"Life would be tolerable but for its amusements" --George Cornewall Lewis

So, the big joke around Hollywood is about whether or not Superman is gay... yet, if I were a betting person, I'd put my money on Lex Luthor wants to know most of all. Jay Leno joked that the studio's nervous re-imaging of Superman just proves that he's a top... but is Lex a pushy bottom?

Yes, I'm quite certain all Hollywood could see Lex licking his chops as he has Superman top him.

I'm less concerned whether Superman is gay on the screen than if his alter ego is when he is not. Me and a hundred million other gay men. Sigh.

The '06 Bottom of the Year Award may go to Kevin, but the contest for Villain of the Year looks to be between Meryl Streep and Star Jones. Meryl has Best Wardrobe of the Year, hands down --and I've only seen the promos for The Devil Wears Prada.

I'm sure there will be a prize Best Bitch Fight between Star Jones and Barbara Walters, though.

"Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is rotten to the core." -Arendt

Among the e-mails I received regarding the mention of him in an earlier post, were those who were apparently unaware that Lyndon LaRouche authored a ballot initiative in California that would have quarantined all people living with HIV. In addition, from 1989 to 1994, LaRouche served time in Federal prison for cleaning out the bank accounts of unwitting donors who wrote him a check or used their credit card. Click on the header to read several direct quotes of Lyndon LaRouche.

I have a deep and searing memory of being surrounded by a group of LaRouche volunteers in 1990 at the entrance to the LA County Fair in Pomona. At present, his volunteers focus almost exclusively on an anti-Cheney hook to grab the attention of passers-by --and, hey, who wouldn't want to be on an anti-Cheney crusade? Many of the volunteers I've seen around Los Angeles staffing LaRouche tables are far too young to remember his regular tirades against gays and lesbians (at the time, we were his new-found cause-- even as he was being led off to jail for fraud) much less his unsuccessful attempt to round up people with HIV and put them in concentration camps. That is no exaggeration.

Oh yeah, and he said that British royal family put Hitler in power. It's a little known fact that a great deal of the British royal family's wealth is derived from almost half a millennium of involvement in the slave trade; but there's evil and then there's evil. And as evil and complicit as the monarchies of Western Europe have been in the genocide of peoples the globe over, I doubt they can claim Hitler as their doing. Not on purpose, at any rate.

Hey, but at least it's DRY heat...

8:32 p.m., June 24: Willow Station on the Metro Blue Line: The Tour des Artistes was as delightfully disorganized as any art fair could be when run by a bunch of artists -- but a lot of fun all the same, and worth spending almost three hours wandering through the Long Beach East Village Arts District.

It almost made up for running into the LaRouche volunteers --again-- outside my post office. They have some nerve, putting up a table in the heart of WeHo. What worries me more, though, is how little people seem to be aware of who they are. That their homophobic, anti-Semitic, racist propaganda could be disseminated in the heart of gay-and-Jewish West Hollywood is more a commentary on the apathy of the community. Karen Ocamb has an excellent piece in the new issue of IN Magazine where she talks about that very issue.

Those LaRouche volunteers --as well as the people taking their pamphlets-- may have little to no idea of what LaRouche has done. I tried to get one of the volunteers to say whether they were actually being paid, but he was cagey enough not to bite --and raise my suspicions that he can't claim complete ignorance about LaRouche's politics.

Thank you, Jetboy747, wherever you are at this moment, for my gratuituous Jake shot.

Eric Rofes pased away yesterday ---

One of his first books was, "I Thought People Like That Killed Themselves," a still timely text on gay suicide for youth.

What a bummer. We've lost another brilliant mind.

NOW this feels like summer...

I see a car go by La Cienega and Santa Monica with a red string tied on the steering wheel... is this Kar-ballah?

There's a photo shoot up the hill at the Case Study House as I walk down the Sunset Strip; I see the occasional flash going off with the tiniest of ant-sized people running around...

I'll head down to the East Village Arts Festival to escape the heat this afternoon. This seems like a great way to get my Summer in Paradise officially going!

So why does it surprise me to discover I'm the last person in the Western Hemisphere to discover Cristiano Ronaldo? When I searched online, I found these photos that are apparently for a Pepe Jeans ad campaign. And what does this have to do with the World Cup?

Not a damn thing.

This ought to be one way to get Americans interested in futbol or soccer or whatever you wanna call it. I'm --shall we say, amused-- by the ad campaign, but I'm still strictly a Levis guy, thank you very much.

The theme of the ad campaign seems to be, that even after total world annihilation, men will still be narcissistic. I dunno. At least it beats the more crass ads I've seen of late.

This is what happens when you spend too much time in the middle of the City of the Pretty People. Don't think I don't count my blessings, though, that the guys who look like this and parade around here on the Boulevard are a dime a dozen --and I still have my eyesight... if no dimes. That's what I get for being a struggling artist. Not that I'm complaining, mind you. There are worse fates in life.

Yep. I'm a futbol fan now, por seguro!

If we shadows have offended, think but this, and all is mended.

Yes, I was up at 5:26 a.m. this morning. And it wasn't particularly different from any other June-gloom sunrise in Los Angeles. Then, the tourists slowly began to appear in our woods near Athens...

On Andy Towleroad's site, there was a link to Uncle Donald's Castro Street, which brought back many pleasant memories of (dare I say it?) the last century when I was but a wee lad running amok in the Castro. Ah, but what golden days in hindsight they seem to have been! I've also added a long overdue link to the Bay Area's GLBT Historical Society, which features an exhibition of photography by Rick Gerharter.

Perhaps on a day as nice as this, one ought not spend too much time looking backwards; yet I'm fortunate enough to be able to put this Midsummer in the context of (more than I want to count) Midsummer's days of yore.

'Tis a heck of a lot more pleasant than stewing at the Presbyterians hemming and hawing over gay priests. Don't think I don't know my history: first the right wing will do everything they can to define marriage as between "one man and one woman," then they'll slowly work on overturning Loving vs Virginia. Before you know it, no one will be able to get married or even cross the MacArthur Causeway or the Bay Bridge until they can first get an audience with the all powerful Wizard of Oz.

I best get to the beach whilst I still can to enjoy the day. Before I bid you one and all good day, I want to add a note about Margie Reese, who very quietly announced her departure from LA's Cultural Affairs Department.

There will always be those individuals who will never get a fraction of the praise they deserve. If Drew's celebration of life reminded me of one thing, it's to honor individuals while they're still around to get it. Most Angelenos have not idea what a debt they owe to Margie Reese, who was for the past five years the general manager of Cultural Affairs. If not for her resolve and determination, Cultural Affairs Department would have been dissolved during the struggle to balance the city's budget. Reese was the person responsible for some of the most iconic landmarks in Los Angeles, including the Watts Towers and the Frank Lloyd Wright Hollyhock House. As with Adolfo Nodal before her, the task of safeguarding the cultural heritage of Los Angeles is best left in the hands of those who have a true appreciation and understanding of what it means to be a public servant. Folks like Adolfo or Margie are few and far in between amid the sea of bureaucrats in government. We can only wish her well, and cross our fingers that whoever eventually replaces her has the same comprehension of a sense of duty and vision.

Gentles, do not reprehend.
If you pardon, we will mend.
And as I am an honest Puck,
If we have unearned luck
Now to scape the serpent's tongue,
We will make amends ere long;
Else the Puck a liar call.
So, good night unto you all.
Give me your hands, if we be friends,
And Robin shall restore amends.

How now spirit! Whither wander you?

Aye, 'tis the Summer Solstice and to the beach we go...

I ought not be jealous that New York has such great pride events scheduled: they actually had a LGBT Literary Conference (check the Publishing Triangle link to the left), and as if that weren't enough, the Eartha Kitt returns to the Carlyle! Sigh...

The Summer Solstice will be at 5:26 a.m. (in Los Angeles) tomorrow morning --do you know where your Druids are?

So, it's going to be Midsummer's Day. Yay. Whoopee. Yawn.

The weather is nice enough; I live in a relative paradise (why else would there be gaggles of tourists everywhere you turn?) yet I'm not quite in the pagan spirit.

Next week, however, opening on June 30th and running through August 30th, Hollyhock House at the Barnsdall Art Park hosts "Julius Shulman: Hollyhock House Rediscovered."

There will be a reception on July 1, from 5 - 8 p.m., and a discussion with the artist at 6 p.m. Given that Shulman is one of our undisputed national living treasures, and doesn't get out to speak all that often any more (I was so jazzed at getting to meet him at the AIA Expo!) you'd best plan to be there. You might not get another chance.

I trust the gallery at Barnsdall will do a better job at displaying Shulman's photography than the Getty did (their initial exhibition of his work upon acquisition left a lot to be desired-- but it was better than nothing).

I'm still waiting for my forty acres --preferably Midtown Manhattan and you can keep your damn mule

As a caveat, I should warn you before you read this that I have not had my morning coffee yet. So you know I'm in a mood.

At the triennial gathering of the Episcopal Church, they quickly apologized for appointing a gay Bishop... but after 387 years, they still haven't apologized for slavery. Well, well, well. If you see a dark cloud forming overhead, don't worry-- but don't stand too close to any Episcopal Bishops if you know what's good for you.

The American Episcopal Church split over the issue of slavery before the Civil War and only reconciled in 1983. News accounts suggest the appointment of their first openly gay Bishop could threaten to rip the church apart all over again. If something as central to the teachings of Christ as the sexual orientation of a Bishop threaten to disintegrate the Episcopal Church, then maybe it's an entity that has ceased to serve its purpose.

Them uppity black folk over two hundred years ago walked out of the church when those supposedly religious folk wouldn't let them worship in the same pews- sometimes even in the same building. This after they kidnapped said black folk, destroyed their families and annihilated their cultures including their languages and spiritual beliefs --all so they could get rich.

Germany and Japan had to pay reparations after the World Wars. Iraq is being forced to make restitution. But these same folk let themselves off the hook when it comes to acknowledging how much of their wealth is actually is ours --or at the least, of our making. We didn't even get a thank you for the wealth we created for Western Europe and the United States.

Somehow, I get the feeling that this isn't the best time for North Korea to have a nuclear warhead pointed at North America. Luckily, God in His or Her infinite wisdom does not entrust me with the button to the launcher. Besides, after I have my cortadito, I'll be thinking much more rational.

Oh, but then comes the news that the Board of Governors of the BBC have ruled that the word "gay" now means "rubbish." I think I just told my secretary to put through that call to North Korea again. Then again, they did give us "Are You Being Served?" and Graham Norton.

To think that I have held the BBC to a far higher standard than what I expect of American media for years. Well, I just made a (expletive deleted) ruling of my own. From now on, when I say, "BBC," I gather you'll know exactly what I'm referring to.

The BBC has a website where folks may voice their own opinions. Just click here for the link.

After all, who wants that nasty ol' nuclear cloud hangin' over their head for the next ten thousand years? Since those heterosexual white men are the only ones who've (thus far) used the Bomb, I'd like to be able to remind them that they were the ones who had a problem keeping their rockets in their pockets. Besides; if they keep acting this way, in another generation or two, it'll be our turn to have our summer homes in our European colony.

And if they can learn to act right, we'll let some of 'em work in the big house.

Now where's that houseboy with my cortadito?

Animals in Clothing

Wilson Swain & friends present "Animals in Clothing" tonight from 8 p.m. to 11 p.m. at wax poetic with music and refreshments --which is a good thing, cuz even if it is worth going into the Valley for, you want something cool to drink while enjoying the art and stuff.

3208 West Magnolia Ave., Burbank; 818/843-9469

Bloomsday

Remember the 60s bumper sticker: "It will be a great day when our schools have all the money they need and the Air Force has to hold a bake sale to buy a bomber?"

dis-in-gen-u-ous adj : lacking in candor; giving a false appearance of simple frankness: CALCULATING

President Bush creates a marine preserve in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands as large as the entire National Parks Service combined. On the surface, a really decent thing to do. This administration, however, is not backing away from efforts to allow drilling for oil in Alaska's protected lands. The National Park Service as a whole seems to have even less support in the administration than widows and orphans. The poor manatee seems to have a lower approval rating than even the President. And the Everglades, in the most succinct language possible, are fucked.

Unless, of course, someone can come up with a way for developers and Big Sugar to continue to destroy the Everglades with one hand as they attempt to reverse a century of devolution at the hands of... developers and Big Sugar with the other...

For more than four million residents of South Florida, this would be a good time to run to your tap and get a nice glass of water, while you still can. Cuz the administration is helping eradicate your source of fresh water a Hell of a lot faster than the Florida peninsula is sinking.

The president is doing to the environment what Ken Lay did to Enron. Except that we're applauding him as he does it right in front of us.

And to cap it all off, Dublin had to cancel their Bloomsday celebrations as the City mourns the death of an Irish leader.

One more reason to hug your librarian (or least, give 'em a raise!)

Librarians, those horn-rimmed glasses wearing little old ladies (yeah, right!) are putting their money where their mouth is with their conference this year... and their elbow grease, too. Click on the header above for a link to their 2006 New Orleans Convention page, one of the few that have been booked to bring much needed cash influx to the city. So--what did you do to help rebuild New Orleans?

The affair between Ann Coulter and Ann Coulter will live as one of the prettiest love stories in literature ---with a nod to Dorothy Parker

I stayed up late last night to see Ann Coulter on the Tonight Show. Jay Leno was remarkably diplomatic in trying to get her to admit she had written something in her new book that had truly offended people. She wasn't having it. I have to say that I feel rather sad for her. Don't get me wrong-- look in the dictionary under bitch and you're likely to find her picture. Or, given her prevalence for those long, black dresses, under witch. And what's up with that hair? Is she rightfully afraid to have any gay man touch her coif or have all the salons in D.C. made a pact to screw with her head? Not that it isn't already pretty screwed-up to begin with. The poor dear seems to be so in need of professional help that I fear she may be past the point of salvageable. And the glue factory won't take her-- it would be an insult to the horses.

So you see, it wouldn't be charitable to have anything but pity for the pathetic woman.

Pazzo!

The story even made the front of today's LA Times: World famous Geno's Steaks in South Philly posted a sign that reads:

This Is AMERICA
WHEN ORDERING
"SPEAK ENGLISH"

So, Geno. What's the English translation for Provolone?

My Mom's cousin's husband Mal in West Philly makes a great hoagie, too --and he serves everybody.

___________________________

What really shocked me today was that as I was coming up San Vicente Boulevard, I noticed that the Tail O' the Pup was missing! The front of the landmark hotdog-shaped eatery is just... gone! Only the back of the building is still there, chained off. It was moved once before, to make way for the Sofitel Hotel where River Phoenix filled up on booze and drugs before making his way to the Viper Room one Halloween night.

According to Roadside America (http://www.roadsideamerica.com/), the Tail O' the Pup actually disappeared three months ago, almost to the day. It's one of the most iconic pieces of roadside vernacular architecture in Los Angeles. There's apparently a rumor that it will reappear in Westwood. Yeah, right. Probably where the old Ship's Diner was torn down.

___________________________

Now if I really wanted to get bent out of shape (but, gee, it's such a beautiful day to be angry!), I'd mention that PSA by Mother's Against Drunk Driving to be aired in Canada. Ummm, don't they have PFLAG in Canada? And are PFLAG and MADD mutually exclusive? I'm kind of surprised that Commercial Closet or GLAAD haven't jumped on this yet.

I wanted to get more information before I got bent out of shape; then I found out that the ad may be viewed on MADD's Canadian Website. They'll probably get the pro-marijuana lobby on their case, too, by suggesting that smoking dope will turn you (yuck!) gay!

On the other hand, it might just accidentally promote the use of marijuana among some people...

___________________________

I bet Karl Rove is wondering who do you gotta kill to get arrested in Washington, D.C.? Might I suggest Ann Coulter? It's usually the left that eat their own; it would be kind of nice to see the right wing knock each other off. Then Karl could finally get his jail cell and become somebody's bitch. There's something to make me feel better, thank you very much.

If you're having a bad day, just be glad... that you're not Ann Coulter

Man oh man! Everywhere I turn, this woman is really getting it! How is it Random House hasn't shown her the door instead of James Frey? On Towleroad I found a link to a piece in Advertising Age that really gave her a lashing. Actually, she'd probably enjoy that too much. Better than asking her to kill herself (we don't need another extremist martyr), perhaps JJ Abrams could write a little scenario for her: Ann Coulter awakes to find herself lashed to a leaky raft... somewhere in the Florida Straits during hurricane season with sharks circling...

...Hmmm... maybe I will write a screenplay someday.

On such a beautiful afternoon, I should be playing outside instead of being on the computer, so I'll make this brief...

The post-pride discussion I had at lunch on Monday had me fondly remembering Kris Kovick's book, "What I Love About Lesbian Politics is Arguing With People I Agree With." Unfortunately, no one else was old enough to remember Kovick's splendid humorous look at contemporary LGBT urban life. As with the unofficial motto of Miami Beach, "Ah, you should have been here back when..."

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I wanted to give a congratulations to Robert Ramos, whose salon was featured in the first "Best Of" list of Ciudad magazine.

________________________________

To be filed under the "if only I'd seen this before Pride" file... Jerome Cleary just published a piece in this week's West Hollywoood Independent about MADD putting a casting notice out for to-be-film PSA to be aired in Canada that is incredibly homophobic. As if the stories about Ann Coulter's new book weren't enough to get my dander up. I'll just say, "don't get MADD, get GLAAD."