Hudson,

I know what you’re thinking…

Beds with wheels down Warren Street?  Really, Trixie?

Well, it has happened in the past.  And, as a matter of fact, stranger, riskier events have happened!

In 2008, my friend and I kayaked out in the middle of the Hudson to take pictures of the Wacky Raft races!

Greene County, from Athens to somewhere and folks made their own rafts.  It doesn’t happen anymore…I don’t know HOW they got insurance for this event.

If you have not signed up for the Bed Races, then do it now!  www.HudsonBedRaces.com

Summer, now in its final weeks, ends like the Maraschino cherry at the bottom of a frozen pina colada. Skewer the cherry with a straw, pop in your mouth, one last burst of sweetness, and summer is over.

Wednesday night’s show in Provincetown was Ben DeLaCreme in “Cosmos”, which was not totally about the drink.    This was the FIRST time that  a drag queen  explained black hole theory to me, on stage.   Plenty of drag queens, off-stage, talk cosmology.  Wait, maybe that’s cosmetology.  Never mind.

Anyway, Ben DeLaCreme made the analogy of a black hole with an aging imploding star, like Norma Desmond. There was also an entire musical number about Uranus.  I’m sure that many of you sing about Uranus all the time.

Maybe if your high school science teacher was a drag queen you would have paid closer attention…

This was a much better show than “Illusions”, the night before.  Three drag queens lip-syncing and then running around the room collecting dollar bills.  One drag queen got straight to the point and just screamed “Give me your money!” directly to the unsuspecting straight people.

Standing over a timid straight woman and demanding “Give me your money!” was a little much, even for me.

I understand the suffering that drag queen performers may have had in their lives, and even as a sub-culture in our society, but demanding dollar bills from patrons, I don’t feel is a valid form of reparations, like forty wigs and a pair of mules? 

Basically, I go to Provincetown to scout out new talent to bring to Hudson, and then end up with Hedda Lettuce anyway…

Trixie,

It’s really nice that you post these events and all, but I like to PLAN things, so, it would be great if you could just lay it all out for me, and I could put it in my calendar.  Some of us like to be organized.

Thanks and kisses, love you, really, mean it.

— Type A Gay

Dear Type A,

Funny you should ask! I’ve just installed this nifty event calendar plug into this  blog, and now, you can see the gay-ish events of Hudson (et environs)!

But Trix, isn’t there Facebook for this?

True.

BUT, these events have been filtered by ME, so they are worth attending.  If you have an event that you would like me to post, then please email me at trixie@gayhudson.com

For instance, this Saturday, after the Farmer’s Market, there’s a James Baldwin movie playing at the newly-renovated Hudson Library.

This is what you do, you see that calendar over to the right, click on the 10th, and the James Baldwin event comes up, with all the information about it.

Go to October 23rd, and you’ll find the OutHudson Day on the Farm – down in Ancram, and family-friendly (unlike most other things I do).

GayHudson Event Calendar!

TA-DAH!

 

 

 

Trixie,

Brooklyn is so expensive, and I barely have any money to do anything anyway, could I really be happy in a small town in upstate New York?  BTW, I need constant gay activities and a scene, too.  Fresh air and a better quality of life is not convincing enough.

K? Thx.  Bye.

Dear Special K –

Yes, you can totally find happiness in a small gay-ish town in upstate New York.

I am typing this blog post from a coffee shop in Provincetown, but sure, yeah, there’s plenty of gay stuff to do in upstate New York.

I tell people that Hudson is a wonderful place to live, there are just TWO problems —  sex and money.  Figure those two out, and you’re fine.

Anyway, this past weekend shows that you can be anywhere on the homo-spectrum, and still find something gayish to do.

Musical theater queen?  Yes – see a MacHaydn show in Chatham.

Like them rough?  Go to the demolition derby at the Fair. Take cars and smash them up for sport.  Maybe not the same crowd as the theater queens from the theater down the road, but you know what?  Put an Ethel Merman or Liza impersonator in one of those demolition cars, and then, not only cars, but WORLDS collide!

Downtown cabaret life?  The Joseph Keckler show at the Ancram Opera House was really amazing!  They asked me to be the bus chaperone, I said, sure, why not?  I had no expectations.

I baked some cookies and brought them.  I handed them out to people on the bus, saying, “Take this cookie.  You never know when you’re going to eat again.”

“Trixie!! WHERE is this bus going??”

We went to a quaint theater out in Ancram, middle of the woods and farms.   Keckler is a young goth-ish gay guy singing in a beautiful operatic voice about doing a bad hit of mushrooms and inviting people “from the Internet” over to his house — all in Italian.  He is a MUST SEE.  He needs to visit Columbia County again.  When he does, you go.

If you don’t believe me, here’s his New York Times write up.  

(BTW, I may be one of the few people who did BOTH the demolition derby AND Joseph Keckler at the Ancram Opera House.  It would be a very small intersection in two Boolean circles.  If anyone else did both, let me know.)

Go to an AIDS-related Garden Party.  This event I did not attend, but kudos to those who helped and donated, including the Terenchin Gallery in Hudson.

To TOP and BOTTOM it all off, there was a PAJAMA PARTY at the Half Moon on Sunday.

Drag queens, cute guys and gals in pajamas, raising money to help pay the insurance costs so that we can put wheels on beds and then race them down the middle of the street!  You really have options when giving money up here…

Once again, an Ethel Merman or Liza impersonator on one of those beds – BOOM. DONE.  Sold.

www.HudsonBedRaces.com

Have I sold you on gay life in upstate New York yet?

No?

Fine,  I’m at Joe’s Coffee in Ptown if you need to reach me…(plus, it’s a tropical storm and everything is over half off…I have to go.)

k? Thx. Bye.

Love,

Trix

Dear Hudson,

I know.  Someone asked me this week on Warren Street –

“Trixie, I’m a self-proclaimed homosexual and I don’t know what to do in Columbia County this weekend.”

Le sigh.

How about a BBQ?

I have every evening already planned out for you this weekend.  Don’t worry.  Just listen to Trixie!

This weekend, Hudson – et environs – is the gayest place in the Hudson Valley!

(That’s because the BigGayHudsonValley boys are out of town, so, there’s not much comparison…)

Friday night, go to Chatham.  Get to the Fair, have something to eat.  A little fried dough won’t kill you.

Then, go see “The Addams Family” at the MacHaydn Theatre  – lots of twenty-somethings with lots of energy and a zest for life and theater!  Eat the fried dough, and drink in the energy of musical theater!  Stay for the coffee hour and have home-made pies.   Musical theater and home-made pies, what more do you want?

Saturday am – Farmer’s Market – Fresh, home-made COOKIES!  ….and I think that there’s some vegetables that some other people grow and sell there at the other tables.   I don’t know.  But, this is where you cruise and schmooze and can actually chat with people, in person.  Plus, there’s beer and bourbon samples….and vegetables…somewhere…

Saturday night, go to the Red Dot for dinner and then take the bus to Ancram at 7:45pm.    Here’s the deal, there’s a FABULOUSLY gay performer at the Ancram Opera House and the wonderful boys who run it….well, they know their market….so, they’re offering a bus with a drag queen, cookies and cocktails to take you to the show and back.  Drink all you want and stumble home!    The cookies are sweet, the cocktails strong, the drag queen…sour.

Here’s a sample of the performer singing something:

He’s gay and sings songs to help raise money for LGBT youth.  Sold.

Go, buy your ticket here:

http://www.ancramoperahouse.org/tickets

Use the code ‘trixie5’ and get $5 off!

If  you eat dinner at the Red Dot prior, then you get 10% off your entree!

(There’s SO MANY OFFERS for this evening out, it reads like a late night knife infomercial – AND WAIT….THERE’S STILL MORE!)

Bus leaves at 7:45 promptly-ish to get you to the show by 8:30 and it will return you back to the Red Dot after the show.  That service is better than some dates I’ve been on…

Sunday, go back to Fair, and then come out to the PAJAMA PARTY hosted by myself and Girgantua Jones with DJ ROBU.  Wear your pajamas and $5 at the door helps raise money for the bed races in September!  Half Moon.  10pm

…because getting insurance for an event where people put wheels on beds and push them down the street is NOT CHEAP – go figure, huh?

DJ ROBU tells me he sleeps naked, so that’s worth the price of admission right there.

 

And that’s it.

Monday, sleep it all off and Mary get yourself a Bloody Mary at the Dot.

Done.

Love ya,

Trix

They’re creepy and they’re kooky – and they’re in Chatham this week!

Go see “The Addams Family” starting August 25th

For tickets, visit:  www.machaydntheatre.org

RESERVE NOW – CLICK HERE

People come up to me on Warren Street and ask me this question all the time:

“Trixie, why isn’t there more musical theater in my life?”

I stop.  My jaw drops, I touch my pearls with one hand, and with the other, I softly caress their cheek with the back of my hand and gently whisper, “All you have to do is drive to Chatham.”

It’s a clear and simple solution to a very common problem.

The lack of musical theater in people’s lives in Hudson leads to all sorts of grumblings, whining, ennui,  and just general malcontentiousness.

Just read through one of those Facebook community board posts and  you’ll see what I’m talking about!

Get out from behind the computer, see a show, and let Bob Fosse do the rest.

Your problems may not be solved, but maybe you’ll have a different perspective on life and be happy you’re not in a woman’s prison.

Anyway, I interviewed three of the most adorable cast members of Chicago, and it looks like a great show.  Go to Chatham!