As longtime readers know, there are a handful of short stories from my archives that I repost annually. Today is Madonna’s 50th birthday and this story makes its third appearance in memory of a departed friend. Ricky Loved MadonnaToday is August 16th. It’s Madonna’s 48th birthday. That’s not something of which I’d ordinarily make note……… Twenty years ago today, August …

-Marni Raab takes over for Jennifer Hope Wills as Christine in Phantom Of The Opera, beginning August 20th. Wills is going on maternity leave and is expected to return to the show next June. – Casting has been announced for 13, A New Musical, set to begin previews on September 16th. The show tells the story of a 13 year-old …

It’s dark and scary outside. Tornado warnings for most of the city. It can happen here, there was a tornado in Brooklyn last year.

Longtime South Florida AIDS and LGBT activist Bob Kunst, the founder of angry Clinton supporter group Hillary Now, has announced that his group has obtained a permit to protest Barack Obama at the Democratic National Convention. Hillary Now plans to urge attendees to support John McCain. The permit notes that 100 members of Hillary Now will be allowed onto the …

OK, this is confusing. Remember this time last year when the New York Fire Department swore they’d never do another calendar after one of their firefighters was found have appeared in an episode of Guys Gone Wild? Even though the calendar raised over $150K for fire education and safety, showing your substantial fire hose was apparently verboten. Well, there is …

The last few months in a hilarious nutshell. Very clever. (Via – Andrew Sullivan)

Madonna would like everybody to know that according to the Kabbalah priests she hired to calculate her age by “channeling her spirit”, tomorrow will only be her 36th birthday, not her 50th. Friends, employees, and acolytes have been ordered NOT to mention the five-oh number tomorrow. Kabbalah nudniks aside, I like the concept of a spiritual age, some people do …

The parents of murdered gay teen Lawrence King have sued the school district and Ventura Country, claiming that the school’s failure to force King to dress like a boy led to his killing. The boy’s parents, Dawn and Gregory King, along with his younger brother, Rocky King, are seeking unspecified damages related to the fatal shooting of the 15-year-old boy …

Ellen Degeneres will marry her longtime girlfriend Portia de Rossi this weekend. Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi, 35, will wed this weekend in California, Usmagazine.com has learned exclusively. The pair are planning a small, intimate ceremony with only a few close friends and family.DeGeneres reflected on their upcoming nuptials at the Daytime Emmy Awards in Hollywood in June. “I …

NYC gay dad Joshua Glazer was reunited with his son in Israel yesterday. Last week Glazer’s husband fled to Israel with their adopted son in what was called the first ever case of international abduction by a married gay parent. Glazer’s partner, Eric Hyett, had claimed that Glazer has been emotionally abusive. A “removal team” made up of Israeli law …

Towleroad is reporting that Manhunt chairman Jonathan Crutchley has resigned from its board of directors. In a lengthy statement, Manhunt cofounder Larry Basile strenuously defends his decades-long record of personal gay activism and confirms Crutchley’s resignation. Basile concludes with this: “It should be known that Jonathan Crutchley’s donation to McCain left the entire Board in disbelief. I am disappointed that …

Gas prices have sent subway ridership surging, and with those extra people comes extra litter, and therefore, extra rats. And according to amNY, the latest swarm doesn’t appear much bothered by human presence. “People have seen them sitting on benches,” said Andrew Albert, an MTA board member and chair of the NYC Transit Riders Council, of the underground rodent problem. …

Newly released documents confirm that the late famed chef Julia Child worked as a low level spy during WWII, something she alluded to in her 2002 autobiography. Before she mastered the secrets of French cooking, Julia Child was enrolled in the school of espionage. The famous chef let slip the story of her war-era spying in a 2002 autobiography, but …

A nice surprise: Ten New York Republican Senators have introduced legislation to the State Senate that will ban homophobic bullying in schools. The ‘Safe Schools for All Children Bill’ calls for training to help teachers identify and respond to bullying and places the responsibility of keeping tack on bullying cases with schools. The bill also includes protection for transgender students …

Built in 1951, the Lever House is considered the “quintessential and seminal glass box International Style” skyscraper. So says Wikipedia. While I understand its historical place in architecture, I find the Lever House just as deadly dull as the bazillion copies that followed. After falling into disrepair towards the end of the last century, there was a major renovation beginning …

Chinese gold medals won in women’s gymnastics are coming under question as proof has emerged that star competitor He Kexin is only 14 years old. In 1997 the minimum age for competing was raised to 16. Just nine months before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government’s news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He Kexin was 13, which would have made …

John McCain says it’s OK for his veep to be pro-choice, like Tom Ridge, but not OK for him to be pro-gay, like Michael Bloomberg. “I think it’s a fundamental tenet of our party to be pro-life but that does not mean we exclude people from our party that are pro-choice. We just have a–albeit strong–but just it’s a disagreement. …

It’s been 24 hours and so far not a peep about the McCain/Manhunt story in the MSM, despite the story headlining virtually all gay and progressive blogs and forums. I did find mention in Ben Smith’s column at Politico.com, but nothing from traditional media so far. (Image Via – Michelangelo Signorile)

Hillary Clinton will be on the official nomination ballot at the Democratic National Convention. Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s name will be placed into nomination at the Democratic National Convention, a symbolic move approved by the Obama campaign in an effort to soothe a lingering rift with Clinton supporters. The decision was reached this week, according to Democratic officials, and will …

Five years ago today at 4:10PM, New York City lost power for 30 hours. After some mild panic in Midtown that the situation was terrorism-related, I went home to my then-apartment on Bleecker Street where my roommate and I sat on the fire escape and read by his leftover menorah candles. Days later we learned that apparently we were the …