Criminally adorable out actor Adamo Ruggiero (Degrassi) at the 8th Annual Trevor Project Gala in NYC 

(Photo: Andrew Walker/Getty)

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.

• The 8th Annual Trevor Project Gala in NYC drew celebs like Sandra Bernhard, Idina Menzel, Rosie Perez, Alan Cumming, Michael Urie, George Takei, Lisa Lampanelli, Gideon Glick, Adamo Ruggiero, and more. The organization helps gay and questioning youth who are at risk of suicide.

• Logoonline is running a feature on the 50 Best Gay Bars in America. #3 Happens to be in my neighborhood (no, I had no part in making the list!) and I couldn't agree more with the kind words about Garry, Metropolitan's chipper tapper. Congrats!

• Starting Thursday, the London Eye will be illuminated in rainbow colors to celebrate London Pride.

• Looks like I'm not the only person incensed about Madonna's $200 ticket price.

• And, of course, any John Waters interview is a good John Waters interview. Enjoy.

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

Forget Milk, who wants Fruitcake?!

Yes, beloved fairy godfather (or, as he prefers, "Filth Elder") John Waters is back for a new movie and has landed gay-fave Parker Posey and bad boy Johnny Knoxville in two of the roles.

The movie is called Fruitcake and here's what we know about it so far (courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter):

The plot is officially under wraps but is said to center on the title character, a boy named after his favorite dessert. He runs away from home during the holidays after he and his parents are caught shoplifting meat, then meets up with a runaway girl raised by two gay men and searching for her birth mother.   

Anyone else seeing a striking resemblance to one of Waters' classics, Female Trouble? Is stolen meat the new cha-cha heels? We'll have to wait and see. I know Waters' movies have been a bit hit-or-miss lately (Serial Mom is still to me one of the most transgressive and brilliant studio comedies ever produced ... Pecker, not so much), but even mediocre Waters is better than anything that Kate Hudson can bring to the table. 

Knoxville of course appeared in Waters' last feature, A Dirty Shame, but this is Posey's first time working with the director. Lordy, how long overdue is that?!   

(And of course, we don't really want to "forget Milk", but come on ... John Waters! Wheee!)

A special shipment of Cha-Cha heels goes out to the world's greatest living filmmaker, as John Waters turns 62 today. In a recent interview with Details magazine, he was asked who he thinks his fan base is:

"They’re people who have a good sense of humor and who basically, a little bit, wished they were terrorists. They’re interested in deviant behavior; they’re interested in behavior that maybe they’d never do, and that they can’t understand—which is healthy. Everything that interests me is basically what I can’t understand or for which there’s not a fair answer—that's why it remains interesting"

His films have run the gamut from family-friendly (Hairspray) to ... less family-friendly (almost everything else). For me, his best films are the aforementioned Hairspray (the original, NOT the musical remake, thank you!), and my favorite, the truly classic Female Trouble. The first time I saw heroine Dawn Davenport threaten little Taffy with a car arial beating, I knew I had found my film god. After the break, you can see another classic scene from Female Trouble, with an older Taffy playing her favorite game, "car crash aftermath", and Dawn trying to become a model. While you're watching, tell me if you don't think that Amy Winehouse TOTALLY ripped off her look from Dawn!

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.

• John Barrowman credits skinny-dipping sessions with Denise Van Outen for his youthful appearance. Oh, and also the Botox.

• Is gay director Bryan Singer's latest project, Valkyrie, snakebit? Given that it stars Tom Cruise, would we expect anything otherwise?

• Tearoom: A 56-minute color silent film of an Ohio public restroom that was used to convict men of sodomy circa 1962 is now an art exhibit and a book. (via Towleroad)

• Wow. I mean, WOW: World of Wonder's new telanovela campfest, ¡Viva Hollywood!, looks like the most insane Latin soap opera competition with overacted death scenes, gratuitous male nudity and Charo EVER.

• Just because I think he's the best thing to happen to this state since the 1964 World's Fair: New York Governor David Paterson's videotaped address to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force's 2008 dinner, in which he pledged to push for equal marriage rights for gays and expressed regret at missing the chance to meet John Waters. No, seriously.

• And I really don't know how to set this up other than to say it's a preview for a post-apocalyptic horror musical about organ harvesting starring Anthony Stewart Head from Buffy, one of the Spy Kids, Sarah Brightman, and Paris Hilton. Ladies and gentlemen ... Repo! The Genetic Opera!

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

Top Chef judge Ted Allen (photo by Jason Smith)

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.

• A radio personality named Dan Watson has launched the first gay commerclal radio show in Melbourne, called "The Stick Shift". I'm guessing the automotive metaphors stop there.

• As though Tom Cruise didn't hate us enough already: The American Psychoanalytic Association officially supports same-sex marriage.

• Gay Top Chef judge (and AfterElton.com fave) Ted Allen on Hillary Clinton's rumored love of hot peppers: "We don't need Hillary having to run to the can every 20 minutes ... I'd go easy on the Scotch bonnets if I were her."

• Voice gossip Michael Musto chatted up John Waters at the preview of the new Cry-Baby musical, and Waters revealed that his last Daily Show appearance prompted a call from ice-show producers who took his "Hairspray on Ice" joke seriously.

• A reader directed us to this interesting clip that shows what happened when a radio host asked American Idol's Danny Noriega if he is gay: Apparently, the AI people cut off the call. (Warning, the host uses some very NSFW language to make his point) (t/y Outrageous Orator!)

• "I'm lovin' it in a way that dare not speak its name": An officer from McDonald's Corporation joins the Board of the National Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce.

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.

• Jiminy Glick (a fat-suited and sibilant Martin Short, natch) interviews self-professed "filth elder" John Waters at the Independent Spirit Awards. I want one of each just to keep in the pantry for rainy days.

• Defamer has some fun pics of Sir Elton John's Oscar bash, which was one of the biggest parties in town this year. Those gays and their fetes!

• Okay, so this may or may not be American Idol contestant David Hernandez working at a gay bar in Phoenix. But any barfly worth his margarita salt knows that half of the men who work at gay bars aren't gay, they're "just experimenting with getting better tips". (t/y PBuG for the tip!)

• EastEnders actor Aaron Sidwell may be on his way out, but his character, Steven Beale, can add "bisexual" to his profile (along with "mentally ill" and "matricidal gun enthusiast") before his "big bang" of an exit.

• I mentioned the benefit that the Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice stars are holding for their crews to offset the wages lost during the writers' strike, but I didn't realize that T.R. Knight was actually one of the forces behind it.

• You may have heard that Microsoft vet Ric Weiland (he was one of the first 5 employees) bequeathed a tremendous private donation to gay groups - $65 million - following his tragic suicide. But did you also know that he had been out for decades (he sported a license plate reading "YES IAM" in 1977!!) and was a total hottie back in the day?

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

Until now, CBS News on Logo has been quick bite of information that comes in during commercial breaks on gay network Logo (this site's parent company). However, after giving us the Visible Vote presidential forum and a special on gay Latino issues, CBS News on Logo is graduating into full weekly half-hour newsmagazine. The show will continue to be hosted by Jason Bellini with reporting from Itay Hod and Chagmion Antoine.

The program will mix headlines with deeper coverage of current issues like the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and HIV/AIDS. The series will also take a gay look at pop culture. Next week's debut will include an interview with John Waters, a day in the life of blogger Andy Towle and a profile of lesbian favorite folk singer Erin McKeown.

For a network that's been around for only two-and-a-half years, I've been impressed with how much it has grown in that time. There's a good amount of original programming and introducing a show that regularly discusses gay issues will round out Logo's content nicely.

In non-Halloween-related news (drat!), a few films of gay note hit DVD today.

Dear Jesse
In a timely move given the recent discussions of homosexuality, religion, and politics, this 1998 documentary finally lands on DVD today. This personal essay by gay filmmaker Tim Kirkman, who heads home to Jesse-Helms-happy North Carolina after 15 years of big city life, draws interesting parallels between the notoriously anti-gay senator and his own life and paints a picture of a state that shouldn't be dismissed out-of-hand as being as intolerant as its senior officials.

John Waters: This Filthy World
Godfather of filth (or as he proudly calls himself, "filth elder") John Waters has a one-man show, and you'd be insane to miss the chance to see this natural born storyteller do his thing uninterrupted and with no limits. Covering everything from Divine to his mother to just about any other topic you can imagine, Waters' live stage show is assured, hilarious, and deliciously dirty. Check out a preview with awesomely NSFW language after the jump...

(The portrait above, which appears on the Waters DVD cover, is by Richard Lauderback and will likely haunt my dreams for decades)

Today is the birthday of Divine (a.k.a Harris Glenn Milstead).

John Waters' greatest muse would have been 62 today. He died in 1988 of respiratory failure caused by sleep apnea. Though he left us too soon, the performer made an indelible mark on American cult cinema.

We thought we'd commemorate the occasion of his birthday with a Divine movie quote quiz. See if you can match the quotes below with the following characters:

a. Babs Johnson from Pink Flamingos (1972)
b. Dawn Davenport from Female Trouble (1974)
c. Francine Fishpaw from Polyester (1981)
d. Rosie Velez from Lust in the Dust (1985)
e. Edna Turnblad from Hairspray (1988)

Quote 1: Oh Elmer, that dog stinks to high heaven. You'll be permeated by his odor.

Quote 2: I've DONE everything a mother can do: I've locked her in her room, I've beat her with the car aerial. Nothing changes her. It's HARD being a loving mother!

Quote 3: It's the times. They are a-changin'. Something's blowing in the wind. Fetch me my diet pills, would you?

Quote 4: Oh my God Almighty! Someone has sent me a bowel movement!

Quote 5: Yeah, I was a dance hall girl, but what makes you so high and mighty? You own a whorehouse! A whorehouse!... and with only three whores in it. One of them is just a senile old cow. [aside to Big Ed] No offense, honey.


Answers appear below.....

Midnight Movies (Encore Drama) 8:00 PM EDT
The histories of six cult movies, including John Waters's Pink Flamingos and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, are examined in this fun documentary. The story looks at how they became the legendary films that they are now and makes for an interesting contrast to how movies are often valued nowadays, with the opening weekend being so important.

Top Chef (Bravo) 10:00 PM EDT
Dale is still in the running as this week's competition has the remaining eight chefketeers (as Steven's recaps lovingly call them) splitting into two teams to create a restaurant concept from scratch. Even better, Ted Allen shows up to judge in this episode, which is always an added bonus.