The second annual True Colors concert at the Greek Theater last night was a blast! As with last year's inaugural tour, the review-style concert was part rock festival and part public-awareness telethon for gay rights but mostly just a full-on party. Philip and I were joined by co-worker Barbara and her partner Paula, and Philip's straight high school mate Daric, who popped into town for a day to visit Philip after 20 years and found himself in the middle of thousands of gay folks.

All of the acts were great, with the exception of wanna-be-singer-but-really-a-'roided-out-aging-porn-star Colton Ford, who opened the evening with some very bad squawking to a couple of ho-hum pre-recorded tracks. Luckily we were backstage meeting Cyndi Lauper at the time, but what I could hear was not pretty. OK, so I got a blurry pic with Cyndi...

The talentless (unless you count what's going on in his pants) Mr. Ford was followed by the very charming Puppini Sisters, a trio from the UK that performs retro Andrews Sisters-style with lush costumes and an ironic wink. They were fabulous, and the crowd seemed to be very disappointed when their short set was over.

The fun Puppinis were followed by Erasure's Andy Bell, who had the brave task of singing to pre-recorded tracks while working less than a quarter stage in front of the gigantic True Colors curtain - sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn't. He was actually much better in last year's appearance with band mate Vince Clarke - Andy's theatricality and voice needs more than two feet of space in front of a curtain and a recorded track. Mr. Bell was joined by Cyndi Lauper for a duet of "Early Bird" (also to a pre-recorded track) which they handled nicely.

Actress/Comedienne Wanda Sykes performed a very funny set with sly observations on gay marriage and comparing the gay rights struggle to the African-American experience. Her comic timing was great, and as with The Puppini Sisters, I found myself wishing that her short set had gone on a little longer.

The B-52s were up next and their set was terrific, especially the material from the new "Funplex" album. The sound mix was a bit off, with vocals not nearly as loud as Keith Strickland's guitar, but the band still had great energy and the live performance of the new songs didn't disappoint, with the title "Funplex" track and "Juliet of the Spirits" standing out as instant B-52s classics. Kinda wish the hairdos had been up, though. And I think Fred Schnieider is becoming a cranky old queen - he had quite a few sour looks on his face while everyone else seemed to be having fun. Oh, and Keith was HOT, HOT, HOT (both performance and looks-wise)!!!

Carson Kressley from "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" served as emcee for the evening and he had to vamp quite a lot during several long stage resets. He handled his hosting duties nicely, but his nervousness when he had to stretch his material made you wish a bit for the savvy comic timing of last year's host Margaret Cho.

Cyndi Lauper emerged for her set in a black-and-white-striped silk pajama-style pantsuit and black bowler hat and jumped atop a replica of the Statue of Liberty's torch while singing a rousing rendition of her classic "Change of Heart." Her high-energy set moved along at a fast pace, peppered with a lot of the dance-centric tunes from her new album. Cyndi launched herself into the audience quite a few times, and with me sitting in the second row at the foot of the stairs from the stage, she was in my face quite a bit - in fact, she laid across my lap and sang her new "Into the Nightlife." A highlight, at least for me!

Near the end of Cyndi's set, lead singer of The Cliks Lucas Silveria joined her for an electrifying rendition of "Money Changes Everything." It was fantastic!

During the encore, the entire cast emerged to launch giant balloons into the audience and sing "Everyday People" (they needed lyric sheets to accomplish this bit). Some unexplained faces appeared onstage with the performers, including actress Jane Lynch. The finale was a massive sing-a-long of the tour's signature tune, "True Colors." A great evening - looking forward to next year already! Lots more pics on my Flickr page.

OMG - loving the new Cherry Kool-Aid Singles. Rip one open, pour into a cold bottle of water and taste your childhood.

The Orange County Register, the conservative paper of record in California's most conservative county, has published an editorial in support of gay marriage:

"Our preference would be for the government not to be involved in marriage, the most fundamental of institutions in a civil society. Why two people who want to be married should be required to get a license from the state is something of a mystery. Marriage existed long before the California or U.S. governments came into being and will continue long after they have been consigned to history. Whether a marriage is valid should be up to the people involved and the churches, synagogues, mosques or other religious institutions that choose to perform them or not.

As a practical matter, however, the government has so entwined itself into our daily lives that state recognition is important. Filing taxes as a married couple or as individuals makes a difference, as does the ability to own real estate, make end-of-life decisions or adopt children. Considering all this and the importance of equality before the law, the high court's decision was justified."

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On the newspaper's website, someone named CaliforniaYankee wrote a fantastic comment on same-sex marriage in response to some rabid hater named Bikelady:

"Bikelady, you're in serious need of a refresher course on U.S History and Civics. Firstly, our system of government is not a democracy. It is a democratic republic. The distinction is clear to any seventh grader who has been paying attention in school. This form of government was deliberatly crafted by our Founding Fathers to protect individual rights from the tyranny of majority rule. Just because an opinion is popular doesn't mean it is right. Literature is rife with examples of this principle, Steven King's "Carrie" comes to mind.

The Founding fathers intended for our elected leaders to protect the rights of every single citizen, despite majority opinion. And because of this women now have the right to vote, people of color are equal citizens and the ignorant have the right to spout their mouths off, however wrong they are. Like when they suggest that 70% of Americans oppose same sex marriage. Wrong. But irrelevant.

Secondly, marriage, from its earliest days, was not about love nor was it about reproduction. It was and largely is about property rights. Originally, marriage was the legal vehicle for a man to transfer ownership of his daughter to her husband. Along with any other rights of inheritance that might go along with her. And this transfer of property often too the form of an outright sale, with the family of the female paying the family of the male to take the burden of ownership from them.
Good thing that's no longer the case, bikelady, beause you'd have a tough time finding a buyer! "

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The times, they are a changin'.

Joel Hodgson is back! Cinematic Titanic is a hliarious new series by Joel, creator and original host of Mystery Science Theater 3000. The project, which involves "riffing" B-movies a la MST3K, is a direct-to-video and online download release. Joining Joel are many of the original MST3K cast, as well as some cast members who joined later in the show's run, including Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, Frank Conniff and Mary Jo Pehl. Watched "The Oozing Skull" last night. Was laughing so hard at one point that I couldn't breathe. Good stuff! Much funnier than Mike Nelson's (Joel's not-as-funny replacement on MST3K) RiffTrax, which also provides satirical commentary alongside contemporary films.

Philip and I went to the Jewelry District in Downtown Los Angeles this morning to shop for rings...we looked at literally hundreds over the course of two hours and settled on the brushed white gold pieces pictured above. Now that we have the rings, the marriage license application and the tuxedos, we're finally set to get hitched after 22 years!

Spotted in Pasadena today - California 4K54320, no month or year stickers!

Co-worker Barbara and I had lunch at the new branch of Roy's Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine in Downtown Los Angeles today - this was my "Local Boy Lunch" - Chinese Chicken Salad, Fire Grilled Szechuan Spiced Baby Back Pork Ribs, Hawaiian Style Misoyaki Butterfish and Spicy Tuna Topped with Hamachi. Wow, a LOT of food for lunch, all good!

A series of unattached human feet have been washing up on Canadian shores. Six have been found in the last 10 months, and police don’t seem to have any leads. A lot of them seem to be men's size 12 wearing sneakers. Where's Dexter when you need him? UPDATE: Foot number six is apparently a hoax

Working in downtown Los Angeles: Illinois D614007 - EXPIRED! Shopping in Pasadena: Pennsylvania FLE2890 - NO EXPIRATION YEAR!

History was ushered in at 5:01 pm PST yesterday as California began marrying same-sex couples, becoming the second state in the nation to do so. In San Francisco, 87-year-old Del Martin and 84-year-old Phyllis Lyon were married after being together for more than 50 years. San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom officiated and delivered a heartwarming speech afterward.

Robin Tyler and Diane Olson were the first couple in Los Angeles to be married in Southern California - at the Beverly Hills courthouse just after 5 pm. I read a lot of emotional stories about individual ceremonies as well as a lot of debate for and against marriage on the LA Times website today, but the best thing I saw all day was in a comment posted by a reader named Mike: "Each side should be asking the question: 'Can the majority deny basic rights to a minority?' If we exclude a minority group from partaking on those basic rights - aren´t we opening the door, for another majority to deny ours? Each one of us, in one way or another, are members of a minority. A true Democracy PROTECTS the right of each one of us, by ensuring that the rights of EACH individual are not stepped on by the Majority. Irregardless of our 'emotions' - we SHOULD be supporting gay marriage - as one day, it might be those very same gays who will be PROTECTING our basic rights."

"It doesn't matter who my father was; it matters who I remember he was." -- Anne Sexton

Just when did it become mandatory to wear spandex festooned with logos in order to ride a bike? The image above is an almost daily occurrence on my street, and I know there can't possibly be that many pro biking teams in my neighborhood...

From natuba.com: "Hello, Walmart Bakery. I would like to order a cake. It should say: 'Best Wishes Suzanne.' Underneath that: 'We will miss you.'"

Sixteen states have reported salmonella poisoning as the result of raw, uncooked tomatoes. More bad 70s movie premises come back to haunt us in the 21st Century.

When I was 14, my cousin Eric lived WAY out in the country with his mom and sister in what could politely be called a ramshackle old farmhouse. Located on the edge of a dense pine forest in North Florida and literally miles from nowhere, the house was the source of endless amusement to us: there was the time that a bobcat menaced us kids home alone on a New Year's Eve, the time a menacing stranger was sitting on the front porch smoking a cigarette in the dark, and the time when I was attacked by a bedtime visitor. Eric and I were just settling into bed for the night, me in my long pajamas despite the Florida heat. It had just rained - one of those hard Florida thunderstorms that shake the windowpanes - so the humidity was high and the temperature bearable. We crawled under the covers and started making jokes, trying to crack each other up in the darkness as was our routine. Right in mid-joke I felt a multi-legged creature crawling up inside my pajama leg, sending me leaping from the bed in a wild panic dance. Now, if you have ever lived in Florida you know that the state's version of a cockroach, the "Palmetto Bug," is an insect on steroids. Bigger than your thumb, with the ability to fly extremely high and fast. One of these giant creatures came all the way up my pajama leg and up through the pullover top, emerging to say "Hello!" right at my v-neck collar. I'm pretty sure the screams are still echoing out there in the North Florida woods.

Marriage was the prevailing theme during the Los Angeles Pride Celebration yesterday. Only a few protesters showed up, a good sign...foreshadowing the November ballot amendment results perhaps??

South Florida's first enclosed mall opened in 1964, occupying a 40 acre parcel 1.5 miles west of downtown Hollywood. Known as the Hollywood Mall, it was a fixture of my childhood...we took photos with Santa there, got our school shoes at Thom McAnn, went to see 25-cent movies at the Florida Theater, and, as a special treat, ate at the lunch counter in the Walgreens drug store. It was very 60s-chic, with fabulous brown and gold river-rock panels on the walls, terrazzo floors and orb-y light fixtures hanging from the ceiling. A large Sears served as Hollywood Mall's only anchor department store, and the shopping center also included a Publix supermarket, Cheryl's Cards and Gifts, Posture Form Children's Shoes, Lani Kay ladies' apparel, Mister Donut, and the Hollywood Mall Beauty Salon - THE place in town for the latest-style Fedora hairdo. I spent countless days in the mall as a kid (often unaccompanied by an adult), and when the Sears store became notorious as the site of the 1981 kidnapping and murder of Adam Walsh, it freaked out all of us who grew up patronizing the place. "THAT could have been me!" we all thought.

Some French dudes demonstrate the scary ability of cell phones to pop popcorn kernels. You might want to rethink the practice of carrying your mobile in your pocket... UPDATE: Hoax.

Bill O’Reilly producer Porter Barry ambushes Bill Moyers from PBS (Barry was looking to get sound bytes for an attack piece against the "liberal media"). The right-winger gets totally argued down by the brilliant Bill Moyers. Watch it - it’s long, but triumphant!.

Well, the cupcake craze has been swirling all around Los Angeles for quite a while, and now the gastronomic trend has hit my neighborhood. Everyone at my job is loving Dots Cupcakes, a new bakery near Old Town Pasadena. I was treated to many of their delicious creations while recuperating from my surgery, and we have brought them in for all of our recent office birthday celebrations. Flavors include the now-obligatory-everywhere Red Velvet, Coffee Latte, Boston Cream Pie, and my favorite, Lemon Drop.

From the Los Angeles Times: The California Supreme Court today rejected a petition to delay its historic same-sex marriage decision, deciding 4-3 that gay people may marry later this month. The court's decision clears the way for same-sex couples to wed starting on June 17, the date California cities and counties will begin issuing marriage licenses to gay couples.

My friend Jeannette spotted this LA resident with an out-of-state plate at the El Pollo Loco on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena.

Barack Obama laid claim to the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday night, taking a historic step toward his once-improbable goal of becoming the nation's first black president. In separate speeches, Hillary Clinton maneuvered for the vice presidential spot on his fall ticket without conceding her own defeat. This historic milestone in American history is big news all over the globe:

And I loved it when, just before Barack gave his victory speech, Michelle gave him a fist punch - really gave you some insight on how much they love and support each other.

More fun with food, this time from EnglishRussia.com: Just separate the skittles by color, add to vodka, let the alcohol absorb the color, and drain for candy-colored vodka. Taste the rainbow!

From an article in the Los Angeles Times today: "Forget economic stimulus checks. Same-sex marriages may give California just the financial boost it needs. Wedding planners, bakers and hotels began booking more business almost immediately after the state Supreme Court's May 15 decision overturning a ban on gay marriage. Citing pent-up demand, one UCLA study projects that same-sex unions could provide a $370-million shot in the arm to the state economy over the next three years."