"Say Uncle" Premiere, Gale and the whole damn thing...
A great topper to the night: Michael being pounded by Ben. HOLY SH*T. C’mon, I know ppl don’t like Hal/Michael, but that was cool ass scene.
It all started with the Kelly and Terri (I always lump them together, like Burns and Allen) inquiring on if I was going to see Peter Paige’s film at Outfest. Initially, I wasn’t keen on going for no good reason, but I decided that I wanted to see Peter’s endeavor.
So today, I get to the theatre, and Kelly, Terri and Terri’s son Cameron are there. We hang out front to see who walks the press line. As the photogs were taking pictures of co-star Lisa Edelstein, Bobby Gant walked up, looking terrific.
It was so funny, we were having problems noticing ppl who were right in front of us.
Me: There’s Bobby. Isn’t that Bobby Gant?
Terri: Where? Oh, right in front of me.
Later:
Kelly: There’s Gale.
Me: Where?
Kelly: In the hat. He’s sitting next to Bobby Gant.
Me: Where? I’m going to kill myself, I don’t see him.
Terri: Where is he?
Kelly: Right, there. Next to Bobby Gant. Okay, he’s standing up now.
Me: Oh, I see him.
Terri: Where is he?
Me: He’s sitting down now.
We go inside the DGA lobby and we’re seeing everyone: Judith Light and her husband, Robert Desidero, Elliott Gould, Elisa Donovan, Ron Cowan, Dan Lipman, Bobby.
We start looking for the line to enter the theater when we’re told that the line was outside. Kelly remarked that it looked like a line at Disneyland. Which is was, but more fabulous. Lining up, we see Scott Lowell’s friend, Eddie Jemison. It really was like a redux of the QAF S5 launch party. So we get in line and we’re heading inside and they’re passing out drinks (Outfest is sponsored by Absolute), so of course I take it.
Drink Server: (after we take all of the drinks from his tray): Dang.
Me: I know. Sucks to be in line behind us!
We enter the theater, get seats on the left side, third row in (this is for the benefit of those who’ve been to the DGA complex). We kept getting giddy because we were spotting all of these people: Eddie and Scott sat two rows ahead of us, to the left of me was this writer/commentator from E! (who I forget right now), Dan Butler of Frasier was also in the row across from us.
They do the intro and ask Peter to come to the stage.
It was worth it all to see Peter’s reaction. The applause was too much for him and his voice kept breaking and he had to compose himself to talk about how much it meant for him to have a turnout such as the one tonight.
They had given us cards and pencils to rate the movie overall, the soundtrack and the accompanying short.
Me: I have a feeling I’m going to give everything a 5. No soundtrack? I’m still giving it a 5. ( I did end up giving it a 5 because there were great songs by Broken Social Scene and Rufus Wainwright).
Peter intro’d the movie and went back to his seat. They showed the excellent short, then “Say Uncle” came on. But there was this hideous noise, like when you download a bad copy of a song and they had to cut the film.
Peter runs down the aisle and says, “Thank you for coming! I’m glad you’re here for the most embarrassing (?) night of my life.” He went back up to the stage.
Peter: Hi, Scott Lowell.
Scott: Hi, Peter.
Then someone yelled out, “Cry again!”
Peter: Cry again. Very funny.
Another person: It’ll be a great story for Leno.
Peter: More like a great story for my funeral.
So Peter re-enacted a scene from the movie. They got it working, so he jogged back to his seat.
The movie was EXCELLENT. Excellent, I tell you. And although I hate when people say “so-and-so is a revelation”, Anthony Clark (comedian, “Yes, Dear”) was a revelation in this movie. I’m so proud of him.
Movie over, they announce a reception afterwards and they launch into the Q&A and Peter thanks everyone there for “popping his cherry”(cinematically, I assure you).
Now, the reception…I was not trying to get my hopes up high. I couldn’t believe they were allowing general admission ticketholders into a reception, but they did, bless their hearts.
And the ladies will more than likely have to chime in here, because I don’t know how it all unfolded, but we walked right into the reception behind Gale. Terri’s son actually pushed Kelly into Gale’s ass.
We’re in, we’re grabbing drinks, we’re looking at GALE who we were just astonished that he would be there.
Kelly, Terri and I look at each other and tried to decide who to call. I immediately thought gadsten . So I go outside and give her a call, telling her why I was. Then I wander back inside and lean against the bar a mere 2 feet from Gale, giving gadsten a blow by blow.
gadsten: Where is he?
Me: Right in front of me. Like I’m against the bar and he’s right there talking to Ron Cowan and some women. He’s wearing jeans, a black shirt and flip-flops.
gadsten: How does he look?
Me: He looks like that icon people have of him with a beard and a bandanna looking crazy. Except he’s wearing a hat. He doesn’t look like Brian, he looks like Gale.
After a few drinks and noticing how Gale was chatting up people, we were feeling more confident. I guess Cameron got tired of us waiting around, seeing if we were going to take a picture of Gale, so he walked up to him himself!!
Kelly and I are standing there trying to stratagize and we turn and see Cameron taking a picture with Terri’s camera phone.
So seeing that gave us the courage to walk over. Plus, he was talking to the waitstaff and taking a picture with them, including the server who had given me one of the two drinks I had in my hands at that time (really, she forced me to take it. She was so full of spirit and funky and cool that she reminded me so much of mothafunkybat). He was really cool with them. Afterwards, she came up to me and we squeed about how hot and cool Gale was.
Gale to one of the servers: Find someone to take the picture.
(so the server was looking around and he spots a guy, but I interject)
Me to server: I’ll take it.
Server: (Laughing) You’re kinda short.
Me: Ooooh, I can’t believe you said I’m too short. But I am. You’re right.
Server: You can take it.
Me: No, have him take it.
The guy takes the pic. Then Gale gets distracted by someone and I don’t remember how this all went down, but I remember taking (because I hate to use the word grab), Gale by his bicep (rock-hard bicep) to grab my chance. I wished him happy birthday. He said thank you. Then I mentioned how he was missed at the Showtime party.
Gale: Yeah. I’m sorry.
Me: No…please, you had to work.
He tipped his plastic cup to mine and said “cheers” and I toasted him back and said, “salud”.
Then I went in for the picture-kill. And I had to do it fast because I heard him mention to someone about going out to eat (“We can find an all night Dennys or something. Maybe find a piercing bodaga and get my” something, I think he said ear, “pierced”). Begged to get a picture. Kelly took it, like a saint that she is because I owed her a pic with Gale, since she reminded me how I wimped out on getting one of her w/ Randy at the Showtime party.
Me: But you guys took pictures with Matt Battaglia. I didn’t.
Kelly: No, I didn’t. I was with you looking for drinks.
Me: Oh…that’s right.
Well, I failed her again tonight, but being the scenester that she is, she got in on a picture that Gale was taking with someone else. It was hilarious!
We get our picture. Make our way to Peter, congratulate him on his movie. He thanked us and told us to tell our friends about it. Which I am, whenever “Say Uncle” comes out, see it. (Actually, Showtime picked it up, but they’re giving Peter time to get a distributor and get it out into the theaters before airing it. In a total aside, someone was asking him about the commentary of Em being a Queer Guy and Peter said that Queer Eye for the Straight Guy doesn’t bother him. He feels that if there wasn’t a QAF and other shows that showed another side of gay life, he’d probably feel differently about Queer Eye).
Shortly thereafter Kelly, Terri and Cameron had to get going. I thanked them (and I’m thanking them again, PROFUSELY) for the ticket.
When they left, I pestered gadsten again. Telling her how I got a pic of Gale. And that Michelle was there, but I didn’t recognize her because she had a weave and how as we were speaking, Scott was spanking Eddie on the ass ( I really wondered what was going on there), Gale was standing at the bar talking to Peter and Ron.
Me: I’m looking at his toes (dissolves into giggles)
gadsten: You’re drunk.
At this point, there were maybe only twenty/thirty people in the room. I was on the couch talking to gadsten when I saw a guy I knew, who was volunteering at Outfest and he asked me to come out to his table in the lobby and hang with him.
I went to the bar to throw my cup away and Gale and Peter were standing there, saying their goodbyes. And I noticed Gale’s ass for the first time. In the right pair of jeans, he actually has one.
They all hugged, kissed goodbye and Gale left the room, doing a silly little wave as he exited. So that was my cue to leave and meet up with my friend in the lobby. As I was talking to him, Gale, a guy and two ladies were trying to decide what to do.
Gale: I know you, and you’ll worry about how long you can stay out or where we’re going to go.
Then Scott came out and as they’re talking, Gale’s bouncing around like he can’t wait to be out in the streets. Gale and his crew gets into the elevator and Scott and another lady or standing in the lobby talking. And it was like Brian and Ted, because I hear Gale yell out “Scott!” and Scott starts to run for the elevator.
Me: Run, Scott!!
He steps back to see who’s talking to him and he waves to me and gets into the elevator.
Finally, the freakin’ end.
Seeing the actors together in support of one of their own was wonderful. No matter what ppl think about how QAF has ended its run, some people in the cast have found lifelong friends. They have been a part of something that made history, something that was actually IMPORTANT. The show has given them opportunities. Peter would never have had a chance to do something like this, if not for being on QAF.
It all started with the Kelly and Terri (I always lump them together, like Burns and Allen) inquiring on if I was going to see Peter Paige’s film at Outfest. Initially, I wasn’t keen on going for no good reason, but I decided that I wanted to see Peter’s endeavor.
So today, I get to the theatre, and Kelly, Terri and Terri’s son Cameron are there. We hang out front to see who walks the press line. As the photogs were taking pictures of co-star Lisa Edelstein, Bobby Gant walked up, looking terrific.
It was so funny, we were having problems noticing ppl who were right in front of us.
Me: There’s Bobby. Isn’t that Bobby Gant?
Terri: Where? Oh, right in front of me.
Later:
Kelly: There’s Gale.
Me: Where?
Kelly: In the hat. He’s sitting next to Bobby Gant.
Me: Where? I’m going to kill myself, I don’t see him.
Terri: Where is he?
Kelly: Right, there. Next to Bobby Gant. Okay, he’s standing up now.
Me: Oh, I see him.
Terri: Where is he?
Me: He’s sitting down now.
We go inside the DGA lobby and we’re seeing everyone: Judith Light and her husband, Robert Desidero, Elliott Gould, Elisa Donovan, Ron Cowan, Dan Lipman, Bobby.
We start looking for the line to enter the theater when we’re told that the line was outside. Kelly remarked that it looked like a line at Disneyland. Which is was, but more fabulous. Lining up, we see Scott Lowell’s friend, Eddie Jemison. It really was like a redux of the QAF S5 launch party. So we get in line and we’re heading inside and they’re passing out drinks (Outfest is sponsored by Absolute), so of course I take it.
Drink Server: (after we take all of the drinks from his tray): Dang.
Me: I know. Sucks to be in line behind us!
We enter the theater, get seats on the left side, third row in (this is for the benefit of those who’ve been to the DGA complex). We kept getting giddy because we were spotting all of these people: Eddie and Scott sat two rows ahead of us, to the left of me was this writer/commentator from E! (who I forget right now), Dan Butler of Frasier was also in the row across from us.
They do the intro and ask Peter to come to the stage.
It was worth it all to see Peter’s reaction. The applause was too much for him and his voice kept breaking and he had to compose himself to talk about how much it meant for him to have a turnout such as the one tonight.
They had given us cards and pencils to rate the movie overall, the soundtrack and the accompanying short.
Me: I have a feeling I’m going to give everything a 5. No soundtrack? I’m still giving it a 5. ( I did end up giving it a 5 because there were great songs by Broken Social Scene and Rufus Wainwright).
Peter intro’d the movie and went back to his seat. They showed the excellent short, then “Say Uncle” came on. But there was this hideous noise, like when you download a bad copy of a song and they had to cut the film.
Peter runs down the aisle and says, “Thank you for coming! I’m glad you’re here for the most embarrassing (?) night of my life.” He went back up to the stage.
Peter: Hi, Scott Lowell.
Scott: Hi, Peter.
Then someone yelled out, “Cry again!”
Peter: Cry again. Very funny.
Another person: It’ll be a great story for Leno.
Peter: More like a great story for my funeral.
So Peter re-enacted a scene from the movie. They got it working, so he jogged back to his seat.
The movie was EXCELLENT. Excellent, I tell you. And although I hate when people say “so-and-so is a revelation”, Anthony Clark (comedian, “Yes, Dear”) was a revelation in this movie. I’m so proud of him.
Movie over, they announce a reception afterwards and they launch into the Q&A and Peter thanks everyone there for “popping his cherry”(cinematically, I assure you).
Now, the reception…I was not trying to get my hopes up high. I couldn’t believe they were allowing general admission ticketholders into a reception, but they did, bless their hearts.
And the ladies will more than likely have to chime in here, because I don’t know how it all unfolded, but we walked right into the reception behind Gale. Terri’s son actually pushed Kelly into Gale’s ass.
We’re in, we’re grabbing drinks, we’re looking at GALE who we were just astonished that he would be there.
Kelly, Terri and I look at each other and tried to decide who to call. I immediately thought gadsten . So I go outside and give her a call, telling her why I was. Then I wander back inside and lean against the bar a mere 2 feet from Gale, giving gadsten a blow by blow.
gadsten: Where is he?
Me: Right in front of me. Like I’m against the bar and he’s right there talking to Ron Cowan and some women. He’s wearing jeans, a black shirt and flip-flops.
gadsten: How does he look?
Me: He looks like that icon people have of him with a beard and a bandanna looking crazy. Except he’s wearing a hat. He doesn’t look like Brian, he looks like Gale.
After a few drinks and noticing how Gale was chatting up people, we were feeling more confident. I guess Cameron got tired of us waiting around, seeing if we were going to take a picture of Gale, so he walked up to him himself!!
Kelly and I are standing there trying to stratagize and we turn and see Cameron taking a picture with Terri’s camera phone.
So seeing that gave us the courage to walk over. Plus, he was talking to the waitstaff and taking a picture with them, including the server who had given me one of the two drinks I had in my hands at that time (really, she forced me to take it. She was so full of spirit and funky and cool that she reminded me so much of mothafunkybat). He was really cool with them. Afterwards, she came up to me and we squeed about how hot and cool Gale was.
Gale to one of the servers: Find someone to take the picture.
(so the server was looking around and he spots a guy, but I interject)
Me to server: I’ll take it.
Server: (Laughing) You’re kinda short.
Me: Ooooh, I can’t believe you said I’m too short. But I am. You’re right.
Server: You can take it.
Me: No, have him take it.
The guy takes the pic. Then Gale gets distracted by someone and I don’t remember how this all went down, but I remember taking (because I hate to use the word grab), Gale by his bicep (rock-hard bicep) to grab my chance. I wished him happy birthday. He said thank you. Then I mentioned how he was missed at the Showtime party.
Gale: Yeah. I’m sorry.
Me: No…please, you had to work.
He tipped his plastic cup to mine and said “cheers” and I toasted him back and said, “salud”.
Then I went in for the picture-kill. And I had to do it fast because I heard him mention to someone about going out to eat (“We can find an all night Dennys or something. Maybe find a piercing bodaga and get my” something, I think he said ear, “pierced”). Begged to get a picture. Kelly took it, like a saint that she is because I owed her a pic with Gale, since she reminded me how I wimped out on getting one of her w/ Randy at the Showtime party.
Me: But you guys took pictures with Matt Battaglia. I didn’t.
Kelly: No, I didn’t. I was with you looking for drinks.
Me: Oh…that’s right.
Well, I failed her again tonight, but being the scenester that she is, she got in on a picture that Gale was taking with someone else. It was hilarious!
We get our picture. Make our way to Peter, congratulate him on his movie. He thanked us and told us to tell our friends about it. Which I am, whenever “Say Uncle” comes out, see it. (Actually, Showtime picked it up, but they’re giving Peter time to get a distributor and get it out into the theaters before airing it. In a total aside, someone was asking him about the commentary of Em being a Queer Guy and Peter said that Queer Eye for the Straight Guy doesn’t bother him. He feels that if there wasn’t a QAF and other shows that showed another side of gay life, he’d probably feel differently about Queer Eye).
Shortly thereafter Kelly, Terri and Cameron had to get going. I thanked them (and I’m thanking them again, PROFUSELY) for the ticket.
When they left, I pestered gadsten again. Telling her how I got a pic of Gale. And that Michelle was there, but I didn’t recognize her because she had a weave and how as we were speaking, Scott was spanking Eddie on the ass ( I really wondered what was going on there), Gale was standing at the bar talking to Peter and Ron.
Me: I’m looking at his toes (dissolves into giggles)
gadsten: You’re drunk.
At this point, there were maybe only twenty/thirty people in the room. I was on the couch talking to gadsten when I saw a guy I knew, who was volunteering at Outfest and he asked me to come out to his table in the lobby and hang with him.
I went to the bar to throw my cup away and Gale and Peter were standing there, saying their goodbyes. And I noticed Gale’s ass for the first time. In the right pair of jeans, he actually has one.
They all hugged, kissed goodbye and Gale left the room, doing a silly little wave as he exited. So that was my cue to leave and meet up with my friend in the lobby. As I was talking to him, Gale, a guy and two ladies were trying to decide what to do.
Gale: I know you, and you’ll worry about how long you can stay out or where we’re going to go.
Then Scott came out and as they’re talking, Gale’s bouncing around like he can’t wait to be out in the streets. Gale and his crew gets into the elevator and Scott and another lady or standing in the lobby talking. And it was like Brian and Ted, because I hear Gale yell out “Scott!” and Scott starts to run for the elevator.
Me: Run, Scott!!
He steps back to see who’s talking to him and he waves to me and gets into the elevator.
Finally, the freakin’ end.
Seeing the actors together in support of one of their own was wonderful. No matter what ppl think about how QAF has ended its run, some people in the cast have found lifelong friends. They have been a part of something that made history, something that was actually IMPORTANT. The show has given them opportunities. Peter would never have had a chance to do something like this, if not for being on QAF.