this is fyf

The Gay Bar: A handy name reference

So there's this opening of a new gay bar happening, right? Rod sent me the email notification of its impending arrival, and my reaction was, "This looks horrifying.". Oddly enough, Rod felt differently and wrote a nice little review and encouragement to join him at the opening this coming Monday, October 3rd (see link above).

We've since received another email, this time with photos! (See above and below.) Bartenders dance on the bar...in boots! And tight boot-leg jeans a la cowboys!

Personally, the mere fact it's in Hell's Kitchen is enough to turn me off it, but the additional fact that it will boast a "rootin' tootin'" rodeo-ready staff and theme is the nail in the coffin of my desire to visit. Why such a nay-sayer about what will undoubtedly be the hottest bar in HK for the first few days, if not weeks? Obviously, I'm feeling crabby (for no real reason) today, but I also admit to a rather blind bias against anything country. I grew up with "cowboys" like this down in Alabama and there is nothing hokier, nor more infuriating, than a cheesy fucking country-lovin', gun-totin', rebel-flag flyin', tobacco-spittin' redneck in my book. Hello, Tea-baggers!

Undoubtedly, this will not be that and will be cute and fun and you'll want to become a regular.

To distance us from my heated remarks above, let's look at a handy-dandy Gay Bar naming guide found over on smarty-pants site, Slate. No, really. Go look!!

Interestingly, Flaming Saddles doesn't seem to fit any of the naming conventions explored there...not even "Names that might possibly be double-entendres", so maybe they are in for trouble! Wait...maybe it's "Names that refer to things that get pounded"?

Speaking of...!

Photos courtesy of Flaming Saddles.

Color - particularly multiple strong ones together - can be tricky.

I missed all the fun yesterday (I'm in Alabama for a family matter. Other family, that is.), but - in the spirit - I admire the skillful use of color shown here.

I think you may be taking "God works in mysterious ways" a little too literally, David Tyree.

Akin to praying that God let "the Tigers" - or whichever team you're rooting for - win before a game, David Tyree's assertion that God played a direct role in causing him to make a spectacular catch (albeit one he'd trained his entire life to make) three years ago during a Super Bowl so that he may now serve as a spokesperson against gay marriage is a bit of a stretch.

Not as big a stretch as his catch (below), but a stretch, nonetheless.

If that's God's plan for David...what's Her/His plan for you? Best use of specious reasoning and implausible connections in their own lives to show "the hand of God" wins an ice cream (or two!?) on FYF. Leave yours in the comments, now!

It's Monday and you may have felt like sticking your head in the sand...

If you're like me, though, even today the idea of sticking your head in something claustrophia and sweat-inducing like the product featured here freaks you out. It's the "Ostrich" (Original!), a design concept (note!) from architecture and design studio Kawamura-Ganjavian and is meant to provide escape from your office environs for a few minutes via your desktop. Not sure what putting your hands in it accomplishes (I guess it's helpful should you have an itch) but I applaud the effort, at least. Who knows, it may be incredibly comfortable!

Via

Casual.

I recently saw 'X-Men: First Class' and this is kind of the best (fantasy) summation of it ever

"The X-Men surprisingly didn't explore Mystique's true mutant power: being the ultimate cockblock."

Via

What a wonderful world it would be! (Daily Superpower Edition)

Ability to Pee Rainbows.

Via

It's not we who are trying to "convert" the young...

It's their parents who make them like us.

Via

Tom Hardy helps you forget it's winter.

I'm still trying to fathom how Tom Hardy (above) could have been Bronson (below) AND the guy from Inception, Star Trek Nemesis, RockNRolla, etc, etc.! Now he's set to play Bane in the next Dark Knight installment, a role seemingly requiring him to balloon even bigger than he did for Bronson.

(Hardy in/as Bronson)

Seeing pics harvested from his (now deleted) Myspace profile provide further evidence of his chameleon-like qualities...as well as cement his status as object of lust, despite the inclusion of several "bro"/douche-esque poses and shots (and those tattoos!?).

One constant? Those lips!

I am still uncertain how, and to what extent the whole Lindsay Lohan linking affects my liking him. Still somewhat dispassionate, I pray the allegations of their liaison are proven false.

More (some NSFW) after the jump...

Some laughs to (hopefully) brighten an otherwise bleak day.

Lamebook's a mixed bag, but there's plenty of hilarity to be found in the intellectual wastelands (and sometimes bounty?) of Facebook. Sadly, like the NY Post and Daily News, some of the more telling material is in the comments. Wade in with caution.

More after the jump...

I'm stuck down here in Alabama (where we DO have computers, RT, but also family members with whom interacting - surprisingly?! - burns quite a lot of time, despite how slow things are supposed to be here? ...Or maybe because they're slow? Unclear.) until the latest snow fiasco blows itself out up there, wondering if the attention is worth getting glasses tattooed (poorly!) on his face for this guy and - having caught up with my blood kin - catching up on episodes of Kitchen Impossible and trying to remember the tea on the show's host, Marc Bartolomeo. I seem to remember seeing him around when I first moved to New York...?

More pics of the above tattoo situation as well as reminders of Mr. Bartolomeo's comeliness (NSFW) -- after the jump...

Fun (and utterly NSFW) but surprisingly old video of pantsing surfaces

Nu Hander det igen from They Will Never Catch Us on Vimeo.

It's two years old, but suddenly pops up now?

Oh internets...how you toy!

 

We gotta fight for WHICH love? A rumination on the evolution of a song, soccer player husbands and androgynous first names.

Preface: This post may tell you a lot about how I relate to music...and to the British...and maybe to pop? (You probably already know how I relate to handsomeness.)

Warning, it's a bit circuitous.

First, for the record let me specify that, like pretty much all else I like, I tend to like my song lyrics/topics to be earnest, witty, or at least somewhat thoughtful. Trite evocations of love lost, won and lost again strike my ear (and mind) as boring cliches.

That said, this song -- "Fight for This Love", worked for me the few times I heard it in rotation on my commute (Thanks, Mr. Fox!).

Just the other day, however, while reading a NYMag post about Vampire Weekend covering Cheryl Cole's "Fight for This Love" (quite horrible, I might add.), I realized that the song I knew and didn't mind (that's kind of the extent of it, though there have been times I've gone so far as to "like"?) was NOT the song most people knew; that had gone to the top of the charts in the UK (Don't know, don't care where it went here in the States.) and propelled (apparently), it's singer, Ms. Cheryl Cole (née Tweedy, of Girls Aloud fame.) to solo career success. 

No, the song I sometimes - ok, most of the time - liked was the demo version of her song; a version performed by lyricist Andre Merritt and sent to Ms. Cole to consider for inclusion on her first solo album (which it later was). 

His song is not bad...catchy; ebullient, despite it's subject matter...good, solid R&B-styled Pop. Hers on the other hand...? Listen to each version at the end of this post and pay attention to their delivery and see if you don't agree with me that she's doing all she can just to keep up?!

Anyway...imagine my surprise when I realized there was this whole other version of the song I semi-liked -- the "official" version that I had never heard and that was performed by Mrs. (...at the time. They've since divorced.) Ashley Cole. It really took me a minute to put it all together: where I'd heard of her, where I might have heard the song and why I had a favorable impression of it, despite the horrid execution on her part.

Having teased it all out, I recalled how I'd first heard of Ms. Cole, back when her husband, Ashley, was reported to have been in a gay orgy sex tape, but then won a libel case against the tabs who printed the story (note the preface to the article in the link above.) and were purported to have seen the tape. That and the fact he's kind of sexy (never actually seen him in motion, or talking, so..."sexy".) and a pro-football (i.e. - soccer) player had caught my attention a few years back.

So...this whole post about a rather tepid reaction to a not absolutely terrible song done badly by everyone but its lyricist is really just a vehicle for me to discuss/report a rumor about Ashley Cole's dick/sexuality.

If anyone has any stories/photos/anecdotes, hit me (with them)!!

Here, now - for your further edification -- a version by version comparison:

Andre Merritt (the "demo"):

 

Cheryl Cole:

 

Vampire Weekend:

Vampire Weekend - Fight For This Love (Cheryl Cole Cover) by Hypetrak  

Oh and Ms. Cole's video's quite awful, too. (Not embedded cuz those music exec peeps don't 'llow it for some reason. Guess they think it's stealin' somehow and YOU KNOW how they are 'bout their money!)

Coinci-twitterly

Odd juxtaposition of characters/subjects in my Twitter feed yesterday. Eclipse weirdness or holiday miracle?

I'm sorry, but this cover shot is hilarious. You should add it to your collection. Purchase here.

Everything you always wanted to know...but couldn't shut up long enough to listen to the answer.

Via: Pharmacy Technician

UPDATE: U.S. Mr. Gay 2011, Eddie Rabon, has basked in the glare of the media spotlight previously...BUT you already know that cuz Rod scooped me on this story!?

 

Here's an unexpected look at the inner workings of FYF, kids! See, Rod is a morning person and does his posts every morning before work. I, on the other hand, have traditionally hated daylight, waking up and/or thinking before noon, so I tend to post for the second half of the day (thus the sudden drop-off in number of posts after noon. Eh-heh! I'm working on that though, cuz lord knows it's all about quantity here in the blog world!)

Anyway, after Mr. Jeff Chatterton (Thanks, Jeff! Where're you spinning next?) clued us in to Mr. Rabon's previous appearance on the "national stage" in the comments on Rod's "Mr. Gay 2011" post yesterday, Rod and I apparently had the same idea: to post the video as an update so our readers could share in this vital information regarding our kinds' new national representative. As I sometimes do (ok rarely, but still?), I put together a post on the matter last night with the intention of posting this afternoon. Well...lo and behold! Rod had a whole other take up and posted before I was even at my computer this morning!

So, for the sake of giving you a "behind-the-scenes" look at how the magic happens here at FYF, here's a contrasting take (mine) on the story. Fascinating stuff, isn't it?

-- Back in December of 2009, Mr. Rabon was interviewed for having the dubious distinction of living in one of New York's smallest apartments (55 sq. ft. apparently?).

Fun facts about Eddie to be learned from this video:

• Eddie is "not heavy enough" to hold a murphy bed down (thus the loft bed in the video).
• Eddie takes advantage of Next Magazine's useful calendar issue.
• Eddie does a good job masking his South Carolinan drawl - most of the time (listen for the word "raise", as in his friends tell him they need to get him one so he can afford a larger apartment.).
• Eddie refers to what one does in the bathroom as "doin' some business".

And that, dear readers, is an example of how Rod and I see the world (or a story?) differently. (By the by, Rod...I'm enrolling you in Beauty Pageant 101. It's fairly common practice in beauty pageants for a rep. of a place to not live there, isn't it? Kind of like the Olympics. You know?)

Remember this? Rumors by Timex Social Club (1986)

I came to it - several years after its release, I'm sure - in a roundabout way: hearing my sister listening to Club Nouveau's "Lean on Me" sometime in Middle School (she had it on cassette?! Imagine?). Club Nouveau was a group created by Timex Social Club's original producer, Jay King, after their "break-up", according to Club Nouveau's Wiki, but - as Timex Social Club went on tour that same year with Run DMC - I'm thinking that, like the stories the song attacks, there's a lot here that's unknown (Club Nouveau even recorded a song, "Jealousy" that's apparently an "answer song" to Rumors, but that mostly sounds like a bad rip-off of Rumors' music track and melody...so seems there was, or is, some bad blood - and consequently, RUMORS - swirling around these two acts.)

Who're Tina, Michael and Susan as mentioned in the song? Here's the answer - at the bottom of Timex Social Club's official websites' FAQs (Hint - one was a member of Vanity 6!?)

Spoook-ay!

Abandoned Japanese Disneyland rip-off amusement park realness. DisTURBing!

Hat tip, Paul Vitale.

Halloween Bear Love

 

I finally succumbed to the hype and got Angry Birds and...it's fun, addictive...even brilliant!? ...And now you can "upgrade" to include Halloween themed backgrounds and levels! Yes this post is a total shill!

Video taste after the jump...