August 2007 Archives

After we all finished our lunch, a session called "Tattle-Tales: The Dirt on Hollywood Dish" began with a panel that included Marc Malkin who does the E! online column "Planet Gossip," USA Today entertainment writer William Keck, and Karen Bonsignore, an executive producer of entertainment news for CNN.
"The way we get out news has changed tremendously in the last four years...I think TMZ.com has changed the television landscape ," Bonsignore said. She then mentioned the reach of blogger Perez Hilton, who she said should not be depended on as a reliable source for news: "Last week, he insisted that Fidel Castro was dead. You have to know the person who is telling you something is reputable and true."
While Hilton has pushed such celebrities as Lance Bass and Neil Patrick Harris out of the closet door, Malkin admitted that as a gay man, he feels torn about such things: "One second, I'm like f*** 'em. I should just cover the gay celebrity as I do a straight celebrity. But I'm also a gay man who knows that struggle."
Malkin shared an anecdote about his days working at the New York Post when he submitted an item about media titan Barry Diller having dinner on gay night at a club called Beige in the company of several attractive men.
"The editors killed it," he said. "If Bruce Willis had been there, it would have stayed in because everyone knows he's straight."

Keck had a similar experience a year ago when he reported that Barry Manilow was dining with a table of "fine looking" men after the Emmys. Editors cut it out. Also cut was a line Keck had in a story this month on Merv Griffin's death which stated that Griffin "was commonly known to be gay in Hollywood."

An audience member asked about an unnamed A-list male celebrity who has been dogged with gay rumors for decades and sued many times over it.
Said Keck, without mentioning Tom Cruise by name: "I think it would be a mission impossible to prove that."
Added Malkin: I have no proof that that celebrity is gay but it is amazing how many people address the Tom Cruise may possibly be gay rumors."
I took the microphone to take Bonsignore to task for praising Melissa Etheridge, Rosie O'Donnell and Ellen DeGeneres for their coming out and their activism related to that. She then went on to be critical of T.R. Knight and Neil Patrick Harris for not doing more.

I found her to be ill-informed and unfair on this and reminded her that Rosie had a daily talk show for six years and was not out. T.R. was outed about a year ago and has gradually become an activist. He's done a cover story with The Advocate, appeared on Ellen's talk show, was the center-of-attention at the GLAAD awards and has quietly been supportive of gay films and causes.
I told her that I didn't mean to be a bitch, but she really needed to be set straight...so to speak!

I'm off to yet another reception and probably hanging out with my new blog buddies Kenneth Walsh and Johnny Diaz who each wrote postings on their blogs about our adventures yesterday. Click on their names to read their versions and HERE to read mine...

Skipped out on a morning NLGJA session after about a half hour to get my shoes shined (my black dress shoes, not the white tennis shows). The guy with a stand outside the Westin- Horton Plaza was so cool, singing along with Sinatra songs as he worked on my footwear. Then grabbed a smoothie at Jamba Juice, bought some newspapers then came back to my hotel room because I could not resist doing a quick web surf. Found this great pic posted on Queerty.com of Hillary and Ellen taken during the filming of the season premiere of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."
A coupla great ladies...
OK, back to the conference...the lunch discussion is on entertainment journalism. Let's see if they can teach me anything I don't already know.
Ha!

I missed the show with all the NLGJA activities but feel a duty to update you on this show that I barely care about now. Amber, the really annoying crybaby who is not exactly the brightest bulb and who made some anti-Semetic remarks that CBS never aired, got voted out of the house last night.
That leaves only one decent person left: Jameka. But she does not really have enough support to go all the way it seems. I'd love to see Eric given the boot. I've had my absolute fill of this twerp.
Here is the hysterical part: Zach, who has loafed his way through the entire season, wins HOH at a most crucial time. It will be interesting to see who he puts up on Sunday...

I had been looking forward to ABC's version of one of my favorite guilty pleasures from the U.K.: "Footballers Wives." But the sbow did not make the network's fall schedule despite a cast that included the oh-so-sexy Eddie Cibrian and James Van Der Beek.
Fortunately, the blog Ohlala.com posted these pics from the pilot today. I am particularly fond of the one below:

With public and private pressure increasing by the day, Idaho Sen. Larry "I'm not gay" Craig is considering resigning from office, Craig is not at all a sympathetic figure in all of this but it is stunning how the Republican Party can't get rid of him fast enough. A New York Times editorial, which I came by via Queerty.com, calls the GOP out on its real motive:

Underlying their hurry to disown the senator, of course, is the party’s brutal agenda of trumpeting the gay-marriage issue. To the extent Senator Craig, a stalwart in the family values caucus, might morph into a blatant hypocrite before the voters’ eyes, he reflects on the party’s record in demonizing homosexuality. The rush to cast him out betrays the party’s intolerance, which is on display for the public in all of its ugliness. But it also betrays their political uneasiness as the next election approaches.

Sounds about right.

Sorry for the lack of posts yesterday. The National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Convention is pretty much all-consuming with seminars all morning and afternoon then, seriously, three consecutive receptions, then there was a party on the rooftop of a nearby hotel that many of us went to and that I just got back from.
I'm beat.
But, I'm gonna write a little bit. Just got back from the 7-11 where I bought a Diet Snapple to help me power through a few posts. I was with my new friends and best pals for the night, fellow bloggers Kenneth Walsh (Kennethinthe212.com) and Johnny Diaz (BeantownCuban.com). After spending more than seven hours with each other, it was amazing that we still had things to talk about. Johnny refered to us as the "Tres Blogeros." I like that.
We talked about so much and after a certain point, stopped worrying about who was going to write what on their blog. When the cocktails are flowing, you have to just declare a blanket off the record with all the dirt we were dishing and personal things shared. We ended our evening by lingering in the lobby of the Westin talking about "Sex and the City." Johnny and I think Carrie should have stayed with Aiden. Kenneth thinks we're nuts. Kenneth also did not like the pair of brand-new white tennis shoes that I bought from Payless yesterday: "They look so...white." Johnny is going to be discussing his new novel, "Boston Boys Club" on Saturday so I'll probably post on that then.
This is my first NLGJA convention where my blog has been a known entity. Last year in Miami, it was just two months old. So I felt a real connection with fellow bloggers - sometimes instantly. Like with the lively Shana Naomi Krochmal who does the Popnography blog and who I just thought she was a breath of fresh air. She is also so smart and quick. I think she should be on a show like "The View." She's got a wonderful presence.
Shana was on a panel on blogging this morning moderated by Ben Patrick Johnson, this big muscular guy with a deep voice who was hired as the first host of "Extra" then promptly fired after two weeks because he was gay and not closeted.
I had never met Ben, who has a video blog called "Life on the West Coast." Our first interaction was pretty hilarious: I recognize him as I'm leaving the breakfast meeting and ask, "Do you know where your thing is?"
We looked at each other and laughed. Of COURSE I was referring to which ROOM his blogging panel would be held in.
Great times. I've met so many people and already have a stack of business cards from people who I hope will all become regular readers of Out In Hollywood. I think gay journalists are about as lively and interesting a group as you're gonna find and that's why I wouldn't miiss an event like this for the world.
Will write more from NLGJA later today...

ANOTHER picture of Ryan Reynolds? Yes. And I have a very legit reason: this is a scene from Ryan's new movie "The Nines" which is out today. This weekend officially marks the end of the summer box office season where grosses surpassed $4 million for the first time. Read all about it in my Daily News column BOX OFFICE BUZZ.

The U.S. Open is in it's fourth day but I can't watch even a few minutes of it between sessions at the NLGJA conference because the Westin Horton Plaza, the place that is charging me $27 a day to park my car, doesn't have the USA channel! Arrrrrrrrrrg.
To make myself feel better, I found some pictures taken today that shows how far two of our hottest pros will go to win a point...

...Tommy Haas (above) and Andy Roddick (below)

"I had been in a relationship and a very intense one. And it broke up after quite a number of years. And it broke up abruptly – didn't break up from me. I was cast aside. And it was just, just at the advent of AIDS. And I found out he had been sleeping with a lot of people. And thank God I'm healthy. Because I didn't know and it had been going on for a while. So when we broke up, there the world of AIDS is spread out before me, and I thought ‘I can't do this. I don't want to be selfish, but I care too much about my health'. And the person I loved more than myself had been cheating on me and lying to me. So if that person is doing it, what about total strangers? So I just got used to being alone, very used to it."
- Tim Gunn, in an interview posted Thursday on AfterElton.com

"What he did, it's hypocritical, but it's not an abuse of his office in the sense that he was taking money for corrupt votes. I think people should resign when they have clearly done the job in a way that is dishonest. It's one thing to say that someone can't be trusted to vote without being corrupt, it's another to say that he can't be trusted to go to the bathroom by himself....This is the hypocrisy -- it's to deny legal equality to gay people, but then to engage in gay behavior."
- Openly gay Rep. Barney Frank to AP on Sen. Larry Craig's arrest

"My coming out process was a difficult one. There were moments when I was deeply depressed and suicidal. I can say to...kids, 'You know, I thought my life was over, and now I'm married. I do what I love for a living. I feel great about myself.' I'm living this happily ever after that I didn't think was possible."
- Darren Hayes, discussing his involvement in The Trevor Project in the current issue of People Magazine.

Any excuse to post new photos of Mr. Ryan Reynolds...his new movie, "The Nines," opens tomorrow in limited release. He plays three roles in this very unique film which I found to be fascinating. In the middle portion, Reynolds plays a gay man and shows us some good range. No love scenes, however...dammit. These pictures are of Ryan promoting the movie yesterday on TRL...

MSNBC is insulting our intelligence with this one.
If you watch the cable channel and see a re-airing of Tucker Carlson talking about how he went all Rambo on some guy he said was "bothering" him in a public restroom when he was in high school, you'll miss the party about he and a friend returning and smashing the guy's head against a stall.
According to Media Matters: "…Both August 29 re-airings did include Carlson’s claim that he had been “bothered in men’s rooms,” neither broadcast aired the portion in which Carlson claimed that he “went back with someone” and “hit him against the stall with his head.” Both re-airings did include a portion of the segment in which Carlson asserted, “I’m not anti-gay in the slightest.”

The drive from Palm Springs to San Diego this afternoon was great - no real traffic problems, excellent MapQuest directions, and played my Elton John CD - the one with his greatest hits live practically the entire way. You haven't lived until you sing "The Bitch is Back" at the top of your lungs as you drive through Murrieta!
I pull up to the Westin Hotel at Horton Plaza. Then it all unravels a bit. The guy who greets me tells me it will cost me $27 per DAY to park my car at the hotel. WHAT? Charging nearly $300 a night doesn't get you a parking space?
I check in, gritting my teeth.
The bellman helps me with my bags, we enter my 5th floor room and I'm very pleased. It's roomy, has a great view of downtown and even has a chaise lounge.
One problem: it smells. I request another room. Request granted.
New room doesn't have a chaise lounge but an even better view. Gee, I'm thirsty. Oh, there's a few bottles of water. Wait! They cost $3.95 each (plus tax and service) says the sign hanging on the bottle. No thanks. I'll just walk over to the Longs Drugs and buy my own water, thankyouverymuch.
Head over to the second floor to check in to the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Assn. convention (that's why I'm here) and bump into my chapter president, Steve Pride. He's still mad at me because I never returned his DVD of "The Bubble" to him. I am guilty. But I did slip it into my luggage before leaving L.A. so he warms up a bit after our chilly greeting.
Ran into all kinds of people today including Kenneth Walsh who does the terrific Kennethinthe212.com blog. We have chatted on the phone and exchanged emails but had never met face-to-face. It was nice to do so today, to talk about blogging and all that.
I've been flipping through the convention program and there are plenty of events and guests who will make for good blog fodder so I'll be keeping ya posted as best I can...

So ABC announced the celebrity line-up for the next season of "Dancing With the Stars" this fall. Wayne Newton: Will his face move AT ALL? Jane Seymour: Dr. Quinn doing the tango? Marie Osmond and Jenni Garth: nothing snarky - i like 'em both. Mark Cuban: He should liven things up!
But let's get real: the real draw for this viewer is the hot guys and this season there are two sizzlers: "All My Children" star Camerson Mathison (right) who has caused hearts to race for several years as Ryan Avery. Those eyes, that body, that smile. Good call ABC.
Then there is someone I've never really heard of but look forward to learning more about...and watch dance! His name is Helio Castroneves (pictured, below) and what a dish, huh? The rest of the "celebs," I don't much care about but maybe that will change once we see them each week.

The elegant Roger Federer, who won his 23rd consecutive match at the U.S. Open dating back to 2004, sported a new look tonight wearing all-black attire. So cool.

Robby Ginepri (above), whose year has been horrendous, showed some of the form that got him to the seminfinals of the Open two years ago, blowing away his first-round opponent which means we get another match from him. Meanwhile, the usually fired-up Rafael Nadal (below) seemed subdued today as he struggled to beat a guy ranked outside the top 100. Nadal has hurt knees which might mean an early exit for the Spanish hearthrob.

The Sen. Larry Craig scandal is bringing out the worst in some of television's pundits with Tucker Carlson sinking the lowest. On MSNBC last night, Carlson was chatting with Dan Abrams and Joe Scarborough and Abrams wanted to know why Carlson had once indicated a person's sexual orientation wasn't really anyone else's business.
Carlson felt compelled to say: “Let me be clear, Dan. I’m not gay. I’ve never been gay. Over-reacted and made a poor decision…” (laughter)
Abrams, also laughing, responded: “And let me just say for the record, I’m not gay either.”

Let me say this to both these raging heterosexuals: not being gay does not make you superior to me or any other gay person I know.

Then came the really wierd stuff: Carlson shared that a man once approached him for sex at a public restroom. Carlson said: “I went back with someone I knew and grabbed the guy.. and grabbed him… and hit him against the stall, actually. And then the cops came and arrested him. But let me say that I'm the least anti-gay right-winger you'll ever meet -- but I do think doing this in men's rooms appears to be common. It's totally wrong, and they should knock it off. I mean that. I think it's -- I can't bring my son to the men's room at the park where he plays soccer because of all these creepy guys hanging around in there. I actually think it's a problem. I'm sorry. "

Watch the clip from YouTube posted below and tell me if you are not sickened. Carlson says the gay groups should disavow this kind of behavior.
Tucker, they are not endorsing it. Most gay people I know are together enough to have sex in their homes or somewhere else private. We don't need to meet people in public restrooms, we're not closeted Republican politicians living a double life.

Carlson, realizing he'd gone too far, tried to smooth things over with a back-tracking statement today:

"Let me be clear about an incident I referred to on MSNBC last night: In the mid-1980s, while I was a high school student, a man physically grabbed me in a men's room in Washington, DC. I yelled, pulled away from him and ran out of the room. Twenty-five minutes later, a friend of mine and I returned to the men's room. The man was still there, presumably waiting to do to someone else what he had done to me. My friend and I seized the man and held him until a security guard arrived. Several bloggers have characterized this is a sort of gay bashing. That's absurd, and an insult to anybody who has fought back against an unsolicited sexual attack. I wasn't angry with the man because he was gay. I was angry because he assaulted me."

OK, so after you read that statement, go back and watch the video again. Why should be listen to anything this guy has to say - ever?

I'm leaving this wonderful resort, La Dolce Vita, that I have called home for the last five days. It's time to drive to San Diego for the National Gay and Lesbian Journalists Assn.'s conference which sounds stuffy and boring but actually is one of the highlights of the year for me.
Last year the convention was in Miami, the year before that in Chicago. So it's nice to be on my home turf (I went to San Diego State University). My time in PS has not been all about happy hours, meals at El Mirasol and pool time, I also made time to attend the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films where there were four seperate programs of gay shorts. The event was held at the Camelot Theatre complex where I often catch a matinee if the heat is too intense. You can sip a glass of wine as you watch a movie at The Camelot and they have superb food like wraps and other treats made fresh. I never get popcorn at the Camelot.
Anway, I didn't want to blog about the festival because I'm on VACATION but the other night during the "ShortSlam: Gay!LA Queer as..." program, some of the filmmakers were so funny in their introductions and their films so good that I started scribbling some notes on my ballot and wanted to give a quick shout-out before I grab a few hours of pool time then hit the road.

In two of the programs I attended, the fabulous film "Kail Ma" screened. I had already seen in at LA's Outfest but ya know what? I'd see it again and again and again because it is FUNNY! And touching. The movie is about an Indian boy who has a crush on his cute, blonde classmate, who is aware of the attraction and beats him up for it - on a regular basis. When his mother finds out, she goes all Rambo on the kid and it is a site to see. Filmmaker Soman Chainani described his film as something that "sort of blows up in your face. It's going to be the first short film to be released in India. It's going to be a big scandal."
I also absolutely loved "Signage" which was a well-done short on being a middle-aged gay man. Said very funny writer-director Rick Hammerly, who also starred in the film: "The film is about getting older as a gay man. Some people are, apparently."
Hammerly was a hoot. When the festival director unexpectedly called him up to the stage, he had to make his way all the way from the last row and cracked: "If I had known they'd call me up here, I wouldn't have sat in the back and avoided the humiliating 'Price is Right' run."
The crowd roared...as they did many times during this very funny film.
And finally, the other movie I want to highlight is called "Waiting for Yvette" which stars Wendi Malick as a pre-op transgendered female. The night before her surgery, she attends what is to be her last AA meeting (it's men only) with a group of three other men who she has been meeting with for years. The conversations and revelations made during this meeting make for a damned good film.

OK, time for the pool for some last-minute rays...the next post will have a San Diego dateline.

Way back in late spring, I was seated with the talented artist Louis Briel at a political breakfast where Bill Richardson was the featured speaker. (This was pre-debate gaffes). Louis, who is based in L.A., told me about his work, including a portrait he had painted of Diana, princess of Wales, shortly after her death and gave to her close friend Elton John.
The portrait hung in Sir Elton's private dressing room and was said to have helped him cope with the loss.
Tomorrow marks the 10-year anniversary of the death of Diana in that horrible and senseless car crash in Paris. She was at the top of her game, had never looked better, and was doing some terrific work bringing awareness to the world about landmines.
Remember where you were when you heard?
I was vacuuming my apartment in the Long Beach neighborhood of Belmont Shore because I was hosting a party the next day. Instead of partying, my guests and I sat in my living room watching the endless reports of her death and reading the pile of newspapers I bought that morning. It just didn't seem real and in some ways, still doesn't.
Briel painted the portrait of the Princess to deal with the unexpected grief he was feeling. Days after finishing the portrait, he saw Elton on the Oprah Winfrey Show and was so touched by Elton's love for Diana, he gave the painting to the rock star.
Moved by the kind gesture, Elton sent a handwritten note to Briel thanking him: "I am going to take the canvas on tour with me, so that I can look at it each night before I go on stage. Then the portrait will be sent to my home in England. You are a very kind man and the gift is very much appreciated. Much love, Elton."
Elton took the portrait around the world with him on "The Big Picture Tour" in 1997-98, hanging It in his dressing room at every venue worldwide.
"When I met him, Elton said he would one day give the painting to the Princes William and Harry," Briel said in a newspaper interview. "I hope he will do so now. It would help heal them and come to terms with their mother's tragic death. It helped heal Elton, perhaps now it's time for him to give it to the Princes, who truly need it."
Briel's painting (www.louisbriel.com). is now featured in Diana In Art, by Mem Mehmet, a collection of portraits of the Princess from around the world. It is published by Pop Art Books.

Here's a good way to cause a traffic accident! New billboards featuring Oscar-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou for Calvin klein Steel collection. The top billboard is on Sunset Blvd. while the other is on Melrose. I don't know cross streets yet, sorry. I'm in Palm Springs and have not been able to personally inspect these works of art.

I first met actor Gabriel Romero maybe three years ago at a house party for The Trevor Project. He had a long talk about a lot of serious subjects and I found him to be quite insightful. So it was great so see him added to the cast of 'Dante's Cove' last season as the sexy Marco, owner of a club where a big chunk of the drama unfolds.
We talked last month about the upcoming third season of the gothic gay soap.
Says Gabriel: "The show actually has some great surprises coming up, major changes. You won't believe it. The first 10 minutes of it you'll be like 'What? What happened?' I can't tell you about it though."
So, will there be more of those steamy sex scenes?
"Of course it's a little sexy. I mean, c'mon, it's about having fun. It's the gay network. I have a very steamy scene with [new cast member] Jensen [Atwood]. It was very powerful and was supposed to be the biggest orgasm of my life."
Gabriel says he is pleasantly surprised at the show's growing international appeal: "Now that season two is out on DVD, I'm getting emails from places like China now! The fans have just been coming out of the wood work, now it's everywhere - it's around the world. They're watching 'Dante's Cove' in China. It's awesome. It's about reaching out and letting people know we are proud of who we are, that we're no lomger hiding. It's a guilty pleasure so come on and watch and have fun."

We will!

This story is just beyond the pale.
Sen. Larry Craig, a Republican who has supported anti-gay legislation, was arrested back in June for disorderly conduct following an incident in the men's room at the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport. Craig had pleaded guilty and was hoping the arrest would go unnoticed which it did for a few months.
Despite the guilty plea, Craig said Tuesday that he did nothing "inappropriate." and said he is the victim of a "witch hunt" conducted by the Idaho Statesman newspaper.
"Let me be clear: I am not gay and never have been," said Craig, who has aligned himself with conservative groups who oppose gay rights. "In pleading guilty, I overreacted in Minneapolis, because of the stress of the Idaho Statesman's investigation and the rumors it has fueled around Idaho. Again, that overreaction was a mistake, and I apologize for my misjudgment."
He added: "I should not have kept this arrest to myself, and should have told my family and friends about it. I wasn't eager to share this failure, but I should have done so anyway."
What. A. Hypocrite.

Here is Craig's VOTING RECORD on gay issues:
- Supported a federal constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, telling his colleagues that it was "important for us to stand up now and protect traditional marriage, which is under attack by a few unelected judges and litigious activists."
- Voted in favor of the Defense of Marriage Act, which denies federal recognition to same-sex marriages and prevents states from being forced to recognize the marriages of gay and lesbian couples legally performed in other states.
- Opposed expanding the federal hate crimes law to cover offenses motivated by anti-gay bias.
- Voted against a bill in 1996 that would have outlawed employment discrimination based on sexual orientation, which failed by a single vote in the Senate.

After the jump, read an account from CNN of how the arrest went down:

Here's a thought. I think television ratings for tennis would soar if they let the men play their matches shirtless. Here is Spaniard Carlos Moya practicing at Flushing Meadow yesterday. He is looking very much in form!

Lance Bass is doing some damage control today following the New York magazine interview in which he had some unflattering things to say about NYC where he is currently on Broadway in "Hairspray."
Here is the letter Bass wrote to New York mag which he has posted on his web site:
Last week your reporter called me on my cell phone to ask me a number of questions in conjunction with my joining the cast of the Broadway hit musical Hairspray. She came to see me in the show but she didn't come to the after party so she requested an interview later.
I made the comment to her (that she recorded so there is no excuse for the misquote) that when trying to find an apartment here, the first two I looked at had no style. She reported that I said New Yorkers had no style, which I never said. What was conveniently left out was my statement that I am having a great time here, I love the city and I now plan to get a permanent residence here and be bi-coastal.
Later in the story the writer suggests that I don't hang out at Justin's restaurant. I have been to Justin's restaurant a number of times, and have taken my fellow cast members to it on many occasions as well.
I'm sorry floral print couches were reported on in my piece and nothing mentioned of this incredible musical, Hairspray, that I am in and how excited I am to be working and living among some of the greatest people on the planet.
Sincerely,
Lance Bass
Proud New Yorker

This comes as no surprise but a police log obtained by the TV show "Extra" confirmed that a 911 emergency call listed "attempted suicide" as the reason why emergency vehicles were called to the Santa Monica home of Owen Wilson. The call was made from Owen's home Sunday around noon. He was found by his movie star brother, Luke Wilson. Owen is currently being described as being in "good condition."
In a world where we are constantly inundated with Lohan-Britney-Nicole-Paris "news," this is a story that really kind of gets you in the stomach a little bit. Maybe we feel like we know Owen because of all the movies, all the laughs he's given us. There's been so much talk about the future of his career, etc. The main thing is him getting better. He's so gifted and has created so much goodwill with audiences. The career will be there if and when he wants to resume it...

Here are photoa of gorgeous Reichen Lemkuhl and his gorgeous boyfriend, Ryan Barry, at the recent Trevor Project pool party benefit. I post it here because I knowm it will be appreciated. TMZ.com posted the picture and the reaction from readers was unbelievably hostile.
Read some of their bile after the jump...
But first, here's another shot of the studly duo...

Gregory Michael is an actor-musician who has been one of the stand-out stars of "Dante's Cove." As Kevin, his topsy-turvy relationship with Toby (Charlie David) has the most heart of any of the male relationships. Amrosius (William Gregory Lee), however, will stop at nothing to come between them.
We chatted earlier this summer about the show's upcoming third season which debuts in September:
"This season is going to be, by far, the best. I guarantee it. If I'm wrong, you can come find me, hunt me down," he says. "We have some new faces this year like Jensen Atwood who moved over from 'Noah's Arc' to the Cove. And Reichen [Lemkhul] have some good scenes, good energy. You're gonna want to see Reichen, you're gonna want to see Jensen, you're gonna want to see it all. It just gets hotter. I don't know how that's possible, but it does."
So does Ambrosius succeed in finally winning Kevin over?
"We're naughty together this year. I don't want to say more."
Should be look forward to seeing as much nudity as we have in the first two seasons? You sometimes wonder if Kevin even owns a shirt!
"More clothes on but definitely sexier," he says. "It's always what you don't see. But I have to work out, do the routine, eat a lot of tuna, do crunches and squats and all that fun stuff."
Michael has been touring all summer with his band, my band, "Auxburn," at various spots including the Viper Room on Sunset Blvd.
"I have a great fan base and it's really helping out when it comes to my music, we've been doing a lot of shows and a lot of the fans from 'Dante's Cove' come to my shows. It's invaluable."

Came in from the pool late yesterday afternoon and flipped on the U.S. Open. My timing was perfect. There was a tribute to the late Althea Gibson, the great black player who broke the color barriers in tennis back in the 50s winning the U.S. Open for the first time exactly 50 years ago. It was an amazing ceremony which included words from my hero, Billie Jean King, who broke quite a few barriers of her own. They had a parade of black women who had accomplished firsts including the evening's hostess Phylicia Rashad, the first to win the Tony Award for best leading actress in a play. After a few dozen of incredible women like Roberta Flack and Jackie Joyner-Kersee walked onto the court, out strolled the Queen, Aretha. She launched into "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" and everyone boogied. I wished I were there. After the ceremony, the resurgent Williams sisters, Venus and Serena, each played a match on Arthur Ashe Stadium...and won.

And finally, even though he had nothing to do with the evening festivities, I love this picture (below) taken of top-ranked Roger Federer who won his 22nd consecutive match at the U.S. Open on Monday...

I'm sure the producers of "Hairspray" are just loving this.
Lance Bass, who they brought in to play Corny Collins in the Broadway production throughout the fall, talked to New York Magazine and does not seem very fond of The Big Apple.
It took three weeks, and three brokers, to find an apartment: “There’s a lot of pieces of crap here for a lot of money. And I don’t think anyone here has any style. I was looking at fully furnished places and it was like, you can either have a bunch of floral prints or some dusty couch from the 1960s.”
Poor Lance. Sounds terrible!
He's also apparently misunderstood and maligned by those mean New Yorkers: “My walking pace has picked up a lot...and apparently I’m ruder. I read that someone met me at a club and told me I looked great and I was like, ‘Don’t even think about taking a picture.’ Which really sounds like me. And then they printed a picture they’d taken of me, which makes even less sense.”
I don't know how he can endure all of these indignities. The man has been through HELL.

I'd like to think that this blog is above doing more than one post in a single day about actors Wentworth Miller ("Prison Break") and Luke MacFarlane ("Brothers & Sisters" hanging out together.
Yeah, I'd LIKE to think so.
JustJared.com has posted the details of their outing and I, realizing there is interest, want to share those details with you. It's pretty SCANDALOUS: According to spywitnesses, the pair first avoided being photographed together, but eventually walked down the street together with a smile. Their day off together began with a visit to Kinkos where Wentworth surfed the web. Next stop: Starbucks. They then headed to a small art gallery in Culver City. And before calling it a day, they hit the In-N-Out Burger drive-thru.
No idea if they ordered a double-double, animal style.

Last month, I conducted interviews with several members of the cast of "Dante's Cove" which will begin airing its third season on here! TV in October. I love this campy, sexy show and its supernatural elements. One of the main reasons why is the performance of William Gregory Lee who plays the 200 years old Ambrosius who is dong better and better at adjusting to the present-day goings-on at Dante's Cove.
Lee tells me "it's been an absolute blast" playing the very complex role on the gay soap.
"When we first started the series, I had very specific things that I wanted to bring to the character and here! [TV] has kind of given me the freedom to kind of run with everything that I ever envisioned. We sit down between seasons and I tell them some ideas I have for the character, like some of the transformations that Ambrosius has to make in the present day. They've been really gracious and kind of let me create this guy. I want to keep him as real as possible."
While Lee has plenty of love scenes with the hot men on the show, among the most delicious moments come when he is facing off with his nemesis, Grace [Tracy Scoggins], who cast a spell on him and had him locked up for two centuries. She was his fiancee when she walked in on him having sex with another man.
"We have a phenomenal cast we put together and we have a lot of fun with the show. That's the key. Tracy and I, we get along like two peas in a pod."
I wondered how Lee, who is straight off-screen, feels about not only playing a gay role, but one that requires among the more explicit same-sex love scenes that you'll see on television.
"When I made my mind up that this was what I was going to do, I was going all the way no matter what. Whatever they asked, whatever they expected, I was going for it. I have no problems with it and it's been fun."
Lee is sometimes taken aback by the show's tremendous fan base: "We've got an amazing cult following. I get anywhere between 50 to 200 friend requests a day on MySpace from guys all over the world. Tracy and I have some sci-fi conventions - we both have a sci-fi background - and the sci-fi fans, whether they be gay or straight, are watching the show as well. And it's really a trip for Tracy and I to see. It's been really exciting for us to watch because when we started, we were such a small thing. We were basically competing with "Queer As Folk" when it had just ended. But we weren't trying to be 'Queer as Folk,' we were trying to have our own identity and I think the writers have done a really good job of establishing this tone. It's fun and different and they like to bill it as a guilty pleasure."

"Prison Break" star Wentworth Miller and Luke MacFarlane (our beloved Scotty from "Brothers & Sisters") were photographed spending time together recently. These pics were just posted on Towleroad.com without any conclusions jumped to...

Look at the beautiful head of hair Brady Quinn used to have...below is Brady with his new look. I miss the locks!

This is shocking.
Owen Wilson has been hospitalized in L.A. after taking an undetermined amount of pills and has a cut left wrist, according to various news reports. Some sites are calling it a suicide attempt but neither the hospital or Wilson's reps have commented as of yet. It is believed that he was initially taken from his Santa Monica home to St. John's Hospital but Entertainment Tonight.com states that he was transfered to Cedars Sinai in Beverly Hills where his brother Luke was spotted this evening.
Maybe this seems all the more stunning because we are so familiar with Wilson as a happy-go-lucky character in such films as "Wedding Crashers" and last year's "You, Me and Dupree." He is a true talent and has given us a lot of laughs with his work on the big screen. I want to send every good thought his way.