celebrations round up

May was a generally merry month around here and it's past time to post photos from some of these celebratory events.

First up we say congratulations to Greg Avant on his graduation from law school, his finacé Lance and good friends/neighbors Jason and Lindsay and Jason hosted an absolutely gorgeous garden party. L&J's landlord has the most beautiful garden in Potrero Hill and generously shred his space for the event. The weather could not have been nicer for a celebratory afternoon in the garden. The Avant wine was a cleaver touch.

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That Saturday night was also the 40th birthday celebration for the lovely and talented Bryan Michaels, who hosted the event in his salon Groove which has recently been modified to double as a nightlife event space.

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I particularly got into the artwork on show.

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There were several pieces I really wanted to buy. They are "painted" in wood stain. And while their scale was one thing I really liked about the works, I have no room for a 6' by 5' piece in my apartment.

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But I am still considering it.

And this I just thought was funny. Sort of like an image of cruelty backstage at a beauty pageant.


And finally in town that weekend was Fun Ian in from not so much fun Ohio. Among other things, I took him to a Pups game and as long as we were spending Sunday in the park with sunshine, I went ahead and pulled it out with cucumber sandwiches, nibbly bits and proper mint juleps with pewter julep cups. As the coach said, "Only at gay softball."


Our properness at the Pups game ended immediately thereafter with their bad Puppy leather-themed beer bust at Toad Hall.

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Give those dogs a bone.

While the day was fraught with frivolity, Ian managed to skate by on stealth mode keeping us ignorant of his birthday. This was properly remedied the next night with balloons, gifts and face paint at his favorite SF activity: Testarossa 80's Monday at Trigger.

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Oh, and the balloon hat was all sorts of wrong. Which was perfect for our centering-of-attention of Shy Ian.

Happy birthday!

black tie and Tales

Both the sun and my sinus are emerging from their wet fog just in time for the opening night gala for Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City: A New Musical tonight at the American Conservatory Theater.

We got our gala tickets over the weekend, with pretty awesome front row balcony seats (I imagine the seating selection was complicated for their development officers—Kevin and I are big ACT supporters, but with enthusiasm more than enormous donations.  I think that translates to balcony not orchestra, but the best we can get up there.)

Instructions with the gala tickets encouraged us to put our own Tales of the City spin on black tie.  I intended to tie dye a tux shirt light blue and paint the Golden Gate Bridge across the front of it, and perhaps cable car studs.  After various consultations I am toning it down just a touch with just the blue tie-dyed tux shirt, no Golden Gate Bridge, but floral studs and cuff links.  I was reminded that while Tales of the City is very much an extended love letter to San Francisco, and perhaps is the best if not only narrative to truly capture the soul of this place at that time.  And while one might think visually that SF = Golden Gate Bridge, the GGB actually has zero to do with Tales.  I don't recall characters even crossing the thing.

However, 70s and tie-dye and flower power are aplenty, and so I go.  Pics, for sure, tomorrow.  Kevin is wearing his western tuxedo, which may not be thematically appropriate but is certainly quite handsome and  a twist with personality.

Oh yeah, it's June already.  Pride months and SF Summer in full swing.  I'll be spending about half of it back in Nashville hanging out with Dad and the family, but I could stand a week or two off of the rolling SF bandwagon (which you just know runs on a mixture of beats and glitter).

Other things going on this week:

Tomorrow (Thursday):  
• Pride Kick-Off Party Celebrating the Fag Hags: The Fairy Princess Party starring Debbie Gibson and Pollo Del Mar at the Phoenix Hotel
• YouTube It! Viral Videos Brought to Life at Cookie Dough's Monster Show, at the Edge

Friday:
• Golden State Gay Rodeo Association state-wide/local meet and greet big gay rodeo party at Marlena's
• Nasty, the monthly filthy fundraiser for the AEF at the Powerhouse

Saturday:
• the SF Movie Bears take in X-Men: First Class at the Metreon
• the Cowpokes, Gunslingers and Outlaw Country show at Slim's
• Bearracuda at Club 8

say "hello" to my little friend...

Today on Facebook I got an unusual Friend request.  Typically I am a big fan of the "ignore" button (which seems to have morphed recently into a "not right now" button, which I could really use in real life), and I do not typically accept someone as a Facebook "friend" unless I (a) actually know them and (b) I think it's reasonably likely they would pick me up at the airport.  Unless the request comes with a personal note of introduction, explanation or flattery.

Today one of my "Friend" requests was not from someone I went to high school with, but from his dog.

SRSLY.

Considering this person though, I am not entirely surprised and am honestly a little bit amused.

Little bit.

This action led me to consider if this has been or will become and increasingly annoying trend: people creating Facebook accounts for their pets.  That might be enough to put me off FB forever and send me back to just blogging or Lord help me Twitter.

Then I considered a certain population of my friends here in San Francisco, and will not be surprised if this leads to my getting all sorts of "Friend" requests from people's penises.

Perhaps as Facebook matures it will include a button for "Friend with Benefits" requests.



Update:
I suppose that's what Fuckbook is for—needless to say NSFW.  Personally I think the site name "SitOnMyFacebook" would have been funnier, but also more litigatey.

holiday grumble

I took Friday off for a four day weekend—so much fun in the City to be had and I was happy to stay in town (despite the double-woofiness in Chicago with the national gay rugby meeting and IML) and enjoy some wholesome SF Memorial Day/Pride Kick Off fun times, with equal time blocked out to finally, after months, to sit the fck down and just chill. 

But as is becoming a pattern for me, as soon as an extended period of pushing myself stops and I get to pause and take a moment, my body takes this opportunity to deal with whatever it has been putting on the back burner for the past two or three months.  I had four entirely necessary days off planned, which has now been entirely consumed/wasted with a nasty summer cold.  Between sleeping and sneezing I just hope I can knock this out in time for the big black tie gala opening night of Tales of the City this Wednesday. 

The tickets arrived over the weekend with an encouragement to "put your own Takes of the City take on black tie."  Great.  No pressure there either.  As soon as the pounding in my sinuses clear I'll get right on the glitter and hot glue. 

Hope you all had a great holiday weekend!

Sweet.

My super awesome and diminutive niece turned 16 in May and I flew in just in time for her family birthday dinner.  She is so non-materialistic and charmingly low key, so shopping for her can be a challenge—so after she opened her presents, I offered her a shopping trip of her choice in case there was something she really did want.  It was a present for me too as I got to spend some quality time with her and talk about her life, school, boys, what's the what these days.  She broached the topics of teen drinking and gay-friendly attitudes herself, both topics of keen interest to me.  Some of her friends, and a lot of kids from another high school, got up super early to protest outside the State Captiol against the "can't say gay" bill (can't mention any sexuality other than heterosexuality in Tennessee schools) which just passed a TN Senate committee.

I loved taking Ellen shopping, but felt awkward at Forever 21 trying to manage the "I'm your fun uncle participating in the teen fashion selection" and not looking like "creepy guy in the teen girl store in the mall."  And not looking at the high school boyfriends of these girls who were little A&F models.

Family dinners are always fun and I loved it, and how little Leland bowled past Franna and Papa John to run into Uncle Wilson's arms.

Ellen is very musical, plays piano, writes her own songs and such—and for her birthday asked for a ukulele.  Franna gave her a nice one, and reminded us that growing up, Mom used to play the ukulele all the time.  So awesome.  Had I had the known, I might have asked Seattle Bill if he could have gotten his good friend Charo to sign it for her.

Happy birthday Ellen!




And, while I'm at it, here's some mockery of the above mentioned Tennessee Republican "Can't Say Gay" nonsense:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
We're Here, We're Queer, Get Newsed to It
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor & Satire Blog The Daily Show on Facebook

Red Vic is not in the black

Word from the SFist and Haighteration, the Red Vic movie house in the Upper Haight will be closing July 25th.  I like the Red Vic, and live just a few blocks away, but realize I haven't seen a film there in years.  Rarely have their recent billings held my interest, and never on a free evening.  But still, it's so Haight.  Sad to see it go.

next time don't order the taco surprise

I felt the need to snap this image at a friend's house this weekend.  There is something disturbing about a bathroom with toilet paper and a face mask at the ready.

buzzed

A friend has just discovered the term "wheelhouse" and is using it as her new buzzword as often as possible.

If I opened a bike shop,* I think it would be called "Wilson's House of Wheels," and people could say "that is totally in Wilson's wheelhouse."



*inventory not limited to bikes. Maybe it's a coffee shop. I haven't decided.

southern comfort

I think I may be the only guy in SF who can come home to leftover mint juleps in the fridge. Nice wind down.

"Sodomy and Cocktails"

I want that to be the title of my new newsletter. Or the new blog name.

I really, really want to send this to my mom, and use it to show her how to check her e-mail and launch a YouTube video from her new iPad 2.

That, and I think this is hilarious.



I think "glory hole" is deal breaker for the mom sending.

and back to your regularly scheduled blogging

Hey Kids.  It's been a Manic May— I was back in Nashville for quality time with the parents, my niece's Sweet 16, my nephew's graduation, giving Mom and iPad 2 and teaching her how to use it, and of course the Iroquois Steeplechase—which this year was cold and wet.  Plus parties with my mo's and even a special Showtunes night at Tribe where I was joined by my awesome brothers as well as dozens of good friends.

Flash back to SF (after five hours waiting at night in the Vegas airport while storms raged at SFO—that place could really use a good steam cleaning and an exorcism, and not necessarily in that order), and I hit the ground running with all day meetings and work prep late each night...just in time to welcome Ian Hall back to SF for a fun birthday weekend including a graduation garden party, crazy Brazilian backyard barbecue, 40th birthday parties, Pups games, mint juleps, a Bad Puppy Beer Bust, two-stepping and culminating in a you-though-you-escaped-the-attention-but-I'm-turning-it-into-a-birthday-party night of 80's dancing at Trigger.

Followed by a nap.

Sheesh.

A fortnight's worth of photos are finally on Flickr and Facebook, and tales and quips will begin reappearing on the irregular blog schedule.

Right on.

TN Governor loves bigotry more than good business

In are you fking kidding me?! news, the governor of Tennessee has signed a state law overriding and eliminating Nashville's equal rights and non-discrimination ordinance, and banning any and all other municipalities from taking any measures to protect LGBT citizens from discrimination unlawful for any other group, minority or citizenry.  The backwater redneck Christianist wingnuts pretty much make up all of the non-urban areas and self-identify as both Republican and sanctimonious (not that they can spell sanctimonious mind you), and with the exception of the four urban areas, the Tennessee legislature is ruled by these King James Bible-tumping backwater bigots, aka Tennessee Republicans.

And my Nashville family continues to wonder why I don't want to move home.

Is this Spanish Inquisition in the History section or Religion?

In case you missed it, California districts, the Los Angeles Unified School District in particular, is firing as many librarians as they can legally get away with. Because librarians aren't essential to an educational system? This is appalling.

The disgraceful interrogation of L.A. school librarians (LA Times)
California Hands Out Scores of Pink Slips to School Librarians (School Library Journal)

On the topic, this just sent to me today by Alert First Girlfriend From Childhood Jessica:

Seth's Blog: The Future of the Library—in which he states his case that in the digital age, librarians are increasingly essential, not less so.

See other insulting library news.

baked

I think if I ever write a book on baking I'm going to call it "The Yeast of My Worries." Although that might already be a women's health book.

Sunshine!

I always say how much I miss warm summer nights, until I get back to Nashville and sweat and pant in the oppressive heat and can't wait to get back to our blissful, comforting fog. But I do hope a little summer sunshine awaits me in BNA. It's hard to leave the Bay on a day like this.

Hey Lady!

And a very happy birthday to my new favorite loud party man, Lady John. Or John Lady. I haven't decided, but his penchant for dropping the word "lady" into almost any expression is rather contagious and I think it should be part of his nickname.

Or something boozy. John (formerly of Boston) flew into SF this weekend from Vegas to meet his best Boston buddies for a birthday weekend of SF fun and debauchery. We were drinking doubles at the Cinco De Mayo Monster Show at the Edge when he spied a luminous cocktail in an enormous Mason jar and cried out for us to get him "one of those big blue lady drinks!"

Turns out they were basically a blue Long Island Iced Tea, and enough to drop a horse. Just what he lady ordered.

Happy birthday John!

Steeplechase will be all the buzz!

I leave at the crack tomorrow for another week of quality time with the family, and another hopefully fab Iroquois Steeplechase.  However, Alert Reader and Pseudo Sister Margaret sent me the following alert last week:  It's year 13 of the 13-year cicada cycle.  And they are due to peak on race day.

Holeeee.  If you've never experienced a cicada cycle, it's a B-movie terror.  While I generally find them more annoying than terrifying, the level of swam and noise and non-lethal attacks could send someone unfamiliar with the experience into a mad panic.  Cicadas are about two-inch long flying armored insects that emerge from ground every so many years to molt, mate, and return to the earth.  Seriously.  B-movie stuff.  And they are unbelievably loud.  The noise they make is their mating call.  And they're competitive.  They swarm lawn mowers and other machinery of similar sound/decibel level.  And their users.  They've been known to "attack"  (meh, "swam in small numbers around and possibly land on or nibble") passers by, particularly women with hair big enough to get caught in (this is, remember Tennessee) or early-teen girls.  Which was hilarious the first cicada cycle in my memory, which was in 1985 and I was in 8th grade.  Cicadas were handy tools for pestering girls, and boys would fight with them, or use the eating of one as high-stakes dare currency.

But these things are nasty.  And omnipresent.  And leave their crunchy shells—remember they are molting—everywhere.  And Dear God, you think the Grinch had it with all of the Who's noise, noise, noise, noise!    It's like the summer air is heavy with humidity and a deafening radio static.

I have yet to come up with an angle for my Nfocus Steeplechase stories this year.  I considered writing a fictional B-movie script based on events of the day, but the artists at the Anderson Group may have beat me to that punchline.

it was 80's night, oh what a night

Club 1984 moved to Mighty and now seems to have died. And Monday's 80's night Testarossa at Trigger has shifted its start time from 10:00 to 11:00 p.m. (doors open at 10 but no one is there). We sort of stopped hitting 80's at Trigger at 10:00 when Pollo stopped hosting Brain Farts trivia down the street from 8:00 to 10:00. However, last monday we found ourselves walking home and passing Trigger on a Monday just after 10:00 and thought we'd check it out.

We can always make our own fun, which we did, and as we were about to leave sometime between 10:30 and 11:00, the place filled up in a matter of minutes. So, 80's is still on, but for the younger set for whom 80s is "retro" and not nostalgia, and for whom drinking and partying starting at 11:00 on a Monday night doesn't seem to be an issue.

Oliver Twist, the face/body paint man who sets up shop in the corner—and who was a hit at my own 40th birthday party—has reappeared at Testarossa and has developed an amazing talent. So much fun!


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that's a little harsh

It may be unintentional, but this poster placement seems to suggest someone doesn't care for Tears for Fears.



I'm just sayin'.

TGIF-Mayday Weekend fun

I'm back to Nashville for next week, but here are some highlights of this weekend before I go:

Tonight/Friday:
• SFMovieBears: Thor at the Metreon
• Nasty at the Powerhouse, a filthy fundraiser for the AIDS Emergency Fund

Saturday:
• The Kentucky Derby- fix yourself a julep and find a race party!
• No more wire hangers!!  It's Peaches Christ's Midnight Mass Mommy Dearest at the Castro Theater for the film's 30th anniversary (last time was awwwwesome).
• Lockdown party
• Bearracuda at Club 8

Sunday:
• Sunday Streets
• I've got the day blocked out for a special visitor--but you tell your momanym I asked after.

Cinco!

Fun times this Cinco de Mayo.
(It's like the Mexican Saint Patrick's Day!)

Of themed gay stuff in the Castro, there's Pollo de Mayo from 6:00 to 9:00 at the Lookout, and a Cinco de Mayo Monster Show hosted by Cookie Dough at the Edge starting around 10:00 p.m. and featuring Carnitas Wilson, Gillette Thebestamancanget, Ruby Holiday, MuthaChucka, Mona Lott Moore, Dulce De Leche, Vicodonia Knightingale, and special treat, more Pollo Del Mar!

There will be DUI check points ALL OVER tonight so don't booze and cruise.  There are free cabs to take you home (directly home, not to another bar, and you have to ask about the deal first) and AAA is even offering free tows within ten miles of your home!

take me OUT to the ball game

We've become big fans of the Pups (D team, of course) and the SF Gay Softball League.  Gay softball is so much fun—it's just the right amount of competitive but not it doesn't take itself too seriously.  As one furry gay man's t-shirt read: All bears are bad news.

There is a LOT of sass on that field.  And we find ourselves heckling our own team more than the opponents.  And the chatter is almost always both bitchy and hilarious.  And the fans?  Well, we bring it.

And looking at the fans under the hot, blistering sun, you can sort of tell that it's a gay softball game...

Taint Misbehavin'

Sounds like an awesomely cheap porn flick.

The sequel, of course, would be "I'm saving my glove for you."

way better

The major LGBT news sites are noting this, and it merits reposting.  This commercial for Google/Google Chrome, will air during tonight's episode of Glee.  Can you watch this and not tear up?  Thank you Google.

This is not a commercial.

It is a prayer and a testament.



Amen.

where fashion sits

Some evenings, such as a formal dinner at the Ritz, merit looking awesome.


Have it. Brought it.

just try to get a rise out of that guy

Slightly belated, here are some scenes from a very Happy Easter which may have started with drizzle but appropriate to the day rose into a brilliantly sunny Sunday.  Thanks to Rob and Todd for hosting the hoppy happiness.

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double-date night

It's always fun to take in dinner and a show with your best fruits and our best flies.  We took the community theater production of Guys & Dolls at City College as an excuse to step out for the San Franciscan double-date: two gay guys and their best gal pals.  Or rather, dolls.

The show and the sentiment may seem rather dated, but at least the "sharing a malted" thing has been appropriately updated.

As I was still on the wagon I happily did not partake of the blue margaritas, which were so sweet it almost sent two of them into diabetic comas. However, the cactus stemware was a nice touch.  And dinner at El Toreador is always excellent.

And we took the opportunity for walk-by sleevefacing before the show:


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And finally, a "Bravo!" to my Sundance Saloon dancing partner david Richardson for his performance as the Lieutenant.