First Place

The Baadlamb's brother, my brother-in-law, takes first place in the annual Hilton Head 10K.

Pre-Holiday House Cleaning

I find that some things have gone unreported. Among them are these moments:

We attended the XXXX birthday edition of His Erudition, and if you are not reading his singularly reformated blog you are missing some fine writing and thinking. His approach sets him apart from others who write first and think second, if at all.

A guest who I am assuming will want to remain headless.

Chris, the BaadLamb, JMG and ELeven:


Earlier that day, I helped the talented Baad Lamb install a sign he had designed. I helped by staying out of the way.


That same day, we had a delightful rendezvous with John Shields (Bilerico alumnus) Dave Badash (Bilerico contributor) and Justin Elzie (hot New Yorker).


I don't remember the what or where of this photo. It is from the same day as the above. It may have been from the Xtravaganza House Ball at Irving Plaza. My life is blurred.

Hilton Head, South Carolina

Xtravaganza!

Getting an early start for Hilton Head (highest concentration of heterosexuality in the known universe) for the week. First, here's a few shots of the House of Xtravaganza Ball at New York's irving Plaza,Friday, November 20, 2009. (In the fifth picture are the frosted lucite dress form trophies awarded to the category winners!)






I'll assemble a complete video but you mustn't miss the end of this where he does the "fall back" move from on top of the table! (I don't know much about this dance move, but I am guessing it can be traced to crazed church services in which someone slain by the spirit falls backward onto the floor.) Nobody did this move like this guy did it!

Mixnyc.org because it is bad to take yourself too seriously.

On Friday at midnight we went to a MIX NYC art installation and video show at 125 West 21st Street in NYC. We were invited by Christian and were warmly welcomed by friendly fun-loving faeries. About MIX NYC:

MIX NYC Promotes, produces and preserves experimental media that is rooted in the lives, politics and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and otherwise queer-identified people. MIX’s work challenges mainstream notions of gender and sexuality while also upending traditional categories of form and content.

I would love to get a copy of the video in which a naked young man staring at a TV with zombie eyes repeatedly droned "I'm an activist. I'm an activist. I'm an activist." There are easily two dozen people to whom I'd like to send that clip.

Here are Christian, The Baad Lamb and Daisy


I met someone named Busy who really wasn't.


The Baad Lamb recumbent.

The Baad Lamb has a history of climbing without hesitance into inviting art installations. This happened two years ago.

And this happened at Exit Art.

Ari Gold's helmet

At last night's Instinct Magazine Leading Men awards bash honoring our Joe, after Ari Gold finished his performance, Dr. Jeff suggested dared me to try on his helmet left onstage.


Ari's manager, probably now regretting the fact that he had just given me his card, ended the arigolden moment.



photos by Dr Jeff.

JoeMyGod honored as one of Instinct Magazine's Leading Men of 2009

And a good time was had by all. Here's the evidence.

I am especially pleased with this:

The dissolution of heterostyle

This is not really news. Anyone with eyes on the sidewalks in New York City would have seen this percolate on the Lower East Side and spill over into Chelsea, Hell's Kitchen and finally the Upper West Side where after a season of being digested and defined in the boardroom of the Gap, it finally appears in their windows.

Why is this important? It makes drag impossible. Old fashioned drag, that is. Once men and women give themselves license to shop in each others aisles, it's all over. There have been incremental baby steps: unisex bathrooms, unisex hair salons, goth make-up and jewelry, nail polish, biker chic, euro-chic, messenger bags, Doc Martins, Converse. And don't tell me you've never walked into a clothing store at the mall and been unable to determine which section was for women and which for men.

I used to try on women's sweaters because their length suited me. It was always a trying experience. Now, it would be a non-event.

Do you have anything at home that was originally designed for the opposite sex? I do. My husband.

As Tim Gunn told me the other night, all fashion is about expressing how you see yourself and want others to see you. All fashion is semiotic.

Tomorrow on Bilerico: "In My Grandmother's Dress"

You'll have to go to Bilerico tomorrow morning to find my answer to this:

Dear Father Tony,

I read what you recently wrote about parenting so maybe you can settle something for me. We are two men raising my five year old son. I want this kid to grow up to be confident, which you correctly noted is so important, and because of that I want him to fit in at school. I don't want him to act loopy or fem or dress "different" when he is young. He will have plenty of time for that when he is older if he wants. Because of this, we are careful to dress masculine at home. We never did drag but I mean that we have just toned down the whole gay way of dressing. We are keeping it "beige" if you know what I mean. I think I'm doing the kid a favor. He can flame out in whatever direction he wants to when he is on his own. My husband says I might be wrong about this.

Triathlete69r

Update: It's up. Get on it.

In which Tim Gunn gives me fashion advice!

In my assigned seat on the runway (front row, thanks GMHC!) I had no idea that the cute and friendly guy next to me was a 2008 Nightlife Coverboy of the Year. His card says he is a VP at the bank holding my savings. I am comforted.

I traded air kisses with America's sweetheart, LOGO's Mike Diamond. And no, he's not engaged. A $6 rhinestone from Canal Street.



Here's a photo album of the event.

Watch Mark's List. Possible New Owner of South Florida Blade/411?

This would not surprise me.

There has been an alliance of effort between Mark's List and The South Florida Blade/411 in recent months. I began to notice some co-sponsorship of events I was covering/attending. You could almost smell an impending marriage. Even so, no acquisition is bloodless. If this union is what will infold, I will be interested in seeing what Mark's List does with what they acquire. There will be more than just a name change.

UPDATE: Suspicions correct: Here's Mark Haines' statement.

Thank you, Commenter 320

Joey has informed me that I have been honored by commenter 320 on this post as being FBI worthy.

Following Patty Hearst who became Tanya, I've had to come up with my underground name: Regina Mortis!

Mr. Sitt is sitting pretty.

Go to the very end of this article about the situation with Coney Island to get a lesson in how to makes tens of millions of dollars simply by not doing something.

Tomorrow on Bilerico: "Snap Out Of It."

You'll have to go to Bilerico tomorrow for my response to this:

Dear Father Tony,

I am tired of everything I have here. But everything is just fine. Home, guy, job, money. Car. I just think maybe this is all a mistake and I’m not happy and I could be if I slipped out the back door in the middle of the night.

“Feeling guilty for what I have not done.”

I know he's innocent because

Priests never go keening
For men with dry cleaning.

Always check your spam folder.

Do you realize how heavily Jane Austen or Edith Wharton, if they were writing today, would lean on the "spam folder" as the declaration of love-thwarting romantic doom device that could cause generations of unhappy marriages, regret and erroneous avoidances. And what fun Shakespeare would have had with it. It could replace the sleeping potion in Romeo and Juliet. And, my God, Dickens! He'd have loved it too much.

Ugh. Questo non mi piace. Una cosa brutta.

I am soooo over Zaha Hadid. Is there no civilized corner of the world that she will not degrade?

This looks like an arthritic vulture that crashed after suffering a heart attack in mid-flight.

However and to be fair, I will reserve judgment until I've actually visited the carcass.

NYC Anti-Violence Project Award Winners

Sometimes these award events are actually meaningful. These four great writers, Pam, Andy, Bil and Joe, could have chosen to focus on anything with equal success. The fact that they cover the reality of gay America, reaching into remote parts of the country where isolated gay folks really need what they deliver makes this award significant and well-deserved.

Pam's got the story.

Here is one of Pam's photos. I wish they had all worn just their "work clothes"....

Gay Violence

Inevitable?

Recently Emergent Key West Photos

I love this one.

This is hilarious. (Steve was our host.)

I have absolutely no recollection of this.

Best Waterfront Mansion in Fort Lauderdale

Do you remember what Klipspringer played on Gatsby's piano?

Gay Fathers vs Walmart

I just want to know why they were buying BIC lighters. That should have been the subject of the chat in the detention room.

This week, in the South Florida Blade,

I think I'm sort of saying that we should turn our theaters back into barns? Anyway, I don't write the headlines.

I have to give credit to Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell for the "donuts for dinner" thing. I don't know if they coined it, but I lifted it from their musical [Title of Show].

My editor decided to axe one line that he felt was unkind. Unfortunately, it contained a phrase of which I was rather proud. It's the last sentence of this section:

I also observe that many gay folks have begun to feel that annual Pride marches and annual gay celebrations are also “donuts for dinner”. With this in mind, I attended the recent “Wicked Manors” Halloween event in Wilton Manors. I had read about its financial woes and was curious to determine its value. I took home the conclusion that a huge crowd of revelers seemed to have a swell time, but if alcohol had been subtracted from the evening, the event would have fizzled faster than the gay excitement at a 7:30 AM Mass in a Catholic church. My overwhelming impression was of the grim and unsmiling face under the heavy make-up of the de rigueur drag-queen-as-emcee who gave the night a tangible “de rigueur mortis”, if you’ll allow me the rare satisfaction of a franco-latin portmanteau.

Tomorrow on Bilerico: "Backyard Swings, Not Slings, For The Kids."

You'll have to go to Bilerico tomorrow after 11:30AM EST for my response to the following:

Hey FT, we are not looking for your advice, sorry. We are a gay couple 10 years strong and curious about what you have to say about displaying or hiding our sexuality in front of our kids who are 7, 9 and 14. Wanna go there?

Rex & Reg

What Maine tells us

If there is any consolation to be had, it is that the closeness of the vote might mean that we are just one election cycle away from a popular vote somewhere in the country coming in pro-gay. It is easily within reach.

I suspect that an analysis of the Maine vote will show that older Mainers voted anti-gay and younger ones voted pro-gay. Older voters tend to die off. At most, we are one generation away from being rid of the oppression of god-fearing homophobes.

Tomorrow on Bilerico: "Superman Never Looked This Good!"

You'll have to go to Bilerico tomorrow afternoon for my review of Nightlife and my interview with its author, Dale Lazarov.

Mike Diamond

LOGO's fabulous Mike Diamond firmly believes that he looks better in motion than in still photography. Here he states his case.

Island House, the friendliest place in Key West

Here's Island House bartender Paul offering to stir our drinks.


Here's Island House staffer Vinny checking our plumbing.


The satisfied guest in apartment 419.


Island House provides a signature sarong for wandering about the lush premises. We model them here and here. (Remember the strictly enforced rules of flickr: no reproduction of these without permission.)

The Queens of Key West

Steve Smith is with the Key West Business Guild.

Kate Miano is a "freshwater conch" and a former Fantasy Fest Queen.

These folks are the real Key West which is a wildly delightful blend of people who have decided to allow their lives to be great fun.

This interview was conducted at the seriously accommodating Gardens Hotel on Angela Street.

Olivia and 1200 lesbians invade Key West

My favorite food pornographer

If Tate Hunt is this good with food, imagine what he'd be like if he turned his lens on you.

Curmudgeon-by-the-Sea

Before you proclaim your favorite JMG-in-Key West-pic, consider these.

Key West - Not So Straight Afterall

Go here for Joe's account.

Here are just a few pics:



I haven't quite mastered the moped. Pray for me and all who traverse the roadways.

Here is the Curmudgeon-By-The-Sea:

Island House Key West

Joe and I are at the Island House in Key West.
They have given us an apartment.
This is THE place to stay.





I was delighted to see old friends who had been our house guests maaaany years ago in Montreal. Ken and Tony, now local Key West guys.
Joe has just arrived. Must prepare for the Coronation Ball!

Hard work

Tomorrow, I will drive to Key West where I'm to be the guest of the travel and tourism types who will show me the town's charms and pamper me with food and drink. It is their expectation that I will describe it to you, and I gladly oblige, for long have I longed to visit Key West.

Beyond showing up and enjoying all that Key West has to offer, my main responsibility consists of sharing splendid quarters with JMG.

I've traveled with JMG many a time. He is not difficult en hoof. I think I can manage this.

Making Light of it.

He was unruhly.

Language Alert: Is the President Economically Queer?

A few minutes ago, on Good Morning America, a man with a southern accent, referring to Obama's impression that we may be in a depression, said "Oh that's just the President in drama queen mode."

You know a phrase has come full circle when an economist on mainstream TV calls the President an enthusiastic homosexual without even knowing it, and when no one raises an eyebrow.

I'm guessing that this phrase - very definitely gay in origin - moved into the straight community through hairdressers who used it in conversation with clients. Mothers with improved hair might go home and use it on their young tantrum-throwing children. This is where their husbands first heard it. Concurrently, it infiltrated the workplace where it was first introduced by gay employees much to the delight of their straight co-workers. (I know this to be true. I was one of the carriers.) Initially, the gay co-worker would sanitize the phrase by using it to refer only to a female co-worker who might be acting out. Soon enough, whole offices would be using it to refer to men and women alike.

I knew the phrase had come almost full circle when, a few years ago, in a meeting with my female boss, she accused me of being a drama queen. Because, as administrators, she and I very carefully suppressed all elements of "gay" in our workplace, I knew that she didn't have a clue about what she was really saying.

Note, in gay parlance, the drama queen is never to be confused with the Broadway queen or the musical comedy queen or the theater queen. They are different critters, and Obama, soon after becoming President, managed to take his wife to New York for dinner and a show without becoming any of them. I fully expect the mainstreamed confusion of all these queens to soon unfold.

Remembering the Party

This is what it looks like to remember the party. Thirty years later.

Diocese of Wilmington Declares Bankruptcy

And so it begins.

What is most interesting in the letter of Bishop Malooly is his feigned chagrin that creditors won't be getting the money owed them by the diocese. Your Excellency, they don't call it Chapter 11 PROTECTION for nothing. You used a legal mechanism to wiggle out of paying debts that you don't want to pay. Could you pay them? Certainly. Sell stuff. Close parishes. Work longer and for less pay. Cook your own meals. Buy less scotch. Sack cloth and ashes in reparation for what those child molesting priests have done would have been the right response rather than the safety net of bankruptcy. Funny, isn't it, that Rome didn't bail you out. I guess they also don't think that Wilmington is worth pawning the jewels for. Shame. Shame upon shame.

Thugs in College Point say it wasn't a hate crime

Look into the faces of the friends of jailed attacker Danny Rodriguez. Read their comments on Joe's post. Listen to the words of Marisa Ragonese about the value of education. If it takes a village to raise a child, all it takes is some concertedly negligent parenting to produce stupid and hateful children. These young thugs know only their street corner, plus an occasional trip to the prison on nearby Riker's Island.They are pitiful and pitiable.

The following video will show you the positioning of the two groups and includes some of activist Brendan Fay's passionate statement.

A Mother, a Sick Son and his Father, the Priest

A Mother, a Sick Son and his Father, a Priest is sure to take the wind out of whatever whallop the American bishops thought their Pastoral Letter might have in Maine. It is an amazing story. I disagree only with the reporter's aside, speculating that as much as 20% of the clergy are conducting sexual affairs with women. That presumes an awful lot of heterosexuality for which I see little evidence. Especially delicious is the fact that the guy was a seminary rector. I doubt anyone has done a study of this, but seminary rectors are among the most sexually active of the clergy. I got stories.

A Lethal Love Letter from the Catholic Bishops of the USA

Got Catholic friends in Maine? Send them this. I suspect the final draft of the Pastoral Letter on Marriage was deliberately leaked to coincide with a certain situation in Maine.

A Love Letter from the Roman Catholic Bishops of the USA from tony adams on Vimeo.

New FTC rules for bloggers

Interesting.

It doesn't come into effect until December 1.

I suspect I will not be impacted because I make no money from this blog. But anyone who receives ad revenue may be subject to some disclosure requirements.

The Cactus Cuties

Not since Whitney Houston have I heard it sung so well. And their ages are 6-8! I wouldn't mess with the one in the middle. Annie wouldn't be big enough for her. She could out-diva even Miss Ross.

Tomorrow on Bilerico: "Advice for a Gay Roman Catholic Convert""

You will have to go to Bilerico tomorrow after 10:30AM for my response to this:

Fr. Tony,

Hello, my name is Steven. I was viewing the Bilerico website and saw your blog. I have a question in hoping you may assist me. First of all, I am a Roman Catholic and have been for over two years now. I love the church and do attend mass; however, I am a 45 yr old gay man. According to the church, gays are not allowed to practice their lifestyle. I thought I could simply ignore how I feel, but I cannot. God created us and if he did not want us to have these "feelings" , then we wouldn't experience them and want to seek out companionship with a member of the same sex. If I confess to my priest how I feel and would want to establish a loving and stable relationship with another man, would be I facing excommunication from the church?

I hope I can find a peacable solution as to what to do. I understand some catholic churches do accept GLBT couples.

Peace be with you always,

Steven M. _____

Update: It's up. Get on it.

The reading of the Joe Jervis Day proclamation.

Joe is 50 years old and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome declares it Joe Jervis Day. At Firewood restaurant in the Castro, Leif Wauters reads the proclamation.

Joe Jervis Day in San Francisco

A Feast of Fools

I listened to the President's speech at last night's HRC dinner. It was a very pretty speech. The hall was filled with gay accessocrats who erupted with frenzied applause at all the moments designed for it. Actually, the speech was empty of anything other than good wishes. What the President did not say rang louder than what he did say. For instance, he did say this:

My expectation is that when you look back on these years you will see a time in which we as a nation finally recognize relationships between two men or two women as just as real and admirable as relationships between a man and a woman.

That’s why I support insuring that committed gay couples have the same rights and responsibilities afforded to any married couple in this country.

This translates to: I never have and never will support gay marriage.

Only a fool would stand up and applaud that declaration. The HRC dinner was a feast of fools.

Naked Guy on Castro Street

Lloyd is one of a number of men who habitually stroll Castro Street nakedly. Through the window of Harvey's where we had salad, we saw a few of them differentiated only by head gear and shoes. Here, he has paused for a bit of conversation in front of The Body Shoppe with its cheer-ful safe sex poster.

He illustrates a major difference between San Francisco and New York City. The citizens of SF give themselves extensive license. The NYC residents are all about restraint. It's not that one family is more insane than the other. It's just that the craziness is trotted out in SF and tailored in NYC.

Vulcan Street

Climbing Vulcan Street and inspecting its gardens with Mark and Tim.

This city is reeking with rosemary, lavender, eucalyptus, various salvias, jasmine, santolina, artemesia and fennel, all needing no special attention. The fig trees! The many colored lantanas! The agapanthus!

(photo by the Baad Lamb)

JoeMyGod Almost Fifty

The JMG birthday group on Noe Street October 9, 2009

Front row left to right: The Baad Lamb, Aaron, Tim, Mark
Back row left to right: Yours, David, XXX, Joe, Tom, Chris, Craig, Nick

In the Castro

We are on Noe Street. The Baad Lamb has filled the house with the aroma of garlic. JoeMyGod, Chris, Craig, Nick and Aaron. David soon to arrive.





And, here are Darrin (blog reader, new friend, sharp, delightful, and, boys, single....) and the Baad Lamb at the De Young museum two days ago.

Brendan Fay wishes JoeMyGod a happy 50th

Robbyn Kaamil wishes JoeMyGod a happy 50th

We walk SF on a beautiful day

We started the day with coffee at The Blue Bottle cafe near the SF Mint. From there we walked down Market Street to the Embarcadero where we accidentally came upon The Slanted Door restaurant (recommended by more than one JMG reader). We snagged a fine outdoor table. Everything we were served was excellent and the service was flawless. Here is the incredibly savory and airy and golden Vietnamese crepe, and two desserts. The mixed confectioner's plate was a pyrotechnical fanfare of aromatic infusions.





We continued down the Embarcadero to Pier 27 where we turned inland in search of the paths up to the Coit Tower.



The Baad Lamb took this picture of a Tibouchina Urvilleana. We tried growing one indoors many years ago on the farm in Connecticut. Bugs ate it.



The Coit Tower has wonderful WPA murals. Here is just a hint.



We then walked down Lombard through the North Beach area and walked up the zigzag part of Lombard in the Russian Hill neighborhood. We turned left onto Hyde and followed that up and down to Sacramento stopping to see Grace Cathedral and Huntington Park.

We continued down Sacramento to Powell which brought us back to our hotel.

San Francisco is friendly, casual, jaunty and whimsical. It is not flat. Most people would not or could not do the walk we did today, but I highly recommend every inch of it. The air is delicious here.

Here is a sign inside the Coit Tower. I think we can all agree that a comma after shoot her would have been helpful.

Enrique Ramirez Makes Waves

Here are some entertaining pictures from a wildly splendid birthday party we attended Friday night at the Grace Hotel pool on 45th Street. Enrique Ramirez is the owner of Face To Face, the go-to spa for anyone serious about his or her skin. The treatments are various, including the bleaching of anuses (ani?)!

As the totally delightful MC of the evening, Robbyn Kaamil, said "Enrique is a good soul". Although you might think from the pictures that this was a party for the young, gorgeous and vacuous, I've been around the block often enough to notice when the tenor of a crowd is above the fold in "goodness". We met some fascinators, and if we weren't in San Francisco, holed up in what Priceline considers a four-star hotel near Union Square, Parc55, catching our breath after a mighty weekend, I'd have the time to tell you about them. Patience, meanwhile, and enjoy. A fantastic party. (Enrique looked fabulous.)

Today on Bilerico: "He's 20 And He's Worried""

You will have to go to Bilerico this morning to see my response to the following:

Dear Father Tony,

I've been a reader on Bilerico for a few months. I've read previous letters that you have received and posted on the Bilerico website and wondered if I could do the same.

I am a 20 year old gay male, living in Florida. Even though here where I live, there is not much bigotry I read different articles from multiple gay press website (ex. The Advocate, Bilerico, Washington Blade) and I can't help but feel that eventually something is going to happen. I mean, with how the fight that is going on in Maine, I fear that someday, that battle will come here. I know that eventually it's going to happen in all states, but what is there to do when the National Organization for Marriage and all the anti-gay groups decide to come here?...I said to my boyfriend that I want to move out of this country and live in a place where we can be happy. I know it seems like a big rant or that I think negatively, and I apologize. But I can't seem to shake the feeling that this country can't have an wide view of the different people that live in it.

What do you think Father Tony? Do you have any suggestions on what you think will happen to this country in the future?

Thank you for reading this,

Michael