The hype is real! The new Madonna album (as the young ones would say) absolutely slaps.
Shake and Bake
Has it been hot enough for ya? Sheesh.
And what does one do when a dangerous heat dome blankets your state? One goes to ride roller coasters in a city where it’s even hotter. Carowinds was fun despite the insanely hot temps and two cases of heat exhaustion. I really can’t overstate just how hot it was. I hadn’t been coaster riding since ’98 (or ’99). I was expecting to be all nervous and chicken out … but I didn’t! Fury 325 (pictured below) and Copperhead Strike were well worth the price of admission. We didn’t get to ride all the rides we wanted to because the heat beat us out of the park earlier than planned. Just means we need to go back in the fall when the temps are cooler and Scarowinds is in full effect!
After some downtime we went to dinner at Twin Peaks. Yes. THAT Twin Peaks. It was either that or Cracker Barrel. The food was actually pretty good! And I dug the PNW lodge vibes. Though I suspect our server’s name wasn’t really “Bambi.”
We made it back to the mountains in time for some July 4 festivities on Saturday. It was a fun (albeit still stupidly hot) time chatting with the homos and having tasty food.
The cookout view wasn’t too bad. I want to steal this house!
It’s been years since I have hosted a big, drunken bash on the 4th here. I miss those day. But, that group I used to hang with slowly splintered over the years until there were maybe 10 people that would show up. And even then, they would dine and dash instead of hanging out and having fun. A good example of just how fickle and unreliable my “friends” ended up being.
Now, it’s Hump Day, and Finley has the right idea. Hide out under a blanket and avoid the world.
Random Shite [Pride Edition]
As Steve Miller says, “Time keeps on slippin’!”
Work was so mind-numbing last week that it was hard to focus on actually posting.
I am continuing to stitch and hammock in my spare time. Over the past two weeks, I totally got sidetracked from the current cross-stitch project I am working on. But I seem to have found some renewed steam the past few nights and have gotten going on it again.
In the last few weeks, I have seen four theatrical movies:
– The Furious (A pretty awesome action flick!)
– Disclosure Day (Mid-tier Spielberg.)
– Leviticus (Midgrade gay horror.)
– The Death of Robin Hood (Still don’t know how I feel about this one.)
Tonight, we are off to see Supergirl. Are the misogynists right, or is the movie actually good? We will know shortly!
It’s nearly July, which means the B&N 50% Off Criterion discs started last Friday. I haven’t bought four movies already. Ha ha. Three more releases come out this month that I am going to pick up. Hopefully, I can stop myself there!
Meanwhile …
This past weekend, Waynesville hosted the Haywood County Pride on Main Festival for the third year in a row. Hard to believe my small mountain town has made this happen … and happen for three years! I have marched in the parade every year. It seemed like a duty since I am a homegrown gay. The parade seemed to be a big success. It seemed like we had the biggest turnout for that this year. And it’s always fun to see a sea of rainbows suddenly take over Main Street.
What was not so fun was the sheer amount of vitriol being spread all over Facebook at the mere mention of Pride. The community was called everything from degenerates to pedophiles by the more enlightened (said with sarcasm) members of the community. Some even threatened violence. Sheesh. Thankfully, nothing crazy happened during the parade and festival. But it all just proves that we still have work to do and that Pride celebrations are just as important as ever.
Here are a few pictures of me parading around wearing and carrying Pride flags. You can play “Spot the Fat Boy” with the last photo.
Meanwhile Meanwhile …
Criterion is going to bankrupt me in October with the release of their The Complete Kubrick box set. Do I have most of these films on Blu-ray or 4K already? Yes. Will I shell out $300 for this at the next B&N 50% Off or Criterion Flash Sale? HELL YES! I haven’t been peddling my ass on OnlyFans for nothing.
THIRTY-DISC 4K UHD + BLU-RAY SPECIAL EDITION COLLECTOR’S SET FEATURES
- 4K restorations of Kubrick’s thirteen features, including Fear and Desire, and three shorts, with their original soundtracks alongside the 5.1 mixes, restored and remastered
- Over twenty-five hours of interviews, documentaries, and behind-the-scenes materials
- Kubrick’s international version of The Shining
- New 4K restoration of Vivian Kubrick’s behind-the-scenes documentary Making “The Shining”
- Newly recorded commentary tracks featuring filmmaker Lee Unkrich (editor of the book Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”) and author Michael Benson (Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke, and the Making of a Masterpiece)
- Rare films from Graphic Films and computer-animation pioneer John Whitney that inspired the special effects in 2001: A Space Odyssey
- Unseen Lolita screen tests with actors James Mason and Sue Lyon and rare Full Metal Jacket behind-the-scenes footage
- Newly recorded conversation with novelist Jonathan Lethem and film historian Kevin Wynter on Kubrick and authorship
- Essay by author and critic Nathaniel Rich
- Deluxe packaging illustrated with rare photographs, artwork, and documents annotated by Kubrick himself, all housed in a singular box inspired by the director’s legendary archive
- And much more . . .
*DROOLS!*
Meanwhile …
Synapse has announced a new 4K UHD edition of one of my favoritest slasher films, Prom Night. There will be a limited edition slipcover version released first. The price tag? $50! And what do you get for that hefty $50 price tag? The new 4K scan of the film and the slipcover. That’s it. No booklet. No swag. No new special features. They are just porting the ones from the previous Blu-ray release. Just the slipcover. Movie collecting has been quickly spiraling into a more and more expensive hobby as these boutique labels have figured out that they can charge higher prices and collectors will pay them. And guess which sucker will probably shell out $50 for this release. Dammit.
Sad Sackin’
A friend messaged the other day. He wants to catch up, and I know what it’s about. He went to this year’s F Tour Fan Fest. It’s the multi-day event where content creators get together and make content (duh!) for their JFF and OF sites. I went to this event last year, and I bombed out. Bombed out big time. Even though I had the black “creator” tag on, nobody gave me the time of day. All the creators already seemed to be in a fairly tight-knit clique. And the one guy I set up time with bailed on me at the last minute. Meanwhile, my friend filmed a few times, and it sounds like he had more success this year. I don’t know that I want to hear about it, but I will tonight when I see him.
It just stirs up a lot of feelings … feelings of not belonging or having a place in things. I have tried being a part of things, and it just feels like I don’t belong or I am a poser. Like, as fun as last weekend was at HeroesCon, I didn’t feel like I REALLY belonged since I am not an avid comic fan or creator in that industry, just like I was a “tourist” at the F Tour Fan Fest last year. An observer but not a participant. Not part of the gang. It even feels like this within my local social circles. I am always standing around, drink in hand, while others are chatting and having fun.
I do wonder if these feelings partially stem from leaving the theater. People will say, “You were the one who left.” And that’s true. But I didn’t feel like I had a choice. It felt like my presence there wasn’t wanted or valued anymore. The people I thought would have my back ended up not giving a shit. So, maybe I feel disconnected because I don’t want to become part of something only to be booted out or shat on again. I dunno.
Anyhoo. I know this is a whiny, self-pitying, all over the place post. Today. I don’t care.
Post-Con
Here we are midweek, and I am still recovering from this past weekend of nerdiness at HeroesCon 2026. I have attended the last two years, and this year was even crazier because of the heat and the crowd size. I got the privilege to hang with a group of artists and writers (Jeff Messer, Mike Grell, Bo Hampton, Alex Saviuk, Ron Randall, Steve Bryant, Mark Stegbauer) that have formed a kinda informal convention crew. Lots of fun! Especially when you get long-time friends Bo and Alex going. Then you turn around, and you’re having food and drink with the crew and Tim Bradstreet. I am glad I didn’t know how famous he was because I would have made an idiot out of myself at dinner. I also got to see a couple of old high school friends that come to the convention every year. And lots of other comic artists and writers. It’s an exhausting three days, but so much fun.
I did buy some collected volumes of a few comics. But the most favorite thing I bought was this 20″ x 14″ Mouse Guard print. I fell in love with David Peterson’s incredible artwork at last year’s convention. Now I gotta find a frame.
Anyhoo! Here are just a few random photos from the weekend …
And, if you are totally bored, you can spend 10 minutes walking the convention perimeter with me. I can guarantee, if you weren’t bored before, you will be bored after. Ha ha.
At the Movies
Masters of the Universe (2026) is quite possibly the gayest mainstream movie I have ever seen.
An Anniversary
This month marks the 10th anniversary of the last show I directed.
The cast photo above was taken after the final performance of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and even though I am all smiles, I knew then that I wouldn’t be directing again at HART. I had already taken a year and a half off from directing because of the utterly miserable experience I had directing Urinetown: The Musical in the fall of 2014. But I agreed to direct again when approached about Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike because the show had a small cast, easy set and costumes, and (most importantly) was very well written and caught my interest. I thought, “This should be an easy, fun, and enjoyable experience.”
I didn’t post about this show at all back then. For various reasons, at the time I had turned this blog into a mirror of my Instagram feed. So, posts from that time were nothing but photos.
We actually had a really great time mounting this show. The cast was on point. I had an awesome crew to make it run. But, if I had been posting, you would have heard about how the director of the next show (and Executive Director of the theater) started teching the lights for the next show after our opening weekend and screwed the lighting up for the rest of our run. You would have heard about how he added lights behind my set the following week that would have definitely caused a fire during my show, but for the fact that theater curtains are mandated by law to be flame-retardant. His attitude when confronted about this was a big “so what” shrug. When it became super clear that the guy in charge couldn’t give two shits about shows he wasn’t in charge of was when I knew I should probably bow out. We finished the run of the show, and I have not directed since then. I was approached a few more times, but turned those down. And within a few years, I wasn’t being approached at all.
It just sucks that one person made it miserable to do shows. And I know I am not the only one who felt this way. Other directors were more willing to put up with the bullshit than I was. No director should accept their show being compromised because the person in charge of producing it didn’t give you a proper budget, reneged on the set he promised you would have, didn’t provide proper tech support, or failed to promote the show properly. I had these things happen to varying degrees on at least five of the shows I directed.
Do I miss it? For sure. It was always great to be handed a script, read it, and be able to visualize how I would stage it. That moment was always magical. That’s when I would know if a show was right for me to direct or not. I miss that. I miss working with cast and crew to put on the best show we could. But I don’t miss the aforementioned bullshit.
A friend keeps saying that one day I will have the opportunity to say all this to the person who needs to hear it. That’s not ever going to happen. It’s been nearly four years since he and I have spoken, and I actively try to avoid being places that I know he will be. And, ultimately, what good would it do? His indifference and, at times, open hostility really killed my love of acting in and directing shows … and I don’t think it’s ever going to come back.
Overthinking It
So, yeah. I thought I had finished that cross-stitch of that Honcho magazine cover. Well. I started overthinking it.
Here’s the “finished” piece.
But then I got to looking at an image of the actual magazine. The cover doesn’t bleed off the edges. It has a border the same color as the HONCHO lettering.
This started to eat away at my soul a little, so I removed the back stitching and added a border around the image.
I like it a lot better now! All that is left to do is find a frame and hang it for my friends and adoring fans to admire.
Now, the big question is… what should I stitch next?
Back to the Movies
I went and dipped into the Backrooms last night. What an unsettling trip it was. Like Obsession, this one has been stuck in my head. I am already making plans to see Backrooms again next week. Recommended for folks who like a more adventurous cinema experience.
Memorialed
What a busy holiday weekend. Four social events, record shopping, a movie, and crafting. Why can’t they all be holiday weekends?
I was spotted at the local gay social. I DO get out of the house!
On Sunday, I took Sherry and Tom to a record store they had never been to. I was pretty excited to find an original Sire pressing of the first album by The Smiths. It was pricey, but I wanted it. Well, I should have looked at it more closely. It’s pretty beat up, and the pre-cleaning playback was not great. Skips. Run-out groove issues on Side 1. Run-in groove issues on Side 2. Pretty bummed about the state of this record for the price that was charged. Gonna have to be more cautious and less excited next time!
At the Sunday afternoon social event, we got to see a rather large black snake climb a tree. It was pretty cool! Nature is awesome … and scary. Ha ha. Thankfully, the snake didn’t drop off a limb onto anyone.
Yesterday, I finished that Honcho cover cross-stitch I have been working on. I am pretty pleased with the way it turned out. Now I need to find a frame.
I made sure to find some time to laze around in the hammock yesterday. The Summer of the Hammock continues!
Anyhoo … It’s been a slog of a work day, and I want waffles! (Thanks, Michael.)
Eye Candy Break [Beefy Edition]
Send this hunk over to keep me company for the holiday weekend. Grrrrr.