esrosedotblog

The underbelly of LA gay life is shown here in gritty black and white.

I'll Love You Forever...Tonight (1993)

A weekend in Palm Springs with a few people looking for love and not finding it.

Since these are gay people, the love they seek tends toward the sexual but that turns out to be as empty as the other kinds.

Alienation, degradation, resignation.

I can't think of any other words like that. A downer for sure.

If I had seen this before coming out I would have jumped off one of the bridges that keep showing up, the ones presumably going to the famous resort where I now live. I hardly recognize the place.

The film is rather well done. I might not like its message but it is arty and crafty and it is hard to look away or to say "to hell with it". It is a slow motion train wreck.

Handsome men look at other handsome men and want something but can't seem to find it so they look away.

There is no positive message in this picture. Unless in watching it one would say "well, I dodged that catastrophe".

The philosophy on offer here is not so attractive but that is more the point than not.

I am glad that this is the life I missed. Almost entirely. But I know some folks who got mowed down by it all. Perhaps this very last weekend out there in the inns and bars that prosper in spite of it all.

A 3 out of Netflix5 or maybe a 4. I have to think about it.

Labels: films, gay films

Some people I know think that they are addicted to sex.

They don't even come close.

The fact is that most people don't have enough sex and if they had more they would be better off. Or at least the world might be. But then there are the exceptions.

I have known a few true sex addicts, male and female, and it is a horrible life. Like any addiction, all of life takes a back seat to the sex. Relationships, livelihood and so on. There is even a 12 Step Program for it.

It is, of course, difficult to draw the line but if we use today's film for a guide, then most people who think they are addicted have no idea.

A kind of docudrama, Frank Ripploh films that kind of life. It might help one get an idea of it all and identify or not. Probably not.

Taxi Zum Klo (1982) (Taxi to the men's toilet)

And even if you do not watch it clinically you can watch it as pure entertainment. Sad sometimes, but quite realistic and often very very funny.

We see a lot of Berlin gay life, sometimes too much but it is always kind and has a laugh just around the corner. Laughing with not at. It is not a freak show by any means.

A 5 out of Netflixt, it is part of our collection.

Labels: films, gay films

I truly remember Wendell Willkie running for President.

Today, I find that I must have been three years old or, perhaps, I remember his sort of being around just after that.

But he faded fast.

Before Trump or Fiorina, There Was Wendell Willkie

My Dad was a devout Democrat and so I am sure that the Willkie name was not being used in a positive way. Maybe that was the hook. My Dad was also quite outspoken about his opinions. You could not escape them. I remember his very distinctive stance, the chin out and the ending of the assertion with "that's right". Apples and trees and not falling too far. Here I am, much the same.

I was not even sure why, suddenly, the name and face and memory came to life so vividly. Perhaps that is what they mean about people of a certain age doing better with past memory than where the car keys are right now.

One thing for sure, it does indicate that a taste and interest and politics came very early for me. At my Daddy's knee.

Labels: life, politics

Every moviemaker has to make his coming of age film.

Young gay film makers have that special twist of coming of out age.

Today's film joins a long list of books, films, even records in telling one such story.

Gay people never get tired of hearing other gay people's stories. It is one of the more charming aspects of our "culture".

Growing up in a straight world, we need the experience repeated enough times with gay and straight friends that we can become more adult. Or just adult.

Today's film is a nice little family sitcom.

Dorian Blues (2005)

gets to do it again.

The homophobic father, the clueless mother, the jock brother who does love his gay sib and so on.

Here is another run of it; a nice story without any bad mishaps. No one is hurt and, too bad, no one apparently really has sex. If they do, we never see it and don't even get to hear about it. "Gay" is a sort of vague identity issue to be talked about. Our hero does go to NY where he does have a boy friend of sorts. But even that is flat.

This one gets a 3 out of Netflix5 even though I bought it. I am not sure that I have seen it more than once and I will probably not bother seeing it again. Not a bad thing. Just not very much to see here, keep moving.

Labels: films, gay films

I always decide that the first hot days in September are the last ones.

I have been proven incorrect many times but I persist. Somehow I think I can turn the tide.

But things look pretty good for this week to be the first week with max temperatures in the 80s.

And if that is not the case, well then. Whatever.

I have become like our friends and loved ones in Florida used to be. When we would talk to them they would want to know our weather in Boston (they already knew from the television reports). And would tell us about what was going on there. Hot and humid. Or cold and rainy.

I try not to do this

But it is sunny. It is hot. And since both of us went away just in the last two weeks to get cool, we wouldn't want it to end too soon. All that money when we could just have waited a week.

Labels: films, gay films

The sad fact is that many gay themed short films are never seen.

Thanks to DVD compilations, there is a shot at some exposure. Otherwise only gay film festivals. Or, more rarely, short film fests.

Today a DVD with some shorts.

Boys to Men (2001)

Quite a mix. A hustler seduces a "straight" man at the beach, a young girl discovers that her crush of the moment likes boys better than girls. A super fast seduction turns into an indictment of such quickies and in the most complex film, an elderly couple confronts one's need for religious support in his final days.

This seems to touch all the bases.

Not all of the shorts are created equal but they are equally entertaining or satisfying. One way or another. Nicely done.

A 5 out of Netflix 5 for the collection.

This film collection is so obscure that I cannot find a good image for it. Sad.

Labels: films, gay films

I am watching all the André Téchiné films in our library.

Today

The Witnesses (2008)

This is Téchine's AIDS film.

It begins with the beginning. No one knows what is happening. A young gay man, a very happy young gay man, contacts the virus and dies. All his friends, including a research physician, mourn him. We see that mooring. We are witnesses too.

What is good about this film is that it is very factual. The main character played by the great Michel Blanc is also involved with the young gay man. Somehow in the film this does not seem at all concocted. It is very much together and beautifully done.

A 5 out of Netflix5.

Virtually all of Téchiné's films have a gay subplot but this one it is all about gay life in the early 80s. I was there. It is pretty much true to life.

Labels: films, gay films

Leave it to the Clintons.

Tom Harkin Cautions Joe Biden Against Running for President

Public personal advice. An old hand at this, Harkin.

Of course, this is the kind of shit that goes on all the time in politics. The Clintons do not have their brand name on it.

But it is typical of the kind of hand to hand combat that Biden will face in the coming days.

Of course it is quid pro quo.

Look at this photo. Bill and Hillary going so far as to hold hands in a Harkin rally. In Iowa, you better hold the wife's hands not some floozy. But they don't look very convincing. Hill has her thousand yard stare going. Bill is becoming an old lump.

Labels: The Clintons

A lot of people I know do not like Hillary.

And these are committed Democrat type people.

So many are glad that Bernie Sanders is running.

Me too.

Bernie Sanders Surpasses Hillary Clinton In New Hampshire Poll

Yeh.

Someone is saying "it's only New Hampshire".

Yes it is. Indeedy deed.

It says here that if you watch this video for three minutes, he will have your vote.

He does have a message. Very direct.

Labels: Bernie Sanders

So Marcus and I are slogging through the last day without his other Dad.

He has been a good boy. But it is clear that I am not the right one for the morning walk or the service of the evening meal.

But it is OK.

We are not suffering. We just miss his being here. Not a noisy presence really but a presence nonetheless.

I was always the one who traveled so I learned to do well in hotel rooms, restaurants and the avenues of other cities.

When I get to be the stay at home, it is less routined and more unusual. No groove to fall into.

The other thing that is unusual is that John is on a cruise, trying out what that would be like, maybe on a longer trip.

No cell phone access on a cruise. A happy reason to go, maybe.

He did call from the several stops they made. Nice surprises as I have no feel for their schedule.

So, we are doing OK. Not cooking is good. Keeping my own schedule is good although I find I am following the same daily routine. Not the gym. But I was due for a break and I am having it.

Dinner with all of us tomorrow night. Then the end of summer, another month really. More 90s days and 70s nights.

Labels: home, John, Marcus

This East German film premiered the same night that the Berlin Wall came down.

It is the first gay themed film made in that country.

And it is a wonderful film. One of the best that I have seen on what it means to come out as a gay man to the outside world but, mostly, to one's self. Aptly titled

Coming Out (1989)

That is a long time ago. Yet the film is as fresh as if it were made yesterday.

The other thing is that it is universal. The fact that it is happening in East Berlin is not noticeable.

It could be anywhere. Yes, they are all German but the gay experience translates well beyond country or ideology.

This is a ver nice little film, neatly packed and very well acted.

Labels: films, gay films

Today's film is a bromance between two Cuban men.

One gay, the other not. Maybe. But probably.

What is surprising is that film would have been made in Cuba at all.

Strawberry and Chocolate (1995)

There is a lot of sexual tension here. A lot of expectations.

There is the interference of the thought police. There is the desire to emigrate.

So there is a lot going on. But it is not a jumble. It is nicely put together and very involving.

A 5 out of Netflix 5 and it is in our DVD collection.

Labels: films, gay films

John is sailing the open seas today.

He will be home Thursday.

On his way to Ensenada, Catalina and back to Long Beach. Then a day of running around and home for dinner Thursday night.

Marcus and I are enjoying the space. Actually that means doing the morning walks as well as my regular evening.

A bit more walking than I am used to.

But we had fun this morning. He has many routes and no one needs to tell him which one to pick or where to go. They all end up at 55 minutes. It is crazy but then the airedale is very smart and willful. Some more than others.

I am cooking for one which means the frozen entree in the microwave.

Last night the superb Lean Cuisine Spaghetti with Meat Sauce. An old favorite of mine.

Labels: vacation

Another one of life's "musts" has fallen by the wayside.

No, You Do Not Have to Drink 8 Glasses of Water a Day

I have never made it.

I go for regular checkups to a nephrologist and a urologist. All pump this one, so to speak.

I try to do my best but my best is not good enough.

I am relieved. So to speak.

Labels: health

Love in a greenhouse.

Juste une question d'amour /Just a Question of Love (2000)

The French perspective on love is always refreshing. Even in the case of a standard "parents don't approve" situation. And in this case a gay situation so even more trouble from the last generation.

This is a nice and often sweet, sometimes sexy romantic effort which goes down just as nicely as a french pastry.

Two men fall in love as they work together in a greenhouse. Will they make it without breaking any glass?

For you to find out.

A 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films, gay films

The world is quaking this morning over the stock market.

So, what else is new?

If you have been prudent and have spread your portfolio out then this is why you have those munis and those other bonds that don't move with any market.

And if you are all into the Wall Street thing, then wait it out.

Advice After Stock Market Drop: Take Some Deep Breaths, and Don’t Do a Thing

What goes down must go up.

An adjustment is just that.

It is like the weather. Too hot for too much right now, stay in. And if one has to, then learn to live with a couple degrees more heat.

Winter will come.

If you have some cash, look around. It might be the best time to buy a few things in many months.

Labels: money

I was the first person from my family to go to college.

I do have to say that my cousin Phil went to a business school, two years. And flunked out.

I, on the other hand, as you may have heard, went to fucking MIT.

What was that like for my parents? What was it like for me?

The answer to both questions is nicely put together in this NYTimes Essay.

Taking My Parents to College

I can remember the day very clearly when they dumped me off on Ames Street in Cambridge.

Well, not really true. They did help me unload the car. But I couldn't get rid of them fast enough. Truth is that I dumped them.

They knew that. We had rehearsed this scene over and over.

High drama.

They did not stay with me. I had a week of "orientation" after all which, in reality, was pledge week at the fraternities.

And I had no intention whatsoever of joining a fraternity. None.

Why I felt this way (and still do) is still a bit of a mystery except for my clear identity as an introvert.

Every "advantage" that I heard about frat-life was a threat to my independence.

I did attend some functions. I went to a breakfast for freshman at some church so I could report home that I had tried that.

I went to an orientation that was held in my faculty adviser's home (everyone had one of these, use them or not, I did not)

Mostly I isolated.

Fortunately I was an avid non-drinker then. Had I been on the booze I would have been in the hospital. Instead, I suffered.

As it happened, there was another freshman in my dorm. And more miraculously, this kid was from Newfoundland PA which is only twenty miles from my hick town only hickier. The son of an undertaker.

He was so scared that we could not talk. Even I was less frightened than he was. I am sure today that, like me, he was gay. A queer in those years.

What saved me was the arrival in the dorm of the well entrenched sophomores, juniors and seniors who had lived in this unit "for years".

My roommate was a sophomore who was even more insecure than I was.

Arthur had terminal acne. The room smelled of his medication, that sulfur stuff. His voice had not broken yet. A clarinet player, he had buck teeth and, I am grateful, never played in the room but went to practice sessions of the school concert band. Which was excellent. Made records.

We did not get along but neither of us would admit it.

We stayed the year.

Then I found another kid in my freshman section, Chem Engineering, also a closet case and while we never ever did it our "sensibility", the brother hood of sissies, got us through two years before we finally had it with each other.

A long story. But I am sure all from repressed feelings for one another. I can still see his body. I will not elaborate. Oh. Those were the days!

So, where was I?

My parents wanted to know all the details of my life at MIT. I could share none of it.

Or wouldn't.

How could I tell them about the things that were happening to me? The real college things.

I could also not tell them about the fear and anxiety. The terrible ball clenching terror of class and the threat of failing. I had no alternatives.

They were, or I thought them to be (same things) a third world embarrassment.

I went home the first summer between freshman and sophomore years. Horrific. I was so unhappy.

I never went back after that. I had a dining hall job at MIT that I could segue into the summer, my course got me a lab job in a food manufacturing plant (a layabout job, full of fun, I learned how to be the rebel, my introduction to rebellious thinking in the corporate environment. See below) I lived on campus in a free room in the dining hall. I had so imbedded myself by this time that it was my true home. I can still smell that upper break room where I slept. It was seldom used because it was on the fourth floor. Soft furniture, a lounge. Wonderful! Soaked it in. The loner life was begun. The one I managed to lead until this very day. Alone but not. You have to be one to understand.

I had left my family behind. The house family, the extended family, I never went back.

I did honor my father and my mother (dad more than mom) and did the obligatory. But I was on my way and no one, not anyone, from my past came along.

I was a less than mediocre academic success but I excelled at the non-curricular. Dance committees, political office, just fucking around. I ended up my last year as the head captain of the dining hall. My former summer bedroom became a lounge for the staff. Blah blah blah.

Labels: family, home, MIT

When I developed and taught personal influence skills, I consciously did not delve into issues of "corporate climate".

The term refers to the simple matter of how it "feels" to work in a particular environment.

My story was that you can improve the "climate" in widening circles by starting with yourself. Deal more positively and effectively with people and they will do the same for you. Voila! Improved climate. Start small.

Most companies try to start big.

I watched this phenomenon over and over. Some consultants made a lot of money trying to work this mine. Little gold came out. A lot of coal and hurt bodies maybe.

Now switch to another role I have with two big companies which are often discussed as either terrible or great places to work.

Amazing week in Tech

It is revealed that the work climate at Amazon and Apple sucks.

Or blows, if you prefer.

I cannot say whether either of these were clients, confidential still, but I can say that I am an avid buyer on Amazon (everything, but food) and a loyal user of Apple. The iMac, the iPad. iMe.

I can report that both of these companies deliver a superb product and service. Apple has gotten a bit shabby in recent years but still, at heart, especially with the stores and store service available, is on the mend.

I am not surprised that it "hurts" to work for these companies. But that is a corporate and individual decision. The old adage of getting out of a hot kitchen if you are too hot.

I did work for years with the world's most prestigious consultant firm. Training every middle level consultant in the art and science of influence.

There, too, the climate was grueling. 70 hour weeks. Mostly on the road. But the pay was great and the ladder swift. A very hard climate of survival of the fittest. The test being the actual field of work. Make it or break it. Yourself.

Look, we don't worry about first class athletes going the limit for themselves. Why young business people. It is not as though there is a scarcity of jobs. If this one is too much for you then fall back to the next level. If you want, join up in a highly protected bureaucracy. Learn to live with boredom which is as stressful, in the end, doing nothing, eating one's heart out.

Sometimes a gay film is just a gay film.

Meaning that it is made for the exclusive entertainment of gay men and, in that sense, is a superior production since it does not have to slice and dice. It can come out full frontal.

I do not mean with the nudity. Just that unless you are gay and have that insight the film doesn't work very well.

Going Down in La La Land (2012)

is like that.

Inside jokes, lingering shots on good looking bodies, a story line which while improbable fits most gay male fantasies of how it would work to go to Hollywood looking for a job in movies.

Fun, frolicking and only a little camp, it is worth seeing again. I was afraid it might not be. Frothy and thin much of the time it always seems to pick up steam again and finishes very nicely.

A 5 out of Netflix5 because I own it but it would be a 3 in another more critical world. Maybe a 2. But let's not go there.

Let's just watch the young, hung and handsome midwestern boy make a go of being a star. So what if he only gets as far as shooting a solo porn film ("everyone starts that way, honey"). He ends up in a good place. I won't tell you what that is but it is not a career on the screen.

A good solid situation comedy.

Labels: films, gay films

Labels: republican whack jobs

The secrets and mysteries of love. Arcana.

Wrapped up in a punk skateboarder and his friends and lovers in

Luster (2002)

The punk life. One of those films that stands on its own as a one time phenom, never to be repeated again. For director or talent.

Actually, I do not know this. The film just seems so special, like a wild flower, that one hopes to be the only one to know about it.

It is a people film. It turns out that people are pretty much the same with each other even with blue hair or totally pierced bodies.

Oh. A gay film. For sure. Some very nice love scenes, soft porn. Sweet.

As a side note, there are some nice scenes at Joshua Tree National Park. Home ground.

I give this film a 5 for uniqueness and aptness of thought. A neat little essay on love between men whether carnal, family or just, as it turns out, customers in a record shop.

A lot of this made me think of another record shop film High Fidelity. High standards but this film is up to it.

Labels: films, gay films

The old song comes to mind.

"I'm bidin' my ti-ime, cause that's the kind a guy I am.......

Hillary Clinton’s Woes Pushing Joe Biden to Reach Out to Those Who Could Back a Campaign

I am a proud owner of a coffee cup that says "Cup of Joe" with his picture on the side.

I still have the ache to see him get into the fray.

But he is a cautious man. He can read sign on the trail.

He has gotten so close so many times.

What is there not to like about the man?

The NYT article has a great picture of him slouched against a pillar in the Oval Office or somewhere.

Joe.

Labels: Joe Biden

It is difficult to weave a comedy out of romance and the hardships that accompany it.

Finding a place to consummate the new loves is hardly a solid basis for a storyline but here it is. A success!

Trick (2009)*

You must know what a trick is, eh?

It is or used to be exclusively gayspeak for the one night stand. No questions asked, no ties that bind. Good healthy fun for a night. In the sack. Or wherever you can find a private place.

That is the dilemma. What if you have found "it" and there is no place to do "it" with the one you found.

You walk the streets, you make small talk, you find some places to kiss and touch.

In this film, you make a charming couple come alive, get to know one another. They both say how this is the hard part and they have done it.

There is even a happy if uncertain for the future ending.

The two leads here are totally convincing as a pair. A tough bar dancer with a soft heart and a newbie to the scene, a wide eyed romantic.

There is some tough sledding with the close friend played gratingly (her forté) by Tory Spelling. A natural bitch. There is another drag queen who even looks like Tory. I wonder if somehow they are stabbing the real girl in the back. She is the daughter of Aaron Spelling who has nothing to do with the film. Hmm.

Anyway, this is a delightfully spiced sweet romantic dish. And it is very gay. Not just another straight comedy in boy clothing. The sensibility is all queer, all the time. Very nice.

A 5 out of Netfflix5. Part of our collection of DVDs.

* For fun, I used the review from MIT's paper The Tech

Labels: films, gay films

A commenter mentions that I neglected Carson in my summation of the GOP candidates.

No. I didn't.

I just had to stop somewhere.

The list keeps changing all the time.

I used the CNN tabs for my summary.

The sad fact is that I don't know anything about Carson.

Declared 2016 GOP candidate: Ben Carson. Ben Carson is the former director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore. He was appointed to serve on the President's Council on Bioethics in 2004 by then-president George W. Bush.Aug 14, 2015

He was not included in the lineup that I consulted.

Another doctor. MD. Of some renown.

I suppose I could say a bit fat "so what". But that would be unkind.

In my own defense, I can only say that the list keeps shifting and somehow I did miss him.

Now that I have looked at him a bit, I would put him in a list of not-serious wing nuts who don't have a chance.

There. Job done.

Who else did I leave out. Sarah Palin is not running as far as I know.

Labels: Ben Carson, GOoPers, right wing, right wing bastards, wingnuts

Below, in an earlier post, I discuss the relative joy of the Demo-candidates.

I should give equal time and say that as far as I can see there is no fun in GOPville.

If I go down the list of the 20 something people who are running for the nomination, only Trump comes closest to being fun. But he is more comic fun, amusing. The kind of joke that keeps running and fuels itself. Trump trump trump. Ha ha.

But he is not fun. He is too much connected to his self-image. No self deprecation that I have seen.

What about the rest of them?

Let's work from this. Sing along Dorothy.

Who is Running For President?

BUSH: No fun here. He is desperately trying to be not-George and so he has pretty much abandoned the true bad-boy charm that even I admired.

CHRISTIE: Can be fun. Fat fun. He is the fat guy who is always laughing at the party to redirect the attention from his obesity to his possible charm. None is evident. And Christie is a bully. Bullies are no fun.

CRUZ: Flat out not fun. Not even mildly amusing. Not even as a target of derision. He is a sharp nosed noise maker with nothing inside.

In no particular order.

FIORINA: Actually has charm and a sense of humor. Even about herself. But they have now cosmeticized her to such a degree that she seems frozen. Look. She was a CEO. A successful one. I think, once, a happy warrior. No more. A mask.

GILMORE: The only funny thing about him is that no one, not one fucking one person, knows who he is. What? Gilmore?

GRAHAM: The sissy boy. A closeted homo. Which in its way can be amusing but not when he is running for President. He is the one the old ladies in the church chuck under the chin. I know. I used to be one. Has a anyone else inferred he is gay? You heard it first here. At least a southern sissy. Of which there is nothing sissier.

HUCKABEE: He is so scary and self involved. A bad accident on the highway. Keep moving. Nothing to see.

JINDAL: This is fun. He is not though. The fun is watching a black man posing as a white supremacist. Turning the tables. What? An Indian is not black? Ask the Indians how that works please. I mean the Indian indians not the American kind. I had two business partners who were of Indian heritage. They were brown. They were smart and they suffered some discrimination. Jindal has it uphill in this regard. I do not think he can make it. In the South he can be seen by blacks as one of them but I do not think this will hold up in the white "bible belt".

KASICH: Simple. Easy peasy. I would vote for Kasich in a minute and, if he is nominated, would be hard pressed not to pull his lever. Especially with Hillary on the other side. I made this line bold so that some of you who read this who play for the other team will see that I am not all that one sided. Yeh Kasich.

PATAKI. A bureaucrat. A good one. But boring as toast and probably as cold as toast too. A maybe, like Kasich. I like governors.

PAUL: Save us please Higher Power from a Paul presidency. Under that curly head lies a damaged brain. He is Ron Paul's son after all. He can never recover from that. The sins of his fathers and so on. Also, pure libertarians are extremely boring people. They are ideologues. The polar opposite of the commies who are also no fun at all. I have known a few in my time. The real thing. No laughs.

PERRY: Should he wear the serious glasses or take them off? Or should he hold them in his hand. This is about the depth of the ex-Texas Governor. Texas is different enough that even Ann Richards the Demo-ex-governor didn't have enough gravitas for it. She was a lot more hilarious than Perry though because she had great material and knew she had the comic gift. Used it well.

RUBIO: I take a little pause here as I think that he has something potentially for high office. He is a bit of a snot and all that. Not very likable. But he has some bona fides and he has the chance at some Hispanic votes.

SANTORUM: All I can think of is the line that Dan Savge came up with, that his last name sounded like the medical name for what leaks out of a well fucked asshole. Sorry. Very offensive language here. But it always makes me laugh. The other thing his name makes me think of is "sanctorum". A humorless blob of right wing god warrior flesh. But I like the asshole definition best.

Did Trump. Trump, trump, trump!

WALKER: he looks like a mean son-of-a-bitch to me. The eyes. Close set. I do not think that works for him. And it goes with the venomous snaky talk. He is a mean bastard, I think.

So that is it. A compendium of rascals on the right.

Have I left any one un-offended here?

Look. Politics is a nasty business and if you don't like my talk then you will have to move to higher ground. No passion there. Too bad. You are missing the mud fight.

Remember. I am from the mid century MIT where we had the annual "glove fight"(See photo--this is from 1964, eight years after me but the same squash and squalor in the mud). Now gone. Sophomores on one side with red gloves, freshman in the other side with blue gloves. The idea was to have as many of the other's gloves as possible at the end of a period of time. Which seemed like an eternity. Always played on muddy ground, specially prepared for the day.

Pandemonium. Violence. Extreme cruelty in some cases.

These were also the days when the Sophs depantsed the Freshmen. Yes. So, on the mud field, it was not only gloves but bare asses.

Somehow I survived both years and mostly kept my glove and my pants. I yelled a lot and made motions of violence and stayed with the other friends who were of the less violent persuasion.

That is politics. No surprise that the guys who "won" the glove fight, collected the most opposite gloves, were also the ones who had the high cum ratings and were the best at school politics. I was in another tier. I got ahead through sly avoidance of the fray and worked the sidelines. At the end I chaired the biggest annual tie and tail dance. No mud. Just the victory dance.

What does that have to do with these political mudslinging days?

The ones who will emerge at the top are the ones who will slyly work the margins. Watch Kasich. Watch Pataki. They have done this before. Executive positions in large states. They know how to count the gloves.

Labels: GOoPers, politics

I am warming up to Bernie Sanders.

Read this.

Bernie Sanders Draws Big Crowds to His ‘Political Revolution’

I am even beginning to believe he has more than a ghost of a chance.

He is certainly going to push Ms. Clinton to the left.

Or at least be a big fat pain in the ass for her. She will not be able to hide out which seems to be her present mode.

Unlike James Webb, who took a small plunge, Sanders has charisma. Not the usual kind. Not the Clinton kind.

He is a Socialist. Not a Democrat. But Socialists cannot be elected to high office in this country. The booboisie has it that anything socialist is communist and that is that. A red.

This might be my last Presidential election.

Well, I hope it is not but you never know. In that case, I want it to be at least fun.

And that is the biggest thing about the Clintons. They are not fun. Obama was fun. Biden is a lot of fun.

The Clintons have no joy. And Hillary the least.

Labels: Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, The Clintons

A whole bunch of dance videos.

By this guy.

Just Some Motion (JSM).

Soft shoe plus.

He makes me think of Fred Astaire.

Labels: dance, dancing

Most attempts to make a movie out of a stage play are failures.

By "opening it up", directors end up violating the intimacy and effect of sitting in an enclosed space with actors and an audience. What has worked, no longer does.

Today's film is an exception.

They took the play, put all the scenery on a larger stage set and then put the actors through their paces.

The camera roams the space with the actors but the feeling of the real theater, the breath, the spaces, the unreal reality, come through beautifully.

I suppose it has something to do with the material as well.

Just Say Love (2009)

Two men meet. One ostensibly straight one very gay. Nature takes its course.

The theatricality helps us hear the words. To get the nuance. Falling in love in these circumstances is a pretty complicated thing. And the film sails with the complications. There is a bit of a trick ending but by the time we get there, it does not seem that way. The full advantage of a theater over film. They have harnessed both here.

This is a great movie. Worth the time and trouble to listen. It has subtitles but I think that would ruin things.

Oh. It is based on Plato's Phaedrus. One of the guys is a bookworm and is holding the book in the opening scene. Not a spoiler. Just a tipoff. He even reads the section to the other msn. I missed the point myself. Plato. Not on my reading list.

A 5 out of Netflix5. I am glad it is in our library.

Labels: films, gay films, theater

There are many disqualifying qualities in Donald Trump Trump.

No. Not a typo. That is how I think of him. Trump trump. Maybe three trumps. Try it. Trump, trump, trump.

It all adds up to bloviation. A blowhard.

To me he is a joke. But he is coming dangerously close to being the joke that explodes on all the bystanders.

The GOoPers have few alternatives anyway and given some money and some chutzpah of which he has plenty, the Donald is made for the crown clown of politics.

In this article today, a new coined phrase for the moneyed man.

A reader of the LATimes writes a letter referring to the "flaccid pompadour".

That catches a lot right there.

I know. We should not be making ad hominem jokes about a contender for the highest office. But that is Donald. A bear baiter, in this case an elephant baiter, and on the way to possible success as their nominee.

Say it isn't so.

Labels: Donald Trump, GOoPers

You will have to bring your own nine hankies to this Italian soap with gay suds.

There is a heavy overlay of Wagner in the beginning, foreboding. To say nothing of the easy virtue of falling in love with a summer romance. Indiscretions. Infidelity. And more.

This is a great big weeper about a young man who wreaks havoc on the latent gay feelings of a therapist. Of all things.

And on a happy holiday in sunny Italy. And Just before the folks are going to have a birthday party in his honor.

And everyone is handsome.

It is wonderful.

Il compleanno / David's Birthday* (2009)

I love this film for its unstinting devotion to the traditions of the best Hollywood weepers.

The tables are turned here as the situation is not only gay but gay friendly. There are actually no villains. Love and lust will have their way and look out.

This is really a 3 out of Netflix5 but since I bought it and have seen it several times, it becomes a 5 in practice.

The young man, David, is a stunner. And really not so innocent. Known to be gay one has to conclude that the liberal friends who invite him into their homes are taking a risk. Gay men always seduce the straights. Only here the straight or not so straight is the one who makes the thing happen.

It is a wallow in feelings and fun to watch and there is a good (stiff) tongue in cheek about the whole thing.

If only Rock Hudson and Lana Turner were alive, they could manage these roles beautifully. A tribute, actually, those films. So nicely done.

*the birthday

Labels: films, gay films

I don't much like "best of lists" unless the one I want is on the top.

I sat through the entire video, below, before finding out what I already knew.

The best college/university in the country is......wait for it.

Class of 1958, me.

Labels: college, MIT

Today, a movie performed in the nude.

Actually, a long running stage show refitted for the DVD. With very little embellishment. Get it? Little embellishment.

What I mean is that it is the show and the show and the performers from the show which has been done live in many cities for many years by many many male singer/dancers and as far as I know it is still running in off the main road places. But I doubt it. I think that it has had to run its course by now.

Wait!

Stop the press!

It is still running off Broadway in NYC at the Kirk Theater.

This is a show based on the standard musical review format. Nothing new there. The talent is quite good at singing and dancing. Nothing new there. They are quite good looking. Not new either. And we get to see all of them! New. Definitely new.

Some of the tunes and lyrics are so good that they will bring tears. While the audience is quite mixed in age and gender it is obviously a gay show from the very start. Men hug, kiss, admire each others' anatomy. All of it.

But it goes down quite smoothly I think (!?) because the show is funny, wise, pointed and topical.

It moves. Not a single moment lags.

And finally, the men while attractive are quite "normal". That is, the bodies while athletic, they are dancers, are not extraordinary and the male equipment ranges in size and conformity across a wide range. No man should feel inadequate watching this. There is one set of genitals in their somewhere that are just like yours.

The usual seems to occur, just an expert observation. The littlest and skinniest guys have the biggest dicks. Why is that?

One thing I like about this show is that it confronts its main criticism straight on. The first number is called Gratuitous Nudity which this obviously is and those of us who wish to say it get called out right away.

And, there are many scenes with the bodies clothed, wisely observing the fact that continuous nudity is boring and not very interesting. It is at its best when it is shown a little at a time. Gypsy Rose Lee (look it up) knew this and kept a career as a stripper going for many years after her prime.

She sold it, bit by bit.

Labels: broadway, films, gay films, music

Today, a film about two guys, a well known "romeo" and a newly minted trasgender boy.

This is a great film.

Full of love and life.

I do not know how true it is to its subject but in a small way we can see that love will find a way. If there is a will.

Very well made.

Said to be true to life. It sure feels that way.

A 5 out of Netflix5, it is in our library.

Romeos (2012)

Labels: films, gay films

Today's film has an unexpected turn to it.

Even when it has been seen before.

Hamam: Il Bagno Turco / Steam: The Turkish Bath (1997)

Part of the surprise is in the ending but mostly it is the process by which people begin to find their true nature and their happy home.

A young Italian architect/designer inherits a building in Istanbul. From his grandmother.

He goes to claim his inheritance, sell the property and get back to Rome where he has a joint practice with his wife.

Upon a arrival he finds an old heap of a place which turns out to be a closed up turkish bath.

Hence the title.

He becomes enamored of the place and decides to rehab it. Perhaps to stay.

This foils the plans of a developer, an evil woman with slitty eyes who sets out to block this all from happening. She wants her shopping mall.

While waiting for the slow process of inheritance to evolve, the young man finds a new family who have been the caretakers of the bath. The family has a young gay man.

Natural forces begin to overtake the situation and the two men fall in love.

The story goes on from there. Retribution. Horror. Love. Reconciliation and an ending that is not the one I wanted but one which will be quite OK if it has to be that way.

The quality of the transfer to DVD is not great. In the beginning there is a steamy hazy quality. Perhaps intentional? The director is Ferzan Ozpetek who has made a few arty gay themed films. A dependable artist. Meaning he knows how to give us beautiful men in a good solid story. Believable and true. The steamy look clears up on my disc. That is why I think he may be messing with us a bit.

Labels: films, gay films

The life of other people is largely unknown.

We only see the surface and, for the most part, accept what we see.

For the person who feels divided within hime or her self, this is not so simple.

Xavier Dolan, the Cannes winner and Canadian wunderkind has made a film for us to see how this might evolve, these selves, the division, the coming out to one's other self. The dominant one as it turns out.

Laurence Anyways (2012)

Dolan does not appear in this one. The stars are Suzanne Clement who appeared in I Killed My Mother and Melvil Paupad. They both carry the film.

It is hard viewing. Transgender is not easy to understand. I have had trouble with it personally. But I have prevailed and now see this as another kind of being human which is not in my own experience. As a gay man, I always rebelled at the connotations of a compromised manhood. But there is nothing about this here and, indeed, even in cross dressing which is a totally different aspect of expressing one's self.

Not to get didactic here. Just to review the film and say that it is very moving and extremely well done and I will definitely see it again and again.

A 5 out of Neftflix5.

Labels: films, gay films

I am happy to report that my State now leads the nation in water conservation.

And this is not because we did anything since the drought started. We started 20 years and more ago.

How California is Winning the Drought

It is interesting that we started lowering our water use in the condo association well before the recent mandated cuts. We are ahead of the targets.

And we have grass. Not so much. Not so green. Not so good looking.

The trees are OK though. We have lots of trees.

I believe that the grass is never going to come back. Some think that the roots will revive but I think not. The bermuda grass is seasonal and when the season is over it will go dormant. More bare spots.

They had been using annual rye. The worst. More water for the seeding over and over again.

We will slowly replace the grass with desert. So called desert appropriate. Well, I will go further. I would like to see desert desert.

It surrounds us. Our oasis is entirely man made although we do sit on a large aquifer we are loathe to use it.

For us it is the golf courses that must change. Some of them are. Less and less grass. More and more rough.

Golf is an industry here but we will have to give it up or find a way to keep the balls from bouncing on hard pan.

Not my problem.

The other thing is that up to now there has been extreme over watering. The grass we still have is doing rather well with every other day once a night watering.

Some people are nuts about this though. They are watering their own lawns which are not theirs but belong to the condo association. It will go through their meter and on their bill.

Soon, we will have extremely tiered billing. They are working on it now. The more you use the more you will pay per gallon. Putting a stopper to a lot of it.

When we got to Palm Springs, the streets would run with water. Now, if you have water in the street it is a disgrace. Not to say it does not happen. Sprinklers break. But it is a sure sign of a need to fix the errant plumbing. A sign of trouble, not a sign of plenty.

Our latest step is fake grass out front on the patio. A small patch when properly littered with leaves and shit doesn't look fake. And it is fading. Also no plants along the wall just little round balls. Different sizes and colors.

I have one hibiscus, a big one, and a bunch of cacti. Carefully hand watered. A lantana. Dry plants all.

It is not that we need to go to none. Just less.

This is not ours. But it is an idea of the possibilities.

Labels: drought, landscaping

I do not understand the attraction of all these amateur living sites.

What the fuck is wrong with people? Do they think that this is a trouble free world? And international hookups too.

Airbnb Horror Story Points to Need for Precautions

Precautions? I traveled for years and always took precautions. At hotels. At motels. At training centers and other stops on my journeys.

These were all places that were in the "hospitality" business and had some reputations to maintain.

Yeh. I stayed in a couple of hovels. A hotel for train employees comes to mind. But the problem was the lack of luxury. The poor have few choices.

But then that is not true either. Brand name hotels and motels come in all levels of cost.

Why would I even want to stay in someone's home? Some stranger?

When I was a kid, I remember that someone came to our door looking for a place to sleep. A couple.

My mother invited them in.

They used my room.

I can still smell the bastards. Musty, creepy, like a swamp.

And they were loud and, I suppose, drunks. And my god what a traumatic event.

Over the years we have invited people to stay over at our place. After all, we live in a resort. And when that is the case, people want to come visit.

We learned, after awhile, to be delighted if they wanted to visit the desert and provided them with some names of good hotels.

There is nothing worse than being trapped in one's own home by the unknown defects of casual friends.

Nothing.

What are these Airbnb people thinking?

It means "bed and breakfast". Jesus.

When I lived in Plymouth MA, we had some friends who ran a charming little motel. The horror stories. Even satanic rites. Not kidding.

People can be real idiots. Beyond naive. Actually, aided by a little profit motive we could all become victims pretty fast. And I am an optimist and believe I live in a safe world. Most of the time.

Labels: travel

From the beginning, the Clintons have these glitches in their ethical behavior.

I have always noted these and marked them as weaknesses.

Now more than ever.

Clinton’s team went from nonchalant to nervous over e-mail controversy

Do you think the GOoPers are going to let this sit?

I hope joltin' Joe Biden jumps on this one.

Son of a bitch, this irks me.

Labels: clintons, Joe Biden

Also in the skies this morning, the transition.

It has been obvious that the midpoint of summer is past. But today is the first day that we noticed it getting light later.

It happens so gradually that it is only observed in "jumps". Awareness leaps.

What has been obviously occurring is not obvious to me until it is dramatically different and then there it is!

Much of my life is like that. A late bloomer. Which is mostly a good thing.

Labels: desert, sunrise

When I was a kid in an astronomy club, the only constellation I was able to learn was Orion.

Even the dippers eluded me many nights.

And the rest of them? Nah. I wore glasses.

So a thrill to see my very own constant constellation friend rising in the east.

What can I say?

How about "hi!".

Now if they had shown me this picture, I would have had it down cold. But as it was, I had Mr. Ravelli who cared enough to stand out in a cold field with the class nerds with one of those star maps in our hands.

Mr. Ravelli. Not my type but a definite heart-throb. Perhaps the reason I went into science and engineering.

He was very supportive to a kid who needed adult male attention. I remember him fondly.

Let's try another picture without all the picture folderol.

Labels: astronomy, life

A heat wave here for the next 6 days.

It is 96 right now, at 4 AM. And will hit 115 sometime during the day. Afternoon.

We just hunker down.

Yes, it is a dry heat. It is bone dry. Everything dries up outside. The fountain gets filled once a day. The flowers the same.

But we are all desert plants now and adaptable.

Look.

I will happily trade this for one day of sleety snow or icy rain.

I will be happy to refill the fountain twice as often or more rather than be back in the winter stuff.

We used to go back and forth. North, south.It is pretty quiet in the complex right now. Most are away. Not us. A few die hards too. We have become desert rats.

Now, an occasional break is good. The four days in San Diego for me, a ride on the ship next week for John.

It is a little hard on the dog but no more than us. He gets some extra consideration for not being able to run out so often into the small yard. But he is OK. Shorter walks and out of bed a little earlier. Easy.

I get to relax some. Nothing is going on outside that does not absolutely have to. I water. I get the mail. I go do my chores out in the town.

And in a week, it will be in the 90s again, dry and comfy and then clear sailing until next July or August.

Labels: heat, weather

The relationship of RJ and Chris continue.

Two Mormon boys who met while on a mission together. And fell in love.

This is five years later. RJ found a lover and moved to Seattle and Chris got more religion and got married.

RJ is not done. He leaves his lover and goes back to Seattle to find Chris.

And there we are with:

The Falls: Testament of Love

Which I like very much. It is not a side taking film. It seems to honestly portray the conflicts between desire and belief. Chris adherence to the Church's teaching is real.

Less so with RJ. Surprisingly enough, it is the Dads of each young man who provide a breakthrough.

The difficulties of being married and a father and still finding yourself gay is very real to me. I lived it.

This film is quite good at showing all sides and having a heart big enough to love all the characters. There are no villains.

A 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films, gay films

I had already bought this DVD and seen the film.

Tom at the Farm (2015)

Xavier Dolan's latest film.

It is a NYTimes Critics' Pick!

Dolan, himself, won an award at Cannes last year for another film and this year has been invited to sit on a jury.

This kid has got the goods.

And I was there at the beginning!

Of course these things are often "all about me". I "knew her when". And so on.

But in this case it is a legitimate claim.

Look, he is, first of all Quebecois. A minority in and of itself.

I think, although I would have to check, that the films are in that special version of French. French Canadian.

He is gay. Blatantly, all out, balls to the wall, so to speak. And always has been.

In this Hitchockian almost comedy he is a bleached blonde twin visiting a farm. Just like the title says.

The other people there are the same as our Bible Belt. Only, I think, a lot worse. Isolated by being rubes, they are also a sort of sidelined minority in their own country.

They say that Dolan is the new Godard, bursting onto the scene. Well, in the same way, it has been a slow motion burst but quite remarkable, nonetheless.

Watch this. Amazing. What a guy.

Labels: films, gay films

Fascinating account of a compulsive traveler.

Up in the Air: Meet the Man Who Flies Around the World for Free

He only knows airports and airport plane life.

What is more, he is gay and he has a boyfriend. They often fly together. Even have sex in the plane.

I love this kind of thing. Not only weird fantasies but the dedication to live them out.

I traveled for a long long time and I get some of the attractions.

All strangers, all friendly service, nice surroundings, clubs, food (although many will not agree with this but note that he flies first class most of the time).

He is probably addicted in a strange way and if you are an addict then this is not too bad a way to do it.

In any event it gets you in Rolling Stone which should abolish his anonymity. A kind of suicide pact. His free travel days might be over.

However a lot of what he does is not illegal although the airlines continue to try to head him off and make it so.

Labels: gay life, travel

The first of two Mormon films.

Or films about gay Mormons. There aren't supposed to be any but they made the movie anyway.

The Falls

Two missionaries find that they are attracted to each other. Which they are not supposed to be. Of course.

It is nicely done and not too hard to believe. Faith in the power of gay helps.

Everything is believable except the extremities of the faith but even that is done without too much extra coloration.

I have seen it before. It is a Romeo and Juliet story with boys.

They are handsome and fun to be with. A nice film and not at all didactic.

Well, hardly at all.

Note: One of the boners in the film is that the Dad has a hole in his left ear which makes his pleading with his son a bit less dramatic. It shouts "this is an actor".

Labels: films, gay films

Today's film is an engaging series of encounters with different types of gay men.

Yes, we have types. Or perhaps different perspectives and experience. One size does not fit all.

The observer/narrator here is a hustler who pays a business call on a closeted gay man and then gets lost in the building.

As he tries to find the way out, he encounters other men in the building and spends some time with them.

Not all these meetings involve sex but most do.

This allows us to have our cake and eat it too. We get to see "the gays" and we also get titillated along the way.

I do not mean to be cynical about this. Two reasons why this device is a good one. First, a good hustler listens to the client and this guy is good. We hear each of the men's stories. The second is that the hustler has a peak experience of sorts. He sees himself in the others' eyes. An eye opener.

I like this film a lot. It is fun and it is sexy and the star Ben Bonefont is not a clone but a rather real young man who, along with us, takes this all in.

The ending is a bit of surprise and I will not ruin things except to say I think it will make you happy. All whores do not get punished for their supposed sins. That is in another world of which I am not a part. Nor are these people.

A 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films, gay films

I do not much miss our old life.

But when it comes to the theater, I sometimes grieve for a quick return and some Broadway and off Broadway visits.

I am astonished how much I mind missing this.

Why ‘Hamilton’ Has Heat

I would be in the front row.

I do not want to say that there is nothing out here to go to. But we have tried LA theater. Pale comparison. And the local theater which handles tours is a vast wasteland.

So.

Sometimes life in the desert is life in a desert.

Labels: broadway, theater

Trump, as predicted, is already disrupting.

Trump: 'Jeb's answer ... on women's health issues is a disaster'

Which is one of the advantages of having The Donald in there.

He has no inhibitions, he has nothing to lose really. And he is in for the duration. Even if Jebbie gets the nomination, it is likely that Donald will be in the way.

The interesting thing about Trump is that he is a headline guy. No details. The large assertion. Easy to hear, no thinking required.He has his own money is not beholden to any of the bastards who run the GOP.

No coronations this time around.

It couldn't happen to a nicer guy. And I mean that. I think that Jeb is a good guy with a family that will not let him sit by and just be a business man. There is the legacy. There is the family pride.

There is, most emphatically, Barbara.

She has always been the power behind the candidates. Fierce. Determined.

Her family nickname is "Bushy". So she carries the family torch.

They are royalty and like all royalty the crown(s) are most fiercely defended by those who marry into the job.

And so on. There will be a lot more.

In the meantime, I bet they are all going nuts at the endurance of Trump. This morning he was at 24% to Jeb's 16 or something. Don't take my word for it. It doesn't matter now anyway.

Labels: bushies, Donald Trump, Jeb Bush

One of the more amusing aspects of the Jeb campaign is the appropriation of the exclamation mark after his name.

I suppose it is/was to avoid our thinking that it was another Jeb. Not that Jeb but this one!

Or, perhaps, in a more subtle way it is a distinction from the other Bushes.

Not just another goddam Bush, but Jeb!

Some politico's bright idea.

I am amused because it is only one sign of his trying to dodge the fact of his being a legacy candidate.

Of course, Clinton is a legacy candidate too.

This is nothing new in American politics.

Way back, the Harrison's had a ride. And various Roosevelts. Well two of them. And so on.

Royal families.

So far the Clintons may be royal but they are not yet into the second generation. Or the third.

Labels: bushies, Jeb Bush

After a week away at the beach, I am recovering. In a nice way.

I am doing the chores, taking the walks, and doing the blog posts. Among other things.

It is nice to go away and it is good to be back.

Today has been the best full day since the return. Off to the store, back for little chores, naps at the usual time and so on.

It seems weird to need a vacation when I am already retired but a change of scene is good for everyone.

And a little time alone.

At the end of the month, John will take a break and I will be the stay at home.

So far, Marcus has no plans to travel. But we never know.

Labels: routine

In today's film, a Bishop goes to a prison to hear confessions from prisoners on death row.

What he finds is, rather, a kangaroo court set up to try the Bishop's murder of a young man while in seminary.

The fall guy is the director of the play. His prison friends, the cast.

Les Feluettes / Lilies (1997)

On a tight set, the play unfolds. Only the prisoners are present. A sympathetic guard stands by.

It is not clear what will happen. The men recreate the scenes from the two men. The prisoner and the bishop.

At the end, the Bishop learns his fate.

Very melodramatic. Very good.

The two young men who play the young lovers are superb.

Of course the play within a play opens up and we are outside, back then and in the time that all the events occurred.

Very good. I bought the DVD. A 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films, gay films

It is often the case, that only children yearn for a sibling to play with.

If that child is gay male boy, he often fantasizes about a brother with whom he can play at all levels, including the sexual.

I remember that I did.

Today's film shows two half brothers (different Dads) growing up to become lovers.

This is incest, technically. But not realistically. Many brothers, gay or not, have had sex together. Straight boys give it up at a certain point.

This film takes it to the next logical conclusion. I will leave it up to you to find the ending for yourself and form your own opinion.

My opinion is that all of

Do Começo ao Fim / From Beginning to End

rings true and beautifully so. The film is wonderfully realized. Actors, sets, natural settings.

There is a strong family thread here as well. Mom and Dad, Step Dad. Very nicely done.

A 5 out of Netflix5 as I have seen it several times. It still holds up.

Labels: films, gay films

Our neighborhood is dead.

No one is here.

Of course that is not literally true. We are here. Peggy across the way is here. The women to the east of us are still here and the neighbors after that.

I think that it is mostly inside weather even though today is a pretty nice day. People just hunkered down.

But there are many places empty. Seasonal folks, rentals that are not filled during the off season.

It is nice. I am not one who craves a bunch of people around. I prefer it.

When I see the folks I am Mister Friendly. And I mean it. But I am very happy to be by myself.

This is the story of the introvert.

We have been through this before.

I will not revive the subject except that for me it is my happiest state. A few close friends and a bunch of people over there who are "hello" friends, "how are you today" friends, but they shouldn't go on too long about the question. No long form of their current state.

Marcus is a great antidote to this talkiness. And we know the ones prone to it. He is patient but firm in his resolve to get going.

A great skill. It is one of the traits of the airedale. Tolerant of people but not needing a lot of hoo-hah.

Me either.

Labels: desert, life

Some of my "bests" stand out.

And they are not, often, even well known.

This one today from Quebec. A coming out story like none other. Well, none are alike. That is why we want to hear them so often.

C. R. A. Z. Y. (2006)

I like this film because it paints a fairly accurate picture of the father and son relationship. Where the Dad can not conceive of having conceived a gay son.

Pretty basic acceptance is involved.

This is a fine, true film with great character realizations.

There are no minor roles.

It is a 5 out of 5. I have seen it often and never tire.

Labels: films, gay films

The "hate California" wave continues.

For those of us who chose to be here over any other place in the world (and, frankly, could afford it) find all this snark laughable.

Sour grapes? Well, we have those too and they turn it into the wine the assholes drink in plentiful amounts. Thanks for your business.

I don't walk around boasting about our new home. We just chose it. And fuck you if you don't think it was a good choice.

In fact, take a look at this. It will make you feel better.

The Hellhole That is California

Oh.

No. I guess it won't.

I live out in the desert part. Which is hot this time of year. But not too hot.

I will not enumerate the ways this is better for us than cold wet New England, but keep on with this bashing and I will have to do it.

I loved the East. I grew up there. I went to school there.

It is no better or worse than any other place except probably the redneck south. And that is more from being a faggot and vulnerable to their whims there more than anything else.

But I don't have to disparage. I have a good bit of white trash in me and I respect those who are still struggling to get out of that stereotype. But not the ones who do so by shitting on other people.

And so on.

It is August here and in the 70s this morning and it is gorgeous. That is enough for me. Sunny Sunday where I am and I hope the rest of you all enjoy your day in your favorite locale.

Labels: California

Today's movie is Xavier Dolan's psychological thriller.

Tom à la ferme" / Tom at the Farm (2014)

A city boy goes to the country to attend the funeral of his boyfriend. He stays with the family. Invited by the mother. The older brother also lives at home. Crazy shit ensues. Hitchcockian!

Every minute of this film pushes through to the next. No space at all. Dolan wrote and directed this as well as acted the title role.

If you read the credits and you will want to so you can hear Rufus Wainright sing the final anthem, you will see that Dolan is listed for many of the credit categories and it is a very long credit long. This is a big deal Montreal production.

Dolan has been given a great deal of credit for keeping his films at home where he lived and grew up.

That he won the last Cannes in 2014 and was on the Grand Prize jury in 2015 speaks clearly of his talent. Recognizably outstanding. And he is only 26!

I look for more from him. He has an important body of work ahead of him.

Just a small note. The angel on the car mirror at the opening was featured in the last film we saw. Just sayin'. Auteur.

Labels: films, gay films

The second of three films by French Canadian actor/director Xavier Dolan.

J'ai tué ma mèr / I Killed My Mother (2009)

In this one, the teenage version of Dolan (it is frankly autobiographical) he comes out to himself and eventually, after much storm and drang, his mother. There is a lot of great stuff here about coming out as a teenager and the joy of finding other homos to be with. Not so much for sex, although that is in the picture, but for the fellowship.

Dolan is very young. Twenty when he did this and so only out for four years. Yet his depiction of gay thoughts and desires is very sophisticated. And fun. His sense of humor and the small gritted teeth smile, his particular trademark, are all charming and enjoyable.

We also are introduced to Neils Schneider the boy featured in Heartbeats. These are very good films by any measure but the youth of Dolan brings a special élan or zing to the enterprise that is unmistakable.

To be able to explore one's sexuality and life at such an early age is quite a feat. So much for repression in French Catholic Quebec.

A 5 out of Netflix5.

Labels: films, gay films

I did not watch the GOoPers have their debate last night.

No surprise there.

But in reading the accounts of what went on, I can see that Trump is a spoiler in the midst of some serious people and that is too bad.

While it is unlikely that I would go to the other side even in the most extreme geezer like conservatism, a last breath conversion, I will confess to some queasiness with Clinton and their dominance.

I am heartened to read that Kasich made a good showing.

The non surprise is the apparent weakness of Jebbie. A stand in for the franchise who is weaker than all the others. A diluted version.

He is a milk toast and not very inspirational. Not that I would be inspired but still, I do like me a good vigorous trouble maker.

I do not want to go into detail because I didn't see it and, frankly, am not interested. It is good to see that even the Repubs finally have to let women into the tent and that earlier in the night Fiorina did a good job.

It is still way too early in the game but it is nice to have the circus back in town. I have missed it.

I feel like the kid peeking under the tent to see what is happening before the real show begins.

The photo is interesting in a mild way. Notice the space the others give Bush? There is discernible space between them. And who put him in the middle? Did Barb call up and insist? Poppy? Not George, I am sure. I wonder what he thinks of all this?

Labels: Republican primary, Republicans

Labels: GOoPers

Three films from French Canadian actor/director Xavier Dolan.

Today, the threesome story

Les Amours Imaginaires / Heartbeats (2011)

Best friends, gay boy and straight girl, meet a cipher. One of those sexy looking guys who sits in everyone's memory. They project all their stuff on this guy.

We have all met a lob like this. Handsome, sweet seeming, nothing to offer. An empty shell.

Most of the film is about their own ideas of who this kid is. I figure the kid, himself, has absolutely no idea about himself or anyone else.

He is a sponge for others admiration. A bad turn for someone who will be discovered as an airhead soon enough.

But the film is not about him. It is about how the two best friends react and what they do to keep this kid going in their real versus fantasy life.

It is an ingeniously done film I think. I have seen it several times and am amazed at its depth.

Dolan won a big award at Cannes this year. Recognition.

For a French-Canadian kid who started out with a 16mm camera that is a big deal. He is still very young. 25 this year.

Labels: films, gay films

I had a great time in San Diego.

On the beach. Sort of. Actually Shelter Island across the bay from the city.

Life in the slow lane.

I have stayed at the Bay Club for years. A nice live-in hotel with a sweet dining room and views on both sides. Not only the city in front but a large marina and bay behind with a lovely hillside of homes to gaze at from my balcony.

I do not stir from my perch except for a moderately vigorous walk in the morning and another saunter in the afternoon.

I read and when I get bored with being alone, I walk across the street to a boat ramp which has people in an out all day. Mostly fishing, I think.

So I am back and happy to be so. I timed it just about right. Another day and I would be getting moldy.

We have always lived near water and I do miss it. There isn't a lot of it in the desert.

There used to be a lot of sailors. Navy people. But the base has been cut in size and there are no longer any training programs for the young men.

The Navy air base across our bay is now down to helicopters and an occasional plane landing or taking off. A shadow of its former busy self.

Times change. But the chowder in the Bay Club dining room and some of the other favorite items remain as do the nice people who sort of remember me.

Less than I remember them but they see a lot more people than I do.

Labels: life, vacation

I will be leaving for Shelter Island off San Diego tomorrow.

I will be there through Thursday. The annual jaunt.

It will be in the 70s, maybe foggy in the mornings. There will be boats.

I will not leave the premises except to walk across the street to look at the water.

I do not expect to be blogging through the week.

I will have the minimum electronic equipment. Perhaps my iPad.

Certainly the Kindle reader. But the reader doesn't do email.

Or blogs.

A nice change of pace.

John's turn to be away will be at the end of the month when I will do the stay at home thing.

I am getting a first floor room this year, right here.

And on the other side, this is pretty much what I will see.