Above, some very easy-on-the-eyes scenes from Team New York's march on Chelsea.

Yesterday, I slavishly ran over to Rufskin in Chelsea (235 W. 19th), where Team New York was making a group personal appearance in order to raise cash to fight AIDS and to become the biggest money-raisers of Broadway Bares. Not necessarily in that order.

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The guys, who were (barely) dressed in Speedos and tanks, served drinks and hawked merch to customers, pointing out that Rufskin was donating 30% of all proceeds from afternoon sales to the cause.

A team you'd love to tag.

Andrew gets suited up in Rufskin.

Team New York's MVP gingers, Andrew & Michael.

There's always time for art...and for selective cropping.

I was lucky enough to tail (literally) my pal Andrew and two other eye-poppers as they marched on Chelsea, invading businesses and personal space with red buckets that were hungry for cash. You'd be surprised how many hot guys will ignore a fellow hot guy when a request for money is involved, so I encouraged the boys to go after softer targets: We gentlemen past 40 are always willing to chat with shirtless youngsters and can often be relied upon to open out wallets to celebrate the occasion.

 

Drag fabulosa Linda Simpson is too young to remember when her alter ego, Les Simpson, took these wonderful photos that are a part of NYC, c. 1985, a show going up at ClampArt Gallery (521-531 W. 25th St., between 10th/11th Aves.), so she's probably just as amazed as we are by the early AIDS activism and '80s fashions he captured.

(The final three images in the above gallery are from the after-party of 1982's Night of 100 Stars, and include shots of Elizabeth Taylor, Linda Evans and Liza Minnelli.)

The show also features: Amy Arbus, Catherine McGann, Nan Goldin, Larry Clark, and other familiar names.

I'll be stopping by the show this Saturday to eyeball this work in the flesh. I expect it will be like stepping into a time machine. Thirty years really does fly by when you're having fun.

More of Les Simpson'80s shots here.

Kevin Stea, one of Madonna's fabulous Blond Ambition dancers, has posted a lovely photographic tribute to fellow dancer Gabriel Trupin, who died of AIDS at 26 in 1995. Trupin was featured on the tour and in Truth or Dare. Stea was very close with Trupin, and remembers him fondly here.

Trupin was among the dancers who sued Madonna for money stemming from her extensive use of them in the movie, a suit that was settled out of court.

Stea performs under the name That Rogue Romeo. His latest project, "Wonderland," is after the jump...

My old co-workers all felt "all 3 are different." It was maddening!

This pronunciation battle ("carry" vs. "Kerry") has raged among my friends.

Lady Gaga's (fake) fingernail sells for $13,000.

Lauryn Hill got smacked with the Michelle Shocked stick.

11-year-old gay boy triumphs over anti-gay legislator.

Whitney Houston's daughter is a mess.

THE MUSIC MAN: Who the F**K Is Arthur Fogel?

The entire LGBT-themed list of videos from Kids In the House.

Above: There Was Magic, a look back at an AIDS benefit to remember.

Michael Jackson's daughter Paris attempts suicide.

Celebrate Gay Pride Month with The Nance!

Wonder if Jane Krakowski will read from Madonna's Sex?

Apple drops ex-gay app; Google's Play Store for Androids doesn't.

$800,000 for a bedbug infestation.

The only ass-eating that has calories.

Facebook: The Musical hits all the right notes.

"I'm your beauty/you're my beast/welcome to the Middle East."

Do tell (Aviv)!

According to National Enquirer (June 17, 2013), Scott Thorson believes Liberace "intentionally infected" three of his lovers with HIV:

"He never used a condom nor practiced safe sex. His lovers Cary James, Chris Adler and Bob Fisher all died because of him—and there could be several others...Liberace's dead today because of his lifestyle, his sexual addiction, and he had this weakness for young men."

Hm. It's not really fair to say Liberace is dead because of his lifestyle in that he very likely contracted HIV before it was even known what HIV was; it wasn't that he ignored safer sex, it was that he had sex at all at the right time with the right people when HIV was blossoming. Also, how would Thorson, who was "divorced" from Liberace's life in '82, know whether the entertainer "never" used condoms once HIV was identified? (My guess is he's right, but he was in no position to know what Liberace was up to once he was booted.)

The late Cary James & the late Liberace.

It's about as fair to say Liberace's lifestyle caused his AIDS as it is to say Thorson's lifestyle caused his anal cancer, which is almost always the result of HPV.

Anyway, Thorson's sketchy lifestyle (a word that shouldn't always be attached to "gay") definitely plays into why I found Behind the Candelabra only half good. No way was Thorson the innocent babe played (so convincingly) by Matt Damon.

This just in: I hate you, you c*nt.

COLD FRONT: These CBS anchors LOATHE each other. Hilarious!

Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-New York) has (treatable) lung cancer.

Sachi Parker's book about her mom Shirley MacLaine now a play.

Sean Kushner looks mighty good in them red shorts.

Adam Huss is just as hot and muscly.

Adorable animals

SHELL OF A MAN: A great way to get fired from Taco Bell.

Sen. Graham (R-S. Carolina): "No evidence" tying Obama to IRS.

Illinois marriage-equality sponsors issue apology.

Reed Kelly offers autograph for Broadway Bares donation.

The definitive post on actresses playing actresses.

The secret behind Alyssa Edwards's worst-ever date.

Conservatives desperate to halt equality in the UK.

Miley Cyrus is back with crappy new single "We Can't Stop":

This looks like a modern cave painting about AIDS.

 

Antony Hamilton was a successful model who transitioned into acting, most famously replacing Jon-Erik Hexum on Cover Up in the '80s.

According to mutual acquaintances, he was a wild man, sexually. He died of AIDS in 1995.

Check out his Facebook fan page here.

Behind the Candelabra was, more or less, a standard biopic...of Scott Thorson.

BOY CULTURE REVIEW: **1/2 out of ****

My (quick)  take on Behind the Candelabra: Debbie Reynolds, Dan Aykroyd, Cheyenne Jackson, Scott Bakula and Rob Lowe are delicious; Matt Damon has incredible, Emmy-worthy depth and makes it all worthwhile; Michael Douglas is two-dimensional and miscast; the entire movie is more in the vein of Magic Mike (which was great fun, but I was expecting more from a biopic) than [fill in any other Soderbergh movie]; and it's ludicrous to call it a "love story." The genre is more closely horror. What a completely unhealthy relationship...from, "Hi, nice to meet you!" to alleged deathbed farewell. It definitely held my interest, it just wasn't shaded. Bad wigs.

Best supporting cast since Murder on the Orient Express!

Via her official Facebook page: Barbara Eden, 78, still fits into her "Jeannie" costume, as seen above at Life Ball in Vienna, Austria.

With Adam Lambert, née Ali Baba.

Below, more photos of Eden brandishing her magic at the event...