Johnny Weir? Here?

In Hartford?

Probably not, but a random click onto the Champions on Ice website to look up their April 21 show at the Civic Center sent our little hearts thumping when we found him on their roster of touring stars.

Ah… Johnny. Even though your flame was doused during the finals of the 2006 Olympics in Turin, we’re still enamored of you. We can’t say why–we hate figure skating–but there was something so good about Weir’s “screw middle America” press savy during the U.S. Figure Skating Championships (”His [performance] was more like vodka shots and let’s-snort-cocaine kind of experience,“), and the fact that the media just kept swallowing it whole through the end of the Olympics.

Wow, a maybe-gay (but, ultimately, none of your business) figure skater who shops and speaks “pop” — it’s a mainstream media wet dream. He almost went too far by adopting a 1984-ish MJ one-glove affectation, mostly because he just screams more “Boy George” to us than Michael somehow. But how can you not ultimately love someone who blames his Olympic loss on missing a bus as well as a positive aura?

We’re not sure if we’d be psyched or distraught if we bumped into Weir on Trumbull Street (okay, okay–we’d be freaking over the moon with excitement). We can’t imagine why he’d be touring with this group, but then again, what else do professional ice skaters do when they’re in-between endorsements for eye wear?

Where in the hell is he going to shop in downtown though?

And in less exciting Gay Icon news: Madonna’s headed here too. Link

Haute or Not?

Scene at: Boys Night @ Tisane, 537 Farmington Avenue, Hartford

Because nothing says fabulous more than matching early 80’s studded belts with just a touch of boxer short cartoon whimsy. We half-expected to find Michael Jackson and Rockwell at the bar when the pair turned around–or at least hear them singing “Somebody’s Watching Me” in tribute.

The Donald Does Hartford

And other local items thus far this week:

● Dust off that power suit for April Fool’s Day, Trump seeks “Apprentices” in Hartford.

● The number of Sol LeWitt murals in Connecticut officially surpasses the number of McDonald’s hamburgers sold here. Link

● Manchester puts a moratorium on adult-oriented businesses moving into their hood and bashes Hartford at the same time. So now we’re confused–do they or don’t they know how to have fun?

Gloria Cacciola, who lives near where VIP will open, said if Manchester allows more adult-oriented businesses to come to town, it will turn into Hartford.”We don’t want an open house for anybody who wants to come in. How hard up are we for money?” Cacciola said. “We want this to be a place that gets respect, where people can be proud.”Link

Belle of the Balls

Well, we’ve always heard about swingers and threesomes in our little community, but we never thought we’d get the chance to catch one so casually in action. There we were at Shag Frenzy at the Webster Underground on Saturday night, happily standing at the bar watching club kids with angular haircuts and indie attitudes swoop on the dance floor to Echo and the Bunnymen (or a bunch of bands that sounded just like them).

And there it was across the room–a threesome in the making, with neither guy seeming to care too much that they had to share attention from the Belle of the Balls.

We even stopped the gents on the way out to confirm what we thought we witnessed, and they just grinned like ten-year-old boys at a high school girls gymnastic meet and winked at us. The black squares were photo-shopped on faces to protect the “innocent.”