Cars, the super-rich, and a Republican-manufactured crisis; my latest for Vanity Fair.
What to Drive off the Fiscal Cliff
A Very Gay (Uncle) New Year
Here’s what The Gay Uncle suggested (to the Chicago Tribune) that you resolve to do for your kids–and yourself–in 2013.
Top 5 Cars of 2012
It’s time for our annual Top 5 list. Read our strident and subjective picks for the five best new cars of 2012 (along with a handful of bonus vehicles that we couldn’t find a way to exclude.) That’s TEN HOT CARS at Vanity Fair.
U.S. Army Robotics Rodeo
If you were brought up on the Terminator movies, and have been panicked about an autonomous army of humanoid robots rising up and taking over the earth, stop worrying. Read our full report from Fort Benning, at Vanity Fair.
What’s Hot/Not at the LA Auto Show
A slideshow of the 10 hottest, and 10 not-est, new vehicles unveiled at this week’s Los Angeles Auto Show, delivered with our signature bitchy commentary. Click through it all at Vanity Fair.
Auto Show “Booth Babe” Exposé
Back in the day, auto show display stands used to be staffed by scantily clad ladies chained to wild animals. Now all that has changed. Sort of. Read our full investigation–including an interview with a veteran “Booth Babe”–at Vanity Fair.
The Smith Tapes
My high school friend Ezra Bookstein is behind this incredible uncovering/remastering of hundreds of hours of long-lost interviews with musical and political luminaries of the 60s and 70s made by famed local WPLJ radio personality and Village Voice columnist Howard Smith. We acquired an exclusive sample at Vanity Fair, where John Lennon and Yoko Ono Continue reading “The Smith Tapes”
Chord Overstreet Playing Gay?
Chord Overstreet plays transfer student Sam Evans on the new season of Glee, and he brings a full quadruple-threat of talent to the role: singing, songwriting, acting…and abs. (He’s also rumored to play Chris Colfer’s [Kurt’s] gay boyfriend on the show.) In my role as Vanity Fair‘s resident Gleek, I gave Chord a call and asked him about guilty pleasures, kissing boys, and his athletic build. Check it out here.
Sitter Scare
The Gay Uncle has been trolling the blogosphere recently, getting acquainted with the many parenting sites out there, which–not exactly being “in the demographic”–he’s never read before. While fascinated by all the delightful sounding recipes for “Russian Casserole” and “Vegan Pancakes” and by the myriad war stories of moms (and one or two dads) locked in brutal wars of attrition with their children over pretty much any petty issue imaginable, he’s really just looking for reviews and comments on his own book. While these have generally been overwhelmingly positive (thanks much to all the fans!), there has been an intriguingly consistent strain of critique: many people seem to resent or oppose G.U.’s suggestion that they occasionally get out of the house, and appear to have a real issue with the idea of EVER leaving their child with a babysitter.
Just to clarify, Gunc does not advocate pulling a total stranger in from a park or under a highway overpass to take care of junior. In the book, he outlines a complex process for finding an appropriate caregiver (Chapter 1) as well as describing a clear rationale for why leaving the house is important for parents as well as for their child’s optimal development. But there seems to be a national assumption that if you invite the nice teenage neighbor girl who you’ve known all her life into your home, she will immediately transform into a Satan-worshiping succubus, and will beat, belittle, and otherwise abuse your child. When he was a New York City preschool director, the Gay Uncle hired all sorts of teachers who, on first glance, may have seemed questionable–a pink-haired male Cherokee performance artist; a brittle upper-class woman from Bombay; a formerly homeless African American lady with tangled dreads; a fast-talking, chain-smoking, aging punk chick–but who he could tell, from interviewing them, calling their references, and observing them interacting with his students (all of which he recommends you do before hiring a sitter), understood how to speak and be with young kids, and had an inner sense of balance, caring and kindness. Think about your favorite babysitter from childhood. If you met her now, you might not hire her on first sight. But wouldn’t you be making a mistake?
Maybe this creepy caregiver consternation is shared only by a vocal on-line minority. G.U. is aware of the fact that our national news media certainly has a tendency to privilege stories of children-in-peril, often to a debilitating effect for new parents, who end up fearing that diddlers and kidnappers lurk around every corner. He is simply trying to empower people to break out of that cycle. Remember, you are not a perfect parent. Your child is not perfect. None of us is perfect. (Not even the Gay Uncle!) So you’re never going to find a perfect babysitter. But if you use the method outlined in the book, Gunc firmly believes that you’ll be able to find a number of them who are perfectly good enough.
Beyond Pink and Blue
The Gay Uncle was on the radio for the first time last night, peppered with questions for the sake of the “listeners” of OUT-Q, Gay Satellite Radio. He was quite certain how to respond to campy remarks about Liz Taylor’s knee replacements, and the near-successful stealth gay takeover of network television programming in the ’70’s, when everyone was either unaware or just too high to care. But he was less certain of how to react to the idea–presented by one of his interviewers–that a gay uncle’s job, when dealing with his butch lesbian friend’s kids, is to provide education in things “pink and girlie”. Now G.U. can swish with the best of them, but he’s also a gender constructivist of sorts (he’s been working on a new book about the subject called “Beyond Pink and Blue”) and thinks that part of the fun of being gay comes from questioning gendered stereotypes–gay, straight, or otherwise. He thus sees a role for himself in the life of his nieces and nephews beyond simply Hair and Makeup. He loves old trucks and gardening; attends drag acts and drag strips; collects 19th century English transferware and 21st century indie-rock. He sees life and gender as multivalent, in part because his lifelong work with kids has shown him that we all start out thinking that way.