The Day I Met Philip Seymour Hoffman
In 2003 I had just transitioned from a reasonably normal job to being a professional actor. I was working every night in a comedy show on the Las Vegas Strip and auditioning for commercials and bit...
View ArticleWhat We Can Learn From Philip Seymour Hoffman's Death
On Saturday, actor Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead in a downtown Manhattan apartment, a hypodermic needle reportedly in his arm and two bags of what was thought to be heroin nearby. He had spoken...
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On Macklemore, and the Broader Problem of Cherry-Picking Someone's Old Tweets
I come neither to bury Macklemore, nor to praise him. The lightning rod rapper's Up With People reboot at the Hashtag Grammys has stamped a temporary bullseye on the back of his leopard-print Goodwill...
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How Do Actors Act?
How Do Actors Act? A review of Peter Brook's documentary film The Tightrope Lloyd I. Sederer, MD How do they do it? How do (good) actors get us, the audience, to suspend belief -- even recognition --...
View ArticleMaximilian Schell and How Art Imitates Life
The news that Austrian-born actor Maximilian Schell died yesterday got me thinking. Schell made his mark in Hollywood -- and won an Oscar -- for his role as a criminal defense attorney in the movie...
View ArticleWhy HBO's Looking Will Keep You Searching
If you want to get a feel for how truly dull Looking is, try to imagine how long Will & Grace's Jack McFarland would have tuned into the show before rolling his eyes, turning off the TV, and...
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Ted Allen Talks 'Dining Out for Life' HIV/AIDS Event and LGBT Issues (AUDIO)
I talked with Ted Allen, television personality and host of the Food Network's Chopped, about Dining Out for Life, the HIV/AIDS fundraiser. Dining Out for Life, hosted by Subaru, takes place in 60...
View ArticleDuring Lopsided Super Bowl, No Clear Winner in SodaStream Ad Controversy
This ad for SodaStream played during Super Bowl 2014. My husband and I received a SodaStream drink machine from my parents for Christmas. We're trying to be a little healthier and throw away fewer...
View ArticleDoing Still More Dumb Stuff
Just yesterday, I was at the bank trying to deposit a few checks. I say, "trying" because one of them was made out to both my wife and me and I was the only one there to sign the back. My wife and I...
View ArticleWhatever Happened to...Jon Peters? (It's a Possibly Hair-Raising Story!)
"I DID AFFIRM TO MY READERS...that I was the happiest man I had ever met and I can profoundly reaffirm it at the age of ninety-one," said the great Arthur Rubinstein. Hmmm...I am not quite as happy as...
View ArticleLooking. Back.
Sitting down to watch the debut episode of HBO's Looking, I feared I might be opening Pandora's Box. What sort of memories would fly out? Where would they take me? After all, I lived my own uber gay...
View ArticleJustin Bieber: Needs To Stop Spanking Strippers -- His Fans Are Women
Licking and biting stripper's nipples, dropping $75,000 on strippers and reportedly spanking strippers in an as yet-to-be-released sex tape -- Justin, this kind of sexist behavior is going to turn off...
View ArticleWeeklings!: A Gay's History of Super Bowl Halftime Shows (VIDEO)
The Super Bowl halftime show this Sunday starred Bruno Mars, a lively but safe choice in AstroTurf entertainment. Thankfully, the past 10 years of Super Bowl gigs have been much more interesting. From...
View ArticleGood Morning Heartache, Good Morning Life
Today is the fifteenth anniversary of my living clean and sober, free from the grips of a long, secret prescription painkiller and alcohol addiction. I went to sleep last night imagining the grief of...
View ArticleDespite Woody Allen Backlash, We're Still Not Serving Abuse Victims
In her tribute to Woody Allen while accepting his Cecile B. Demile award, Diane Keaton said, "Woody's films have been changing the way we think about life, love and the pursuit of neuroses forever." In...
View ArticleHow The Beatles Rocked Technology
ICYMI (he acronymed sarcastically), this week marks the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' landing in the U.S. and their appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show, upturning world culture and igniting what we...
View ArticleHogwarts 90210? Come On, Ms. Rowling.
JK Rowling said WHAT? "That's how it was conceived, really. For reasons that have very little to do with literature and far more to do with me clinging to the plot as I first imagined it, Hermione...
View ArticleMusic for Social Change: Fancy Reagan's 'Say Something' Helps LGBTQ Teens
The potential for music to effect social change, or at least to be a meaningful catalyst for it, was one of the more salient takeaways of Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' performance of "Same Love" at the...
View Article'The Mindy Project' vs. 'New Girl': Who Wins?
Have you been watching the third season of "New Girl"? I have. I've been a loyal fan since it debuted in 2011. There was just something so endearing about Zooey Deschanel and her portrayal of Jessica...
View ArticleAmerica Invades the Beatles
As even your average rock in Central Park knows, it has been 50 years since The Beatles invaded America and thank God, we're still not over it. Frankly it's the one bug that I've been thrilled to have...
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