Location: Chicago & Memphis… in that order of course.

Look! It’s me, or rather my reflection in the gelatinous orb (aka, ‘Cloud Gate’ by sculptor Anish Kapoor) that is central to Chicago’s new Millenium Park, formerly Grant Park and an awesome new location to the already artful landscape that is the Windy City. I really loved getting to see it and think it only solidifies Chicago as THE city for public art.

I can’t forget to mention Frank Gehry’s jaw-dropping new symphony shell. Here’s a pic:

Stunning, no? In the tradition of LA’s Disney Orchestra Hall and various Guggenheim museums around the world, this new shell in Millenium Park was done in a satin stainless steel look. While beautiful, i did wonder how such material will hold up against a Windy City winter. I did notice while i was there that they had a whole cleaning crew out to ‘de-smudge’ the place of people’s greasy handprints that seem to show so vividly on the steel. What a tough job that must be… Argh.

Here’s another look at ‘Cloud Gate,’ which is really stunning when seen against the old cityscape of Chicago. A contrast of artistic styles perhaps? You betcha:

For more info on this piece of art, click HERE.

Other than a bit of architectual delight, i also got to catch the current equity national tour of Evita at the Auditorium Theatre. It’s tough show to sing if you’re Eva and the first act definitely trumped the second, both in quality and quantity. Kathy Voytko (as ‘Eva’) didn’t have the dramatic or vocal chops for the role, but the supporting cast made up for things quite nicely. While i wouldn’t say it was a disaster of a show, i also wouldn’t recommend going out and spending $80-100 a ticket if it’s in your area anytime soon.

I’m also kinda psyched because the national tour of Hairspray is playing San Antonio this coming week and i’ve got tix to catch it. I rarely am around to see SA’s Broadway Series, so it’ll definitely be a treat to see how the tour compares with the original broadway cast. Anyone seen the tour lately with John Pinett as Edna? EMAIL me and lemme know if he’s any good 🙂

Toddlin’ around Chicago also brought some comfort-food meals at Nookie Tree in Boystown, a trip (as always) to SteamWorks, which seemed a bit quiet for the Tuesday night i was around, and a very guilty pleasure evening at Uno’s Pizza: The originator of the deep-dish pizza and IMO, the BEST out there. It’s unreal how good it is. It’s like an orgasm with a crust.

… and with that, here’s a random image from my recent trip to Italy. I particularily liked this one for some odd reason:

If i’m not mistaken, this was taken on the SR2 in Tuscany, not too far from San Gimignano. While i’m not sure what the sign says, i like the contrast of the slightly out-of-focus background with the very Italian sign front & center. Tuscany is beautiful…

Another shot of Italy, this time from Rome (‘Where the heck is Caesar’s Palace?’), proves that no matter how big a rockstar you might think you are, you’re nothing like the Pope at gathering a crowd of gawkers:

That brings me to 20 hours in Memphis and then back to San Antonio. Memphis has always been a city i’ve been familiar with, but this time i did get to see a couple of new things and see different parts of Mempho never seen before. Caught some grub at ‘The Beauty Shop,’ which seems to be a very hip & kitsch place to frequent. It’s a converted old beauty parlor who’s claim-to-fame is giving Priscilla Presley her very first Beehive hairdo. In any event, the food was good and the service excellent. I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who’s in the mood for a little ’50s pinasche mixed with solid menu & waitstaff.

HE BANGS, HE BANGS? 15 Minutes recently recieved an email from one who claimed to be this latin heartthrob’s ex-boyfriend. Surely the which-side-of-the-fence rumors have swirled about the one who’s determined to ‘shake his bon-bon,’ but also attached to the email was photographic evidence. Who knows what this really means, but 15 Minutes was told that it was a snapshot of a boyfriendly breakfast in bed. You can be the judge, but Benjamin’s not too sure at this point what’s the total truth:

QUITE ‘FRIEND’LY ON THE STREET: Last week’s item about that certain spinoff star and his prostitution press-conference seemed to spark an avalanche of tipsters emailing into 15 Minutes. The LA courtrooms might soon be ablaze with a lawsuit against this must-see-TV actor who’s being sued by his driver that claimed he was ‘seriously disturbed’ when asked to drive around Hollywood and help pick up young men on the street.

Guilty Pleasure Movie of the Week: The 1995 classic, critically dubbed ‘All About Eve… in a G-string,’ Showgirls VIP Edition (DVD). Not only is this a campy look at Sin City, but it’s possibly one of the most unintentionally funny movies in the history of film. It surpasses decent, goes way beyond bad and actually has the balls to circle back to good again, as long as you don’t take it as a drama or stare too hard at Gina Gershon’s nipples. I’m also not a fan of the ‘Elizabeth Berkley-licking-the-stripper-pole’ scene, but i’m sure they had grip nearby with some Purell hand/pole sanitizer. If you haven’t seen it, it’s a definite thumbs-up from this movie buff.

Yea, i know i said i was going to vary things up a little, but a blog without eye candy is about as understandable as Sinead O’ Connor with a hair dryer. Here’s this week’s group:

Two frat-like guys jerking off together. How hot is that? Yea, so they’re not little sinewy-muscled twinks, but what they do have that’s appealing is masculinity. YEEHAW!

Okay, back to the thinly muscled twinks… lol. This kid is pretty hot, but the look on his face is what makes this eye candy.

Fans of ‘Hunter’ from ManHunt on Bravo rejoice! I’ve found some of his early modeling bod shots and from the looks of things, he’s always had a nice little package going. A big thanks to Filth2Go’s Billy Masters for recently uncovering Hunter’s fibbing about ‘never meeting a gay person’ on the show and revealing images of him grinding his mojo at a gay bar in Arkansas.

… There’s just something about a guy with those cut lines from his hips going downward.

Again, more evidence that i’ll probably become a chickenhawk in my ’50s and ’60s…

Yeowza, and quite nice i might add.

Yup, this one moves. Thank God for GIF’s.

Last, but surely not lesbian, a couples pic and some always hot uncut penis. Enjoy 🙂

BREAKING NEWS: For those of you who remember gay adult film star Johnny Rham who shot to porno fame for 1995’s ‘All About Steve,’ he most recently was found dead hanging in the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. 15 Minutes wishes his family and close friends the very best during this extremely difficult time…

As promised, here’s a preview of my current state-of-haircut:

Wild MoHawk, eh? I’m digging the color and have been told (by many MANY strangers) that it’s a good look on me and is, to quote some random girl in the airport, hot. lol. I suppose that only time will tell and thankfully, nothing is ever too permanent with hair.

Looks like it’s time to end another 15 Minutes kiddos… A big thanks to everyone for emailing in, keeping up and letting me know what’s cooking. I love getting the E’s! Another big thanks to HooBoy and his site for keeping me up and about as their columnist and big kudos to JuicyGoo.com for their support as well. Happy upcoming Turkey Day and here’s hoping all of you get stuffed in more ways that one…

*wink*

BN