David Ehrenstein

The "Why are straight me so stupid?" night was one of the best times I ever had on Datalounge.

I believe the correct DL spelling was "Urinestain".

Does he mention DL?

Not yet. I'm halfway through, and he is mostly talking about professional gossip sources.

His turn as Dominque Devereaux on Dynasty was, in a word, magnificent.

I love you R5

I remember I got into it with him once and he quoted that book at me. I happened to own a copy and informed him that he was citing the wrong chapter. He didn't like that much.

I missed everything!!

If you say Lena Horne's name five times in front of a mirror, he shows up and kills you.

Now you’ve done it OP.

We may have to sage DataLounge.

I don’t know her.

He was known for delivering vicious face slappings to strangers in the parking lots of upscale restaurants in Santa Monica.

I thought he was usually the recipient r12. Thought of course, it has been a very long time.

Say whatever you want about David he wrote a brilliant Los Angeles Times essay on the implicit racism of a a recognizable type of white Obama voter.

The Dynasty comment referenced by R5, for whatever reason, just tickled my funny bone in the original thread. To wit:

[quote] Was he on Dynasty?

Yes, he had a long stint playing Dominique Devereaux, the most fabulous lounge chanteuse in all of Denver. He was, in a word, spectacular.

I never considered that he could be hit hard financially by the pandemic.

OK, who's donating under the name of either Datalounge David Fans or Lena Horne's Sapphic Love?

R17, I'm ashamed to admit I've spent the last several minutes fighting the urge to donate under the name Straight Me, which LAFCA wouldn't understand. I'll give anonymously, though. David was often pleasant to me when he wasn't in the middle of a meltdown.

So many fascinating things about David's history on datalounge! He used to post her for seversl years, starting at first under his own name--then he had a big meltdown and announced he was never going to post here again--but when a few days later when he started posting under the pseudonym "The Knight of the Iguana," people recognized him almost immediately because his style of posting was so identifiable.

He would get very emotional and was very quick to have a meltdown (which he always insisted was not because he was drunk, although no one believed him), and it was easy for people to push his buttons. Among his strongly held tenets:

*Neither Lena Horne nor Jason Priestley are or were nor had ever been gay. If anyone accused them of being gay, he would freak out. (Of course people kept doing that just to watch him implode once they realized those were triggers, which probably wasn't very nice of them to do.)

*Straight men are idiots and are uncreative, but all gay men are somehow biologically endowed with natural creativity and genius. This was a kind of sweet belief.

*The greatest period of gay creativity in recent human history was the Forties and Fifties and Sixties among film stars and directors.

*The AntiChrist--his greatest of all enemies--was Andrew Sullivan, who got much of the national attention as a gay pundit that should have rightly gone to David himself.

*Obama was going to turn out to be a disastrous president, but Hillary would have been the greatest president ever.

Many of his beliefs do not seem that bad (in fact some I agree with), but they were expressed in such an unhinged know-it-all way that he became a local figure of fun. But he did make things much more netrainign around here, and he DID know quite a lot about midcentury gay culture and film history.

[quote]e did make things much more netrainign around here

I think I agree with you. I think I do.

So he's the anti-Milky Loads?

What’s “ netrainign”, precious? What’s “netrainign”?

Oh he was so obviously drunk.

Good times. We miss you David.

That’s very nice of you R18.

I remember him losing his shit about Lena.

It was glorious.

It was one of his triggers r25. I always liked him overall, and he really did have a hell of a lot of knowledge about old and not so old Hollywood, but damn could he go off on shit sometimes!

[quote] What’s “ netrainign”, precious? What’s “netrainign”?

Sorry: I meant to type "entertaining" and I should have proofread.

[quote] The AntiChrist--his greatest of all enemies--was Andrew Sullivan

Shit, let me get the keys to the city for Miss Ehrenstein right now!

It's tough out there for film critics, but anyone can get a blog.

Film criticism isn't exactly lucrative. I knew him from Salon's Table Talk. He was a character and had strong opinions, but he also engaged with a wide variety of people.

I thought you did a GoFundMe for someone if they got cancer or their house burnt down. I didn’t realize someone would just do one for someone because they chose a profession they don’t find lucrative enough. I’d never let someone do a GoFundMe for me because I was failing to make the money I thought I deserved. I’d just find a more fitting profession.

He's in his seventies, r31. He can't just change majors.

Does he have “a” GoFundMe?

I’ll make him a THC peanut butter & banana sandwich, but I can’t afford to help otherwise.

I dare anyone to give to the GFM and sign it as "Terri:) ."

He may not be able to”change majors” but he could get a different job- maybe in a movie theater. I’d sweep floors before I accepted charity because I hadn’t saved enough to retire.

Meh, r36, I can certainly understand a desire not to sweep floors if some alternative is more helpful. I do wish people would stop lying about what they would or would not do in various circumstances they have not confronted. Especially when they are old. It's just lame and stupid and completely unbelievable. If this GFM works out for David Ehrenstein, great. There is no sacred nobility in sweeping floors or working in a theater if some alternative presents itself.

You win R36, we are talking about YOU now.

[quote] He can't just change majors.

Could he date outside his major/program?

Wow, I honestly thought he was dead.

I remember him once trying to convince us how sweet and kind Julia Roberts truly was and how she "loves her gays."

I nearly vomited.

He could have his damn causes, couldn't he r40. I don't remember anything about Julia Roberts, but still. He was, is, i shouldn't act like he's dead, but he is Hollywood. Who knows? Maybe there was some stupid interview he was lining up and he just felt the need to love her. Still, I just like him, and I remember him as being one of the very fun parts of this site, way back when.

R41, he appeared at some function with her one evening and was being a total braggard for the following day or so. It was ridiculous and no one was remotely impressed.

He married his partner Bill Reed a couple of years ago, so at the very least they’re both getting social security.

As the GoFundMe goal was set at $500, he may have needed some cash to cover an unexpected or immediate expense.

$500? Can't she just go to a payday loan joint for that measly amount?

Can you imagine La Ehrenstein sashaying in like Dominique Devereaux and applying for a loan from those predatory lenders?

"We'll need a copy of your last pay stub and employment verificatia, please..."

"Why how DARE you!"

R44 she'd be like Erica Kane.

"Me? But I....am.....David Ehrenstein! Poverty, you may not come near me!"

How delicious!

In hindsight, I’m thinking the $500 could have been to cover an order from the liquor store.

...or a trick from Rentboy

Heh, maybe r48. I wonder if anybody has ever put up a GoFundMe and just been blunt that they are trying to raise money for a rentboy. I'm not sure it wouldn't work.

He was actually pretty knowledgeable about a lot of things but he had a weird blind spot when it came to Lena Horne

He posted a story once about how he saw Tom Selleck at some steam room. One person posted something like "What's so gay about inhaling steam?" to which he responded "He wasn't inhaling steam, he was inhaling cock"

I still remember that!

"I can certainly understand a desire not to sweep floors if some alternative is more helpful. I do wish people would stop lying about what they would or would not do in various circumstances they have not confronted."

If "some alternative" is begging for money on the internet, count me out. And it's not for you to say I'm "lying" about circumstances I have "not confronted". I've been broke, and I found ways to make ends meet by, say, working odd jobs rather than putting my hands out for money from strangers.

Great, we get it. You're superior to everyone

R36 = David