My Second Favorite Man Made Structure In The World

Remember that crazy period in the aughts when Americans were required to be anti-French. Freedom Fries? Well, I never bought it. I am an unabashed Francofile. I took the stairs to level 3, & I stood on the observation deck, & tried to sneak a view of it every chance that I could find. I have only been to Paris once, but I can't ever get tired of looking at The Eiffel Tower in photos & in films. The landmark turns 122 today.

Ewan McGregor Turns 40 Today

I am head over heels for talented Ewan McGregor. I write is name all over my Pee-Chee folder. It started with the brilliant Trainspotting, directed by Danny Boyle. He has done first class, fantastic, quality work in a bunch of films I admired & enjoyed: Little Voice, Velvet Goldmine, The Pillow Book, Emma, Down With Love & my favorite McGregor performance in Moulin Rouge.

Add to that list- I Love You Phillip Morris, a nervy comedy that bills itself as an “improbable but true story.” This film was my favorite film of 2010, & the Husband concurs, he saw it twice

The fantastic tale of real life Steven Russell’s amazing adventures in fraud, deception, multiple impersonation & prison escape, that is gleefully blasé about bothering to make you believe that any of it is true. This bittersweet farce of a film is a charming, blunt, transgressive, zany, emotional, sentimental experience that features a couple of love smitten, brilliant sociopaths flying high. It is presented with sweet Oscar caliber performances from Jim Carrey & birthday boy Ewan McGregor. They play lovers & in one scene they slow dance & smooch to Johnny Mathis singing Chances Are, oblivious to the riot erupting outside their prison cell. I have never seen that on screen, not even in German prison porn. Rent this film & Ewan… have your people call my people.

Perfectly Frank

"I'm gay, I'm left-handed, I'm Jewish. There's a lot of things that I'm supposed to do that I don't do."


I love him for his ire & for his wit. I think he is a true American Hero. For the 1st time in 40+ years, Barney Frank yields real power now & he is wielding it in a characteristically idiosyncratic manner. He remains a national symbol of outré sexuality as well as a rare wit in humor lacking in politics in DC.


Barney Frank on being harassed by Tea Party members: ''More than one. My partner, Jim, & I were walking from… it was a nice day! We walked from one House office building to another. There was a great deal of shouting, you know, waving of fists & signs, & sort of people getting very close & yelling. & a number of the comments were homophobic... really, sadness. As Jim said, we're adults… I haven't really got a lot of respect for these people, to be honest. So, who cares what they say to me? But you do have to think about it. I'm serious about this, this bullying in junior & high school. It's a big problem. What occurs to me is, there are kids all over the country watching this, not as a game but as real life. Watching so-called respectable politicians cheering them on, & that was just discouraging, that at this point in our history, we couldn't have a rational debate with these kind of thug tactics that were being used.''


On coming out to himself, Frank says he realized he was gay when he was 13 years old: "I was aware when I was 11 and 12 that my sexual feelings were different than the other guys'. But I thought I was just a little slow to get those feelings. & then it just hit me like a thunderbolt one day. It was terrifying & emotionally very devastating."


Frank attended Harvard, & graduated in 1962. He taught undergraduates while pursuing a Ph.D. He left in 1968 before completing the degree in order to work as Boston Mayor Kevin White's chief assistant. In 1972, Frank won a seat in the State Legislature. The following year, he introduced the state's first 2 gay rights bills.


In 1980, Pope John Paul II ordered all Roman Catholic priests to withdraw from electoral politics. Father Robert Drinan, who represented the Fourth Congressional District in Massachusetts, complied. More than a dozen local politicians vied for the seat. Frank narrowly won the election. His slogan was "Neatness Isn't Everything," a reference to his rumpled wardrobe.


In 1987, Frank became the first congressman to voluntarily announce his homosexuality publicly.

In 1989, Frank found himself in a major scandal. 4 years earlier, Frank had engaged the services of a male escort named Stephen Gobie. Frank later hired Gobie as a driver despite knowing that he was on probation. Frank also used his House privileges to waive Gobie's parking tickets. When Frank discovered that Gobie was running a prostitution service out of his Capitol Hill apartment, he fired him. Gobie responded by telling his story to the news media. Attempts to expel or censure Frank, led by members of the House Ethics Committee who included the charming Representative Larry Craig, failed. Frank initially decided not to seek reelection in 1990; however, he changed his mind & would win with 66 % of the vote. He won reelection in 2008 with 70% of the vote.


Frank resides in a studio apartment in Newton, Massachusetts & small apartment in DC. His boyfriend, Jim Ready, is a pot smoking surfer who lives in Maine. Last year, Ready nearly got Frank, in a bit of trouble when he got arrested for growing marijuana while Frank was in the house with him. He told off to a couple of Right Wing Christian ladies who were heckling Frank on a plane flight. My kind of boyfriend.

Barney Frank celebrates his 71st birthday today. Happy Birthday & thanks for fighting the good fight.

The Doctor Is Out

Is it embarrassing that I shared a crush with my mother? 50 years ago, my mother & I would settle in to watch Dr. Kildare. It aired on Thursdays at 8:30pm, a school night. I am not sure how I got away with that, but I enjoyed that thrill of dreamy Richard Chamberlain making my head spin, my heart thump & a pajamas stir… all in black & white on NBC.

Richard Chamberlain has had a 4 decades long career in film, stage, pop music & TV as well. Chamberlain co-founded a Los Angeles-based theatre group, Company of Angels, & in 1961, blue eyed & dreamy Chamberlain gained fame & the attention of 7 year gay boys as young heartthrob intern- Dr. Kildare. The show established the handsome Chamberlain as a romantic leading man, & made him an overnight sensation, & his pin-up status was solidified by his singing ability which led to several hit singles in the early 1960s. I owned his album- Richard Chamberlain Sings & I would listen to him warble The Theme From Dr. Kildare & Love Me Tender, while getting all moony over his cover shot.

Chamberlain appeared in some of the most widely seen projects in TV history: Shogun, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Centennial, & of course- The Thorn Birds. 110 million viewers watched the tale of Father de Bricassart’s doomed love for Meggie, the Australian sheep rancher, making The Thorn Birds among the highest rated mini-series ever.

Chamberlain’s cinema career consisted of an crazy mix of projects: The Madwoman of Chaillot, Ken Russell’s The Music Lovers, The Towering Inferno, The Swarm, The Three Musketeers & my favorite Chamberlain performance in Peter Weir’s The Last Wave (rent this film!).

Deeply closeted for most of his life, Chamberlain was outed by the French magazine Nous Deux in 1989, but it wasn’t until 2003, at the age of, ironically, 69, that he acknowledged his homosexuality in his memoir- Shattered Love (which is oddly a chapter title on my own memoir- Jockstraps & Vicodin: the Early Years).

Chamberlain has continued to work in TV: Will & Grace, Chuck, Nip/Tuck, Desperate Housewives, & as the HIV-positive love interest of Ron Rifkin. He starred on Broadway in a revival of My Fair Lady, in the title role of Ebenezer Scrooge in Scrooge: The Musical, & as King Arthur in Spamalot.

Last year, Chamberlain broke up with his partner of 40 years, hansome actor-writer-producer Martin Rabbett, with whom he shared a fabulous home in Hawaii since mid-1970s.

This year, in an interview in The Advocate, Chamberlain says : “I wouldn’t advise a gay leading man-type actor to come out. There’s still a tremendous amount of homophobia in our culture. For an actor to be working is a kind of miracle… so it’s just silly for a working actor to say, ‘Oh, I don’t care if anybody knows I’m gay’ — especially if you’re a leading man… Look at what happened in California with Proposition 8. Please, don’t pretend that we’re suddenly all wonderfully, blissfully accepted.” In an era when the President of the United States signs a bill repealing a law banning gay soldiers from serving openly in the military, Neil Patrick Harris plays a ladies man on a popular TV series & hosts awards shows, & Ellen is the #1 daytime star, Chamberlain’s words gave me just a little pause. Maybe the key is stay in the closet until you are too old for leading man roles, & hope that the publication of your memoir will give your career a boost.

After that little diatribe, I have to admit that I stood at the stage door after his potent performance as Richard II at The Seattle Repertory Theatre in 1971 & nearly fainted from his handsomeness & talent. I so wanted to show him my special appreciation when I was 17 years old… & I think I might still go for the chance. Maybe we could star together in gay versions The Gin Game & On Golden Pond. Chamberlain turns 77 today.

A Little Spin Around Post Apocalyptic Bohemia

I had an unexpected day off today: no obligations, no husband, no agenda, no automobile... just time alone in the house on a blustry spring day to read, Facebook, blog, nap, & cuddle with Junior. Sometimes don't you just desire some alone time & a rare chance to "just be"? 

Before

After

(You can click on any image to enlarge)

The Husband on the other hand, can hardly stay still. On his own day off with the house to himself, he reworked the front room & edited some of the collections. In the winter we use this room for the fireplace, in the summer we move to the back of the house to enjoy the back garden & The Boys' Fort. 

Below are some details from the mantle. More than a half decade ago, the Husband removed the original tiles surrounding the fireplace with the intention of replacing them with mirror tiles. I loved the resulting look so much that I had The Husband put off finishing it. He did silver leaf a corner. The fireplace & mantle have that Post Apocalyptic Bohemian look that I have a passion for. This part of the house seems to be part New Orleans shotgun shack & part Venice Palazzo's decaying sitting room.

The framed ExVotos are early 19th century Venetian, purchased at a favorite junk shop in Venice on our anniversary in 1991.

The crucifix is early 19th century Indian carved ivory, found in a NYC shop that sold goods from India. Also in this tableau are a hand beaded sea anemone (a wedding gift), a piece of coral, & a pencil that belonged to The Husband's sister who, in the beginning of the 1970s, passed away in her early 20s from diabetes.

Mantle details

The Husband collects boxes, possibly to balance my collection of orbs.

Details from one of the Husband's in process assemblages.

The ubiquitous shots of Junior.

I hope you enjoyed the tour. I hope you will come back soon. I feel bad that you didn't have time for a cocktail!

Jim Dine II - robes

This is the second of three consecutive posts on pop artist Jim Dine - for biographical notes on Dine see Part I below.
Over his career Jim Dine has produced many series of works focused on certain subject matter, tools, bathrobes and hearts amongst them. Dine began painting bathrobes in 1964; though some were titled or subtitled Self-Portrait. The bathrobe became a motif in his repertoire which he has returned to on many occasions, in prints as well as paintings. Though he claimed never to wear a bathrobe, nonetheless it is an article of collective faith that these are all, in a way, self-portraits.
Pictorially, Dine finds the motif convenient because, absent a human within protruding head and limbs, it neatly fits the rectangular limits of the supports he uses, be they paper, stretched canvas, or wood panel. Relatively flat as well, the bathrobe is an armature for the entire unfolding spectacle of his painterly and graphic invention, a design with which he has become increasingly familiar and adept, incrementally shedding its descriptive function until it stands alone as the thing itself, indivisible.

 1975 Black and White Bathrobe (lithograph)

 1983 Cooper Street Robe (woodcut)

 1984 The Robe Following Her

 1986 Atheism (litho)

 1988 Olympic Robe

 1992 Bill Clinton Robe

 1993 Yellow Robe (watercolours, woodcut)

 1995 Very Picante

 1996 Grey Sitting with Me

 2005 Black Ink Robe (lithograph)

 2006 Black Storm of Charcoal

 2007 July on the Palouse (woodcut)

 2007 Sonny Terry

 2008 A Sea of Blood

 2009 Green Rain

 Colored Dots (litho)

Harry Wales Watch

Fashion forward & wearing the bright orange waterproof suit is part of my secret boyfriend’s training for the Walking With The Wounded trek to the North Pole. My Ginger Lover will walk alongside injured servicemen during the first 5 days of the expedition. From there the team begins a 200-mile challenge to the magnetic North Pole. Harry will miss the actual trip to the pole because of his selfish brother’s stupid wedding thing.

Prince Harry, patron of the Walking With The Wounded charity, will sleep out on the ice & drag a 220lb sled in temperatures set to plummet to -5 degree temperature. Members of the expedition will be expected to carry a share of the cooking equipment, fuel for the stoves, tents & communications equipment. Each will need to take food, clothing & a personal kit.

It is hoped the Prince's involvement in the trek will help raise funds to help other injured servicemen & women find work, security & peace of mind.

The Prince: "It went up my nose. It had to be done."

On Occcasion Royalty Agrees With Me

I am an antagonistic anti-monarchist. With the Royal Wedding at hand, I am left to ask why the people of Britain maintain a Royal Family. It is nearly beyond my comprehension. Yet, here I am thinking about the exception:

Inspiration

The Husband & I have been doing Inspiration Walls in our seperate work areas since that late 1970s. We have also always had a joint Inspiration Wall... located, of course, on the fridge.

The Husband's Wall in his studio.

 & the current Inspiration Wall of your host.

Junior looks to the daddies for inspiration... tell me, where do you go to be inspired?

Born On This Day- March 28th... Cinema's Closet Case- Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde

The billboard outside the Odeon cinema, Leicester Square, said: "Michael Redgrave & Dirk Bogarde in The Sea Shall Not Have Them". Passing by, Noel Coward said: "I don't see why not. Everyone else has."

Dirk Bogarde was romantically linked to line of beautiful young actresses, but his interest was with men. Bogarde had first met fellow actor Anthony Forwood when they worked together in 1940. In the 1950s, Forwood divorced his wife- actress Glynis Johns, with whom he had a son, to move in with Bogarde & become his ‘manager’. The pair were inseparable until Forwood’s death from cancer in 1988. “They were closer than most married couples” recounts openly gay actor- John Fraser, who was working in the same era. “It was abundantly clear that their relationship was deep & strong, but there never the slightest inappropriate gesture between them. No brush of a hand, no touch of a shoulder. Even their conversation was guarded”. In the 1950s, when homosexuality was still a criminal offence, Bogarde & Forwood had good reason to be reticent about their relationship. Many homosexuals of the time were blackmailed, & Bogarde’s outing would undoubtedly have meant the end of his career.

John Frasier tells in his memoir- Close Up: An Actor Telling Tales: “I visited Bogarde at his loft where he greeted me on a high-revving static Harley-Davidson motorcycle while gazing at a poster of himself clad in crotch-hugging leather trousers as a Spanish bandit in the 1961 film- The Singer Not The Song.  Bogarde said : 'This is my playroom' & he rode for 10 minutes & his expression was like the rapture on the face of a medieval saint. Afterwards, he slumped over the handlebars. Dismounting, wiping sweat from his forehead, he said: 'Now you know'. It looked like a Narcissus fantasy come to life. Bogarde lived in a wonderland sustained by doting fans."

He played an embittered working class manservant in the homoerotic screen version of Harold Pinter's The Servant; a former Nazi SS officer caught up in a sado-masochistic relationship with a former inmate of his prison camp in The Night Porter; & a man dying of cholera who becomes obsessed with a beautiful youth in Death in Venice.



In a 1961 film- Victim. Bogarde plays a respectable married lawyer, who also happens to be gay. His character, Melville Farr, is being blackmailed & stands to lose everything. The film highlighted the pressures that gay men faced, including ruin, violence, self-hatred & suicide, because of  the criminalisation of homosexual acts. Victim became an important vehicle for changing the attitudes towards gay people in Britain in the 1960s, & is one the first films where the word homosexual was uttered.

Even after the threat of imprisonment was long over, Bogarde still refused to admit his relationship with Forwood. He claimed in interviews to be straight & to have had affairs with the French actress Capucine, & Judy Garland.

Bogarde wrote 7 volumes of memoirs without mentioning that he was gay or of Forwood. As a gay man who lived in the fear filled period when homosexuality was illegal & as a matinee idol whose adoring fans probably could not deal with their favorite actor being a poofster, Bogarde kept his private life very private. Nevertheless, by accepting roles in films like Victim, Death in Venice, & The Night Porter, Bogarde pushed the boundaries of what a star could be far further than many of his generation. & my, oh my…he sure was handsome!

In September 1996, he sufferd a pulmonary embolism following heart surgery. At the end of his life, Bogarde was paralyzed on one side of his body, which affected his speech & left him wheelchair bound. Still, he would finish a final volume of memoirs, that explored the stroke & its effect on him. He spent some time the day before he died with his good friend- Lauren Bacall. Bogarde died in London from a heart attack at 78 years old. He never came out of the closet, even after Lawrence Harvey & John Gielgud did reluctantly, & John Frasier & Ian McKellen did blazingly.