Monday, June 9, 2025

Up On The Roof

Myself & Tyler Cassity, Owner Of Hollywood Forever

Yesterday I attended a party celebrating the opening of the new mausoleum at Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Hollywood, CA, naturally.

The to do was held on the rooftop of the structure, that's correct I said rooftop. This mausoleum is big! Five stories to be exact and one hundred feet tall. With some amazing views and curated space for events and celebrations of any kind.

It was christened with the first yoga class ever held on the roof yesterday before the party.

Here are some photos yours truly took while attending it.

Enjoy!

Rooftop Fun

A View Of The Hollywood Sign, Of Course

Things Are Looking Up

For More information about Hollywood Forever visit -

https://hollywoodforever.com/   

Sunday, June 8, 2025

"Boy Blue"


"And when she put you out on your own

It may have stolen your innocence
But not, no-not your soul" - Boy Blue, Cyndi Lauper


I remember buying the album True Colors by Cyndi Lauper and being immediately taken by the track "Boy Blue" on it.

Here is the 411: 

"Boy Blue" came after Gregory Natal, a friend of Lauper's who was dying from AIDS, asked for her to write a song for him. He wanted her to release it "in the spirit of "That's What Friends Are For."

In honor of Pride Month we will give gratitude to those before who fought the battle so the rest of us could live free. Never give up!

Hit the video after the jump!



Cyndi on the WWW -

Saturday, June 7, 2025

Liberation!

I'm just going to leave this here. It's Pride Month, Saturday June 7th 2025.

Liberation!

Marsha P. Johnsons on Wikipedia -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marsha_P._Johnson  

Friday, June 6, 2025

"Once Upon A Time In California"

Photo by: Albert Sanchez - Design by: John Stapleton

Belinda Carlisle, beloved solo artist, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and voice of the Go-Go’s, returns to her roots with the release of a new studio album Once Upon a Time in California, slated for release on  29 August 2025 by the Demon Music label.


Featuring ten new studio tracks including the lead track, “The Air That I Breathe” were recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Gabe Lopez, who worked with Belinda on her 2017 studio album Wilder ShoresOnce Upon a Time in California will be available on CD, vinyl and digital formats and available for pre-order HERE


Following the success of Belinda’s 2023 EP Kismet, and the single “Big Big Love” HERE  Once Upon a Time in California sees Belinda Carlisle take a deeply personal journey through the golden sounds of her youth with this ten-track collection. Steeped in the spirit of her Californian upbringing, the album is a heartfelt tribute to the vintage pop culture that shaped her musical identity. 


What sets this album apart is that it’s a celebration of Californian culture that stretches its canvas beyond the familiar evocation of the Laurel Canyon sound. It’s a carefully curated and beautifully realised salute to Belinda’s personal education in pop music, and the magical sounds that arrived in her life from near and far, on the radio and on cherished 45s.  

 

With the assured and distinctive vocal delivery of someone who herself has become one of the Golden State’s greatest exports  - initially as frontwoman for the Go-Go’s, who enjoyed Top 10 hits with  Our Lips Are Sealed, Vacation and We Got The Beat  and as a solo performer with a multitude of hits including Mad About YouHeaven Is A Place on EarthCircle In the Sand and I Get Weak amongst others,  Belinda Carlisle completes this sentimental journey back to her youth with timeless style. 

 

Once Upon a Time in California opens with a stirring remake of the Burt Bacharach & Hal David gem written for Dionne Warwick, Anyone Who Had A Heart.  Belinda then pays her respects to such timeless artists as the Carpenters (Superstar), Gordon Lightfoot (If You Could Read My Mind) and Jim Croce (Time In A Bottle) and to songs for the ages including The Air That I Breathe (The Hollies), Everybody’s Talking (Harry Nilsson) and Reflections Of My Life (Marmalade).  The result is an entirely different kind of Californian dreaming for a new generation. Although this marks the first time all ten tracks have been available on one album, three of them – SuperstarIf You Could Read My Mind and Get Together have been available on previous Belinda Carlisle collections.

 

Commenting on the album Belinda says, “I was born and raised in California at a time when music was an important part of Californian culture.  I lived and breathed music, it was my great escape - a refuge of fantasy and imagination.  Every day after school and when it was summer vacation, I would listen and sing along to the music on the radio for the entire day.  Always fantasizing about being a singer myself, one day.

 

This collection of songs is the best representation of what I loved back then that I could think of - listening to it brings back so many memories of a time and a California that doesn't really exist anymore.  That’s not meant to sound like a bad thing, it's just different - there was an innocence and energy back then that was unique and magical. Things I doubt will ever be felt in quite the same way again. Here's to the California of my dreams.”


With Once Upon a Time in California, Belinda Carlisle invites fans old and new to join her on a journey through the melodies that defined a generation.


FOLLOW BELINDA CARLISLE

 

FACEBOOK | INSTAGRAM | YOUTUBE


Thursday, June 5, 2025

Michael's Musings

"Come Alive!"
Michael Shinafelt

"Come alive, Bones and flesh right before your eyes, I come alive" Come Alive, Traci Lords 

Thought these lyrics from friend and LGBTQ+ ally Traci Lords were fitting for Pride Month. Now is not the time to be afraid and sit in silence. It's a time to celebrate and Come Alive! 

That is exactly what we are going to do, right here, right now.

TRUTH: Trans people are not the threat. But right now, they are the scapegoat

Wishing all homophobes a super uncomfortable month

Hey, train wreck, this isn't your station. The more you know...

PS I love plotting the gay agenda with you. That's all.

JK Rowling announces she is no longer Transphobic after attending Cincinnati Pride and winning a free cell phone charger from a Bisexual Realtor's booth. Discuss.

You missed me a little, more than I missed you. Think about it, but not too much.

Donald Trump says Pride Month will now be celebrated as "IX Month"...AS IF! 

Loving the latest Miley Cyrus album "Something Beautiful" there's that

Woman Crush Of The Week - Bisexual, Pansexual, Non-Binary artist Janelle Monae. Because being free is everything!

Is anyone looking forward to Season 2 of Wednesday? I am, the first one was kind of tepid. Rumor has it they lean into the horror of it all this go...can't wait!

Rest In Power Loretta Swit aka "Hot Lips" Houlihan on the TV series M*A*S*H

Bring Her Back is an amazing film about the horrors of grief

Congratulations to Taylor Swift for now owning all her original masters, Slay Queen!

Oh, look there's some photos of Tom Hardy uncensored on my computer screen. Time to start my day 

Keep up with me here -

https://www.instagram.com/michaelshinafelt/?hl=en 

https://bsky.app/profile/michaelshinafelt.bsky.social

https://www.tiktok.com/@michaelshinafelt   

Wednesday, June 4, 2025

Hump Day & Chill

Hey it's Pride Month and being that it is I thought we would Hump Day & Chill to out hunk Ricky Martin. 

"Yes" this a a completely prurient HD&C post pandering to the animal in us all.

Ricky is looking sexy and sassy in this shirtless selfie (say that three times fast) wagging his tongue at us. Yum!!!

That's all...

Hump Day & Chill all day long!

Ricky on IG -

https://www.instagram.com/ricky_martin/

Tuesday, June 3, 2025

"Throuple"

Dekkoo Announces TVOD Release of Throuple

The Romantic Drama Explores the Power of Desire, Chosen Family, 
Music, and Non-Traditional Love

Following a successful theatrical run in New York City and Los Angeles, Dekkoo  the leading streaming platform for queer content  is proud to announce the TVOD release of Throuple, a raw, tender, and refreshingly honest new film from writer, star, and queer indie musician Michael Doshier.  The film follows a lonely gay singer-songwriter as he navigates the messy terrains of modern desire, friendship, and unconventional love. When he unexpectedly becomes romantically entangled with a married couple, he’s forced to reevaluate the relationship he desires.  All the while, he lives in fear that he’s losing his lifelong best friend to her new girlfriend. 

Loosely based on Doshier’s own life, Throuple began as a meditation on the evolving nature of love — and the beautiful, complicated gray areas where friendship and romance blur. The spark for the story ignited when Doshier’s closest friend and longtime creative collaborator, Tristan Carter-Jones — who plays Tristan in the film — entered her first serious relationship. He found himself “third-wheeling” with the couple non-stop, while also dealing with intense feelings of jealousy. At the same time, Doshier was exploring intimacy with married men in open relationships. These two experiences converged when he realized: “This is a movie.”


The emotional heart of the film lies in Michael’s dual journeys — romantic and musical. A dreamer struggling to voice his own needs, Michael drifts through life in a state of quiet passivity. It’s only through his evolving connection with Georgie and Connor, a married couple seeking to reignite their spark, that he begins to confront the patterns holding him back. Meanwhile, his decade-long friendship with Tristan is shifting as her girlfriend, Abby, begins asserting healthy boundaries — creating an emotional triangle just as complex as his romantic one.

Every character in Throuple brings their own emotional weight and perspective. Jess Gabor is quietly compelling as Abby, the film’s moral compass — a woman navigating the delicate balance between honoring her partner’s past and building their shared future. Tommy Heleringer and Stanton Plummer-Cambridge deliver beautifully layered performances as Connor and Georgie, whose relationship is tested, redefined, and deepened by the presence of a third. And through it all, Brooklyn hums in the background like a heartbeat — its cozy apartments, creative enclaves, and nightlife lending the film a textured, lived-in authenticity.

At its core, Throuple is a radical act of emotional representation. Rather than reducing polyamory to a plot twist or punchline, the film explores non-monogamy as a legitimate, meaningful structure capable of growth, conflict, and deep connection. Doshier resists stereotype and melodrama, grounding his story in one powerful question: “What if a throuple wasn’t something to mock or fear?”

Since its debut on the festival circuit, Throuple has resonated deeply — especially with queer and polyamorous audiences. At the Boston Wicked Queer Film Festival, three real-life throuples attended the screening and shared emotional testimonials about what it meant to see their lives reflected with nuance, empathy, and respect.  

In March 2025, the film screened to acclaim at New York’s Quad Cinema and Los Angeles’ Lumière Cinema. At the Manhattan premiere, one audience member remarked, “This isn’t just a queer story. It’s a human story.”

Ultimately, Throuple is about the universal human need to connect, and the courage it takes to ask for what we truly want. Doshier hopes the film inspires viewers to challenge assumptions, speak their truths, and reimagine the possibilities of love, intimacy, and friendship.

Throuple will be available to stream on all major platforms including Amazon, iTunes, InDemand, Google, and Dekkoo beginning June 6.