proclaiming the second coming of the British Invasion, yet all my sexually confused 16-year-old eyes could see was endless possibilities. He looked like a chick. She looked like a dude, sort of. I specifically remembering staring at the cover while listening to the Eurythmics' haunting song "Jennifer" and feeling completely sick to my stomach thinking, maybe I wasn't the only one who felt this way.
This was the year before I went all Trapper Keepers
Like many gay people growing up during the '80s, the new wave explosion was a welcome escape from the boy-girl society around us, a convenient way to hide our sexuality behind the fashions and styles of the time. (I'm not sure what I'd have done, say, in the '70s or '90s.) And with each passing year someone new came along to push the boundaries. From Visage, Culture Club and Eurythmics to Haysi Fantayzee and Dead or Alive. But of all the artists of that gender-bender era, none garnered my affections the way Marilyn did.
I'll never forget seeing the 12" single of his debut song, "Calling Your Name," in the bin at Zia Records on Mill Avenue in Tempe, Ariz., with his glamorous blond dreadlocks tossed to the side, perfect makeup and his exposed chest. After tearing up the U.K. charts with that one he never had another real hit even in his homeland, so the singles and subsequent album, "Despite Straight Lines," were never even released here in the states. But that didn't stop me from snatching up every new thing he released (my friend Laura Thomas even had the picture disc of "Cry and Be Free" with the rare b-side "Running" on it, which I promptly taped!) and every No. 1 magazine and Smash Hits that he appeared in. (That's him in the bottom lefthand corner of my English folder from Dobson High. Can you name the others?) Was I sexually attracted to Marilyn? No. But I was definitely drawn to him in some strong way. Looking back I think it was his ability to have enough self-confidence to be who he was with no apologies that made me admire him, despite his increasingly obvious lack of musical abilities. (His outsider within the group of outsiders status was certainly something I related to, too.) When Boy George brought the era to life in the show "Taboo"a few years ago it was Marilyn's biting oneliners that stole the show, of course. And every so often I'll dust off my homemade Marilyn CD of everything he ever released (none of which ever made the leap to the digital age officially) and play it with fond memories of the pretty boy who wasn't afraid to be himself.
Talk about your renaissance man: sexy Nic Haas is former college wrestler, Air Force man, writer, actor and adult entertainment entrepreneur. Learn more about this Jack of all trades over at Connex24.7.
Shanghai Surprise: By the time they arrive in Beijing, most athletes have resigned themselves to the possibility of undergoing a battery of tests for banned substances, like anabolic steroids and certain cough medicines. But some female athletes may find they are asked to submit to an entirely different examination -- one that will test whether they are, in fact, women. (This is one of the rudest things I've read in ages. Are they going to subject men to this too?) (NYT)
Doubles Match: Roger Federer and Bjorn Borg will team up for a special doubles event in November, possibly against the men who ended their famous Wimbledon streaks. Federer and Borg will face John McEnroe and either Rafael Nadal or James Blake at The Venetian Macau Tennis Showdown on Nov. 20 in a Tour of Champions event. This all sounds like a lot of fun, but seeing as Roger can barely beat Robby Ginepri these days, if I were him I think I'd be focusing my eye on another ball. (ESPN)
Golden Hangers: Commercial Closet Association, the nonprofit that educates the advertising industry on including responsible images of gays and lesbians in national ads, announced winners for their 4th Annual Images in Advertising Awards last night. A full list of winners and winning ads can be viewed here.
Friend of Linda R.: Supporters of a California ballot measure that would amend the state constitution to ban gay marriage filed a lawsuit against California attorney general Jerry Brown on Monday. According to the Associated Press, Brown's office changed Proposition 8's ballot title and summary to say the measure seeks to "eliminate the right of same-sex couples to marry." The original wording had simply defined marriage in California as a union between a man and a woman. (Advocate)
The Boy From Ipanema: Beach-stalking Duda Nagle. (Made in Brazil)
Alarming News: If black America were a country, it would rank 16th in the world in the number of people living with the AIDS virus, the Black AIDS Institute, an advocacy group, reported Tuesday. (NYT)
Goodbye 1913, Hello 200: Massachusetts moved closer to erasing a hurdle that blocked most out-of-state gay men and lesbians from marrying in that state. (Boston)
RIP: Dr. Julius B. Richmond, a former surgeon general and pediatrician whose work on cognitive development in poor children led to his being the first national director of Project Head Start, widely regarded as one of the most successful social programs of the last half-century, died on Sunday at his home in Chestnut Hill, Mass. He was 91. Richmond was a longtime friend of the gays, most notably in 1979 when he took a stand against the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which was preventing gay people from entering the country on the basis of a 1952 law that barred entry to those "afflicted with psychopathic personality or sexual deviation or a mental defect." The law called for examinations by the Public Health Service. Richmond ordered the health service not to perform the examinations, noting that in his organization "homosexuality will no longer be considered a `mental disease or defect’" and pointing out that homosexuality was not determined through medical testing. Thanks, Doc, for standing up for what was right when it wasn't in fashion. May you rest in peace. (NYT)
Forgive me, but I've been sick to my stomach since attempting to pick just 9 albums "that made me" -- despite knowing that n...
Fake Jan Alert
My blog is featured in Susan Olsen's tell-all about the ill-fated "Brady Bunch Variety Hour"!
Little Kenny
Growing up in Madison Heights, Mich.
Back to the Old House
The Web leads to an unexpected return to a house I grew up in.
Oceans 11
Carlsbad, Calif. (2008)
1983
Go Behind the Music of my high-school band, A La Plage
A Death in the Family
Little Larry left us too soon.
Once I Had a Love
With Debbie Harry
'Jungle' Fever
With Robert Buckley
Roger & Me
With Roger Federer
Step Brother McMullen
With Ed Burns
Headline News
With Thomas Roberts
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Torn on the Fourth of July
