Wot No Tigger???

Pride Parade 2007

The 2007 LA Gay Pride parade and festival, produced by those good Christopher Street West folks, was almost two weeks ago and I'm only now just getting round to blogging it - how busy I can I really be?

With just one day off work that weekend, I passed on the fesitval (to spend time with my boys and run some errands - though Mikey said it was a blast), but did go down to the parade (which pretty much runs at the bottom of the street anyway) taking Bentley along for an extended walk.

There's really no better way to show how proud one is than by watching scantily clad boys wiggle there stuff on top of fire engines, cheering for drag queens flaunting their fake tits on mutli-coloured floats, and grasping for an array of stickers, leaflets and deely-boppers from passing muscle boys and fag hags.

But I ask you where were the floats from Gold's, 24 Hour Fitness, Starbucks, Pavillions, the cast of Wicked, the majority of the bars, and all those other business and places that we gays frequent. Where was the support for the community that supports them?

Those kids from Disney were out bopping like there was no tomorrow (and it's where I'm going tomorrow); I actually tuned in to 98.7 the next morning for the first time since it dropped the Jamie, Jack & Stench morning show just because they had a float; and those wonderful Chipotle people handed out free burrito coupons, "homo estas?"

And as for muscle boys? Well, Micky's engine had some hotties; Svedka was well promoted; The Abbey, maybe sorta cute, but NO energy; none of the bears really did it for me, but at least the Midtowne Spa train blazed through with some decent performers (the best of which was on the opposite side there of the car, and can just be glimpsed in the pix). Oh, well!

Rise of the Best Summer Sequel (So Far)!

No the scene of Johnny Storm (aka Chris Evans) coming out of the shower wrapped only in a towel wasn't gratuitous. We've come to expect such crowd pleasing fare from a Fantastic Four flick (though in my humble opinion we shouldn't have had to wait so long for said scene), good honest comic book movies with a little style, very little substance, but a very fun-filled 90 or so minutes nonetheless.

The 7:30pm Friday night audience at The Grove was packed with kids (and a spattering of homos), the target audience for this popcorn tale that introduces the iconic Silver Surfer (herald of the storm-cloud like Galactus, an Ultimate Universe-esq. departure from his classic pointy-helmeted appearance), cures Victor Von Doom of his facial deformities (so that the stunning Julian McMahon, who I'd never really considered that handsome before, can play him mask, and makeup, less), and brings the Fantasticar to the movie mythology.

Like Spider-man, New York City is the home base for this super foursome, however unlike most Ameri-centric comic book movies, FF2 turns into a truly global venture with spectacular set pieces at the London Eye, the Great Wall of China and some other Asian city. Like the recent Spider-man 3 however, FF2 also features a dancing superhero (this time Mr. Fantastic, Reed Richards), though this time its totally played for nothing but laughs (and to show off Reed's stretchiness).

With an estimated opening weekend gross of $57.4 million in the US, it looks like I wasn't the only one to actually like the Rise of the Silver Surfer, despite mediocre reviews. If I had one real complaint about the entire movie it would be this: Jessica Alba's blond locks really bothered me (with a Storm circa X-Men 1 and 2 feel)!!!

(But best summer sequel (so far) you ask, well Spidey 3 just couldn't, and didn't, live up to its previous installments, and Pirates 3 beached itself on a sandbar of confusion and boredom. Next upJohn McClane dies again.)

Just for Alex: The Altoid Boyz!

When I happened to mention at the end of last week at work that I might not make it to the Gay Pride Parade on Sunday, Alexandra said to me, with a somewhat forlorn look on her face, "But what about the Altoid float?" So the following are just for her!

Goddamn that Paris!

I'm glad she's back in jail!!! Hopefully that'll mean the (temporary) end of those bloody low-flying helicopters over my house!!!

And judging by this press release (which I have copied below) other West Hollywood residents feel the same way about the unnecessary press this spoilt cow is getting!

Dear Neighbors:

I have received an enormous number of calls and e-mails today about the helicopters hovering over the City. As you may know, Paris Hilton lives in Los Angeles, just off the Sunset Strip and immediately adjacent to West Hollywood. Given the publicity and controversy surrounding her recent incarceration and re-assignment to house arrest, the media has converged on our community, including a flock of helicopters.

Like many of you, I too was woken this morning about 5:30 AM by helicopters. However, I want to let you know that the City of West Hollywood and the Sheriff's Department, as well as the City of Los Angeles and their Police Department, have no authority or jurisdiction over airspace and helicopters hovering overhead. Aircraft remain under the exclusive control of the federal government and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

West Hollywood and hundreds of other cities have protested the serious impacts of hovering helicopters, particularly news and paparazzi helicopters, for many years to no avail.

While we shall again register our objections to our federal representatives and ask for more local regulatory authority, I also want to offer some suggestions for you. If you feel strongly that helicopters hovering over densely populated residential neighborhoods is a problem that needs fixing, please contact West Hollywood's federal representatives and the FAA:

U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer
U. S. Senator Dianne Feinstein
U. S Representative Henry Waxman

You can also call the "Assignment Desk" at local television stations and register your complaints about their news helicopters and their negative impact on the community.

I regret that I cannot do more as a member of the City Council to help relieve our neighborhoods of this problem, but I am certain that our representatives and the news stations would be pleased to know your views on the subject.

Best regards,
JEFFREY PRANG
Mayor Pro Tempore