"It will be long, hard & there will be no withdrawal."
Winston Churchill
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Monday, November 30, 2009
They Are Not Gay, But It Is Their Birthdays & I Love 'Em
I loved him from the 1st moment I heard him on Evita Original Cast Album in 1979. Favorite moment... when he was naked & wet in Yentil. I often like my men naked & wet.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Katrina is more happy with Ranbir
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Katrina is all the more happy to have worked with Ranbir and also finds it bit relaxing. Smiles and says the pretty damsel, ''Till date whenever I reported on the sets of any of my films, I was accustomed to saying good .......
5 Images
Ericsson Spider Computer - Compact PC-Man
In addition to completely deactivated Spider Computer demonstrated a similar, but somewhat larger and not a "spider" device. It has already, at least, capable of creating a projection of the keyboard.......
7 Images + Video
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Birthday Men... November 28th
How to be hot & nearly 60? Try having truly awesome & versatile acting chops, a bald head & piercing blue eyes (oh my God, that sounds like me), throw in 4 Oscar nominations, & add in writing & directing Oscar nominated Pollack… I am talking about birthday boy & secret boyfriend Ed Harris. Favorite roles: The Truman Show, The Hours, Apollo 13, & Glengarry Glen Ross.
How to be sexy & over 45? How about silver fox hair, classic Jewish good looks & being our best American political satirist, writer, television host, media critic & stand-up comedian. Add 2 Peabody Awards, Emmy wins & a dash of Oscar host & there we have Jon Stewart. He turns 47 today.
Friday, November 27, 2009
Blast From The Past... Wild Wild Life
A high point in 2009 seeing was David Byrne in concert in June. Mr. Byrne & Talking Heads have been favorites of the Husband & mine since the time we 1st met in the late 1970s. My appreciation has not diminished. This song is from the terrific & quirky (of course) 1986 David Byrne film- True Stories which was written with Beth Henley & starred John Goodman (my 1st time seeing him) & Swoozy Kurtz.. 23 years ago, this was what I was listening to. Wild Wild Life needs to be played at my memorial service.
Thursday, November 26, 2009
I Am Grateful... Thanksgiving 2009
I am thankful to be a blogger, to do a post almost everyday (sometimes I wake up just sure that I will not be able to pull it off), for having readers & followers, for fellow bloggers that have fabulous blogs that I visit everyday. I am thankful for having met fellow bloggers Will & Mark in person in the summer 2009. I wish everyone who chances to read this a special, love filled & grateful day.
I've got a roof over my head
I've got a warm place to sleep
Some nights I lie awake counting gifts
Instead of counting sheep
I've got a heart that can hold love
I've got a mind that can think
There may be times when I lose the light
& let my spirits sink
But I can't stay depressed
When I remember how I'm blessed
Grateful, grateful
Truly grateful I am
Grateful, grateful
Truly blessed
& duly grateful
In a city of strangers
I've got a family of friends
No matter what rocks & brambles fill the way
I know that they will stay in the end
It's not that I don't want a lot
Or hope for more, or dream of more
But giving thanks for what I've got
Makes me so much happier than keeping score
In a world that can bring pain
I will still take each chance
For I believe that whatever the terrain
Our feet can learn to dance
Whatever stone life may sling
We can moan or we can sing
Grateful, grateful
Truly grateful I am
Grateful, grateful
Truly blessed
& duly grateful
John Bucchino
Brazilian Women Prisons
A detainee returns to prison after a visit to a local hospital. The prison itself has a surgery but major medical proceedings take part away from the main building. Moving prisoners can be a.......
21 Images
Sony Ericsson Wireless Headset
Model of such a "wired" wireless headset Sony Ericsson MW600 was presented simultaneously with the first line of smartphone Xperia, use the.......
3 Images + Video
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
“If you don't create change, change will create you” Noel Coward
The Christian Right went ape shit over this commercial, saying that the mention of the Solstice promoted withcraft, which made me love it even more:
This morning I went to Ikea to gather some items that I had spotted to use as Holiday display at my store. I usually use the wholesale flower market for most of my retail decor, but I was really struck with these large red paper Amaryllis, which I am doing in a modern glass cylinder with silver balls in the bottom as an anchor. I will be spending Thanksgiving setting the store for the Holidays, putting the Holiday merchandise out, & tranforming the place into a winter wonderland. I think it is very civilized to wait until after Thanksgiving to put up the winter Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Solstice decor.
The Husband spent the day working on a wall of our dining room, a project that started with tearing down the dining room walls to the bare studs (I don't mean the good kind) in 2005. This re-do has been making progress at a pace only the Husband could manage. I loved the old Post Apocalyptic Bohemian look, but I am more than pleased with today's result. Here are some photos to mark the transition:
This morning I went to Ikea to gather some items that I had spotted to use as Holiday display at my store. I usually use the wholesale flower market for most of my retail decor, but I was really struck with these large red paper Amaryllis, which I am doing in a modern glass cylinder with silver balls in the bottom as an anchor. I will be spending Thanksgiving setting the store for the Holidays, putting the Holiday merchandise out, & tranforming the place into a winter wonderland. I think it is very civilized to wait until after Thanksgiving to put up the winter Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Solstice decor.
The Husband spent the day working on a wall of our dining room, a project that started with tearing down the dining room walls to the bare studs (I don't mean the good kind) in 2005. This re-do has been making progress at a pace only the Husband could manage. I loved the old Post Apocalyptic Bohemian look, but I am more than pleased with today's result. Here are some photos to mark the transition:
Today's Progress:
& because I have posted recently about Junior, here is the other canine- the very crabby Larry:
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Blame It On My Youth
I had put together a nice collection of obscure Broadway & West End flops, & a nice smattering of truly demented recordings. Among my most treasured were the Broadway Original Cast Albums of Greenwillow (with Anthony Perkins), Henry, Sweet Henry & Goldilocks (with Elaine Stritch & Don Ameche). There was nothing as delicious as smoking a joint & listening to the golden sounds of The Barry Sisters, twin sisters that did over-ripe versions of Yiddish favorites & Yiddish versions of current hits, & then there was Yma Sumak, the mysterious Inca princess with the 5 octave range (rumors were that she was bogus & her name was actually backwards for Amy Camus & that she was from Staten Island) & always fun- The Hawaiian Beach Boys, who did traditional Hawaiian songs in the manner of the Beach Boys.
I eventually lost most of my LP collection when mighty Mt St Helen’s blew its top in May 1980. The Husband & I were living in an amazing apartment in the Browne’s Addition section of Spokane. This place was the top floor, which included the ballroom, of a grand old mansion on a bluff above the Spokane River. A few hours after the volcano erupted, Spokane’s noon looked like midnight, & we received a doomsday-like blanketing of gray ash up to our mid-calves. We were instructed to stay indoors during the 1st few days after the eruption. The Husband & I ate what ever we could find in the house & made our way through a lot of bottles of wine, while listening to my collection of the obscure, odd & campy records from my youth. Unfortunately, the ash got into everything, including records in their sleeves & scratched the recordings so badly, they could no longer be listened to. I have been thinking about this collection of late. I wonder what actually made it on to CD… but it wouldn’t be the same. It was all about going to the 5 & Dime & the hunt through the bins for my new found treasures.
Monday, November 23, 2009
Born On This Day- November 23rd... Funny Man Bruce Vilanch
Vilanch's career as the man who writes funny things for funny people to say began when he was writing celebrity features for The Chicago Tribune, & schmoozing with whatever celebrities or semi-celebrities were in town. It was there that he met then-struggling nightclub singer Bette Midler, & the two became fast friends. It was Vilanch who gave Midler some helpful career advice: "You’re pretty funny. You should talk more onstage". He wrote for Midler's 1974 Broadway show, Clams on the Half Shell, then moved to Los Angeles to write for The Brady Bunch Variety Hour. When that show ended, Vilanch wrote jokes for anyone who'd hire him, including Lily Tomlin, Billy Crystal, Roseanne Barr, Rosie O'Donnell, Paul Reiser, Elizabeth Taylor, & Robin Williams. He co-wrote Midler's Divine Madness act of 1980 & has been the Oscar Broadcast head writer, pulling off quips backstage, on the fly. Vilanch is a notable “script doctor”, who is brought in to punch up other writer’s screenplays.
He was head writer & a panelist on Hollywood Squares for four years, writing gags for the other panelists while his friend & client Whoopi Goldberg ran the show. Vilanch has also toured as Edna Turnblad in stage productions of Hairspray, shaving off his trademark 30 year old beard. A 1999 documentary, Get Bruce, chronicled Vilanch's day-to-day life. He has the amazing distinction of having acted in Mahogany & Ice Pirates. Vilanch works tirelessly for gay rights.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Hansika South Movie Images
Seetha ramula Kalyanam lankalo starring Nitin and Hansika Motwani in the lead is progressing at a brisk space. This movie is directed by Eshwar Reddy of Siddu.......
9 Images
Poe the Clydesdale World's tallest Horse
It’s lucky he’s such a good-natured beast. Because if this horse turned grumpy, there’s no way a petite woman armed with a rope could hold him back. Standing 20.2 hands - that’s 6ft 10in - at the shoulder and weighing 200 stone, Poe is the tallest horse in the world, according to owner Shereen Thompson.
Mane attraction: Clydesdale Poe with 5ft 3in tall owner Shereen Thompson in Tupperville, Ontario in Canada, more images after the break...
Continue Reading.......
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Born On This Day- November 21st... Talented Actor Cherry Jones
Cherry Jones is epitome of the successful stage actor, & yet she is probably best known for a TV series. In 2008, Jones joined the cast of the Fox television series, 24, playing the role of the President of the United States. For her work in this role, she received a 2009 Emmy Award as Best Supporting Actress in a Drama. Cherry Jones became the first out lesbian to win a Tony Award when she was chosen as Best Actress in 1995. Classically trained & notably versatile, she has performed in a wide range of stage roles, gaining admiration for her professionalism.
Cherry Jones grew up in Paris, Tennessee- "a wonderful little town . . . a wonderful mix of tolerant and intolerant people," she acknowledges feeling like an outsider at times, such as when, at age twelve, she felt alienated from her church because "they could never embrace [me] because of [my] homosexuality.". Seeing Colleen Dewhurst in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten caused a 16 year old Jones, to aspire to be a professional actress herself. Ironically, Jones would go on to play this role on Broadway opposite Gabriel Byrne in 2000. After making her Broadway debut as the Angel in Tony Kushner's Angels in America, Jones had her first major Broadway role in Timberlake Wertenbaker's Our Country's Good in 1991, for which she earned a Tony nomination. She was also nominated in 2000 for her performance in A Moon for the Misbegotten.
In 1995, after fifteen years on stage, Jones became an "overnight sensation" with a powerful lead performance in a revival of Ruth and Augustus Goetz's The Heiress, & she also became the first openly gay actress to win a Tony award. In her acceptance speech, she thanked her partner- architect Mary O'Connor. In 2004, after 18 years together, Jones & O'Connor ended their relationship. Jones is currently in a relationship with actress Sarah Paulson. In 2004, Jones starred in the Manhattan Theatre Club's production of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, which moved to Broadway in 2005 & won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Jones's intense performance as a nun suspicious that a priest might be abusing students won her a second Tony Award. Jones called the experience of being the first out lesbian to win a Tony "humbling," & spoke of the importance of the award saying - "it means the world to all of those people in all of those places who can't be out." My friend Kevin A studied with her & he told me that she was an amazing & inspirational acting coach.
Friday, November 20, 2009
I Finally Have An Unhappy Childhood
It seems that the story of my childhood is not that common. I didn’t have a dysfunctional family; I grew up with loving & supportive parents that gave me every advantage. They both were working professionals & we were lucky enough to have a really nice house, a lake cabin, & cars. We took vacations & visited my grandparents, who were equally as loving. My parents paid for music lessons, dance class & art lessons &, laid out money for 4 years of private university education. They came to see all my plays & concerts. My parents gave me all the tools to become a model gay man in the new millenium. I have continue to enjoy their good humor & their company.
Last Sunday, my parents forwarded an email with the heading- “Warning!”. The text stated that it was important that everyone watch a Fox News special that would reveal the truth about our President being a Marxist. I should have just deleted it., but I was so outraged & weary of people claiming that Mr. Obama is a Marxist, socialist, Nazi, & foreign born that I fired off a reply that stated “if any of you think that our President is a Marxist, you are truly nutty & probably racist, & if you let Sean Hannity & Fox News make your political decisions for you, then you are not just nutty, you are stupid & lazy… do any of you actually know what Marxism is?.” This set off a series of responses to me from the people in the email group saying mean & hateful things about me & my views. One person said that my response was “typical of someone that acts like a cornered animal”. I would respond with comments such as –“I don’t know why my smart & loving parents would know or associate with people like you”. My parents later emailed & stated that they were hurt & dismayed by the emails & that my father thinks I have called him stupid, my mother has been crying & that I am “tearing apart the fabric of our family”. Now I feel terrible for hurting my parents, but if I am forwarded an email like this, am I not allowed to respond? I apologized to my parents, who have not acknowledged the apology. They are apparently not speaking to me. Now in my deep middle-age, I finally have a dysfunctional family.
Quote Of The Day
“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”
Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
A photograph is neither taken nor seized by force. It offers itself up. It is the photo that takes you. One must not take photos.
The title quote is by Henri Cartier-Bresson
I was going down for the third time
My heart was broken,
I was not open to your suggestions
I had so many questions
That you just kissed away
Tell me, I guess that cupid was in disguise
The day you walked in and changed my life,
I think it's amazing,
The way that love can set you free
So now I walk in the midday sun
I never thought that my saviour would come
I think it's amazing
I think it's amazing
I think you are amazing
George Michael
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
What Does He Think Of That?
Now I am quietly waiting for
the catastrophe of my personality
to seem beautiful again,
and interesting, and modern.
The country is grey and
brown and white in trees,
snows and skies of laughter
always diminishing, less funny
not just darker, not just grey.
It may be the coldest day of the year,
what does he think of that?
I mean, what do I do?
And if I do,
perhaps I am myself again.
Mayakovsky by Frank O’Hara from Meditations In An Emergency
Born On This Day- November 18th... Songwriter Johnny Mercer
One hundred years ago today, Johnny Mercer was born in Savannah, Ga., & he grew up to be one of the most popular lyricists of the American Songbook. He was decidedly, not gay, but Johnny Mercer is one my favorite lyricist. He wrote witty, smart, insightful lyrics. Mercer wrote the words, & sometimes the music, for more than 1,500 songs, with more than 200 collaborators, among them composers Harold Arlen, Hoagy Carmichael & Jerome Kern. He was nominated for 18 Academy Awards & won 4. He was the 1st president of the Songwriters Hall Of Fame & the founder of Capitol Records. Mercer was a charming & talented man & a favorite of mine. Here are some of the songs that he supplied the words for:
Hit The Road To Dream Land, Blues In The Night, Skylark, One For My Baby, Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive, Dream, Come Rain Or Come Shine, Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home, Autumn Leaves, Something’s Gotta Give, & Moon River.
Here is Robbie Williams doing the greatest Saloon Song of all time:
It's quarter to three, there's no one in the place except you & me
So, set 'em up, Joe, I got a little story you oughta know
We're drinkin', my friend, to the end of a brief episode
Make it one for my baby & one more for the road
I got the routine, so drop another nickel in the music machine
I'm feelin' so bad, wish you'd make the music pretty & sad
Could tell you a lot, but you've got to be true to your code
So, make it one for my baby & one more for the road
You'd never know it but buddy, I'm a kind of poet
& I got a lot of things to say
& when I'm gloomy, you simply gotta listen to me
Till it's all talked away
Well that's how it goes & Joe... I know your gettin' pretty anxious to close
So, thanks for the cheer, I hope you didn't mind my bendin' your ear
This torch that I found must be drowned or it soon might explode
So, make it one for my baby and one more for the road
That long, long road
Hit The Road To Dream Land, Blues In The Night, Skylark, One For My Baby, Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive, Dream, Come Rain Or Come Shine, Any Place I Hang My Hat Is Home, Autumn Leaves, Something’s Gotta Give, & Moon River.
Here is Robbie Williams doing the greatest Saloon Song of all time:
It's quarter to three, there's no one in the place except you & me
So, set 'em up, Joe, I got a little story you oughta know
We're drinkin', my friend, to the end of a brief episode
Make it one for my baby & one more for the road
I got the routine, so drop another nickel in the music machine
I'm feelin' so bad, wish you'd make the music pretty & sad
Could tell you a lot, but you've got to be true to your code
So, make it one for my baby & one more for the road
You'd never know it but buddy, I'm a kind of poet
& I got a lot of things to say
& when I'm gloomy, you simply gotta listen to me
Till it's all talked away
Well that's how it goes & Joe... I know your gettin' pretty anxious to close
So, thanks for the cheer, I hope you didn't mind my bendin' your ear
This torch that I found must be drowned or it soon might explode
So, make it one for my baby and one more for the road
That long, long road
New Ocean to form inside Africa ?
A 35-mile rift in the desert of Ethiopia will eventually become a new ocean or sea, researchers now confirm. The crack, 20 feet wide in spots, opened in 2005. Some geologists believed then that it would spawn a new ocean. But that view was controversial, and the.......
6 Images
Top 10 Ways To Impress Her Mom
No.3 - Acknowledge your girlfriend
When push comes to shove, her mother doesn't care about flowers, salons or other gentlemanly gestures; your girlfriend's mom is really only concerned with how you.......
10 Ways
Gorgeous Riya Sen Photoshoot
Gorgeous Riya Sen Photoshoot. Bengali Babe and b0mb $hell Riya Sen looks scorching h0t in the latest photoshoot. She has very cute face and due to that she still looks like a college girl.
8 Images
Seven Wonders Of India
04. Hampi
Vijayanagar Raja Gopura at Hampi, Karnataka
Vijayanagar Raja Gopura at Hampi, Karnataka
The 14th century ruins nestle within them with almost every highlight of classical Indian architecture. Palaces, temples, marketplaces, watch towers, stables, baths and.......
11 Images
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Happy Birthday, RuPaul!
It has been pointed out by some friends & some readers, that my blog is all abut love, love, love. Not always; I can get crabby & I have a long list of things, people, events & behavior that get under my skin... but, I do love drag queens, & I love the Supermodel Of The World- RuPaul. I love her & I love him. I love PuPaul's Drag Race on Logo. I love the music. I truly love the gender-fuck. Happy Birthday, Ru!
Born On This Day- November 17th... Movie Idol Rock Hudson
Leroy (Roy) Harold Scherer, Jr. was born on this day in 1925. Rock Hudson was blessed with the urbane charm, dashing good looks, & virile masculinity of Hollywood's classic matinee idol image. His image & talents were used to great effect romantic comedies, often paired with the equally magnetic Doris Day. One of the most popular movie stars of hisera, Hudson's screen career spanned 5 decades & was a true example of Hollywood's classical "star system" style career promotion. His early success was the result of careful cultivation & nurturing by major movie studio executives. While generally underappreciated for his skills as an actor, Hudson showed unexpected glimmers of brilliance, as in George Stevens' 1956 epic, Giant for which he received an Academy Award nomination. Known for his easy going demeanor off-screen, Hudson was well thought of by colleagues & seemed to enjoy a rich & happy life in the public eye. In truth, Hudson endured a deeply troubled private life, living a lie for the sake of his career, including going along with a studio arranged marriage. Manufactured to be Hollywood's ultimate ladies man, Rock Hudson was a lifelong gay man. It could be claimed that Rock Hudson was one of the greatest actors who ever lived: a gay man who became an international symbol of heterosexuality. In the more open 1970s, Hudson did become more visible in bars & bathhouses on the West Coast, & was even included post-coitally, anonymously but with his blessing, in Armistead Maupin's newspaper serial Tales of the City.
Tragically, after contracting the HIV virus & dying of AIDS in 1985, his private life was thrust public for the world to see. Hudson would become the first major Hollywood casualty of the misunderstood & widely feared disease. Hudson's sex life received detailed attention posthumously when a lover, Marc Christian (who died last week from a drug overdose), whom he had not informed of his diagnosis, successfully sued his estate. But he would not die in vain. His death not only opened people's eyes to the disease itself, it inspired his good friend Elizabeth Taylor to begin her decadesl ong role as a prominent AIDS activist, raising millions in the fight against the deadly disease that had robbed her friend of his golden years. He was always a favorite of mine & his passing brought me much sadness. I like the frothy comedies, but I most appreciate him in Magnificent Obsession (1954), All That Heaven Allows (1955) & Written on the Wind (1956), which were directed by Hudson's mentor, Douglas Sirk.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Trucks, Love & Videotape
NEVER FACE THE FACTS
I did a post at the end of October, on the birthday of, about my muse- Ruth Gordon. I went on to state that this amazing actor gave me my motto- Never Face The Facts, which is a quote from one of her volumes of memoirs. Yesterday, the Husband, who is a stunningly talented artist, was sifting through his box of images that he uses for his collages & assemblages, & I spotted this page from a magazine article about our house in Seattle. We lived, for 15 years, in this tiny 600 square foot cottage in the Wallingford neighborhood. This house received quite a bit of attention, not just for the design work, but because 2 men & 2 canines were able to live in this tiny space. The house had 2 rooms- The Room & The Other Room. We climbed a ladder to our bedroom built in the rafters of the attached garage (it was the original Boy's Fort). From May-October the cottage increased in square footage, as we moved furniture & rugs to the outdoor rooms that we had created using decks, walkways, lattice & plants. The house had originally been a house boat on Lake Union, & had been brought up the 4 blocks our tiny street & plopped on cinder blocks, to become a "mother-in-law" unit for the manner house owned by our landlords & dear friends- Robert & Margo. This was a happy & productive time for us, & we had wonderful neighbors, who became important friends & major players in our lives. The house was featured in a book- Flea Market Decorating by Merideth Press. It is lovely to have such a gratifying archive from this period. We still have most of this stuff, but in very different configurations. Post Apocalyptic Bohemia is a much different house & a much different life. We are older & changed, but the Husband still provides an interesting, beautiful & provocative place for us to call home. He are some photos (by Mike Jensen) from the book, you can click on any image to enlarge:
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