Girls, To Think We Are Halfway Through 2024!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     Already?????????  Darlings, I know some mark it as July 1, but let's face it, June 30 is the end of June, the end of six months.  And it has been an eventful Junes, what with The TONY Awards, my seeing "An Enemy Of The People," with the TONY-winning Jeremy Strong, and social gatherings too numerous to mention.

                                       David had his surgery on June 12 and came through it.  A situation has developed that is being dealt with, but I don't feel like saying more now.  I promise I will, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         Coney Island is open, Summer is here, and today is Gay Pride.  So. let us celebrate all, as we have made it through the first half of this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                           The second half ought to be really interesting, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Gay Pride, Everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                               Well, darlings, it is here!  Gay Pride, that seminal day in June when the community comes together and shows itself off, at its best.  Can we extend that for another 364 days, dears, hmmm?

                                  Really Gay Pride is for anyone who wants to express who they truly are but may have difficulty doing so.  Cast aside your doubts and fears and get out there and celebrate.    

                                     There are some great songs out there, but I am going to go with the obvious.

                                Here is Donna Summer singing "Last Dance."  Happy Pride, everyone!

Girls, No Home Is Complete Without This Lovely Victorian Escritoire!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                        I actually write my posts on one.  Not quite as ornate as this, but elegant, nevertheless.  You simply MUST get one of your own, darlings.  They make writing, and other chores like paying bills so much more pleasant.

                                            Elegance enlivens any part of the house. But make sure there is an apt space for any escritoire you decide on.

                                              You will be the toast of Mayfair, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Girls, I Promise You, If You Have Already Seen It, You Can SKIP "The Undead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                               I think this is Svengoolie's way of airing a tribute to Roger Corman, who passed on April 5, by broadcasting one of his films on Sven's Saturday night program.  I think the idea is great, but the choice wrong, because this is really not a very good film, and Roger Corman made better films, more deserving to be aired, than this.  Like "It Conquered The World," with Cucumbo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                               Really, darlings, I know it has Alison Hayes, pictured here in all her bosomy glory, and it has a dance sequence that would foreshadow "She Demons" the following year, which would outdo it, but really that is all here that is worth watching.

                                 Roger Corman was noted for doing things on the cheap, but this film takes that idea to new heights, having been shot over the course of seven days in an abandoned supermarket.  But I give the filmmakers credit--the viewer cannot tell when the actors are in the frozen food section!!!!!!!!

                                  Again, for those already having seen it, do not watch it.  Better to stick your head in the freezer for several seconds, just to cool off!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                  And on the eve of Pride, too!  Why not "I Was A Teenage Werewolf," "Blood Of Dracula," or that howler, "Earth Vs. The Spider?"

                                  What is it with these programmers?  "Svengoolie," Channel 13, The Film Forum, they all have been making terrible choices lately.

                                     "The Undead" will not seduce you, darlings.  It will lull you to sleep.  But that's not such a bad idea, is it?

                                       Anyway, skip it!  I will let you know what we watch, instead.

                                        

Friday--Pride Week Song--Amber Riley Singing "MacArthur Park!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                 I know, girls, I know, you were expecting me to choose "Over The Rainbow."  Well, its greatness will be forever, so, when I heard Amber Riley's fresh take on the classic "MacArthur Park," I was again draw to the sense of romanticism it first had for me, when I was twelve years old.  Yes, darlings, for many years, I defined love by "MacArthur Park.

                             Of course, that was a long time ago, darlings.  But the music, with Amber's take, is still alluring, and to me seems perfect for Gary Pride.  Keep your eyes on the nice blond young man doing the piano parts.  Not only is he cute, but he is technically brilliant.

                               This song means many things to many people.  It still even puzzles some. But one cannot escape its allure.

                                Gays, and maybe not, will dance to it automatically.  Many will see a poetic ballet piece in their heads, or just be swept away for its nearly seven minutes by the sheer poetry of the piece.

                                  Romantic, poetic, questioning, and haunting, I think this is the perfect song for Gay Pride.

                                   But don't take my word for it.  Listen.

                                     Go, Amber!  And her pianist!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday--Pride Week Sister Act--Bette And Joan In "What Ever Happened To Baby Jane?"

                                    No need for last names here, darlings, because we all know them, don't we?   I knew I had to work Bette and/or Joan in here, somehow, and what better way than the picture in which both starred and impacted gay sensibility for decades?  And still does.

                                      Of course, the pivotal line is the child Blanche (Gina Gillespie) saying, "I won't forget.  You BET I won't forget."

                                        But I just love when Joan asks Bette how next-door neighbor Mrs. Bates (Anna Lee) enjoyed her film, and Bette, mocking Joan, say, "Oh, really?  Did she like it?  She LIKED it!!!!!!!!!!"

                                         Girls, we all know the lines and we have all acted it out, at one time or another.  I always want to be Jane; I can't imagine anyone wanting to play Blanche, except for the big reveal, unless there is a streak of masochism in them.  And there are plenty of those out there, girls!

                                            'Baby Jane' just warms the cockles of my heart.  It depicts the childhood I longed to have, and maybe still do, and it is just so much FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                             What could be better for Pride Week than this perfect "Sister Act??????????????"

Wednesday--Pride Week Book--"Peyton Place," by Grace Metalious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                         Face it, darlings, every one of us has a copy hidden somewhere in their dwelling.  This is where it all began.  Though there are no conspicuously gay characters in the novel--but Norman Page in the novel is open for discussion--this is the novel that slapped small-town America in its face, and motivated burgeoning gays to leave it as soon as possible.

                                          When this title is mentioned, I always hear from people like me who came from small towns, "That is where I grew up."  "Peyton Place" is not just Gilmanton, New Hampshire, which Metalious based it on, it is universal!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                               Where would the gay community be, were it not for "Petyon Place?"  I can tell you I might have by now been confined to a mental institution.  Then, I could do my act, just like Baby Jane Hudson!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                   Thankfully, I made it out of that ennui and to New York, where I carved out a life for myself.  As did others who flocked there, or Chicago, or San Francisco. Any urban center with a high gay population!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                     Those too young or lacking, having not discovered "Peyton Place," I say there is no better time than Pride Week to read it.  What discoveries there are to be made.

                                                       Or, to quote Dr. Seuss, "Oh, The Places You Will Go!"

                                                       Happy Pride, darlings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!