Monday, March 31, 2008

Million Fag March in Topeka KS

Yesterday several hundred people from all over the U.S. met up in Kansas to participate in a protest against the teachings and actions of Fred Phelps and his "Church of Hate".

"All you need is Love!"

Let's all go next year.

Countess Bedelia 3/31/2008 11:23:00 AM | 0 comments |

Saturday, March 29, 2008

Oh, what the heck.....


Thanksgiving Day, 2006

The Countess du Barry cooked up a feast for us that day and I thought the least I could do was make the salad. This Countess can make a party out of tossing a bag of salad and Mark caught it all on video.

Laugh and the world laughs with you.

Weep, and you weep alone:

For this stolid old earth

Has need of your mirth,

It has troubles enough of its own.

Countess Bedelia 3/29/2008 05:26:00 PM | 5 comments |

Scissor Sisters - I Don't Feel Like Dancing

*Inside joke* I was making a salad for lunch today and dancing around the kitchen to this song and thought about some of my favorite boys...Brian, Mark, Bennett, Jeremy, and of course, the incomparable du Barry. Feel like tossing salad, boys?

Note to Mark: Don't even think about posting your video!

Countess Bedelia 3/29/2008 05:19:00 PM | 0 comments |

Friday, March 28, 2008

A Day at the Spa

After a long, cold, snowy winter and a bout with a potentially deathly illness (such a misnomer to call it a common cold...I am royalty, after all!), it was time to indulge in a Spa Day.



How I love to relax at a Spa. The New Age music that plays softly in the background, the tinkling sound of water running over stones in the fountains, and the hushed ambiance of total pampering that engulfs you as you walk in the door. We have a wonderful day spa here in the Town of the Castle Bedelia which is celebrating its 2nd year in operation. The Countess decided to bestow the Royal Patronage on the establishment.




Today I started with an ULTIMATE HYDRATION FACIAL....This high quality facial brings immediate comfort to even the driest skin. The combination of three masks and specific, highly concentrated active ingredients restores suppleness, vitality, moisture and radiance to the skin.

They don't even tell you about the hand, feet, and upper body massage that relaxes you while your face is being brought back to youthful life once again.



Then a HOT STONE MASSAGE ....Heated stones tumbled smooth by the creative forces of the earth envelop you in warmth as the radiant heat from these hand selected rocks penetrates deeply into your muscle tissue, relieving tense, sore muscles and restoring balance to your body and mind.



Ahhhhhhh.....I feel like a new woman!



Are you ready?

Countess Bedelia 3/28/2008 05:14:00 PM | 0 comments |

Thursday, March 27, 2008

John Barrowman and Simon Amstell "The Gay-off"

My new crush, John Barrowman, the star of the BBC series, Torchwood, shows his sense of humor on this British television show.

Countess Bedelia 3/27/2008 02:44:00 AM | 2 comments |

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Wednesday Washing

The Countess has been recovering from a deathly illness caused, no doubt, from overexposure to Glenlivet and other Miami Vices. While reclining on my chaise lounge, wearing a Dior dressing gown, with only my household jewels to add a little sparkle to my life, I amused myself by looking through my many scrapbooks. I seem to accumulate bits of trivia from here and there on the internets and I found these little gems to share with you.


Here is something that everyone loves (sometimes)....Children!





This one I dedicate to my dear friends, the Countess du Barry and Mrs. Astor...




These two gentleman have been nominated for Husband of the Year....



My doctor always tells me to excercise more (she doesn't consider barstooling a proper sport) and I just say.....




The Countess du Barry is always threatening to convene the Council of Countesses and exile me to a trailer park for my bad behavior. I finally found one that lives up to my standards....
Political cartoons are always fun to see. The Larry Craig scandal provided a lot of fodder for the cartoon mill. He recently announced that he would not be running for reelection. What a surprise!

This has always been one of my favorites. No caption needed. Pictures ARE worth a thousand words...

Finally, here is a picture of one of the many floral tributes I received to hasten my recovery...

Countess Bedelia 3/26/2008 09:54:00 PM | 0 comments |

Monday, March 24, 2008

Happy Easter


Mrs. Astor and the Countess du Barry comment on the Countess Bedelia's new look.
Countess Bedelia 3/24/2008 12:28:00 AM | 2 comments |

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Project Runway hangover....


Now I have to admit that I had never watched Project Runway....don't hate me!


But one night the Countess duBarry was visiting and she said that she HAD to watch Project Runway as it was getting down to the finish and she HAD to see who would be the winner. Personally, I don't care for reality shows and I wasn't aware that this show was such a big hit. It's kind of like cooking shows....I don't cook, so I have no interest. I am not sewing my own clothes, so I didn't think that Project Runway would be of any interest to me. But that was before I was introduced to Christian Siriano.....WHO IS TOTALLY FIERCE!




Now Christian has his own website, ChristianVSiriano.com...... and his MySpace page where he has almost 20,000 friends .... and his boyfriend, Brad Walsh, is his #1 friend who has his own Myspace page ..... and even Brad's mom has a Blog in which she posted about Brad and Christian! There is the AfterElton interview that you can read; and really, Christian Siriano is just ALL OVER THE PLANET!



Apparently this talented young man can design a gown, sew it up, and have it on your back before you have time to say Hello! And you can be sure that it will be FIERCE! So, good luck Christian. We will all be looking forward to seeing your collection at the next show in Bryant Park during the New York City Fashion Week festivites.
Countess Bedelia 3/22/2008 09:20:00 PM | 1 comments |

Friday, March 21, 2008

The Countess takes to her bed....


When I returned from Miami I was struck down by the bubonic plague and have been recovering ever since.


I thought I could count on my great friend, the Countess duBarry for sustenance and support.


However, in answer to my desperate cry for help... "I am dying, the children are circling like vultures, I've buried the jewels near the red maple in the Castle courtyard", I received the following communique delivered by dogsled in the dead of night:


Doll, How long do you have......what is the time table...... I want the jewelry.....E-mail the Will... du Barry


Alas, woe is me!
Countess Bedelia 3/21/2008 07:15:00 PM | 1 comments |

Monday, March 17, 2008

A visit from The Principessa

The Principessa stopped in at the Castle Bedelia for one of the Countess duBarry's famous breakfasts: eggs benedict with home fries.....delicious!


I don't get to see my daughter too often in the winter because she loves to ski and when New England is buried in snow starting in early November, she is gone to the mountains. Not content to merely go to ski areas with lifts, she finds challenges like Tuckerman's Ravine, a Mount Washington gap that only the most skillful skiers take on. First of all you have to hike up the ravine to get to where you can ski down. Next you read the avalanche warnings. Third you update your will....and then you go.


Christmas found her and her husband and a thousand other Santas on the slopes.


At night though, all the skiers come into whatever town they are near to participate in the sport of barstooling and the Principessa takes after her world champion mother in that sport. They were staying in this one horse town in the backwoods of New Hampshire one weekend. There was only one bar in town and the waiting line outside to get in stretched all the way to the town hall....about two blocks. You know the kind of town I mean; where you can always get a good seat to watch the Memorial Day Parade because everyone in town is IN the parade and there's no one to sit on the sidelines!


When they finally got up to the door, the bouncer let some of their party inside but my daughter was still on the outside. "If I was with The Countess, they would have let me in" she cried to her friends. So while she was visiting last week, she decided to take a few Countess lessons.


I told her it's all in the attitude.
Countess Bedelia 3/17/2008 12:16:00 AM | 3 comments |

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Let's wrap this trip up.....

On our last night in Miami Beach, Black & Tan Mark treated us to dinner at the Cafe Maurice. We sat out on the sidewalk and enjoyed a lovely dinner. The weather was balmy and delightful. Thank you, Mark, for the dinner and for your friendship.


The China Grill building across the street from the Cafe cast a beautiful glow over the neighborhood. The colors are constantly changing and look spectacular at night.


After dinner, we went to The Palace to have a farewell drink with a few friends. Here are the hunky FedEx man, Andy, and Connie Chung with The Countess. We missed our pal Mikey, but he is studying for his final law school exams so that he will be able to bail us out on our next visit!!
Mr. and Mrs. Astor showed up to say goodbye. As we walked back to the Castle, both the Countess duBarry and I were sad to leave this wonderful place full of happy memories.

BUT.....the show must go on and so we drove up the coast to Jupiter to see our friend, Mimi Hines, performing in "The Full Monty" at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre. I already posted one of the reviews from the show and, let me tell you, Mimi was outstanding and so was the rest of the cast.

On the way we stopped at the Wally Findlay Gallery in Palm Beach to check on my friend, the artist, Michael Allen Lowe's paintings. There are only two left in that gallery. The gallery manager was delighted to take my picture with the two paintings and tell me how excited they all are about Michael's solo show at the New York Gallery on June 4th.


Then we met up with Tosca15 in Boca Raton for dinner and a few other adventures that shall not be posted here!!! The next day, as we ventured out to do some sightseeing, the Countess duBarry said that she had a 'surprise' for me. Thinking that she was treating me to some fabulous place for lunch, I was all excited. Imagine my 'surprise' when she pulled into a trailer park and threw me out!!!!! It seems that she and Mrs. Astor had been plotting my downfall for days.....jealous b**ches that they are....humpf! Countess duBarry insisted on taking my picture to prove to Mrs. Astor that she had done her bidding.


Just after the picture was taken, the owner of the trailer emerged. A formidable woman brandishing a frying pan, she wanted to know why we were taking pictures in front of her trailer! I saved our asses by saying that I collect butterflies and saw her beautiful lawn ornament as we were driving by and wanted a picture. She said that she thought we were from the IRS! I jumped into the car and we peeled out of there fast before the shotguns came out!!

Oh, duBarry, for shame! He made up to me by taking me to Taboo in Palm Beach for lunch. Very nice!

We did take a walk along the Jupiter beach where the waves were crashing on the shore.

That night it was off to the theatre to see Mimi.

We both enjoyed the show so much but even more was the chance to visit with Mimi. She is such a nice, friendly, warm person. I found this article written when she was doing a Cabaret at New York's crown jewel club, Feinstein's At The Regency a couple of years ago which describes so well just how nice she is. Always a compliment and a cheerful word. I love her!

I can't believe that I did not take one picture that night. We went out with several members of the cast and I was thrilled that they knew about the Berkshire Theatre Festival and said they would love to work there. And one of the actresses had performed in South Pacific at the Barrington Stage Company in Pittsfield. They were all so talented; I hope to see them performing in the Berkshires some day.

The next day, after another five hour delay at the airport, we flew back to Boston. (You can really make a lot of friends with stranded travelers in the airport bar in 5 hours...we almost missed our plane!) So ends another Miami adventure. Until next time......
Countess Bedelia 3/13/2008 12:10:00 PM | 2 comments |

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Fourth Day at The Beach....

On Sunday the Winter Party was hosting the annual Beach Party at the beach by Lummus Park which just happens to be across the street from The Palace. We knew that by 6 pm when the Beach Party was over, The Palace would be overrun by handsome men ready to continue the party at the best outside bar on South Beach! But this was the view of Ocean Drive around noon; deserted and beautiful. You can see the tents set up for the Beach Party on the other side of the park.

We started the day by meeting the wonderful Tosca15 for lunch. It was so great to see her and have a chance to visit. We hadn't seen each other since last summer in the Berkshires.


After duBarry had her first Bloody Mary of the day, we walked up to Hosteria Romana for a delicious lunch.

After lunch we returned to The Palace to claim our great seats in the middle of the outside bar. The place to see and be seen. So many people came up to say hello. It was lots of fun. I was particularly thrilled to have my fellow blogger "The South Beach Bum" introduce himself. It was great fun to meet face to face. Here I am with Gary and his partner E...

And here in the center of the bar in blue and pink are the two sisters, Mrs. Astor and the Countess duBarry, frowning at me for my audacious display of popularity. They were whispering and plotting all afternoon to no avail.

There were all kinds of people parading on Ocean Drive that day. Here is the Snake Man and his son with their snakes wrapped around their necks. Some people walk their dogs, they walk their snakes.

Brooke Hogan (Hulk Hogan's daughter) caused a bit of a celebrity stir among the crowd. She is a very beautiful girl. Here she is with the Countess duBarry...

As you can see, the crowd in front of The Palace increased considerably when the Beach Party ended. My new friend, Travis, is in the center of the crowd. He got a little burnt that day!

Later a few of us went back to the Hosteria Romana for dinner. The Countess, Travis, Rich, Mark, Mike, and Brian had a wonderful time laughing and eating their delicious food.


Finally a shot of my favorite Security Guard who always escorts me through the crowd.

And so ended another day in Paradise. Four straight days of party, party, party had The Countess feeling a little tired. So the next day was pretty low key until Mark picked us up for dinner. But that is another post!


Countess Bedelia 3/11/2008 06:01:00 PM | 3 comments |

Sunday, March 09, 2008

The Countess goes to The Pool Party



The Winter Party festivities continued on Saturday with the Pool Party at the Surfcomber Hotel. Neither Mrs. Astor, the Countess duBarry, nor I had any intentions of going to this event right up until about 10 pm on Friday night. That is when Mark, Brian, Terry, and a few others decided that we just HAD TO BE THERE. Mark got on his laptop to check on tickets as it was supposedly sold out. He found that there was one VIP Cabana available which could be purchased for a donation to the sponsoring organization, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. So, with a few phone calls, one credit card, and a little persistence, we had a reserved tent overlooking the pool and the beginnings of an unforgettable adventure.


The Countess duBarry and I arrived early to settle into our Cabana. duBarry brought her hats which were a big hit.
The neighboring Cabana was the setting for a surprise 30th birthday party. I gifted the guest of honor with a tiara and we all became friends and fellow partiers.

Open bar was part of the deal but they were not serving Glenlivet. After finding out that this was my drink of choice, a volunteer was dispatched to the liquor store to procure a bottle. Now that is what I call service! Now the party could really begin!
We had 16 coveted silver bracelets to give out to guests. After counting off our party, we had a few left over. One of them was given to the Falcon video star, Matt Rush. Matt came up to our cabana and posed for pictures with everyone much to our delight.


Susie, one of the bartenders at The Palace, joined us with her friend David.

Travis and Rich were definitely on the guest list. Travis has been officially adopted by the Countess.

Isn't he a perfect ray of sunshine? And a world champion equestrian to boot!!


Mrs. Astor and Terry were getting a little silly...


They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Here is the Countess duBarry giving an imitation of moi, The Countess Bedelia.


Bob and Terry seemed to like it a lot!

One of the perks of having a Cabana was the private bathrooms available for our use. However they were located in the restaurant on the other side of the pool. Whenever I descended from the balcony to make my way over there, I was mobbed.


The darling boys wanted to try on my hat, take pictures, and get kisses. Of course I was happy to oblige.

After exhausting herself carrying those huge breasts around, the Countess duBarry decided to take little nap....


Not even a lap dance from a handsome young man could wake her.


With a final royal wave, we bid adieu to the Winter Party Pool Party revelers.


It was a wonderful day full of laughter, old friends and new, and memories to last a lifetime.
Countess Bedelia 3/09/2008 02:16:00 PM | 0 comments |