↧
Morning Wood
↧
Song of the Day: 'Long Hot Summer' by the Style Council
From HERE.
I was turning 16 when this summer classic by the Style Council came out. Although deep down I knew Paul Weller wasn't gay, I loved that he was willing to tease people, and do so in a less-obvious way than Annie Lennox and Boy George were at the time. We've come so far since 1983, but I still don't know whether to laugh or cry as I watch so many of our gains slip away.
↧
↧
Bill Walsh Awarded the ACES Glamann Award
My family and I are very grateful for all of the calls, messages, social-media posts and other forms of condolences about the death of our beloved Bill. Particularly touched by all of the personal stories from writers and editors who have been affected by his humor and way with words. (“Armed gunmen: They’re the worst kind.”) Am so proud to have called him my big brother, and that the American Copy Editors Society (ACES) awarded him its highest honor -- the Glamann Award -- in the week before his passing. Also touched that The Associated Press wrote an obituary about him, and that NPR's Linda Holmes penned a sweet piece about Bill's effortless talents ("Remembering Bill Walsh's Way With Words.")
And lastly, for now, The Washington Post's internal memo about the passing of their colleague (and my brother) sure made me smile:
Emilio Garcia-Ruiz:
Copy editors are the unsung heroes of my profession, the folks who ensure that our work is as pristine and accurate as possible. Today, we lost one of the giants in the field. RIP Bill Walsh.
Here is the note that we shared with the staff:
Bill Walsh, our beloved friend, colleague, style maven and language guru, died this afternoon at the Halquist Center in Arlington. The cause was complications from bile-duct cancer. He had been lovingly cared for during his treatment by his wife and our colleague, Jacqueline Dupree.
Throughout his final journey that began in late June, Bill handled his diagnosis with grace and thorough documentation on social media, as you’d expect from a dogged journalist, but he also continued to be wryly funny even though the odds were not in his favor.
On July 6, he wrote: “I’m afraid I have some not-good news. I recently found out — gradually and then suddenly, like the bankrupt Hemingway character — that I have cancer. Jacqueline Dupree and I hope to learn more next week about exactly what form this cancer is taking, but suffice it to say it is not one of the kinder, gentler cancers. Believe me, I’m going to fight this thing. And Jacqueline is going to help me fight this thing. I’m not sure you’d want to bet on This Thing, quite frankly. At the same time, my wife and I are realists. We’re putting whatever faith we can muster in science aided by determination, not in sunny affirmations or soft-focus memes. We will not shy from gallows humor. For several years now, we have looked at each other and shaken our heads and marveled at our good fortune. If we had said these things to other people, it would have sounded like smug bragging. But we really were grateful, and we still are. I have had a great life. I have a great wife, a great family, a great job, etc., etc. I would not trade 55 of these years for 75 or 85 or 95 of what’s behind Door No. 2. And isn’t it lucky, in a way, that I have these months or years of warning, at a relatively young age, with my mind still intact? I have time to really concentrate on soaking in what’s great about this world. The little things. (Why do you think I've been getting all weepy about how pretty the cardinals are?) Plenty of causes of death don’t work that way. I’ll never be a doddering old man! I haven’t done all the things I want to do or seen all the places I want to see, but I've done and seen a lot of them, and there’s still time. I’ve somehow never seen Ireland, but I could get on a plane and take care of that tomorrow. (I just might.) While I’m smugly boasting, did I mention that I can swing neither of my cats without hitting a world-class cancer center? Johns Hopkins, the best in the region, is an easy drive, and a team of specialists there will be waiting for me next week. As lucky as I am to be escaping doddering-old-man status, maybe I’ll be even luckier: Maybe I’ll end up a doddering old man.”
A snippet of his cheeky observations while undergoing treatment:
July 27: “Only sour note so far in The Chemotherapy Experience (coming soon to Disney parks): One nurse has ‘Barbie Girl’ as his ringtone, AND that is causing other nurses to whistle that tune, which is less than ideal given my thoughts about (a) that tune and (b) whistling.”
July 27: “Only sour note so far in The Chemotherapy Experience (coming soon to Disney parks): One nurse has ‘Barbie Girl’ as his ringtone, AND that is causing other nurses to whistle that tune, which is less than ideal given my thoughts about (a) that tune and (b) whistling.”
Aug. 11: “Went to the shopping mall. Piped-in assault-on-the-senses music in most stores is worse than cancer. So, you know, perspective.”
Aug. 24: “Another pleasant chemotherapy session (second and final infusion of Round 2 – a round is three weeks: infuse, infuse, rest), and my first at the new Johns Hopkins Sidney-Not-Jimmy Kimmel Cancer Center at Sibley. Five or six hours in a chair sounds boring, but I could sit there twice as long. It is truly a highlight of my week. The nurses are smart and capable and funny. I have my books and my music and my Jacqueline. And I continue to feel good, aside from that one big asterisk. Soon we should be talking about more-advanced treatments. And in 40 years, give or take, they should be interviewing me for the documentary.”
Oct. 5: “Showed up for PET scan with one cat under each arm and the tech was like ‘WTH?' and I was like ‘WTH?' and, long story short, I could use $5,000 bail.”
Oct. 19: “I checked in [at Sibley] and they gave me a beeper. Just like at Cheesecake Factory.”
Taking cancer lying down wasn’t Bill’s style. So Ireland got checked off the bucket list when he hopped across the pond, in between chemo treatments in October, with Jacqueline. The dynamic duo also saw “Hamilton” in August, made a quick trip to Detroit with family in September and spent an early Christmas together at the Greenbrier Resort in mid-December. They even carved Halloween pumpkins this year. Bill’s gourd, a self-portrait of sorts, donned a jaunty bowler in a tip of the hat to the last of his three books, “Yes, I Could Care Less: How to Be a Language Snob Without Being a Jerk,” published in 2013.
Bill wrote two other books – “Lapsing Into a Comma” (2000) and “The Elephants of Style” (2004) – and founded his popular copy-editing blog, The Slot, in 1995. He was also a must-read on Twitter for his 16,000-plus followers. Plainly put, Bill was a copy-editing rock star: a master of language and a generous teacher, an extraordinarily clever headline writer and the gatekeeper of The Washington Post Stylebook. Before the multiplatform desk was created in 2010, of which Bill was the lead slot editor, he was the copy chief of the Financial and National sections during his 20 years in the newsroom. Bill was also superhumanly efficient and an organizational wonder who did not believe in taking sick days.
Bill Walsh's magic lay in his dry wit, urbane sensibility and pitch-perfect curmudgeonly façade that he played to great effect, a popular grumpy-old-man character that merely veiled a heart as big as the District. Bill was a doting husband, a caring friend and a worldly, engaged and passionate man, all reminders of a life well-lived.
The tennis-playing, bicycle-riding, cat-loving, all-around-great-guy also loved hyphens. So to all the newsroom folks out there: When in doubt, use hyphens with your compound modifiers, live life to the fullest and find smart humor wherever you can.
Bill did.
↧
GOP Family Values Strike Again
More details are emerging in the investigation into married Oklahoma GOP state Senator Ralph Shortey -- who was Donald Trump's campaign manager there -- after the lawmaker was found in a Super 8 motel room with an underage male teen. Read HERE.
↧
Morning Wood
↧
↧
Song of the Day: 'Gimme Shelter' by the Rolling Stones
This one, perhaps their best, reminds me of the end of an era -- a feeling that haunts me these days.
↧
On the Rag, Vol. 449
A weekly look at what's making news in the gay mags:
Gay Times (London): Nico Tortorella gets less bisexual with each passing hour.
Darren Criss -- who is set to play spree killer Andrew Cunanan -- reveals he once made out with gay porn star.
QX (London): Meet Swedish superstar Måns Zelmerlöw.
The Gay U.K.: John Fennell jumps into the snow practically naked.
Does anything come between Kevin Baker and Calvin Klein?
HIV Plus: Texas lawmaker's "man's right to know" bill turns tables on men's sexual health.
Get Out!: Anthony will put you in a daddy daze.
Metro Weekly (D.C.): Carson Kressley goes off the cuff.
DNA (Australia): Myles Clohessy by Mattheus Lian.
Echo (Phoenix): A behind-the-scenes look at Phoenix Pride Festival’s adult-only attraction.
Winq (London): Modus Vivendi releases the Contrast line campaign.
Tetu (France): Why did the Israeli army choose this couple for its advertising campaign?
Gloss (SF): Are you ready for the WPPS kickoff?
Out in Jersey: Joe Jonas on having his cake and eating it, too.
The Fight: L.A. leather pride is upon us.
MetroSource: Pierre & Gilles look back on 40 years of love and art.
Lavender (Twin Cities): The 2017 spring arts issue is out now.
↧
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
Schmear campaign against the Irish?
↧
Page 1 Roundup (03/17)
EMT killed in the Bronx after man steals ambulance, runs her over as partner watches
Trump’s Budget Expands the G.O.P.’s War on Math / Read HERE.
Mommy, Where Do Cocktails Come From? Read HERE.
↧
↧
Lucy Truce-y
As a lifelong "I Love Lucy" fan, I can remember being disgustingly fascinated watching "Here's Lucy" as a kid, as well as reruns of "The Lucy Show." Gone was the glamorous-if-past-her-prime Hollywood beauty, replaced by a chain-smoking broad who looked the mother of your fifth-grade friend whose mom had him waaaay later in life. I've always felt somewhat guilty about my repulsion -- and don't get me started on "Stone Pillow" -- only now I feel even worse knowing that Lucy feared we didn't like her anymore, either. (I take it all back, I love Lucy!) Read HERE.
↧
Guitar Maestro Chuck Berry Is Dead at 90
Chuck Berry, a guitar legend who helped define rock 'n' roll, died today at age 90. The use of "Johnny B. Goode" in "Back to the Future" introduced him to Generation X, but "Maybellene" -- no, not "My Ding-a-Ling"! -- was always my favorite. Read more about his groundbreaking career -- and apparent obsession with scat pornography -- HERE.
↧
Speedo Sunday
↧
Page 1 Roundup (03/20)
Judge was soft on accused EMT killer weeks before rampage / Read HERE.
Legendary Daily News columnist Jimmy Breslin dead at 88. My mom informs me that my dad was a huge fan -- got the New York papers in Pottsville, Pa.! / Read HERE.
Trump Shifting Authority Over Military Operations Back to Pentagon / Read HERE.
Monopoly Booted the Thimble; Fans Are Sew Mad / Read HERE.
↧
↧
Morning Wood
↧
Song of the Day: 'Perish' by Curve
Nice one by Curve, an alternative rock and electronica duo from London I had never heard of until Damian played them over the weekend.
↧
Mug Shot Monday
Pretty adorable. But he's be a lot more attractive if he hadn't stolen a Girl Scout's cookie money to buy heroin on Craigslist.
↧
Weekend Tennis Roundup
I guess Roger Federer's impressive straight-sets win over countryman Stan Wawrinka in Indian Wells yesterday answers GQ's question: Will Roger Federer Ever Be Done?
This Burt Reynolds style photo is worth clicking through for -- although it should have been shirtless! -- and there are many more HERE.
Meanwhile, I would be happy for Elena Vesnina's "breakthrough" on the women's side -- she's adorable and a fighter -- only it only adds to the disjointed narrative in the women's game: that there is no narrative. A million bucks says Vesnina -- a 30-year-old doubles specialist -- isn't going to build on this. That the resurgent Svetlana Kuznetsova, a two-time major champion who has fought her way back into the Top 10, could lose after being up a set and 4-1, then 4-2 in the third doesn't make me think more of Vesnina ... it only makes me think less the women's game, where suddenly no one can build on any momentum. (Angelique Kerber's second major now seems that much more remarkable.) Not a huge fan of Maria Sharapova or Victoria Azarenka, but perhaps their returns could help smooth the edges a bit.
↧
↧
'Tickled' to Death
Finally got around to watching HBO's "Tickled," which to my memory was mispromoted as being a documentary about the "sport of endurance tickling" when in fact it's a chilling look at cyberbullying and homophobia. I only caved in Saturday when my friend Chad insisted it was "right up my ally," telling me it was more like "The Jinx" than anything ... and his timing couldn't have been more perfect: the filmmakers announced today that David D'Amato (aka Terri Tickle cum Jane O’Brien ) is dead at 55 (cause unknown) -- news that must come as a relief to even his closest relatives, even if the filmmakers are graciously taking the high road in their statement below. (Watch the film and you'll know why I say this.)
And don't forget to watch HBO's 20-minute followup short called "The Tickle King."
↧
Come(d)y of Errors
I think we all knew about Nos. 1 and 2. But would he have not broken with protocol and kept his mouth shut about Anthony Weiner's emails?
Something is obviously amiss with Trump's affection for Putin. But I find it curious how divided my friends are as to what exactly is going on. Some are 100% convinced there was collusion between the campaign and Russia, while others think it's the deep conflicts of interest, believing that dossier will prove to be mostly correct. I'm open to any and all theories, but don't have a strong one of my own. Do you?
↧
Page 1 Roundup (03/21)
Our "president" is now trolling the FBI director during his House panel testimony / Read HERE.
The Sept. 11 case against the Saudis is damming to say the least / Read HERE.
FBI director confirms what we all suspected / Read HERE.
Who Is Mailing Potatoes to NBA Players? A Spud Web of Intrigue / Read HERE.
↧