Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Hunka Munka Chunka

I don't care how stupid he is--Levi Johnston is HAWT!

Labels:

posted by Michael @ 5:17 PM 2 comments

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

"Who Do You Think You Are?!?!"

Hugh Jackman has received a great deal of press over the last 24 hours for stopping a preview performance of his new Broadway play, A Steady Rain, while an audience member's cell phone rang for almost a full minute. I think reports of Mr. Jackman's reaction have been greatly exaggerated. (One report I heard said that Jackman "ripped into" the audience member in question.) Actually, I think he was fairly patient. You can watch the clip yourself.


This made me recall a similar episode during the penultimate performance of Patti Lupone's Gypsy, during which some hapless audience member dared to take a picture. Patti's response was deliciously Classic Lupone. Watch and listen.

As an actor, I admit, I feel a certain degree of satisfaction when I watch these clips having had to perform through picture-taking and cell phone ringing and some even more distracting behavior. However, I never stopped the show. I can't. I'm not a star. Really, the only actors who can get away with these sorts or responses are the ones whose names appear above the title.

In the case of Jackman and Lupone, both have worked hard to get where they are and, in my opinion, are deserving of their success. And whether it's fair or not, their celebrity and fame gives them a certain amount of leadership within a company of actors. But, for example, if the picture-taking had happened during "Little Lamb", the girl playing Louise would have been expected to just soldier on through the song. Every actor knows the oldest rule in show business is the show must go on.

As actors, part of our job is to have the technique and concentration to continue in the moment despite whatever distractions may happen in the audience. You owe it to everyone in the audience who is not behaving badly and the rest of the actors on stage who are working collaboratively to create the reality of the play. One actor deciding to abandon that collaboration is arguably more distracting than any cell phone ring or camera flash.

Also, in our "community" of the theatre, as Miss Lupone so eloquently puts it, we, onstage, know that there is a staff of ushers and a house manager out there whose job it is to deal with offending audience members. You can't see it in the Hugh Jackman clip, but I promise you, there was an exasperated House Manager or usher standing in the aisle, arms waving wildly, trying to communicate to the cell phone ringer to get the heck out of the theatre. Someone from the stage jumping in to do this job makes the entire episode more humiliating and disruptive than it really needs to be. Now, I admit, this is the ideal philosophy I'd like to adhere to in the best of all possible worlds, but...these reactions, though I don't condone them, are kinda fabulous in an "actor's ultimate revenge fantasy" sort of way.

The great irony here is, that while recording these reactions may not be distracting, it is illegal. Can you imagine what Patti would have done if she'd known?

Labels: ,

posted by Michael @ 10:05 AM 3 comments

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Hyperbole


Okay. Last night I heard a promo on television describing the return of a new, updated version of Beverly Hills 90210 to the airwaves as "the most anticipated event of the year."

Really.

In a year with a history-making presidential election, this is the most anticipated event of the year. Yeah. Well, maybe for people who watch the CW it is.

Labels:

posted by Michael @ 7:57 AM 2 comments

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Sufferin' Til Suffrage

Much was made of Hillary Clinton's speech last night at the Democratic National Convention: "Will she be sincere? Will she fully support Obama? Can she motivate her supporters to get behind Barack?" All day long ad nauseum that's all you heard from any of the media outlets. Well, good ol' Hillary hit it out of the ballpark with her speech last night. As you know, I've been an Obama supporter for a long time now, but I have to say I don't think I've ever been more proud of my Senator from New York than last night. And as for any Hillary supporter thinking of voting for McCain over Obama, could she have put it more plainly than "No way, no how, NO McCAIN!" Amen sister.

Also, it was no accident that Hillary's speech coincided with the 88th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. I couldn't help but sing this song all day yesterday as well. I credit School House Rock for teaching me and a generation of kids in the '70s about the plight of Women's Suffrage. Watch it again and really listen to the lyrics. As an adult I'm struck once again by how clever they are. Enjoy.

Labels: , ,

posted by Michael @ 12:11 PM 4 comments

Sunday, June 01, 2008

And...we're back!

Well, I'm back. Which is kind of a play on words because the source of most of my misery this week has been my back. My achin' back to be more precise. Is there anything worse? And don't say childbirth. Tooth pain is pretty bad, too. Dry sockets following four wisdom tooth extractions--not pretty. Been there. Thank you all to those who left such lovely get-well wishes. Anywho...because there's so much to catch up on I guess I this is going to be one of those random thoughts posts. Let's see, where to begin?

Friday brought another crane collapse here in Manhattan. Perhaps this will mean a much needed slowdown to the building boom that is seemingly out of control in this city. It has me and many other New Yorkers walking alternate routes just to avoid construction sites these days. On top of that the grave atmosphere has put a damper on things at work since I work in the construction industry. You didn't know that, did you? Yup, it's true. Pretty butch, right? Impressed? Well--don't be. It's not actual construction work.

Just to dash any butch images you might have of me, I was among the first of my friends to see the Sex and the City movie! I just popped some pain killers and propped myself up at the Chelsea Clearview Cinemas to enjoy the show. Yes--if you can, you must see it in the gayest movie theatre in town. I enjoyed it and was never a regular viewer of the show.

Random non sequitur: Do you remember the name of the construction worker in the Village People? I do. David Hodo. He was my favorite. (Pictured left)

I would be remiss not to mention the passing of two show business greats: Harvey Korman and Sydney Pollack. Korman is best known for his brilliant comedic work on the Carol Burnett Show. Not only did he create hilarious characters like Max to Burnett's Nora Desmond, Ed, opposite Burnett's iconic Eunice in the Family skits and perhaps my favorite, Mother Marcus, a drag character based on Korman's real-life Yiddish grandmother.

Sydney Pollack was of course a much accomplished actor and an Academy Award winning director. Gay audiences will always remember him as Will Truman's philandering, but understanding, totally-cool-with-his-son's-homosexuality father on Will and Grace--the super PC Dad so many gay men probably wished they had.

Labels: , , ,

posted by Michael @ 9:12 PM 5 comments

Monday, May 12, 2008

Rainy Monday Random Thoughts

Another drab rainy day here in New York (Friday was miserable, too). With little to inspire me on a day like this you're left to endure my random, unrelated thoughts as I sit here with my morning coffee.

Dunkin Donuts Coffee Rules: Scott and I remarked on the recent glut of Dunkin Donuts franchises popping up all over the city (giving Starbuck's and the new CapitalOne bank a run for their money). We noticed yesterday that there is a Dunkin' Donuts on the northbound side of Broadway between 96 and 97 Streets and another one on the southbound side between 95 and 96 Streets, because one shouldn't have to walk too far for a donut. I, for one, am doing my best to keep the new franchises in business at the expense of my waistline.

Idol Overload: Read an article in Entertainment Weekly about the somewhat less than exciting American Idol season this year. The show has become formulaic and predictable. We know what the judges will say before they ever open their mouths, and with sites like "vote for the worst" and "dial idol" even the public has figured out how to manipulate the voting. On top of that, the buzz this morning is that David Archuletta is suffering the effects of an overindulgent stage-father. Mr. Archuletta has been banned from the AI rehearsals and studios with the exception of the live tapings. Poor little David. But then again, maybe it will work in his favor with the voting public.

Mothers Day 2008: My sister and I hosted our traditional Mother's Day brunch/lunch down in Asbury Park. The menu included: Mixed berry yogurt with granola, a selection of cheeses and salumi, vegetable frittata, roasted asparagus wrapped with prosciutto, lamb kabobs with chick pea and cous cous salad and lemon poppy seed cake with fresh berries for desert. Someone once accused our family of being "food obsessed". Yup. We're Italian. Deal. Mom was delighted.

Schadenfreude: I admit I take secret delight in the demise of Republican politicians like Vito Fosella of Staten Island who was recently arrested for drunk driving, revealed to have a mistress in Virginia and a secret love child--what Saturday Night Live referred to the other night as "the trifecta". Not so much when it's a Democrat. Kudos to Fosella's wife, though, for not standing by his side through the embarrassing press conferences.

Superhero: Went to see the new blockbuster hit, Iron Man, on opening weekend at the Ziegfeld here in New York. All the nerds were lined up outside the theatre ahead of time. They applauded after the new Indiana Jones trailer and exclaimed with shock and delight at the surprise scene after the final credits of Iron Man. Gotta love comic book geeks. By the way, I'm as shocked as anyone that I LOVED this movie. (I'm not usually the Superhero movei type.) I highly recommend it.

Labels: , , ,

posted by Michael @ 10:02 AM 6 comments

Monday, April 28, 2008

Pretty Baby

Well, this didn't take long. The squeaky clean image of Disney's Miley Cyrus, a.k.a. Hannah Montana, has been tarnished, not by the Star or the Enquirer, but by Vanity Fair and all-star celebrity photographer Annie Lebovitz. This is not to say that Cyrus' "people" are without fault here. What kind of interest did they think Vanity Fair was going to take in the superstar of the 'tween set? Further, what kind of photographs did they expect Annie Lebovitz, a photographer known for her provocative style, to snap of the Disney darling?

The images, which you can see a bit of above, may appear innocuous to some but stand in stark contrast to the image Cyrus and her team have taken great pains to cultivate. They include a "nude" of Cyrus wrapped in a satin sheet and, what is perhaps an even more disturbing image, one which shows Cyrus and her father, Billy Ray, in a suggestive clinch. Whether it was the Vanity Fair/Lebovitz people who took advantage of a 15 year-old girl, or it was Cyrus' management looking to find the next demographic for her fan-base at any cost, one thing is clear: a lot of people are getting rich over the exploitation of a little girl. She did not make the decision to take these photographs herself, indeed, she is not even old enough to sign the release on these photos. A 15 year-old is simply not equipped emotionally or intellectually to handle this level of fame and scandal. Move over Lindsay, watch for this one to crash and burn.

UPDATE: In an ironic twist, it is 15 year-old Miley Cyrus herself, not Vanity Fair, Annie Lebovitz, Disney, Cyrus' management team nor her father, who is issuing an apology to her fans for the racy photos. Can you imagine allowing this kid to take the fall this by herself? Nice.

Labels:

posted by Michael @ 11:10 AM 2 comments

Monday, April 14, 2008

Grow Up!


File this one under "get a life." During construction of the new Yankees Stadium, a Red Sox-loving construction worker on the job reportedly planted a Sox jersey under two feet of concrete as a practical joke and possibly to spur Yankee fears of a Boston "curse". Construction workers, most of whom are Yankee fans, spent five hours on Saturday digging up the offending jersey at the request of Yankees brass.

The Yankees are considering filing criminal charges against the construction worker because "he had bad motives and was trying to do a really bad thing." Criminal charges! For something that's imaginary! Gimme a break. Why don't you go tell his mommy while you're at it. The only thing criminal here is spending five hours on a Saturday at union wages digging up brand new concrete. Maybe they can get the pope to exorcise the spot during his upcoming visit to Yankees Stadium next week. Grow up, boys!

Labels: , ,

posted by Michael @ 10:01 AM 10 comments

Monday, March 17, 2008

Italian Boys

It's no secret I'm not a fan of St. Patrick's Day. The whole thing just smacks of homophobia to me--at least here in New York it does anyway. In response I will do a completely homo-centric post featuring men who share my Italian heritage. Yes, they happen to be HGTV hotties, too. I have no life.

They are: Designer Frank Fontana of Design on a Dime, Carpenter Anthony Gilardi of Myles of Style and Carpenter/Electrician Marc "Sparky" Bartolomeo of Save My Bath. In addition to their good looks Gilardi and Bartolomeo have working class Boston and Brooklyn accents, respectively, making them even hotter.





Click here for photos from Sparky's "fitness model" days.

Labels:

posted by Michael @ 10:56 PM 9 comments

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

St. Dina, the Martyr


One can hardly expect a political sex scandal to unfold these days without the press weighing in with Dina McGreevey, patron saint of wronged political wives. While I was very upset to learn of Elliot Spitzer's involvement with a prostitution ring, nothing can cheapen a political scandal like words of wisdom imparted by Mrs. McGreevey. Here are her profound thoughts on the plight of Spitzer's wife, Silda Spitzer:
I looked at her face and I thought, ‘Oh, my gosh, that was me just three years ago.’ I could see the pain in her eyes and I know what she’s feeling and empathize with her.
"Oh my gosh" indeed! I guess Dina McGreevey can rest assured that as long as politicians lead lewd double lives, she will have a calling. Of course any chance to hawk her lame book "Silent Partner" can't hurt either.

I actually attended part of her "reading" and book signing at Barnes & Noble when her book was released. (Yes, I admit it. I had to get a glimpse of her in person. Besides the Barnes & Noble is right around the corner from my house. I mean, seriously, not even a block--closer than the grocery store. I just stumbled in there on the way to buy coffee or something--I swear!) The readings at this Barnes & Noble happen to attract an over-educated, intellectual older crowd reflecting the neighborhood's Jewish roots. Anyway, I think Dina McGreevey's character can best be summed up by the three old biddies I overheard discussing her "reading" after the fact. Here's what they had to say:

(Read the following with over-educated, heavy New York accent. Think Ed Koch.)

Old Biddy 1: It makes you wonder how the two of them ever got together. (referring to ex-governor Jim McGreevey)
Old Biddy 2: Yeah--you get the impression she was just arm-candy or something.
Old Biddy 3: Yes. And she made several grammatical errors.

Labels: ,

posted by Michael @ 8:44 PM 4 comments

Monday, February 25, 2008

My Sentiments Exactly

This is from my favorite hilarious new e-card website, someecards.com. You probably know by now, No Country For Old Men "killed" at the Oscars last night. (Pun intended.) But as I've mentioned before, I didn't get it.

Labels:

posted by Michael @ 9:47 AM 8 comments

Monday, February 11, 2008

Random Musings

I've been trying to figure out all day what to blog about, but I got nothing. So I'll just subject you to my random thoughts and musings of the day.

1. The big story over the weekend is the Obama Sweep in Democratic primaries and caucuses. He now leads Clinton by several states but somehow still lags behind in delegates. The delegate thing is kind of making me crazy. It would be one thing to just calculate the delegates for each state proportionately by the voting percentages, but then you have to figure in super-delegates. What the hell is a super-delegate anyway? Now, someone correct me if I'm wrong, but near as I can figure out these are extra delegates reserved for Washington insiders and elected officials that somehow count more than normal voter delegates and are pledged before the actual primaries. Also super-delegates are not obligated to vote with their constituency. Something about it seems crooked to me. But then if Obama was ahead in the delegate count I'd have no problem with super-delegates. And I freely admit that.

I have to be careful though. I don't want to be categorized as an "Obamamaniac". These people are accused of having a rabid affection for the man the fervor of which could be detrimental to him in the end. There was an Op-Ed piece about it in the NY Times today.

2. The Grammy's happened this weekend, too. Big whoop. This is an awards show I never watch mostly because I don't care about the rapper of the year or the country music album of the year and don't follow popular music much at all, so it's all Greek to me. Who is this Amy Winehouse of which you speak? Oh--but I do know that Obama won a Grammy for spoken word. The man is a brilliant speaker. I watched the Will.i.am "Yes We Can" video today and bawled. Seriously.

Oops. Obamamaniac.

3. The hot topic on all the gay blogs today on the interwebs is the Gays' support of Hillary 2 to 1. The numbers are based on exit polls in California and New York, both states where Clinton won by a comfortable lead, one of which happens to be her home state. Gays were not polled in Illinois where Obama won the primary due probably in no small part to Chicago's sizable gay population. Hillary gave an interview to the Washington Blade (Some of my best friends are gay!) in which she says she talks about gay issues "all the time." She also brings up the unfortunate Donnie McClurkin/Obama connection.

4. It's really freakin' cold here. 11 degrees this morning. With a wind chill of -6.

5. I was invited to the final dress rehearsal of the City Center Encores! reading of the 1970 musical Applause last Thursday. It starred Christine Ebersole, whom you'll recall I LOVED in Gray Gardens. She had the flu which was disappointing. I was there with a dear friend who was involved with the project so I was inclined to root for the success of it. It's not a great show though. For a passionate but unfavorable review of it, check out what the Flaming Curmudgeon has to say. His reviews are often more entertaining than the show he's reviewing. You can also read my extensive commentary in the comments section of his post.

6. With the writers strike Scott and I have run out of good TV to watch, so we started DVRing some cable series which I'm totally getting hooked on: In Treatment on HBO and Breaking Bad on AMC. In Treatment is right up my alley--characters in therapy sessions, very little action but extensive character development, lots of psycho-babble. Breaking Bad on the other hand is a surprise to me. It deals with a seamy drug underworld and has a bit of violence, but I find the very human side of the situation very moving.

7. In other TV news, Scott inadvertently sent me a spoiler today on who the Project Runway final four are. I won't spill the beans, but I like (almost) all of the final contestants. They are all certainly worthy of having a spot at Fashion week.

And that is all.

Labels: , , , ,

posted by Michael @ 8:29 PM 6 comments

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Six Words

This is fun. I heard about it in Time Out New York. The assignment is to come up with a story in six words. When Ernest Hemingway was presented with the challenge years ago he came up with "For Sale: Baby shoes, never worn." Smith magazine hosted a contest of this sort with a twist: sum up your life story in six words. A memoir, if you will. The winner was "Barrister, barista, what's the diff, Mom?"

Based on my life in and out of the theatre, surviving from this survival job to that, mine would be: "Talent--a blessing or a curse?"

What would yours be?

Labels: ,

posted by Michael @ 11:42 AM 5 comments

Monday, January 07, 2008

Hitting Bottom

Over the weekend a race to see who could hit bottom faster ensued between pop-star Britney Spears and pop-psychologist Phil McGraw. After Spears' three hour custody standoff with police which landed her in the back of an ambulance headed to the psyche ward under the influence of an unknown substance, close on her heels was Dr. Phil chasing that ambulance all the way to Cedar Sinai Hospital.

Dr. Phil visited Spears for one hour as she was being released from the hospital and came up with a profoundly obvious diagnosis saying "she is in dire need of both medical and psychological intervention." It took him an hour to come up with this. I, myself, drew this conclusion from watching the 15 seconds of footage of Spears in the back of the ambulance that was played ad nauseum over the weekend. McGraw also added that he is "very concerned" for Spears.

Yet despite his concern, Dr. Phil planned on doing a show to exploit the pop-star's problems for his popular daytime show. Thankfully, someone with real concern for Spears talked him into cancelling show, which he did saying
"Because the Spears situation is too intense at this time, and out of consideration to the family, I have made the decision not to move forward with the taping at this particular time. "
Gee, that's big of ya, Phil.

Labels:

posted by Michael @ 6:29 PM 1 comments

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

Why I Watch HGTV

For the carpenters, of course! (And I'm not talking about the '70s pop sensation.) Okay, I know it's a lame post, but it's a busy week for me so I thought I'd throw you some eye candy. Enjoy.

Below are Carter Oosterhouse of Carter Can, Eric Stromer of Over Your Head and newcomer Steve Hanneman of Hammer Heads (Formerly of Designed to Sell)



Labels:

posted by Michael @ 10:07 PM 13 comments

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

Leave Santa Alone!


For some reason the PC police have set their sights on Santa Claus this year much to the dismay and disappointment of children all over the world. First, there was the story out of Australia where Santas were forbidden from saying "Ho, ho, ho" because it might be offensive to women. Instead, Santas were instructed to say "Ha, ha, ha!" But why grown women who understand the adult meaning of the word "ho" would find themselves on Santa’s knee in a position to be offended in the first place is beyond me. (Perhaps it’s a cultural difference. Those madcap Aussies.) And secondly, isn’t Santa supposed to say "Ho, ho, ho"? It says so in all the books. And isn’t that laugh supposed to be accompanied by a belly that shakes like a bowl full of jelly?

Oh, and about that belly, Santa, the PC police also think you’re too fat. On the news last night I saw a story that perhaps Santa is sending the wrong message to children. After all, we have a childhood obesity epidemic in this country and apparently it’s all Santa’s fault. It has absolutely nothing to do with the example parents set for their children or the processed fast food being shoveled into our kids for convenience sake. NO. Santa’s the bad guy.

When interviewed by a reporter for this story, school children overwhelmingly favored an overweight Santa rather than a thin one. So it seems Mrs. Claus from the Rudolph special was right all those years ago when she said "Eat, Papa, eat! No one likes a skinny Santa." Imagine the disappointment of a child after waiting in line for hours at the mall for his big chance to tell Santa the one and only gift he wants most for Christmas and when he finally gets to the end of the line there’s a skinny guy there in a red suit who says "ha, ha, ha" and wants him to sit on his lap. That’s not Santa! That’s just some creepy old guy.

Can’t we just keep our twisted adult thoughts to ourselves? Must Santa suffer from our own loss of innocence? Santa isn’t a pimp. He doesn’t have any hos. He’s love and generosity and good cheer. He’s not heart disease and diabetes. He's magic and wonder and happiness. So, yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus–he’s fat and he says ho, ho, ho! And may he "continue to make glad the heart of childhood."

Labels: ,

posted by Michael @ 8:23 AM 5 comments

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

What Price Visibility?

Scene1: A tragically trendy salesman of diminutive stature wearing white framed eyeglasses and a pastel outfit holds up an equally diminutive sparkly evening bag, pinky extended, and says to his wide-eyed female customer something to the effect of "I have here a little piece of heaven that’s a great investment for any wardrobe." In barges a sensible, "regular" looking guy who advises our damsel, who apparently is unable to think for herself, that said evening bag will end up in the back of her closet in six months and instead she should invest her money in a "real" investment–his sensible mutual funds. Or something.

Scene 2: A hopelessly straight, schlub of a man is being dragged along by his stylish wife/girlfriend who, despite his indifference, asks his opinion on each item she selects in every store then chooses the opposite. While in a shoe store, she presents him with the choice of "wedge or espadrille" our clueless schlub unwittingly chooses "espadrille" to which the lady replies "oh really? ‘Cause I was thinking wedge." Cut to a salesman with obvious "gay face" who rolls his eyes in disgust, exposes all his teeth and hisses "wedge" in solidarity with our leading lady. By the third store, our dim-witted husband has caught on and decides to use reverse psychology and when presented with a choice of a new red or blue mobile phone tells his wife he likes the blue one, so naturally she chooses the red one for herself leaving him with the blue one, which he wanted all along. For in matters of real importance–say, technology–even this dim-witted boob knows how to get what he wants.

These are two commercials currently running on tv. The first for ING Direct investing, the second for T-Mobile. At last the GLBT community is being represented in advertising. But as who and as what? In both of these cases the gay men are minor characters and in order to instantly recognize them in a 30 second spot, they are reduced to stereotypes. Besides just looking the part, they are represented as vapid, shallow individuals having nothing of real importance to contribute to the situation except purses and shoes.--things that wouldn’t interest "real men" in the least. The first is also misogynistic in that it portrays the woman as completely clueless in matters of money. But at least she might be able to be talked into making a "sensible" investment. Our foppish salesclerk on the other hand–hopeless.

Tell me--am I just being a spoiled sport? Should we be happy to even have gay characters represented in advertising? Wasn’t it only a dozen years ago or so that advertisers would pull their ads from shows that dared deal with gay subject matter? Or is this the price we have to pay on our way to true visibility? I heard the phrase "pink face" coined recently. It’s a comparison to the racist, black-face minstrel show stereotypes of the 1920s and 30s. In essence, these effeminate salesclerks, decorators and hairdressers are the tap-dancing, watermelon eating black servant roles of the 1930s.

But what to do? Grin and bear it, thankful for any representation in the mainstream media? Or do we raise a stink? Would this make us too controversial to deal with thus dooming us to invisibility once again? Are there enough well-rounded gay characters, or better yet, actual gay men and women on television to counteract these negative images? And does that therefore make these stereotypes all in good fun–if there can be such a thing where stereotypes are concerned. What do you think?

Labels: , ,

posted by Michael @ 6:59 PM 4 comments

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Trick or Treat--Whither Thou Goest?


In the nearly 16 years I’ve lived in New York City I have never had one single trick-or-treater. Not one. Ever. Does this seem odd for a city known for its wild Halloween celebrations? I suppose I can understand the trepidation parents would feel allowing their children to trick-or treat in a city like New York. For if there are sick individuals out there who put razor blades in apples as we were taught fear as children, they must all certainly live in New York—even in doorman buildings.

Trick or treating does go on in New York I am told though. I know from friends who grew up here which buildings were great for trick-or-treating and which were poor. I’ve seen sign-up sheets in lobbies of friend’s buildings where one can sign up to be a participating trick-or-treat apartment so the little kiddies know who to bother. But in New York trick-or-treating is mostly a dead tradition.

This seems so far removed from the childhood I knew where my siblings and I would change into costumes right after school and begin our trick-or-treat trek at 4 PM and continue till the streetlights came on. That was always our curfew. When we got a little older, of course we could stay out later, but always in groups and only in familiar neighborhoods. We lived in a development that bordered on two others which were all great for trick-or-treating. We lived in the newest one with the largest houses which made the distance from door to door a little longer. The best use of one's time, however, was neighboring Sedgefield which had grid streets (not the meandering “drives” our development had) and row upon row of 1950s ranches and split-levels on small lots which made it the most bang for your trick-or-treat buck.

But the best house in all three neighborhoods was the Stensgaard’s, hands down! They lived on a mostly wooded lot and would set up Styrofoam headstones among the dried oak leaves in the front yard. The entry way was covered with spray-on cobwebs and a mummy for which the Stensgaard’s daughter posed years before would greet you at the door. Spiders and skeletons hung about as well. All this was accompanied by a recording of scary sounds being piped throughout the yard and in the house. It was terrifying as a young child. Once inside, you had to spin a wheel with numbers on it from 1 to 4. Whatever number the wheel landed on was how many pieces of candy you were entitled to (the rules were more relaxed for younger kids.) The candy was in a big cauldron like container and you got to choose you own. They always had the best varieties.

Once we returned home with our sacks full of candy we’d dump them out on the kitchen table for our mother to inspect for those famous razor blades. We were also not allowed to keep anything unwrapped which was fine with us because who wanted a lousy old apple or homemade popcorn ball anyway? Once we got the okay from Mom, we would stash our loot in our rooms in one of the many large Tupperware bowls from the kitchen. Usually I went through my candy in about a week. But it was my sister Janet who was the envy of us all with such restraint she could ration her Halloween candy all the way to Thanksgiving.

Sadly these recollections of my childhood seem quaint--like mere relics of a bygone, "Leave it to Beaver" era. Is trick-or treating dead in America? How about where you live…do they still trick or treat?

Labels: ,

posted by Michael @ 2:30 PM 10 comments

Sunday, October 21, 2007

Me & Jackie B

Today I turn the same age as Jack Benny. And if you get that reference you're probably a lot older than ol' Jack and me.

Labels: ,

posted by Michael @ 9:23 AM 12 comments

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Representin'

Cable stations such as Bravo, HGTV, and the Food Network seem to do a much better job representing competent professional gay men on their reality shows and regular programming than the mainstream networks do. (I've written about this before.) This season's Top chef on Bravo is no different. Among the three finalists in the competition is Dale (no last name given), a 34 year old gay man and Chicago resident. Dale is a self-taught chef and has a background in competitive diving and gymnastics. Dale's appearance on the show has been refreshinly drama-free as week after week he quietly and competently displays his considerable culinary skills.

This week Dale outshone the other chefs by preparing a dish which was to include Elk meat. The dish was served to a group of Colorado cowboys and rated the best. A gay man who knows what cowboys like--imagine that! I'll be rooting for Dale in the finals!

Labels: ,

posted by Michael @ 9:54 PM 4 comments