Omar Shariff, Jr And 49 Other Notables Who Came Out In 2012

Over at Towleroad, Andy has put together a list of 50 Most Powerful Coming Outs on his blog. I didn't realize 2012 had been a banner year in this manner but it truly has. Not only were there the super high profile people like Anderson Cooper and Sally Ride (though posthumous), but there were people like Omar Shariff Junior and Gillian Anderson.  Somehow I had missed Scully's coming out party! Not that that one was such a huge surprise anyway.

All in all, this is a great list of remarkable people from all parts of the LGBT spectrum. And I find it amazing to see that more and more coming out is not such big news either. That alone is progress in and of itself.

Celebrities Ride The Subway Too

Whenever I think I see a famous person on the subway, my next thought is  that it can't be them because if you're famous why would you want to take the subway. I mean, that's what limos are for, right? However, apparently there are a decent number of celebrities who ride the rails here in ol' New York.  

Paper Magazine, which always has fun online features, has a photographic survey of 15 celebrity subway riders.  Some are truly regulars, like Mayor Bloomberg who is known to take the 6 every day from his manse on the UES to his office down at City Hall. Others, well, are a bit of a surprise....like Keanu Reeves! There's also a shot of Anderson Cooper taking the C to W. 4th (I'm assuming this because he lives in my neighborhood). 

So from here on out, I will not discount my celebrity sightings on the MTA. In fact next time, I might even have to take a photo.   

Anderson Cooper Makes It Clear: "The Fact Is, I'm Gay."

After months of rumors that CNN anchor and talk show host Anderson Cooper was going to officially come out on TV, he did it today but not in a way anyone quite expected.  In response to a question from friend Andrew Sullivan regarding an EW piece about how coming out by public figures has changed, Cooper sent an email in which he states that he is gay and it's not something he has been trying to hide.  In fact, if you are a gay man living in NYC, this is not news as he is seen out and about and his boyfriend has run two popular gay bars in the East Village.  Then there's the whole Cathy Griffin thing too, of course! ;)

But, in the email to Sullivan, Cooper gives a somewhat reasonable explanation for his longtime public silence on the matter; the fact that as a journalist, the less a subject knows about you the better. Especially when you are in a war zone. These days though, Cooper is not traveling the globe as much so maybe he figured it was time to be crystal clear about the matter. Also, given all the attention to gay teen suicide and bullying, he says he wanted to people to know that being gay something he is happy about and not ashamed of. 

One thing for sure, I can tell you personally that people are obsessed with Cooper in general, especially on the Internets. The most popular post on my blog is about him and his mother with more than 200x the number of hits an average story gets. I'm sure this one will go through the roof too. But I think that's a good thing. And I have to say, I think his decision to come out via a thoughtful, eloquently worded letter to a good friend is really better than it being a very special episode of his talk show.  Congrats to Cooper for keeping it classy while also being out, loud and proud.

SATURDAY SPECIAL: Anderson Cooper's Giggles And Gets In Trouble With Buffalo

Anderson Cooper may be the hottest journalist on TV. But he is fast developing a reputation as the silliest one as well. For the second time in recent months, he had a full-blown on-air giggle-fit over a story about Dyngus Day.  This happened during his live CNN show and then the video got so viral that the residents of Buffalo, who celebrate this holiday, got a bit miffed over Anderson's less than serious take on their annual ritual.  They are now referring to Cooper as the "Pussy-Willow Prince" and have invited him to take place in next year's celebration. Knowing Coopers' taste for any sort of publicity, my bet is he'll probably show with Kathy Griffin at his side.  Afterall, he'll need a "Pussy-Willow Princess"...

Hi-Fi Bri Turns 3 Today--Celebrate & Donate

Today marks the 3rd anniversary of Hi-Fi Bri.  Yay!!!  I found this delicious looking donut cake on The Internets to faux celebrate.  But I will probably stop by The Donut Pub for the real thing later. :)

Some stats: 725 posts total since March 15, 2009 and, in recent months, the blog is getting 4,000 hits per month.  There has been a huge upswing in viewers/readers since the end of last year, which I attribute to daily links via Facebook and Twitter (and some pretty fun stories too!).  The most popular story of all time remains "Anderson Cooper's Mom Is Kind Of A Perv" (June 19, 2009), about Gloria Vanderbilt's erotic novel and her now more-famous-than-her son.  It has 3,247 hits; apparently there are a lot of people out there googling "Anderson Cooper." The second most popular story after that is "Porky's: Where Are They Now" (June 21, 2009).  Random, right?  But oddly it's one of my favorite films for sentimental reasons; it was the first R-rated film I ever saw.

Anyway, as part of the big celebration, I'm encouraging my readers to click on the DONATE tab here on the right and make today a mini-fundraiser for the site.  As I like the say, the Internet only looks free.  So if you can toss a little coin in the online bucket and help to support your local writer, I would greatly appreciate it. As would Verizon, T-Mobile, Con Edison, Visa, Mastercard, etc.  And please continue to read Hi-Fi Bri...as well as repost, subscribe, forward, tweet (all of which you can do quite easily with all the little buttons just below here on the left). Thanks so much for your support!

Is Anderson Cooper Coming Out For February Sweeps?

There was some heat in the blogosphere on this potential story back in mid-December, when Gawker reported that CNN's Anderson Cooper brought his longtime boyfriend to his holiday party.  A flurry of speculation followed as to a potential coming out episode that would be a part of his daytime talk show.  Since then however, there have not been any new rumors or actual facts. But now that today is February 1st and sweeps are upon us, it seems time to ask the question again and be on the lookout for more clues.

The rumors about Cooper's public coming out began last summer and then heated up in November, when the thinking was he would do it to boost ratings for that sweeps period.  His show has not been doing that great so a week-long Anderson Comes Out extravaganza would certainly garner some eyeballs.  However, Cooper has kinda/sorta been living as a gay man and is seen out on the town with his man (Ben Maisani, above in sunglasses), even though he hasn't publicly made any statement on the subject.  Kathy Griffin certainly has tried to do it for him on their New Year's specials!

Anyway, it would be nice to have Cooper make it official, as some another news anchor did recently.  And, at the least, this sort of gesture for The Gays would do a lot to make up for the embarrassing promo-mercial for Spiderman he did in the middle of CNN's New Years broadcast. That was awful!

Anderson Cooper's Mom Is Kind Of A Perv

Anderson Cooper's 85 year old mom, who used to be known as Gloria Vanderbilt, has just come out with an erotic novel entitled "Obession: An Erotic Tale". There's an article in today's TIMES that profiles her and includes some extremely weird and semi-racy excerpts from her debut novel, which is about a woman who is obsessed (duh) with her dead husband's erotic letters from a maybe-mistress. Check it out:

There are scenes involving dildos, whips, silken cords and golden nipple clamps, not to mention an ebony, smooth-backed Mason Pearson hairbrush purchased at Harrods. As the book explains, spanking with a Mason-Pearson is a “serious matter,” not the kind of thing that is rewarded with the “luscious afterglow of warm cocoa butter.” Mint, cayenne pepper and a fresh garden carrot are deployed in the book in ways never envisioned by “The Joy of Cooking.”

This sounds like it could be riotous out-loud beach reading, but actually erotic? Doubting it. One of the funnier things in the TIMES profile was the fact that a couple of her upper class friends advised her against writing this book, saying it would "ruin her reputation". Unfortunately, I think that happened back in 1980 when Ms. Vanderbilt (at a sprightly 54) was featured in TV ads sporting a pair of extremely tight jeans, a look which was then considered borderline slutty (see "Foxes"). As for Anderson's feelings about his mom's new, uhm, interests there is this direct quote:

“The six most surprising words a mother can say to her son are: ‘Honey, I’m writing an erotic novel.'"