Followers

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Darlings, How Much Do We Think They Know???????

Girls, I have to tell you, I just heard that Steven Altman, one of the defenders of Tyler Clementi's perps, maintains a decision will be coming soon from the Middlesex County Prosecutor Office. And how would he know, bitch????? Or is this just a stalling tactic because he is scared to death for his career that these evil scum will be removed to the slammer, where they belong?????

At least Mr. Ravi is keeping quiet. Miss Wei continues to be an audacious bitch. NOW she maintains she is dropping out of Rutgers, only for a semester till the controversy clears. Well, if I have anything to say about it, darlings, you know it won't, and the hubris of this creature to think she is entitled to come back to this school. She needs a good belt in the mouth before she is locked up and tossed away the key!!!!!!

As if this is not enough, one prof opines that Tyler and his legacy of change will be forgotten. Tyler will NOT be forgotten, as long as I am writing this blog; rest assured his justice will be something I will fight for, despite these morons. And I swear if the perps walk, I am going to take matters into my own hands in a way that will go undetected, like Merrricat in "We Have Always Lived In The Castle." Only it will not be arsenic!!!!! Remember Anthrax???????

This is just the beginning of Tyler's legacy of change, and while it may come slow, it will come justly. Never forget Tyler, girls. Evil deprived the world of his sweetness. Do NOT let any more sweetness vanish. It is said the good have to try harder, and they do. But evil never reckoned with THIS bitch--ie; me, so you better watch out.

And at least MY girls know how to dress? Do you think these hung up homophobic heteros do????? Like Hell!!!!!!

The only straight people who know how to dress are Meryl and Stanley. So take your cue from them, darlings, as we continue to persevere in the fight for Tyler!!!!!!!!!

Power to the People!!!!! With facial cream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, Back In 1980, We All Wanted To Wear Marcie's Panties!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, I am talking about the brilliance of Jeannine Taylor as Marcie Cunningham in "Friday The 13th!" Her memorable axe in the head after running about in panties, following her brilliant impersonation of Katherine Hepburn in "The Rainmaker" is one spot where this film demonstrates how truly groundbreaking it was. At last night's screening, I was so vividly brought back to that time in 1980 when this film was like nothing having gone before that when I got home last night I was checking my drawer to see if I had any panties like Marcie's!!!!!!!!!! And while Miss Taylor did not go on to other things--of the counselors, only a baby faced Kevin Bacon did--her Marcie will live on as one of the classic moments in this classic film.

Darlings, I cannot believe it has been 30 years since I first saw this on the screen. And while I have certainly watched it enough in the intervening years, on VHS and DVD, nothing can beat seeing it on the screen, which it was so good to do last night at the Chelsea, hosted by the fabulous Hedda Lettuce!!!!! The atmosphere of blackness in which it begins, with the sudden appearance of the clouded full moon, and the camera panning down to reveal time and place, demonstrated the artistry of these filmmakers, however low a budget they were working with at the time. And I can tell you, lambs, I have been to the film's locales, and they still look the same today!!!!! I have done Annie's mill walk, you better believe it.

But when all is said and done, the two most contributory factors to this film are Harry Manfredini, with his "killkillkillkill" score, and Betsy Palmer in her now iconic role as Mrs. Voorhees, a role, believe me, girls, she did not realize at the time would be iconic!!!!!!! I am telling you, when that jeep pulled up, and out she stepped in that white fisherman's sweater, the crowd went wild!!!!!!!!! And when she went into her spectacular and outrageously schizoid monologue, "Kill her, Mommy; kill her!", I erupted into peals of loving laughter. Unlike the unloving peals of laughter I let loose with in third grade, when that old bat, Mrs. Bergen, tripped over Patti Aldi!!!!!!!!!!! Now, THAT was a hoot!!!!!!!!!

Monsieur Davide was on hand with me to share in this delightful merriment, which could not be a better kickoff for Halloween. Would you believe, girl, that this film and Meryl Streep are what my home state of Jersey is famous for??? Imagine if Meryl were to play Mrs. Voorhees in a future film? She is the only one outside of Betsy who could!!!!!

There is nothing like the splendors and pleasures of a true masterpiece. And when you add outrageous laugh=gs, and a head that literally rolls, it can't be beat!!!! Too bad all my girls could not be with me to celebrate the 30th anniversary of this film. This Cinderella was so tired when I got home I could not stay awake for 'SVU'. Even with Chris Meloni!!!! But I would not have missed it for the world, loves!!!!!!!

Hope to see you there in another 30 years, darlings!!!!!!!!

Friday, October 29, 2010

Darlings, No Matter How You Spell It, It Is Still SCUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, I have just found out some things further related to Tyler Clemeti's perps, which shows how truly evil they are. Apparently, the big factor in their departure from Rutgers was not shame or humility, but to avoid a disciplinary hearing!!!!!!!!!! Well, they may be able to squirm out of that but there are some other legal matters that may not be as easy to squirm out of!!!!!!!!!!

Sources tell me Ravi is going to or has already transferred to another school. In any case, if he is smart, he will enroll online under an assumed alias, because no one in their right mind would take him. But you would not believe the gall of that bitch, Molly Wei. Little Miss Slant Eyed Slattern says she fears for her safety; she who has cried no tears for anyone but herself. Stop playing the victim, doll, and own up to what you did!!!!!!!! You had your chance not to be vilified by making an effort to get Ravi to stop, but did you??? Oh, no, you went right along with his ruse to persecute Tyler, and look what happened........MURDERESS!!!!!!!!!
So don't be crying victim because no one gives a hoot about you when you never gave one about Tyler. Then she says she is going somewhere else. Same thing goes for her--except for online, who would have her??? THEN she has the gall to say she wants to come back to Rutgers, because she expects to be FULLY EXONERATED!!!!!!!!!!! Oh, yeah??????????? The arrogance of this homophobic bitch and her co-conspirator is not to be believed. Obviously there was no parental control during the sorry period known as their upbringings. Lock the door and throw away the key on these two, they are beyond redemption, they are beyond contempt!!!!!!!!!!!

As one wag said, they should be met with pitchforks everywhere they go, until justice is meted out. Darlings, they are going to be greeted wtih pitchforks in the Next Life, and not by Hot Stuff, the Little Devil, or his cousin, Gas Flame!!!!!!!!!!
As I said, this is pure evil in its essence and when you spell it, it is still SCUM!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The only thing, lambs, to do with scum is to wipe it off, just like we wipe the lipstick from our mouths every night before going to bed!!!!!!!!!

Clean kisses to all my girls, now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, This Is Going To Be A Weekend Of Mother Love!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, I want to wish you all a Happy Halloween, and to that effect I am kicking off my holiday this eve, when Monsieur Davide and I attend the Hedda Lettuce screening of the iconic classic "Friday The 13th, at the Chelsea, featuring, or course, Betsy Palmer in her most celebrated role as Mrs. Voorhees, a woman who will stop at nothing to preserve the love of her child!!!!!!!!!

To think we are doing this in the 30th anniversary of its unveiling. With its creepy, moonnlit atmosphere, that horndog Barry and slut Claudette, we just cannot wait to revisit this classic, filmed in a town I have come to know well--Blairstown, New Jersey. This film, and Meryl Streep, are what my home state is always going to be famous for.

And tomorrow evening, it is another anniversary screening at the Film Forum, with the 50th one of "Psycho." Cannot believe Hitchcock's masterwork is half a century old, and that I am old enough to remember when it first came out!!!! Of course my parents told me I was too young to see that, even though, after viewing that poster, I was just dying to be Janet Leigh in the bra and slip. No, girls, I did not advance to cross dressing, but ever since that initial viewing, thts of this film race through my mind whenever I take a shower!!!! But I don't let it stop me, because we have to look beautiful, loves, and I for one have GOT to preserve MY beauty!!!!!!!!!!!

What could be more beautiful, loves, than a mother's tender love for her child, and both these films exemplify such! Lord knows, if there is one thing I have it is a maternal heart; room enough for all God's creatures, especially the beautiful AND the financially well off!!!!!!!!

And that Mrs. Bates in "Psycho;" what a perv she is, saving her son from being a disgusted heterosexual, because she wants to have sex with him herself, and so does he!!!!!! Rober Bloch owes a lot to Tennessee Williams, who never went this far, I can tell you. But, remember, girls, this is Halloween, not Mother's Day, though you would never guess from this blog.

Hope to see my girls at all the festivities!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, We Are Moving Slowly Towards Justice!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, this round belongs to us!!!!! I have just found out that those two scumbags, Dahrun Ravi and Molly Wei, who together murdered our beloved Tyler Clementi, have quit Rutgers University!!!!!! To me, lambs, this is a no-brainer, and something that should have happened a good deal sooner. But at least it has????
Why would they want to go back????? The media would hound them, and deservedly, so!!!!!!! Students and gay groups would all but throw stones at them, and you can bet I would be joining right in; if Shirley Jackson's "Lottery" or "The Kite Runner's" stoning was instituted for them, I am not sure I would stop it. And, of course, one has to wonder--how much pressure did upper ups at Rutgers bring to them on this situation????? Were they pointedly asked to leave???? If so, it is the first right step the University has taken since this awful incident exploded into our consciousness.

Being both a realist and a cynic, I am inclined to think there was a good deal more behind the situation than these simplistics. Though I am sure Rutgers at least welcomes their departure, not so much out of any moral high standards, but because it offers another opportunity for them to sweep this "white elephant" under the rug!!!!!!!

But they have not reckoned with The Raving Queen, darlings!!!! It is reported that one reason, especially in Wei's case, was fear for safety. Like, yeah??????????
You visually rape someone, it drives that person to suicide, and you want to play the victim???? Get outta here, you bitch!!!!! And she is a blatant bitch; Wei states that she will go somewhere else????? Again, yeah?????? Where????? This incident has become worldwide; even the Ayatollah, holing up in his Afghastani cave, or more than likely, his Jackson Heights or Jersey City co-op, knows who Tyler Clementi is, and what trasnpired, so how are these scumbags goint to enroll anywhere with the shadow that hangs over them???????? And with a Wikipedia entry on Tyler Clementi's suicide, it will hang around permanently. Hey, guys, the Internet that you used to destroy Tyler, can and WILL work against YOU, too, as you BOTH are about to find out. The best these two can hope for is online college enrollment under screen names, because I cannot imagine any self-respecting public institution, or private, of higher education, that would admit them, simply because their reps are going to follow them. I certainly would not want them at MY school???????

Hell, they wouldn't even be welcome now in Goat Alley, the white trash community within my hometown!!!!! They may be tramps and hoods, but they don't drive innocent children to suicide!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, girls, let us breathe a sigh of pride, because, for now, at least, this round belongs to US!!!!!!!!! And may the subsequent rounds continue, as such!!!!!!! But The Raving Queen is on the beat, and we will not let up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

May this minor victory bring some further peace to Tyler Clementi and his family!!!!!!!!!!!! We all want that, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love to all my girls who support me in this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Girls, You Gotta See This Beautiful Baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, I am telling not you, not since the opening of "Mildred Pierce," where the camera pans from outside to inside Wally's seedy night club, and we see Veda Ann Borg as Miriam Ellis singing "You Musta Been A Beautiful Baby," has there been reason enough since to sing this song. Last evening I visited my friend Audrey in her palatial Brooklyn Heights apartment, and while she still has that unparallelled view, she now has something more--namely the beautiful baby in question, nine week old, Ruby Ann.

The child has a stunning head of hair, which should be no surprise to those who know Audrey. She has the most engaging smile and the brightest, alertest look. Granted, what with having received her first tetanus shot the day before, and the mugginess of the weather, Ruby was a little testy. But then, honey, you should see how testy I get when I get MY tetanus shot, so, believe me, Ruby was a trooper!!!!!!!
Soon after I arrived, she was sitting in her chair, busily going over Mommy's portfolio, urging her to consolidate some assets. Audrey is in negotiations for purchasing a co-op, and you better believe Ruby is handling the deal. And at only nine weeks!!!! I predict that by nine months, she will unseat Elena Kagan in Washington!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, Audrey looks so svelte, I cannot believe she was once pregnant. I am telling you, girls, if I thought pregnancy would give me a figure like that, I would take a stab at it!!!!!! But I am too old, anyway, and besides I would not want to shock Cousin Manny from Fort Lee.

I cannot wait to see what the future holds for Ruby Ann, and that IS Ruby Ann, not Ruby Gentry, which is a Jennifer Jones movie. When Audrey gets settled, I may bring over some of my transactions for Ruby to straighten out. Meanwhile, Ruby is the joy of family and friends, not to mention the entire community of Brooklyn Heights, where she blissfully resides.

Switching topics, I just want to remind my girls to be there tomorrow night at the Chelsea for Hedda Lettuce's engagement in tandem with the 30th anniversary screening of the classic, the original, "Friday The 13th." I don't believe I have seen this film onscreen IN 30 years, though I have seen it many times on VHS and DVD. We just cannot get enough of Betsy Palmer as Mrs. Voorhees, and I now have an intimate association with the film, having twice roamed through Blairstown, New Jersery, where it was filmed. And still looks pretty much as what you see in the film!!!! This could be the best Halloween EVER, so I want all my gals and ghouls to be on hand tomorrow night for what is sure to be a sell out event, with every queen in town flocking to it. The BIG Halloween parties are not till Saturday night, so they can. Remember to chant "killkillkillkilll!!!!!" when you hear the Manfredi score.

Hope you score big tomorrow night, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, Throw The Book At This Bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, this week's winner not only earns the distinction of being named such, but also ties in nicely with the ongoing debate that continues to fuel over the Tyler Clementi tragedy, and cries out for more justice for Tyler!!!!!!!

The winner of this week's Raving Queen Bitch Of The Week Award is Midland School District Vice President Clint McCance.

Now, darlings, just his being from Arkansas speaks volumes; you know he is a big old redneck right-winger. And with a name like that, it is no wonder. But these alone do not earn him our distinction. It is what he did.

Mr. McCance, on his own Facebook page, published a rant, saying, in effect, that he wanted gay people to committ suicide. Excuse me???????????? Didn't you know this would get out to the world at large???? McCance is really gunning here; not only does he manage to insult Tyler Clementi, his family and friends, the American gay community, but all his colleagues in the Arkansas Department of Education, who have to bear the brunt of being labeled as thinking like this boob. And it does not help that the Department says, in lip service, that while they deplore Mr. McCance's actions, they cannot deal with him directly, because he is an elected official. I say roast this porked pig over a spit, though I am sure his meat would be rancid. At the very least, suspend the boob, consign him to his trashy trailer where he can sit in his dirty underwear, fat belly distending, watching trash TV and scarfing down Doritos. Sounds like his aesthetic level. The department seems to be saying it is easier just to ignore Mr. McCance, but I am telling you, in the words of Miss Alex Forrest from "Fatal Attraction," "We will not be ignored!" Doing so only insures that such utterings will come further from McCance and others out there who think like him, and thus will now feel free to verbalize outright, just as he did. I am telling you, girls, if action against him is not taken, the Arkansas Department of Education shares in the blame not only of McCance, but everything right down to Tyler Clementi's death. How much more do we have to take until justice is meted???? In the immortal words of the immortal Maria Rainer Rilke,"Who, if I were to cry out, would hear me among the angelic orders?"

And then to compound McCance's bigotry, we have Miss Kathleen O'Brien's ignorance. In her column for today's NJ Star Ledger, she infers that all the anti-bullying legislation that is being thought out will not make a bit of difference to Tyler Clementi, since he is deceased, and since we really do not know, according to her, why he killed himself.

Stating the obvious is obtuse. Stating the other is ignorant. While it is true we cannot bring Tyler back, and that we literally cannot go inside his mindset, it is pretty conclusive that, had he been allowed to go about his personal business, not have his sexuality mocked in the vile way it was, we would not be writing about him now, as none of us would have heard of him. How many times does this have to be reiterated???? I guess as many times as there are idiots like Miss 0'Brien in the world. I will say her syntax is impressive, which leaves me thinking she would be best writing for a publication other than the Star Ledger. Personally, I would suggest the National Enquirer or the Weekly World News.

But she cannot be held accountable for anything save ignorance. McCance adds bigotry to that, which makes him the scumbag he is, and earns him the distinction of being Bitch Of The Week!!!!!!!!

Sometimes I feel like a bitch myself, girls, after writing one of these columns. Which is why once I publish, I think of something nice like "Gigi," and go my merry way!!!!!!!!!!!!

Three more days till Halloween, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Darlings, I Never Would Have Thought Of Florida As Being Liberal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, it may be called the Sunshine State, but depending on how you look at it Florida can be viewed as a right-wing bastion, God's Waiting Room (ie; waiting to die) or the state that destroyed my family, when so many relations bought into that Jim Dooley nonsense of "Come OOOOOOOON down!" and how great the place is. Which is a lot of crap; I said it then, and I say it now. Maybe "The Golden Girls", and especially Rue McLuhan has done something to temper that outlook, but mark my words, I do not plan on pulling up stakes anytime soon to move to Florida!!!!!!!!!!!!

So you can imagine my surprise when I saw, on Orlando's Central Florida 13, a piece decrying bullying and calling out for justice for other students in the name of Tyler Clementi. Yes, dears, the struggle still goes on, and I am proud to say that there are still some out there, like myself, who are going to fight this fight to the most conclusive conclusion.

Girls, it does my heart good to see women stepping into the fray. One such is Samantha Fichter in "The Waltonian," who calls for action in the area of bullying, while another says in same journal that Tyler Clementi's death needs to be kept in the public eye as a warning against further tragedies. Then there is Penny Patterson in the Santa Barbara Independent, a lipstick lesbian, no less, who not only recounts her own struggles with bullying, but charges that what the perps did should be looked on as involuntary manslaughter. And I for one am in complete agreement.

But then, of course, Rutgers and Jersey lawmakers are hedging their bets, hoping the whole thing will go away. Well, it will not, and do not forget, girls, to get those calls in to the New York Philharmonic. We will not rest until action is achieved, and that action is justice for Tyler in a way that brings it to others, and provides to his grief stricken family peace and closure. There can be no such until Rutgers and others wake up and admit to the consequences of such acts, and that by covering it up they are only adding themselves to the culpable.

Well, I am here to say, darlings, that Mischeif Night is coming up, on Saturday, and I think some office windows on Rutgers need a good soaping, pouring on of shaving cream, or maybe some good, old fashioned editorial graffiti along these lines to remind authority figures there what is expected of them, and what responsibility they have both to the student body AND Tyler Clementi's family.

So while we gather together our make-up and candy, think about what needs to be and can be done in these instances. If action is not taken, you can bet another kid with potential for good will be destroyed. It should not have happeend with Tyler, but it must not happen again!!!!!!!!!!!

And if you go out on Mischief Night, girls, make sure it is designer garb!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, Today We Pay Tribute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, how much sadness can we stand??? But before I get to the matter at hand, some unfinished business.

On Monday, I learned of some tragic repercussions in the death our my acquaintance, Paul. I discovered that on Thursday, two days after his death, Paul's father, who, granted, was in his 80's, not the best of health, and heading towards Alzheimer's, dropped dead of a heart attack. I am sure the demise of his son did not help matters any; in fact aided them in compounding tragedy for this unfortunate family.

It was also learned--and this I did not know, girls--that Paul had been om meds for being bipolar. How much that had to do with car collision death cannot be determined, but it adds another layer to this all too sad story, that was not there before.

And then, yesterday, another tragedy struck, of great personal shock to ME!!!!!!!!!! But let me backtrack.

Back in 1971, when I was a junior in high school, Thomas Tryon, an actor who never became A-list, had a spectacular success with his first published novel, "The Other." So successful, in fact, that it occupied the No. 2 spot on the New York Times Bestseller List, right behind, how ironic, "The Exorcist." In a word this story concerned identical twin boys personifying good and evil, and a series of mysterious and tragic happenings on a Connecticut farm in the mid-Thirties.

A year later, Robert Mulligan, an excellent director, made a film of it, that, at 17, blew me away, introduced me to Uta Hagen, whom I had as yet not heard of, and whom I would go on years later to see on the New York stage in two shows, and to two boys, who, had they not made this film, would have blended into the fabric of suburban obscurity. But this film thrust them forward to a brief brush with fame. Those boys where Chris and Martin Udvarnoky, then of Westfield, New Jersey, not far from where I grew up, playing, respectively, Niles and Holland Perry.

As a young theatrical novice at the time, the skill of the boys' acting, especially Chris as Niles, blew me away. I saw "The Other" many times during its initial theatrical run. The boys' acting impressed me--that they could come out of the Nowhere that was suburban Jersey (or so I thought) and give these kind of performances, suggested I might be capable of such someday, too. It was a turning point in my life. How much so was proved the following year, my senior one in high school, when I tracked them down to their then home in Westfield, NJ, and wrote to them, declaring my acclaim for their work, and requesting an interview with them for the school paper. And they graciously complied. Not only, they, but the parents. To this day, I remember three things--being shown the script, the first time I had ever seen a film script, and not imagining that I would go on to work in a field where seeing then was par for the course; being show the Prince Albert tobacco tin (blue) with the mysterious "finger" inside. And, while reviewing a photo album the family made during the shoot a photo I never forgot--of Uta Hagen, in her long white gown and flowing Ada hair, playfully menacing the boys, with a pair of plastic monster feet over hers. Years later, when I saw Uta onstage for the first time, when she first appeared, I could not get this image out of my mind.

It was indeed a turning point for me--pointing towards a life in, surrounded by, being part of, show business in a way I may not have anticipated, but can never deny. And to the Udvarnokys I have always been grateful.

Well, girls, yesterday, my first back at work, I go on the IMDB thread for "The Other," and the first thing I see is "Chris Udvarnoky passed away this morning...." Well, darlings, I was shocked!!!!! I googled and searched and finally came up with the following.

On the morning of October 25, 2010, Chris Udvarnoky, aka Niles Perry in "The Other," died at the Father Hudson Home in Elizabeth, New Jersey. He was 49, and had lived in Westfield and Iselin. Apparently he died of polycysitic kidney disease, because the obit info suggested donations in his honor be made to the foundation for this disease, which is by nature an inherited one.

All I can say is, rest in peace, Chris. Too young, too soon. You led a life of service in the health care industry--from the Westfield Rescue Squad to an X-Ray technician at Overlook and Rahway hospitals. A coworker of yours on IMDB attested to your humor and compassion, as well as your reluctance to discuss "The Other" with no one but close friends--a wise choice. And, of course, your performance as Niles in that film was of award calibre, and impacted so many at the time, and will go on to impact others as time passes.

Girls, I cannot believe I am writing this. It is like a part of me has died. And so it has. We all die a little, every day. Who said that? I cannot remember???? But I am asking all my girls out there to remember Chris Udvarnoky. and if you have not, take a look at his work in "The Other," which is now on DVD!!!!!!!!! You will be amazed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will try for happier news in the future, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, You Are Not Going To Believe The Connection Between Lana Turner And Evita!!!!!!!!

Bur first, girls, do you know MY connection to Lana Turner? It is tenuous, at best. Around 1963, at the age of eight, I heard the mythic story of her being discovered at Schwaab's Drugstore, sipping a soda at the fountain. Completely disregarding that this establishment was in California in the 30's, I trooped down to the Thrid Avenue Sweet Shop in my hometown, dressed in a pink, cashmere sweater, propped myself up on one of the fountain stools, and began to tear through a series of ice cream sodas. Around the fourth one, the proprietor, asked me what I was doing. when I replied, with all seriousness, that I was trying to get discovered, like Lana Turner, he dropped his jaw, paused, looked at me, then burst out laughing. :Forget it, kid!" he said. "These are on the house; now go home before you make yourself sick!" And so I did.

Now, while reading Patti LuPone's book, it is no surprise that Lana was one of many celeb visitors backstage paying tribute to Patti during the show. With her blonde, aristocratic looks, Lana might have been a contender for the part of Evita herself, at least in a big, gaudy, non-musical Fifties costume film. Anyway, as Patti relates, during the visit, Lana revealed that one time while she was on a trip to Buenos Aires, during the Peron regime, and to attend an Argentinian Film Festival that was common for Hollywooders at the time to attend, she had her passport revoked by Eva Peron, and was taken to her. These two divas faced each other, and Evita graciously gave Lana back her passport, saying "I just wanted to say I modeled my pompadour hairdo after yours!!!!!" Darlings, two international gals come together!!!! Too bad a photographer was not there to post the event for all time. So, darlings, the next time you wear a diamond tiara--Halloween IS coming up, after all--and sing "Don't Cry For Me, Argentina"-- you think about Lana and Eva and what they both did for glamour, girls!!!!!! And you make sure you dress accordingly!!!!!

All sorts of things are happening to keep my girls on edge. Even in the wake of tragedy, the social whirl still goes on, and there is much to report for all my queens out there.

This weekend is Halloween, certainly the most important holiday for all established and aspiring queens. Mine is starting Friday eve, when Monsieur Davide and I are going to attend, at the renowned Chelsea, a 10PM screening of the 1980 classic "Friday, The 13th!" That is right, darlings, the original with the one and only Betsy Palmer in her now iconic performance as Mrs. Voorhees. And it all starts with that horndog Barry and that slut Claudette!!!! Imagine, seeing this on the BIG screen in the 30th anniversary year of its premiere. How exciting can that be,darlings!!!!!!

After Halloween, comes Thanksgiving, and I am telling you, loves, the film to say then is going to be "Burlesque," surely the cheesiest looking film since "Showgirls," to which it bears more than a passing visual resemblance, but featuring an "A" list cast that includes Cher and Stanley Tucci, and that less than A-list slut, Christine Aguilera. Plus a bevy of chorus boys that all MY boys out there will want to be and dance to, let alone, Christine, but what we really want to know is how much of Stanley Tucci will be seen, and will he shake his impressive booty????? Inquiring minds want to know, girls, and I aim to find out, and report back here.

Before going on, lambs, I want to point out that there IS an antidote to the abysmal "Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson." It is "The Pee Wee Herman" show, with Mr. Paul Reubens and company doing a theatricalized version of the Playhouse, with a set to die for, brilliant lighting, the lovely Miss Yvonne and Cowboy Curtis, and a wonderful new edition named Fireman Phineas, who has a very LONG hose!!! Wouldn't we just love to see more of him AND his hose???? But, darlings, this was the most charming show in town, as Monsieur Davide and I, who were right on the aisle last night, can attest. AND the crowd went wild. Darlings, in all my years of theater going, I have never seen a standing ovation for a performer, BEFORE they do anything. Maybe in the days of Streisand and Garland, but that was before my time. The audience went crazy over Pee Wee at the start, and they kept on going crazy throughout!!!!!! And lo and behold, there was Chairy and Magic Screen!!!! I always LOVED Magic Screen!!!!!!!!!! Darlings, if you need a dose of feel good medicine--and don't we all, with what has been happening lately, then you need to go to the recently renamed Stephen Sondheim (it used to be Henry Miller) Theatre on West 43rd Street (where last season, girls, we saw Rounbabout's "Bye, Bye Birdie!") and get a dose of Pee Wee!!!!!! Such fun, darlings!!!!!!!!! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As if all this were not enough, there is a fabulous and hot movie to see called "Bear City." It is an antidote to that "Sex And The City" nonsense, as it charts the travails of a group of gay men in New York's Bear scene (REAL MEN, darlings!!!!!!!!!!) and their various escapades. Girls, you know this one will be a sellout, and, who knows, all you single guys may come away with a potential partner, or at least a hot evening trick!!!!!! I am telling you, Monsieur Davide and I are going to march over to the Quad and hold hands as we watch our boys conquer the social jungle that is their scene!!!!!!!!!!! That is, if we can squeeze in a Film Forum 50th anniversary of the Hitchcock classic "Psycho!!!!!"

See what I mean, girls!!!! The social whirl just doen's t stop!!!!! Don't you be caught on the outside looking in--polish those nails and get yourselves out to these fun filled events!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope all your treats are tricks, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Darlings, It Is Time To Bring On Culture!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a hodge podge of things to discuss, girls!!!! Just got back from the dentist and a filling. The left side of my mouth is numb--and then there is that bill!!!! Oh, well, at least I have Monsieur Davide to commiserate with. Of course next week is the grabber; on Wednesday November 3, I find out if the cavity on the wisdom tooth can be filled, or if I have to extract it. I fear the latter, which means I have to be knocked out, which means...oh, GOD, I am hysterical!!!!!

But till that time we have Pee Wee to look forward to tonight. But I want to call to attention the In Honor of Tyler Clementi site on Facebook, which lists all tributes and events, regarding. A plea is on to besiege the New York Philharmonic Orchestra to dedicate one of their performances to Tyler, and I for one think it is an excellent idea. After all, he may very well might have been sitting in that august orchestra someday. You can bet if this happens, The Raving Queen will be there, darling, as I have no doubt Tyler's spirit will be. So I want all my lambs to get on the phone and call the NY Philharmonic. I have some tenuous connections with them myself, and I intend to make use of them in this instance.

And if there is such a program, you had better dress to the nines, my loves!!!
Tuxes and gowns!!!! Like Patti as Evita!!!!!! So stay tuned for further details on this potential event; if it happens, you will know right here, and make sure you go.

Justice For Tyler, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, Girls, I'm Back!!!!!!!!

Darlings, I am back in my old spot, and, as usual, at my breakneck pace, with hardly time to catch my breath; a dental appt (groan!) at 1PM, compensated, for, hopefully, by an eveing at the theater with Monsieur Davide, as we see "Pee- Wee Herman," which should be a hoot. It is a wonder I had time to breath today, girls, let alone throw something fashionable on. I will provide a full report on the event on tonight's aisle, as well as further into on developments of social importance, darlings!!!

And we have our tkts for Hedda and the "Friday The 13th" screening on Friday. So let me just say, I am back with all my girls now, and words will be forthcoming!!!!

Drink some Bloody Marys for me, loves!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, October 25, 2010

Girls, What A Day We Had Yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, to think that the weekend began on such a restful note, with just the charming Monsieur Davide and myself drinking coffee, getting caught up on reading, having a lovely social even ing out, with no muss or fuss whatsoever. Of course, when I we got home, I was forbidden--FORBIDDEN!can you believe that, darlings!--to rewatch the Rosemary Harris 'SVU' episode!!!!!! But at least there was "The Golden Girls," with the spiritual force that is Rue McClanahan to keep us on the right track!!!!!

But yesterday, loves!!!! Oh, my God!!!! Would you believe wewere out of bed by nine o'clock???? Unheard of!!! And no cofee in the Nancy Kelly pot????? Quelle catastrophe!!!! By noon--when nost civlized people are just crawling from bed--we were subway bound to far off Rego Park, Queens, which is even further out, darlings, than my neighborhood of Woodside!!!!! We went to visit the lovely and glamrous Bea, all 98 years of her, and sweeties, let me tell you, she could do the Ruby Keeler role in "42nd Street" tonight!!!! Which is more than can be said for either Monsieur Davide, or myself!!!!! THEN I get whisked off--by train, by bus, so fast I cannot keep up--to some godforsaken part of Flushing in the middle of nowhere--no subways, no bookstores, nothing--where we had to walk about as far as Dorothy had to from Munchkinland to the Emerald City, to catch a dance performance by one of Monsieur Davide's colleagues. I mean, I thought we were in Siberia!!!!!! The performance was lovely--gorgeous costumes, stunning dances, an Indian Frick and Frack--with the longest intermission I have EVER seen--50 minutes!!!!! And snacks, drinks and condiments, to booot!!!! Thank God for the lovely Miss Maloney, who so graciuously drove us itinerant travelers began to the remotest corners of civilization, where we could at least hop a train to the REAL thing!!!! When we got home, I was physically and emotionally exhausted. And would you believe NO 'SVU' marathon, no "Golden Girls," nothing!!! We just had dinner and fell into bed!!!!!

But at least I am alive to tell about it, loves!!!! AND to wish my firend, Julia, a happy birthday, as wellas she and hubby Henry a happy third anniversary!!!!!
How the time flies!!!! And here I am, STILL 24!!!!!!!

So it was quite a weekend, lambs!!!! And the next one is Halloween. Do you know that on Friday, the 29th, Hedda is hosting a "Friday The 13th" screening at Chelsea???? That's right; the ORIGINAL, with the one and only Betsy Palmer!!!! I want to see all my ghoulies there, to kick things off, because who knows what Saturday and Sunday will bring??????

Have to get ready for my week now, lambs!!!! Love to all!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, The Divisions Are Closing In Further!!!!!!

Girls, it is appalling--I am telling you, appalling--to consider that Robert O'Brien, the gay faculty and advocate at Rutgers througout the whole Tyler Clementi tragedy, up till now, that is, is doing an almost about face, saying blame must be shifted away from the students and to social perceptions. No one, especiallt The Raving Queen, girls, has EVER denied these played a terrible part in this young man's inexcusable death. But let us not forget that this inexcusability was caused BY the two students who, basically, video violated Tyler.

0'Brien is now saying Darvi and Wei should not br demonized. That to do so is an example of anti-Asian racism. Oh, really? No one has suggested racism was a motive here; and IF these two are being demonized (which is not difficult to do, given the results of what they did), first, it is deservedly so, and second, they are not being so because of race, but because of the vileness of their dead and its tragic consequences. Clearly, this indicates to me that someone higher up, administratively speaking, got to O'Brien, who hitherto has been suppoetive throughout the tragedy, and is pressuring him to shift suport to Ravi and Wei. Which speaks volumes about how Rutgers just wants to cover up the whole thing, even to the point of forgetting Tyler Clementi was a srudent on campus.

Well, The Raving Queen, darlings, is not about to let THAT happen. Support comes from the Quo Vadis nespaper, whose reporter, Aaron Clark, asks, "Where Was The Righteous Anger?" For, while all the groups, students and organizations who rose to the occasion to face this horrible tragedy and do tribute to a lovely young man deserve full credit, shame to the equally large amount who did not. Like the Targum editorialists, who had the NERVE to write Tyler's suicide was no more than a kid's inability to handle what they coined "the hardships of life?" Oh, yeah??? Handle THIS, you scum!!!! Clark's piece maintains that when counselors and other adults discussed the suicide with many students, they shrugged in apathy that it was unfortunate, but what could they do???? This is is the kind of attitude that breeds other Tyler Clementis, and the next one could very well be among them, if they are not careful. Indeed, I knew people in intervening weeks to whom I would mention Tyler's name--THIS, after all the media play--and they STILL said "Who Is Tyler Clementi?" THAT got me angry; believe me, darlings!!!!!!!! Rest assured, Tyler will not go unmentioned here till justice is meted. I say it, and I say it AGAIN.

And isn't it interesting, girls, how O'Brien now seems to want to play the race card??? Which administrator told him to do that???? I guess Rutgers staff, students and faculty must be as controllable as the Bill Baird Marionettes doing "The Lonely Goatherd" in "The Sound Of Music." Just not as talented.

If you want to talk about race here--how about THIS--IF Ravi and Wei walk, they need to be taught a lesson in who paved the way for their overtly privileged lifestyle--ie; their ancestors and predecessors, before them!!!!! Ravi should be assigned a year's work in the rice fields of India, OR an urban IndiaN street corner, with a flute, a basket, and a cobra inside!!!! OK!!!! Meanwhile, Wei needs to read "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck, and spend a year of labor in eithee a suburban Jersey Chinese laundry OR a Chinese takeout, where she sits at a table all day, doing nothing but making homemade Wontons!!!!!!!! Give THEM a taste of humility, and submission. Granted, it will not bring Tyler back, but it COULD cause these scum, who have never done a day of hard labor in their lives, to reflect on the fact that actions DO indeed have consequences. For this is what they and those apatetic students need to learn, in addition to their imbeded homophobia, and how it can, and in this case DID, turn like a dime on someone.

Now, sweeties, it just so happens that at this time I happen to be reading Patti LuPone's memoir--yes, darlings! you heard that right--and, while I said Tyler cannot be brought back, I can honestly attest he is still with us. In her book, during the segment covering her triumph in "Evita," Patti relates how, on three separate occasions, she was visited by the spirit of Evita herself. So all I can say is--watch out, Tyler's spirit is out there, and could vuisit us anytime. I am prepared to welcome him, but Darvi and Wei had better watch out. For in that visit will be the manifestation of their guilt, a guilt whom the apathetic and listless covered herein share. I can't imagine what Tyler would say, as I do not know if spirits speak. According to Patti, Evita did not speak. But an appearance should say volumes, and I am telling you, they are coming. On the anniversary of his death, next September 22, I wonder what will be going on at the GWB at 8:50 PM??? Or what one or more persons may seee??? Hmmmm??? Hacve you thought about that, sweeties????? You better.

But all I have reported only serves to further discredit Rutgers in this. Its students, faculty and staff can undoubtedly be bought so easily, but I am here to say that the mmore they are, the more Tyler's death is tranferred addditionally from Ravi and Wei to them!!!!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, I have to paint the nails on my hands, darling!!!! I will not stop pursuing justice, and for Tyler's sake, as well as all my darlings, I will do it fully coiffed!!!!

Loveliness to all!!!!!!!!!!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Darlings, Only Bad Witches Are Ugly!!!!!!

Girls, remember when Billie Burke said that to Judy Garland in my all-time favorite film, "The Wizard Of Oz?" Well, I want to use that to clarify something I did not mention yesterday, when talking about evil lesbians. Only the BIG, FAT, LESBIANS are evil!!!!!! The rest are harmless.

The proof is in last night, when Monsieur Davide and I had a scrmptious Afghani meal with a charming, intellectual (yes, girls, intellectual!!!) lesbian named Avive!!!! And earler in the week we dined at Cafe Cluny with the charming non-lesbian, Virginia, she of the Jane Austen and Barbara Pym socieities. Virginia reads like ME, darlings, and you better believe she knows her literature, not to mention she would make a brilliant Miss Collins in "Portrait Of A Madonna" and Aunt Birdie in "The Little Foxes!!!!" You would think, girls, that with all this dining out, the week was just a social whirl! Well, it was not; in fact, there was a good deal of social activism, which will be thorughly accounted, via the latest installment, in the next entry on this blog. Meanwhile, loves, I am off and running to Flushing, to visit Monsieur Davide's glamorous Aunt Bea, and then on to a dance perfcormance in Kew Gardens. Girls, what I need is a couple of Frozen Margaritas, or at least some Bloody Marys. And LARGE ones, like what they serve at the Riviera Cafe!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, a new week beckons, so, like Grace Slick said one apocryphal morning at Woodstock, "It's a new dawn!!!!!" Dress your best, and maintain your posture, darlings!!!!! Love to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Darlings, You Know Damn Well We Care More Than Just About The Bleeding Crowd!!!!!!

Well, girls, the Rutgers rally was held, the letter delivered, and still that plug ugly McCormick is not dealing with things. I hope that when it is time for the Clementi family to step up to bat--and believe me, darlings, having retained a lawyer of their own, THEY WILL!!!!--McCormick and his minions are nailed to the wall!!!! Getting back to his ugliness, what I said about him in an S and M bar???? Well, let me just say, he would relgated to the farthest, darkest corner of such an establishment, because, let me tell you, loves, only the pretty ones whip abd get whipped up front, in full light. And Richard McCormick is NOT a pretty one!!!!!!!

With all that has happened, I cannot believe there are still some out there who are seeking to blame the victim in all this. I just read a piece stating that Tyler should, basically, have been more abstentious in his actions, not even having sex in his dorm?????

Excuse me, but something is wrong here!!!!! This is the social backlash once again of consigning homosexuality to the spot where we know it exists, but as long as it is not talked about, it really doesn't. College is all about making discoveries for yourself when young--and one of those is sexual?? Where was Tyler supposed to do this, huh??? In a peep show booth??? The New Brunswick terain station bathroom??? The backseat of his own car???? Not only are these risky and dangerous locales, they harken back to a time when sex between men must be done quickly and surreptitiuously, as that is all they are entitled to in society. Once upon a time, that WAS the case, which is why William Eythe had to be bailed out for consorting in a NYC subway Men's Room, so that he could make opening night in "Out Of This World." AND why he probably became a big time alcoholic, who, at the young age of 38, died, after drinking himself to death.

But you figure, Tyler was living in a more enlightened time, though from what happened, I have to wonder. It is time I said that from what I have read about Tyler, I find him truly admirable--intelligent, warm and giving, an accomplished violinist AND unicyclist (!!!!!)--and you have to hand it to him. With his own car, driving skills, laptop, and the courage to reach out and experiment sexually within weeks of arriving at college, Tyler, at 18m was a good deal more self reliant than I was at his age, which shows, had hwe been allowed to continue for himself, he would have made some amazing contrbutions on artistic and social fronts. Which is why his loss is so tragic, and why I am vigorously fighting on his behalf, until I am satisfied that society metes out some kind of justice.

And if I am not satisfied, then I will have to take some Harper Anderson justice of my own. BUT, as the rally today in the Village states we musr STOP THE VIOLENCE, which means that if I retaliate, it must be in a non-violent way. Especially since the lovely and engaging Monsieur davide does not improve of violence. But that remains to be seen; I shall have to come up with something clever and non-violent, but belive you me, this bitch knows more than one way to skin the proverbial cat!!!!!!

But this refers to a futre we do not know about yet. What I can tell you for certain, girls, is that The Raving Queen is on the beat when it comes to Tyler Clementi. We wish him to rest in peace, but the issues he raised must not, if society is to improve. So stay tuned, girls, because I will update you as frequently on this, as I have on what has been emerging from Anna's office!!!!!

Justice for Tyler Clementi, darlings!!!! And if it comes to us all ending up in court, in an SVU free-for-all, may ouur nails all be painted, and may we all look as good as Marcia Gay Harden as FBI Agent Starr!!!!!!

You are all MY stars, loves!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, It Is Getting Scary Out There!!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, they certainly are, and not just because Halloween is literally around the corner. And before you start thinking things are finished with the Tyler Clementi situation, rest assured, there will be another entry right after this one, and will continue to be each day, until I feel justice has been meted. And as can be seen from how things have gone SO far, that is going to be a long time!!!!!!!!

But back to scary matters at hand. Yesterday began for me with a cal from my firend Harvey, with the most tragic news. We have this mutual friend, John, who, due to declining health, was transitioned into a NYC nursing home. Said place was said to be shutting down, so John was relocated to a facility on the Uppeer East Side, where he is getting comfort and care. So far, so good.

Now, all of John's matters were being handled by this fellow we all know, Paul, a very successful businessman--successful enough to have a place in Manhattan, one on Long Island, and to have purchased a house for his parents, also on Long Island. Nice, fellow, Paul, pleasant, easy to talk to, with a lot on his plate, yet somehow able to handle it.

Well, according to Harvey, Tuesday morning of this week, Paul was killed in a car collision, somewhere out around Patchouge, also on Long Island. It was 6am, and he was driving south--where or why is anyone's guess--whem, for nop reason at all, he swerved into the northbound lane, and collided with another car!!!! As is the irony in many of these cases, the driver of the other car survived, but Paul was killed, instantly, or rather quickly, at least, as he was pronounced DOA at the hospital he was taken to!!!!! I always thought Paul, who was both very mature AND mature looking, was around my age. But he was ONLY 44!!!!!!!!!

My God, girls, can you believe it???? There is going to be a toxicology report, which I want to know, because I am curious to know what caused Paul--who was not the careless sort--to do this. Sleep deprivation??? Alcohol???
Meds or drugs???? The Raving Queen is on it, darlings, and, believe me let you know!!!!!

All of us who knew Paul are in a great deal of shock, as we wonder not only what will come out of all this, but how it will affect John, not only emotionally, but situationally????? I can only hope that Ted, Paul's lawyer, has a contingency plan, that will keep John protected and comfortable, for the good of his declining health????

And THIS, girls, is how my day STARTED!!!!!!!!

On to less scary, but relevant things. The Walter Reade is having a Scary Movie 4 fest, with ersatz horror film, a few classics like "Dead of Night" and "Carrie" (Sissy Spacek's Carrie, NOT Jennifer Jones'!!!!), while the Brick Theatre Company in farout Williamsburg, Broooklyn, is mounting a stage adaptation of Ed Wood's 1958 classic, "Plan 9 From Outer Space." Darlings, I am just dying to see this one, for one reason alone--who is playing the Vampira role? I mean, no one could top Malia Nardi as Vampira, and who today could boast of such a waistline??? You can be sure, at this point, loves, I can't, though I recall how back in the day, we ALL wanted to have the Vampira waistline!!!!! The fingernails are a cinch, but that waistline!!!!!!!

But these are events unique to the season of Halloween, which only happens once a year. But to those who reside in the West Village in Manhattan, the other 364 are even scarier, as the sun goes down, and especially on the weekends. Now, you recall how, in Todd Browning's 1931 classic "Dracula," the sun went down, the camera zoomed in on the coffin slowly opening, the armadillo scattered, as a hand crept out into the night???? Well, something happens in the West Village, only as the armadillos scatter, the hand creeps out, pushes its weight forward, coffins break, and out from them roll fat, evil LESBIANS, who emerge from their daytime lairs to trudge to whatever watering hole (Henrietta's being the most popular) to covet attractive female flesh, which theirs is urely not, and to more than likely lament collectively on how the WORLD OF MEN has sabotaged their lives!!!! I am telling you, girls, this is more scary than anything yet reported, and woe to any man out at night who encounter these lascivious creatures, and beholds their Gorgon-like stare. I have been told that simply staring them back, and saying "Boo!" to their face, will send them scurrying, excusme mem I mean waddling, off!!!!!!!!

Yes, girls, the world is a scarier place than we think, and getting moreso all the time, which is why I am telling you daily accessorization has never been more important!!!!! Make sure you look your best when out, whether prowling, or at important social engagements! Which means as the year winds down, the engagements will increase, which means I have to accessorize myself, girls, so see you soon on the carpet of Social Whirl, and beware of EVIL LESBIANS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Darlings, This Isn't Over; Not By A Long Shot!!!!!!

Girls, today in the press, it is reported that even after last night's protest and rally, Rutgers is moving on after Tyler Clementi. Well, I am here to say that until justice is meted, I will NOT move on. Poor Tyler was unfortunate in having no one to turn to who could speak for him, nor was he experienced enough to speak for himself. So I am appointing myself in the role of Tyler's Earthly Emissary, and I am here to say, babycakes, that it ain't over!!!! Hell, it ain't even BEGUN!!!!!!

President McCormick is still hiding behind the mantle of non disclosure while an investigation is going on. Bullshit!!!!! Boogers!!!!!! And why has nothing been done on the investigation, as far as I can tell? What is being waited for? Why can't the Ravis and Weis have the decency to offer condolences to the Clementis????
Of Course, Rutgers is in a hurrry to move on; so they can forget what they consider an elephant or albatross, while the needs of LGBQT students go ignored, setting the stage, if not at Rutgers, then elsewhere for another Tyler Clementi tragedy!!!!!!

Girls, I will NOT rest until Tyler is attained some justice, and his family granted some piece and closure. I am beginning to wonder if the heterosexuals should be kicked off Manhattan, which the gays have made their own, thanks to superb taste, and relegated to the doldrums of Queens, while the lesbians get dumped on Staten Island!!! Don't expect to see this in MY lifetime girls, but if things keep going on, it may come to this. At least Staten Island has plenty of room for all the lesbian pickup trucks and U-Hauls.

Today marks a month since Tyler was taken from us. Yes, he WAS taken, and he is NOT a muederer, as some maintain. He was MURDERED by the homophobic provincialism of two students from the exceptionally provincial and homophobic state of New Jersey. No wonder my white trah relatives thrived here!!!! Well, Tyler, your murder will not be forgotten, nor your death for naught. I will fight this thing vigorously until I have won. And if I spend the rest odf my days fighting it, then so be it. If I turn out to br the Jack McCoy of the Internet, then so be it!!!!
Kiss my ass, and go to Hell, you sons of bitches!!!!!!! Today marks a month since Tyler, and we are no less over it than before, nor will we ever forget. Nor must we, for else the battle will be lost!!!

We must win, girls!!!! And in tulle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Darlings, The Cry For Social Justice Goes On!!!!!!!!!

Girls, I have just found out a Rutgers based gay group called Queer The Air is holding a rally/protest in honor of Tyler Clementi, and is delivering a letter to President Richard McCormick, demanding Rutgers get busy and deal with the issues around this tragedy it needs to. The demands call for:

Creating a gender neutral housing situation,
that is friendly to the LGBT community, and
changing residential screening practices to
be more in accordance with this goal.

Establish committees with LGBT students,
faculty and staff to review policies and
procedures on harassment complaints and
student services.

Empower a committee to investigate events
leading up to Tyler Clementi's suicide,
and determined options to provide for a
safer campus.

All of which are rather goals, and it is time Rutgers got out from under its
cloak of negligence, especially President McCormick, because I have had it! This
is, after all, the hometown university that rejected me several decades ago, for discernible reason I can see (especially as I got into some bigger and more prestigious places) than ny being gay!!!!! But this was New Brunswick, where my white trash uncle tried to homophobically brutalize me, as did his second daughter at the time, who has gone on to be such a suburban hypocrite I would like now to venture what might have transpired, had one of heer progeny turned out to be gay!!!!
Either she would have thrown them out, as her father certainly would have, in this case, or she would hypocritically go the other way and become a rabid PFLAGer, as she will willingly defame other, like me, her cousin, but NEVER her own children!!!!!! And you think I am about to FORGET?????? Hah!!!!!!!!!

As for McCormick, if Rutgers does not respond after this, it points more fingers
at it and him. McCormick has already been uncoperative in turning over emails and communications related to the Clementi incident to the authorities, which does not place him OR the school in a good light. Only both are too stupid to realize it. Now, I can't do anything to shut down Rutgers, nor can I manufacture the dismissal of McCormick. But I CAN suggest that if, after this, he does NOT take any responsibility, he DESERVES to be tied to a cross in an S and M club, and sucked off by a twinkie bottom, with a transcription sent to his wife, to let her know not only what a hypocrite her husband is, but give her a lesson in fellatio, which any gay man can do better than a woman, darlings!!!! Of course this is all MY opinion, but I am giving it, so THERE!!!!!

Girls, I want to see you power outed tonight at the rally. You supported me at the vigil, and at the GWB, now do it here!!!! And do it for Tyler, and others in the wings, so that this never happens again. You can bet I will follow what transpires VERY closely, and I will get back to all my girls, you better believe it!!!!! How Are Things In Glocca Mora? Fuck that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And fuck you, Rutgers, McCormick, and New Brunswick if you do not take action NOW. You are only proving that the provincial, white trash and intolerant environment that I grew up in but successfully escaped from, not only still exists, but in some ways has gotten worse!!!!! You all make me sick!!!!! You ARE ALL WORKING WITHIN A CURSED ENVIRONMENT, AND YOU DESERVE TO BE CURSED!!!!! So I curse you!!!!!!!!!!

Honestly, you know how much energy it takes to be a crsading bitch???? I have been at this for most of the day!!! But I will not let up until retribution, that is, justice for Tyler and others, is achieved!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The social scene, darlings, is bitchier, but lots easier to write about!!!!!
Stay on top of things, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, We Finally Have A Worthy Bitch!!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, when you do a weekly column like Bitch Of The Week, it is inevitable some weeks will be tougher than others. That said, so far this one was the toughest, with me initially sitting down to write, with no conclusive winner, whatsoever. I had resigned myself to a fictitious bitch this week, related to the book I am currently reading. I was not happy with the selection, but the character, whom I will not reveal, did qualify. But then I hunted around before writing, and bingo! I hit pay dirt. For not only does our current winner qualify as an absolute bitch, he ties in appropriately to the social debacle you have heard me write about, and no doubt will continue to hear me on, namely the tragic death of Tyler Clementi!!!!!

Now, I realize about Freedom of Speech. But, then, how do you measure it up against something like the Holocaust, for example??? You can't. In the wake of Tyler Clementi the inevitable detractors--people like the recently chosen Andrea Peyser either want to put the honus where it does not belong, rather than on the incipient homophobia that is SO UNIQUELY present in America, just like the teachers I had in Highland Park never wanted to deal with anything, feeling safer hiding behind their overt favortism of moneyed princesses like the aforementioned--at least on here, loves--Diane and Roberta, to name a few!!!!!! And this week's winner perfectly ties in with all this.

The winner of this week's Raving Queen Bitch Of The Week Award is--Elie Mystal!!!!!!!!!!

I wonder if that is short for Eliot, loves, because, when I first saw the name, I thought Mr. Mystal was a woman.

What he is is someone who is associated with something abysmal sounding called "Above The Law." Hell, I don't watch or listen to such crap, so I think I am safe in guessing that this is some kind of right wing broadcast garbage!!!! With all the good work out there to enact anti-bullying laws and practices, seeking to create a safer environment than those in my day, on up to Tyler's, have had, it is inevitable there would surface opponents to these measures. Hell, even Rutgers University is culpable, with its editorial suggesting Tyler's death was less everything else it has been declared, and more the tragic act of a young man unable to deal with the initial hardhsips of life. Excuse me????????? But of course, it is fairly obvious to realize that whomever wrote this tripe was FORCED to by higher ups, maybe even by negligent University President Richard McCormick!!!!!!!

Which brings us back to Mr. Mystal. His position is simply that "bad things happen to everybody." Fuck you!!!! The really sick thing is--he claims he was bullied as a child. Now, Mr. Mystal happens to be Black, which begs the question about minority culpability in all this--if he, as he says, has known bullying/discrimination in some way, yet chooses to sweep it under the carpet, then he is as guilty in his own way as Ravi and Wei, whose minority status is one of many factors that SHOULD HAVE, but DID NOT, give them enough insight so that what happened to Tyler should not have occured. Alas, they did not, and Mystal seems to be going along. My guess is two things--all are unable to wrap themselves around the specter of Sexual Orientation Difference that surrounds Tyler's and others' tragedies, preferring to blame it on anything else but; second, I am just willing to bet that Mr. Mystal is from the Byrant Gumbel school of Black Social Cosciousness, which decrees that as soon as you are able to successfully remove yourself from the limitations of your birth community, seguing more into a mainstream--in this case White--one, you renounce what has gone before, which in Mystal's case takes the form of right wing posturing and probably alleigance to the Republican, or, God Forbid, Tea parties, while Mr. Gumbel lives his high life, while continuuing to allow his mother to work as a maid, without using his vastly career acquired fortune to help her out a bit!!!!! And you talk about Merle Oberon???? She may have passed her Mother off as her maid, but AT LEAST it was with the mother's consent, and that moter was kept by Merle's side, in her house, not put in some slave cottage, so the mother at least reaped SOME benefits of Merle's Golden Age Hollywood lifestyle!!!!!!!!

But, honey, lest you think I am trampling on etnic minorities here, let me hold a few of my own species up to the light!!!! When it comes to Selling Out, it is an equal opportunity vice, and none sadden me more than gay men, who, as soon as they progress vocationally and financially, they retreat from the cities they initiallly fled to, back to the suburban enclaves they seek to now assert themselves in, when they were not accepted in the first place. These are the type of gay men who revere Andrew Sullivan ("A Place At The Table"--ugh!!!!!!!) as a demagogue, while joining closet conservative groups like the Log Cabin (read:Gay Republicans) club, which, for all their mainstream posturings, will never accept them fully, despite what they may think. And you thought I was just talking about Blacks? Hell, look at the Darvis and Weis; there is enough sellout to go around for everyone.

So Mr. Mystal fits perfectly into this rubric, which makes him so timely and ideal as our Bitch Of The Week. The other thing he and these others are guilty of is fingerpointing to cover themselves; instead of pointing where it needs to, they point it elsewhere, most especially at the Gay community itself, whom they accuse of exploiting Tyler Clementi. As one who has personally been to vigils and the GWB walk, I can safely say I have seen no signs of exploitation. In fact, I have seen not only gays, but straights, young and old, reaching out in response to this tragedy. You put Tyler's iconic image on a coffee mug, T-Shirt, or cooke, THEN we can talk about exploitation, but not before. These accusers have said his family should be allowed to grieve, but have they so much as reached out to them???? At last Saturday's walk, it was mentioned the Clementi family had been informed, and were aware of what was going on, but politely declined to attend, stating their deep appreciation. I call this classy. Not to reach out to the family is inhumane; they certainly more than anyone have the right to grieve in their own way, buy Tyler's ending his all too short life is somewhat Capraesque (much as I have issues with "It's A Wonderful Life") in that it has touched millions around the world. This is not exploitation, and I am sure the Clementis understand this. It is the Capra axim of one life touching so many others at work in a way unseen before that signals nd may pave the way for more self-awareness, and avoidance of further tragic losses of talent and individuality. So don't talk exploitation to me, you scum, when all you are determined to do is shove your self-righteous Right Wingism down oue throats. I say, let's regurgitate, and make them CHOKE on it!!!!!!!

That's right; choke on it, you bitches!!!!!! And choke on this, Mr. Mystal. Not only do you now have the distinction of having been named Bitch Of The Week, but you have to live each day with your own self-imposed hypocrisy!!!!!! How do you do that, I wonder!!!!!!!

Almost teatime, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, Who Would Have Thought Theater History Could Emerge From A Conference Room????

Girls, let me tell you, one of the season's most auspicious, yet least heralded theatrical events, took place last night. From the sealed confines of a conference room, the LPA PLayreading Group, the most innovative assortment of artists since John Houseman formed the Juillard Acting Company with Patti LuPone and kevin Kline--and you KNOW I am SO Patti, darlings!-- convened, with its initial undertaking, a stylish and carefully nuanced interpretation of that domestic family classic, "The Bad Seed!"

That's right, loves, "The Bad Seed!" Much less florid than the 1956 movie we have all come to know and love, the talented LPAers mined the material, finding such a wealth of new things in it, that THIS big old "Bad Seeder," who has had this in my bloodstream from the age of 8, was impressed.

Where to start? Well, the talented Miss Amy, hitherto a musical theater marvel, whose rendition of "On The Other Side Of The Tracks" is STILL a classic, brought out all the depth and anguish of mother Christine Penmark, without the overwrought hysterics of Nancy Kelly. Our own radiant Daisy, the Amy Adams of the company, proved remarkably versatile, jumping between a virulently masculine, though sexually repressed, Emory Wages, the coveted role of Mrs. Daigle, wherein she brilliantly mined intoxication with the emotional pain of offspring loss in an individualistic enough style that, while never for a moment suggesting Eileen Heckart, would have made Eileen proud!!!!! The technically ingenuous Mr. Steve presented a delightfully salacious Leroy, and his scenes with Rhoda crackled with the tension, electricity, and macabre humor they should, and indeed did, have! I am telling you, girls, if Patty McCormack, who is still alive, had been sitting in, she would have LOVED it. Steve also brilliantly got color out of a colorless role in his poignant rendering of Mr. Daigle's lines. I have always felt sorry for Mr. Daigle; not only is he, too, suffering over the premature loss of a child, look at what he is married to--a wife, who not only drinks, but can upstage him at every turn!!!!!!!! The company's ingenue, Madamoiselle Emily, was a revelatory surprise in the role of Monica Breedlove!!!! Imagine, the last one you would think of casting for this role, mining all the lovably garulous annoyance of this character. Her Monica was so dead on, she proved what I have always maintained about the movie--it should have lasted enough to allow Rhoda to send the old bat flying off the roof!!!!! Back to Steve a sec--his Richard Bravo was both comfortably pternal and emotionally perturbed in brilliant counterpoint to Amy's Christine. And one could harldy overlook the group's Corrdinator, Wendy, she of impeccable diction, who rattled off Miss Fern's clipness in a subtly spinsterish way, without venturing into parody, while her portrayal of crime writer Reginald Tasker made this plot device less so, and more of a flesh and blood character. The distinguished Esquire Charlie lent an authoritiative, stentorian presence to reading not only the stage directions, the Radio Announcer, but lent a vulnerability to Kenneth Penmark that William Hopper could not even approach. While onstage very little, his readings conveyed not only the depth of his love for Christine and the solidity of their marriage, but his tragic cluelessness about his deeply disturbed daughter.

And what of that disturbed, daughter, loves!!!!! I know what you are thinking--why has there been no mention of the one playing the pivotal role of Rhoda??? Well, girls, in case you haven't figured it out yet, Rhoda was rendered by Yours Truly!!!!! It is not for me to judge how I was, as it is virtually impossible as an actor to objectively step outside yourself and evaluate that self in a role, not to mention the hazards of the acting biz is that one is always never fully satisfied with their performance results. I can only say that having had a close connectiion with Rhoda since I was eight, the role at least got under my skin, because, when we were done, it took me a good two hours to shake Rhoda off. Heaven help me, if we were doing this eight times a week--no one would want to come near me!!! I felt I at least reached some depth with her; it is for others to judge beyond that. Though I CAN say with complete certainity--BITE ME, Mr. Ben Brantley!!!! The hell with a goddamn penmanship metal; bring on a TONY award!!!!!!! That is all I can say, for now!!!!!!!

Thanks to Wendy for her superb organization of the event, and supply of refreshment. Personally, I think it is good enough to take before an audience, but that remains to be seen, as before it can, there has to be mutual agreement, things have to be taken up a notch, smoothed out, and shaded. But these are moot points now. The LPAlayreadeers Group is off to a flying start, and I cannot wait to see what is unleashed next.

A postscipt, darlings! Having mined Rhoda, and, several years earler, in a Gay and Lesbian Reading Group Performance, Mary Tilford in "The Children's Hour," I certainly do run the risk of being typecast in evil child roles. And I am SO sweet, darlings!!!!!!!!! What could be next--Abagail in "The Crucible?" the child Nazi in "Tomorrow The World?" a real estate broker in "Glengarry Glen Ross?" Maybe; we shall have to wait and see. This group's "Bad Seed" is going to be hard to top; the only thing, I think, that could, would be if we could get our hands on the screenplay of "Valley Of The Dolls!!!!" Now, THAT would be something!!!!!!

You are ALL something, girls!!!!!!!!! See you soon on the set!!!!!!!!!

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Another Opening, Another Show, Girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, let me tell you, when you are in the business, you have to go where the work is!!! And tonight I am participating in a Play Reading group, with an opening that promises to be iconic. For the initial project is none other than the now classic "The Bad Seed," and, yes, girls, I am reading the part of Rhoda!!!!! There are some who have said for years I was born to play this part. Hell, I knew it from the instant the m ovie TV debuted on "The Late Show," back in 1963, when I was 8!!!!! So, Heaven help us, here we go!!!!!!

Girls, I have been doing exhaustive research, physical and emotional research for this role. I have studied Hallee Hirch's portrayal of Jenny Brandt in the "Law And Order" classic episode classic, "Killerz;" I have skimmed the William March novel, and the classic Maxwell Anderson script. I have retreated within myself to see what it is like to exist within an emotional vaccum. Have I killed anyone????
No, but I have certainly thought about it. I plan to play Rhoda in all her sociopathological glory. NOT as a repressed lesbian, as some have suggested. THAT distinction belongs to Miss Fern, and I am not playing Miss Fern!!! Miss CLAUDIA Fern, I mean, not her sister Octavia or butch sister Burris, who are referenced in the novel, but not the play or film!!!!!!!

There is no doubt, in my mind, that Rhoda will kill and kill again. Just because Mary Bell and the James Bulger killers have not does not mean they are any more or less maladjusted than at the time of their crimes, as Jon Venables' (one of Bulger's killers) recent history and reincarceration prove. Which is why I never bought the defense used in Jenny Brandt's case; just watch the last moment in that episode, and you have the answer right there!!!!!

The trick to ME playing Rhoda is not to let things get too out of hand, from a camp perspective. I intend to play her as written, not as a Charles Busch manifestation. So I am going to try and avoid Patty McCormack's calculated exaggerations, though I hve no doubt, as in the case of "Presents!" or "Good morning, Miss Fern!", some will creep in. I want to give a chilling portrayal of an emotionally disturbed individual, and I am bringing all the skills of my acting technique, subject knowledge, and personal memories from the past to bear on this task.

So, wish me to break a leg, darlings!!!!! And IF things should go beyond this reading, I will be sure to inform all my girls, because I will want you there! Bring on a TONY award!!!!!!!

Meanwhile, I have to iron out my pigtails, girls!!!!! See you at the Fern Day School Picnic!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are We Going Backwards, Darlings?????????????

Obviously, girls, the phrase "we've come a long way, baby" has little meaning now. Four weeks after the tragic suicide of Tyler Clementi, I just learned that this pig from Queens (where else?) named Frederick Giunta, went into Julius' Bar on Waverly Place, at 5:45 in the evening, and attacked a bartendeer amid homophobic ranting, so much so he was arrested and charged with assault as a hate crime. I mean, lambs, what the hell is going on? First, I personally happen to be familiar with Waverly Place, which, back in the 80s was a horror street, because it was where the whole drama of Joel Steinberg, Hedda Nussbaum and Lisa Steinberg was played out, with that scum still walking about. When the dust settled, it became a n ice, safe, tree lined street, thanks to Juluis', the oldest gay bar in Manhattan, and my home away from home across the street, Three Lives Bookstore, where I always buy my tomes, loves!!!!!!! I have always felt safe walking about there, day or night, but after this, I am not so sure!! And there is no excuse; we should all feel safe on this street.

I even have a passing familiarity with Julius', sweeties. Now, mind you, I am not one of those leather skinned, elderly alcohol ridden 'Iceman Cometh' clients that they are famous for. I swear, the gang sitting on the stools all the time at Julius' have been there from Day One, when it opened!!!! I swear it!!!!!! It is NOT the Algonqui, lambs, so you do not want to spend a lot of time there. But I admit I have dashed in there for a chillout and a coke, time and again, the burgers are fabulous, and, of course, if you are a man in that area, and stuck to take a leak, why Julius' is always there for one to duck into. It has the filthiest bathroom in town, so do not sit down under any circumstance, BUT every queen flocks there not only for relief, but because the walls are decorated with the most captivatig vinyl album covers--everything from "A Chorus Line" to my personal favorite, "Annette On Campus!!!!" That is Annette Funicello, darlings; you better believe it!!! And then, how could I not help dashing over to the gang at Three Lives for literature and a communal feel??? This is a God given right in Greenwich Village, and no Queens trash is going to stop it!!!!! I hope the bars ban together, and kick these schmucks out and into the gutter, where they belong!!!! Because if they don't, I will!!!! And you do NOT want to mess with THIS bitch, loves!!!!!!!!!!

There is a rally Saturday to end gay violence, and I want all my girls to be there, just as you were there for Tyler on the bridge. Only, dress even better, dolls, because here the single may find a chance of landing someone!!!!!!!!

And as for Mr. Frederick Giunta and his lot, go rot!!!!!!! Why don't you pick on the Dykes On Bikes???? You know why? Because you are all cowards, afraid of being pussy whipped!!!! But the gay community is not going to stand much more of this trash!!!!! You think being pussy whipped is bad???? Wait till you all get BITCHSLAPPED!!!!!!!!!!

Love to all my slapping bitches, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!

Monday, October 18, 2010

Girls, What Better Way To End A Day Of Social Activism Than With These Bitches!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, you know what a bitch I am, especially if you have been on here long enough, and nobody loves a bitch more than another bitch; even if we do hate each other on sight. So I am proud to say that my emotionally fraught Saturday ended on a high note of bitchery, when Monsieur Davide and I trooped over Eastward to catch the New York Theatre Workshop's production of Lillian Hellman's classic "The Little Foxes."

Girls, I have loved it ever since I first saw the Bette Davis movie!!! I am telling you, if I were teaching my required course Gay Bitch 101, this would be required reading and viewing. But my theatrical history, personally, with this piece, is rather spotty. First of all, darlings, I am only 24, so I was not even born when Tallulah did it!!!!! And I was too young to see Anne Bancroft, and could not afford a full price tkt to Elizabeth Taylor, although the real reason to see that one, it was always said, was Maureen Stapleton;s Birdie. Instead, I came to "The Little Foxes" onstage via the 1997 revival at Lincoln Center;s Beaumont, with a great set (Tony Award nomination, if I recall!), Stockard Channing as a passionless Regina, Frances Conroy as a misdirected Birdie, whose big, tragic scene, gets laughs, when it is supposed to tear at the heart, and Jennifer Dundas as the shortest and squattest Alexandra in theater history. Directed by Jack 0'Brien, who was more comfortable with musicals, this 'Foxes' was anything but foxy. Nevertheless, its curtain closing moment, with Alexandra advancing before the centerpiece floor length mirror, and growing before our eyes, as the lights dimmed and curtain fell, signalling that, were the story followed, she would be the next force, like her mother, to be reckoned with, made the whole abysmal evening almost worth it. But how frustrating; if there could have been THIS great moment, why could the entire thing not be great, because I am telling you, Lillian Hellman's script is so solid it is almost impossible to ruin. UNLESS you have a wrong director, like Jack 0'Brien. Who am I blaming the failure of THIS production on, girls?????? JACK O'BRIEN!!!!!!!!! Hell, it would have been better if it had been directed by MARARET 0'Brien!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, sweeties, this past summer Monsieur Davide and I saw something that almost slipped by me--the St. Clement's Theatre revival of Lillian Hellman's "Another Part Of The Forest." Girls, you better believe I know MY Lillian Hellman; so I have aways known that this play was the prequel to 'Foxes', and that, in her Broadway debut, Patricia Neal won a Tony Award for playing the young Regina!!!!!!!!!! I even knew of the movie, where Ann Blyth, aka Veda Pierce, played young Regina, so how brilliant, casting wise is that???? But never has the opportunity to see the film been presented to me, and who ever expected the stage play to be revived, as its only interest is its connection to the better known 'Foxes?'

So when this 'Forest' revival got a RAVE from that big old bottom, Mr. Benjamin Brantley, whose coming out party, I am certain, included a cat o'nine tails, I KNEW I had to see it. According to what I read, this production was so dripping in vitriol, possessing all the juices that the Beaumont 'Foxes' lacked, that I knew I had to flock to it--and so did every other bitch queen in Manhattan. For the duration of its all too short run, "Another Part Of The Forest" was not only a sell out sensation, it had its run extended!!!!!!!! And I can tell you it was all Brantley said, and more!!!!!

One theatrical fact that cannot be overemphasized, girls, is THIS--actors LOVE to play bitches, and audiences love to WATCH actors playing bitches!!!!!!!! I mean, what do you think thi blog is all about, darlings!!!!!!!!!! So during this period, when I heard that the New York Theater Workshop was going to open its Fall season with "The Little Foxes", I got SO excited, lambs!!!!! Not only more bitchery, but a chance to see this family saga in its time-chronological order. How fascinating to a theater, not to mention virtue, purist, like myself!!!!!!!!! My face fell, initially, when I discovered this version was to be directed by Ivor Howe, who is all about putting his stamp on the classics. This was the man who staged "A Streetcar Named Desire" on a bare stage, with just a batthub center, climaxing with Stanley raping Blanche, with them in the tub, coming off like Michael Douglass fending off Glenn Close in "Fatal Attraction." So I was worried--I was not about to suffer through ANOTHER bad "Little Foxes," because my bitch just would not be able to take it!!!!!!!

So I held my breath, and waited to decide. The reports were unsettling; coworkers of mine hated it, mainstream critics were more begrudging than enthused, and the downtown set, who probably wouldn't know Lillian Hellman from Anna Deavere Smith, went wild. I did not know what to do--until I saw on NYTW's workshop, a video excerpt of the production. The vitriol evident in what I saw, and the intriguing concept of reducing a three act play to ne, made me curious as Hell to see this "Little Foxes." Well, I am happy to report, curiousity did not kill this cat, or Raving Queen, this time; instead I was satisfied!!!!!!

"The Little Foxes" staging has been conceptualized asa gigantic, black, box-within-a-box puzzle, with its inhabitants trapped inside, and literally crawling, scratching, banging and screaming to be let out. The primal animalism if Hove's actors are refreshing after 0'Brien's staid ninnies. How I shall always cherish here Tina Benko's Birdie, a vision in red, shoes flung off at times as though doing an interpretive dance, with the moves to match (same for Elizabeth Marvel's Regina), who gets out of Birdie a sadness, anger, and rage that is most devastating she when she turns upstage and pounds the wall with such fury we get not only her rage, but a visualization of the literally ongoing physical spousal pummeling that has marked her twenty years of marriage. Then there is Christopher Evan Welch, the most mobile and hottest looking Horace I have ever seen, but with such an impassioned line delivery that for the first time Horace becomes a character and not a plot device. Not to mention the candid display of sexuality between he and Regina at one point, and in fact the almost sexually langorous and incestuous moves this clan puts on one another all the time. Thomas Jay Ryan's passive agressive--make that vicious--Oscar clarifies not only why Biride is such a wreck, but why Leo is such a jerk; he is as cowed by his father and clan as his mother, but uses his vain animalism to retaliate, and his stupidity to hide from others his true evil, too--an evil that comes out with those bonds. Crisitn Miloti's Alexandra is just fabulous, a bruised, Goth princess with some spine of her own, whose farewell to us on the video screen caused some of us to cheer.

Did I forget to tell you, girls???? While the famous staircase is placed center, and things happen there which are suppposed to, this "Little Foxes" is staged on a bare set, with a video screen masquearading as a portrait from which, time to timem we see other saspects of the story taking place. It is a fascinating and engaging device--with Alexandra's farewell to the accompaniment of "Woman Is The Nigger Of The World" my favorite device!!!! Also, darlings, no Southern accents here, though at times in Benko, Ryan, and Marton Csokas as Ben, a wisp of something lyrical comes through now and then. Not so with Elizabeth Marvel, whose crude, foul mouthed, foul moving and devouring Regina is played like Colleen Dewhurst if she had had a psychotic break. Which is what this entire family seems to be having in this boxed asylum they are trapped in. And how about that red tie on Ben, hmmmmmm? That, and his pointed line, "I know I shall never marry" confirms to me my suspicions of Ben having always been gay; no wonder he and Regina fight and get along best, no wonder his delivery is so silky yet vitriolic. Sweeties, he is one of us!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We know where Oscar and Leo went whoring; wonder where Ben got his action????? On business trips????? Hmmmmmmmm???????????

The point, girls, is that in spite of what may have alarmed you from what you have just read, this "Little Foxes" works. The set pieces, the big scenes that need to happen do, and there is so much--almost an overabundance of--vitriol that all the nastiness that could have been extracted from this play has been, and then some!!!!!
No wonder every bitch in town is flocking down to it. If you don;'t get there soon, darlings--its run ends, oddly enough, on Halloween--you will miss the biggest BITCHFEST of the season!!!!!!!! And you know we love our bitchfesrts, girls!!!!!!!!!

So get your goddamn asses downtown, you bitches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Darlings, You Know We Care About Social Injustice!!!!!!!!!

Well, girls, our sense of social activism was certainly activated during what turned out to be an active, and emotionally fraught, weekend. It began Thurdsday eve, when we filmed our "It Gets Better" video at the Center Library, with the lovely Monsieur Davide, and my visiting friend Angie on hand. Sweeties, I did MY segemnt in a single take!!!!!!!!!! Can you believe it? I mean, Meryl Streep would be SO proud!!!!!! I used my technique, lambs, which was, as I delivered my speech, to mentally visualize being on the bridge alongside poor Tyler Clementi, and speaking to him, as if I were talking him out of doing what he did. And if that had been reality, you know damn well, girls, I would have succeeded, and Tyler would be here still not only to enrich the world with his presence, but maybe to teach me how to ride a unicycle, which, from what I have read, was another of his many accomplishments!!!!!!!!

One of my accomplishments was surviving spending Thursday night with a woman under my roof, because Angie stayed over, so we girls could have a visit. And didn't we all just have so much fun???? But you know how spooky The Raving Queen finds having women under his roof--and my God, with only one bathrrom and vanity!!!!!
And those are mine, lambs, and let me tell you, sharing these is not as easy as sharing drinks and a meal!!!!!!!!! But somehow we made it through the night, had fabulous girl talk, and then I marched into the city for my doctor appointment, and then downtown to Monsieur Davide, where we dined well an went to brd early, even though we still watched "The Golden Girls," loves, because we had to get up at the crack of dawn!!!!!!!!!

I mean, you would think it was a work morning, but let me tell you it was much more. This past Saturday, Octobrt 16, had been set aside for a comemorative walk over the George Washington Bridge, to honor Tyler Clementi, and you know I was ready, willing and able to do this. So on a very sunny Saturday, so nice, in fact, that I am certain the spirit of Tyler was smiling upon his, paving the way, Monsieur Davide and I set out at 7:30 AM!!!!!! Can you believe it, girrls????? I mean, at that hour all the "Sex and The City" wannabes are still sleeping off their Cosmo hangovers, and their boyfriends are exhausted from pounding them on the mattress, and the Farmer's Market is just setting up. And here we are getting on thr A train, going up to the 175th Street stop, walking up yo 178th, over to Cabrini Blvd, and then onto the bridge. Darlings, there we were at 8:30 am, walking across a bridge I had never driven over in my life, and never expecyed to walk on, let alone for a reason like this. I could not help noticing, darlings, as we got on, a white sign with green letters warning about suicide, and how just five minutes can make a difference, and save a !!!! At first I thought it had been put there because of Tyler, but Monsieur Davide assured me this had been in place long before he was heard of. So on we continued, on the bridge's South side, dodging bicycles, till we arrived on the other side, in world famous Fort Lee, New Jersey, home not only to Mr. Richard Feder (who writes "Dear Roseann Roseannadanna....") but our own beloved Cousin Manny!!!!!!!! If only we had had his address, we could have invited him, or stopped by for a cup of coffee!!!!!!! But when we got onto land, I felt like Neely in the alley in "Valley Of The Dolls," yelling "Hey!!!!!!! Where is everybody????????" One gentleman, who knew what we were there for, told us the walk was going to be on the North side of the bridge, but lo and behol;d, it was closed. We went back to the corner on the South side, and were told by two journalists, a reporter and photographer, that the walkers were convening atop the hill in Fort Lee park.

As Monsieur Davide can attest, I ran up the hill, compelled spiritually, like Bernadette when she was compelled to go to the grotto. We reached the top, where we found cars, people, signs, and a lovely spread consisiting of juice, coffee, donuts, bagels and ice cream. I sipped and picked here and there, while Monsieur Davide practically scarfed down everything in sight, including Ben and Jerry ice cream, and very taken he was with the strawberry shortcake flavor. Meanwhile, I mingled, trying to get a sense of the lay of the land, seeing who was who, wondering if any of the Cl;ementis would appear, etc. I talked to this violinist, who was playing Civil War songs at the park site--which, girls, was actually so beautiful, what with a community building, library, rest room (thank God) and all, that I would actually, under better circumstances, make a return visit--and when we reached the spot at the bridge to honor Tyler--was going to play "Going Home," the theme from the film "Gods And Generals." Monsieur Davide and I both got in our word with this nice, young reporter from the Bergen Record; I spoke of how and why Tyler's death affected me personally, my having been raised so close geographically to Rutgers, and the type of bullying, I, as a burgeoning gay teen, endured during my junior and senior high years. Monsieur Davide spoke of the political ramifications of Tyler's death, the inherent homophobia which triggered his veing violated visually on webcam, and how while ALL bullying must stop, Tyler was picked on singularly because he was GAY. No two ways about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The walk was supposed to start at 9:15, but actually didn't kick off till after 10am, when one of the organizers spoke and got everyone ready. It turned out she was a Rutgers grad, was from nearby Franklin Lakes (former home of an SHU classmate of mine, Susan Cella), and so, armed with roses which were to be dropped from the bridge into the river at appointed time and locale, the procession set out. Girls, I am telling you, it wa so solemn, it was like something out of "The Song Of Bernadette." As we reached the bridge, with police protection all the way (and thanks to the Fort Lee PD!) we found the North side had been opened especially for us, and onto the bridge we marched. Honey, the wind on the Northside was worse than on the South; Monsieur Davide and I literally clung to each other, for fear if n ot we would have gone flying over the side. And what is withthese railings, that make it so easy for someone to jump????? Let's hope in the wake of Tyler, higher mesh wire or something is errected. Anyway, we reached the midpoint of the bridge, where we stopped, prayed, sobbed, the violin played, and we tossed our roses into the river, watching them float, like the souls of the innocent like Tyler, who have gone before us. We love you, Tyler!!!! Hopefully now you will know how much you were loved, and would have been, had you stuck around!!!!!!

Our two journalists accompanied the walkers, as did cameras and reporters from ABC, New York 1, and who knows who else. Yes, girls, Monsieur Davide and I made the news, and while you can only see us in the background, we were proud to represent Tyler and all that his death stands for, yesm sir, Amen!!!!!!!!!

But wait till you hear this!!!!!!!! Having walked over the bridge from Manhattan to Jersey, and then on the walk from Jersey to the halfway point for Tyler, we now disovered, as Monsieur Davide found out from a very nice, and I think, darlings, hot cop, that we would have to walk back again to Jersey, and then over again to Manhattan, which means a total of walking bridge three times!!!! Sweeties, it is a good thing I have my Donna McKechnie legs!!!! I was worried about Monsieur Davide, but, girls, he is a trooper!!!!!!!!!!!

It turned out our final walk was the mosdt poignant, as it occured to me that, in so doing, we were actually tracing Tyler Clementi's steps. I have my own idea about where he did it, but I could be wrong. Only Tyler knows for sure. But as we walked, I happened upon something I did not notice on the way over. It was a special phone errected on the bridge, for, I imagine, motorists or others, who might need help at times. I touched it, and sobbed, thinking, "If only Tyler had done that," when suddenly Monsiueur Davide signaled to me to look at something. On the right side of the phone box, someone had written on it, in black "RIP Tyler." Maybe they had the same idea I did. Or maybe it was marking the spot where...but we will never conclusively know.

Now, darlings, all this sprituality and social activism got me EMOTIONALLY exhausted. So, you can imagine, how it felt, when, after successfully dodging cyclists all across the bridge and back, I got sideswiped by some idiot biker dude as we reached the Manhattan side. I was SO angry but too drained to retaliate, which was probably a good thing, as Tyler's tribute should have ended, and did, on a peacerful note, as the noon sun shined downward, and we made our way to the downtown subway, with me, appropriately enough, singiong the Washington Heights lyrics from "Broadway Baby."

To wrap up, darlings, we discovered that one of the walkers was Jim Swimm (oddly macabre name, given the circumstance) who happened to be the one to find Tyler Clementi's body floating in the water. Very brave and honorable of him to come. And Stephani, one of the organizers, informed us the family had been notified of the event, are appreciative, but still prefer to grieve in privacy. It was an honor, girls, by doing this walk, to remember Tyler, and share that grief with the family!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Darlings, All This On A Day I Am Going Before The Camera!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, girls, I am ready for my close-up, in pink. Tonight, at the Center Library, where I volunteer on Thursdays, we are filming an "It Gets Better" video in honor of Tyler Clementi and the other suicides during America's Sad September, who ended their lives prematurely and by their own hand due to harassment over their alleged or perceived sexual orientation. And of course we are walking for Tyler personally on Saturday. So I have to look my best, say my lines, and be as moving as Jennifer Jones as Bernadette, who is going to insire me. Can you believe it, lambs? This, while preparting to play a sociopath--that is right, next week I am doing a dramatic reading of the role many, including myself, have said I was born to play--Rhoda Penmark in "The Bad Seed!" So many peerformances, darling; hope I can all keep it together!!!!!!!!!!

Now, listen to this, sweeties, because can you believe the absurdity of it all?
Today the nominees for the 2010 National Book Award Winners were nominated, and in the Fiction category, Jonathan Franzen was passed over!!!!!!! What WAS nominated????

"Parrot And Olivier In America" by Peter Carey
"Lord Of Misrule" by Jaimy Gordon
"Great House" by Nicole Kraus
"So Much For That" by Lionel Shriver
"I Hotel" by Karen Tei Yamashita

That last one might as well have been written by "Audtion's" Asami Yamasake!!!!!
I mean, what the Hell? Who gives a shit? We know that Kraus got nominated because she is the wife of Jonathan Safran Foer. As for Peter Carey, isn't he British, so what is he doing here? And Lionel Sriver--what a mixed bag--a brilliant debut with "We Need To Talk About Kevin," then a disappointing followup with "The Post-Birthday World," and now THIS??? If I recall, this one did not sound too appealing, either.

Poor Jonathan Franzen. First he gets attacked by chick lit skanks like Jennifer Weiner and Jodi Picoult. Then someone in England holds his glasses ransom for $100K. And now THIS???? It must be open sesason on homosexuals and Jonathan Franzen. Well, babycakes, I will not tolerate attacks on either. And who or what, btw, is Jaimy Gordon? Who ever heard of spelling it that way???? This sounds like a travesty. You might as well have nominated Zadie Smith and Martha Stewart for collaborating on a cookbook; if, indeed, they ever did.

This list is so piss poor I have not read a single title on here. And to ignore Franzen altogether is disgraceful. Who do they think they are? OK< they bestowed the prize on "The Corrections," so I can see his not winnng again, but not to be NOMINATED!!!! Nominate my ass, you bitches!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So in the face of all this I have to look my best, step on camera, say my spiel and get on with things. Heaven help me this weekend, and over the next ten days!!!!!!! I am on vacation, loves, but I promise my girls I will not forsake them!!!!!! I will report on evertyhting from the front lines!!!!!!!!!! It will be more inspiring than "A Farewell To Arms." Of course it would; I write better than that overrated twit named Ernest Henmingway!!!!!!!!!!

See you on the town, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!