New York Theatre

We are off to New York City for a week. For the last couple years we have had a marathon orgy of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. The trend still continues. In fact we are going to be able indulge even more this year because of the shifting of performance schedules because of Wednesday’s July 4th holiday. We have tickets to 13 shows in 8 days!

Sat., June 30th: "Year of Magical Thinking" (with Vanessa Redgrave)

Sun. July 1st: "10 Million Miles" 2 p.m. matinee (Atlantic Theater world premiere);
"In the Heights" 7 p.m. (Off-Broadway hit, to move to Broadway in the autumn).

Monday the 2nd: "Frost/Nixon" 8 p.m.

Tuesday the 3rd: "Rent" 8 p.m. (Because I has never seen the play on stage...and because FOUR plays we had tickets to have announced in past 2 weeks they are closing before we get there and have forced us to make other choices!!)

Wed. the 4th: "Deuce" 2 p.m. (with Angela Lansbury);
"Sessions" 8 p.m. (new off-off B'way musical).

Thurs. the 5th: "Inherit the Wind" 2 p.m.
"Mary Poppins", 8 p.m.

Friday the 6th: "Curtains" 2 p.m. matinee;
"Grey Gardens" 8 p.m.

Sat. the 7th: "110 in the Shade" 2 p.m. matinee;
"Xanadu" 8 p.m. (OK...It's a BIG risk...May be a bust, but hearing good things on blogs...Was a substitute for the closed "Company" that we REALLY wanted to see).

Sun. the 8th: flight home.

Pride recap

We had a great and exhausting Pride weekend. We took the CalTrain into San Francisco and walked to the apartment on Market Street (30 minute walk with luggage). We then walked back almost all the way to the train station to a neighborhood bar where we attended a party of about 30-40 gay bloggers from the Bay Area and around the country. It was organized by DanNation. This was our first group blogger get-together we have attended. It was a lot of fun and we met some really interesting people. At 9:30, we hustled off to a really edgy, hole-in-wall sushi restaurant with our friends T. and S. for a 10 p.m. dinner. Initially we were a little apprehensive about going (sushi, edgy, hole-in-wall...2 out of 3 were not descriptors we normally like), but the place and the food were fantastic. (On Taylor, between Sutter and Post). We then walked down to the EndUp (our new, favorite club) with them for dancing until almost 4a.m. The crowd there was very diverse (gays of every color, shape, and size; lesbians--which is unusual in SF to be at the same club as gays; and enough hetero couples to be interesting but not obnoxious).

Saturday afternoon we saw the Giants beat the Yankees in 13 long innings with friends M. and M. (who were of course pulling for the Yankees along with about a third of the crowd). After changing clothes and washing the sunscreen off, we then had dinner at Fog City Diner (one of our very favorite places). We walked across the street at 8:30 to Pier 27 for the large and very fun dance party called Queen, sponsored by the radio station 92.7. We danced until it closed at 2am. Unfortunately, there was not a taxi to be found. So, like hundreds of others, we started walking down the Embarcadero to Market Street to home.

We were up early the next morning to get a place on the curb to watch the parade. This was the first time in five years we did not march. Previous years we had an enjoyable time marching with our youngest kids. The parade was a long, long affair (3 hours, 40 minutes), but fun. We changed outfits again and then went to the HUGE Pride festival covering many blocks around the Civic Plaza. At 6 we came back, changed yet again and were going to our 3rd dance of the weekend. However, my ears were bothering me from the other two evenings and I could not find my earplugs. So instead, we headed home on the train and collapsed into bed about 9:30.

A few pictures of the parade:

Happy Pride weekend in SF

We started celebrating Pride earlier this week. Wednesday we attended a concert called “Queer Wedding Sweet” at the Jewish Community Center. It was a musical celebration of queer weddings and commitment ceremonies. It featured queer wedding stories, klezmer and Yiddish songs, juggling, and poetry.

Thursday night we were at the San Francisco Opera for their production of “Der Rosenkavalier” by Richard Strauss. Even though every night is gay night at the opera, this performance was part of their “Rainbow Series”. At the intermission we had Champaign on the rainbow lighted front balcony.

This weekend we will be in SF the whole time. Plans include the Gay Blogger Summit II, dancing at the End Up, Giants and Yankees baseball game, attending Queen:The Party, watching the parade and finally the Pride T-dance, Fresh at Ruby Skye.

Thank should make for a busy weekend!

Tech support

Much of my job is consists of doing computer support. I’ve been doing this work ever since computers were introduced into the workplace in the 1980’s. This Norwegian sketch with English subtitles captures a daily part of my life. It is called “Middle Ages Tech Support”. It reminds me of my favorite saying: "The more things change, the more they remain the same."


Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRBIVRwvUeE

Second wedding anniversary

June 19th is our 2nd anniversary of our Jewish wedding ceremony. (Bravo to Reform Judaism which has recognized same sex unions as holy and valid for years!) We were married on Father’s Day, 2005.

I believe that marriage equality is enviable. The cherished American belief that “all men are created equal” is an ideal that is still held sacred. It just takes time to become a reality. Originally it meant only white, free, male landowners were entitled to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” But over the last 200 years the concept has been expanded to include most minorities and women. One day soon gay men and women will have the same rights as heterosexuals.

In 1948 for example, California was the first state to effectively repeal the anti-miscegenation statutes. A poll taken at the time showed that less then 5% of the public were in favor of the decision. Nineteen years later, 1967, the “activist judges” of the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unanimously the state laws prohibiting interethnic marriage were unconstitutional. It took until year 2000 for the last state, Alabama, to change its constitution. Even then 40% of the voters were against it. It has always been challenged that racial intermarriage would be a threat to the holy and scared institution of marriage. A judge in 1965 said "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."

June 12, 2007 marked the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Loving v. Virginia which struck down the remaining interracial marriage bans in 16 states. Learn more information at Freedom to Marry website.

Father's Day

Sunday is Father’s Day. I wish a Fabulous and Joyful Father’s Day to all the Gay Dads and Fathers out there.
I also wish a peaceful and enjoyable Father’s Day to:
--Closeted Dads
--“Brokeback” Dads
--Experimenting and/or Questioning Dads
--“Closed Loop Relationship” Dads
--Dads that seek occasional company with other men to get what the wife won’t give
--Dads that are depressed about their sexuality and take it out on their families
--And Dads that pray and meditate that the feelings will go away

Before I was a gay dad, I identified myself as one of the fathers named above at one time or another. I was not a happy dad then. It wasn’t until I came to terms with myself that I was truly gay that I started to feel good about my life. Make no mistake; it wasn’t easy to come out. It meant coming out to family, friends and associates. There was lots of drama and pain about the breakup of the marriage and divorce. There were some financial set backs. Change seemed like a constant. But after a few months I found myself happier than I had ever been. I am now living a new life, one that is more honest and real.

From the 2007 Tony Awards: Raul Esparza singing "Being Alive" from Company

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwDnQB1FbCE

Pride Theatre

San Francisco has two major gay theatre companies. The oldest is Theatre Rhinoceros. They say they are the world's oldest continuously producing professional queer theater founded in 1977 by the late Allan B. Estes, Jr. The other gay company in town is New Conservatory Theatre Center. They have been producing for 25 years. NCTC is our favorite. We have seen just about every show for the last three years. Their season runs year-round. And they often have three shows running simultaneously on three stages. In addition, they also have and youth and adult conservatory program. There is always something going on at NCTC.

During Pride month they always have a creative selection of productions. This year is outstanding. We have seen all three shows and highly recommend them all. The best is their production of “Take Me Out”, Richard Greenberg’s rumination on baseball and the American Dream. It is an interesting story regardless if you like baseball or not. Most of the action takes place in the team’s locker room and showers. Towels fly off everywhere. We saw the national tour of the play several years ago in SF when it was part of the “Best of Broadway” series. We enjoyed the NCTC’s small, intimate production better. If fact we have seen it twice, bringing friends with us the second time.

The next show is a sassy musical review called “Wilde Boys”. Imagine a private gentlemen’s club where Oscar Wilde might visit to see rentboys singing, dancing and bending over for you! The show is written and musically directed by Richard "Scrumbly" Koldewyn, a founding member of The Cockettes, a revolutionary gay drag troupe from the '70's.

The third show is the comedy “Legends!” Two aging divas fight and feud with each other about doing a stage show together. It was written by James Kirkwood. He is best known for writing the book for “A Chorus Line”. While not a great comedy, it is entertaining and enjoyable. The local cast does a great job. Previous troubled productions included Carol Channing and Mary Martin and former “Dynasty” co-stars Joan Collins and Linda Evans.

NOTE: Tickets for select performances are often available on Goldstar Events for half price.

This and that

Our oldest and youngest sons recently celebrated birthdays number 24 and 11. Congratulations guys!

The oldest son is studying and doing an internship overseas this summer. To help him out we have sublet his studio apartment in San Francisco for a couple months. We are spending as many weekends as we can there and we are having a blast!

A San Francisco statue a couple blocks from where we are staying. --------->

We are also thinking about redoing our entryway courtyard at home. Don’t you think some nice outdoor art work would be nice?