Tradition says that Buddha summoned all animals to visit him before he departed from earth. When the Cat heard about the Buddha’s request, he told the Rat, and the two decided to go together the next day. However, the next morning the dastardly Rat did not wake the Cat, so Cat never made it. Buddha, therefore, did not designate a year for the cat. (This goes a long way to explaining why cats hate rats.) The Rat’s tricks did not end there. Rat persuaded the Ox to let him ride on its head to the assembly. The Ox agreed and they traveled together. Just when they were about to reach their destination, the clever rat jumped off the ox’s head and got through the finish line first – before all 12 animals who also came to offer Buddha farewell. As a token of appreciation for the animals’ respects, Buddha named a year after each of them in the order they arrived. This is why the Year of the Rat is the first of the 12-year cycle and the Year of the Ox is the second, followed by the Year of the Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

This is the Year of the Pig. Those born in Pig years tend to have excellent manners, make and keep friends, work very hard and appreciate luxury. They are very loving and make loyal partners. Lucille Ball, Humphrey Bogart, Hillary Clinton, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ernest Hemingway and Arnold Schwarzenegger were all born in the year of the pig.

A contingent of San Diegans ventured to Seattle two weeks ago to show support and witness the ascension ceremony of Nicole Murray-Ramirez as the Queen Mother of the Americas, making her the titular head of the International Courts System, the second largest GLBT organization in the world, with over 68 chapters in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The Imperial Courts System was founded by José Sarria more than 42 years ago in San Francisco. The Queen Mother promises to be a humble servant to the people. I will make sure she keeps her promise of being humble … Love you, Nicole. Mean it!

Led by Emperor Robi Cox, Empress Norma and a large group of courtiers, the contingent also included Councilmember Toni Atkins, Jennifer LeSar, Tom Faulkner, Big Mike, Steve Miller, Rick Ford, Sherman Mendoza, Ben Dillingham and City Commissioners Julia Legaspi, Bruce Abrams, Todd Gloria and Jess San Roque.

While in Seattle, I took in the breathtaking sights above the Space Needle. Seattle is a nice cosmopolitan city with fabulous shopping and many great restaurants. One of these is Ivar’s Salmon House overlooking Lake Union, famous for cooking fresh Atlantic salmon over an open-pit, alder-wood fire. Also good was the crab omelet at Maximilian at the Public Market by the seafront. Seattle’s drawback is its gloomy and dreary weather, but I can attest to the fact that the boys are hot and friendly. Very friendly indeed!

The Oscars is undeniably the crown jewel of all awards shows. For days, part of Hollywood Boulevard near the Kodak Theatre was closed down in preparation for the big night. Ellen DeGeneres was OK in her debut as host, and there were some good moments, such as pitching her screenplay to Martin Scorcese, and having Steven Spielberg take a picture of her with Clint Eastwood. The Philobolus Dance Troupe was fantastic as it formed shadow pictures from some of the nominated films. Top on my list in the fabulous gown department were Penelope Cruz in a dusty rose Versace ball gown with a sweeping tiered skirt; Reese Witherspoon in an eggplant layered asymmetric gown by Nina Ricci; and Jennifer Lopez in a lilac chiffon empire gown by Marchesa with a dramatic Cleopatra collar of very large crystals. My fashion faux pas list includes Jennifer Hudson and her ridiculous Jetson’s metallic shrug and Cameron Diaz in a tragic white origami fishtail gown.

For those of us that did not get invited to the Kodak Theatre, there were several Oscar parties in West Hollywood, including a fun soirée at the East West benefiting Project Angel Food; the ultra-chic, black-tie dinner at The Abbey benefiting AIDS Project Los Angeles; and the hip party at the Here Lounge benefiting the Trevor Project. Seen out and about were T.R. Knight, who plays George on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Nick Varnaros of “Project Runway,” J.P. from “Survivor” and Marsalis from “Big Brother.”

Aside from the Oscars, there was another big awards show held in San Francisco this past weekend. Comedienne Kathy Griffin was warmly received by “her gays” with standing ovations as the host of the gay porn Oscars – The GAYVN Awards – held at the landmark Castro Theatre. Kathy, whose dad passed away a week ago, was fantastic and kept the evening fun and fast paced. All Worlds Video won two awards – Bi-Back Mountain, produced by Rick Ford, won the Best Bisexual Video, and Delinquents was voted the Most Rented Video of the Year. For a complete list of winners, go to gayvnawards.com.

The night before, Colt Studio, known for its massively muscular guys originally photographed by Jim French, celebrated its 40th Anniversary at the War Memorial Museum. With search lights piercing the sky, huge white banners fluttering outside with the Colt logo, and red spotlights illuminating the building, the veritable who’s who of the gay adult industry was in attendance. There were so many hot porn stars sipping cosmopolitans, culminating with hot muscle stud Carlo Massi coming out of a giant cake. Comedian Alec Mapa, who has appeared in numerous productions on Broadway, was the featured entertainer. You may also recognize Alec with his recurring role on “Desperate Housewives” playing alongside Eva Longoria as a pageant coach for little girls. In conversation with Alec, I found out that Eva’s hair and make-up person is none other than former San Diegan and Emperor Gabor. Seems hunky Gabor has done well for himself in Hollywood.

These two sure added a lot to these gay affairs, which is more than I can say for gay comedian Ant, who was a recent guest performer for a gay chorus’ concert in San Diego. Ant took a cheap shot at a well-respected audience member and insulted him as being the oldest gay person in the theater and he (Ant) might even sleep with this “old” man if he has only six months to live. All I can say to Ant is “go back into your hole.” You are not funny and certainly insulting an audience member is uncalled for. Maybe that’s why he didn’t go very far in “Last Comic Standing.” Remember Michael Richards?

On Thursday, March 15, I will be hosting a special video release party for In His Dreams, featuring Rascal Exclusive Johnny Hazzard, at Bacchus House. Porn stud Johnny won the GayVN Performer of Year in 2006 and has starred in such triple-X blockbusters as Wrong Side of the Tracks and Bolt. Johnny is also spreading his wings and venturing into music, having just recorded his first dance single, “Deeper Into You.” Johnny will be dancing on stage, answering questions, signing autographs and giving away his videos. While in San Diego, he will also be shooting a fashion photo layout for Rufskin Jeans, that really cool company based right in San Diego headed by fashion forward Hubert and Doug. You have seen many Rufskin layouts in Rocket magazine and Pix. So make sure you all come and see me and Johnny Hazzard live.

It’s that time of year, so get your leather gear on for the leatherfest of the year. The Ms. San Diego Leather contest takes place on Saturday, March, 10 at 7 p.m. at Numbers, while the Mr. San Diego Leather contest will be on Saturday, March 17, at 7 p.m. at Rich’s. There are many events at local bars leading up to the big nights, and culminating with a victory brunch on Sunday, March, 18 at 10 a.m. at Park Manor. More info online at www.mrsandiegoleather.net.