Say Hi As You Cruise By

Above are the last 100 beautiful people to post their pics on my Frappr map. I'm trying to figure out how to get all 700 of youse guys to show up here. Any tips? Frappr is adding features right and left: forums, groups, blogs...but I'd prefer it if they would just clean up their clunky interface and let you all see each other and where you are, a little more easily. Points to whomever recognizes the song lyric in the title of this post.

Manhattan, From The Moon

Last weekend I made my second ever excursion to Brooklyn. My beloved Farmboyz and I met up at Grand Central, where they arrived tan and full of their typically debauched stories from their Barcelona vacation. Less than an hour later, we emerged from the G train (G? There's a G train? Who knew?) in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill neighborhood for a pre-Brooklyn Pride party at the new home of our pals Neil and Bryce.

The party turned out to be a mini-redux of the recent Manhattan blogger confab, only this one was more on the bear side, including notables such as SuperDaddy , Habitat67, and the always glamourous Foxy (who is not a bear, definitely not). I had the pleasure of meeting the lovely Jennifer (pictured), who DJs at Brooklyn's Cattyshack.

At one point during the party, most of the guests were enjoying the fantastic view from Neil & Bryce's rooftop and I gathered in a corner with the other Manhattanites to discuss the apartment below us. Massive? Yes. Beautiful? Check! Waaaay cheaper than Manhattan? Oh dear god, YES. We compared our various rents for our teeny Manhattan studios versus the rent on the sprawling apartment below us as we gazed into the distance at the tip of the Empire State Building, barely making itself known. I bet you can guess what we decided.

The party was rockin', the boys were clockin', and somebody was knockin' back an entire bottle of Maker's Mark and had to led, tottering, out the door by his patient boyfriend. But not before an impromptu Spanky And Our Gang greatest hits singalong. Lazy (hazy) Days, indeed. The party was such a hit that nobody seemed very interested in actually going to Brooklyn Pride, ostensibly the reason we were there. The Farmboyz and I decided to trek out into the wilds all by ourselves and find the parade.

After a long walk, a cab ride, an unscheduled bathroom/beer visit to what may or may not have been a lesbian bar, we arrived at a traffic circle just off of Prospect Park, precisely as the parade was stepping off. First to pass, parade dignitaries. Then the gay policemen contingent, all three of them. Then a couple of other small groups. With the rest of the crowd on the sidewalk, the Farmboyz and I leaned forward to look up the street for the next group. Whoops. Sorry, that was it. The only 45 second gay pride parade on record, I'd reckon. Kinda hilarious and sweet, really. We joined in the crowd following the "parade" up the street and within a few blocks, wouldn't you know that the crowd had swelled to almost a thousand people? We had a blast just marching along.

Hunger finally drove us to abandon the parade and we took an outside table at a restaurant on the route. Before our order was taken, a cute young thing passing by took a fancy to the Farmboyz and vaulted over the railing to sit with us. By the time our meals had arrived, several other friends of his had drifted past our table to chat, including one handsome young man with a case of Corona on his shoulder. As he chatted with his friend, I sort of drunkenly reached out to trace the line of the young man's muscular chest, straining the confines of his wife-beater, as it was. I withdrew my hand before reaching his chest, realizing what I was doing, but the young man only smiled and pushed closer to me, saying, "Oh, you can touch me anytime, Daddy!" Sweet lad. Knew how to make an old man feel good.

Declining the pleas of the young men to join them at a party Very Conveniently Located in an apartment above the restaurant, the Farmboyz and I began a long search for a taxi back to Manhattan, cursing ourselves for being in t-shirts and shorts, as the temperature had fallen below 50. Riding across the Williamsburg bridge, we marveled at how great Manhattan looks from Brooklyn. Yet, I reminded the Farmboyz of what my late Manhattanite aunt had once told her Brooklyn friend. "Yeah, well I'm sure the Earth looks great from the moon, but I don't wanna live THERE either!" I wonder what she'd think about the Brooklyn of today.

UPDATE: The Farmboyz' Father Tony gives his take on the day.
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LGBT Anti-Violence March

The New York City Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project is sponsoring a march and rally tomorrow, June 17th, to "raise our voices against anti-LGBT hate in our city". The march begins in the East Village at 14th Street & 1st Avenue at 2PM and concludes in the West Village at Christopher Park at 3PM. I have a good idea who might be speaking at the rally.

UPDATE: Great photos and recap of the march: here.

Prince Rogers Nelson Of Darkness

Prince has clearly signed a deal with Satan. I just saw his 48-year old Purple Badness in Bryant Park, performing on Good Morning America, and he looks younger than he did when I last saw him in person, 25 years ago during the Controversy tour. Opening with his single Get On The Boat (from this year's 3121) , then bringing on Tamal Davis to perform Red Head Stepchild, Prince looked amazing. Just unbelievable. As did the eternal Sheila E, who played front and center standing behind her drum kit. Would you believe Sheila E will be 50 next year? Prince closed with a shortened version of Let's Go Crazy, and I joined the throngs of cube dwellers heading for their elevators.

If you are in Manhattan on a Friday morning, I suggest checking out the Good Morning America shows at Bryant Park. Much more accessible than the screamfests that the Today Show puts on over at Rock Center, the shows at Bryant Park usually start right at 8:30am and end before 9:00. The crowd for Prince was far bigger than any I've seen in Bryant Park, probably well over 5000. Usually, you can get fairly close to the stage. I've been quite close for Dixie Chicks, Pink and a few others. You only get a 30 minute show, usually 3-4 songs with introductions and commercial breaks, but whaddya want fuh nuttin?

Trivia:

- Prince has worked under numerous psuedonyms, including: Jamie Starr, Joey Coco, Alexander Nevermind and Tora Tora.
- Sheila E is Nicole Ritchie's aunt.
- Tito Puente was Sheila E's godfather.

Wizzy Reminder

Come be part of the downtown (now almost entirely free of trucker-hats worn jauntily askew) hipster art scene! I'll be appearing in the gay pride edition of WYSIWYG this Tuesday. Doors open at 7:30pm, show starts at 8pm. This show sold out last year, so I'd advise arriving early if you want to get in. I'm sharing the stage with my pals Rod Townsend, Curly McDimple, Joel Derfner , Greg Walloch and Spinster. The new cool-kid Wizzy venue does not allow for online or advance tickets, so don't be late!

Alert Status Yellow

Midtown Manhattan, Thursday, 12:30PM

Remember those rubber-band propelled balsa airplanes from when you were a wee lad? A co-worker came in today with one he found at a downtown dollar store over the weekend, and he had some fun putting it together and trying to fly to it around our office this morning. Then he went to lunch and I picked it up and thought I'd have some fun with it. Unfortunately, one of the ten windows in our office just happened to be partially open and don't you know...

****BREAKING NEWS****BREAKING NEWS****

FoxNewsAlert- We interupt this blogpost to report that according to sources at Homeland Security, some sort of mechanized, possibly self-propelled device has been launched onto the roof of New York City's Grand Central Terminal, one of the busiest transportation hubs in North America and a long-feared target of terrorist activities. The device appears to have originated from one of the office towers that surround Grand Central, although that is unclear at this time. Police and tactical units do appear to be concentrating on one building in particular, where Fox News has spotted a horrified man hiding behind a file cabinet near an open window. The man is said to be middle-aged and possibly chubby. More on this story as it develops.

Open Thread

What's on your mind today?

(Use this for rants, raves, bitches, plugs and other stuff that's off-topic in other posts.)

HomoQuotable - Wayne Besen

"The Bush Administration had always been at the intersection of Fantasy Street and Fanaticism Avenue, but inviting an ex-gay leader to a White House ceremony was beyond the pale. After all, the methods Exodus routinely uses to "cure" gay people are downright bizarre. For example, does Bush endorse youth boot camps where underwear is confiscated to 'cure' people who are gay or lesbian?" - author/activist Wayne Besen, who last week founded Truth Wins Out, an organization dedicated to fighting the "ex-gay" movement. (via - 365gay.com.)

Aviance Email

Send your emails of support to Kevin Aviance in care of his manager: joseph.turla@verizon.net.
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Book Woman

Manhattan, the 6 train, 730pm

I'm standing in the doorway, where you're not supposed to stand, but the train isn't too crowded at this hour, so I'm really not in anybody's way. The woman seated to my right takes a book out of her shoulder-bag and flips to her bookmark, near the end. The woman seated across from her gets a wide-eyed expression and leans forward with excitement. After about three minutes, she cannot contain herself.

"Hey! Are you enjoying that book? What do you think of it?"

Book Woman lowers her book and frowns. For a moment, I think that she's annoyed at the interruption, but then I decide that she's having a hard time giving a proper answer to the other woman's question. The other woman realizes that too, and perhaps to stave off an embarrassing answer, she blurts out, "My son wrote it!"

"Oh...really?" Book Woman says dryly, and turns the book over to look at the author's photo, then looks back at the woman across the aisle with a comparative eye. "Well, your son certainly has....interesting ideas about the world."

The author's mother beams and says, "Yes, he's always been full of ideas!"

Book Woman replies, "I'd say he's just full of IT."

"What?"

Book Woman stands up. "I said I'm just about done with it. This is my stop. Good-bye."

Of course, I'm dying to know the name of the book. As Book Woman passes me, I move out of her way and crane my neck to get one final look as she tucks it under her arm. In doing so, I manage to smack my face sharply into the center pole. I blink a few times and give the guy standing next to me a weak smile, knowing he just saw me. He leans over and says, "Don't sweat it, man. I was trying to see the book too!"

Two stops later, I exit the train, my face still stinging.

Mass. Marriage Stats Mirror 2004

Continuing the trend that was discussed here last year, statistics from the state of Massachusetts show that lesbians are still getting married at nearly twice the pace of gay men. When you factor in the much smaller size of the lesbian community relative to gay men, the difference is even more remarkable. The new data from 2005 shows a huge drop in the number of gay marriages overall, which makes sense, as the backlog of anxious couples is being depleted.

Combined, gay marriages of both varieties represent 5.2% of all marriages in Massachusetts, with gay men representing 1.8%. I'm going to guess that a pretty good number of these gay marriages are not between actual Massachusetts residents, considering what I've heard about the ways that some people are evading that requirement.

I think this is just further proof of my contention last year that marriage will always be something that few gay men will be interested in actually doing, regardless of how vehemently they support its righteousness. And yes, before all you scientists wade in sputtering about causation and correlation, I understand that extrapolating a small state sample onto a national populace is a risky business.

Data provided by Donna Rheaume of the Massachusetts Registry of Vital Records and Statistics, whom I thank for her kind assistance.

Ain't No Mountain Gay Enough

Gentle readers, I love my people. Truly, I do. But I had to throw back my head and emit a yowl of spiritual pain upon reading of the petition campaign to rename a Vermont hilltop "Brokeback Mountain". I mean, COME ON. What's next, "Mount Mommie Dearest"? I'd rather see a sign that said "Hedwig Hill, 3 miles." Or maybe, "Next exit, Poppers Peak." Seriously, my brothers. Stop.

UPDATE: AOL's Kenneth Hill has got a funny idea about this funny idea.

Muscle Bear Sea Tea

My dear friend Mike Tully, formerly Mr. NYC Eagle, is again co-hosting the gay pride Saturday Muscle Bear tea-dance cruise with DJ Mark Cicero, aboard the party boat Queen Of Hearts, on June 24th. The cruise takes you out past the Statue Of Liberty and under the Brooklyn Bridge, then back up the Hudson River. The boat has a capacity of 500 and these parties often sell out. Tickets are on sale at Ty's Bar in the West Village or you can reserve tickets by emailing Mike: MuscleBearShop@yahoo.com. I think this will be my fifth Sea Tea, I always have a blast.

HomoQuotable - Andrew Sullivan

"There are flops, almighty flops and then there are books by Mary Cheney. Despite saturation media coverage, network interviews, cable interviews, blanket newspaper profiles, blog support, podcast interviews, the book "My Turn" had a very low first week's sales of 2,445. Last week, a grand total of 574 books were sold. Not too shabby for a first author with not a huge amount to say. But recall that this manuscript cost its publishers a cool $1 million. The publisher therefore spent around $170 for every book sold without even counting the marketing budget." - Andrew Sullivan (via - Daily Dish).

"Straight" Gays Snuggly, Warm, And Irony-Free Under The Blanket Of Freedom Knitted By Queens And Butch Dykes

Below are two reader comments from AOL Gay & Lesbian editor Kenneth Hill's excellent blogpost in which he quoted from my essay Watching The Defectives. Even more chilling in light of the Aviance story, is the below stated belief that gays who are gay-bashed bring it upon themselves by failing to live up to traditional standards of masculine carriage and dress. However, I suppose we should thank these two guys for underscoring the point of Defectives.

"Am I against how people decide to dress and how they provide themselves to the public, no. BUT! I do know for sure that the way many homosexual carry themselves has a lot to with "gay haters" and why they commit hate crimes. I personally am a gay male, and I act very "straight". That's the main reason people have accepted me as much as they have. I'm almost confused myself as to how gay males end up with higher pitched voices, and decide to carry themselves in a more feminine manner. Yes, some of it has to do with how you were brought up. I have four brothers, obviously that has something to with how I carry myself for the world to see how "straight" gay people can be. Which I'm very proud of. I've turned TONS of gay haters in close friends because they say, "I didn't know you guys could act like this". It's very simple, if you want society to like you, act like society." Comment from stoff21888 - 6/11/06 10:31 PM

"Everyone should be able to live their lives as they want to. Unfortunately, in the real world it doesn't work out evenly. In the USA, if you want acceptance, you have to start as close to the center as you can and work your way out, not the reverse. People who see gays and lesbians who "look like they do" will be more accepting early on, allowing a gradual acceptance of the people whose lifestyles are more eccentric (?) as time passes. One can never gain acceptance by beating people over the head. " Comment from tocaco1 - 6/11/06 3:38 PM

Smarter reaction to Defectives can be found from Moby.
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Moon Unit Redux

It was inevitable that the MySpace phenomenon would creep into pop music. Check out John B's I've Been Stalking You On MySpace. (Warning: Sound.) I got a kick of the girl channeling Moon Unit Zappa's Valley Girl. "I have more MySpace friends than Jesus. I write like, this really cool poetry inspired by Bright Eyes. I have 679 friends but I am totally removing that girl from my Top 8." Thanks to Mike Atkinson, aka Troubled Diva, for tipping me off about this track. The Diva reports that the electro-mix is already #1 on the QX chart in the UK.

HomoQuotable - Clarence Patton

"This is something we tragically see a lot of as the weather gets warmer, as we head into June, which of course means a lot more visibility for the community....it's not a New York problem, it's a national problem for sure, and a human problem. This is really a problem, a condition, for our community, wherever we are." - Clarence Patton, executive director of the NYC Gay & Lesbian Anti-Violence Project, speaking about the Kevin Aviance incident.

(via - KeithBoykin.com.)

"We're Gonna Kill You, Faggot!"

Drag performance artist and musician Kevin Aviance was brutally gaybashed yesterday after leaving the East Village's Phoenix bar. According to news reports, he was attacked by a group of six or seven men who shouted, "We're gonna kill you, faggot!" Apparently, passers-by did nothing to stop the attack. Four young men were arrested and charged with hate crimes. Aviance is hospitalized with a broken jaw and other injuries. As long as our Republican leadership continues to tell the youth of America that gay people are contemptible, these contemptible crimes will continue.

UPDATE: Rather than providing Kevin's personal contact information to the nutcases of the world, may I suggest sending cards and messages of support directly to the Phoenix Bar?

Kevin Aviance
c/o Phoenix Bar
447 East 13th Street
New York City, NY 10009

UPDATE II: Aviance has vowed to perform at NYC's Pride festival on June 25th. (via - 365gay.com)