SUNDAY'S MESS-AGE

SMOKEY THE BEAR

Smokey was "born" on this day in 1928.

LA LUPE

Once dubbed "The Queen Of Latin Soul", Cuban born La Lupe passed away from a heart attack on this day in 1992 at the age of 53. While she faded into near obscurity, she enjoyed a musical resurgence in 1988 when Pedro Almodovar used "Puro Teatro" as the opening song for his film "Women On The Verge Of A Nervous Breakdown."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjDF9ZcdhBU

TEA FOR TWO, AND TWO FOR TEA!

We've been reading quite a bit about tea parties springing up around the nation. Mess simply wants to say how excited we are about the return of such a wonderful ritual. We know that the homosexuals have been going to "tea rooms" and attending "tea dance" for decades, so it's just super that the general population is catching on. We've been hearing the phrase "tea bagger" lately as well but we'll have to do some research. Bring on the watercress sandwiches!

LIZ TAYLOR

Liz Taylor turns 78 today. She has broken her back five times, had both her hips replaced, survived a benign brain tumor operation, skin cancer, and has faced life-threatening bouts with pneumonia twice. Throw in seven marriages and a battle with alcoholism, and you will see why Mess stands in awe of her survival skills. We're also grateful she blew a giant hole in the Reagan administration era AIDS wall of denial by getting her pal Rock Hudson's back. She's been supporting the cause ever since.

OTIS CHANDLER

Otis “was a character right out of an Ernest Hemingway story, with his hunting, and his surfing, and his car collecting,” says filmmaker Peter Jones. He was a man of extremes, and he set his goals on transforming the Times from a conservative rag into a first-class paper. In 1958 Time magazine ranked the LA Times as the third worst newspaper in the country; by 1964 it was in the top ten. Under Otis, the Times earned ten Pulitzer Prizes. Despite the paper’s success, there was a dark cloud looming over the golden boy’s head—the entrenched and disapproving family board made up of the rest of the Chandlers. He ridiculed them as “self-indulgent coupon clippers waiting for their next dividend check.” Otis Chandler died on this day in 2006 at the age of 78.

A WEEKEND SUGGESTION FROM MESS

We absolutely love them. Serve with an ice cold Lone Star. Your family will thank you!

PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGIES

Oh hell, Mess didn't DO anything that needs apologizing. It's just that it seems as if every damn day that goes by, somebody in the news is apologizing. It's getting pretty damn pathetic and boring, people. And, by the way, if you have to read it from a prepared speech, it ain't for real. Sorry for cheating on you. Sorry for stealing your life's savings. Sorry for using the N word. Sorry for using the F word. Sorry for selling you a car with a defective gas pedal. Sorry for misappropriating your tax money. Sorry our police officers are stalking their ex-wives, driving while drunk, raping transgenders and raiding the wrong houses. Sorry for blowing up your country. Sorry for misrepresenting your tribal garb in our skating routine. Sorry for wearing a dead animal in my skating routine. Did I say sorry for cheating on you?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9ZeLzdhUK0

JOHNNY, ARE YOU WEIR?

Mess finds Olympics boring, especially these winter festivals. That said, there have been two shining stars to emerge - Joannie Rochette for her stunning performance only hours after learning of her mother's death, and the post-gay, dead animal wearing child known as Johnny Weir. Weir turned out to be the Adam Lambert of the Olympics, and Mess loves his chutzpah (that's GANAS in Yiddish, y'all). After being dissed by judges, belittled by commentators, and threatened by PETA, Weir stood strong. Go on with your freaky self, Johhny.

MICHAEL BOLTON

This big white chocolate mess turns 57 today. He is a constant reminder to me that Jews have soul too, and there will come a time in every man's life when long hair just stops working. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ch7txUjCmiA

GIUSEPPE "NUCCIO" BERTONE

The Automobile Hall Of Fame inductee passed away on this day in 1997 at the age of 85.

VERONICA WEBB

Model, actress and writer Veronica Webb was born on this day in 1965. Webb was the first black woman to have a major cosmetics contract.

TENNESSEE WILLIAMS

The playwright passed away on this day in 1983 at the age of 71 from "acute seconal intolerance".

A BIG BUMMER FOR HUMMER

NEW YORK (AP) -- Hummer, the off-road vehicle that once symbolized America's love for hulking SUVs, faces a shutdown after its sale to a Chinese heavy equipment maker collapsed. Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machines Co. said Wednesday it pulled out of the deal to buy the company from General Motors Co. Tengzhong failed to get clearance from Chinese regulators within the proposed timeframe for the sale, the Chinese manufacturer said. GM said it will continue to honor existing Hummer warranties.

SURREAL ESTATE: GEORGIAN ON MY MIND

Up in the Dominion you don't often see architectural nods to an earlier age, so this 4 bedroom, 4 bath 5030 square foot beauty on half an acre stands out. Created by local "builder to the stars" Roberto Kenigstein in 2000, this one is listed at $950K. Full information:
http://kuperrealty.com/Listings/0/97945/TX/San-Antonio/6-Duxbury-Park.aspx

EDWARD JAMES OLMOS

The actor/director turns 63 today.

HENNY YOUNGMAN

The Liverpool, England born comic died at 91 on this day in 1998.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7ZBpUdRHdM

IS IDIOCY CONTAGIOUS?

Yesterday Mess was wondering if the Post Office was open since it was Washington's birthday.
So we sat down at our com-pooter and began to google, beginning with "Is". Here's what automatically came up. Mess has to wonder what the world is coming to, at least on an intellectual level.
1. Is
2. Is Lady Gaga a man
3. Is Lady Gaga a hermaphrodite
4. Is the world going to end in 2012
5. Is Santa real
6. Is bronchitis contagious
7. Is Khloe Kardashian pregnant
8. Is pnuemonia contagious
9. Is Walmart open on Christmas
10. Is limewire illegal
11. Is Wendy Williams a man

W E B DU BOIS

The civil rights activist, sociologist, historian, author and one of the founders of The NAACP was born on this day in Massachusetts in 1868. Du Bois passed on in Ghana at the age of 95.

OFRA HAZA

One of Isreal's most popular singers, Ofra Haza passed away from AIDS related complications on this day in 200o at the age of 42.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5px-ppcQDps

NINA SIMONE

The singer/songwriter/civil rights activist was born Eunice Kathleen Waymon on this day in 1933 in North Carolina. Notoriously "difficult" during her long career, it was revealed after her death in France in 2003 that Simone had battled bipolar disorder her entire life. Here is one of her last performances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2zac8TaRl4

FERRUCCI LAMBORGHINI

The son of grape farmers began his career manufacturing tractors. In 1963 he began producing automobiles. Lamborghini passed away on this day in 1993 at the age of 76.

SUNDAY'S MESS-AGE

LOCAL GAY WEBSITE REFUSES MESS'S MONEY

Many of you faithful readers are aware that Q San Antonio has been dissing Mess since March 2009, recently refusing our e-mails. So we decided to use our other e-dress to inquire about advertising rates. YES WE WERE WILLING TO PAY. But guess what, Sam Sanchez, publisher of Q, refused our second e-dress after we revealed our identity. Imagine the hatred he has for us when we have never met or spoke. THIS IS YOUR LOCAL GAY COMMUNITY HATING ON THEIR OWN. Just to show you who the BIGGER man is, Mess is still leaving that free link to Q San Antonio up on this blog. That will make up for Mess calling him a "fag bitch" in the final e-mail sent from Mess's third and last e-dress. Now I must go and send this to all Texas media outlets.

CULTURAL WEALTH, EASY GOOD TIMES, ZERO PRETENSION

That's what Shermans Travel Magazine thought of San Antone in their latest issue. But we all love this town after knocking back a few Lone Stars at La Tuna, shown above and mentioned in the story. http://www.shermanstravel.com/magazine/

MISS NANCY WILSON

The sultry singer and civil rights activist with over 70 albums and three Grammy Awards turns 72 today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HaNukIE5ToU

HUNTER S. THOMPSON

The father of Gonzo Journalism and author of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas killed himself on this day in 2005. He was 67.

THIS IS A SONG FOR SORRY ASS TIGER

and for all the rest of the lying, cheating, running off at the mouth fools that have been shedding their crocodile tears in public lately. Give it a damn rest.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3UjJ4wKLkg

CHARLYE FARRIS HAS PASSED ON

The first black woman to earn a license to practice law in Texas has died. Charlye Farris died Thursday in Wichita Falls of cancer at age 80. Wichita County District Attorney Barry Macha, a friend, says Farris died at 5:15 p.m. Thursday with her son, Troy, at bedside. Macha tells the Wichita Falls Times Record News that Farris left Wichita Falls and Texas to attend law school in Denver because of her race. She returned to Wichita Falls, earned her law license in 1953 and became the first woman of any race to practice law in Wichita County. In 1954, she became a county judge pro tem, the first black woman to serve in a judicial position in the South since Reconstruction.

PRISCILLA DAVIS

The ex-wife of Texas oil heir T. Cullen Davis died on this day in 2001 from breast cancer. She was 59 and had survived an attempt on her life allegedly orchestrated by her ex-husband in which her daughter and boyfriend were murdered. The scandal was the subject of the television movie "Texas Justice". http://www.dallasobserver.com/2001-03-01/news/the-lady-vanishes/

AMY TAN

The multiple award winning author of "The Joy Luck Club" turns 52 today. Check out her once a year gig as a rock star:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=421SwDZg97U

TEXAS AIN'T SO HAPPY ANYMORE

According to a poll done by people with way too much time and money on their hands, Texas ranks 24th out of the 50 states for "happiness". First is Hawaii, and last is West Virginia.

TONI MORRISON

The Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winning author was born on this day in 1931.

JOHNNY PAYCHECK

The country crooner best known for his hit "Take This Job and Shove It" died on this day in 2003 at the age of 64. His life was the stuff heart wrenching country ballads are made of: a prison term, drug and alcohol addiction, bankruptcy, and ill health plagued that him until the bitter end.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6IqfcHPiLU

THAT'S SENOR EDUARDO TO YOU, DUDE

A horse is a horse, of course, of course, unless he's a caballo. Get your vaquero on at Museo Alameda's new show, Arte En La Charreria : The Artisanship of Mexican Equestrian Culture.
http://www.thealameda.org/

JIM BROWN

Happy 73rd birthday to NFL Hall of Famer and action movie hero Jim Brown, shown here with co-star Raquel Welch in the 1969 "100 Rifles", which scandalized the nation with an interracial love scene.

RANDY SHILTS

The first openly gay reporter to cover a gay beat for a major American mainstream paper (The San Francisco Chronicle) and author of "And The Band Played On" died of AIDS related complications on this day in 1994. He was 42.

ICE T

Happy 52nd birthday to Tracy Marrow, aka Ice T.

KEITH HARING

The artist passed away on this day in 1990 from AIDS related complications at the age of 31.

SURREAL ESTATE: ATLEE AYERS SUPERSIZED

Here's a 1930 Atlee Ayers designed mansion on the market in Terrell Hills for $4,200,000.
The 7544 square foot home features 5 bedrooms, 6 full and 2 half baths, a swimming pool, a 3 car garage and a guest house, all on 2 delicious acres. Full listing information :
http://www.jasonglast.com/701-Grandview-Place-a144298.html

GLORIA TREVI

Gloria de los Angeles Trevino Ruiz was born on this day in 1968 in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, Mexico. She's sold over 12 million records worldwide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT_ugstrqAk

ETHEL MERMAN

Ethel Merman passed away in her sleep at the age of 76 on this day in 1984.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icr71H1nb3Q

VALENTINES DAY

Check out a real hunk of white chocolate http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGhHfPoY-h8

SUNDAY'S MESS-AGE

FANNY FOX

The Tidal Basin Bombshell, born Annabella Batistella in Argentina on this day in 1936, achieved the honor of making the Bloomberg News Top Ten Sex Scandal list for her 1974 affair with Arkansas Congressman Wilbur Mills.

DOLLY

The world's first cloned animal died of lung disease on this day in 2003. Dolly was 6 years old.

ZENG JINLIAN

The world's tallest woman (8 feet, 1.75 inches) died on this day in 1982 in Hunan, China. She was 17.

KIM NOVAK

Actress Kim Novak was born on this day in 1933 in Chicago. Best known for her work in Hitchcock's Vertigo, Novak retired from movies in 1991. She lives in Oregon on a ranch with her veterinarian husband.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p8SpTfVKpc

CHRISTINA RICCI

She's creepy and she's spooky, mysterious and kooky, she makes me kinda eeetchy, happy bday Christina Ricci! It's her big 30 today.