What to do this weekend

Posted on April 21, 2022 | Leave a comment

Below is a list of what is happening in Boston. Support these gay bars and businesses. If you have an event you want included, email bosguymail@gmail.com.

Boston Gay Bars

The Alley
THURSDAY: Special PAX East Trivia Night @8PM
FRIDAY: RPDR Finale viewing party @8PM & DJ Begbick @10PM
SATURDAY: PAX East closing party: Drag Show followed by music by DJ Scott Helms @8PM
SUNDAY: Bearaoke Night @8PM

blend
FRIDAY: RPDR viewing party w/ Harlow Havoc @8PM & Friday Feels w/ Twisted Gleam @10PM
SATURDAY: DJ Begbick @10PM
SUNDAY: Disco Brunch 11AM

Cathedral Station
THURSDAY: Red Sox play Blue Jays @1:30PM | Bruins play Penguins @7PM
FRIDAY: Red Sox play Rays @7PM
SATURDAY: Bruins play Rangers @3PM | Red Sox play Rays @6PM | Celtics play Nets @7:30PM
SUNDAY: Brunch starts @11AM | Red Sox play Rays @1PM | Bruins play Canadiens @7PM

Club Cafe
THURSDAY: TRL w/ DJ Begbick & host Mizery @10PM
FRIDAY: RPDR viewing party @8PM & DJ Stevie Psyclone @10PM
SATURDAY: DJ Brian Derrick @10PM
SUNDAY: Sunday brunch @11AM & Tea w/ DJ Aga @6PM

dbar
FRIDAY: Karaoke w/ VJ Ryan Grow @10PM
SATURDAY: Slay Saturday Obsession a Fetish w/ DJ Jay Ine @10PM
SUNDAY: Brunch @11AM & Tea Dance w/ DJ Joe Bermudez @4PM

Jacques Cabaret – Call 617-426-8902 to reserve seats to shows
THURSDAY: Now That’s What I Call A Drag Show! hosted by Amanda Playwith & Crystal Crawford @8PM
FRIDAY: RPDR viewing party @8PM & Drag Me To The Main Stage hosted by Destiny
SATURDAY: Drag Me To The Main Stage Hosted by DeeDee de Ray 
SUNDAY: Sunday Fun Day – Open Mic night w/ Mitzzy @7PM

Legacy & Candibar (Gay Mafia Boston)
THURSDAY: Serve Thursdays w/ host Violencia & DJ Coleslaw @10PM
FRIDAY: Bussdown Friday w/ DJ Frenchy @10PM
SATURDAY: Furball Glow Underwear Dance Party w/ DJ Isis Muritech @10PM
SUNDAY: Hot Mess Sundays at Candibar @10PM

Trophy Room
THURSDAY: Red Sox play Blue Jays @1:30PM | Bruins play Penguins @7PM
FRIDAY: Red Sox play Rays @7PM
SATURDAY: Bruins play Rangers @3PM | Red Sox play Rays @6PM | Celtics play Nets @7:30PM
SUNDAY: Brunch starts @12PM | Red Sox play Rays @1PM | Bruins play Canadiens @7PM

LGBTQ+ Programming / Events

THURSDAY: Drag Bingo w/ The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence at Aeronaut Cannery @6PM

THURSDAY: Wicked Queer & Bright Lights show Flee with Professor Yassir Munif @7PM

THURSDAY: PAX East GAYmer Trivia & Social at The Alley @8PM

THURSDAY: Viva Selena! Drag Show at Club Cafe @8PM

THURSDAY: Queeraoke at Midway Cafe @10PM

SATURDAY: PAX East GAYmer After Party at The Alley @8PM

SATURDAY: Catalog – Rihanna w/ host Kandi Dishe at Jacques Underground @8:30PM

SATURDAY: Boom Saturday Latin Night returns to the Volcano room @9PM

SATURDAY: Pity Party, Queer EMO Night at Union Tavern @9PM

SUNDAY: Leather Penitence leather / fetish attire is strongly encouraged doors open @9PM at Phoenix Landing

DRAG BRUNCHES IN BOSTON

Some drag brunches require tickets purchased ahead of time. Click the event links shared below for ticketing and reservation information.

Dragtacular Brunch
Saturday @12PM
Laugh Boston

Brunch For Your Life w/ Men of Melanin Magic
Saturday @12PM
Harp & Bard

Illusions The Drag Brunch Boston
Saturday & Sunday shows @1:30PM
Hosted upstairs at Hennessey’s

Brunch of Queens
Sunday @11AM
Bell in Hand Tavern

Drag Me To Brunch
Sunday @2PM
Carrie Nation Cocktail Club

And finally… another resource for what is happening at Boston gay bars is KikiPedia.

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Vintage gay

Posted on April 21, 2022 | 3 comments

Ray Struble (left) and Brian McNaught (right) are Catholic midwesterners who first met in Boston and started dating in 1976. The two were active members of the national gay Catholic group, Dignity, where Brian served as the organization’s social director. Brian has gone on to write twelve books on diversity training and LGBTQ+ issues.

I dedicate this weekly post, featuring vintage gay photographs, to the men and women who lived in a more critical time where being true to yourself and loving who you want wasn’t always an option and came at a great price. Do you have a photo you would like to share? Email me at bosguymail@gmail.com.

Previous Vintage Gay Photos

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SOLD! Giacomo’s South End

Posted on April 20, 2022 | 3 comments

After 27 years in business, Jackie Taglieri has sold Giacomo’s South End. The neighborhood restaurant, which has other locations (notably the original in Boston’s North End), has a reputation for making consistently delicious Italian-American cuisine.

While it can be sad to see a much loved restaurant change hands, that isn’t the case here. The new owners (Irakli Gogitidze, George Axiotis, and Jesus Preciado) are familiar with the South End, and are the team behind the much loved Kava Neo Taverna and Ilona.

When I spoke to Irakli about the change in ownership, he was candid about how much the team respects Taglieri and their commitment to the restaurant and its patrons. Later this year they plan to make some much needed renovations and to rebrand the restaurant as Casa Giacomo’s to pay homage to its past while helping to distinguish it from the other Giacomo’s locations, which are under different ownership. 

I’m very excited to see some much needed investment in this space and look forward to what this creative team will do. If you haven’t been to Giacomo’s South End in a while, perhaps it is time to make plans and check out the restaurant.

I want to wish Irakli, George, and Jesus much luck and success with their new restaurant as they help breathe new life into this neighborhood gem.

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Caption this photo

Posted on April 20, 2022 | 8 comments

Hopefully the caption I’ve shared below inspires you to offer up one or two of your own. Leave a funny caption in the comment section, and I’ll approve it for readers to enjoy.

“I’m standing right here!”

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Book review: Beneath A Scarlet Sky

Posted on April 19, 2022 | Leave a comment

Beneath A Scarlet Sky is an historical fiction novel about a young man named Pino Lella from Milan who is the Italian WWII hero nobody has ever heard about, until now. The 400+ page novel opens on June 9, 1943 and concludes two years later in the Spring of 1945 when the Germans are forced out of Italy by the Allied Forces.

At the outbreak of WWII, Pino Lella is a teenager from a well to do family who is far more interested in girls and American jazz than war. However, that would all change as the frontline of the war came to Italy and Nazi Germany made a last ditch effort to stave off the Allies on Italian soil.

Before the war would conclude, Pino would end up sneaking groups of Italian Jews out of the country through the Alps and into neutral Switzerland, fall madly in love with the maid of Third Reich mistress and suffer unspeakable heartbreak, meet powerful Italians including Benito Mussolini and Archbishop Schuster of Milan as well as become the chauffer for General Leyer (Adolf Hitler’s right hand in Italy). Pino would go on to risk his life by spying on General Leyer for the Italian Resistance and Allied Forces (unbenknowst to all but his aunt and uncle), which earned him the scorn of his younger brother and friends and nearly cost him his life in the days that followed the Nazi’s hasty retreat from Milan.

It is amazing to think that until this novel was written, Pino Lella’s extraordinary life as a war hero was unknown. In the final pages of the book the author, Mark Sullivan shares with us Pino’s life after the war and we learn that although he survived the war and became a successful businessman, he never truly recovered from all he had seen and the loss of his true love.

If you’re interested in purchasing this book and open to supporting local bookstores, try one of the links I’ve shared. The links below will take you right to the book so you can order it online in just a couple of clicks. Alternatively, you can check your local library for a copy of this book. Here is a link to the BPL copy for Beneath A Scarlet Sky.

Brookline Booksmith in Coolidge Corner
Harvard Bookstore in Harvard Square
Porter Square Bookstore in Porter Square
Trident Bookseller’s & Cafe in Back Bay

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Temptation Tuesday

Posted on April 19, 2022 | 5 comments

I’ve never been one for headless photos but there is something about this picture that is incredibly distracting. I can’t quite put my finger on it – but I’d like to. 😈 

Past Temptation Tuesday Posts

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Men in kilts

Posted on April 18, 2022 | Leave a comment

Previous Men in Kilts Posts

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Monday morning mancandy

Posted on April 18, 2022 | 5 comments

May this photo of the handsome Nicholas Gala distract you from the fact that it is Monday morning.

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Boston neighborhoods

Posted on April 17, 2022 | Leave a comment

Boston is comprised of 23 neighborhoods. Many of the downtown neighborhoods span less than a square mile, but they are full of interesting sites and places of interest. To that end, this month I selected four downtown neighborhoods and shared my thoughts about what make them worth visiting.

South End

I started this series with the neighborhood I know best, the South End. I’ve lived here for nearly twenty years now but have been visiting since I moved back to Boston in the late 1990s.

The South End is incredibly charming. Built on landfill in the mid-19th century as a residential district for Boston’s growing upper middle-class, hundreds of Victorian Bow Fronts were built and today it’s the largest enclave of urban Victorian residential architecture in the country. The picturesque neighborhood is full of parks, unique shops and restaurants and cafes. While only a few gay bars remain in the South End, this was an enclave for Boston’s LGBTQ+ community from the 1970s – 2000s. While most of the businesses that catered to the gay community have closed or moved online, it’s where many in Boston’s gay community come out for dinner or to meet up with friends for drinks. Read my full profile of the South End here.

Back Bay

I moved into the Back Bay in the late 1990s after living in Atlanta for a few years. I thought I’d live in my apartment on Commonwealth Avenue for a year maybe two but ultimately, I stayed in the Back Bay for six years. I still consider it a homebase and love this neighborhood for all that it has to offer.

If you’ve visited Boston, you’ve probably spent time in the Back Bay. It is a centrally located, afluent neighborhood with some of Boston’s most iconic buildings, busiest streets, best restaurants, bars and shops. It is chock-full of office buildings, hotels, retailers, restaurants and of course residents. Tourists will love the parks (my favorite is The Esplanade) that run through this neighborhood, but Back Bay also has amazing architecture ranging from the modern I.M. Pei design of The Hancock Tower built in the 1970s to the beautiful McKim Building of the Boston Public Library and its hidden Italianate Courtyard that dates back to the late 1800s. In addition, this neighborhood has no shortage of restaurants, bars and shopping so there is plenty to see and do when here. Read my full profile of the Back Bay here.

christopher sherman

Beacon Hill

I never lived in Beacon Hill but one of my best friends went to Suffolk University which is located here. I also spent many hours at bars in this neighborhood in my late 20s and early 30s.

Beacon Hill is a popular destination for visitors due to its many historical sites, with some dating back to the 1600s. While this neighborhood is less than a square quarter mile in size it contains a lot to see and enjoy with its pretty as a postcard streets to its many Freedom Trail sites of interest to great restaurants and good pubs. While the neighborhood’s stodgy image is well deserved there is still plenty of fun to be had here and my favorite time of year to visit is in the summer when you can sit outside and enjoy the people watching along Charles Street. For more information about this historic and interesting neighborhood, read my full profile of Beacon Hill here.

North End

The North End is where my maternal grandmother grew up as a kid. My brother briefly lived here and at the moment one of my cousins call the North End home. While I’ve never lived here, it is this familial connection to this tiny neighborhood that makes me feel connected to it.

The North End is charming unless you’re driving then it is a nightmare. The neighborhood is comprised of a maze of narrow, meandering streets that are chock-full of Italian restaurants, bakeries and cafes. The tiny neighborhood is hemmed in between Boston’s inner harbor to the North and East and The Rose Kennedy Greenway (a.k.a. The Greenway) to the West and South. This neighborhood is for those who love American History (esp. American Revolution) and for those who love food. For more information about Boston’s “Little Italy”, read my full profile of the North End here.

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Scruffy Sunday

Posted on April 17, 2022 | Leave a comment

Looks like these two are ready to start their morning. Have a great day.

Previous Scruffy Sunday Posts

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Saturday morning coffee

Posted on April 16, 2022 | 1 comment

I first shared a photo of Felipe back in late January, but when I saw how he likes to take his coffee, I thought I’d share this photo for a Saturday morning coffee post.

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Saturday morning comics

Posted on April 16, 2022 | 2 comments

ADAM & ANDY is set in the fictional New England town of Woodfield, CT. You can learn more about Adam and Andy and purchase a copy of “the definitive collection of Adam and Andy” by visiting, adamandandy.com.

While we wait for new material from James, I thought I’d share this throwback, initially published back in February 2001. Andy was far more frisky then.

Click on this week’s comic strip to enlarge

Click here if you would like to see the previous Adam & Andy

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Furry Friday

Posted on April 15, 2022 | 2 comments

Past Furry Friday

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BosGuy brain teaser

Posted on April 15, 2022 | 15 comments

riddle, exercise for your brain

Each Friday, I post a riddle to get you to think outside the box and exercise your brain. If you are stumped, share it with a friend or colleague and see if you can figure out the answer together.

Leave your answer in the comment section. I’ll approve responses later in the day to give people a chance to respond without seeing any spoilers.

This week’s brain teaser is one-part riddle and one-part joke for Easter weekend.

This week’s brain teaser:  Why shouldn’t you tell an Easter egg a joke?

Like riddles? Check out past week’s brain teasers.

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What to do this weekend

Posted on April 14, 2022 | Leave a comment

Below is a list of what is happening in Boston. Support these gay bars and businesses. If you have an event you want included, email bosguymail@gmail.com.

Boston Gay Bars

The Alley
THURSDAY: Trivia Night @8PM
FRIDAY: RPDR viewing party @8PM & DJ Begbick @10PM
SATURDAY: Wicked Pah – Puppy Group 7-10PM & DJ Brian Derrick @10PM
SUNDAY: Bearaoke Night @8PM

blend
THURSDAY: Pride Sports jersey party @8PM
FRIDAY: RPDR viewing party w/ Harlow Havoc @8PM & DJ Brian Derrick @10PM
SATURDAY: DJ Aga @10PM
SUNDAY: Mizery Loves Company Drag Brunch 12PM & EqualiTEA Dance w music by Twisted Gleam @4PM

Cathedral Station
THURSDAY: Bruins host Senators @7PM
FRIDAY: Red Sox host Twins @2PM
SATURDAY: Bruins host Penguins @12:30PM & Red Sox host Twins @4PM
SUNDAY: Brunch starts @11AM & Red Sox host Twins @1:30PM
MONDAY: Brunch starts @11AM, Boston Marathon & Red Sox game broadcast

Club Cafe
THURSDAY: TRL w/ DJ Begbick & host Mizery @10PM
FRIDAY: RPDR viewing party @8PM & DJ Stevie Psyclone @10PM
SATURDAY: DJ Begbick @10PM
SUNDAY: Sunday brunch @11AM & Neon vs. Pastel Bear Tea w/ DJ Aga @6PM

dbar
FRIDAY: Diva-themed karaoke w/ VJ Ryan Grow @10PM
SATURDAY: DJ Brian Halligan @10PM
SUNDAY: Brunch @11AM & Down the Rabbit Hole Tea Dance w/ DJ Joe Bermudez @4PM

Jacques Cabaret – Call 617-426-8902 to reserve seats to shows
THURSDAY: Now That’s What I Call A Drag Show! hosted by Amanda Playwith & Crystal Crawford @8PM
FRIDAY: RPDR viewing party @8PM & Drag Me To The Main Stage hosted by Destiny
SATURDAY: Drag Me To The Main Stage Hosted by DeeDee de Ray 
SUNDAY: Sunday Fun Day – Open Mic night w/ Mitzzy @7PM

Legacy & Candibar (Gay Mafia Boston)
THURSDAY: Serve Thursdays w/ host Violencia & DJ Coleslaw @10PM
FRIDAY: Bussdown Friday w/ DJ Frenchy @10PM
SATURDAY: DJ Abel @10PM
SUNDAY: Hot Mess Sundays at Candibar @10PM

Trophy Room
THURSDAY: Bruins host Senators @7PM
FRIDAY: RPDR viewing party
SATURDAY: Bruins host Penguins @12:30PM & Red Sox host Twins @4PM
SUNDAY: Brunch starts @12PM & Red Sox host Twins @1:30PM

LGBTQ+ nights & events

THURSDAY: Boston’s Wicked Queer Film Festival runs through April 17th

THURSDAY: BIPOC Queer Mixer hosted by Dillyonce at Boston Harbor Distillery @8PM

THURSDAY: Itay Zvolon Stand Up Comedy performing in Hebrew only at Club Cafe @8PM

THURSDAY: Queeraoke at Midway Cafe @10PM

FRIDAY: Heroes IRL w/ DJ Brian Halligan (18+) at Sonia @10PM

SATURDAY: Dot OUT Spring a Ling Annual Meeting at The Blarney Stone @11:30AM

gay boston

SATURDAY: Gays for Patsy host Queer Country Social at JP Unitarian Universalist Church @7PM

SATURDAY: Catalog – Celine Dion w/ host Kandi Dishe at Jacques Underground @8:30PM

SATURDAY: Boom Saturday Latin Night returns to the Volcano room @9PM

SUNDAY: Church R&B all night w/ DJ Frenchy at Icon @6PM

SUNDAY: Tea Dance w/ DJ Chris Fiore at Sammy’s Patio from 6PM-12AM

SUNDAY: Leather Penitence leather / fetish attire is strongly encouraged doors open @9PM at Phoenix Landing

DRAG BRUNCHES IN BOSTON

Some drag brunches require tickets purchased ahead of time. Click the event links shared below for ticketing and reservation information.

Tipsy Tea Drag Brunch
Saturday @12PM
Ghost Pepper (Savin Hill)

Illusions The Drag Brunch Boston
Saturday & Sunday shows @1:30PM
Hosted upstairs at Hennessey’s

Mizery Loves Company
Sunday @12PM
blend

Drag Me To Brunch
Sunday @2PM
Carrie Nation Cocktail Club

And finally… another resource for what is happening at Boston gay bars is KikiPedia.

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