Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears is telling Tales

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• It looks like that rumored Tales of the City musical we mentioned a few months back has become a beautiful reality. The "large-scale" show, based on the first of Armistead Maupin's classic books, will hit the Great White Way in the 2009 season courtesy of Avenue Q bookwriter Jeff Whitty and Scissor Sisters' Jason Sellards (better known as Jake Shears) and John Garden.

• GLAAD has teamed with the gayest non-gay net out there, Bravo, to air the 19th Annual GLAAD Media Awards later this year. This marks the first time the awards will be broadcast on a fully distributed national cable channel.

• The gays like John Krasisnski, and he likes them right back.

• The Lambda Literary Foundation announced the nominees for its awards recognizing excellence in gay books, and our own Brent Hartinger is among the nominees for his young adult double-novella, Split Screen (in the Bisexual category). Congrats, Brent!

• Hey, Pushing Daisies fans! Our own Dan is out at the Paley Fest and has lots of fun updates on the show (including pics of out creator Bryan Fuller and the delightful cast) over on his site, The Pie Maker.

• The Advertising Standards Authority rejected the 54 complaints filed against the UK "Some people are gay. Get over it!" anti-bullying campaign. Good for them. Because they really do need to get over it.

And today's Briefs are brought to you by...

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• I don't know which news is more exciting: that Scissor Sisters are heading back to the studio to record their next album (which may feature a collaboration with Kylie Minogue) or that Jake Shears has been working for a year on the numbers for a musical version of Tales of the City. Seriously, how perfect is that?!

• Instinct mag's cover touts the first openly gay Chippendales dancer. Uh ... from the looks of it, he's also the troupe's first demon. What's with the eyebrows, dude?!

• The documentary A Jihad for Love, which explores the lives of gay Muslims, has been picked up for U.S. theatrical and DVD distribution by First Run Features, who last year released the similarly themed For the Bible Tells Me So.

• Counterfeit Skin, a new play about modern gay love by Jason Charles, opens next week in London. Not to be confused with Mysterious Skin, The Skin of Our Teeth, or No Skin Off My *ss.

• David Hyde Pierce fans take note: the Tony-winning out actor will be appearing on Good Morning America tomorrow at 8AM EST with his Curtains castmates to promote the Warm Coats and Warm Hearts drive.
  

• Michael Petrelis has a piece up looking at some of the gay media response to the UCSF's sensationally-headlined staph infection report ("Sexually active gay men vulnerable to new, highly infectious bacteria" ... as are schoolchildren, people who go to the gym, your mom, etc.), which was picked up across the country, including in the NY Times.

We have a new reason to be jealous of UK TV viewers: Channel 4's youth-oriented time slot, T4, will be airing a special next week that will feature a chat between Scissor Sisters frontman Jake Shears and Jake's heroine, legendary country chanteuse Dolly Parton.

The preview clips for When Jake Met Dolly are frustratingly short, but certainly make the special look very promising. In the first clip, the two discuss the questions they get asked too often in interviews. In the second clip, the two casually perform together. The special will also feature a tour of Dolly's "camp-as-Christmas" traveling wardrobe.

As always, Jake is utterly adorable (those eyes get me every time) in the clip while Dolly is sweet and welcoming. The special airs on December 26 at 11 AM on Channel 4. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that the special gets picked up by an American network soon afterwards, because it looks fabulous. Check out the clips here and here!

• Did anyone catch Enchanted over the weekend? Was anyone else this disappointed in the gay joke, or in the movie overall?

• If anyone can tell me what on Earth this Japanese show Todoroki is all about, I'd be able to sleep much better.

• Scissor Sisters' Jake Shears (pictured at top) and Babydaddy are huge Take That fans. Who knew?!

• For the Bible Tells Me "No!": Christian bookstores refusing to carry gay Bible study book. Next thing you know, they'll be refusing to stock And Tango Makes Three! Oh, what? They do? Never mind.

• We'll stop fawning over Project Runway's Jack Mackenroth as soon as he stops taking his clothes off for pictures (site NSFW). We swear.

One thing the Scissor Sisters can never be accused of is being boring. They could dress in gray for the rest of their careers and this one pic alone makes them more colorful than 90% of the bands out there.

I think I'm blind now. Well, the band has a new video out for their song "Kiss You Off", and while it isn't this bright, it definitely is in their style. Enjoy!