I am a secret eater

It may provide fodder to my detractors to confess that I am a secret eater, but it's true. Any objective observer will have to admit, however, that in the true Supergay spirit, I do it with panache.

My dual occupation of man-about-town/man-of-leisure opens the door to many interesting opportunities, and one such opportunity arose recently when the following message arrived in my inbox:

This message is to inform you that you have been chosen to join a select group of aesthetes in an uncommon event - an undergound dining experience in an extraordinary locale. Join us for an experimental feast.

Fancy! Exclusive! I'm in.

So earlier this week we headed to the secret meeting point, got directions to the locale and zipped over to the empty Detroit landmark building that was home of "ClandesDine."

Setting the scene.

It was a secret dinner that was, frankly, brilliant. The guests filed into a space that was neither quite fully abandoned nor close to finished, but had that great Detroit "in between" feel. The fare for the evening was an elegant six-course meal with wine pairings presented by Chef Marc Djozlija of the Wolfgang Puck Grill at the MGM.

And whom did I not know at this dinner? Well, some people, but it was a real collection of Detroit movers and everyone was quite excited to partake in this foodie experiment. From where I was seated all I could see were people cooler than I am, and I had to wonder how I was going to have time to kiss up to all of them in a single dinner! Thank God people were amenable to switching spots.

Not to be purposefully vague, but I'm not sure how much I am supposed to talk about the details of the evening. So instead of a detailed play-by-play of amazing food and wine, presented by some of the most notorious foodies in our community, it might be easier to say that par for Detroit, it was borne of a desire to create something fantastic and altruistic, not something overtly commercial. The creative energy and room for experimentation in Detroit that people love to talk about was on full display, both in the presenters and the attendees. Too bad TIME magazine couldn't be around to witness this Detroit..

Here's your detailed play-by-play.

Our Chef, and our New York Times spokesmodel.

I don't always have the time or the drive to blog on here about how Detroit still revs my motor, but rest assured it does. And I'm not the only one. One dear Detroit friend who can be as critical as I am about the city's shortcomings was celebrating her birthday this night, and days later was still saying, "It's like the birthday party I've always wanted."

But didn't even know existed.
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The Return of the Detroit Massacre!

Fall is here and that means one thing: Halloween is approaching! And as expected, the gay good times are starting to line up.

Last year's Halloween was one of the best I've had in many years, and one of the highlights was the Massacre at the Mansion Party, a big gay benefit for the Ruth Ellis Center. Here is how the evening went:


So obviously I was pretty jazzed to hear that this year there will be another Detroit Massacre! This one is called Midnight MASSacre and it will be held at the Spirit of Hope Church, right at the corner of Martin Luther King and Trumbull (that weird intersection where West Grand River cuts through too, on the edge of Woodbridge).

This was a great party last year and you should put it on your calendar immediately or sooner. You will love it! Come in costume though, or else there is mocking and other forms of gay non-sexual punishment.


The party is next Friday, October 23, and it starts at 9pm. Tickets are $10 in advance or $15 at the door and proceeds benefit the very worthy Ruth Ellis Center. You can get more info and entertain yourself on the fabulous Detroit Massacre website.

The Midnight MASSacre is only the beginnig to a fabulous gay holiday season, because Saturday night is Macho City, starring special guest DJ moi, and after that is the return of Doggy Style! More on all that soon, in the meantime get to steppin' on that costume!

Celebrate Modernity

Regular readers know I am a fan of modern design - I live in Lafayette Park, I stalked Hawkins Ferry in death, I love Detroit's modern shops. And I regularly attend the Preview Party for the Michigan Modernism Show! Which is tonight!



The Preview Party is a benefit for the Detroit Area Art Deco Society. It is held every year the Friday night before the opening of Michigan Modernism and is - basically - a private shopping event for people who love vintage modern design. In an atmosphere unsullied by the teeming masses you get first dibs at some of the most fantastic vintage modern items (while enjoying a glass of wine! I mean, if you get into stuff like that).

This year there is an added attraction - DAADS partnered with the Oakland Community College photography department and captured some great Deco structures in the city for display - and silent auction - at the event. Additionally awesome photographer (and super cool chick) Cybelle Codish has donated three photographs to the auction.

Cybelle Codish is an awesome photographer.

I always love the Preview Party because - first of all - I'm a giver. And I'm a seeker - I love to find cool stuff I've never seen before. And sometimes, I'm a shopper.

One thing I really enjoy about being a homosexual raised in the latter days of the 20th century is that an appreciation for good design is basically my birthright. A gay man not taking the time to become an aesthete is like Prince Charles not taking the time to knock off Queen Elizabeth and ascend to the throne. A squandered opportunity.

I'm a shopper. Sometimes.

I know for the young ones these days it's all about sports and picket fences and suburbia and blending in, but I prefer a more genteel and rarefied gay sensibility. You know, the one that got you beat up on the playground as a kid. It sucked then, but it made you a REALLY cool adult.

So be a good gay and celebrate your birthright at the Michigan Modernism Preview tonight! Trust me, you won't be the only one.

[The Preview Party is from 7 to 10pm tonight, April 24, at the Southfield Civic Center. Tickets are $50 in advance and $65 at the door. More details here. Go!]

Get Patti LuPWNed

Did you have any idea that Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin are in town puttin' on a show? Neither did I! But when I found out on Wednesday evening (at a particularly zesty "Latitude," the gay night at Atlas Global Bistro) I made damn sure I was going to get to that show!

I'm not exactly a theater maven but I do enjoy the theatahhhhh, and I REALLY enjoy showtune queens and their esoteric knowledge of variations in productions of The Music Man and bootleg soundtracks to Carrie: The Musical. I also like to be present for important pop culture moments, especially if they are the slightest bit highbrow. So An Evening with Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin was right up my alley.


La LuPone and Mr. Patinkin are in town as recipients of the Seventh Annual Apple Award, an award presented by the Wayne State University College of Fine, Performing and Communication Arts and the Nederlander Company. They had a public Q&A and taught a master class at WSU campus this week, and then apparently decided to bring their self-produced show along with them. I'm pretty sure the big incentive to come to Detroit involves cash as well as the prestige of winning an Apple Award, but I say who cares what got them here?

[Oh, as a great aside, apparently the posters for the Q&A at Wayne State spelled Patti LuPone's name wrong, and she went around all afternoon correcting the spelling with a Sharpie she had in her purse. Awesome.]

The show was fabulous, of course, and the more you know about showtunes the more you're going to love it. In particular Sondheim and Rodgers & Hammerstein. Which, maybe, I wasn't as up-to-speed on as I could have been. But you didn't have to know the context for every song to appreciate the way everything is woven together - in particular a powerful sequence of numbers in the second act from Carousel.

There are the showstoppers you want too, of course, and I think at this point you would weep if you didn't get some Evita or Mama Rose from LuPone (although here's a theater-going tip: if you want to avoid withering glares from a group of queens, don't be morbidly obese and open cellophane candy wrappers during a Patti LuPone performance of "Everything's Coming Up Roses." I hate to be a total dick but SERIOUSLY, there is a time and a place, and that ain't it.)


All in all a wonderful evening, seeing two theater legends at the over-the-top fabulously Valley-of-the-Dolls Fisher Theater (it's a Lincoln Center-esque 1960's glamorous time warp, if you haven't been.) Upgrade your gay credentials and go!

Of course, if you go please remember the debacle from Gypsy earlier this year and do NOT take any photographs! They did announce this about five times during the performance, and watch the video below to see why!

She kept her promise, but I still kept my distance.

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Madonna in a more brilliant moment.

Pet Shop Boys Rule

Now that I've debuted this at Doggy Style, I can post it here for those of you too good to drink until 11pm on a Tuesday night. The Boys are back, and man is it good. I love them.

My current obsession

OK actually it's been an obsession for about three years. I own all the VHS tapes of this and am thinking of buying a LaserDisc player just so I can buy all the episodes in their original and only published format.

Enjoy some Aerobicise. Now or every Tuesday at Doggy Style.

We have a winner

Hey! I heard from my friend Rose and her video won that Rand McNally contest!

Yay Rose! I'll be riding "bitch" on that new scooter on my next trip to SF!
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A Bridge to Somewhere

My summertime emotional journey to heck and back turned out to be such good source material I used it for my most recent piece for Detroit Public Radio's Detroit Today program.

Enjoy my bitching about all the things I love to bitch about on here AND hear about the disco cocktail party I threw last month in this piece that aired on Election Day!

Don't Stop Believin'

This was another weekend of Halloween party awesomeness, this time with the MoCAD Believin' party!

Not to belabor details, but since it was on Halloween night the New Wave Committee thought they'd maybe get 500 people. Instead? 1000 people showed up (an exciting fact only mitigated by an overwhelmed bar). Only a handful of people didn't show up in costume, and the costumes were tremendous! You go hipsters!

The music was a great Dorkwave vibe, the decor so cool. Since I was the emcee for the evening (it's a living) I'll just give you some photographic super gay highlights instead of bogging things down with prose. Good job MoCAD!

The trash monster was awesome when he danced!

Big bats and bubbles.

Well, here's what happened to her.

Clearly inspired by this blog.

Have you a little fairy in your home?

It takes a village of dj's.

You have to admit, this is not a costume the hoi polloi would appreciate. Well done!

Something for the ladies.

It's not real. I checked. *sigh*

With a Z!

Making it work!

Nothing gay about this except how cute I thought this boy was.

Yay!!

Winners of Funniest Costume - the Ren Cen was amazing!

The view of an awesome party from the stage.

Drag Queen Massacre

Oh there was an extra-special gay party this past weekend, masquerading as a benefit for the Ruth Ellis Center. The "Drag Queen Massacre at the Mansion" took place at the Siegel mansion in Boston-Edison and I didn't see anyone get massacred but I sure did see people get obliterated.


It was all the right kinds of right - cool invite, gorgeous historic mansion, everyone in costume, lots of drag and lots of skin, a great housekeeper who screamed at you if you set your drink down on anything (that was hilarious once I got over the shock!), 400 gallons of booze, amazing music (seriously) and all for a good cause. And since it was also the Detroit Guerrilla Queer Bar event for October there is a whole photo gallery for your viewing pleasure! You will love it. My mom sure did!

Congrats to the party organizers because that was one fabulous mess of a party!
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Mercury in Retrograde

This past weekend didn't seem busy while I was living it, but when I sat down to write this I realized that an awful lot went on. The most interesting (for you) would probably be the events that bookended my weekend, a preview of the Mercury Coffee Bar in Corktown.

Friday after work a friend and I headed over to check it out. They were having a preview thing, and since I'd passed on all the Book-Cadillac opening excitement, I decided I wanted in on this.

It seems like we've been waiting forever for the Mercury Coffee Bar to open, although in reality the group now doing it hasn't been at it all that long. What is great is that you've got hardcore foodie types, hardcore design-y types and hardcore urbanist types working together to create something special for Corktown/downtown/SeMI/America/the world. You can read the basics on the place here.

The interior is great and kind of shocking! It's defnitely a new paradigm in coffee bar design. The colors and geometry really evoke the graphic design of the 80s, which is absolutely perfect for the hipster vibe of Corktown. You know I just cannot get enough of the hipster appropriation of the 80s! I am sure this assessment is making the architect's head spin - the colors were supposed be be inspired by the colors of a printer test page, but all I saw was the cover of Bronski Beat's "Age of Consent" album. You be the judge; here are some photos I took over the weekend.

The upstairs service area and a cute owner.

Think pink!

If I'm wrong tell me whyyyyyy.

The food we tried that night was amazing - I had this peach chutney and goat cheese sandwich - and the espresso I had after dinner was one of the best I've had in Detroit, and I am not exaggerating! The downstairs dining area has a really different vibe than upstairs - more brick/wood/concrete with nice modern touches. The bar area downstairs will eventually have ten beers on tap and ten different wines. That will be an extra special touch, n'est-ce pas? And the bathroom down there is seriously fab! Designed by king of the hipsters Phil Cooley, the word on the street is that the architect had an aneurysm when he saw it. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but if you want a sneak preview, check it out here.

The almost-finished staircase to the lower level dining room.

After Mercury we went to the Book-Cadillac, so I finally got to check that out. There are some really nice things about it, it's very contemporary overall. There are some missed opportunities too, but what a great thing to have. And by great thing I mean finally a nice hotel lobby bar.

Saturday night was the Kathy Griffin show at the Fox Theater, and that was great fun. She is a freak, and even though I am not as up on popular culture and television viewing as I needed to be to get everything she was talking about, it was a fab show. More significantly, it was a theater packed with 5000 people and the vast majority of them were gay guys. It was the most gay people in one spot I've ever seen, at least in Michigan.

Sunday morning the Detroit Free Press Marathon occurred, and I ran the whole thing in record time! OK seriously, I drank mimosas and cheered on runners and walkers as they passed my friends' house in Corktown. It was the perfect fall morning, I saw many of my fellow Detroit gays out there running their little hearts out. We did some cheerleading cheers to keep their spirits up as they approached mile 12, and to distract them from the fact that the loudspeakers over on 14th Street were blaring "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins ... "gonna take you right into the danger zone." Suburbanites, really, it's not that bad.

"H-O-T-T-O-G-O! You are ... hot to go!"

After the marathon we walked up for a second visit to Mercury. They still weren't technically open yet, but it's all about who you know, you know? The place has a really different feel in daylight and it was crawling with sexy hipsters, boys and girls. But, like, really sexy boy hipsters. A lot of them.

Having a coffee at the little upstairs coffee standing bar is tres european, especially with the train station ruins right outside. I would like to point out that Mercury has that cone-drip coffee that is so good and is all the rage among serious coffee fans around the country. I went to one place in Hayes Valley in SF that had it and someone told me people wait like a half an hour to get that coffee. Crazy. And now we can have that here! Hopefully without the wait.

This is a fierce look that I was not expecting in Corktown. Those shoes!

I then left to go do some work and chill, being exhausted from all that cheering and an unusually early Sunday morning. Plus I had to see how this photo turned out.

I tried not to objectify this hipster worker boy but, once again, I failed.

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My current obsession

Well, this is really an ongoing obsession. But I revisited the 1960's film version of "Sweet Charity" and can't stop watching this.

Seriously fabulous Fosse.

And then the imitators. Well-done by The Gap:

And kind of whored up and dumbed down by Beyonce in "Get Me Bodied" (Sony/BMG has disabled embedding on all the YouTube copies of this video so you have to actually follow the link to watch it - or mouse over that little Snapshot icon. The relevant parts start at 1:15 and end about two minutes later. It's not a great song).

I know I blogged about this early last year but I'm still obsessed.
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Damn funny

50% dirty, 50% SFW, 50% vintage porn, 50% animation = 100% fabulous

(this is getting yanked off YouTube like crazy, so watch it while you can! Thanks Backintheday for the tip!)

'Shack Attack

Getting your full freak on in Detroit is a decidedly underground affair. A perverse curiosity, an adventurous spirit and a tolerance for disappointment can yield tremendous results in a city where legendary scenes come and go in a flash, and by the time you discovered it, it's probably over.

San Francisco, on the other hand, is a magnet school for freaks. The freak flag flies with reassuring consistency here, and there is a critical mass of people who support the outrageous, outlandish or simply outre. And that is why they get to have nice things, like Trannyshack.

Briefly, Trannyshack is a weekly drag event held at a shithole gay bar (the kind I like to bitch about in Detroit) called The Stud located in the South of Market area of SF. Started by Heklina in 1996, the show is known for its cutting-edge performances and departure from regular ball-gown diva lip synch drag. I highly recommend reading the Wikipedia entry here, and watching this YouTube video with clips from an evening at The Stud. After twelve years, Heklina decided to put Trannyshack to rest with a huge Trannyshack Kiss Off party this past Saturday night.

It is a testament to the gay community in San Francisco that what was a popular, but fringe, event managed to pull a crowd of ... 1000? 1500? I mean, when was the last time anyone saw 1000 homos in one place in Detroit? And this was pretty solid gay, not an excessive amount of straight girl filler. And like 10% were in some kind of drag. It was, needless to say, thrilling.

What's your count?

It would be a waste of time for me to try and describe in detail every act in this tremendous evening, so I'll show you what I can. I took some crappy video clips with my cell phone, and since the show was a "best of Trannyshack" there are some original performances you can watch on YouTube.

Hoku Mama Swamp opened with a Queen Elizabeth number about absolute power corrupting absolutely (or whatever) to Abba's "Lay All Your Love on Me," with "Love is a Battlefield" Pat Benetar breakout choreography and a crowd-pleasing Madonna MTV Awards "Vogue" traveling posse of fabulous.



Raya Light provided a dramatic morality tale about the victimation, exploitation and ultimate empowerment of women (well, that's what I got from it) with a reprise of her Miss Trannyshack-winning Kate Bush/Kelly Clarkson number (original here).



Lady Miss Kier from Deee-Lite was there. And oh my. I mean, I'm by no means the inguenue I was in 1992, but then I didn't make my name prancing around in Pucci bodysuits either. Get a new stylist at the very least, Tammy Faye!

Why don't we, why don't we, whyyyy don't we whyyyy don't we ... change our look?

The House of More! (Juanita More! and Glamamore) performed the Flower Duet in dresses made entirely from paper. A flawless number.



Kimo performed "Ten Years of Madonna in Ten Minutes" (original peformance here) which was clever and fun, but the subsequent performance was one of two that really drove home the over-the-top nature of Trannyshack.

Kiddie performed a powerful rendition of Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain" that was pretty straightforward, focused on perfect make-up and lip synch ... until the hooded monk figures appeared to heat up pieces of metal with a blowtorch and BRAND HER BACK WITH THEM! And she didn't flinch! Unbelievable. This branding had the crowd's rapt attention - maybe Detroit Renaissance should consider something like this instead of a new slogan the next time around. (See a clip from Saturday here, and the entire original amazing performance here.)



Well, fortunately Lady Bunny was in town to lighten things up after that, and she did some of her patented routine (an example from Trannyshack earlier this year here). She is one fucked up bitch.

And then Fauxnique, a biological woman who is also a drag performer and Miss Trannyshack title winner (I told you Trannyshack was progressive) peformed a really beautiful number en pointe to Elton John's "Someone Saved My Life." I don't have my video editing software here on vacation but I put my clips together in a playlist, because I thought for those of you who like this stuff it was really worth getting a taste. Just really really great!

Justin Bond, famous as Kiki from Kiki & Herb in NYC, was on hand also, although sadly his brand of torch/vamp/camp singing didn't really translate well to the venue. I guess you have to be in row seven with him screaming at you to really fully enjoy it. But what came next definitely qualified as the most fucked up drag anything I've ever seen in my entire drag-loving life.

A queen named Precious Moments was up next and peformed "Gloria" by Patti Smith. Spinning on a communion rail with her dress hiked up (and showing the goods - click on the picture below for the very NSFW view of that) she was eventually banged by altar boys, priests, the pope, the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ on the cross. And then the number ended with her flouncing across the stage and someone coming over and shoving a buttplug up her butt. For real.

Precious Moments indeed.

Click picture for the other view. You won't be sorry.
Or actually, maybe you will.

Did you know that Ana Matronic from the Scissor Sisters got her start in the SF Trannyshack scene? Me neither, but it's true. She was another celeb on hand to bid farewell, and she had lots of cute boys in her number too. Bravo.

Can someone get me the boy with the glasses?

The final performer of the night was Putanesca, who did a very dramatic performance to a Siouxsie Sioux number in the greatest drag gown since the last time I claimed something was the greatest drag gown. Really gorgeous, "gothic beauty of the highest order." Watch the original fabulous performance here.



And then ... and then that was it. Heklina came out to bid farewell ... not forever, but for now. And after proclaiming she didn't want to end Trannyshack in a predictable way, she burst into a performance of "I Am Telling You I'm Not Going" by Jennifer Holiday. And through the course of the song she was joined by throngs of drag queens on stage. You really don't need to see more than these 15 seconds to know how overwrought that was.

"Well, I guess we could do something predictable after all."

I loves me some good drag, and this was just the thing to get me back on the gay track. An inspiring evening and undoubtedly one of the high points of this summer!
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Band of Gold

Today's greatest hit is "Band of Gold," the extended version, by Sylvester! It's really very fabulous. You will love it.

Fierce Hot Mess

Oh kids, here's a great way to celebrate your independence this weekend - a big gay dance party at OSLO!

This Friday night - that's right, the Fourth of July - you can throw down at Fierce Hot Mess, a "dirty, sloppy good time - a party-style mix of house, old school, new wave, rock, hip-hop, alternative, and more."

I always enjoy a party with the objective in the name - so it looks like the fab gay party directions this weekend are for your to become a fierce hot mess. Well, MORE of a fierce hot mess.

Oslo
1456 Woodward
Old enough to drink
10pm
$5

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