Thrilled to be seeing Rock and Roll Hall of Fame soul stars the O'Jays tonight with Gladys Knight.
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Song of the Day: 'Love Train' by the O'Jays
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Sidewalk Pitch
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Friday Ad Watch
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San Diego to Get a Gay Mayor
With thanks to Hank: It looks like San Diego, once a bastion of conservatism, will have an openlygay mayor as of tomorrow, with news that Mayor Bob Filner will (resign. City Council President Todd Gloria will take over. Interestingly, San Diego had two strong LGBT candidates in the election that Filner just won (Mr. Gloria wasn't one of them). Read HERE.
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Chelsea Lately
The fact that I'm the only one of John Hughes' nearly 400 friends who "liked" his genius Chelsea Manning status update causes me great concern.
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Hurts So Bad
Linda Ronstadt reveals she has Parkinson’s disease, can no longer sing
This is heartbreaking:
Spectacular songbird Linda Ronstadt disclosed Friday that she has Parkinson’s disease and the illness has already robbed her of her ability to sing. The 67-year-old “Hurt So Bad” songstress, whose vocal range spanned the octaves from contralto to soprano, discussed her disease with AARP magazine in an interview. The 11-time Grammy Award winner’s memoir, “Simple Dreams,” is slated to be published next month. “No one can sing with Parkinson’s disease,” Ronstadt said. “No matter how hard you try.” Ronstadt, who churned out hits during the 1970s and ‘80s, including “Poor Poor Pitiful Me,” “You’re No Good” and “Just One Look,” now uses poles to assist her when walking on uneven ground and travels with a wheelchair.More details about this sad turn of events HERE.
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Trans Woman Dies Days After Brutual Attack
Bigoted thug beats transgender woman to death after realizing his friend was actually born a man, victim's family and officials say
Yet another disgusting attack on a transgender person. Trans rights really are "the new" gay rights. This is the latest in a series of bias attacks in New York City, which is on pace to double the number of crimes against the gay, lesbian, transgender and bisexual community in 2013 compared with last year. The violence has got to stop now. Read HERE.
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On the Rag, Vol. 265
A weekly look at what's making news in the free gay mags:
Get Out! magazine: WE party flies into New York City / Read HERE.
Next: The Nightlife Hall of Fame Class of 2013: Michael McGrail, Bill Coleman, Sherry Vine, Susanne Bartsch and Michael Musto. Online edition HERE.
Frontiers: Iggy Azalea is Hip-Hop's Working Girl / Read HERE.
Metro Weekly: D.C.'s LGBT community and allies step up to commemorate the historic 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom / Read HERE.
Odyssey New York iis on-board with WE Party Airlines too! Online edition HERE.
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RIP: Julie Harris Is Dead at 87
Via NYT: Julie Harris, the unprepossessing anti-diva who, in the guises of Joan of Arc, Mary Todd Lincoln, Emily Dickinson and many other characters both fictional and real, became the most decorated performer in the history of Broadway, died on Saturday at her home in Chatham, Mass. She was 87. Keep reading HERE.
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Opposite James Dean in "East of Eden"
Opposite James Dean in "East of Eden"
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Marching On
Was in Washington on Thursday and Friday for two deaths in the family, but wasn't able to stay for the march. Would have loved to have been there -- leave me a comment if you were and tell me how you felt. Read HERE.
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A Knight to Remember
There was a time when going to concerts by female singers who only needed one name was all I lived for. But the older I get, the less I appreciate the spectacle, and the more I appreciate the simple beauty of a singer and her microphone. So on Friday, I took Michael for a bucket list night at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center to see the legendary Gladys Knight, on tour now with the O'Jays.
Gladys is Michael's all-time favorite female vocalist -- she was dear to his late mother, so the affection and sentimental attachment runs deep -- so when Ms. Knight walked on stage at 8 o'clock sharp, it was like she was singing directly to us in our fourth-row center seats. (No zoom required on these pics.)
At 69, Gladys' voice is still a thing of beauty. And hearing the seven-time Grammy winner belt out the R&B soundtrack of our youth -- "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," "If I Were Your Woman," "I've Got to Use My Imagination," "I Heard It Through the Grapevine," "The Way We Were," "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "Neither One of Us (Wants to Be the First to Say Goodbye)," which brought the audience to its feet and tears to Gladys' eyes -- was one for the ages. And that Michael teared up too more than made up for the raping I took on StubHub.
The O'Jays, who I have loved since being introduced them on my mom's "Believe in Music" K-Tel album in 1972, had a tall order going on second. (The Empress of Soul insists on going on first -- woman's got to get to bed at a reasonable hour!)
But with the enthusiasm and vocal range of men half their age, they kept the crowd smiling with their catalogue of hits -- "Backstabbers," "Love Train," "I Love Music," Use ta Be My Girl" -- even if we were all a little on edge wondering if leader Eddie Levert might drop dead of a heart attack at any moment up there! If you get the chance, don't miss this double bill.
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Page 1 Consider (08/26)
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Morning Wood
This photo seems a bit naughtier than it really is.
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Overruled
She's baaaaack! Now I just dare Serena Williams to threaten this one.
The New York Post reports:
The feisty tennis umpire who was hauled off in handcuffs from a New York hotel just before last year’s US Open — accused of bludgeoning her elderly husband to death with a coffee mug in their California home — will be back at the tournament this month after being cleared in the botched case, The Post has learned.Goodman has filed suit against the LAPD, claiming false arrest, civil-rights violations, malicious prosecution and intentional infliction of emotional distress and seeks unspecified punitive damages and reimbursement of more than $100,000 in legal fees.
This time around, fully reinstated referee Lois “Lolo” Goodman, 71, is hoping to keep a low profile at the Flushing Meadows event.
“She’s apprehensive about returning; she doesn’t want to draw attention,” her daughter, Joan Goodman, said in a phone interview. “The players, the tennis, that is the focus. She is grateful that she has her job, and she wants to be able to do it without distraction.”
Still, Goodman hasn’t forgotten the embarrassment that surrounded the 2012 Open — and this week ripped into the LAPD, claiming it orchestrated her arrest as a publicity stunt to humiliate her after they became convinced she’d murdered her ailing spouse, Alan Goodman, 80, in their LA condo.
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Cyrus Lance
I love this guy.
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Rama Reunion
Although I make a great stand-in for Shakespeare's wayward sister, I must confess that these photos Sara Dallin tweeted with Keren Woodward and ex-Bananarama mate Siobhan Fahey reunited at Giorgio's nightclub in my beloved Standard Hotel in West Hollywood brought a huge smile to my face. That's the joint's namesake, Giorgio Moroder, in the bottom shot, who would be a dream producer for the gals' next album -- especially if they could somehow get Shuv onboard. I know you said you'd never do it again, but that couldn't-miss cover of "Waterloo" you got back together for in 1998 somehow managed to miss the mark -- surely you're entitled to one mulligan!
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Plaid About Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Never herad of Aaron Taylor-Johnson, but the 23-year-old Brit looks awfully good suited up. Apparently he is married to and has two children with a 46-year-old woman, which pretty much makes him the Maxwell Caulfield of the 21st century. Via GQ.
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Sign Language
And all this time I thought the whole world was fair game.
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The Gandy Man Can
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The Walshington Post
It seems my WaPo brother could care less about this literally "controversy." (As also seen in the N.Y. Post.)
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