Oh no, not Johnny Castle!

I was distraught to hear today that my beloved Patrick Swayze is suffering from Pancreatic cancer.

While reports say that he is in good health and the cancer is limited, Pancreatic Cancer is almost always a death sentence.

Forever, I will associate the Swayze name with Dirty Dancing, a film that my sister and I played so many times one summer that the tape eventually broke. If I come across the movie playing at any time of the day or night, I will drop everything and watch it. At the time, it was a racy, sexy film that taught us that dirty dancing was oh so good and that nobody puts Baby in a corner. But for me, the best part of the film was the music.

I am, at heart, a great lover of "oldies" music. Boy and Girl groups, rock 'n roll and every genre in between, the number one spot on my car stereo is set to Majic 105.7, a renowned Cleveland oldies station that has been around as long as I can remember. But the movie is what first introduced me to songs like "Big Girls Don't Cry", "Stay", "Be My Baby" and a host of other songs. The undeniably pop sound that originated with much of this music was what has inspired other artists over and over again and what hooked me.

Of course the cheesetastic Roadhouse is also another great. Since I am a gay man trapped in a woman's body, I fucking love watching Roadhouse. The gratuitous naked chest scenes are the best. Coming in a close second is the fact that a real-life trained dancer could ever single-handedly take down a town of bad guys, get the girl and save the bar. But it's the movies and I don't ask for much, so there you are.

Ghost wasn't my favorite since I was creeped out by the Demi Moore kissing her dead lover through Whoopie. Seriously creeped out. And the scene with the clay made my stomach turn as well. I cannot stand the thought of mud drying on my body. I wash my feet after playing sand volleyball for crying out loud. Blech.

Anyway. Hang in there Johnny Castle. I hear that in your next movie, you play a gay cheerleading instructor and I think you will do well in the role. All my best.

Your devoted fan,
ADW