Towleroad Guide to the Tube #1285

THE TAILLESS WHIP SCORPION: No, thank you.

JOHNNY MARR: "Upstarts", from the former Smiths guitarist.

SHEMAR MOORE: Showing off his abs on Anderson Live.

MARRIAGE NEWS WATCH: AFER's Matt Baume with the lates on Rhode Island, Illinois, Colorado, Hawaii, and Nevada.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

News: Lance Armstrong, Facebook Graph, Lena Dunham, Beards

NYPD to track prescription pill bottles with GPS devices.

Facebook introduces tool that filters its social graph, dubbed Graph Search.

Lance tells Oprah: I doped.

Focus on the Family President Jim Daly: Homosexuality not a "super sin". "It's one of many, including adultery — other things — lying, cheating, gossiping; it's right there in the list."

Lady Gaga unveils 'Born Brave Bus' in Tacoma: "Gaga personally attended a pre-concert tailgate to christen the bus, which was covered in artwork by her Little Monsters, and is part of her Born This Way Foundation's larger campaign to build a sense of community and promote self-acceptance amongst her fans, including providing them with access to mental health services, school psychologists, volunteer opportunities and bullying and suicide prevention resources."

...Causes outrage with machine gun bra.

Zack Snyder to make new Star Wars film outside of the new trilogy?

YouTube prankster arrested for giving people wedgies.

Gay-bashing Texas woman dies: "Wanda Derby, the 72-year-old Richland Hills woman charged with assaulting her gay neighbor, has died...Derby was indicted Sept. 14 for beating and choking her gay neighbor Lloyd Guerrero with a cane while yelling 'faggot' in March. The case was presented as a felony, but the grand jury returned the case as a class-A misdemeanor. She was also charged with another assault for hitting Guerrero's mother when she tried to intervene."

UK: Lesbian murders lover with ornamental swan.

Howard Kurtz, the Washington bureau chief for The Daily Beast, helped kill story on out news anchors reportedly because it contained information about then-closeted Anderson Cooper.

Researchers: Healthy diets don't matter if you're over 75.

Lena Dunham unloads in Interview magazine.

VIDEO: Nicki Minaj talks to Ellen about her feud with Mariah Carey.

Girly beards.

Out lesbian sworn in as Oregon House Speaker: "Tina Kotek (D-Portland) today became the first out lesbian to lead a state legislative chamber in U.S. history when she was sworn in as speaker of the Oregon House of Representatives.  Former Governor Barbara Roberts, Oregon's only female governor, presided over the swearing-in ceremony."

Utah library returns book about gay moms to shelf: "The ACLU filed suit in November, and now the school has come to its senses and returned the book to general circulation. In a letter explaining the decision, the district's assistant superintendent, Pamela Park, explains that a committee actually had positive things to say about In Our Mothers' House, including that it will help prevent bullying."

HuffPost interviews out Alabama lawmaker Patricia Todd about the challenges of LGBT rights in her state: "Todd, a Democrat who joined the legislature in 2006, is Alabama's first out lawmaker. Nearly all of the bills she has worked on have had nothing to do with her sexual orientation. But earlier this month, she introduced a bill she said she hopes will be the first of many that could change life for gay, lesbian and bisexual Alabamans. The bill would invalidate the state's sex-education policy, which requires teachers to emphasize that 'homosexuality is not a lifestyle acceptable to the general public and that homosexual conduct is a criminal offense under the laws of the state.'"

Marriage Equality Bill to be Introduced in Minnesota This Week

As we noted in December, Minnesota lawmakers plan to introduce a marriage equality bill this week.

Via Marriage Equality Minnesota's Facebook page:

In 2008, Marriage Equality Minnesota's marriage equality bill, "The Marriage and Family Protection Act", was introduced in both houses of the legislature. This was the first such introduction in the State's history. This week, "The Marriage and Family Protection Act" will be introduced for the fourth time. Senator, John Marty and Representative, Alice Hausman are carrying the bill. Please contact your senators and representatives and urge them to support the early passage of "The Marriage and Family Protection Act" so we can finally have marriage equality in Minnesota. The Governor has already stated that he will sign a marriage equality bill.

'The Other Place' Starring Laurie Metcalf Opens On Broadway: REVIEW

BY NAVEEN KUMAR

Among the most arresting moments in Joe Mantello's superb production of Sharr White's The Other Place, which opened on Broadway last week at Manhattan Theatre Club's Samuel J. Friedman theatre, are those that dramatize sudden shocks to the system—like a stomach plunging through the floor, a heart skipping a beat, or the prickly heat that courses through the body after a terrifying realization.

White's psychological drama stars Laurie Metcalf in a magnetic and wrenching performance as Juliana Smithton, a neuroscientist who has developed a drug that may lead to a major breakthrough in brain cancer treatment. As the play begins, Metcalf's character recounts the experience of a strange mental episode she suffered while delivering a routine lecture at a medical conference in the Virgin Islands.

A commanding orator accustomed to addressing large roomfuls of doctors, Metcalf's Juliana inspires the sort of objective certainty duly associated with successful scientists. The lecture in question seems no different at first, but her indelible self-possession is rattled by the appearance of a young woman in a yellow bikini sitting among the buttoned-up docs. Her preoccupation with this anomalous, scantily clad visitor leads Juliana to make a number of stray remarks before she's ultimately rendered speechless.

Juliana's retelling of the bizarre incident is interspersed with scenes of her ensuing visits to a young female doctor, as well as conversations in her troubled marriage to a respected oncologist (Daniel Stern).  Back in her hotel room after the lecture, there is also a phone call to her long-estranged daughter, with whom she and her husband lost contact many years ago. Metcalf's talented off-stage daughter, Zoe Perry, plays her daughter on stage, in addition to the young doctor, and a third character near the play's conclusion.

Under Mantello's smooth and intelligent direction, White's carefully assembled mystery of a troubled mind unravels seamlessly. Punctuated by unnerving moments of revelation, the production imagines the chilling experience of losing a grip on one's identity and basic understanding of the world. The play opens up into a rabbit hole of sorts, in which assumption becomes slippery and emotions easily overwhelming.

Slick and imaginative visual elements, including a collage-like floating assembly of wooden frames, beautiful projection and lighting design, are integral to the production's propulsive storytelling.

MTC's production of The Other Place follows the play's world premiere Off Broadway at Manhattan Class Company (MCC) in 2011. Metcalf earned both an Obie and Lucille Lortel Award for her acclaimed performance in the Off Broadway run, also directed by Mantello.

The Other Place continues performances on Broadway through February 2^nd at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. 

Recent theatre features...
Rob Ashford Takes on 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof' on Broadway: INTERVIEW
Pulitzer Prize Winner 'Water By The Spoonful' Opens Off-Broadway: REVIEW
Amy Herzog's 'The Great God Pan' Opens Off-Broadway: REVIEW
What Rhymes with America Opens Off-Broadway: REVIEW
Stephanie J. Block Is Broadway's Latest Leading Man: INTERVIEW

Follow Naveen Kumar on Twitter: @Mr_NaveenKumar.

Honey Boo Boo's Uncle Poodle Says He is HIV-Positive, Pressed Charges Against Boyfriend

Lee Thompson (aka Honey Boo Boo's Uncle Poodle), reveals he is HIV-positive in an interview with Atlanta's gay magazine Fenuxe:

Dino: Lee, when did you find out about your HIV status?

Lee: I was adamant about getting my HIV status checked on a regular basis. On March 16, 2012, I tested negative. Then, in May of 2012 my test results came back positive. I knew it had been my boyfriend who infected me. I later learned he had been HIV positive and was not taking medication and had not bothered to tell me about it. I was advised that I should press charges and, hesitantly, I did. It was the right thing to do.

Dino: What happened to your ex?

Lee: He is serving a 5-year sentence. I would have been cool with his HIV status if he had been honest. I don’t have an issue with the disease. I would have known how to protect myself.

Dino: What is your message to folks having unsafe sex?

Lee: They are damn fools! They are playing Russian roulette; they are playing with their lives and that of their sexual partners.

Previously...
The Tao Of Uncle Poodle: Honey Boo Boo's Kinsman Speaks Out [tlrd]
A Pro-Gay Message from Honey Boo Boo: VIDEO [tlrd]

Rhode Island House Panel to Hear Testimony on Same-Sex Marriage Bill Today

Things are heating up on marriage equality in Rhode Island:

The House Judiciary Committee is set to hear testimony from supporters and opponents on Tuesday. If earlier hearings are any indication, it's likely to be a long, contentious day filled with protest signs, tears and sometimes bitter arguments over one of our culture's most basic institutions.

Sylvia DeLuca, of North Kingstown, tears up when she talks about how her daughter Louisa had to travel to Massachusetts to get married when her two brothers were allowed to do so wherever they wanted.

"They're being regarded as inferior human beings," said DeLuca, 71, who plans to travel to the Statehouse for Tuesday's public hearing with her husband of 52 years, Anthony DeLuca. "She is as perfect a human being as her brothers are."

Meanwhile, NOM posted a heinous, virulently anti-gay video on their new website opposing marriage equality in the state, and then took it down after attention was drawn to it. All the details are HERE.