Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Not a lot of matches were completed at Wimbledon today, but not even the endless rain delays could save defending women's champion Amelie Mauresmo from losing to teen sensation Nicole Vaidisova in the round of 16  The French woman fell 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1 as rain continued to wreak havoc at the All England Club. Nothing against Vaidisova -- she's exciting to watch-- but the more I see and hear from Mauresmo the more I like her. She looks so big and intimidating looking but seems to be a humble and highly sensitive woman in interviews, something that's great to see in the ego-charged world of professional sports.

Meanwhile, a resurgent Juan Carlos Ferrero, the 2003 French Open champion, was able to complete his round of 16 match beating Janko Tipsarevic, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6 (5), to advance to his first Wimbledon quarterfinals. He will next face four-time defending champion Roger Federer. You may recall Ferrero upset American hottie James Blake earlier in the tournament, a great effort from the Spanish clay-court specialist.

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Expert in "Boy Culture"

The gay-hustler classic "Boy Culture" hit bookshelves more than a decade ago, then became a major motion picture earlier this year with a DVD release set for Aug. 14. Towleroad special guest blogger Kenneth Walsh caught up with the novel's author, Matthew Rettenmund. to see how he felt about watching his baby "Boy" blossom into adulthood:

Congrats on all the success of "Boy Culture." Wasn't your book originally your college thesis project ? Thanks. Yes, "Boy" has been around so long it would be a "Man" by now. I originally wrote it at 19 as a short story I needed to submit to be considered for Richard Stern's course at the University of Chicago, in 1989. I'd gone to the school naively thinking that since it was in a big city, it would be this perfect place to finally be openly gay and meet other people like me. While I did meet a few people like me, very few of them were gay; my gay experiences, social and sexual, often (though not always) took place off-campus. The separation between the staid university and the more festive Boys' Town was fascinating to me -- it was intimidating to go back and forth from academia to more personal interactions, and of course the threat of HIV and other diseases added to the stress. When I wrote "Straight Story," I did it overnight and in character as a guy with the kind of ruthless gay ego I sometimes cynically thought was required for survival in the dawg-eat-dawg world of white, gay male society. It got me into the class and pretty much freaked out some of my peers, especially when it was published by a roommate of mine in a school literary journal. I eventually turned it into a novella, which became my senior thesis. It wasn't until I'd graduated and moved to New York, when I was working in publishing, that I expanded it into a full novel and retitled it "Boy Culture." Its publication was something of which I'm very proud, but the fact that the novel has remained in print for over a decade is even more satisfying.

Tell the readers about the evolution of your book into a film: The movie part was something I'd never dreamed would happen, so when Philip Pierce optioned the book, I didn't presume that meant it would actually become a feature film. My past working for a literary agent had exposed me to the roller coaster that is Hollywood. But I always liked Philip and was honored that he respected me and my work so deeply -- he always wanted my opinions throughout the lengthy (eight years) process and genuinely cared when I was not happy about anything at all -- so I knew that come what may, I would not be disappointed. There were years when nothing happened on my radar except e-mail exchanges about dream casts (Josh Hartnett, Paul Walker, Adam Garcia ... the list went on), but Philip was actually working with Victor Simpkins (who produced "Swingers") and later with Stephen Israel to raise money and to hammer out a top-notch script. Philip worked on the script himself, and when they brought in Q. Allan Brocka ("Eating Out"), he and Allan co-wrote it. I knew zero about Allan, nor did I have a clue he intended to change the race of one character (or why), I just knew they'd brought him on. Then, after so much waiting, the movie was filmed at what seemed to me like a moment's notice in Seattle. I was invited to the set but couldn't even get out there in time. And then that was it, it had been made.

How did you feel about the outcome of the film? I have very positive feelings about "Boy Culture," the movie. I think Allan's direction was assured and brought a lot to the story. I wound up very pleased with the risk he took in making the movie more directly inclusive of the black gay community. I feel my original story simply criticizes the white gay community for being more insular than it would like to believe, while Allan's approach was to do something about it. His and Philip's writing is smart and funny, and I don't know how much more faithful they could have been to the spirit of my novel without hiring Vanessa Redgrave to sit there and read the entire thing aloud.

The DVD of "Boy Culture" is coming out Aug. 14h. Are there any special bonus features fans can look forward to? Special features on the DVD include deleted scenes (including a food fight at the wedding that caused focus groups to lose focus), interviews with all the stars including Patrick Bauchau (who wasn't available to promote the film when it was released) and footage from the TriBeCa premiere party. I'll be especially interested in seeing the latter since it was shot in my apartment!

What's next for Matt Rettenmund? I'm working on several different projects, some that would specifically appeal to a gay audience and some that wouldn't. The important thing for me is to find time to devote to writing -- I've never had writer's block, have never stopped having ideas. My major issue is time. I wish they'd stop worrying about space travel so much and get to work on curing the need for sleep.

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News: Paris Fashion Week, Beverly Sills, Scooter Walks, Mika Talks

Rounding up men's fashion week in Paris. Ooh la la!

LGBT Rights: Laws involving the rights of gays, lesbians and transsexuals went into effect July 1 in Iowa, Vermont and Colorado. Iowa becomes the latest state to protect LGBT citizens in employment, housing and public accommodations.The the law gives the state's civil rights commission the power to investigate complaints of discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Nice Pants: This year’s Breakfast at Wimbledon will be Bud Collins’s last at NBC. Collins, a 78-year-old sports writer and television personality, will not have his contract renewed by the network, making this his 35th and final Wimbledon with NBC. "So I had 35 great years with them," Collins said Monday at the All England Club. "I have no complaints about them, but I hope to stay in tennis. I’m not retiring; too young to retire." Bud's post-match interviews with Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova were always one of the best parts of NBC's Wimbledon coverage. I'll miss him -- and Chris will miss the pants.

Death of a Diva: Beverly Sills, the acclaimed Brooklyn-born coloratura soprano who was more popular with the American public than any opera singer since Enrico Caruso, even among people who never set foot in an opera house, died Monday night at her home in Manhattan. She was 78. I grew up watching her on "The Carol Burnett Show" as a kid in Madison Heights, Michigan, and then came to realize what a New York institution she was once I moved here. She will be missed.

King George: President Bush flips off the Judicial Branch once again by letting Scooter Libby do the crime without serving the time. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada called the commutation "disgraceful" and had this to say: "Libby’s conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq War. Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone."

My friend Danny Casillas -- aka Frieda Laye of Chico’s Angels -- on the true meaning of gay pride parades.

Media Darling: GayCities caught up with Andy for a ride on the Towle Road around P-Town. 

Party Crasher: After his partner criticized the Democratic National Committee for not doing enough on gay issues, Donald Hitchcock lost his job as the group's director of fundraising from gay donors. Coincidence? Hitchcock thinks not. He sued the DNC, chairman Howard Dean, and two others this May -- and speaks to the media for the first time in an exclusive interview with The Advocate.

Tennis Talk: Andre Agassi wants to know if you're radical enough while Jim Courier wants to see what you've got.

Summer Reading: AfterElton has the skinny on two exciting gay teen novels, a new gay mystery, and a comedy about two gay men switching bodies.

Arjan has more with Mika + a free MP3.

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TV Preview: "Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple In All the World"

Last night I watched the pilot episode of Logo's new animated series "Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple In All the World," which premieres Tuesday, July 10 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

Set in the gay mecca of West Lahunga Beach, the story revolves around fem Filipino Rick and his himbo boyfriend Steve and their interactions with two other couples, Chuck and Evan (the AIDS patient daddy and his twink boyfriend) and fem Kirsten and her bull dyke lover Dana. Voices are provided by a number of well-known performers, including Laraine Newman, Peter Paige (Emmett on "Queer as Folk"), Alan Cumming, Wilson Cruz (Ricky on "My So-Called Life") and Margaret Cho.

The show skewers all aspects of "gay life" -- lesbians driving pickup trucks, lesbians hating men, gay guys cruising bathrooms, gay guys being obsessed with the gym, you know the drill -- and features later-generation Fisher-Price-like characters saying some pretty outrageous things -- "My AIDS is really acting up" and "It's my fault (we can't get a threeway going) for being Asian" -- that have sparked comparisons to "Avenue Q." Politically incorrect humor is greatly appreciated over at my house, but it really has to be, um, really funny to work. I smiled a couple of times during the Episode One (smiled, not laughed) and will probably check out the second one. But just having animated characters (or puppets) say or do adults things isn't going to be enough to make this show work. Let's hope the show's mastermind, Q. Allan Brocka, who brought us the enjoyable films "Eating Out" and "Boy Culture," has another trick up his sleeve. FYI: You can watch some preview clips here.

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Sexiest Man Alive or Homeless Freak?

I never really "got" Matthew McConaughey in the first place. But this photo of him with fellow beachgoer Woody Harrelson at the wrap party for the shirtless wonder's new film "Surfer Dude" in Malibu on Saturday is bordering on downright scary.(People)

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