MBLF: The Major Motion Picture

You've seeen the photos. You've read the stories. Now fall in love all over again with "MBLF: The Beginning," the new major motion picture! Yes, now you can get a tiny glimpse into the real-life origins of MBLF, complete with surround sound! You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll heave with disgust at the full-color moving pictures of C's left AND right legs at the height of MBLF-dom. Play the video below for a blast from the past and see what all the excitement has been about.

Annum

It's no secret the past year has been a very challenging one for the Barrys. J has had some job uncertainties, and I've apparently done all sorts of nasty things to my body. There were times I was truly uncertain as to what tomorrow would hold -- or, genuinely and with some cause, if there would even BE a tomorrow.

Last night, some of my dearest family came over for a bit of a surprise dinner to celebrate life and living, in the form of my 34th birthday. It was truly a treat to have them with us. J made THE most amazing dinner -- complete with linens and nice china and grilled steak & scallops and fresh rosemary bread and ... it was amazing. He wouldn't let me do a thing, working so hard to make it a wonderful evening, and he really succeded.

Joining us for the festivities were Matt, Monique, the Monkey, Kim, Dave and Cath: let me tell you, this is just a great crew. We ate (a lot), drank (a lot) and laughed (a LOT), and it was probably the best birthday I've ever had. And there were wonderful birthday gifts too -- gorgeous hats and classic movies and books and diamond bracelets and also, Patron! -- but the time spent was really beyond price for me.

This morning my kitchen looks as though it's exploded; I think we used every dish we own. I told J that we should have just ordered takeout, that would have been just fine, but he replied over and over again that he wanted to do this so that I would know how happy he is that I'm alive and still with him. I can only reply that, J, I already knew. You're the best partner anyone could ever hope for, in all ways: you make me feel valued and loved, and there is no more precious a gift. I'm thankful that I'm about to hit 34, but even more thankful that I have such an amazing family to see me through. Bring on 35 ... I'm ready to see what the next year has to offer.

Geek Rock

This weekend was a geek-filled good time. I enjoyed visiting with a number of friends throughout the weekend, and one of the major events was a gathering at our friend G's place. There was a lot of food and a LOT of drink (stories for another time, perhaps?) but I thought I might take this chance to give you a glimpse as to what geeks do for a good time on a raucous Saturday night. Behold ...

Rock Band!

From L-R, our friends L (vocals), D (guitar), B (bass) and K (drums) all take their moment of glory. As the night progressed and the Dragon shots proliferated, the Band members switched out and things got even more and more interesting ... but really, like I said, a story for ANOTHER time.

Phantoms in the Air

Today is gorgeous, breezy and 80 and sunny and low humidity -- a prefect summer day and a gift, indeed, after endless days of heat and rain and storms and incedible humidity that's so dense you feel like you need SCUBA gear just to walk outside to your car.

I have a bit of a tummyache, so I'm subsisting on white starchy carbs until things realign. The fact that I'm able to recover outside, reading library books and munching bagels in my well-shaded hammock, is making the whole thing much more palatable.

As I sit and swing, staring up at the blue sky, an intermittent roar fills the air, a beast prowling the clouds while looking for a place to land. I hear Sammy down the street hollering, "There they are!" as the roar grows louder, and suddenly four jets streak across the sky, breaking sound and speed barriers, those on the ground left looking up with squinty eyes and craned necks as planes swoop and dive overhead. Suddenly, almost as suddenly as they appeared, they are gone into the powder-puff of a passing cloud. The roar remains, but the jets are phantoms, elusive, only the occasional growl of the jet and a tell-tale trail of vapor to show us that the Blue Angels are, indeed, real and here in Rochester.

WARNING: Pride Ahead

Last weekend we ended up spending Saturday afternoon at the Rochester Gay Pride Parade. It's such an amazing, high-energy event, and we're always happy to be there and support our gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered friends, family and colleagues (and yes, we have a nice number of each of those).

So we parked over on Park Ave., right near Jine's. As we drove down the street, we saw balloons and floats and everything else being put together. People were everywhere, and the curb was slowly filling up with spectators, and the rainbow was everywhere: flags, beads, shirts, body paintings ... the street was in bloom with color.

We grabbed chairs from the car trunk -- me, Jamie and K -- and walked down the street a bit to the park where we were meeting up with B., J., and M. We had bottled water and chilled snacks (it was caliente) and comfy chairs and great company ... and also just so happened to be across the street from some friends of the B and co. who were hosting a little cosmo party. Nice.

We had a killer vantage point on the parade and we could see the light of the parade as it started and slowly moved down the street. First up were police, fire and ambulance crews, along with reps from the City of Rochester. Bon Jour, Mayor McHotty!

Next up came the celebrity marshall, Maya. No, I have no clue who she is.

And then came our first Parade Queen and King. There a bunch of those -- overall Pride Queen and King, club queens and kings, etc. Very regal.

This year's theme was a fairy tale type thing: "Happily Ever After," in reference to the fact that NYS is now recognizing same-sex marriages from other states, countries, etc. where they are legal. This is, of course, a big step toward legalization of same-sex (legal) marriages in the state. It's a Big Deal.

In recent years an interesting trend has arisen: the inclusion of many more politicians and churches. There's a real outreach to the GLBT community by these groups during Pride, which is nice. Of course, there are more religious protesters as well, but seeing groups in the parade is always nice.

And then one of my fave personalities comes rolling by: (s)he is a drag queen, always on wheels, always with a glittering, fab flapper-type dress and wig ... and always still with full-on mustache and beard. Love it. Love. It.

And as if the Roller!Queen wasn't enough (Love. It.), the Muthers float was right behind. It truly had something for everything: half-baked oiled men, Darienne Lake (work those curves, girl!), Pandora Boxx (how DOES she always look so damn fierce?! Geez.), and another fave, Ambrosia Salad (not shown, but she is a total riot and so amazingly TALL ... particularly when wearing spiked thigh-high boots).

God, I miss my hag days. Muthers, take me away!

And this Hansel-and-Gretel thing cracked me up. How leiderhosen were suddenly major, I do not know, but ... there you have it

Fun story: whenever we're out at Muthers or TilT or Pride with B., we always call him "Mr. Rochester" since he appears to know just about *everyone* in the community. First of all, the man is like lesbian catnip. As SOON as we hit an event, he is absolutely swarmed with dykes. It kills me. THEN, as if that isn't enough, it seems like he knew someone in every group going by in the parade: people are waving, queens are calling his name, cute little twinks are bringing over candy and a quick air kiss. It's a riot. It also means I get lots of nice, shiny bead necklaces, by proxy. I'm also hoping he can talk one of the dykes on bikes into taking me for a little ride one of these years ...

But I digress.

ANYhow, this year there was a guy in the parade dressed as a BDSM frog prince ("Happily Ever After," remember?). About 5 seconds after the below photo was taken the frog broke from the parade, RAN over to B, grabbed him, hugged and kissed him, and then ran back into the parade. It was surreal. When asked later why I didn't get a picture of THAT, I could only reply that I was so shocked at B getting molested by an amphibian that I totally lost my wits. The best part, by the by, was that at the end of the parade B confided in sotto voce ,"And I still have no idea who the hell that was." Hussy.

Of course, the parade had to come to a close and so the float from TilT ended things out with a bang: blaring dance music (Pride: the only parade with a kickass soundtrack), dancing queens, kings, rainbow balloons, and a sweaty, oiled go-go dancer shaking his ... groove thang.

Happily ever after, indeed.