Would You Hit It?

It's a simple question .... it's Captain America, superhero and beefcake actor, Chris Evans.

Would.You.Hit.It?

Yes or No?

I Didn't Say It ...

Joe Biden, on ENDA:

"My grandkids, my children, and their kids are going to be shocked, it shocks the conscious that this very moment in American history, in some states, an employer can fire you just because of who you are, or who you love.  It’s close to barbaric.  I mean think about this, a man, no I really mean this.  Imagine, imagine, 20 years from now, as America look back and say how in the hell could that have ever been allowed?   The country’s moved on.  The American people have moved on, it’s time for the Congress to move on, and pass ENDA.  Pass ENDA now.  Not tomorrow, now!"

Seriously, we look so behind the times on this.

Shouldn’t you have a job, and be able to keep a job, based on your job performance and not what you are, color, gender, orientation, age etc?

Franklin Graham, son of anti-gay preacher Billy Graham, on Russia's anti-gay laws:

"Putin is right on (gay) issues... he has taken a stand to protect his nation’s children from the damaging effects of any gay and lesbian agenda. ... Isn’t it sad, though, that America’s own morality has fallen so far that on this issue – protecting children from any homosexual agenda or propaganda – Russia’s standard is higher than our own? ... It's obvious that President Obama and his administration are pushing the gay-lesbian agenda in America today and have sold themselves completely to that which is contrary to God's teaching... Our president and his attorney general have turned their backs on God and His standards, and many in the Congress are following the administration's lead. This is shameful."

Franklin? You douche. Sure it’s easy to talk about the damage of the so-called Gay Agenda — which, by the way, is a one-word agenda: equality — and yet you don’t cite a single example of how gay folks harm children.

Is that because there are no examples? Cuz, if there were, you’d be runnin’ off at the piehole still.

Jack Conway, Kentucky Attorney General, on his refusal to defend the state against a marriage equality lawsuit:

"I felt like that from a fiscal responsibility standpoint, I didn't need to be wasting taxpayer resources in a lawsuit that we weren't going to win or in an appeal that we weren't going to win. For the sake of my daughter's view on my public service in the future, I wanted to be on the right side of history."

Sad that Kentucky’s governor has no problem spending taxpayer money of the defense, which will only be overturned by the Supreme Court … if it ever gets that far.
On a sidenote: he's kind of adorable.

Rick Santorum, on Arizona's "religious freedom" bill and how he would have signed it had he been governor — not realizing he'll never be governor of anything:

"The trunk upon which all other branches of rights flow from is freedom of conscience. If you don't have freedom of conscience, then freedom of speech doesn't mean very much, freedom of assembly doesn't mean anything because you can't speak or do what you believe is right. And what we're seeing is the government increasingly encroaching upon this very sacrosanct area of our Constitution and using all sorts of excuses to suppress people's rights."

Try as I might I cannot find the Freedom of Conscience passage in the Bill of Rights.

But then it’s no surprise, because this is Frothy Mix, who never met a lie he didn’t want to spread.

Anna Wintour, on the Kimye cover:

“Part of the pleasure of editing Vogue, one that lies in a long tradition of this magazine, is being able to feature those who define the culture at any given moment, who stir things up, whose presence in the world shapes the way it looks and influences the way we see it. I think we can all agree on the fact that that role is currently being played by Kim and Kanye to a T. (Or perhaps that should be to a K?) As for the cover, my opinion is that it is both charming and touching, and it was, I should add, entirely our idea to do it; you may have read that Kanye begged me to put his fiancée on Vogue’s cover. He did nothing of the sort. The gossip might make better reading, but the simple fact of the matter is that it isn’t true.”

Methinks Anna doth protest too much.

First off, they are not cultural icons; one is a delusional rapper with a god complex, and the other is the former star of a homemade sex tape.

This is about money, and even Anna Wintour knows it, and that’s probably why she didn’t have Kim Kardastrophe on by herself because that wouldn’t sell.

Theo James, co-star of Divergent, on if he thinks we'll ever see an LGBT action star in the near future: 

"It’s very hard to tell because today there are great shows like Looking, poignant pieces of work that revolve around a central cast of characters that happen to be gay. But I remember when Queer as Folk came out and thinking, “Things are changing. Maybe there will be more [shows like this].” And then suddenly there was a drought. Hopefully the day [we have a gay action hero] isn’t far away."

And if we do, could I suggest that maybe we have a gay couple as superheroes, like, um, Hugh Jackman and Theo James?

I’d line up now for that one.

Mark Cuban, Dallas Mavericks owner and Athlete Ally board member, on the possibility of other gay NBA athletes: 

“We already know there’s more gay players in the league. Whether they come out or not is irrelevant. It’s just personal preference. There’s no reason to ever, ever discuss anybody’s sexuality because that’s their private business and there’s no reason to start now.”

Here's the deal: when straight folks stop telling me about their sexuality—as they do every single time they say, This is my girlfriend/boyfriend, This is my wife/husband—then maybe gay folks won’t have to come out because it won’t be a big deal, it’ll just be.

I mean, does Cuban suggest that straight men should stop saying things like, I'm dating this great girl. She's fantastic, just so he won’t have to hear an openly gay guy say, I dating this great guy. He's fantastic.

He certainly isn't suggesting straight folks keep their sexual orientation private because they've never done so and never had to. I don't wanna go back to the closeted days, when a closeted gay guy has to say, I'm dating someone, it's great.

That doesn't work.

Random Musings

We are still in the throes of Powder Room Remodel 2014, but here are some more pictures of the progress.

Next up, priming the walls, and then a painstakingly detailed man’s suit style pin-striping of the walls, some new tile that looks like burlap, and then the installation of all new fixtures, top to bottom.

It’s a process.

Sad news to report....

White Collar, the hit USA series starring Matt Bomer, my Husband-In-My-Head, and openly gay sex bomb, is going to end after the upcoming sixth season. The six episode final season will pick up after last season's cliffhanger that saw Matt‘s character Neal Caffrey get abducted.

All I can say is: Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!

Is anyone else over this MH 370 story about the missing Malaysian flight? I mean, I like the news, I want to know what happened, but seriously, this is not an all-day, every-day news story, especially when the reports are nothing new, or news. Seriously? A black hole swallowed the plane?

Now it seems like there is a credible lead on the missing plane, but I imagine this will spin out of control, too. Don't give me conjecture, give me news; and if there's no new news, then zip it!

Poor Ted Nugent. Even people in Texas find him too offensive.

He might be something of a folk hero among the far far right, particularly in wack-a-doo red states, especially places like Texas, but it ain’t necessarily so.

The city of Longview, Texas has canceled Nugent's scheduled performance for their second annual Fourth of July Festival and has said they will eat the $16,000 fee they paid to Nugent to ensure that he wouldn’t come to town.

Snap.

Oh, the Drag Race!

This week was the reappearance of one of my favorite RuPaul’s Drag Race episodes, Snatch Game, a take-off on some old-timey game show called Match Game with the queens impersonating celebrities. As for the catwalk, the queens had to create a look inspired by none other than Mama Ru. It could have been good, and it could have been bad — it was actually a bit of both — so let’s dish …

#1 [again!] BenDeLaCreme. I loved how, when telling Ru that she would be doing Maggie Smith circa Downton Abby, she played like she didn’t think about the English accent, or how to make the Dowager Countess funny. Her response to the questions and to the other queens was faboosh and funny and spot on: when questioned by another queen that she didn’t understand English, BenDeLaCreme-Maggie-Smith-Dowager-Countess sniffed, We originated the language.

Brazilliant, and BenDeLaCreme gets her second win!

#2 Adore Delano, if only for her spot-on Anna Nicole Smith impersonation. My favorite was her spelling of “vodcah.” On the runway though, she was less Ru and more Adore, and kinda Anna Nicole, in a big blond wig.

#3 I loved Bianca Del Rio’s Judge Judy because, like Ru and Bianca, I watch me some Judy every day. Bianca had the catchphrases and she even had a Bird the Bailiff puppet that nearly made me spit-take! And I love Bianca for taking down some of the other girls a notch or two with her quick wit; I do loves me some sarcasm, amirite? But, I didn’t get a lot of Ru on the runway from Bianca, so she gets points off for that.

#4 I’ll give Joslyn Fox points for really channeling Real Housewives Teresa-of-the-One-head [instead of a forehead? Get it? I’ll stop.] I also laughed out loud—and no, I won’t say LOL’d—when she said, "prostitution whoreses!" And she was one of the few who Ru’d the runway to a T.

Onto the not so successful….

I like me some Darienne Lake but she looked less like Paula Deen than I do. Some of her jokes were cute, but cute don’t win Snatch. And, well, she isn’t Ru, ever. Courtney Act’s Fran Drescher was a snooze. Where was the Drescher laugh? And the wig was the wrong one. Milk … ah Milk … her Julia Child was one-note and it was flat. But, while some people were miffed that her Runway Ru was Boy Ru, I thought it was a shockingly good choice. But I get the “That’s not a drag queen” sentiment.

Let’s toss in Trinity K. Bonet’s Nicki Minaj. Not funny. Just because you slap on pin k hair doesn’t make you Nicki; the voice wasn’t there, and the funny wasn’t either. She blew a perfectly good chance for a Mariah joke. Sad. And Laganja Estranja’s Rachel Zoe? Rachel No! It was so bad; didn’t sound like her or look like her. 

Luckily for Laganja, Gia Gunn’s Kim K was awful—though I imagine her original choice of murdered pop star Selena might have tanked far worse. She didn’t hit Kim at all, and on the runway she was wonky-eyed and sloppy.

Sashay away.

What did YOU think?

You gotta love Ellen Page.

In response to reading a Tweet from fill-in-the-blank anti-gay pastor saying that Page didn’t really “believe” she was gay and was struggling with it, and that she needed to embrace God, Page Tweeted this response:

Ooh yes!

One of the great worries about rebuilding the WTC after 9/11 was security and there were all kinds of promises about a so-called "ring of steel" around 1 World Trade Center.

Yeah. Not so much.

Justin Casquejo, a sixteen-year-old New Jersey teen, snuck out of his home one night, crawled through a hole in a Ground Zero fence, got a lift up the tower from a clueless union elevator operator — even though he had no ID — to the 88th floor, hiked the stairs up to the 104th floor and scurried past the "ring of steel" — actually a sleeping guard — to climb to the top of the spire at the top of the building.

After spending two hours atop the nation’s tallest building snapping photos, Casquejo was finally caught by a construction worker as he made his way back down. He has been charged with misdemeanor trespassing. 

The sleeping guard has been fired.

And now, in the "What Were They Thinking" segment ...

Two CNN producers, Yonatan Pomrenze and Connor Fieldman Boals, also tried to breach security at the WTC in broad daylight and were arrested.

The two men were seen repeatedly trying to get into the building, presumably trying to test the security at the site after two recent incidents in which a teen broke in at night and climbed to the top, and three BASE jumpers and an accomplice made a daredevil skydive from the tower.

A CNN spokesperson said Boals and Pomrenze 'were not asked to sneak onto the World Trade Center site.'"

But you just know that footage would have aired on the network if they had been successful.

Last year I started to watch Da Vinci's Demons on the Starz channel. It was colossally stupid and badly written and acted, save for the delightfully evil, and devilishly sexy Blake Ritson as Count Riario.

When I heard the show was coming back I didn't even bother to set the DVR, until I learned that the producers of the show had seen what an asset Ritson was to the show and have enlarged his role.

And so I'm watching. And, while searching for a picture of Ritson, I came across this one which made me see why I find him so handsome ... he looks like Carlos' long-lost brother.

On the other side of the TV screen, we have Mixology, a show which got off to a wonderfully madcap start and then failed to live up to that promise.

But, it does have one redeeming quality: the beautiful Craig Frank. Very cute, very sexy, hot smile.

Sadly, I don't think his show will last.

What the %#&%@*!&#?????

The Christian relief agency World Vision announced that it will hire Christians who are in same-sex marriages.

Baby Jeebus say what? Richard Stearns, president of World Vision, a humanitarian-relief group, announced the hiring change for the United States in a letter to staff. Stearns said the World Vision board had prayed for years about how to handle the issue as Christian denominations took different stands on recognizing same-sex relationships:

“I want to reassure you that we are not sliding down some slippery slope of compromise, nor are we diminishing the authority of Scripture in our work. We are the same World Vision you have always believed in.” 

Except we just wanna get some married gays up in here now ... but then ...

UPDATE: Less than 48 hours after that announcement, World Vision crumbled in the face of vicious condemnation and boycott demands from anti-gay hate groups and major evangelical denominations.

No married gays, ever!

Suddenly Seeking Attention.

After last week's Instagram photo of Madonna cleaning her shower with her tongue, she decided to post a picture of her hairy armpit for the world to see.

Keep in mind, she's somebody's mother, and not merely an attention-seeking fame-whore.

Photo of the Week

Last year, Mario — whose last name is being withheld — was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and given a very short time to live.

He had one last wish, to say goodbye to those with whom he had worked at the Rotterdam Zoo. And thanks to Kees Veldboer’s Ambulance Wish Foundation — similar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation — Mario was granted his wish and was taken back to his job where he received one last kiss from a ‘friend.’

If you aren’t crying, well, then you probably never cry.

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"Christian" School Kicks Out Sunnie Kahle For Not Being Girly Enough

Sunnie Kahle is eight-years-old and loves to collect coins and hunting knives and baseballs. She also likes teddy bears and bracelets, but even she admits most of the things she likes are “boy hobbies.”

And, apparently, that’s the issue, because, as a girl, she should be wearing dresses and playing with dolls and learning how to cook and sew and take care of her man because this is the 1950s, at least in her little corner of Virginia.

"Sunnie realizes she's a female, but she wants to do boy things. She wants to play rough and tough." — Doris Thompson, Kahle's great-grandmother and legal guardian

Thompson has raised Kahle since she was an infant and remembers when Sunnie was five, and had hair down to her waist and asked her great-grandmother to cut it short because she wanted to give it to a child with cancer.

It was after that hair cut that Sunnie started wearing only jeans and t-shirts; no more dresses for her. And that’s also when the questions, and the troubles at school, started.

Sunnie says her classmates would ask if she was a boy or a girl, though it never bothered her. But it did bother the administrators at Timberlake Christian School [TCS], where Sunnie was a student and, last month, TCS principal Becky Bowman sent home a letter reminding Doris Thompson of the school's religious affiliation and its right to refuse students who contradict a "biblical lifestyle" … like girls who have short hair and wearing jeans:

"We believe that unless Sunnie and her family clearly understand that God has made her female and her dress and behavior need to follow suit with her God-ordained identity, that TCS is not the best place for her future education.”

Doris Thompson was offended by the letter and its references to biblical passages about sexual immorality. She says she’s raised Sunnie as a Christian and that Sunnie is just a tomboy, too young to understand sexual orientation or gender identity issues, but …

"If my child grows up to be homosexual or transgendered, I will love her that much more."—Doris Thompson said.

Sunnie no longer attends TCS; she is now enrolled in public school, but she wishes things had been different.

"I should just be able to be me and not let them worry about it."—Sunnie Kahle

Jeff Abbett, administrator of Timberlake Christian Schools, released this statement when the story broke:

"We are heart-broken that Sunnie’s grandparents have made her the subject of a public discussion. We regret that they made the decision to withdraw Sunnie immediately from Timberlake Christian Schools.

For confidentiality reasons related to a minor, it is not possible for us to explain in full detail the volume of documentation we have concerning the situation that the grandparents have made public. There is much more to this story than has been revealed related to Sunnie and the classroom environment. Our documentation shows a significantly different narrative than the one portrayed in the original news report.

You can be assured that we have cared for Sunnie and worked with her grandparents for several years to assist them. Our TCS teachers and administrators love Sunnie and we can assure everyone that this has never been an issue of hair length or boots as it has been portrayed. It has been our constant desire over the last several years to work with this family and to shepherd this precious little girl in a way consistent with traditional values.

As a private Christian school, we have the responsibility to all our students to assist parents to instill the Christian values upon which our school is founded.

We reiterate that the decision to remove Sunnie was entirely that of the grandparents."

Doris Thompson says Sunnie has never had any behavioral issues at TCS and that she has a 4.0 GPA; she does say that one time, there was an issue because Sunnie wanted to wear boy's pants as part of her school uniform. When asked if that was correct, if Sunnie was a good student who never caused problems, Jeff Abbett simply said, "Yes."

So who does that hurt? She’s a child being a child. She might be gay; she might be transgendered; what difference does it make when the school’s only job is to educate her? Who does she harm by wearing jeans, or having short hair, or collecting hunting knives?

I find it hilarious that the voice of reason is an eight-year-old girl who just wants to be herself, and yet she was surrounded by teachers and administrators who thought it more important that she wear a dress.

And we worry about kids bullying kids when we have schools like this one that try to set children against each other by saying that one child who does not conform to outdated gender stereotypes is a problem.

Turn the mirror back on yourselves.

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Architecture Wednesday: Three Cusps Chalet

The second half of the 19th century saw the return of large numbers of emigrants from Brazil to their native Portugal. While returning to their northern roots, especially in the Douro and Minho regions, they brought with them sizable fortunes — made in the economic trade and industry boom of the 19th century Brazil — and a new culture and cosmopolitanism unheard of in Portugal at that time.

That combination of capital and taste sprinkled the cities of northern Portugal with examples of rich, quality architecture, of which the Three Cusps Chalet is a clear example.

Thanks to large amounts of Brazilian money, as the Dom Frei Caetano Brandão Street was opened, a small palace was built in the corner of Cathedral’s square, boasting high-ceilings, rich frescos, complex stonework, stucco reliefs and exotic timber carpentry.

In deference to such noble spaces, the kitchen, laundry, larders and personnel quarters — usually hidden away in basements and attics — were now placed in one contiguous building. The Three Cusps Chalet, built according to the devised model of an alpine chalet — with narrow proportions, tall windows, pitched roofs and decorated eaves — was that one building.

As years passed, the building fell into disrepair, until a design team took it as their mission to recover the building’s identity. The intention was to clarify the building’s spaces and functions while simultaneously making it fit for today’s way of living.

The result is a cohabitation of work studio and private home. The design team took advantage of a 5 foot height difference between the street and the interior plaza to place the working area on the ground level, turning it westward and relating it to the street. Meanwhile, the private areas of the structure relate to the interior plaza and the morning light.

The staircase, previously closed in on three of its sides, is now surrounded by glass to filter views from both the work space and the home, while allowing natural light to seep down from the upper levels.

The second floor was kept for the private areas of the house, though the designers refused the natural tendency to compartmentalize the spaces; the staircase was allowed to define the perimeters of the kitchen and living room, creating an open floor with natural light all day long. Light enters from the kitchen in the morning, from the staircase’s skylight and from the living room in the afternoon.

Climbing the last and narrow flights of stairs are the sleeping quarters where the roof structure was kept apparent, though painted white. On the other side of the staircase is a closet and bathroom.

If the visual theme of the house is the white color, methodically repeated on walls, ceilings, carpentry and marble, the clothing room is the surprise at the top of the stairs. Both the floor and roof structure appear in their natural colors surrounded by closet doors constructed in the same material. It reads as a small wooden box, a counterpoint to both the home’s white box and the marble box of the bathroom.

White was used for the walls, ceilings and carpentry due to its spatial qualities and lightness, while wood in its natural color is used for the hardwood floors and clothing room for its warmth and comfort. Portuguese white Estremoz marble, which covers the ground floor, countertops and on the bathrooms and laundry walls and floors, was chosen for its texture, reflectivity and color.

All of the original wood window frames of the main façade were recovered, the roof was remade with the original Marseille tiles and the decorated eave restored to its original glory. Ground floor window frames were remade in iron, as per the original, but redesigned in order to maximize natural illumination.

It’s the kind of renovation that celebrates the past while looking forward.

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Repost: Happy Birthday Diva!

I’m an Old School Gay; y’all can have Britney and Katy, Madonna, and Gaga, too. For me, the Gay Diva Icon to end all Gay Diva Icons is one Diana Ross. And so, since today is the anniversary of the birth of the Diva known as Diana, I will make do by givin' up one of my favorite Diana Ross songs, The Boss, and reposting my story of A-Run-In-With-Diana, er, Miss Ross.

_________________________________________________

As a younger gay boy living in California, I waited for Miss Ross to come to Lake Tahoe, or even Reno, although Reno is tacky and dirty and Lake Tahoe is gaw-geous. And when I saw the announcement that she would be appearing somewhere, I instantly got on the phone to my homies, er, homos, and homo-friendlies, and we made plans to see her.

One time we invited our friends Ann and Steve. They liked the idea of a show, but a Diana Ross show? They weren't fans; but then we enticed them with the idea of cocktails and gambling and Lake Tahoe and cocktails and cocktails, and they relented, so we went.

Now, back in the day at the casino showrooms, if you wanted a good seat, you tipped the ushers at the door to get closer. So I did. And we were seated next to the stage!

Well, I was two seats away from next to the stage because a couple of queens of mine, stepped in front of me. Ann and Steve sat behind me. The show starts and she appears; sings, dances, works the crowd. Reach Out And Touch! Ain't No Mountain High Enough! Baby Love! 

She appeared at the head of our table, and, well, Steve, Mister I-Don't-Like-Diana-Ross leaped up, sprawled across my head and the two queens in front of me so he could, as he says, just touch her.

I think I created a monster.

A few years later, Miss Ross was back at Caesars and once again there were phone calls and the invitations to the performance. We invited a straight couple--probably because Ann and Steve couldn't make it and we like to keep a nice gay-straight ratio. I went with my best fag hag Lisette. Well, this straight couple, Shawn and Lori, wanted to sit up front, so they tipped this time, and we were once again next to the stage. Lisette sat right at the edge and I was behind her.

Show starts. Lights dim. Orchestra plays. Miss Ross sequins out and divas all over the place. She tells the crowd she has a bit of a cold, and they bring out a small table with hot tea for her. But she soldiers on. 

Come See About Me! 

Love Child! My Man! 

Stop! In The Name Of Love! 

I'm Coming Out! 

And she keeps coming over to our table and talking to us. She tells us that we are sending her all the good energy; and she looks down at Lori, who was about 26 months pregnant at the time. She asks Lori about the baby, wishes Lori and Shawn all good things, and.

They. Just. Sit. There. Needless to say they were never part of the Caravan To Caesars To See Miss Ross again.

Anyway, Miss Ross starts to sing It's My Turn, and she comes back over to our table and holds a hand out to me. I rise, like any good gay boy in the presence of diva-liciousness and clasp her hand. No, she says, up here. I believe I used Lisette's head as a stepping stone and I rose to the stage. Miss Ross wanted to slow dance with me; and we did, center stage at Caesar's Palace, while she sang It's My Turn.

And at the end, she kissed my cheek and told me that I was a gentleman.

Somehow I returned to my seat, until, The Boss. We were up in the aisles dancing and Miss Ross came to us once again and called us all on the stage to dance. I believe I was trampled on by the homo's behind me, and this time, I actually let Lisette go up first...after all, Miss Ross had said I was a gentleman, so I was not about to disappoint!

Needless to say it was a fabulous concert and one of those memories that will never fade.

At the end of the show, Miss Ross once again appeared at our table to thank us for being so nice to her.

And today is the Diva's Birthday! And seventy looks damn hot! But, before we get to the music, take a look at that picture; for all of the "diva" wannabes out there, this is how it's done!

Happy birthday, Miss Ross!