Tag Archives: Media Mentions

 

Eddie Murphy has backed out of hosting the 2012 Academy Awards.

Gol-darn-it!  I was all excited for an opportunity to rehash his 1997 trannychasing scandal!

I even have a first-hand account of meeting streetwalker Atison Seiuli (aka Shalimar), who was in Murray’s car when he was pulled over by the L.A. police.

 

Shalimar posed for my camera when I was visiting L.A.

 

And I’ve saved some great tabloid coverage of the incident, including this advice article from The Star:

 

 

But now I’ll have to save my memories for another big Murphy appearance!

 

Tonight I’m attending an ultra queeny affair—the 15-year anniversary of the drag-themed restaurant Lips.

When Lips opened, I remember it was dismissed by the hip drag contingent as being rather cornball and old school.  Guess who got the last laugh?  Lips is going stronger than ever since moving last year from the Village to a much bigger and more glamorous space on the East Side.  (But it’s not NYC’s oldest draggy restaurant; Lucky Cheng’s has been around since 1993.)

Sequins and feathers will be on display tonight!  The Lips esthetic is flashy Vegas showgirl meets Auntie Mame.  Is it modern?  No!  Do the titillated straight customers like it?  Yes!

 

 

Back around 2000 I worked for a a couple of years at Lips co-hosting “Bitchy Bingo” on Wednesdays.  The crowd didn’t really get me and my sophisticated sense of humor(!), but I did enjoy bonding with the staff, including queen-in-charge Yvonne Lamé, who is ridiculously grand and shameless.  Many times after work we hit the town and got into all kinds of booze-fueled naughty trouble (She is a slut)!

 

 

Speaking of naughty…

As a Lips customer I caused a bit of scene one night, which was salaciously and cattily written up in Next Magazine!

 

 

Hmm, maybe I’ll get lucky again at tonight’s party!

According to today’s NY Times, David LaChapelle has put his super successful commercial photography career to rest—which makes his 1994 photo of me all the more valuable!

Actually, the photo isn’t of me alone.   The shoot for Details Magazine was of the indie band Jawbox, but my role as a shocked suburban shopper was vital!

 

 

Our location was a New Jersey supermarket.  Right behind me is NYC nightlife personality Cynthia Powell.

 

 

True story: After seeing my photo, a jeans company requested that I come in and audition for an ad campaign that David was shooting.  They were looking for a wacky character, but it wasn’t until I arrived that they realized I was a drag queen!   Unfortunately, they weren’t interested in gender-bending.

I haven’t seen David in a long time, but he’s been sweet ever since I met him decades ago in the East Village.  I snapped this photo of him at a party circa 1987.

 

Peering behind David's shoulder is fashion designer John Badum (R.I.P.).

According to the Times, David is now concentrating on his career as a gallery artist.

I wish you all the best in your artistic pursuits, David!  Thank you for helping kick off my career as a supermodel!

Finally!  After not having Internet service for several days (and being unable to post on my blog), I can once again mindlessly surf the Super Information Highway!

For instance, I just discovered what the #1 image is when you Google the words “ugly” and “drag queen.”

 

 

It’s my nightlife colleague Sugga Pie Koko!

I actually think she’d get a kick out of her top dog status.  Sugga aims for humor—and she delivers!

 

 

Beautiful in her own way…!

To my surprise I just found out that I’m in Wikipedia.  It’s not an article about me and my great accomplishments, but instead a photo of me and my Bingo partner Murray Hill, who let me know about our inclusion.

The subject of the article—gasp!—is Transgender, which is defined as “a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles.”

Yep, I guess I qualify.

I have no idea who submitted our photo, which was taken a few years ago when we used to host at Mo Pitkin’s.  I recognize the curtains.

Nice to be included.  Transgender Power!  But if I’m going to be a drag-queen specimen, it would be better to use a photo where I appear more draggy.

I look pretty minimalist for a DQ!

Took a trip down memory lane yesterday when I met for a tea-time chat with long-time nightlife promoter Chip Duckett.

Among the topics: Queerdonna, the obese Madonna-obsessed impersonator who Chip used to hire quite frequently in the mid-1990s.  Talk about a novelty act!

Queerdonna, who was really a young Greek-American guy from Queens, eventually faded from the scene and died in 2000, with some news accounts reporting her weight at over 500 pounds.

I got to know her a little when she and I and some other New York queens were flown to Toronto to be part of a daytime talk show.

Her exposed titties causes quit a stir with the audience.

After the filming, some of us went out to eat, and I remember she picked up the check.  That was nice of her.