Planet Homo

Glee Club: Happy Hour

It's a peculiar thing when someone you have known becomes famous. They move from their modest lodgings to the hills, high above the crowd in post-modern fabulousness. You begin to see them less as they have a multitude of meetings and events to attend...

When Glee premiered on television it was noted that one of its creators was Ryan Murphy.  Glee, for the uninitiated is rousing musical television show that manages to be fresh despite its well-worn plot devices of pitting teachers against teachers, discreet crushes on one another, football versus musicals and the usual hostilities to be encountered in todays high school. Glee is a musical television fantasy, something that Aaron Sorkin might have created, but a little less smart, which is a good thing.

Ryan Murphy never seemed all that musical. Having worked with Ryan at a magazine a few decades back, he is remembered as somewhat serious, proud of his Pulitzer and very fond of Hollywood. Fame is interesting because it doesn't usually portend unless it’s a prodigy or child star. There was never any indication that Ryan would create an extremely successful television show about a high school glee club—then again, he didn't seem all that interested in plastic surgery and he created Nip/Tuck. Glee has to be the happiest hour on television. With a penchant for reinventing old songs, mashing up musical genres at odds with one another and a cast that includes a brilliant Jane Lynch and sexy, sexy Mark Salling, Glee has the ability to dismiss today's horrible economics and current foul politics and make being an individual something to sing about.

Glee works best when in ensemble mode. Choreographed by Zach Woodlee, the musical numbers are extravaganza's of sound and movement with each episode reported to cost $3 million. It looks it. Glee stumbles when it attempts to be too current with homages to some other high school musicals, rap music and focusing too much on one character. Like any real glee club, the success of Glee comes from its numbers, its chorus of great talent and some fine prickly characters.

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The Way We Were

We forgot to wish Arthur Gelien happy birthday on July 11. Arthur Gelien is Tab Hunter's real name and he is now 78. He came by the great name Tab from Hollywood talent agent Henry Willson, who also created the names Guy Madison and Rock Hudson.
Tab Hunters most notable role Joe Hardy was in the 1958 hit, Damn Yankees.
In his 2005 autobiography, Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star. Hunter acknowledged his homosexuality: "life was difficult for me, because I was living two lives at that time. A private life of my own, which I never discussed, never talked about to anyone. And then my Hollywood life, which was just trying to learn my craft and succeed..." The star emphasizes that the word 'gay' "wasn't even around in those days, and if anyone ever confronted me with it, I'd just kinda freak out. I was in total denial. I was just not comfortable in that Hollywood scene, other than the work process "There was a lot written about my sexuality, and the press was pretty darn cruel," the actor says, but what "moviegoers wanted to hold in their hearts were the boy-next-door marines, cowboys and swoon-bait sweethearts he portrayed."
Hunter has been in a relationship with Allan Glaser for 25 years and currently lives Montecito, Ca.

Outy of the Woodwork: "I was Michael Jackson's Lover"

From a website called womansday, not to be confused with Woman's Day magazine, come this blush of a story of love and tragedy. As we all know by now, Michael Jackson was certainly a curious man, and if this story is true, he is even stranger. But first, let's consider the source. The website appears to be owned by a company called ninemsn, and their logo has that gay, multi-colored butterfly, generally associated with Microsoft Network. Their leading story is "I had phone sex with my brother" which isn't much of a story, who hasn't? So here, the startling story of Michael Jackson's secret love life:

Despite two marriages and a string of alleged girlfriends, Matthew Denby reports that in private Michael Jackson was a very different man.

Michael Jackson's secret gay lover has blown the lid on the late superstar's hidden lifestyle, revealing startling details of the singer's final weeks.

Jason Pfeiffer, a heavily built, 35-year-old employee of Michael's dermatologist Dr Arnold Klein, has told Woman's Day of his love affair with the star, calling their connection "a short romantic love story that ended in tragedy".

"I've lost my soul mate, it's very hard to describe the loss I feel but there is something that is empty in my heart," says the Beverly Hills executive.

According to Jason, the romance began over the phone and progressed with a number of discreet meetings, after Michael had asked Jason to give him a ride home. He says they met secretly many times, both at the star's rented home in Beverly Hills and at Jason's office.

"I guess our first 'date', if you can call it that, was in my car," says Jason. "We went for a drive and were talking and having fun, but Michael had his minders who were 'nosey', as Michael put it.

"We had to make sure we were not caught, and although the date was short as I had to take him home before anyone noticed, we had a great time.

"I thought nobody else knew [about us] but have since discovered that others did surmise the truth."

Jason —who reveals that they even shared last Christmas together with Michael's children and a few close friends —says the plastic surgery-ravaged star was devastated by his appearance. He liked reliving the glory days of his career, but he wouldn't look at old pictures.

"He did not like looking at old photos of himself and didn't want his children to see them either," says Jason.

"He desperately wanted to recreate the old glory days for fans, the kids and for himself.

Dame Edna in Los Angeles

First, the curious life of John Barry Humphries, who is Dame Edna. He is married to Lizzie Spender, daughter of British poet, Stephen Spender, who for many of his younger years was a homosexual. Their son, Matthew, is married to Natasha Litvin, who is the daughter of Armenia artist Ashile Gorky. Humphries is 75 years old, which is remarkable if not for his memory alone, but also his stamina. Last night in Los Angeles, Dame Edna wowed a crowded audience at the Ahmanson Theater with song, flowers and a poignant embrace of the audience. In attendance were some gay celebs such as George Takei and comedian Rip Taylor.
Dame Edna Everage came to our attention many decades ago in New York City, as Australian friends would rally small crowds around the television and beg us to watch this man in drag. And we did. With politically incorrect remarks about Madonna's adoption of babies ( "from a small village called Cylamdia"), George Bush's lack of bookshelves in The White House, and the preponderance of gay people in the audience, Dame Edna tortured many in the audience with extemporaneous remarks about clothing, age, lifestyle and career. It was all in good fun as later as she brought a few audience members up to the stage in a "taping of a new talk show" format. An elderly woman named Yvette, who could barely walk, was asked to sing her favorite song, which was "Our Love is Here to Stay" which she did, with ocassional hints of a Susan Boyle inside her. She seemed to be having the time of her life. Dame Edna honored her gay son, Kenny, also her stylists, with an anthem, and for someone not living here, she seemed to know a lot about Los Angeles.
At the end, a standing ovation and a remarkable transition as she left the stage as Dame Edna and returned moments later as Barry Humphries in a tux.

The Liberation of Adam Lambert

American Idol’s glamtastic runner-up Adam Lambert opens up in the next issue of Rolling Stone, speaking frankly about his sexuality, though he doesn’t think his revelation is particularly shocking. “I don’t think it should be a surprise for anyone to hear that I’m gay,” Lambert says in the new issue of Rolling Stone, hitting newsstands this week.
“I’m proud of my sexuality,” Lambert adds. “I embrace it. It’s just another part of me.” Ultimately, however Lambert tells RS contributor Vanessa Grigoriadis that there are other parts of his life that he’s trying to keep front and center. “I’m trying to be a singer, not a civil rights leader,” he says.

Adam Lamberts Night Out

Suzanne Pleshette look-alike Adam Lambert was spotted last night in Hollywood with  rumored boyfriend, interior designer and 70s porn star look-alike, Drake LaBry (sic) holding hands. Putting an end to the endless speculation that Lambert might be secretly bisexual, the hand holding Lambert is due to announce his sexuality next month on the cover of dinosaur publication Rolling Stone.

Alan Turing: Famous Homosexual

Alan Turing is often considered to be the father of modern computer science. He provided an influential formalisation of the concept of the algorithm and computation with the Turing machine. Of his role in the modern computer, Time Magazine in naming Turing one of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, states: "The fact remains that everyone who taps at a keyboard, opening a spreadsheet or a word-processing program, is working on an incarnation of a Turing machine." Turing was homosexual, living in an era when homosexuality was still both illegal and officially considered a mental illness. Subsequent to his being outed, he was criminally prosecuted, which essentially ended his career. He died not long after under ambiguous circumstances.

Shakin' With Mario Lopez

Celebrity sightings are not unusual in the Southland. It is not uncommon to see celebrities take a meal at a new restaurant or stealing a smoke at the hot new nightclub, so catching one actually standing in line for a movie is a treat. In this case, it was the lovely Mario Lopez, who visits a certain movie complex in Burbank quite often. At first glance, Mario is just another good-looking Latino (very common in LA) but when he smiles and those dimples burrow into the sides of his face, he becomes the star that he is. Accompanied by a girlfriend, Mario is quite affectionate in public (he's a Libra) and was seen kissing her on the escalator. The adventure with Mario ended there as he vanished into the darkness of some theatre. We were there to see the thrilling new Star Trek movie, which turned out to be very special; at around 8:45 PM, the seats began to shake, like when someone behind you with too much energy is bumping the seat with their feet. Sitting upright and taking notice, no one seemed to be aware of the seismic shift occurring. It went on longer than usual for an earthquake, but we were all in warp speed at that point and likely didn't notice. It turned out to be a 4.7 earthquake located about thirty miles from Burbank, in the town of Lennox. Leaving the theatre, there was no talk of earthquakes or Mario Lopez sightings from anyone.