TAB: American Idol Taylor Hicks the target of "nasty homosexual lies." According to the Enquirer: "Inside Hollywood's Kodak Theatre, Taylor was freaking out that a 'queer smear' would rob him of victory. First, he blamed a fruity purple velvet jacket he wore. And he was told there were rumors about his sexuality all over the place.'" Not on my Gaydar.
Warsaw, Poland approves gay pride march and an anti-gay march set for June 10th.
The NYT previews Rufus Wainwright's upcoming re-creation of Judy Garland's Carnegie Hall concert on June 14th. Wainwright: "After 9/11, when we first were going to war and the state of things looked pretty dismal, I bought the rerelease [of the 1961 concert]. Somehow that album, no matter how dark things seemed, made everything brighten. She had this capacity to lighten the world through the innocence of her sound. Her anchor to the material was obviously through her devotion to music. You never feel that she didn't believe every word of every song she ever sang."
Eternal Sunset: Enjoy the sunset, live, from any location, anytime.
What's it like to spend all night in an Apple Store? "We spent twelve hours in the new Apple store, shopping, surfing the Web, fiddling with shiny new gadgets, craving sleep, trying to find out what kind of people shop for Airport Express Stations at 3:00 a.m., and generally overstaying our welcome."
JetBlue to offer high-speed internet on commercial flights.
"Cosmopolitan boutique hotel" for gay men to open in Buenos Aires.
Posted Jun. 5,2006 at 5:43 PM EST by Andy Towle in Argentina, Gay Pride, Music, Poland, Television, Travel | Permalink
I can think of nothing more nauseating than Rufus doing Garland. Eeeow!
Rufus doing Rufus is bad enough (he did, after all, kill Jeff Buckley).
Posted by: jjabely | Jun 5, 2006 6:27:37 PM
The straights can have Taylor Hicks and good luck to `em. I would be prepared however to make an offer for Chris Daughtry.
Posted by: Peter Rivendell | Jun 5, 2006 6:51:24 PM
While Wainwright's gall and ego dwarfs most everything they encounter, the ignorance of the NY Times writer is still worth a major bitch slap. My, how that once great paper has fallen. For the record, no pun intended, Garland did NOT die the night of the Stonewall Riots. Her funeral was held that day, June 27th, though, technically, as it began after midnight, the riot was on the 28th. And, she recorded more than a dozen albums [the NYT number] for Capitol alone.
While often spoken of in the same breath with others considered "camp," Garland was far too hardcore real for that, thus revealing the ignorance of both Wainwright and his interviewer. In fact, a 20-something skeptic, recently writing in "The Advocate" after reluctantly surrending to a friend's insistence he listen to the Carnegie Hall album, had become a new devotee; pronouncing her "punk" for the verocity with which she dominated the stage.
And, other than her immortal appearance in "The Wizard of Oz," and the amazing length of the first Palace Theater run when she briefly resurrected vaudeville type bills, no one who knows anything about her career, fan or not, disputes that the April '61 Carnegie Hall performance [she played there again in May of that year] was the pinnacle which, had she done nothing else before or after, would have made her a legend. Its recording is one of only 50 admitted to a special registry of great recordings by the Library of Congress.
Hate her, mock her, be indifferent, but get the facts right. And, rather than spending my money on tickets for the Rufus Goofus show, I'll be hoarding the new Judy US postage stamp, the second one she's appeared on.
Posted by: Leland | Jun 5, 2006 9:05:57 PM
When did Rufus "kill" Jeff Buckley? If you are referring to "Hallelujah," that is a Leonard Cohen song that both of them covered. And both had beautiful renditions. I'm just sayin'.
Posted by: Norman | Jun 6, 2006 12:27:54 AM
Norman, Norman, Norman. It was Goofus who pushed Buckley into that river - otherwise, Goofus wouldn't have a career.I thoght everyone knew that. :)
Posted by: jjabely | Jun 6, 2006 2:50:31 AM
Well said, Leland. Beautifully said.
I'd add only that the woman's genius was NOT in 'brightening'. When Garland became a song, it was sheer humanity: ugly, thrilling, hopeful, and pretty damn scary. But not cheery.
Posted by: Jacko | Jun 6, 2006 9:20:14 AM
Great to see a good Judy row after all these years. Judy! Judy! Judy! Love her. And that album is a masterpiece.
I must admit that I didn`t know that Rufus Whinewright was "responsible" for Jeff Buckley`s drowning! Perhaps he should take Taylor Hicks for a dip...
Posted by: Peter Rivendell | Jun 6, 2006 12:59:15 PM
Leland once again you are right, I caught many a mistake in the Times article, the date of her funeral being the most obvious. I too agree that most do not appreciate her whole body of work.
That said, I've seen Rufus Wainwright in concert many times, and I've admired his work, his cover of hallelujah is no where near Buckley's, but he has talent and I give him great credit for going public with his overcoming his Crystal Meth addiction. That took balls, as does his being openly gay, and I'm sure the record company was not too happy.
As for the stupid posts from JJABELY,they are not witty or funny at all. Just lame and sad. Anyone who would like to read about his death, can do so here. http://www.hotshotdigital.com/artist/jeff_buckley/tribute/
The only person with him at the time of his tragic death was his friend and fellow musician, Keith Foti.
Posted by: patrick nyc | Jun 6, 2006 7:07:37 PM
Since when did Rufus get such a bad rap? I rather like his romanticism in today's climate of po-faced Coldplay and Strokes (they're back!) knockoffs.
And - did any else LOVE Billy Preston? god rest in peace today.
Posted by: resurrect | Jun 6, 2006 10:05:06 PM
Since when did Rufus get such a bad rap? I rather like his romanticism in today's climate of po-faced Coldplay and Strokes (they're back!) knockoffs.
And - did any else LOVE Billy Preston? god rest in peace today.
Posted by: resurrect | Jun 6, 2006 10:08:09 PM
I love Rufus, and positively worship Judy - I can't wait for this concert. The man might have an oversized ego, but he certainly respects and loves Judy (there are many tributes to her hidden in his songs); he's also possessed of a fantastic set of pipes. Go Rufus - and if this gets anyone who doesn't already own it to buy a copy of Judy at Carnegie hall, so much the better.
Posted by: Squeezeweasel | Jun 11, 2006 1:48:50 PM
I think Taylor's kinda cute, actually.
Posted by: jayKayEss | Aug 19, 2006 1:24:45 PM