The Sound of Doggy Style

It's the Doggy Style you've been waiting for! This Tuesday our Gay Movie of the Week feature is The Sound of Music, and you know we've got to do it as a sing-a-long!

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I've referenced some of the gayness of The Sound of Music on here before but to fully experience it you must really attend a viewing in a room full of gays (and friends, natch) singing along. The only thing gayer would be starring in a children's theater production of the show (I was Friedrich, thank you very much. "La!").

According to the blog the FAGAT Guide, the whole movie is potentially Why You Are Gay.

Come on Tuesday for the fully interactive movie viewing. Among the activities in which you can partake are:

Sing along like the musical theater star you were meant to be.

Learn to emote like Christopher Plummer.

And you can earn fifty bucks if you climb on top of the circle bar and dance around it like you are Liesl during "You are Sixteen Going on Seventeen." I can't keep you from getting in trouble with the owner, but I'll pay up.

The movie is a long one, so things start rolling promptly at 9! See you on Tuesday for a truly gay old time!

Is it a gay thing?

Is there some switch that just flips at some point and you all of a sudden like Judy Garland?

This morning I was rummaging through some old LP's I've had laying around (long-playing records, not Little People) and came across "Judy at Carnegie Hall."

And that was that.

This monophonic microgroove recording is playable on monophonic and stereo phonographs. It cannot become obsolete. It will continue to be a source of outstanding sound reproduction, providing the finest monophonic performance from any phonograph.

.

Curtis-y Call

As I've said before, summer is lesbian season. Back in my Ann Arbor days we would marvel at how you'd only see a handful of lesbians during the winter at the /aut/ bar, but the minute the patio opened they were all over it, drinking beer in large groups with their dogs and softball accoutrements and generally being lesbish. And that trend holds true here in Metro Detroit, so much so that Como's Patio is sapphic summer central and was actually declared "Best Lesbian Bar" back in 2006 by HOUR Detroit.

I do love seeing lesbians out and about. Just this year I've been delighted by huge lesbian turnouts to Motor City Pride and the True Colors Tour. Lesbians have their own kind of cool fun going on - it's not all brown rice and tofu and fibromyalgia.

This coming Sunday I am going to scratch my lesbi-curious itch by going to a concert by "folk rock goddess" Catie Curtis at the Central United Methodist Church, that beautiful church right on the corner of Woodward and Adams on Grand Circus Park.

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Although she may be new to you, Catie Curtis is actually a famous lesbian folk singer, and she has performed with artists such as the Bare Naked Ladies and Mary Chapin Carpenter. Her sound is classic folk-pop - to me, she's got a little bit of Amiee Mann in there, and a little Suzanne Vega thing too, but of course it's all her own sound. You can get a sample on her website. Give a couple of the songs a listen!

If the idea of going to a performance in a church gives you pause (and it very probably should), there is nothing to fear. The Central United Methodist Church is a very liberal and diverse congregation, and actually declared themselves a Reconciling Congregation, which means they are welcoming to people regardless of sexual orientation and they work toward changing Central Methodist policies regarding gay and lesbian unions. They adopted this policy in 2000, a time we can all acknowledge was way ahead of the curve. And that's just a single instance of Central United Methodist's long history of progressive thinking. I have several friends who are members of this church and I can personally vouch that they are much better people than I am.

Just look at the craftspersonship!

I have a special bonus for SupergayDetroit readers! I have four free (free) tickets to the show available (after keeping two for myself), which I am giving away in pairs. All you have to do to earn these tickets is claim them! The first two people who write me at supergaydetroit@gmail.com and ask for them are winners - it's the perfect weekend wrap-up for you and lesbian life partner, no matter what your orientation may be!

There is no time like summer for a folk music concert, and could there be a better venue than a historic church in downtown Detroit? Personally, I'm very excited to go - I haven't been to a lesbian folk singer/songwriter show since Phranc back in Boston in 1990! I'm overdue, and you might be too!

My current obsession ...

I'm obsessed with Severed Unicorn Heads. I don't know why or, really, what they mean, but they have resonated somewhere deep inside me. So much so, tonight I even drove out to the opening of the Severed Unicorn Head Painfully Beautiful Art Show in Ypsi (another current obsession).

Severed Unicorn Heads are for lovers. Check out more at the Severed Unicorn Head Superstore.

(And for a really great blog that, in part, covers goings on with the cooler aspects of Ypsi, check out Mark Maynard's blog www.markmaynard.com.)

Readers Have Questions

Occasionally I will receive email from readers with questions, which I answer to the best of my ability. But there are times when even I, Supergay, don't have the answer. Such is the case with two recent queries.

The first is a serious question regarding real estate in this sub-ideal market:

An elderly gay friend of mine has had to move from Grosse Pointe to another state where he has friends who could assist him. He would like to find places to advertise his home for sale that would attract gays or lesbians. Do you have any suggestions as to where he might target this group?

I didn't have an easy answer, but I told this reader I'd ask around. I'd love to help this home in a great Grosse Pointe location find a suitable gay or lesbian owner! It's not far from the lake, Grosse Pointe South High School (look but don't touch, fellas), lovely GP shopping districts and the great Hawkins Ferry-commissioned, Marcel Breuer-designed Grosse Pointe Public Library.

The next letter is perhaps a little more ... well, just more.

I took the blight tour, parts one and two. I assume that is your work. I'm not too familiar with blogs. I got here by accident. I tried to log onto supergaydetroit.com but couldn't. I was taken, instead, to supergaydetroitblogspotdetroit.com. I don't know how that happened. I don't "get" computers. Are you, for example, the guy I heard on Detroit Today?

My question for you (or anyone who might know) is as follows: Is there a gay bar in Detroit like the Ki-ki-ki Lounge in Tampa? The Ki-ki-ki has as half of its clientele young and muscular men who are slightly addicted to various substances.

They play pool and wait for older, heavier men (like me) to invite them out for short sexual exchanges for small amounts of cash. These guys tend to behave during such "exchanges" because they are known and approved by the on-duty bartender. They want to stay around and remain on the good side of the bartender so they don't rob their older admirers.

I have been there several times on vacation and enjoyed each experience. Does Detroit have a similar hustler bar where the bartender keeps tabs on the studs so the admirers don't come to any harm???

It may come as a great shock and surprise, but I had no idea what to tell this fellow!

If anyone has any suggestions for either of our readers, please leave a comment or email me at supergaydetroit@gmail.com. Thanks!

[Edit: It was suggested to me by a reader that I clarify something - the second letter was actually posted to show you the kind of crazy that occasionally ends up in my inbox. I don't really want to get suggestions on hustler bars to pass along to anyone.]

I'm actually horrified

It takes a lot to actually upset me (clarifying that "anger" is different from "upset") but I just read this article on Slate.com and I actually feel nauseous.

"Sexual Reorientation: The Gay Culture War is about to Turn Chemical" discusses how the increased understanding of the biological factors that differentiate homosexuals from heterosexuals may actually lead to the scientific "adjustment" of sexual orientation in the womb. With scary endorsements of the possibility from the usual right-wing religious wingnuts (Southern Baptists, Roman Catholics). And hypothetically, parents might endorse it too:

If the idea of chemically suppressing homosexuality in the womb horrifies you, I have bad news: You won't be in the room when it happens. Parents control medical decisions, and surveys indicate that the vast majority of them would be upset to
learn that their child was gay. Already, millions are screening embryos and fetuses to eliminate those of the "wrong" sex. Do you think they won't screen for the "wrong" sexual orientation, too?

One observer on a national gay online forum made the following astute comment:

What's amazing to me is that, for centuries, we were persecuted on the basis that our orientation was a crime against nature, a contravention of natural law.

Now that we find out that homosexuality actually is part of nature, the same people want to use human agency and science to change nature. Precisely the crime they were accusing us of all along.

In a world careening toward overpopulation it's difficult to determine exactly what problems the existence of homosexuality cause. But obviously, millions of people still have a difficult time with it. It's horrifying to think that we as a people are still exploring ways for a majority to suppress a natural minority like this, since, you know, eugenics has worked out so well in the past.

Lady Elaine Fairchilde

Was she a lesbian?

Does she drink too much or is that rosacea?

Does she suffer from fibromyalgia?

Is she really British nobility?

So many questions.

Gay Movie of the Week

As mentioned previously, Tuesday Nights Doggy Style at the Park Bar are changing for the summer.

Game nights are mellow, casual nights. We will show video compilations and have relaxed, adult conversation over alcoholic beverages.

On non-game nights, however, we will enjoy the Gay Movie of the Week. These are films that as a culturally literate gay or gay-friendly American you must know. Just so you can make jokes at a cocktail party.

Kicking things off next Tuesday night will be the modern camp classic "Showgirls."

There is nothing and everything gay about this film. Come and enjoy it with the masses.

Like John McCain says, See You Next Tuesday!

Heel-arious

OK, all I am going to say is ... someone needs to relax.

High heels for babies. Your whorey teenager, 14 years premature! Inspired by "Kayla" and "Brook," the daughters of "Britta" and "Hayden."



I am pretty glad to be gay, but I don't think I've ever been happier than this moment right now.

I see your True Colors

Can I say ... the True Colors tour was absolutely an amazing time! What started out as a chance to enjoy a lovely outdoor concert and see some favorite performers turned into a life-affirming great evening.

DTE Music Energy Theater or whatever it's called was pretty full for a Wednesday night show.

The place was overflowing with lesbians. Now if you're like me, lesbians really bring joy to your heart. They are so mysterious and hidden and really kind of above it all, it can be like viewing a superior race. Gay men can be desperate for approval!

I'm generalizing, of course. But there is a reason that in the Hierarchy of Cool it's the cool lesbians who rate highest. Tied for second below them are cool gay men and cool straight women, and poor cool straight men come in third. (Sorry guys.) It's that "I'm not buying into the game" thing that really sets lesbians apart. To wit: Patricia Field, Marlene Dietrich and Jodie Foster. And locally, who is cooler in the Detroit gay world than Jackie Victor and Ann Perrault of Avalon International Breads? Need I say more?

[Note: if it's any consolation, when it comes to Not Cool things are the opposite. Not Cool straight guys are cooler than Not Cool Gay Men/Straight Women who are cooler than Not Cool Lesbians. God divides.]

Anyway, there was like a 60/40 female/male split at the place, plenty of cool and uncool of all persuasions with plenty of straight people mixed in. The weather was great.

The opening bands were really good! OK, well, we didn't get there right at 6pm so we missed the first two. But we caught Tegan and Sara, a band led by sisters (one cool straight and one cool lesbian) who were so fantastic, you absolutely must check out their music. And I can't speak for the entire Cliks performance, but during Cyndi's performance trans lead singer Lucas came out and sang "Time After Time" and "Money Changes Everything" and his voice was AMAZING.

Do I need to review the whole rest of the show? I mean, it was the B-52's, who played some of their great classics, standing there like Party Superheros during their blow-out performance of "Rock Lobster." And Cyndi. She was belting it out while crawling over the crowd and she couldn't have been more fantastic. And she sang "When You Were Mine," my fave Cyndi song ever.

Rosie O'Donnell did some stand up and reminded us just why she is so endearing and so relevant. And Carson Kressley was fantastic as emcee.

There are many reviews online about the tour, they are worth a read (and will save me the full re-cap). This one summed things up nicely, although it featured a slightly different lineup. If you have a chance to check the tour out, by all means do. And if you can check out the younger bands that toured, you won't be sorry. Queer music in the 21st century seems to be in great shape.

Giving Props

Between the Lines, SE Michigan's GLBT weekly, has a story in this week's issue about the Detroit Guerrilla Queer Bar! A cover story no less. This is great and long-overdue recognition of one of the few really interesting grassroots things going on in our gay community today. Well, in my opinion.

When it comes to Between the Lines, I'm a fan. I do think they have a tendency to underreport gay goings-on in the City of Detroit, and sometimes the quality of the journalism can be inconsistent (I get the sense the writing staff skews young). But they are great about being a political voice for the GLBT community, and it's also an excellent place to find out about local cultural events.

Poster children.

The Guerrillas article is a little silly but nice, and it's great that the point about featuring Detroit venues is made (although of course they mention the stupid Guerrilla field trip to the Emery in Ferndale. Cuz it's all about Ferndale. But why quibble?)

Let's hope this is the beginning of a trend, and BTL continues to look south of 8 Mile Road for some of the other compelling gay stories in the big city.

Music Makes the Gay People Come Together

I was pretty happy to see that the True Colors tour, the multi-act tour and benefit for the Human Rights Campaign that was apparently so much fun last year, was touring again this year, and the Detroit area rated a stop this year! Woo hoo! I think it's like the Cher "Never Can Say Good-Bye" tour - each year the venues lose a little cachet until you're playing dinner theater in Branson. So I guess ... good for us that we made the second year, right?

Well Detroit's no gay mecca, that's established, but tomorrow night DTE Music Theater (or Pine Knob, if you are olde school like myself) is the mecca for gays, and you - like me - can go see this year's True Colors tour!

The show is headlined by Cyndi Lauper (joy) and the B-52's (bliss), and some great new bands including Tegan & Sara, The Cliks and The White Tie Affair. It's not the giant super-slate of performers you see on the website because apparently it is a rotating cast, but if you have never seen Cyndi Lauper perform then you are in for a real treat. And hey, Rosie and Carson will be there!

Cyndi fights for your right and looks fabulous.

The weather is going to be beautiful tomorrow evening, and who doesn't love a lovely outdoor show at Pine Knob? Oh Pine Knob, the memories ... did I ever tell you about the first boy who ever hit on me? I was 17, the Eurythmics were performing "There Must Be an Angel Playing with My Heart," a boy asked me if I wanted to go to Backstage after the concert. "You have backstage passes??" ... "No, it's a gay bar in Detroit" ... I hem and haw and run away. An awkward beginning to an auspicious life as an award-winning professional homosexual!

The show starts tomorrow at 6pm and tickets are still available - $17 for a big gay lawn party, can you beat that?! Grab a gay and go!

My Prayer for Detroit

Via Darren in NYC.

We are the champions, mes amis

Well apparently the Red Wings are some kinds of champions now. All I really know is that people look stupid in hockey jerseys unless they are actually playing hockey.

I watched the last few minutes of the game at the Park Bar last night, which was packed with a shockingly large number of very cute men. A good number, by our estimation, homosexualists themselves. It was a nice distraction for me, since I don't really care about sports. I told my friends I'd get excited about hockey when they get excited about the Tony Awards (coming to television Sunday, June 15! Three hours packed with more talent than all the other award shows of the year combined!). Some guy from the Stone Temple Pilots (they played at the Fillmore down the street) was there too, entourage intact.

There were loud cheers and yelling when the Red Wings won, of course. Cars and a bit of revelry in the streets, cop cars everywhere. I was happy for everyone. I just wish we could get something good going on around here besides sports. I think it sets a poor standard for celebration etiquette, kind of this "barbarians at the gate" motif.

Taking the Queen-inspired subject line of this post and making a bit of a stretch, here's a fabu Pepsi commercial that never aired in the U.S., featuring Pink, Beyonce and (wait for it, wait for it ...) Britney Spears in her prime. As well as a very hot Amr Diab.

[thanks, once again, to Fabulon]

A Doggy Style Summer

I only care about sports inasmuch as they impact my quality of life living downtown (which they often do, negatively). However they are a fact of life, so sometimes we have to work around them.

Because of the changes ballgames bring about, I thought I'd give an update on what to expect with Doggy Style over the summer.

First off, Doggy Style is still happening every Tuesday night at the Park Bar, so come down and bring your friends! Except tonight. Tonight is a night off, brought about by rain and poor planning.

On nights when there is a Tigers game, we will continue our policy of starting the videos about 20 minutes after the game ends. The videos shown after games will be reruns of compilations we played during the winter/spring, but odds are you will enjoy seeing them again (as they are very enjoyable).

On non-game nights we will alternate Gay Movie of the Week (such as Showgirls, Mommie Dearest and The Women) and movie singalongs (such as The Sound of Music and Grease). There will also be the intermittent new video compilation, but rest assured I'll notify you about that.

To see if a particular Tuesday is a game night, you can check the schedule on the Detroit Tigers website.

I'll keep you posted here, and if you'd like to be added to my little e-mail reminder list please email me at supergaydetroit@gmail.com.

For your viewing pleasure, here is a music video clip I made from an old 45 that friends brought to Doggy Style for me earlier this year. Enjoy Disco Lucy.

New York Report

My friend Darren Locke is a great musician who, until last fall, resided in Woodbridge. But now he lives in Manhattan. He is making a go of it there and getting gigs and good internships and was even on OutQ radio's morning show. Very exciting! Go to Darren's MySpace page and you can hear some of his music, which I predict you will like a ton and you can buy on iTunes and CDBaby. Everybody loves "Carolina" although my favorite is "City of Trees" because the guitar is amazing.

Soon to be famous.

Last night we were chatting and he told me about a news story that was filming at a restaurant where he was eating. It was a news story about Bacon Salt. Which I looked up and it is such a weird idea I feel like I need to post about it.

Bacon Salt is a seasoning salt that makes everything taste like bacon. Which sounds weird and strangely gross until you start to think about it. How good would that be on spinach, or mashed potatoes, or fries (well, anything potato really), or chicken, or a hamburger? You're intrigued, aren't you? I know I am, and I don't even really love bacon.

It is also allegedly calorie-free, fat-free, vegetarian and kosher. It's like a strange substance from another dimension.

There is nothing really gay or Detroit about Bacon Salt, but you have to admit it does sound kind of super.

And that's the news from New York.

My current obsession ...

... is this video clip for the 1976 British television series "Rock Follies." I don't know too much about the series but here's what I do know:

* the music for the show - including this song - had the music written by Andy Mackay of Roxy Music

* the woman in the middle is Rula Lenska, and if you are old enough (like me) and wondering why you know that name, you may remember her in the Alberto VO5 tv commercials from the late 70's that started out with "I'm Rula Lenska ..." as if she were actually a US celebrity, which she wasn't. A funny take on that here.

* their cable management system is tremendous.

* this clip is fucking fantastic. I hope it changes your life like it did mine.

Boys and girls, I give you "Biba Nova."

[thanks to Fabulon!]

Rooms with a View

It's really the perfect morning: a gorgeous clear blue sky, a cool breeze blowing in the window smelling like early summer, the trees over the Mies van der Rohe townhouses finally their full leafy green, Blondie's Parallel Lines on the turntable and a cup of coffee. It never gets old.

The New York Times had a Real Estate feature on their website over the weekend with these two gay guys who bought an apartment in Lincoln Center. Their place was really, really unexceptional, although I highly approve of their sofas (although not the fabric choice) since I have the same one. They kept talking about how the view is just completely the focus of the place and I was like, I totally relate. I did want them to put in some fresh flowers or something before the Times photographer came in, though. Anything, an orchid, whatever.

My morning view.

The weather was just as great yesterday at Motor City Pride in Ferndale. I headed up there around 4:30 so I could help judge the Canine to Five Doggie Drag Show, which was a VERY fun event.

Motor City Pride is so different from what you get in other cities, and it takes you a little while to adjust to the small-town feel of it. Once you do, though, it's really really great. The people watching is fantastic, and everyone is in such a happy mood.

I was happy to see the black gay community present in relatively large numbers, and who knew there were so many black lesbians? Oh my God, it was nuts. And actually, the lesbians were out in big numbers in general. I guess they're not always invisible.

The entertainment, while maybe not name-brand, was quite good. Yes it skewed a little folky (while I was there) but you know, it's live music at a Pride festival. The Madonna impersonator was fun but oh my God, I have a better voice than she does. Credit to her for getting the outfits and choreography and a live band and everything, but my goodness, a voice coach couldn't hurt. Of course it being a set of Madonna songs you shortly forget about the specifics and just get into the groove. (It had to be said.)

I stopped into the new Affirmations community center, since I hadn't checked it out yet, and it made me happy. I don't know what goes on there all the time, but the space is really great, and they have a really nice library of GLBT literature and film. I was amazed and astounded by it. I fully plan on going back to check the place out on an "off" day.

Also making me extremely happy was the large gay youth presence. I'd guess there were kids there as young as 16 running around with their friends, holding hands with boyfriends/girlfriends, dancing on the always-packed dancefloor and just generally having fun.

There was a bit of a divide between the 9 Mile section, with the stages for live performances, which skewed more lesbian and the next street over, Troy (which had the dancefloor as well as the back yard of the bar "9"), which skewed more gay male. I guess not too surprising.

I only really missed seeing two contingents that one usually expects to see at a Pride day - the upwardly mobile gay crowd (and lesbian too, to a lesser extent) and drag queens. I guess the guppie crowd kind of saves their Pride for bigger events in Toronto and Chicago. And I guess we perhaps have a dearth of drag queens in the area.

As I wrapped things up for the day I spent a little time watching the dancefloor and just had to smile at the variety of people dancing - some serious, some seriously out there. I don't always feel connected to the gay community, perhaps just from being out of the thick of it for so long, but it does give me a lot of joy to see the community come together.

I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do post-Pride until I got a call from a friend who said come on over and hang on the roof of his building downtown. Another awesome view, and hanging with a friend discussing your individual gay problems, gripes and good times while watching the day come to a close was the perfect denouement for a really lovely gay pride day.

Not a bad way to end a gay pride Sunday.

June is busting out all over

This, my friends, is a classic. It's from some tribute to Rodgers & Hammerstein filmed on the Mall in Washington, DC - probably from the late '80's since Stacey Keach is the emcee. Leslie Uggums [note: we are misspelling her last name because all the videos with her name properly spelled have been removed from the internet] gives an unforgettable performance.

Tune in to see a real star turn it around when she forgets the words to a song on national television!

Hucka the bajeepers!

June Is Bustin' Out All Over