Covfefe

Miss Richfield 1981

Mon night I went to see Miss Richfield 1981 perform her new show "Cone of Silence" at the Blue Moon with Joe P.  It was fantastic!!

I've been a big fan of Miss Richfield 1981 since the 1st time I saw her, and always make a point of seeing her shows when she's in town.  Check out my previous posts and photos HERE, HERE, and HERE.  Her new show "Cone of Silence" is about taboo topics and feelings that people don't talk about.  In a hilarious way Miss Richfield 1981 encourages all to remove their cone of silence and go ahead and talk about those touchy subjects.

A selfie with Miss Richfield 1981 after her show!

Any drag comedienne can spend 6 months writing and memorizing a script for a 'funny' show.  But likely half or more of Miss Richfield's material is spontaneous due to her numerous interactions with the audience.  There's literally no way to prepare for that!  Yet she is constantly quick, clever, and side-splittingly funny.

Want to go see Miss Richfield 1981 yourself?  Check out her calendar HERE!

Not Myself

I just finished reading "I Am Not Myself These Days: A Memoir". A friend recommended it with the guarantee that I would love it.  She was right.

The book is about Josh who struggles to function at his advertising job during the day because he spends his night getting drunk in gay nightclubs dressed in drag, often getting home just in time to change clothes and go to work.  Josh's alter ego Aqua is known for her costumes which feature clear "breasts" filled with water and live goldfish.  As if his life isn't odd/stressful enough, Josh/Aqua begins dating Jack who is a escort.

Despite the words "a memoir" in the title, I assumed the book was fiction due to Agua's over-the-top drinking and outrageous behavior.  At the end I realized it was indeed a memoir, and that the sometimes sad and often hilarious events in the book were true.  It was a fun read that I would recommend.  Order the paperback, hardback, or Kindle version from Amazon.

Another thing I didn't realize until after finishing the book was that its author, Josh Kilmer-Purcell, about whom the story revolves, is the same Josh Kilmer-Purcell who is one of the Fabulous Beakman Boys.  What a different life he leads now!

Return of RuPaul's Drag Race

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited about the return of RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3) last night.

I have absolutely no interested in doing drag, but I do appreciate it for its humor, glamor, and general over-the-top point of view. Those queens who really work at it have elevated drag to an artform in my humble opinion. I think RuPaul is gorgeous, funny, and a very savvy businessperson.

So it was with some anticipation that I snuggled in at 9pm to watch the hour long casting episode. Dressed as a man, RuPaul introduced us to each of the 12 new contestants using video clips they submitted to the show as auditions.

Mixed between these were some of the entrants that did not make it onto the show, but were noteworthy in some way. And for the 1st time this year, RuPaul held an in-person open casting which we were privy to see. Also included this season were the videos of the guys trying out for the 'Pit Crew' positions, and I was a little surprised that 1 of the guys selected for the position has chest hair!

After the casting episode came the 1st episode of the new season. It began like the previous 2 season openers with the cast members entering the work room 1 by 1 and getting to know each other. Once all 12 had arrived, Ru showed up and explained there was a surprise awaiting them. The Pit Crew guys wheeled out a large box and out popped Shangela, the 1st drag queen eliminated from season 2. She explains later in the episode that she auditioned again, just like all the others, and was happy to have a 2nd chance. Ru also explains that not only do they have a larger number of queens competing this year, but that the size of the cash prize for the winner is also larger this year: $75,000. Additionally, the episodes are 90-minutes long this season.

The girls have a Christmas-themed photoshoot with legendary photographer and uber-hottie Mike Ruiz (right), then Ru takes the queens to a thrift store and explains that they are to create a holiday outfit ("Christmas Couture") using clothing and items from the thrift store and Christmas decorations they'll find back in the work room.

On the 'main stage' RuPaul is joined by Mike, Santino, Michelle Visage (Ru's old friend from her late-90s talk show 'The RuPaul Show'), and Bruce Villanch who seemed to have no purpose in the episode other than to be dressed as Santa. Ru introduces this week's special guest judge Vanessa Williams, who looked a little washed out but still amazingly beautiful.

The Christmas Couture fashion show begins and we are treated to/tormented by a wide variety of outfits, from cute-n-clever to hot mess. The 11 queens who are safe are identified, and Ru tells the final 2 (Venus D'Lite and Shangela) that they'll have to lipsync for their lives. I felt kind of bad for Shangela because she was the 1st girl to be eliminated from season 2, she auditions and makes it into season 3, but is in the bottom 2 and up for elimination after the very 1st challenge.

Venus and Shangela begin dancing and lipsyncing to Vanessa William's "The Right Stuff" (I love that song!) and everything seems normal at 1st. Then about 1/2 way through we see Venus pushing and shoving Shangela. In 1 of those cut-away testimonials Mimi Imfurst explains that "Venus started getting rough and used Shangela's lamp shade skirt as a weapon", which made me laugh out loud! The next thing you know Venus pulls her wig off by its decorated ponytail and swings it in the air, letting it fly to the back of the stage where the safe girls are staring in disbelief. Next Shangela's wig comes off, as well as her shoes. Then we see Shangela's paper lamp shade skirt being placed around her neck by Venus, along with more pushing and shoving. I notice that Shangela is still lipsyncing as if her life literally depended on it, while Venus seems more intent on beating up Shangela than lipsyncing. There was a desperate quality to Venus' behavior that was both sad and entertaining at the same time. It was the hottest of messes!

At the end of the song/brawl RuPaul admits that what she's witnessed here has made her uncomfortable. She says she expects her girls to out-perform each other, not out-gun each other. Apparently due to her bad conduct Venus is told to "Sachet away" and Shangela is safe to compete again next week.
I noticed in this episode that RuPaul used a good bit more street slang which thrilled me to no end! I love it when she gets a little 'ghetto' and ends a sentence with "Oh-kuy?" (rhymes with oh-guy).

Immediately following episode 1 was the 'Untucked' show where we are treated to much of the 'behind-the-seams' drama and dishing that took place, especially in the interior illusions lounge.

All in all it was a fabulous 3-hour extravaganza full of glitz, glamor, and spirit gum!

Friday fragments

Welcome to Friday fragments, my weekly recap of topics too big to forget, yet too small to be their own post.

Today's arts and crafts assignment at the old folks home: make a replica of something you love but haven't seen in years.
For years I have avoided sushi. Its not that I tried it and didn't like it. I always seemed to find a hundred other things on menus that sounded better than sushi. A few months ago I decided to try some to see what I'd been missing. I'm still not willing to try sashimi, but I have tried and enjoyed several sushi rolls. My friends Liz & Robert introduced me to the act of mixing some wasabi into your dish of soy sauce and then dipping your sushi rolls into the mixture. Yum!! We have 2 restaurants nearby that serve good, fresh sushi. I'm expanding my culinary horizons.

Speaking of sushi, that's what I ate last night at the birthday dinner for our friends Jason and PW at Tokyo restaurant. Tokyo is one of those hibachi places where the chef cooks the meat, rice, and veggies in front of you on a hot griddle while entertaining the diners with his antics. Rather than having the meat, rice, and veggies, I opted for sushi which I really enjoyed. The chef was a lot of fun and all 17 of us had a great time.

After the birthday dinner, Bryan & Jason, Vince, Kevin, and Spouse & I went to karaoke hosted by a drag queen named Mona Lott. It was great fun, and it got me to thinking about old school drag queen names. By 'old school' I mean drag queen names that are funny and kind of double entendres like Mona Lott, Bertha Venation, and Iona Trailer. THOSE are drag queen names!! I'm rather unimpressed by the 'new school' drag queens whose names sound like soap opera characters instead of drag queens. Dominique Devereaux, Rachel St Claire, and Miranda Michaels sound like they're trying too hard.

Yesterday I wrote about my neighbor Spencer's house ('cabin') being demolished and I wrote that I thought the cabin was 60-70 years old. This morning I saw one of my other neighbors who grew up in this neighborhood. She told me that Spencer's father purchased the cabin in 1969 and had it moved to the lot across from me. When the beach front land was being sold to developers, the existing cabins residing on that land were offered to locals for free, with the stipulation that they had to be moved off the land. So Spencer's father had the cabin moved from the beach and added on the back porch, which later got enclosed.

I recently learned that some of my gay male friends were big football fans and were looking forward to the upcoming football season. After coming across this photo... I can see why football interests them so much! Just kidding... happy Friday everyone!

Crush du Jour: Ross Thomas

Its International Drag Day!

That's right - today is International Drag Day!!

Let it be a chance to celebrate one of the most iconic areas a gay culture and life!

So why not celebrate by 'dragging' yourself up, or by going to support local drag acts in your community.

I'm taking today as an opportunity to pay tribute to some of my favorite drag performers below, in no particular order.

Christopher Peterson

RuPaul

Charles Bush

Miss Coco Peru

Divine

Charles Pierce


Crush du Jour: Paulo Quevedo

Party hearty

I found this article to be quite interesting.

The owner of the Chicago gay bar Cocktail prohibits bacherlorette parties in this club. He says that although this causes him to lose money, he feels its important enough not to have these soon-to-be-brides flaunting their upcoming nuptials in the faces of his patrons who can not marry.

I give him credit for risking a financial loss for the sake of his principles, something most businesses can't afford to do these days.

Down the block from Cocktail is Circuit, a gay bar that not only welcomes bachelorettes, it goes out of the way to actually advertise its Sat night go-go boy show to bachelorette parties. Circuit's owner says banning bachelorette parties doesn't accomplish Cocktail's purpose of educating heteros about gay's inability to marry, so he welcomes the brides-to-be. Personally, I don't like this because it seems like a 'sell out' to the heteros, and also because I find it annoying when bachelorette parties invade my space.

Then, perhaps somewhere in the middle of these, is Washington DC's Town Danceboutique. When bachelorette partiers enter Town they are asked to sign a petition in support of gay marriage, which Owner Ed Bailey sends to the customer's representative in Congress. Bailey claims he's never had anyone refuse to sign.

Now, that's pretty clever!

But as a gay man, I get really annoyed by drunken hetero females hanging out in gay clubs. Yeah, gay clubs may have the best music, the best drag shows, and provide females with a place to 'let loose' without fear of being groped by hetero men, but that is NOT their purpose. Their purpose is to provide a safe and fun place for gays to hang out and be entertained, without fear of being bashed by heteros.

I have nothing against heteros (hell, my parents are heteros!) but sometimes its just nice to hang out with folks 'like me'.

Which of the three approaches above makes the most sense to you?

Crush du Jour: Szabi

Tuesday tidbits

Its snowing today, but its a little too warm for it to stick. Our street, yard, and cars are mostly just wet, with a few white patches on them. The forecast is not calling for any accumulation.

My sinuses are bothering me again, although Spouse keeps telling me I have a cold. I think he's just saying that as an excuse for me not to hug and kiss on him. My sinus cavities feel like they've been filled with cement. I took the last of my over-the-counter sinus meds last night before bed. To avoid having to go out in the sloppy weather today to get more, I've talked Spouse into stopping on his way home from work for me.

I weighed in this morning, and it was NOT good. I gained 2 lbs. Ugh. I'm not surprised at all, as I really lost control over the weekend. Fri night we had dinner with 'the usual suspects' and my meal came with french fries, all of which I ate. Sat we went out to lunch with our weekend visitors and my sandwich came with french fries, all of which I ate. Sat night we went out to dinner and my chicken entree came with french fries, all of which I ate. Sun after the Plunge we went out to lunch with our visitors and my sandwich came with french fries, all of which I ate. In case you've lost count, and who could blame you if you did, I ate french fries 4 times in 3 days. I knew it was bad but I did it anyway. That's the part I don't understand.
So who else caught last night's premier of "RuPaul's Drag Race" on Logo and LOVED IT like me? I have been a fan of RuPaul since day one, and even enjoyed Ru's TV show on MTV back in the late 90s, but to be honest, I did not have high hopes for Ru's new show. I was afraid it was going to be yet another attempt to cash in on the 'reality' show trend. But last night's premier of Drag Race was actually good! The contestants weren't quite as fabulous as I was hoping. Most seemed more bitter than bitchy, but I am totally in love with Tammie Brown, the Bette Davis look-alike. As usual, Ru cracked me up with all her funny phrases, like "Its gettin' severe up in here" and "I’ve consulted with the judges, my lawyer and housekeeper”. I'm tellin' you, Ru is the best!!!

If you missed last night's premier, I'm sure Logo will be re-running it 78 more times this week, as they do all their other series. You can also watch the entire episode online here. Or, better yet, read David Dust's hilarious recap of the show!

Crush du Jour: Josh Ohl