The Gayest Show On Earth

Yesterday, David Dust did a pictorial editorial about the Tony Awards. I was too consumed with amazement at Miss Ginger Grant's prowess in raising funds for Legacy at Miss Ginger's Roundup. So in the spirit of David Dust, here is my commentary on the 2009 Tony Awards.

I have always said that if the Academy Awards are The Gay Superbowl then the Tony Awards are The Gay World Series. The Tony's have always had a gay tinge to them but there was a turning point a few years ago when Tony came out of the closet. I think someone kissed his partner on air or publicly thanked his partner or something like that. And then of course there was the year Hugh Jackman performed a number from The Boy From Oz and totally camped it up for our viewing pleasure.

And it didn't hurt that in the past they have hired Mr. Eye Candy "I'm Not Gay And My Wife Will Tell You So" Jackman to host. And even though the Tony's came out of the closet a few years ago, this was the year the closet door and the hinges were demolished. No one is complaining.

I watched the Tony's with Running My Mass Off, her husband and her father. It was a wonderful time and we all had our opinions on the nominations and winners. We did concur that the sound sucked!

It wasn't until the next day that I realized Bret Michaels missed his mark and got hit on the nose when the set was descending. He definitely kept his sense of humor and added credibility to the fact that this is The Gayest Show On Earth. From People.com:

"Bret Michaels may have broken his nose and busted his lip during a scenery-related malfunction at the Tonys on Sunday – but the Poison frontman and Rock of Love star left with his sense of humor intact.

"He told me, 'All I remember is Shrek and the donkey helping me up, and Liza [Minnelli] giving me a towel,'" says his rep, Joann Mignano. "And Bret was laughing when he heard [Tonys host] Neil Patrick Harris said he gave new meaning to 'headbanging.' "

The evening was filled not only with gays but with gay icons, some eye candy for the gays, and fashionistas but before I get to that...

In a more serious matter, a tribute was paid to those who have died and helped make Broadway what it is. Bebe Newirth introduced the tribute and it started with Natasha Richardson.

AP Photo

Even though this is how it ended, I think this sums up the whole show!

Reuters Photo

(All of the following photos are from Getty Images.)

I don't understand why the gave Liza so much airtime. Here she is:
And here she is again!

I'll let the rest of these photos speak for themselves!

Losing My Mind

On Friday, I was having a hellacious day at work and had to hand-deliver a proposal and then get to FEDEX to make sure collateral material for another proposal got shipped out.

To get this done I gambled and jumped on a freeway...in Houston...on a beautiful Friday afternoon. I can hear the murmurs right now, "What were YOU thinkin'?" I was hoping to get the errands completed so that I could eat lunch at 4:00p.m..

So while I'm stuck in traffic, I'm listening to cds and not really paying attention because I'm thinking how much I hate Fridays. It seems that all hell breaks loose at work on Friday and today was no different. And I'm thinking I'm losing my mind and guess what? Losing My Mind starts to play! Is this God's way of saying, "You're losing your mind." And if so, I thought God would strike me with a bolt of lightning to get my attention. Who knew He would send me a message through a cd player and the message would be delivered by Liza Minnelli and The Pet Shop Boys? I must ask once again, "Who knew?"

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 14.0

Blah
That's how I feel this week.

The week got off to a rough start and it has zapped my energy. A couple of friends have had some things happen within their family and it has really put me down in the dumps. All I can really do is keep them in my thoughts and prayers.

Calvin hasn't been feeling too good. He is on the rebound but I feel like I'm constantly watching him to make sure he is OK.

I'm VERY frustrated with this job search.

I've had some bad runs this week and haven't been working out.

And I'm humming this!



and this is how I feel!



BTW. Pet Shop Boys produced this song for Liza. When PSB did their own recording they put in a maniacal laugh in it. When Liza recorded it she didn't want to include the laugh. Interesting huh?

Squirrel
On Tuesday, I posted a pic of a dead squirrel in conjunction with birthday greetings to KIM. Well, here's the rest of the story.

First of all, I thought KIM's birthday was later in the month but his Facebook profile said his birthday was on Tuesday. So, figuring that I had lost more of my memory I assumed that Facebook was correct since KIM created his own profile. Turns out KIM's birthday is on the 25th.

Now about the squirrel. A few months ago The Calvinator and I were out for a noon day stroll and we found a dead squirrel just laying in the grass. It didn't have any tire marks on it but maybe it got hit by a car, made its way over to the grass and then died. Maybe, as suggested by by Free Flow it died of natural causes.

And why did The Calvinator want to give this present to KIM? Well, KIM has an ongoing battle with squirrels at his swankienda in East River Oaks (ERO). I'm sure the ERO squirrels are having a blowout party while KIM is in Italia.

Mr. & Miss Mint Julep
Don't forget! Kaye Sedilla makes her final appearance at this event on Sunday. A rumor is circulating about the diva. I will ask her about it when I see her this weekend. Check this blog on Monday for more details.

Reality TV

Many of you know that I'm hooked on reality shows. This has been a good week to feed my addiction.

Big Brother premiered on Sunday and Project Runway premiered last night.

For the first time since season 3, Big Brother has decided to return to its roots and has put contestants in the house who don't know each other. Although viewership is down from previous seasons, I will say that I'm liking this season already. Good eye candy and they've already booted out the self-proclaimed puppet master. There is a quirky lady from New Orleans (is that an oxymoron?) that could be fun if she can calm it down and not be so annoying.

I was bit bored with the designs from the contestants on Project Runway. This was their first challenge and several of them used table clothes for their dresses. Creative? I think not.

Kelli won the challenge mainly because she used some creative techniques on the materials purchased at the grocery store.

Jerry lost because he had an awful creation. Yes. It looked like something from a horror movie when the ax murderer has escaped from the insane asylum and is chasing you.

Let's hope they get a bit more creative with their designs.

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 13.1

World AIDS Day Houston 2008

The first meeting to start making plans for World AIDS Day Houston 2008 will take place tomorrow (June 17). The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. and will be held at Montrose Counseling Center (401 Branard Street, Houston, TX 77006). If you are interested in helping make plans for December 1, please attend or get in touch with me. Bring your ideas and suggestions

Tony Awards

OMG! Patti LuPone (La LuPone as I like to call her) cracks me up! I am so glad that she won for her role as Mama Rose. The reviews that I have read say that she knocks the socks off of you. Her intensity last night in Everything's Coming Up Roses made me ooze just thinking about what she must do with Rose's Turn.

photo: Jeff Christensen AP

What had me laughing though was when she wouldn't shut up! LOL Sort of like Elaine Stritch a few years ago. La LuPone said that she had waited all of these years to finish thanking people. You see...

Her only other Tony (hard to believe she only won one other time) was for Evita in 1980.

It was great to see the original cast from RENT. I need to do some research but I'm sure all of them were in the show when I first saw it on Broadway. Watching them perform put a lump in my throat. The enthusiasm of Laura Benanti for her winning an award for her role in Gypsy also put a lump in my throat. I just love live television!

photo: Jeff Christensen AP

Speaking of live television...Did anyone else see the stagehand run out and pick up Stew's microphone? You see...

At the beginning of the performance for Passing Strange, Stew was jumping up and down. He isn't light on his feet and the vibration made the microphone fall off of the stand. I wondered if Stew was going to pick it up but instead a stagehand ran out and put it back on the stand.

And I really liked the comic relief that Whoopi brought to the awards. I think she needs to be put on the rotation for hosting the show. They haven't had a real host since Hugh Jackman.

photo: Jeff Christensen AP

It was fun watching the show and emailing and texting Running My Mass Off. We had comments on everything!

OK...last night in the production number for Xanadu, Cheyenne Jackson was wearing Daisy Dukes and not knee length cut-offs. Running My Mass Off took notice of his legs. I thought I had nice legs until I saw him. Guess I'll start wearing Clam Diggers.

And just for laughs, they rolled out Liza. Poor thing. Seriously though, I'm glad she was able to walk out on her own.

photo: Jeff Christensen AP

For a list of all of the winners, click here.

Conversation
This is how my day started at 5:45 a.m.

Me: Hold on. I need to tighten up my shorts. They're falling.

Running buddy: How old are they? They look new.

Me: I bought them after Tropical Storm Allison. Jerry at RunSport had placed an order for a track team and part of the shipment got damaged so he had them on sale.

Running buddy: So the elastic is all stretched out.

Me: You could have said, 'You've lost some weight, guess that's why they're loose.'

Running buddy: LOL

Me: Thanx

Yesterday I was still feeling a bit caddywampus when I woke up. I did make it to the park for a run but then I couldn't find my keys. I had the little clicker thing but I didn't have the actual key chain (I always carry the clicker thing with me when I run but leave keys in the car). I tore up the car looking for the keys, went to the Tennis Center to see if anyone had turned them in, went back to the car and finally found them.

I decided to clean up there at the Tennis Center and when I went back to the car I realized I had left one of the car doors wide open. Is that behaviour typical of a sane person?

That incident plus a few other incidents made me start singing the Sondheim song, Losing My Mind. I actually like the Pet Shop Boys version with Liza. (You will notice that in this live version and the recorded version she doesn't do the haunting laugh-scream. There's a story behind it but I can't remember it right now. PSB uses it in their version.) Enjoy!

The Other Train Wreck

So we've all heard about Liza With A Z collapsing in Sweden during one of her performances. While this isn't video of her actually collapsing it shows her performance before she left the stage.

OK. Granted I've been on an alcohol binge the fast few days or so but at least I wasn't filmed! I don't understand Swedish but I can tell that the audience is a bit confused.

And as Formerly Of San Francisco Now Of Berkeley Steve points out, what's with the Christmas carols and who ARE those people. LOL

In other news...

It was 37 degrees Fahrenheit this morning when I did a 3 mile run at the park. C-O-L-D!

Late Night Funny (or scary)

I just returned from another party. Pretty people galore. Once again, lots of laughter and adult beverages and many tasty treats.

I'm trying to rotate libations. Last night was vodka; tonight it was Chardonnay. Tomorrow night it will be vodka. Sunday night it will tequila (because I know it is Mexican food and Margaritas). So I figure as long as I rotate libations, I should be OK.

The weather is supposed to get yucky in a bit. Rain. High winds. Temperature dropping. So, IF I go running in the morning, it is going to have to be on a treadmill. 90 minutes on the apparatus is pushing it for me. We shall see.

So. Earlier in the day, Formerly of San Francisco now of Berkeley Steve sent me this story about Liza With A Z. I know I shouldn't be laughing 'cause you know she fell off of the stage in Sweden the other night. She is in good company. In the early 90s I fell off a stage. I digress.



So. Liza's ex-husband David Gest has decided to publicly do drag. I know. There are plenty of jokes in that sentence. You do have to admit that they do look alike. I know they're not the same person because they have been photographed together; unlike Michael and LaToya Jackson. When was the last time you saw them together? Same person I tell ya!

So. If you want to know what David looks like in drag and why, click here.

Off to bed!

tim mARTinez CARDS
http://timmartinezcards.blogspot.com