Can You Believe It Has Been Fifty Years?????????????????????????????????????

                                             I know, girls, I know.  But it is a sad thing to remember.

                                             Let me tell you my story.

                                             This date, back in 1969, was on a Sunday.  I got up, around 9, because I knew my father and I had to go to eleven o'clock Mass. Several days earlier, I had just graduated from that special hell reserved for the pubescent called Eighth Grade.  I came downstairs, greeted my parents, who were getting breakfast ready, when they told me,
"Judy Garland is dead."

                                               What?  I couldn't believe it.  But there was no denying it.  The radio was filled with it, and when I went into the TV room and turned on the set, I plopped down on the floor, in a state of irreconcilability.

                                                  I mean, Judy and "The Wizard Of Oz" were my favorites.  And now she was gone?  At the (as I thought then!) ancient age of 47?????????  How is this possible?

                                                   I know now, after years of living, and reading about the living tragedy that was her life, despite the brilliant legacy she left behind.

                                                    But, at age 14, this was inconceivable to me.  My parents grasped how this was really affecting me, and knew I needed distraction.  So, they called up my Aunt Martha and Uncle Jack, in Cedar Grove, New Jersey, and the plan was for us to visit.  But MGM's reissue of "Ben-Hur" was playing at the Clairidge Theater (then a big movie house) in Montclair, NJ, not far from us.  So, I was taken to this film, which I had wanted to see, and cried my eyes out, in catharsis for Judy, but also because of the Miklos Rosza score, the Nativity, the image of Michelangelo's "The Creation," the Crucifixion, and Esther visiting Miriam and Tirzah, in the Valley Of The Lepers, followed by their persecution by the villagers, who threw stones at them, as Judah Ben-Hur tried to bring his mother and sister to see Jesus.  Then, came the Crucifixion, and, oh, my God, the miraculous cure of leprosy.  I wept throughout each and every moment, and as the rain poured in streams on the gigantic screen, so did my tears, crying for the both the film and Judy Garland's death, which, by this time, for me, were indistinguishable!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                     I was drained.  But not too much not to enjoy seeing  Aunt Martha and Uncle Jack--she was a wonderful cook, and I loved his sense of humor--and enjoy a visit, plus a swim in their pool.

                                                       And now a half century has passed.  Something else that was inconceivable to me, then.

                                                       But wait!  I don't want to leave you all sad and weepy!  Judy Garland's passing was sad, but not what she left behind.  What else can I end this post with, but the following---as seen above.

                                                          Rest In Peace, Judy! And sing to the Celestial Realm!!!!!!!!!!

Today Is The Longest Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                 I know, I know, we have this same discussion every year, darlings!  Some may consider yesterday to be the longest, but I was taught the 22nd.  Which means last night was the Shortest Night!!!!!!!!!!   I should know, because I crawled out of bed, groggy until a cup of coffee was placed in my hands, and is by my side, as I write this.

                                  We have been building to this day since December 22, meaning we are at some kind of halfway axis, which makes sense, as we swiftly come closer to the halfway point of the actual year.

                                    It's still the start of Summer, girls, so don't let the pessimists get you down by saying that, from now on, the days get a little shorter, culminating on December 22.  Not to worry; you don't really start to notice until late September, by which Summer is chronologically over, anyway.

                                      So enjoy this day by doing what you love the most.  It's the most time you will get to do it, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                       Happy Longest Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I Am So Glad Neither David Or I Paid To See This Piece Of Crap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                             Several years back, "Buyer And Cellar," a one-person play, starring Michael Urie, and written by Jonathan Tollins, that imagines a gay out of work actor working as a clerk within the basement of BARBRA's house, was the hottest ticket Off-Broadway.  Recently, it was aired on WNET, as part of their tribute to Pride Month, and I could not have been more insulted.

                              It had nothing to do with Michael Urie's performance, which was good as was allowed.  The problem rested with Jonathan Tollins writing it, and his forays into gay drama or comedy have been insulting to me as a gay man, and I am sure I am not the only one in the community, who feels that way.

                                Let's go back a bit.  Tollins wrote the Gay Pride play, "Last Sunday In June," which I never saw, but is still best known for "The Twilight Of The Golds," so let me remind you what that was about.

                                 On stage, it dealt with a family whose married daughter is expecting her first child.  In the universe Tollins has created--which still does not exist, thank God--it is not only possible to find out the child's gender, but also its sexual orientation.  The Golds have a son, David, who just happens to be gay.

                                  When it is found out that the daughter is carrying a gay son, havoc erupts.  David's parents confess to him that, had they known, they would not have had him.  How is that supposed to make one feel?  The daughter waffles back and forth so much, leaving her to abort so late in the term it takes away any future chances for her to have children.

                                       Does Tollins really care about gays here?  No, he wants David, after his pareents' revelation, to go back into the closet, while the daughter is given something of a comeuppance.  But nothing is resolved; this family is only torn further apart.

                                         When done as a film, in 1996, things were altered.  The daughter went on to have the child, but her husband walked out and divorced her, because he could not stand the idea of raising a gay son.  Outside of White Supremacist camps, I cannot imagine this American suburbia, even then.  This leads to the implication that the child will be jointly raised by his gay uncle, David, played by Brendan Fraser, who still looked good here, so not a bad model for a gay kid!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                          But, really, all this fuss over orientation makes me think Tollins is some big closet case, himself!  So, shut up, and stop writing.  Be an insurance underwriter in Jersey or Connecticut!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                            I will say one thing for 'Twilight'--it moves, narratively speaking.

                                             "Buyer And" Cellar" is all over the place.  It starts with Urie half ass explaining what viewers are going to see, insisting he is not going to "do her," then goes on, throughout the plan to replicate visits by BARBRA, which are insulting to how the diva actually behaves.  The BARBRA Tollins paints is garrulous and ridiculous, and if I were she, I would have taken out an  injunction.  But I think BARBRA took the high road; she heard from folks what this was, and realized it would not go very far--and she was right.

                                                 All of this I blame on Tollins' writing. What is almost a 90 minute monologue seems like four hours.  I could hardly wait for this thing to end, and there was no definitive conclusion or resolution to the piece.  It was all about how much witless anecdotes and references could be sneaked in, that reference BARBRA!

                                                   Who cares?  Though, I admit, if the onstage dress that she sang "People" in, at Winter Garden, could have been shown, I would have gone hysterical, like any reverent, Gay Theatre Queen!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                      No artistry here, at all!  But one good thing came out of it--in trying to deconstruct BARBRA--which is what I believe Tollins was trying to do--he only has her looking like more of an icon than she did before.

                                                        Your fey, little, insulting joke, backfired, you bitch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"You And Me, Round About Midnight! You And Me, Round About Midnight! Someone's Got To Draw First! Someone's Got To Draw First!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Draw First!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Someone's Got To Draw First Blood!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                       The image, of course, is Meat Loaf's 1977 album, "Bat Out Of hell," which is coming to City Center later this Summer, as a musical, and I certainly want to see it!

                                         The song, of course, is "All Revved Up, With No Place To Go,"   Which is pretty much how one feels, at the start of Summer, not knowing what it will bring.  Later, when the season ends, seemingly all too quickly, one will look back on numerous benchmark occasions that made the season memorable.  Alas, those moments cannot be seen; they must happen in real time.

                                          So, here is 'All Revved up." to keep you revved up, girls!

                                           Like the song says, "Someone's got to draw first blood!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

                                           Here is Meat Loaf, doing the show, live on SNL, back in 1978!

An Unusual Welcome To Summer 2019!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                 Back in August of 2017, I did a thorough, analytic post on this film.  I will not repeat that here, except to say I am using this ominous poster, because this is a Summer of Fifties--Fifty years since Judy Garland's death, the Stonewall riots, Woodstock--and you better believe I am psyched up for that. And, of course, this film.  It still bothers me that, after the gang rape, Cathy Burns' Rhoda just runs off.  I would loved to have seen the other three held for accountability.  What a bitch that Barbara Hershey played.

                                                   Alas, they do not make films of this insight anymore, so I wanted to open the Summer with a bit of food for thought.  Try to view this film this season.

                                                   But I have not forgot that Summer, whether in school or out, is still a season of fun!  So, here is one of my favorite ways to bring on the season--"June, July, And August," by Freddy Cannon!

                                                      Let the good times roll, dolls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This Bitch Looks Like Some Deranged Version Of A Young Truman Capote!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   Ryan Lindquist is this week's winner of The Raving Queen Bitch Of The Week Award.  He instigated and committed a gay murder on Long Island, but the more one delves into what happened, the more questions arise.  And I will probably be attacked for this post, like on my "Gay Fatal Attraction" one, so, go ahead, I am ready!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    Lindquist is just 21.  Several years ago, he and Evan Grabelsky, now 32, met on a dating app and had a two year relationship.  Nothing wrong with that.  Now, Grabelsky was a camp counselor and a teacher.  I don't know if Lindquist was still in school, or if he was doing anything, because, frankly, he looks one step up from a common street hustler.

                                     Lindquist was from Massapequa, and Grabelsky lived in Merrick.

                                      Now, here is the thing. Grabelsky, at 32, was living with his parents.  Something is wrong there!  How could he be openly gay?  And when Ryan visited him, the night of the murder, on June 1, it was because his parents were out, at a party.

                                         Two adult gay men, who have to sneak around.  There is a problem right there.  Grabelsky was nothing to look at, so he feels lucky to have ended up with Lindquist, even though he was as common looking as could be.

                                           Something was instigated in the bedroom, and set Ryan off.  Maybe he was tired of sneaking around.  Maybe Grabelskly told him they were through.  Gay sex in a parents' home?  Sounds creepy to me.

                                             I don't think they even got to sex, that night.  Because Lindquist went after Grabelsky with a knife, chasing him throughout the home, stabbing him 100 times.  Very personal.

                                             This is a tale of two gay losers.  I don't wish to defend Lindquist, or defile Grabelsky, but the former, while from Massapequa, was never clear where he was from.  Did he live at home, or on the streets?  The streets, more likely.  While Grabelsky was a great big closet case, who could not break free from his parents, and, I am telling you, that is what did him in.  I am not saying he deserved to be killed--not at all--but nothing comes from being a closet case!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                               Go ahead, and attack, you ignoramuses of the gay lifestyle!  I hope you do!  Fuck you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                                  This murder was a double tragedy.  The bitch should not have done it, but the victim should have been astute enough to rid himself of the victim, or come out honestly!!!!!!!!!!

                                                    But, hell, it's Long Island!  What else can one expect????????????

Farewell To Spring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                   Remember when Jeanne Crain sang "It Might As Well Be Spring," in the 1945 film version of "State Fair?"  Well, let me tell you, the way this Spring, it was more like a post partum Winter, with rain, wind and cold. What the hell is going on?????????????  And tomorrow is the first day of Summer (because I was taught June 21st, NOT the 22nd!) and wait till you see what I have cooked up for that!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                     Proserpina will now reach her halfway mark tomorrow, so I would make the most of this Summer, if I were you, girls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Be like Betty and Veronica!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I always wanted to be Veronica, because she was the rich one!!!!!!!!  Why else not????????????

                                      So, here is to a Spring that I am not quite sure was.

                                       May Summer bring more fun and promise!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!