Theater, Movies, Art and Literature

So here I go again. But this was Stevens' last thought, when he knew he was dying of stomach cancer even as the medical ethics of the mid-1950s said don't tell the patient. Of Mere Being The palm at the end of the mind, Beyond the last thought, rises In the bronze decor. A gold-feathered bird Sings in the palm, without human meaning, Without human feeling, a foreign song. You know then that it is not the reason That makes us happy or unhappy. The bird sings. Its feathers shine. The palm stands on the edge of space. The wind moves slowly in the branches. The bird's fire-fangled feathers dangle down.

Once upon a time, Cher had a special on CBS called "Cher . . . Special". 14 minutes of that special was dedicated to Cher playing all the roles of the Broadway show "West Side Story". 36 years later it's still something to behold. . .

Riveting recall and reflections by Christopher Lee, not at all fixated on his Hammer Films or LOTR work, but more or less all & everything.

There's a smashing new play on Broadway, called All The Way, as in all the way with LBJ. It's about the south and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. LBJ looks like no LBJ you ever saw. He's well-played by Bryan Cranston, late of Breaking bad, and Cranston does such a good job that by the end of the play you think he actually might be LBJ. And a top summer novel is out, and I am reading it! So I would tell you the title of the book , but the author's name on the cover is so big that I can't find it! GREG ILES is the author...oh, here it is: Natchez Burning. It's about 800 pages and is the first of a trilogy. So you could save 40 hours* of your life and skip the trilogy enti…

Fairly trenchant dissection of the contemporary art market. http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/may/14/christies-sale-art-auction-bubble

I Totally Know What You Did Last Donna Summer is playing now through May 24th at the Cavern Club Theater in Silverlake, California. Yes, that’s Drew Droege as … another Drew. MAY2 through 24 FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS at 9pm $20 PRESALE $25 at the Door Box Office Opens 1 HOUR PRIOR TO SHOWTIME Standby Seats Released 15 MINUTES PRIOR TO SHOWTIME CAVERN CLUB CELEBRITY THEATER at CASITA DEL CAMPO RESTAURANT 1920 HYPERION AVE. SILVERLAKE, CA 90027 RESTAURANT PHONE - 323-662-4255

Just some lighthearted entertainment.

His new movie "Truth" is now available to buy and rent on iTunes (He's using his real name of Sean Paul Lockhart in billing for this movie)

Dustin Lynch will be singing songs at some casino, or so I see from an ad in the LA Times. Well, I have no idea who he is, but from his pic, I sure want to. I could even do some rodeo with him!

All these years and I never knew Wind in the Willows was written as a gay love story. Come on, guys, spread the word. You've been letting down the side. Lee Ingleby playing the Water Rat in the 2006 Canadian film version: (Just a little cheesecake to whet your interest.)

What did I miss? My friend and I left after one hour. It was not at all biblical, and was very dark. Did it get better?

Sweeney Todd - Smells like piss

Pretty Woman is coming to the Broadway stage.

http://fuckyeahkenrussell.tumblr.com/ A tumblr devoted to Ken Russell, director of 'The Devils' and 'Women in Love' -- not really gay-themed, but close enough til Oz gives us a Sexed-Out Repression Flick forum.

Notes on trans people's sense of identity & self-conception (following on the discussions of mainstream society's genital fixation therewith, sparked by Katy Couric's (!) demonstration of same in a recent television interview with 2 trans people): http://blogs.indiewire.com/bent/10-trans-actors-who-werent-offered-jared-letos-role-in-dallas-buyers-club-20140220

Nice reminiscence by director and cast of the sweet 1999 film 'Trick.' http://www.thebacklot.com/trick-turns-15-interview-sequel-christian-campbell-tori-spelling/02/2014/?xrs=synd_facebook_logo

Not really gay-themed. But pretty accurate. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/10649599/The-10-least-sexy-films-about-sex.html?

Philip Pullman's latest literary endeavour: the Twitter tale of Jeffrey the housefly Since November, Philip Pullman has been using the social media site to tell the increasingly bizarre tale of a housefly called Jeffrey Philip Pullman: author of His Dark Materials and a new Twitter tale about Jeffrey the housefly Photo: Clara Molden/Wikimedia Commons By George Berridge 8:19AM GMT 20 Feb 2014 telegraph.co.uk One of Britain's best-loved authors, Philip Pullman, author of His Dark Materials, isn't like most high-profile Twitter users. Instead of indulging in mindless 140 character twitterings and arguments with trolls, Pullman is currently devoting his Twitter…

Take a look at me . . . . . . . . . Come on... You can't remember me? . . . . . . . . . . Felix Howard Remember this kid from Madonna's 80's "Open Your Heart" video? His name was Felix Howard, he was from the UK and was 13 when he appeared in it. In the video, he keeps trying to sneak a peek at Madonna until finally they dance off together happily into the sunset at the end. The Video: Caps: Now Still got those eyes, anyway! He apparently couldn't get a proper work visa arrangement to tour with Madonna worldwide for her "Who's That Girl" tour, so California's Chris Finch replaced him for it. Felix meanwhile went …

Friends had not liked this movie, so I didn't see it. But recently the opportunity arose to see it for free, so I did. I liked it. I liked Leonardo de Caprio, especially his nude scenes. Assuming that he wasn't using a body double, and I don't see how that could have happened, he has a lovely, small and tight ass. The bacchanal of sex and drug parties was entertaining, especially given that I did not have to partake. Such an abundance of drugs makes me wonder how these folks functioned at all. And they must definitely have played people for suckers, people whose own greed allowed them to give up 50% of their investment as profit to the broker. Today's NY Times has an ar…

In any job I've ever had, the first thing I did was get control of the editorial function so I would not have to have reasons for anything beyond 'It reads better that way.' The pedants' revolt: lament for a golden age of grammar that never existedAs the grammar wars rumble on, can the prescriptivists and the descriptivists ever be friends? It seems unlikely A rose by any other name: Shakespeare was quite happy to sign his name Shakspere or Shakspeare. Photograph: Universal History Archive/Getty Images The great grammarian Otto Jespersen, writing in 1909, said English grammar was "not a set of stiff dogmatic precepts, according to which some things are correct a…

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” ― Flannery O'Connor tags: truth 3918 likes like “She looked at nice young men as if she could smell their stupidity.” ― Flannery O'Connor 2209 likes like “Everywhere I go I'm asked if I think the university stifles writers. My opinion is that they don't stifle enough of them. There's many a best-seller that could have been prevented by a good teacher.” ― Flannery O'Connor tags: criticism, humor, writing 1425 likes like “I don't deserve any credit for turning the other cheek as my tongue is always in it.” ― Flannery O'Connor, The Habit of Being: Letters of Flannery O'Connor tags: h…

This counts as literature, right? Pardon the commentary. 17 Shakespearean Insults We Should Start Using Again Feb. 5, 2014By Christopher Hudspeth Shutterstock 1. Away you three-inch fool! This sentence is a vicious attack on a man’s confidence and in modern times it’d sound something like “Get out of my sight you tiny penis having chump!” Words can hurt. Sticks and stones will break your bones but an itty-bitty penis comment will eat away at you like cancer. If you’re looking to land a devastating blow, this is your balled up, brass knuckle decorated fist. 2. I must tell you friendly in your ear, sell when you can, you are not for all markets. How cold bl…

This is one of my favorite Youtube Vids.