Well, I hope that all of you dear readers are all still loving hearing me spout about Tales of the City author Armistead Maupin, cause I have more news!

Here in San Francisco, Armistead will be honored at the Opening Night of LitQuake '07, which is an annual literary festival here in our highly literary city.  He will be awarded the festival's first Barbary Coast Award for lifetime achievement!

Notable Bay Area residents/Armistead- related famous people Laura Linney, Michelle Tea, Jon Ginoli of Amoeba and Pansy Division fame AND Judd Winick, among others, will be speaking.  At last, the mystery of spotting Armistead and Judd of the Real World San Francisco eating together recently at Zazie is solved!  I feel better now.  According to Judd's Wikipedia entry, Armistead even spoke at Judd & fellow Real Worlder  Pam's wedding!  Who knew?

I'm so disappointed.  I've just finished watching Further Tales of the City and it was only one disc's worth of a show.  They have it packaged in two jewel cases, so I just assumed I had a whole 'nother disc waiting for my viewing pleasure this evening.  Imagine my heartbreak upon discovering the second disc is devoted to "Special Features" only.  What a letdown!  Not to start with the negative, though, I mean the reason I am so sad is--

I really grew attached to this series as it unfolded.  The characters were real to me, the way they become in any film/series when each person really pops off the screen and into one's brain.   I don't want to ruin any of the plot details for anyone so I can't really say much, but I will say I had nightmares last night about Mouse and Jon and what might become of them-- that's how kooky I am about this show.  I thought I was gonna get to see more of their story today but NO, that was it.  Guess I am gonna have to go get those Tales of the City books now to get my fix.

Further Tales of the City is the final installment of the Tales of the City series. I would say it's the most racy, and it's also one looooooong episode as opposed to the format of the others, which each had a bunch of hour or so long episodes.  As my boyfriend and I continued watching and watching, kinda waiting for it to end and at the same time on the edge of our couch as the stories unfolded, 3+ hours passed -- we couldn't believe it had been on that long at the end.

This installment is truly bizarre!  It's funny how the characters in the series are in so many ways so true to life, but author Armistead Maupin places them in the most insanely unbelievable situations.  One of Further Tales' most prominent storylines involves that well known cult leader, Jim Jones, who the show imagines has really not died in Guyana-- actually, he's living in a shed in Golden Gate Park, unmoved by the police!  Of course he gets himself entangled with the Tales characters, to far fetched but entertaining results.  Another storyline has Mouse off to Los Angeles to party at the home of a famous but closeted Hollywood leading man...well, maybe that one is a little more plausible!

So I am continuing watching the Tales of the City complete series.  Now I'm on to More Tales of the City! 

I have to say, it's not as good as the first series, just like everyone told me, but it is still highly enjoyable.


More Tales of the City is the second part of a 3 part mini series based on Armistead Maupin's novels about San Francisco and the lives and loves of some of its inhabitants in the 70s.

One of the most unfortunate aspects of the More Tales is that several of the characters from the original series Tales of the City have been recast, most unfortunately Michael "Mouse", one of my favorites from the first series. His replacement has a dimpled chin and a sleazy moustache.  Not exactly the sweet Brian Boitano look alike I so adored from the first series.  But whatever.  Brian, a sort of side character in the first installment, has been recast for More Tales by this aqua netted hair older looking dude. The character of Mona has been recast also.  I never thought I would miss scary tiger face lady Chloe Webb but now that she's gone I must say she added a certain gravitas to the flighty character of Mona that her much younger, less interesting replacement lacks. 

Armistead Maupin's Tales of the City has been capturing the vast majority of my attention this past week.  Even though it was on KQED in the early 90s I have never seen it before.

I recently was eating with some friends at Zazie and the they immediately noticed Armistead himself enjoying his brunch on the scenic patio with none other than Judd from the Real World San Francisco.  You gotta love this city, right?  Jesus.

Armistead apparently does, cause he's written a bunch of books all about it and its various inhabitants.  They made this miniseries based on the books.  I love it!  It is just chock full of one scandal after another.  It's kinda like a 70s SF and with both gay and straight main characters version of  Melrose Place....or maybe I just think that cause everyone is pretty good looking and they mostly live in the same building complex on Barbary Lane.  Oh yeah -- there's tons of drug use in every episode.  This must have been "cutting edge" when it was on, with all the drugs and the bare butts and boobs and gay lifestyles....No wonder it was on PBS.  Whatever, I love the interconnectedness of all the characters and how parts of each person's story unfold slowly and tantalizingly.