I will admit that I am possibly the only person under the age of 60 who actually watches the network's evening newscasts. Compared to the Crisis News Network (aka CNN) and other even more hysterical cable news outlets, I still find some of the most informative and level-headed reporting about the day's events resides on these broadcasts. And, unlike Fox News, they are about as close to "fair and balanced" that you will find on a mainstream outlet.
So I was slightly disturbed to notice that recently both the CBS Evening News and NBC's Nightly News have been featuring the American flag as a somewhat prominent backdrop for their openings as well as more in-depth news segments towards the end. I don't have anything against the flag but what is it doing as the backdrop for the evening news? Have the networks finally taken all those complaints about their leftist, anti-American leanings to heart, brandishing the flag as some sort of defense from this inane criticism?
IMHO, it seems to be there as a subliminal message of patriotism, saying that we may report bad news about Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay, etal but hey, we still love our country, dammit! But is this sort of flag waving appropriate on the supposedly independent and objective evening news? Just askin'....
In what appears to be a small but growing trend, a gay couple here in NYC were accidentally married, according to an article in today's New York POST. The girl picture here on the right is actually a boy, with a boy's name (Jason!), but in a classic bureaucratic screw-up, no one quite noticed the bride was a dude. Which is maybe understandable looking at the picture. Less so when you think that the city might have some records on exactly what sex you are.
A similar "whoops" happened in Tennessee when two guys, one in jail who was claiming to be a woman, got married last year. It took the state a year to figure that one out.
So, given the questionable status of legal gay marriage, in California and New York State and across the country as the Obama Administration shockingly defends DOMA, your best bet might be to find a nice set of pumps and a colorful summer skirt and see how far you can get through the system.
If you're looking for something unique to do this weekend, check out the Figment Arts Festival on Governor's Island. I was out on "The Island" (as I like to phrase it) last weekend for a bike tour and it's a pretty amazing place; a beautiful abandoned Coast Guard base/ghost town just 10 minutes by ferry from Lower Manhattan. This weekend Figment will be turning the island into a living work of art with participation encouraged (i.e. an artsy Mini-Golf course on the theme "City of Dreams"). The festival runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the ferry leaves from the terminal right next to where the Staten Island Ferry departs. Oh--and it's all free, the perfect recessionary activity.
Back in the early '90s when nightlife was semi-dangerous, I was invited to an outlaw party on the High Line, an abandoned stretch of elevated rail that ran through the then-industrial western part of Chelsea. By the time I got there, the party had been broken up by the cops so I never made it up to the tracks. Well, after 15-some years, I finally got up to there yesterday for a stroll on the first section of the newly renovated High Line park.
The new and improved High Line is a beautiful and unique addition to the city's burgeoning public parks; a clever mix of the old (railroad ties and wildflowers) and the new (a suspended amphitheater with a striking view straight up 10th avenue). It took nearly a decade of organizing, fundraising and building for Rob Hammond and Joshua David's dream of a new High Line to become reality. But it was well worth the wait. It provides a view of the city you've never seen before as you float 30 feet off the ground surrounded by a meticulously landscaped urban garden.
If I have any complaint, it's that the High Line currently stops after just 8 blocks at 20th Street. The next section is due to open in mid-2010 which will bring the park up to 30th Street. If you'd like to see what it looks like, there is beautiful slide show on the TIMES website (where this image is from). Or, if you'd like to walk it yourself, it's now open daily from 7am to 10pm. Outlaw parties start promptly at midnight--KIDDING! :) For more, info check out the official High Line website.
After recently writing about plans for "Ghostbusters 3" (20 years after GB2), a friend alerted me to the production "Tron 2.0". It's currently being shot in Vancouver in Sony Digital 3D with a budget that was initially rumored at $300 million (!) until Disney released a statement saying "it was nowhere near that". Meaning it's what...only $150 million?
Anyway, for those who remember the original "Tron", it was Disney's most expensive film to date back in 1982....even more than the megabomb "The Black Hole" (which lived up to it's name). The original Tron was no blockbuster but it did decent business on its release and has developed a loyal techie-cult following for it's odd neon-colored depiction of the inner workings of a CPU. Geek heaven, right?
There is mucho secrecy surrounding the new Tron, with very little info on plot or pictures or even trailers. What is known is that two original cast members, Jeff Bridges and Bruce Boxleitner are returning. Last summer, Disney screened a sneak preview/trailer at Comic Con in San Diego and the crowd went totally berserkers. You can hear them in the bootleg copy of that screening below. It's curious why Disney has not posted this online themselves but my guess is that they want to build some serious anticipay-yay-shun, making the fanboys wait. And it's gonna be a long wait at that--IMDB has it scheduled for release in 2011. Sigh.
A belated Tony post....Neil Patrick Harris wrapped up the awards show with a great musical riff on Sondheim's "Tonight". I thought he was a great host. And an excellent singer too! Lyrics were courtesy of the team who brought you HAIRSPRAY,Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. As a piece on the TIMES ArtsBeat blog explained, they wrote many variations of the song before the show that would account for many different outcomes. A brilliant idea and maybe one we'll see at next years Oscars, except there it would have to be The Midnight Number.
No--not Will Ferrell. Please. I am not even going to discuss that movie, which looks like its only relation to the TV show is the title. I'm talking about the original 70's LOTL and the sexy, David Cassidy-esque "Will" of Marshall, Will and Holly. On a routine expedition. Who met the greatest earthquake ever knooooown!
The actor is Wesley Eure and he not only played Will for three seasons but he also sang that song too! He recently gave a lengthy and fascinating interview to fellow author Brent Hartinger on AfterElton with all sorts of details about his life in and out of the closet. He talks about being a teen idol, dating Richard Chamberlain (!) and mentions his current partner, the surname-less Richard who apparently played for the NY Yankees. A gay Yankee? I think we need to know more about this...
That's right, today is National Doughnut Day...so I will use the official spelling, but only this once! When I first saw this on the Dunkin' website, I thought it was some sort of corporate promotion for their Design Your Own Donut contest, which ends today with the annoucement of the new Dunkin' Donut; "Toffee For Your Coffee". But apparently, NDD has been traditionally celebrated the first Friday of June since 1938. Who knew?! So join me in the festivities and hit up your local DD franchise for a FREE DONUT! Details are available on the DD site.
It took a little while but NewFest, New York's premier gay and lesbian film festival, has a homecoming of sorts tonite as the festival has its opening night (and the entire festival itself) in Chelsea. NewFest is taking over the gorgeous two-screen cinema on 23rd btw 8th and 9th that used to be Clearview Chelsea West until it was bought by the New School last year. Some notable films I'm going to try and check out are a documentary about Up With People, a thriller by directed by my friend Dave Kittredge called "Pornography", and a feature about Quentin Crisp's arrival in the East Village back in '81, "An Englishman in New York". For schedules and tix, you can go directly to the NewFest website. See you at the movies!
Until I was 23, I never got the deal with Judy Garland and the gays. I mean, sure, I liked "The Wizard of Oz" just as much as the next guy. But it wasn't until I saw "A Star Is Born" at film school, particularly her inimitable take on "The Man Who Got Away", that I truly understood the tragic fabulousness of Judy.
Recently, I was reminded of her unique talents when Michael Musto posted some lost footage of a show she did in her twilight years. It was a variety program called "The Hollywood Palace" and below are two versions of the show's opening number; one from rehearsal and one from the taping. Judy is looking a 'lil rough in both of them but there is something so utterly compelling about watching her perform...like a woman on a wire.
So check them out back to back and then, as they used to say in high school English, give me a 100 word compare and contrast essay on the importance of "Judyness".
