Since 1969

Spin It, Santa

2009-12-18T16:04:49Z

The Top 10 Christmas songs on my iPod this holiday season.

10. "We Need a Little Christmas" - Johnny Mathis

9. "Same Old Lang Syne" - Dan Fogelberg

8. "Carol of the Bells/Sing We Now of Christmas" - BarlowGirl

7. "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" - Barenaked Ladies & Sarah McLachlan

6. "Celebrate Me Home" - Kenny Loggins

5. "The 12 Days of Christmas" - Straight No Chaser

4. "Holly Jolly Christmas" - Burl Ives

3. "Song for a Winter's Night" - Sarah McLachlan

2. "(There's No Place Like) Home for the Holidays" - The Carpenters

1. "All Alone on Christmas" - Darlene Love

Manhattan Monday

2009-12-14T12:12:54Z

"A Bird's Eye View" - Central Park South

Marshmallows and Cigarettes

2009-12-11T17:51:49Z

I did a stint in retail a few years back, first as a seasonal employee for Crate & Barrel at their store on Madison Avenue, then later (for a time) as a part-timer. One of the things I remember most about working at the Crate during the holidays is this Dean Martin song, which began playing over the store's sound sytem shortly after Halloween and - without fail for the next two months - every time I stepped from the stockroom onto the floor.

Now that some time has past I'm no longer sick of the song; if anything I've grown a bit nostalgic for it. I'm especially enjoying this video taken from one of Dino's old Christmas shows.

"Yes, Virginia, you can smoke and lip sync at the same time."

Manhattan Monday

2009-12-07T12:04:15Z

Yellow Cab or Hansom Cab, which would you choose?

Christmas Cookies 09: First Batch of the Season

2009-12-06T22:55:59Z

Today's cookie is Shortbread, made with the help of my shiny new toy!

First, you need butter.

Then, more butter! (Note: these are not my hands, but those of my lovely assistant.)

You can use a cookie press...

Or create your own design.

Either way, shortbread is cool.

New To Me

2009-12-04T15:18:31Z

I recently discovered the a cappella group Straight No Chaser, a mere three years after the CEO of Atlantic Records - and 9,953,793 other viewers - discovered the group on YouTube.

Here is the group's 1998 recording of "The 12 Days of Christmas." If it's new to you too, "You're Welcome."

MY TWO CENTS

2009-12-03T03:10:02Z

My email to New York State Senator Joseph P. Addabbo, Jr., who voted today against marraige equality.

Dear Senator Addabbo,

I am writing to you to express my deep frustration and disappointment in your “NO” vote today for the New York Marriage Equality Bill.

As a lifelong resident of Howard Beach, New York, I know all too well that the areas of Queens that you represent in the Senate are very conservative. If you were to put marriage equality to a popular vote today in the 15th District of New York – particularly in Howard Beach or Ozone Park or Richmond Hill – I have no doubt the measure would fail. But that is one of the very reasons why we have a constitution in this state – in this country! - to protect minority groups, such as the GLBT community. That you represent a conservative area of our state does not give you cover to hide from your obligations to all communities.

Senator, you have been sent to Albany to represent everyone in the 15th District, including your gay and lesbian constituents. If I am the only gay constituent that you hear from on this issue then let me be the one to tell you that you failed us today, greatly.

I am not naïve, senator. I do not think if you had voted “YES” today that two gay men could walk hand-in-hand down Cross Bay Boulevard tomorrow. But because of your vote gay children in Howard Beach will continue to be bullied in school. Because of your vote gay men and lesbians will remain in the closet, denying their families and neighbors the chance to know them for who they really are. I know as well as you do that minorities have been killed in Howard Beach. Because of your vote today a minority group will continue to live in danger.

History will show you were on the wrong side of this issue, senator, just as it has proven those who voted in favor of racial segregation. Your vote today was shameful.

Sincerely,

David Puterbaugh

Always the Bridesmaid...

2009-12-02T21:48:31Z

Sadly, it's now official. Iowa is a more progressive state than New York.

Manhattan Monday

2009-11-30T12:13:27Z

"Tooting His Own Horn*" - Cental Park.

I know a flute isn't really in the horn family, but "Tooting His Own Woodwind Instrument" doesn't sound as cool.

Baby, It's (Still) Cold Outside

2009-11-27T14:23:32Z

I made a comment on a friend's blog recently about the Christmas song Baby, It's Cold Outside, and the numerous versions of the song that I have in my iTunes library. That comment got me wondering, "Just how many recordings of this song have there been?"

Among the highlights:

Dean Martin
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Jordan
Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme
James Taylor & Natalie Cole
Rod Stewart & Dolly Parton
Lee Ann Womack & Harry Connick, Jr.
Michael Bublé & Anne Murray
Liza Minnelli & Alan Cumming
Lady Antebellum
Willie Nelson & Norah Jones

But for me, there is - and will forever be - one definitive version of this holiday classic.

Take it away, Nick & Jessica.

(Note: To best experience this song first turn off all household appliances, then put your face as close to your monitor as possible and close your eyes. It will almost sound like Jessica is singing in English!)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

2009-11-26T14:37:00Z

THE BEST CRANBERRY SAUCE EVER

Ingredients:

1 cup orange juice
1 cup white sugar
1 (12 ounce) package fresh cranberries
1 orange, peeled and pureed
1 apple - peeled, cored and diced
1 pear - peeled, cored and diced
1 cup raisins
1 cup chopped pecans
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, bring orange juice and sugar to a boil, until the sugar dissolves. Reduce the heat to simmer, and stir in cranberries, pureed orange, apple, pear, raisins, pecans, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cranberries burst. Remove from heat, and let cool to room temperature.

Delicious as a side dish or a dessert. (It's FANTASTIC served over vanilla ice cream.)

Manhattan Monday

2009-11-23T11:21:25Z

The Pond at Bryant Park

Book Drive

2009-11-21T15:29:49Z

I'm in the process of combing through my book shelves for a local holiday book drive. When it comes to books I'm a bit of a pack rat; so many books, so little time, as they say. But after browsing the first shelf even I knew there were titles that did not merit precious space in my permanent collection.

Hannibal? The Celestine Prophecy? Dieting with the Duchess?

And then there were these finds, from what I like to call my "How to Stay Single Forever" shelf.

The Boyfriend Within. Outing Yourself. Finding True Love in a Man-Eat-Man World.

Despite the fact that the cover model is wearing pleated pants, one of the books I'll be keeping is The Unofficial Gay Manual: Living the Lifestyle (or at Least Appearing to), by Kevin Dilallo & Jack Krumholtz. The book was published in 1994, and one of the stops on the authors' book tour was at the now closed Barnes & Noble bookstore in Astor Place. I know this because theirs was the first gay book signing I ever attended. Inside the book Dilallo & Krumholtz wrote:

"To David: A man of exceptional taste, especially in books."

The purging continues.

Manhattan Monday

2009-11-16T12:12:04Z

TKTS Booth, Times Square.

Movie Views - "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire "

2009-11-13T22:36:59Z

The night I saw Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire the movie theater was sold out. The crowd was made up of 75% African American women, and the other 25% were the gay men who love them. Oprah herself couldn’t have planned it better.

The demographics had me worried, however. Black women have a tendency to talk back to the screen during a movie. So do gay men. Anyone who’s ever been to see a movie with me knows I insist on complete silence, especially if the movie has “Oscar Buzz.” As the lights went down I was expecting the worst.

But I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. While the audience did react to what was happening onscreen – at times quite vocally! – it didn’t detract at all from this particular film but added to the experience, much like a midnight performance of the Rocky Horror Picture Show or a sing-a-long production of The Sound of Music. Before long I was shouting right along with the audience. ("OH NO SHE DIDN'T!") That’s how powerful the performances in Precious are; they demand a reaction.

I hope audiences will tune in to see Gabourey Sidibe as she makes the talk show rounds promoting her new film. If they do I think they’ll be as surprised as I was when I caught her appearance on David Letterman’s show earlier this week. In real life Miss Sidibe is very pretty, and she has a bubbly personality. Her true self is the exact opposite of the character she portrays onscreen. Claireece “Precious” Jones has been so beaten down that she appears incapable of any emotion, least of all happiness. It’s from these candid television appearances that audiences will learn what an incredible actress Gabourey Sidibe is.

Equally stunning is Mo’Nique. I’ve racked my brain and I can’t think of a scarier mother that was ever portrayed on screen. Shelley Winters won the Supporting Actress Oscar in 1965 for her role as an abusive mother of a blind girl in the film A Patch of Blue. But even Winters – as good as she was – would have had a hard time topping what Mo’Nique brings to this part; her Mary is truly horrifying.

There is a scene midway through the film where a social worker visits the Jones’s apartment in Harlem. It’s such a ferocious scene that I don’t know how Mo’Nique filmed it without bursting into tears. (Perhaps she did, after the cameras stopped rolling.) To call her performance “Oscar worthy” is an understatement. Like the film itself it’s astounding.

Oscar nomination potential: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay

For Your Entertainment

2009-11-11T20:59:50Z

If you were to look at the “Recently Played” song list on my iPod you’d see that Adam Lambert’s new song, “For Your Entertainment,” is close to the top. Judge me if you will but it’s a catchy song, and I was listening to it this morning when I boarded the subway to Manhattan. Little did I know then how perfect the song's title would prove for the events that were about to take place.

Gather around, everyone. I have a CRAZY story to tell.

As it’s Veteran’s Day my train this morning was not very crowded, but still there were no seats available when I got on, so I took a spot standing near a man in a seat who appeared to be in his early forties. The man was also listening to an iPod as he read the New York Post, and he was dressed as if heading for an office – dark pants, a blue button-down shirt, matching tie. Over this he wore a gray down-filled vest, which left the sleeves of his dress shirt exposed.

At the next stop a dark-haired woman got on. She too looked about the car briefly for a seat, before coming to stand beside me, directly over the man in the down-filled vest. The woman was carrying a large bag on her left shoulder, and in her left hand was a paperback novel. She held onto the handrail between us with her right hand, in which she also was grasping a thermos filled with coffee.

Let me pause here a moment to make sure everyone has this image clearly in their heads. The woman was holding the handrail, and with the same hand she was holding a thermos filled with coffee.

I know it was coffee because as the train lurched forward so did the woman. When she tried to steady herself she lost her grip on the thermos and it shot out of her hand, hitting the man seated below her in his left shoulder, and completely drenching his shirt-sleeve as it tumbled down to his lap.

The woman apologized profusely. “Oh my God! I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” The man said nothing. People around us began digging through their purses and bags, and passed tissues and napkins to the man. He accepted them, but still the man said nothing.

Now, if I were the one who spilled the coffee I definitely would have offered the guy some money for dry cleaning. (Especially since food and drinks are not allowed on the subway -- though it's a law that is rarely enforced). A friend of mine once spilled a drink on another passenger on the subway and she gave him ten bucks. A thermos-full of hot coffee deserves at least twenty. I don’t know if the woman standing next to me considered this or not, but she made no move to offer the wet man anything, not even a Kleenex. However an older woman, who was seated at the end of the row, offered the man a bottle of water, presumably to use to blot the stain. Unfortunately for the woman with the now empty thermos the man had another plan for it.

When the train pulled in to the next stop the man got up, brushed off his sleeve, and shot the woman in the face with the bottle of water. People were gasping long after he walked off the train.

“It was an accident!” the woman screamed, now crying, as people searched their bags for more tissues.

No doubt there are two offices that heard two completely different versions of this story today.

Manhattan Monday

2009-11-09T12:31:24Z

"Something Old, Something New"

I passed this building in Hell's Kitchen a couple of weeks ago and couldn't stop staring at it. It reminded me of the musical RENT. Before long I was making up stories in my head about the people who once called this building home. From the looks of it now it will soon transition into something else, perhaps a a brand new structure entirely. Good or bad? I can't decide.

Mark's Def Poetry Jam

2009-11-06T16:50:42Z

My good pal markgharris is challenging his flist once again to compose poems, poems based on previous LiveJournal posts of Mark's choosing. HERE, still reeking up my blog, is the poem I hacked out last year, and HERE is the post Mark has chosen for me to defile for 2009. (As Juno herself might say, "It's giving me the stinkeye.")

Forgive me, Diablo Cody.

PAULIE BLEEKER BLUES

Poor Paulie Bleeker, not a DILF, not a squirt
Torn between "dude things" and brat games like UNO
Raging teen hormones can be tough to keep zipped
Just ask his knocked up BFF, Juno.

What the haill! What the fark!
The Bleek's still running track!
He's got no time for the drama an old man preaches!
What if the kid doesn't like him? Or worse even still!
What if he or she hates THE MOLDY PEACHES?

Then Juno appears, and the Bleek's heart skips a beat
As far as boyfriends go she thinks he's "totally boss"
Track and tunes, if the Bleek had to, he could survive without
But life without Juno? He'd rather be LOST.

If I Can Dream

2009-11-04T15:28:03Z

There must be lights burning brighter somewhere
Got to be birds flying higher in a sky more blue
If I can dream of a better land
Where all my brothers walk hand in hand

Tell me why, oh why, oh why
Can't my dream come true
Oh why?

There must be peace and understanding sometime
Strong winds of promise that will blow away
The doubt and fear
If I can dream of a warmer sun
Where hope keeps shining on everyone

Tell me why, oh why, oh why
Won't that sun appear?

We're lost in a cloud, with too much rain
We're trapped in a world, with too much pain
But as long as a man, has the strength to dream
He can redeem his soul and fly

He can fly

Deep in my heart there's a tremblin' question
Still I am sure that the answer, answer's gonna come somehow
Out there in the dark, there's a beckoning candle

And while I can think, while I can talk
While I can stand, while I can walk

While I can dream, please let my dream

Come true, right now

Happy Birthday Sesame Street!

2009-11-04T11:19:06Z

40 years old today.

Mainely Married

2009-11-03T18:39:41Z

I am so anxious about what's happening up in Maine today. I'm trying to stay optimistic, I'm trying to think positive thoughts. I'm trying to understand why someone hasn't knocked this witch off her broom yet.

MARRY ME, MAINE!

11/04/09 - I still love you, Maine. You broke my heart, but I still love you.

Manhattan Monday

2009-11-02T11:50:50Z

"Only in New York."

Monster Mash

2009-10-30T18:34:16Z

This one's a bit long -- 6 minutes and 20 seconds -- but I wouldn't cut one creepy moment. What could be more spooky this time of year than a mash-up of scary movies set to Michael Jackson's "Thriller"?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Manhattan Monday

2009-10-26T11:32:50Z

"Stacked" - Parking lot, W. 46th St.

Call Your Travel Agent For More Information

2009-10-22T12:28:56Z

I just finished reading Anne Tyler's The Accidental Tourist. A passage toward the end of the novel - published in 1985 - made me long for the days of air travel in the "Just Say No" years, when hardware and pesticides were peculiar carry-on items, but certainly no cause for a full body search, or even the removal of one's shoes.

"He took his place next to a window and was joined almost immediately by an elderly couple speaking French. The man sat next to Macon and gave him a deep, unsmiling nod. Then he said something to his wife, who passed him a canvas bag. He unzipped it and sorted through its contents. Playing cards, an entire tin of Band-Aids, a stapler, a hammer, a lightbulb...Macon was fascinated. He kept sliding his eyes to the right to try to see more. When a wooden mousetrap tumbled out, he began to wonder if the man might be some sort of lunatic; but of course even a mousetrap could be explained, given a little thought."