Now you see it...
...and now you don't (much)!
Yes, that vile American Black Walnut tree over the back from the extensive gardens here at Dolores Delargo Towers is finally meeting its maker. Good! Just the vile sycamores (in the left of each picture) to go.
Here's an appropriate song - and what a video!
Roll on the sunbathing...
It's another snippets post today, dear reader:
...and we know a song about that, don't we, children?
Oh, she sits among the cabbages and peas
And she talks to all the little bugs and bees.
They climb up her legs and arms
And all round her other charms.
They see lots of things nobody ever sees.
And the weather? It has been very changeable over the past few days, but apparently another "heatwave" is on its way in time for the weekend. Bring it on!
We had a simply fantabulosa time - as always - at Saturday's Pride in London!
Despite the fact that proceedings were delayed not long after kick-off for an hour by a shifless gang of yoofs who threw red paint at a float and glued themselves to it, supposedly in support of Palestine - why us? why Pride? arseholes!! - we spent an enjoyable few hours waving and cheering the huge turn-out of assorted groups as they wended their way (slowly) through Piccadilly en route via Trafalgar Square to Whitehall.
Sports fans, fetishists, dykes-on-bikes, queens, trans, old, young, military, drag queens, charities and corporates - just about everyone was represented, with the exception this year of any political parties. Apparently freedom of speech doesn't extend to anyone that the organisers, in their wisdom, don't agree with, in spite of the fact we live in a democracy...
Hey ho!
We were simply gratified that all those bored - and largely boringly-dressed - people marching all took photos of us! And why wouldn't they?
We were even serenaded by the Gay Men's Chorus:
Needless to say, after five hours we were all ready for a drink - so, rather than try and battle our way into the morass of the West End, we "invaded" an unsuspecting (and normally quiet on a Saturday) pub in Mayfair for the evening, which was just perfect!
But possibly the highlight - or certainly one of the most memorable moments - of the day? Having a "photo-shoot" in the flagship Savile Row boutique of top menswear designer Ozwald Boateng!
An utterly splendid Gay Xmas, indeed!
Back down to earth with a bump!
It's been a splendid weekend - celbrating the absolute zenith of our social calendar, Gay Pride [more on that later, no doubt], followed by a much-needed "day of rest" - but now it's time to get back to the grindstone, and earn our keep...
Never mind, eh? When World Chocolate Day and a Tacky Music Monday collide, this happens! Guaranteed to cheer us all up:
Have a good week, dear reader.
We've had a totally lazy post-Pride [more on that later, no doubt] Sunday ("Gay Boxing Day", perhaps?) - I didn't even surface until 2pm! It's been a bit showery and dank, so I didn't miss much...
Speaking of Pride - this song appeared to be quite a fave among the various groups parading along Piccadilly yesterday - well, maybe not this version, but it damn well should have been!
Faboo!
It's today - Happy Gay Pride!!!
So let's Bring On The Men (as always - it's traditional!)...
There was a time
I don't know when
I didn't have much time for men
But this is now and that was then, I'm learning
A girl alone, all on her own
Must try to have a heart of stone
So I try not to make it known my yearning
I try to show I have no need
I really do, I don't succeed
So let´s bring on the men
And let the fun begin
A little touch of sin
Why wait another minute?
Step this way, its time for us to play
They say we may not pass this way again
So lets waste no more time
Bring on the men
I always knew, I always said
Silk and lace in black and red
Will drive a man right off his head, its easy
So many men, so little time
I want them all, is that a crime (NO!)
I don't know why they say that I'm too easy
They make me laugh, they make me cry
They make me sick, so god knows why
We say bring on the men
And let the fun begin
A little touch of sin
Why wait another minute
Step this way its time for us to play
They say we may not pass this way again
So lets waste no more time
Bring on the men
They break your heart
They steal your soul
Take you apart
And yet they somehow make you whole
So what's their game?
I suppose a rose by any other name
The perfume and the prick's the same
I like to have a man for breakfast each day
I'm very social and I like it that way
By late mid-morning I need something to munch
So I ask over two men for lunch
And men are mad about my afternoon "tease".
They're quite informal I just do it to please
Those triple sandwiches are my favourite ones
I must admit, I'm partial to buns
My healthy appetite gets strongest at night
My at-home dinners are my men friends' delight
When I invite the fellas over to dine
They all come early, in bed by nine!
So lets bring on the men
And let the fun begin
A little touch of sin
Why wait another minute?
Step this way, it's time for us to play
They say we may not pass this way again
So lets waste no more time
Bring on the men!
Enjoy the day, whatever you get up to (or who)!
The countdown's almost over, dear reader - it's Gay Pride tomorrow! We're expecting the boys from Essex this evening, who are staying over for the festivities, so this evening will be a takeaway, loads of booze and a bit of a "dress rehearsal" of our outfits, no doubt.
To get us in the mood, here's a simply faboo kitschy camp number that's guaranteed to get the party started...
Thank Disco It's Gay Xmas Eve Friday!
Have a fantabulosa Pride weekend, dear reader!
Finally! I (and Madam Arcati, Hils, Crog and Bence) can make a claim to fame - we appeared on stage at Wilton's Music Hall!
OK, it was only "doing the Hokey-Cokey", but it counts...
The occasion, of course, was (another) fantabulosa evening's entertainment courtesy of the wonderful, the one and only Ida Barr!
Ida - the creation of the genius that is Christopher/Kit Green [see here] - is, of course, one of our fave comedy acts [Hils and Crog even had her perform/hold court at their wedding reception!], and although we have been to see her on many occasions, she didn't disappoint...
Her mash-ups of Music Hall numbers (and even "Will.i.am" Blake's Jerusalem) with modern urban music (the style she calls "Artificial Hip-Hop") are the stuff of legend:
And as for that Hokey-Cokey/Conga line, no Ida Barr show would be complete without one!
A wonderful night, as ever - and we even bumped into Kit on her way home (she lives just around the corner from us in Wood Green) and paid due homage for providing us with such a fun show...
"Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." - Henry James
It has been bloody hot these past few days - the hottest ever start to Wimbledon Fortnight, apparently - with a peak yesterday of 34.7C/94.4F in St James' Park. Not sure how dear Henry would have felt about sitting in some glorious British country garden if he had been as bathed in sweat as we've been...
Needless to say, anything defined as a "heatwave" here in the UK, particularly this early in the year, immediately brings nostalgic memories of that Long Hot Summer of 1976! That was the glorious year (for me in particular, turning "teenage", but also for a generation of kids) that the whole of the school summer holidays (in fact all of June, July and August) was non-stop sunshine, with parks, outdoor lidos, beaches and any other swimming spots packed to the brim, scantily-clad people everywhere, water rationing, stand-pipes in the streets, a "plague" of ladybirds, and...
...it was the year of Disco, the Raleigh Chopper bike, I, Claudius, the first Space Shuttle, Dancing Queen, Demis Roussos, Pol Pot, the "Cod War", photos from Mars, Jimmy Carter, Brotherhood of Man, Nadia Comaneci, The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin, John Curry, Jim Callaghan, The Muppet Show, Wings, Patty Hearst, Emperor Bokassa, 10CC, Concorde, the "Son of Sam", The Wurzels, Taxi Driver, Peter Frampton, Punk, The New Avengers, Tina Charles, Niki Lauda, The Omen, James Hunt, Jeremy Thorpe, Soweto riots, the IRA and the US Bicentennial. It was also the year that Benedict Cumberbatch, Emma Bunton, "H" from Steps, Ryan Reynolds, Apple, Colin Farrell, Ellen MacArthur, The Body Shop, Stephen Gately, the National Theatre, Anna Friel, the CN Tower, Keeley Hawes, Cillian Murphy, Reese Witherspoon, Sean Maguire, Martine McCutcheon, Rob James-Collier, the InterCity 125, the Ford Fiesta and the Seychelles were all born; and the year Rosalind Russell, Sal Mineo, Sir Benjamin Britten, Dame Edith Evans, Busby Berkeley, Dame Agatha Christie, Sid James, Fritz Lang, Dame Sybil Thorndike, Florence Ballard, Sir Mortimer Wheeler, Tom Driberg, Carol Reed, Margaret Leighton, Man Ray, Howard Hughes, Lily Pons, Ulrike Meinhof, Alastair Sim, Paul Robeson, Luchino Visconti, Sir Stanley Baker, Percy Faith, Chairman Mao, LS Lowry, Field Marshal Montgomery and South Vietnam all died.
In the headlines in early July 1976? 102 hostages on a plane hijacked by terrorists and diverted to Entebbe in Uganda were dramatically freed in a daring Israeli rescue mission; multiple murderer Donald Neilson, known as the "Black Panther" was sentenced to life imprisonment; and of course the tabloids were full of heatwave-related screaming headlines ("Hotter than Honolulu!", "Phewnominal!", "PHEW! WHAT A SCORCHER!", and so on). In our cinemas: The Outlaw Josey Wales; Bugsy Malone; Aces High. On telly: The Bionic Woman, Starsky and Hutch and Mike Yarwood in Persons.
And in our charts this week 49 years ago? Embedded at the top was The Real Thing and You To Me Are Everything, and making up the rest of the Top Ten were an assortment of aritists including the aforementioned Wurzels, and the aforementioned Wings, Rod Stewart [yup, the star of Glastonbury 2025's "Legends" slot has been going that long...], Candi Staton, Bryan Ferry, Thin Lizzy, Gallagher and Lyle, The Shangri-Las(!) and Our Kid. However, just arrived in the lower echelons of the chart was the song that would sweep away everything before it, staying at the top for six weeks - and become forever associated with that legendary, happy summer!
An absolute classic!
Ah, memories...
Sharing the occasion with some appropriate "names" such as famously bisexual actor Charles Laughton - and his preferred "pimp", the scandalous "tell-all memoirist" Scotty Bowers [see my post about him!] - and out-gay singer Fred Schneider of the B52s, as well as "gay icons" Olivia De Havilland, Karen Black, Evelyn "Champagne" King, Debbie Harry and of course our beloved Princess Diana, we have a centenary to celebrate today, dear reader - that of actor and former screen heart-throb Farley Granger, star of such classics as Rope, Strangers on a Train and The Girl in the Red Velvet Swing, an unapologetic and important figure in our history. Most pertinent in this, the countdown week to Gay Pride in London on Saturday..!
Never a top star in the same way as contemporaries such as Jimmy Stewart (his co-star in Hitchcock's Rope), many have posited that this may have been due to the fact he was openly bisexual (even before such things were talked about) - he apparently had affairs with Ava Gardner, Roddy McDowell, Arthur Laurents, Barbara Stanwyck and Leonard Bernstein, among other stars.
Indeed, he apparently lost his virginity with a bar hostess and with a Naval officer on the same night!
In his gossipy memoir about his life in Hollywood and beyond Include Me Out, co-written with his long-term partner Robert Calhoun, he observed, "I never have felt the need to belong to any exclusive, self-defining, or special group... I was never ashamed, and I never felt the need to explain or apologise for my relationships to anyone... I have loved men. I have loved women."
A true ground-breaker, and a remarkable man...
Farley Earle Granger Jr (1st July 1925 – 27th March 2011)
