Is this shirt insulting to the mentally-challenged? At this point in the popped-collar epidemic, I don’t think I care anymore. I just want it to stop. Order yours here.

The heat index in Manhattan is expected to reach 105 today. Right now in San Francisco it’s 55. The cold foggy SF summers that I used to curse? Yeah, kinda nostalgic for them today.

I took the picture above this morning, and here’s the same building, as seen in the background of a 1935 postcard of Grand Central that I scanned.

“Blog is such an ugly word.” – Pet Shop Boys vocalist Neil Tennant, telling the Guardian that he and bandmate Chris Lowe “do not believe in blogs”. Ouch, Neil. That hurts! OK, fine. Here’s a picture of the three of us from 1999, when we were ALL much prettier. (Waiting in line to meet the Pet Shop Boys in a …

Four years ago, my hometown of Orlando made it illegal to deny housing or to discriminate in the workplace based on sexual orientation. This week much larger Orange County, of which Orlando is the county seat, has added sexual orientation to their list of banned reasons to deny housing. Of course, in Orange County (outside of Orlando) you can still …

Reacting to all the press and blogchatter about World Pride in Jerusalem, the organizers are vowing that the event will take place and in Jerusalem. But I have a feeling that the exploding hostilities between Israel and Lebanon may exclipse World Pride, as fear of traveling to the region will likely now keep even the most ardent Pride supporters at …

Good news only..

This morning I came across a list of the #1 singles so far for 2006. Out of 13 songs, I only definitely recognize two, James Blunt’s You’re Beautiful and Beyonce’s Check On It. Maybe I’d recognize some of the others if I heard them. Regardless, I find myself growing increasing nostalgic for a shared national musical experience. When I was …

This morning the Spanish/Peruvian/Incan pan-flute band in the subway station was playing More Than A Woman, the R&B/downtempo/disco classic written/recorded by the Austrailian/British Bee Gees for the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever, the epoch-defining film tribute to Brooklyn/Italian-American/70’s disco nightlife. Hearing the pan-flute band version of More Than A Woman made me feel happy/old.

Continuing the seeming protocol of giving HIV medications what Oprah Winfrey might call “ghetto names” (Kaletra, Sustiva, Lexiva), the new triple-drug HIV pill has been christened Atripla and will be launched within a week.

“Give me a fucking break.” – Madonna’s gay brother, Chris Ciccone, complaining to Attitude Magazine that men in gay bars won’t stop talking to him about his sister. Poor baby. I bet it never gets him laid either.

One of my favorite American male vocalists, the late Johnny Cash, has his first #1 album on the Billboard charts in 37 years, with American V: A Hundred Highways. Aside from my pleasure in seeing Cash top the charts again, it’s depressing to see that he did it with a first week sales total of only 88,000 units, the lowest …

Handbills and leaflets advocating using Molotov cocktails on WorldPride marchers began appearing around Jerusalem this week. AOL Gay & Lesbian editor Kenneth Hill reports that New York Rabbi Yehuda Levin said that if gays do descend on Jerusalem for WorldPride, “I promise there’s going to be bloodshed — not just on that day, but for months afterward.” The WorldPride website …

Taking my temperature last night, I had to laugh at myself for feeling disappointed that it was only 100.3, because I felt so much sicker. Now I’m wondering if there isn’t one of those wonderful German compound adjectives that describes precisely the feeling of being disappointed that you aren’t really all that sick, no matter how you think you feel. …

When I moved in, he was the first person on the block that I noticed. A tall elderly gentleman somewhere between his early 80’s and late 100’s. Always outside. Always moving. Always talking. With a full head of white hair, and usually wearing suspenders over a crisply ironed short-sleeve shirt, he stands out on a block that is home to …

“2006 Wimbledon Champion. I am what I am.” – from the t-shirt donned by out lesbian Amelie Mauresmo after winning Wimbledon for her second Grand Slam title. Who wants to bet that copies of that t-shirt start springing up for sale? If anybody has a pic or screenshot of Mauresmo in that shirt, please send it to me and I’ll …