My sister wrote me from her smart phone that she was “Just putting her daughter to sleep” and would write me more later, but the autotext resulted in her saying she was AMPUTATING her daughter, so I quickly texted back to leave my niece alone!
All posts by jah
My Yorkie Monte turns three years old today!
Video of Bobby’s recent Orlando gig
Pinko Liberals?
I usually agree with 99% of what Religulous filmmaker Bill Maher says and 95% of what Michael Moore says, and I still don’t consider myself to be that liberal. The U.S. population is just artificially puritanical.
Bill Maher let mainstream Republicans and conspiracy theorists have it in a major response rant to the capture and killing of Osama bin Laden (reposted via Politicus USA):
“Now that it’s become clear that the Republicans, the fiscally conservative strong on defense party are neither fiscally conservative nor strong on defense, they have to tell us what exactly it is they’re good at. It’s not defense. 9/11 happened on your watch, and you retaliated by invading the wrong country, and you lost a 10 year game of hide and seek with Osama Bin Laden, and you’re responsible for running up most of the debt, which more than anything makes us weak.”
“You’re supposed to be the party with the killer instinct, but it was a Democrat who put a bomb in Gadhafi’s bedroom, and bullet in Bin Laden’s eye like Moe Green. Raising the question how many Muslims does a black guy have to kill in one weekend before crackers climb down off his ass? Let’s look at some facts. Now for you Fox News viewers feel free to turn down the sound until the flashing facts light at the bottom of your screen disappears.”
White Supremacist Shot by Ten Year Old Son
This story gets crazier by the day. This “up and coming” Nazi (there’s nothing “neo” about them) in southern California gave his child his own gun. Within 24 hours that son had killed his father with it. I cannot imagine someone filled with so much hate or vitriol being a good father to anyone, but this is where the story gets really outrageous. While I don’t know the condition of the mother of this boy, or how many of the five children in the house were from Nazi Jeff Hall’s first wife, at one point in time some judge, presumably in the family court system, awarded custody to this openly racist, race-baiting trash of a father!! I’m all for father’s getting fair treatment when it comes to determining the best interest of the child, as I was fortunate enough to have primary custody of my daughter throughout her rearing, but I can’t help but be reminded of the case in Florida where the woman lost custody of her daughter for being lesbian to her ex-husband, who was convicted of murder and child molestation!
More DADT Drama!
Now that the military’s sad DADT policy has been stricken, they decided just now that they will not allow gay weddings on military bases. This is a ruse. The Repubs are looking for anything incendiary that they can talk about on CSPAN and Fox “News” sound bites. Shouldn’t the more important question be: “Why are ANY marriages allowed on base?” As a purportedly liberal taxpayer, why should the facilities of the military be used to celebrate “holy” unions between opposite sex couples OR same sex couples?!
‘Funny Girl’ search gets serious
Courtesy of New York Post Fri., May. 6, 2011, 4:31 AM by Michael Riedel
It’s a role that can make — or break — a career.
But it’s almost impossible to cast.
Auditions are being held in New York and Los Angeles for the part of Fanny Brice in the upcoming Broadway revival of “Funny Girl.”
The role is legendary because it made a star of Barbra Streisand in 1964.
Almost 50 years later, Streisand’s still a tough act to follow, especially since her performance can be seen in all its musical-comedy glory in the 1968 movie.
Anytime an actress sings “People,” her voice is going to be compared to Streisand’s — and that’s not a comparison to be entered into lightly.
The revival, slated to open next winter, is being directed by Bart Sher, who won a Tony for his gorgeous production of “South Pacific” in 2008 but had an el floppo with this season’s “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.”
He’s met with several leading actresses, I’m told, but has yet to find this generation’s Streisand.
At one point, “Glee” star Lea Michele appeared to be the top choice. She even gave a public audition, of sorts, at last year’s Tonys, running down the aisle while belting out “Don’t Rain on My Parade.”
It wasn’t her finest hour, and talk of starring in the show cooled the next day.
But she’s still in the running, and would certainly be a box-office draw.
Sher’s also met with Nicole Parker, of “MADtv.” She has impressed Broadway insiders as Elphaba in “Wicked.”
The very funny Leslie Kritzer, who won raves in “Funny Girl” at the Paper Mill Playhouse a few years ago, auditioned, though the fact that she’s not a star is an issue for the show’s backers.
On Broadway today, the consensus is that you can’t open a revival without a name.
I also hear that two of Sher’s favorite actresses — Laura Benanti and Kelli O’Hara — are possibilities.
The wonderful Benanti is up for a Tony this year for “Women on the Verge.” Fanny Brice was one of the greatest stage comediennes of all time, and Benanti proved she’s a gifted comedienne herself in “Verge.”
O’Hara certainly has the voice, the charm and the comic timing, as she demonstrated in “South Pacific.” But she might be miscast as Fanny Brice.
One thing’s for sure: All of the candidates are head and shoulders above Debbie Gibson, who starred in a 1996 national tour.
After seeing her performance in Philadelphia, a theater agent cracked: “They should just call it ‘Girl.’ ”
John Kander says he’s still “bewildered” as to why “The Scottsboro Boys,” the final show he wrote with the late Fred Ebb, lasted only a few weeks on Broadway.
But the 12 Tony nominations the show received this week — Best Musical among them — are a pretty good consolation prize.
“It means the show will have a life elsewhere,” says Kander. “And while I’m disappointed we didn’t run, I certainly don’t feel cheated.
“There is a parallel here,” he adds. “In 1968, the year Fred and I did ‘The Happy Time,’ we were considered the front runner for the Tony. The show we were up against — ‘Hallelujah, Baby!’ — had been closed for six months. When they called out the nominees for Best Musical, Fred and I leaned forward and buttoned our jackets. And they said, ‘Hallelujah, Baby!’ and we burst out laughing.
“It just goes to show you what can happen when you get cocky in this business.”
He’s going to the Tonys this year, but “I’m not buttoning my jacket.”
Cappy
My little girl turns 19!
Fortunately — or rather, unfortunately, because they think I’m hetero — people still think I’m her boyfriend at times!
We had dinner at Fisherman’s wharf and then had a BBQ two days later with carne asada that Bobby marinated. There’s a shot of the video games that ensued on the PS3.
On Barbra’s birthday (four days later) we had brunch at Doug’s Restaurant in Castro Valley.
I Lost My Friend James Eldon Taylor, Jr. (March 15, 1964 – March 30, 2011)
My sweet friend Jim would probably kill me if he knew I was using his middle name here, but I know several people named Jim Taylor, so it always helped me to find him in my address book when I could search by his full name.
Today I received very sad news about Jim. A mutual friend informed me that his body was found in his apartment in Brooklyn.
Jim was very successful for many years as a woman’s clothes designer. He loved animals and had a beautiful penthouse in Queens for many years, as well as a home on Fire Island for a while. He was a true Midwestern boy whose dreams came true when he moved to the City of New York. I was glad to be his friend both when he was successful and then for many years when he had some medical setbacks, including some bad seizures. As a result, he became quite destitute, but still stayed in the adopted city he loved so much, and it was during those tough times that I remember having the most laughs and the most fun while hanging out with him, including at many of the parties that I had in Brooklyn. He loved making friends and was great with staying in touch with me, even when I moved back to California. He told me many times that he would have loved to visit, and I was beckoning him to do it, so he could at least get away from the city for a while, during the tougher times he had.
I’m so glad I told Jim I loved him on more than one occasion, even when he drove me a little crazy.
The more I think about it, the more I realize my Mom is right that someone with this kind of medical history, really should not be living alone, because if he had a seizure, it is very likely that he could have survived.
Jim’s mother apparently died three years ago, which I did not know until this week, and his father, from whom he was apparently estranged, is not willing to pay for his cremation, which means that Jim might end up in the notorious New York city grave for John Doe’s known as Potter’s Field. I hope this won’t be the case. He deserved better.
