On This Day- August 16th... Junior Comes Home

Butch was dog #3. He came to us as an orphan, as they all do. He was 4 years old when he joined our family & we only had 9 years with him, not long enough.

Butch was a serious & stalwart little dog. In 2004, he broke his foot, but never complained. We never would have known, if we had not noted that one foot was 60 degrees turned outward. Butch was spirited & spry in his squirrel patrol, but in all other ways he was calm & composed canine.

We loved Butch beyond all measure & although his passing was sudden & swift, we grieved deeply when he went to doggie heaven. I still have never really recovered from the loss.

Butch & his Dad, July 2007

I waited an acceptable 3 days before orphan #4 joined us at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia. I had told myself that I was open to another dog & I would take my time to find another deserving orphan needing a home. But, there he was on Craigslist in my first minute of searching. The post told the sad tale: in the countryside, outside of Portland, the little Jack Russell mix had been tied to a tree with a lead of rope, for a year. The trucker who had him would bring the young dog food & water, but not much else. A neighbor of this pitiful puppy, explained to me: “Out in the country, we don’t tell each other what to do with our animals, but I just couldn’t take seeing him every day, all alone, with no love & no activity. So I dognapped him & I need for someone to take him fast so that I can take down the Craigslist post & not get found out.”

I emailed this animal savior, telling him that I was at home & I would meet this terrier. I said yes to the dog staying with us on first glance, even though the first thing the little dog did on arrival was vomit.

For the first 36 hours, I thought that the new terrier might have escaped, but then I would spy him out of the corner of my eye as he skittered around the edges of the back garden. On day 3, while I was sitting in the Boys’ Fort, the dog cautiously approached me & laid his head on my knee. I looked down at him & started to speak, but he was gone in a flash. But, the next approach lasted longer, & the next longer still.

He came with the name- Junior & we decided that was a name that was fine by us. He had been through enough in his first year of life without having a name change, the only one of the 6 dogs that we have shared our lives with to not be christened with a new moniker. Junior. It fit him.

The poor Husband has never had a say in the choosing of a dog. Starting with a terrier mix by the name of baby in 1985, I have brought each of them home, often with no discussion. I mean, I don’t rearrange the furniture & he doesn’t choose the children. The Husband has been devoted to & delighted by each of our orphans.

Only 3 days after Butch’s taking leave, Junior was a part of the family. Like Butch, he is strong & stouthearted, but unlike Butch, he is a little slow. I see so much of his predecessor in him, but of course, Junior is his own animal.

Junior started life living outside with no comforts & no attention. Now he sleeps on pillows & is reminded that he is loved every day. Junior has been a member of our family & a resident at Post Apocalyptic Bohemia for 5 years today, August 16^th. 

Born On This Day- May 29th... Beatrice Lillie

I feel heavy hearted that the baby queers & even the Gen Xers don't know about, or care about many of the personalities that engaged the gay people that came before them. I recently mentioned Mae West & Raquel Welch in the same sentence & a small group of 20-something gay boys looked at me with totally blank faces. It was as if I had been speaking in Hebrew.

Beatrice Lillie was an incomparable artist: comedienne, actress, & known in the 1920s- 1950s as "the funniest woman in the world. " She was born Constance Sylvia Gladys Munston, in Canada. She began her stage career in London in 1914 & she became famous for her performances in music hall & in intimate revues.

Lillie made her American debut in 1932 where she developed her own TV series during the 1950s. She appeared in films including On Approval (1944) & Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967), although she worked primarily on the stage. In 1952, she created her own show; incorporating her greatest bits in An Evening with Beatrice Lillie which opened on Broadway. This show received rave reviews & she toured with it across the globe 3 times. She won a Special Tony Award for her performance in 1953. She starred on Broadway in High Spirits & replaced Rosalind Russell in Auntie Mame. Lillie wrote her autobiography Every Other Inch a Lady in 1972 before a suffering stroke in 1974.

After her death, Sir John Gielgud stated: "She was The Mistress of the Absurd, I remember Bea standing dramatically against a pillar dressed in a flowing gown which she lifted suddenly to reveal her feet shod in roller skates on which she gravely skidded across the stage".

With her trademark cropped hair style with a smart hat, holding a long cigarette holder, she was a true original, an enemy of pomposity, & the sentimental. Fortunately, many of her satirical & surrealistic comic songs: There Are Fairies At The Bottom Of My Garden, Weary Of It All, Wind Round My Heart, & my favorite- This Is My First Affair ("so please be kind & please be quick"), are preserved on record.

In the first half of the 20th century, Lillie was one of the most sought after celebrities, the darling of the social set, & the toast of two continents. Cole Porter wrote his "story of a nightmare weekend"- Thank You So Much, Mrs. Lowsborough-Goodby, for her, & Noel Coward wrote the delightfully gossipy I've Been To A Marvellous Party just or her. She gave the first public performance of Mad Dogs & Englishmen.

In 1920 she was married to Sir Robert Peel, making her Lady Peel, a name she used at social affairs. She eventually separated from her husband (but never divorced him). Lillie had love affairs with many women, including actresses: Tallulah Bankhead, Eva Le Gallienne, Gertrude Lawrence & Judith Anderson.



"Did I ever give you a lift after a party at Joan Crawford's?"

That Sinking Feeling

That ship hit that iceberg 100 years ago tonight, spawning one sober & sad movie in 1953 & for me (& seemingly me alone), one nearly intolerable, but award winning film in 1997, plus a Broadway musical from the same year that admonished:“In every age mankind attempts / to fabricate great works at once / magnificent & impossible.”

On every anniversary, the International Ice Patrol, founded in response to the sinking, drops a memorial wreath on the Titanic’s last reported position. The world will just not stop remembering.

There were 12 canines on the doomed ocean liner, 3 survived. One of the survivors was a Lady, a Pomeranian. Lady’s owner was Margaret Hays of NYC,  who wrapped her in a blanket & carried her into a lifeboat.

Also living to enjoy another biscuit were Sun Yat-sen, a Pekingese belonging to Henry & Myra Harper of  Harper & Row publishing & another Pomeranian, this one belonging to a Rothschild.

The 9 dogs confined in the onboard kennel, walked, fed & cared for by the crew, all died. A pair of dogs belonged to American coal magnate William Carter, who reassured his worried children that their pets were safe as they clambered into the lifeboats. His daughter Lucy was later compensated $100 by Lloyds of London for her King Charles spaniel, while his son Billy received $200 for his Airedale.

The other dogs that perished included a pair of Airedales owned by John Jacob Astor IV, a Fox Terrier named Dog, a toy poodle belonging to Helen Bishop, & Gamin de Pycombe- a French Bulldog.

There was a Great Dane owned by Ann Elizabeth Isham, who visited her dog at the ship's kennel daily & when she was evacuating, she asked to take him also. When she was told the dog was too large, she refused to leave without him & got out of the lifeboat. They were found floating days later, Isham still clutching her beloved large dog.

The crew often had at least one cat on board each ship to help keep the rat population down. There was a cat with young kittens aboard the Titanic but when the ship arrived in Southampton from Belfast, she was seen disembarking. Up and down the gangplank she went, retrieving one kitten at a time that she deposited on the dock. She & the kittens quickly disappeared. It is supposed the she had a premonition that the voyage wasn't going to be a smooth sailing.

The Power Of Pussy

I am compelled to come out of the closet. I was afraid of what society would think. I needed to face my own self loathing. I have known for some time, but I have not been strong or honest. I have stood on the sidelines as friends & co-workers came out publicly, only to be ostracized, ridiculed, fervently prayed over, & physically harmed. It didn’t take long to learn who their friends were, who tolerated them, & who would no longer have anything to do with them. But now I that I am coming out of the closet, I am discovering strength & spirit.

I feel it is my responsibility to give my top reasons to come out of the closet.

1. Honesty – You just don’t wake up one day & discover that there is something “different”... well, maybe you do. For me it was a process, like baking a cake–except here you don’t get to lick the spoon. Coming out offers you an opportunity to live an honest lifestyle. Some people will say: “It’s nobody’s concern”, except this is a big part of your own experience & that regardless of what you think, it is already everybody’s business. Coming out isn’t about the world, it’s about you. If you decide to come out, consider all the pressures that are lifted; no more lying, sneaking, or carrying the guilt. It’s that negative part of “the secret” that adds to stigma that is wrong. Revaluate why you keep hiding it. To be honest with yourself will give you power.

2. Increased Self-Esteem – Something happens after you come out. You discover other people just like you & you no longer feel isolated from the world. You feel better about yourself & your decision, which adds value to your life. Looking in the mirror becomes a beautiful thing & it gets better with time. You are not a stereotype.

3. The Power of Tolerance – Coming out not only frees you from the bonds of secrecy but it also prepares you for the rest of your  life & all it throws at you. You become more tolerant towards others. Now that I am open, I try to be tolerant of those struggling with their issues but it isn’t always easy. You realize that once upon a time you were having the same issues & magically out of nowhere, the tolerance arrived like fairy dust.

4. Accept It – Although it doesn’t define you, it is a new part of your life & only a small part of who you are. You are like a pie chart & it’s up to you to divide that pie & assign the values. Is this going to take up 1% of your existence or 99%? There’s no correct value & it will fluctuate from time to time depending on what’s going on in your life. But no matter how much value you assign to your new acceptance, avoid the things that feel dangerous or uncomfortable.


So right here, on my little spot on the Internet. I want the world to know that I am an out & proud… I have a cat. Yes, I have a cat. I can say it. I am moving past the embarrassment & shame.

Oh, no! There is a cat in the house!

Nearly a year ago, & with his harrowing hard luck story, we allowed RCK to live in our basement rather than under bridges & in parks. He brought with him, his ancient cat. RCK did something very bad & he is now in prison, leaving his few belongings & his feline in our basement.

Henry is a sagacious, very old cat with a sweet disposition. With RCK gone, I explained to The Husband that Henry could live us. I was not about to have him put down, & finding a home for a 16 year old cat on Craigslist appeared futile. So, Henry stays. But, I was firm that he would live in the basement. We could bring him upstairs on occasion & even outside if we were sitting in the back garden. I felt that Henry would be content & glad not to be on the streets. We have a nice, clean, dry basement & Henry made a cozy spot for himself on a shelf of stored linen.


Lulu was indifferent to Henry, but Junior was not happy one little bit. He hated the cat & for hours, he would stare through our glass door to the basement landing with the cat on the other side.

Leaving the basement door ajar, Henry started sneaking upstairs. Over time he insinuated himself into the traffic & rhythms of the main floor & was soon napping on the backs of the daybeds. There were hisses & growls, Henry had his tail nipped & Junior had his face slapped. Lulu rose above the fray.

Now, we are a family of 5. I was able to say to strangers: “I have a husband, 2 terriers & a very lucky old cat… that’s right, I am out & proud & I have a cat.

Born On This Day- February 13th... American Artist Grant Wood

If you have been following this little blog thing, you will know that I have a passion for 20th century American Art. Grant Wood's work is quintessential 20th century American Art, I now we know there has always been a gay twist.

Grant Wood’s American Gothic is one of the most parodied & iconic American images. The work was acquired by the Art Institute of Chicago after it was unveiled there to the public in 1930 to much scrutiny. Ever since, the painting has captured a certain resonance with the American public, but its historical reception has had somewhat of a turbulent ride. The painting is admonished & celebrated, dismissed & parodied. The work is a dour portrait of a farmer & a woman in front of a neo-gothic farmhouse in Iowa. The woman’s sullen look is echoed in the farmer’s direct but blank gaze, pitchfork in hand looking not the least bit amused. The Models were the artist's sister & dentist.

Self Portrait by the Artist

There are some delicious ironies to the acknowledgement of Grant Wood being gay. For decades, Wood has been celebrated as a spokesman for the conservative values of the close-minded set. To me, the essence of our country's Constitution is a willingness to allow diversity, change & the supposed narrow mindedness of the Midwest is a bit of myth: Iowa, after all, was the 3rd state in the country to legalize gay marriage. Wood survived happily in small town Cedar Rapids, where local businessmen protected him from the consequences of his gayness.


Wood is often described as a sort of homespun American farmer who celebrated traditional American values. But in fact, his life as a farm boy ended at the age of 10, when his father died suddenly of a heart attack & Wood, his mother & his sister moved to Cedar Rapids. His values & choice of professions were not ones that were often endorsed in early 20th century Iowa. Wood’s father was a severe Quaker, who once insisted that he return a book of fairy tales: “We Quakers only read about true things.” He would surely have never approved of his son’s career as an artist, & he would have approved of the nagging secret of Wood’s life- he was a homosexual.


Evidence of Grant’s gayness has been hidden in plain sight for years. Grant’s mentor-Thomas Hart Benton, confided to many of his friends & students that he believed that Wood was gay, & it’s even part of Wood’s files at the University of Iowa, where 5 of Wood’s colleagues made the accusation during a nasty dispute pitting Wood, who had never been to college, against his better educated faculty colleagues. Indeed, the artist was fired from his position on the faculty when it was discovered that he was having an affair with his male private secretary. Evans is the first author of a bio of Wood to take this important fact into account. During Grant’s time homosexuality was a crime that could be punished by imprisonment or castration, & even rumors could end a career or make an artist a social outcast. Wood’s art is a strange mix of revelation & concealment.

Daughters Of Revolution

In Appraisal

Everything about Wood’s art carries some sort of double meaning & complexity. He was fascinated by changes of gender. In his Daughters of Revolution he pictures 3 founding fathers in drag, as members of the D.A.R. For In Appraisal, he transformed his friend Edward Rowan into a farm woman. Wood was fascinated by masks. Wood’s art has an element of “let’s pretend.” Wood's Gothic folk-art style is a way of suggesting that the work has some sort of double layer, a representation of something real & something else,with a big dash of wit. Wood was always vague & inconsistent when asked what his paintings represented, apparently because he sought to avoid criticism when his subjects or his neighbors were offended. On different occasions, he described the figures in American Gothic as city or country people, & as a man with his daughter or as a man with his wife.


Is America finally ready to embrace a gay Grant Wood? Or will Conservative Christian Art Hating Right Wingers rise up to deny his gayness, or to denounce him as wicked? Since American Art History 101, American Gothic has always struck me as high camp & a little queer. I always saw the piece as satire rather than a celebration of The American Spirit. For many art lovers in the heartland, this new book & it’s well documented discovery of Wood's gayness will not be a terrible shock. Just possibly, America is finally ready for Grant Wood to come out of the closet.


Grant died of liver cancer in Iowa City, one day before his 51st birthday. In the end, Wood’s American Gothic stands next to masterpieces like Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa & Edvard Munch's Scream as truly recognizable & iconic across the world.

God Hates Fags!

I stumbled on this using that new-fangled internet thing while searching for a quote or a statement connecting Tom Waits & gay rights. I wished to discover if one of my favorite songwriters was possibly straight-but not narrow. Waits seems to have not weighed in on the subject of homos, but he is on a list of "gateway music" that can pull a child towards being gay. Waits is in pretty good company. This is from a lovely & helpful site: LoveGodsWay.orghttp://lovegodsway.org/:
"One of the most dangerous ways Homosexuality invades family life is through popular music. Parents, please keep careful watch over your children’s listening habits.

There are multiple levels of Gay Music. Some bands are what we like to call Gateway Bands. They lure children in with Pop Grooves & Salacious Melodies leaving them wanting more. They’ll move on to more dangerous bands & the next thing you know you’ve got a homosexual for a child.

We’ve taken the time to highlight the bands that are particularly Gay. Please take the time & dissect your child’s CD / iTunes catalog. If you find 3 or more of these bands in their collection it is time to take action.

We Strongly recommend that you burn the CDs. Make sure your child is watching. Make sure they can feel the heat. It is crucial that the image remains emblazoned in their young minds. They need to know that if they continue to listen to these bands they may Burn eternally as well.

Bands to watch out for:
•Lady Gaga (tricks girls into lesbianism)
•Lil'Wayne
•P!nK (gay family)
•The Black Keys
•Coldplay
•RadioHead
•Michael Jackson
•Justin Bieber
•School of Seven Bells (gay twins)
•Jason Mraz
•Jonas Brothers
•Rilo Kiley
•Death Cab for Cutie
•Sarah McLachlan
•George Strait
•Toby Keith
•P-Diddy
•Black People
•Vampire Weekend
•King Crimson
•Kate Bush (kissed a girl)
•Bob Dylan
•Fleet Foxes
•Sigur Ros (nudists)
•Twisted Sister
• Scissor Sisters
• Rufus Wainwright
• Ravi Shankar
• The Butchies (lizbians)
• Wilco
• Bjork (mb)
• Cole Porter
• The String Cheese Incident
• Polyphonic Spree
• Interpol
• Twisted Sister (jj)
• Tegan & Sara
• Erasure
• The Grateful Dead (drugs too)
• Le Tigre
• Marilyn Manson (dark gay)
• The Gossip
• The Magnetic Fields
• The Doors
• Phish
• Queen
• The Strokes
• Morrissey(questionable?)
• Metallica
• Judas Priest
• The Village People
 • The Rolling Stones
• David Bowie
• Frankie Goes to Hollywood
• Jay-Z
• Depeche Mode
• Kansas
• Ani DiFranco
• Fischerspooner
• John Mayer
• George Michael (Texan)
• The Indigo Girls
• Velvet Underground
• Madonna
• Elton John
• Barry Manilow
• Indigo Girls
• Melissa Etheridge
• Eminmen
• Nirvana
• Boy George
• The Killers
• Lou Reed
• Lil' Wayne
• Motorhead
• Jill Sobule
• Wilson Phillips
• DMX
• Lisa Loeb
• Ted Nugent (loincloth)
• Dogstar
• Lil' Kim
• kd lang
• Frank Sinatra
• Nickleback
• Bob Mould
• Clay Aiken
• Arcade Fire
• Bright Eyes
• Corinne Bailey Rae
• Audioslave
• Red Hot Chili Peppers
• Panic at the Disco
• The Cure (makeup)
• Spin Doctors
• Lindsey Lohan
• The Smiths
• Beck
• Tom Waits
• The Cramps
• Britney Spears(kissed Madonna)
• Perfect Sin
• The Queers
• NoFx(gay punk)
• Elton John(really gay)


The site continues one another tab- Safe Music:
The bands on this list are Safe. They foster Heterosexual desires & stimulate a Christian mode of thought.
Safe Music:
•Cyndi Lauper
•Sufjan Stevens (at request of publisher)
•The Right Brothers (Bush was right!)
•Dresden Dolls
•UnderOath
•Blondie
•Creed
•Falling Up
•Sandi Patti •Disciple
•P.O.D
•Evanescence
•By The Tree
•Michael W. Smith
•Jars of Clay
•Amy Grant 
•Cheap Trick

Dog Day

I have long imagined what the canines do when we are not with them at home. I brought in a doggie cam to catch them in action. I have now glimpsed into a day at home with Junior & Lulu.

When we get home from a walk they receive a cookie & then I leave for work. I had always imagined them napping & awakening to only pace & look at the window waiting for the daddies to come home. But, I was mistaken. This doggie duo heads for the back room the moment the front door closes. Junior & Lulu watch TV! They start with the Kathy Lee & Hoda hour of the Today Show while enjoying a little Chardonnay. Then they take their next nap.

After awaking & doing a bit of stretching, they partake of the doggie bong. They eat cookies while settling in for Ellen & Anderson, They prefer their talk shows to be hosted by homos. They have a little shot of whiskey & are at times, distracted by a squirrel sighting.

Next up is the parade of toys. They remove each plaything & distribute the the goods around the house in what they think is a casual manner. In late afternoon, Junior licks his balls as Lulu keeps a lookout for one of us to return.

The Gay Birthday Roll Call For October 22nd... 3 Talented Men Of Show Biz

Openly gay Bill Condon would be on the birthday roll call just for writing & directing one of my top 10 movies of all time- Gods & Monsters. To me this is a nearly perfect film, without a wasted scene or line of dialogue & amazing Oscar worthy performances from Sir Ian McKellen, Brendan Fraser & Lynn Redgrave. Gods & Monsters is the story of the last days of James Whale, the gay director of Frankenstein, Bride of Frankenstein, The Invisible Man & Showboat. Condon was nominated for Best Director & won the award for Best Screenplay Adaptation (from Christopher Bram’s book). On top of this accomplishment, he wrote the brilliant screenplay for the film of Chicago, a stage musical that seemed to me, to be impossible to bring to the screen (another Oscar nom), he wrote & directed the under-rated Kinsey, & wrote & directed the over-hyped, but very engaging film version of Dreamgirls. Bill Condoned direct the last installment of the The Twilight Saga franchise- Breaking Dawn… & I think he is cute.

When Marc Shaiman kissed his fellow Tony winner & partner Scott on the televised award show, it made quite a stir. He’s won a Tony (for Hairspray), a Grammy, & an Emmy, He has had 5 Oscar nominations, including one for Blame Canada. He has been with Scott Whitman, his creative partner & life partner for 31 years, since they met when he was 20 in 1979 (the same year that I matched up with the Husband). His film credits include Broadcast News, Beaches, When Harry Met Sally, City Slickers, The Addams Family, Sister Act, Sleepless in Seattle, A Few Good Men, The American President, The First Wives Club, George of the Jungle, In & Out, South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, Team America: World Police & HBO's From the Earth to the Moon. He frequently works on films by Billy Crystal, Rob Reiner, & Trey Parker He has also appeared in many of these films. Shaiman started his career as a theatre/cabaret musical director. He then became vocal arranger for Bette Midler, eventually becoming her musical director & co-producer of many of her recordings, including The Wind Beneath My Wings & From a Distance. He helped create the material for her performance on the penultimate Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. This season he had the musical-The Addams Family on Broadway. He auditioned for & but lost the role of himself on Bette’s short lived TV sitcom,… & I think he is cute.

Derek Jacobi was invited by Lawrence Olivier to become 1 of the 8 founding members of The National Theatre, soon after graduating from Cambridge. An extremely successful film & theatre actor, he is probably best known for his performance in the ground breaking BBC TV series I, Claudius (1976) & his Shakespearean roles around the world, including what many feel was the best Hamlet of the 20th century.He also appeared as Alan Turing in the stage & film versions of Breaking The Code. His other appearances have been diverse & ranged from major classical roles to an appearance in Frasier as the world’s worst Shakespearian actor & one of my favorite films- Robert Altman’s Gosford Park. Jacobi is married to Richard Clifford, his partner of 32 years (again, all these 32 year anniversaries!)...& think he is cute.

Lulu Has Adopted a Pendelton Blanket, Again Exercising Her Good Taste

Considering Songwriter Vincent Youmans On The Day Of His Birth

One of my personal favorite self-created playlists of the summer of 2010 is my Happiness Mix. It has proved popular in my circle. The Husband & I listened to it on a car trip. It contains Ella Fitzgerald's version of I Want To Be Happy, which is really swinging. It got me thinking about the life of Vincent Youmans, who was born 113 years ago today, just one after Georege Gershwin.

A friend of Gershwin, Vincent Youmans had much in common with his famous friend: they both collaborated with George’s brother Ira, they both wrote pop songs & serious music, & they both, tragically, died young: George at 39 & Vincent at 47. Unlike George, Youmans left behind only a handful of songs that are truly famous: Tea for Two, I Want To Be Happy, Hallelujah, & the jazz standard Sometimes I’m Happy. For decades, a legend circulated that Youmans had left behind a trunk of unpublished songs, all notated in a secret code that only he could decipher. Music historians worked for years to determine if this was true. The trunk was discovered, & the trunk contained unheard melodies & scores, written in his mysteriously mirrored & intricate Da Vinci-like code.

He came from privilege: Born in 1898 in Manhattan, he was raised on Central Park West. Youmans served in WW1, & while in the Navy, he fell in love with men & musical theater. After the war, he went to work as a song-plugger for the prestigious TB Harms Company, publisher of the Gershwins & Jerome Kern. Before phonographs, people purchased sheet music & sat around the piano at home & sing the hits of the day. It took talented pianists who could put a song over with panache to sell the sheet music songs to music stores. By performing the work of the great Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the day, Youmans grew familiar with the infrastructure of hit songs, & quickly decided he could create his own.

As a composer, he turned to other lyricists, & collaborated with the greatest: Oscar Hammerstein II, Irving Caesar, Leo Robin, Billy Rose, Mack Gordon, Buddy De Sylva & Gus Kahn. With Ira Gershwin, he wrote songs for Two Little Girls In Blue, which became a big Broadway smash in 1921.

The greatest triumph of his life was No, No Nanette. With lyrics by Irving Caesar, it became one of the most successful musicals of all time, with simultaneous productions on Broadway & London during much of the 1920s. It has been revived many times, & has been reinvented several times throughout the years. In the 1940s a version featured the beloved tap dancer- Ruby Keeler, which played on Broadway even longer than the original, & was a huge hit again in the 1970.

Youmans wrote songs for movies, most famously for Flying Down To Rio, with Fred Astaire. But his heart was on Broadway, & unfortunate failures followed, shows which bombed & closed quickly, although the songs he wrote for them were always memorable. In 1932 he took one more chance with a Broadway show- Take A Chance, but it also failed. Disheartened, he retired in 1934, after a career of only 13 years, but worked undercover for years on the songs & scores in his secret trunk. Youmans returned to Broadway in 1943 with a colossal & ambitious extravaganza called The Vincent Youmans’ Ballet Revue, which merged classical & Latin music. A failure of unprecedented proportions, it lost more than $4 million dollars, & this fiasco might have been the reason for the secret songs in his hidden trun , but its failure, along with a drinking problem & a life in the closet helped to bring on his final emotional & physical decline. He died alone & largely forgotten in 1946 of TB.

Tea For Two, his most famous song, is an ideal example of his economic use of short melodic phrases. Irving Caesar has said that the opening section was actually a dummy lyric on which Vincent could write a melody, but it worked so well, they kept it. The song is unusual as a hit, it is written in 2 keys at once:-A flat & C-major, a musical fusion that the Beatles would use 40 later, but which was mostly unheard of in the 1920s. Youman’s modernization of the American pop song inspired the musicologist Alec Wilder to say that Youmans was “one of the innovators of American popular song, & one of the truest believers in the new musical world around him.”

September Song... The Dog Song

I'm just a walking my dog

Singing my song

Strolling along

Yeah it's just me & my dog

Catching some sun

We can't go wrong

My life was lonely & blue

I was sad as a sailor

I was an angry one too

Then there was you

Appeared, when I was entangled

with youth, & fear, & nerves

Vermouth & beer

Were gettin' me mangled up

But then I looked in your eyes

& I was no more a failure

You looked so wacky & wise

& I said, lord I'm happy

'cause I'm just a walking my dog

Singing my song

Strolling along

It's just me & my dog

Catchin' some sun

We can't go wrong

Because I don't care about your hating & your doubt

& I don't care what the politicians spout

If you wanna companion

Well just go right to the pound

& find yourself a hound

& make that doggie proud

Because that's what it's all about

My life was tragic & sad

Yeah I was the archetypal loser
I was a pageant gone bad

Then there was you on time

& wagging your tail

In the cutest mime

& you was in jail

I said woof, be mine

& you gave a wail

& then I was no longer alone

& I was no more a boozer

We'll make the happiest home

& I said lord, I'm happy

Because I'm just a walking my dog

Singing my song

Strolling along

It's just me & my dog

Catchin' some sun

We can't go wrong

Because I don't care about your hating & your doubt

& I don't care what the politicians spout

If you need a companion

Well just go right to the pound

& find yourself a hound

& make that doggie proud

Beause that's what it's all about

That's what it's all about

That's what it's all abow-wow-wow-wout

That's what it's all about

Nelly McKay
2004

Born On This Day- September 10th... Rin Tin Tin

Born on a battlefield in World War I, Rin Tin Tin went on to be an American movie star & icon. Rin Tin Tin is credited with saving Warner Brothers from bankruptcy in the 1920s. He received 2,000 fan letters a week, that’s 286 a week in dog years. He remained a huge star until the talkies did him in.

Born on a battlefield in World War I, Rin Tin Tin went on to be an American movie star & icon. 2 months before the war would end, an American soldier- Corporal Lee Duncan discovered a bombed out German war dog station while on a scouting mission. Inside he found a shell shocked mother German Shepherd & her 5 puppies.

Not wanting to leave them helpless, Duncan brought them back to his base where he took care of them. When he returned home to California, Duncan brought Rin Tin Tin with him. Rin Tin Tin was named after small dolls French soldiers carried for good luck.

Duncan settled into his home in L.A. & he became interested in the new movie industry. Knowing his dog was special, he made the rounds of the studios, but they showed little interest in a canine movie star.

Finally he got his big break when he came upon a crew shooting a scene with a wolf. Rin Tin Tin was able to perform a feat in 1 take that had frustrated the crew trying to work the scene with a real wolf.

In 1922, Rin Tin Tin ( his friends called him "Rinty") , made his debut in a low budget western called The Man from Hell's River. He did all his own on screen stunts.

Rinty’s charisma, good looks, fearless ability & acting talent attracted the attention of the struggling Warner Brothers studio. Together they made 24 films that helped establish the new studio & made Rin Tin Tin a household name, & a magazine cover boy.

At the height of his celebrity, Rinty earned a salary of $1000 a week, had his own production unit, a chauffeur driven limousine, a personal chef & a diamond studded collar. Not much is known about his personal life, but Rinty was spotted at several underground gay spots around Hollywood. Although he was quite a stud, siring 48 pups, including a favorite named Junior, Rin Tin Tin was known to hump male stunt dogs & was very probably bisexual.

In 1930 in an ungrateful gesture, Warner Brothers released Rinty. He was forced to work low budget serials. He admitted to a Milk- Bone addiction & went into rehab. After 40 movies, he retired in 1931.




Following Rin Tin Tin's death in 1932 in L.A. (in the arms of actress Jean Harlow, according to Hollywood legend), Duncan arranged to have the dog returned to his country of birth for burial in the Cimetière des Chiens, the famous pet cemetery in the Parisian suburb of Asnières-sur-Seine.

His son, Junior went on to appear in movies following the death of his father. Rin Tin Tin is one of 3 dogs to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame along with Strongheart & Lassie.

As a child, I was devoted to The Adventures of Rin Tin Tin, an ABC television series that ran from 1954 to1959. It featured Rin Tin Tin IV as the star.

Lulu Prefers Table Service

Click on the image & it will get bigger

Junior & Lulu Have An Afternoon Nap At Post Apocalyptic Bohemia

Tom Ford Turns 50

“I don’t think of myself as gay. That doesn’t mean that I’m not gay. I just don’t define myself by my sexuality.”

Not only am I inspired by people who, along with tremendous talent, are able to "brand" themselves, but I also want to follow in their footsteps. I have provided past posts that include: Martha Stewart, Andy Warhol & Keith Haring.

I would like to have my own line of products: nipple clamps made from re-purposed office supplies, cocktail mixers, & a magazine- Post Apocalyptic Bohemian Lifestyle. There would be a STEVE! TV network, which would only show films & series re-runs that I appear in, or that I love, or that feature : Steve Allen, Steve Buscemi, Steve Reeves, Steve Carell, or Steve McQueen. I want my own fragrance- Douche by Stephen: nutmeg, whiskey, dirt & a hint of desperation.

Tom Ford has not only made himself a part of his own product, but he is his own muse.

Each time I have come upon a print ad for Tom Ford, a man who has the right stuff & designs beautiful clothing; I have earmarked the magazine ad & said to the Husband- "wow, can you believe how beautiful he is? Plus... the clothing & accessories are gifts from a genius". The Husband concurred.

Ford: "I think I detach the physical from the spiritual. It’s my business to make a woman or a man beautiful, & I’m working with a model in a fitting, & I’ve objectified them to the point that they become an object."

"They’re something that I’m modeling or shaping or sculpting, but I’m very aware that even though I make them physically beautiful, their soul & personality & character is somewhat detached from that. It’s great when you have a combination of the two- that’s what makes a true beauty. Some people are physically beautiful but yet they’re completely uninteresting, & thus they’re not beautiful. I detach the two. ... That’s why I think gay men make better designers."

Today is Tom Ford's 50th birthday. I would be very pleased to be snowed-in at a mountain cabin for a few days with Tom Ford. I would try my best to leave him inspired. He is Daniel Craig's designer of choice, & that is all the endorsement I need. I love you, Tom Ford.... but alas, he has has been with journalist Richard Buckley (14 years his senior) for 25 years. At least he is into a daddy types.

Buckley was the former Editor in Chief of Vogue Hommes International. He was diagnosed with cancer in 1989 & after his recovery the couple moved from NYC to Italy.

The couple have smooth fox terriers. Their first dog- John, lived 14 years with Ford & Buckley, & appeared on the runway & in photo shoots. Currently, they have Angus & India, who are 6 & 4 years old. These terriers appeared in Ford's film A Single Man. I am grateful to Mr. Ford for his 1st film- A Single Man. It was, for me, a masterful directorial debut & a deeply moving film.

Happy Birthday, Thomas Carlyle Ford, have your people call my people.