this is fyf

Meatball Shop makes balls for tonguin'; has co-owner who inspires lust.

Yeah, shove 'em in your mouth.

Speaking of delicious...

His name is Michael Chernow (that's him on the right), he's got some tangy, mouth-watering balls, he can kick your ass and he's totally unavailable. The perfect mark/trick/man/marriage potential, right? (Wrong! But I'm not fucking spoiling the fantasy right now!)

As for his co-owner and their shop, they're aiming squarely below the belt (among the geiz, anyways). I mean, this picture? Come ON! Further evidence: Run your mouse across the meatball sandwich on the top right of their home page. Scripted for porn, no?

Oh, and they're doing damn well as far as business goes, too.

Interestingly, Mr. Chernow reminds us a bit of FYF Friend Paul Pino, who's also in the food business. Head over to Good on Greenwich Avenue (just down from the Shequinox flagship!) for brunch on Sundays (It's delicious!) and tell him we said, "Hello!".

This whole reverie triggered by Dave Bry over at The Awl.

Essex Street Market has the most delicious chocolate-covered bacon...

(Doesn't it look good!?)

Possibly the only chocolate-covered bacon? Unsure. Regardless, there are some "renewal" plans in the works for that area of the Lower East Side that would - apparently - move the Essex Street Market and replace it with parking lots?! Someone must have their facts mixed up 'cuz I can't for the life of me make any sense of that proposal. Regardless of the truth or misconception involved, here's hoping Roni-Sue's Chocolates is fully protected and included in the "new" Essex Street Market - wherever that may be - should these seemingly crock-headed plans come to fruition.

For those unfamiliar: Essex Street Market

This Super Bowl Snack Recipe results in some delicious balls

The above are mighty tempting to this Buffalo Wing afficionado...and the whole thing - courtesy of Thrillist - is ripe for punnery...a fact they (per usual) haven't failed to pick up on, ending their blurb with, "Use this recipe and your balls will be intercepted more times than Eli Manning"

Intercepted?? Come ON Thrillist!? UrbanDaddy would've taken these balls and run with them!

More of Thrillist's suggested snacks from around the nation here.

Spicy Buffalo Wing Balls ("MmmMM! I CAN'T keep them out of my MOUTH!") recipe by Daniel Holzman of The Meatball Shop after the jump...

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

Via: Pharmacy Technician

It's "This weekend...", but different. What should we name it?

We're trying something new. Rather then write-up a weekend roundup every Thursday or Friday, I'm making the FYF Calendar listings more "helpful" and posting a short "check the Calendar" reminder here in a post.

In this trial run, tonight's performance by Merideth Kaye Clark at Arlene's Grocery (7pm!)  with percussion by FYF Contributor and friend Mr. Ricky Marson (he taught himself to play for this very gig!) is the highlight and teaser to check the rest of the listings.

Thoughts? Also, names?

This weekend... (Well...Thursday night, actually.)

So tonight's a busy one (even Rod's posting shit to do!) and I wanted to write up a quickie outlining all that's going on (well, maybe not ALL) just for tonight as they're all pretty near and dear to my heart (or some body part...) so I wanna give 'em a push all their own!

First, there's two art openings: one's a group show of art by former and current staff of 303 Gallery at the gallery's space in Chelsea. Walt Cassidy (f/k/a Walt Paper) has a piece in the show - called "Closed for Installation" - and is the reason I mention it/know about it. It's an early one (5 - 7:30pm) which leaves you plenty of time to hit the second opening, Justin Russo's "Who's No Lady?" - featuring NYC Drag favorites such as Sherry Vine, Varla Jean Merman and Joey Arias - at XES Lounge a few blocks away (8pm - ).

Later, DJ Nita celebrates her birthday in grand style by having 8 DJs join her for her birthday Beatdown at Santos Party House, including Michael Magnan, Gant Johnson, Josh Sparber, Christy Love, SPANK (Will and Sean B.), Sammy Jo, JohnJohn Fields and Ryan McKnight (11pm).

Special Mention: The exquisitely named Pussy Faggot! and Sodomighty parties are also tonight and also involve people close to my heart. Jools Palmer and Dirty Jean, as well as Leo Herrera and HOUSE OF LADOSHA! (TWERK!) among (many) others are part of Pussy Faggot! (8pm) while DJ Chauncey D holds it down for his party, Sodomighty (10pm).

Thursday is artsy-fartsy...and then you get Beat.

  

Rod posted earlier about the Silent Noise art auction happening tonight in DUMBO. FYF friends Chris Barreto, Cameron Dailey and Mr. Means/Jeffrey Means have works in what promises to be an eclectic (and wallet-friendly) show.

Also tonight, Adam Razak opens a show of his latest work on the Upper East Side where DJ Lina puts the needle on the record when the drum beats go like this...

Speaking of beats, THE Beat is at R-Bar tonight with guest DJs Lady Miss Kier and Savage Skulls! Here's this month's mix from BOOKWORMZ (a/k/a Residents Nita and Michael Magnan).

Pic: 'Reticence' by Adam Razak

This weekend... (If you're not Bear-ing all)

   
Image that came up when I googled "Shaved Bear".  Maybe he's the tattoo artist?

Tonight: 

Mr. Mark DeMaio is a painter friend and is showing his paintings at ViG 27, where Corey TuT will play a set for our entertainment.  (8pm)

Unitard returns to NYC at Comix for a one night only encore. (8pm)

Lady and Roxy Cottontail are making heads roll at Bar 13 (the just-announced "secret" Spank Rock performance will really kill!)! (10pm)

Andy the Barber is heading to P-Town for the season so Code at the Eagle is hosting a Barber Blitz as a send-off. (10pm)

Take a trip to the Lower East Side, and the early 1980's via Deluxx Fluxx, an art installation that evokes the decade of the video arcade.  From London's Faile and Brooklyn's Bast, the showing at158 Allen Street runs through May 27. 

Via T Magazine.

Tonight (Thursday is the new...Nevermind.)

TONIGHT:

Big Apple Dodgeball (B.A.D.) is going 80s at the Eagle where they'll be joined (on the roof) later in the evening by a contingent of Mr. Blevins' fans, friends and well-wishers celebrating his visit from L.A. later.  (7pm, The Eagle)

Mr. Alejandro is following Mr. Blevins' example and moving out west. As a goodbye, he's co-hosting Josh Wood's Fox at The Park tonight where he'll be accepting well-wishers as well! (10pm, The Park)

Dueling Dance Dens round out the night's offerings as Deputy and Sean B. give a retro-futuristic feel a la Disco at Xanadude (Flaming Swords Battle!) at K&M Bar in Williamsburg, while Michael Magnan, Nita and the Palms Out crew (Jason Pants and Chaz Requina) welcome House of Stank at a new location for The Beat, the Fat Baby basement. (10pm, K&M Bar & 11pm, Fat Baby)

This week (well, Tuesday)...

Something called "The Men Event" is partnered with Next Magazine to host a networking (I think?) event and charity bachelor auction at Dave and Buster's near Times Square tomorrow night. No jokes about the bachelors bombing, please.

One of the bachelors is from Cheer New York and my boy Felipe is getting the word out about this event. It sounds uber-gay, so get there and support, homos! Nothing better then cuteness for a cause! (Dave & Buster's, 6pm)

Speaking of cute, Justin Russo's latest installment of his solo show, "Temptation of the Absolute Mask" kicks off tonight and goes through June 7th. The show is an exhibition of his work depicting iconic beauties of Hollywood's yesteryear such as Hedy Lamarr, Jean Harlow, Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth via three-dimensional masks. (Market Cafe, 7pm)

Pretty much everything this evening falls within the "cute" category, actually. Not straying from the theme: Josh Sparber and Garrett Magee celebrate their birthdays simultaneously with DJs Michael Magnan, Nita and Will spinning and Ladyfag giving Natalie Merchant (?)...or something about 10,000 maniacal gays.  The party's called "The Whole Mishpacha" which, despite Mr. Winick's helpful reference for understanding yiddish, I don't understand. I don't care though, because it'll be hella fun, no doubt. (Los Feliz, 9pm)

Finally...but also hella fun...Erik Karff kicks off a new night at the Phoenix called Bitchin'  Flow where he'll play old skool hip-hop, underground and street jamz. (Phoenix Bar, 10pm)

Image of Jean Harlow by Justin Russo

Dot. special birthday edition also tomorrow

 DJ Nita Aviance, Eddie Black and Chris Hartless are celebrating a special "sistah"'s birthday with this month's Dot. 

The third Thursday of every month, Dot. is a gathering of like-minded queens who just want one thing, really (it's not complicated!)....to be WRECKED!

Held in the basement of Uncle Charlie's Downtown, Dot. takes you back  (in a VERY good way) to the beats of yesteryear, when you arrived at a dance party before the sun came up and left after it had gone back down. 

Nita provides the tunes and Eddie and Harlow TURN it! 

Big Art Group...again

 
 
As Rod mentioned in the previous post about Big Art Group's 10th anniversary, they're taking over the Abrons Arts Center at the Henry Street Settlement for the weekend, presenting two shows and two video installations. 

To further celebrate, there's an opening night (Thursday night) party at The Delancey Bar called Pussy Faggot with a humongous cast of notorious characters. The evening starts off with Joe Birdsong and Hattie Hathaway's Reading for Filth at 8pm down in the basement and continues through the wee hours with hosts Earl Dax and Penny Arcade and a slew of performances/personalities spread about. Check the link for a full rundown of all that will transpire.

While we're on the subject, The Abrons Arts Center is a haven for avant-garde performance and one of the few remaining locations downtown. They need supporters and it'd be a damn shame if they had to close their doors. Help 'em out, ya'll! 

Photo via

Statistics determine the best neighborhood in New York for the homosexual man.

The title of best neighborhood in New York is regularly handed out using different criteria each time.  The latest entry into this unwinnable argument is the newest issue of New York magazine.  The annual "Neighborhood" boasts a "livability calculator"  as created by the much esteemed Nate Silver.  Yes, THE Nate Silver that predicted with amazing accuracy the turnout of the 2008 presidential elections.  (A personal disclaimer about Nate Silver:  A guy that is a statistics genius is perhaps the dream lover that I will never have.  Math geniuses could go to the front of the line, if, like, there was a line.  Sigh.) 

Their result is that Park Slope is the best neighborhood in New York.  This is completely true and accurate.  If you are a white girl with a baby bump and banker husband and you are want that little baby bump to end up at a great school.  Our result varies, greatly.

The problem is, as referenced above,  that Silver's weighting of the criteria is highly heteronormative.  By making adjustments reflecting some homonormative values to every one of the twelve criteria in the livability calculator, we had a different result that pushed Park Slope from number one to seven.  And the new winner?  The East Village.  

(Note, of course, the adjustments made were suitable to my homosexual lifestyle.  Yours, of course, may vary.)

- Affordability/Housing:  More important!  The budget for travel and nice things in the home and the closet exceeds the desire to pay a landlord.
- Transit/Proximity:  Less!  Walking or biking is often a better alternative, so that extra block or two is okay.
- Shopping:  More!  Those nice things for the home and closet, remember?  
- Safety/Crime:  Less!  Just slightly lowered, but guys tend to worry a bit less about this issue than ladies or moms.
- Restaurants:  More!  
- Schools:  Totally wiped this one out!  Seriously, keep those kids away from my house.
- Diversity:  About the same.
- Creative Capital:  More!  The neighborhood without inspiration is just a place to live, and that's it.
- Housing Quality:  Less!  We can handle the renovations ourselves, thanks.
- Green Space:  More!  For all that walking and biking mentioned above.
- Health & Environment:  About the same.
- Bars & Nightlife:  More!  Because we just like to go out and have some fun.  

Again, you can change the priorities on the calculator yourself, and hopefully share them in the comments.  With our fine tuning, the neighborhoods for the homosexual man in New York, presented in order of livability:

1. East Village
2. Lower East Side
3. DUMBO/Downtown Brooklyn
4. Cobble Hill/Boerum Hill
5. Red Hook
6. Carroll Gardens/Gowanus
7. Park Slope
8. West Village/Meatpacking
9. Nolita/Little Italy
10. Tribeca

This Weekend...

 
 Malcolm McLaren

...Snaxx returns as if from the heavens (Friday, 10pm, Westside Tavern basement), DJs Bill Coleman and Lina were birthed at F Word where they're The Ones (Friday, 10pm, Rebel), Sparber and Ladosha are giving me a banjee effeck when they Move It (Friday, 11pm, Sugarland), Ricardo Studmuffin brings a dance party to the Eagle (Saturday, 10pm, The Eagle), Amanda Lepore is/is not in CRISIS (Saturday, 10pm, Elevate) Family Function continues to DYS all haters (Saturday, 10pm, Woody's), House's roots are showing at Trippin' on the Moon 4 (Saturday, 10pm, Santos Party House) while its legends continue to age (Danny Krivit's Birthday/718 Sessions - Sunday, 6pm, Santos Party House) and sister homo-pub GAYLETTER enters "midlife" to tunes from Michael Magnan and Telfar (Sunday, 10pm, Hiro),  

Other things happening this weekend (and just slightly less obviously gay/cruisy?): 

• Dunno him well, but Mr. John J. Zullo has a dance company that's performing at a festival happening in Long Island City this weekend (who knew?) and - shallowly - he's hot and looks extremely flexible (Saturday, 8 - 9pm, Green Space Studio) 
• Malcolm McLaren's death this week sent me down the Wiki rabbit hole after details of his life and others of his ilk. There, I learned a lot more about Jayne County ("Legendary!" was the previous extent.) that only increased my respect for her. I'll leave you to trace the degrees of separation, but a weekend long event at the Chelsea Hotel is named in her honor and is displaying some of her artwork. (Friday - Sunday, Chelsea Hotel - Opening event at 8pm on Friday)
• Speaking of queer rock and post-punk...QxBxRx may be showcasing the next wave this weekend? (Saturday, 10pm, Cake Shop)
• Girlfriend Greg Lockard and co-creator Mike DiMotta are debuting their new comic book  "Miss Thing Werk" at the Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art Fest 2010 this weekend. Hi-larious! Congrats, boys! (Saturday & Sunday, 11am-6pm, 69th Regiment Armory)

And to all your birthday boys out there, Happy Birthday!

Image via

This weekend: Tomorrow (Good!...Friday!)

 

• Walt Cassidy (ne Paper) hosts an opening for an exhibition of his recent works at  Invisible-Exports tomorrow night from 6 to 8pm. The Protective Motif, Apr. 2nd - May 9th. Map


• Sugar Daddy returns, with Gustavo and Bill Pfeiffer on decks and Paul Short oiling the works, at Club Rush (ne Heaven, ne King). "Scat" Liapis behind the bar. 10pm to 4am.

BATTLE! 4 Thursdays...

VS.

 

Ladyfag, Roxy Cottontail, Jason the Black Teenwolf and Rainblo (Headz Will Roll. Weekly @ La Pomme) go head-to-head against Michael Magnan, Nita Aviance, the Palms Out Sounds boys (Chaz Requina and Jason Pants) and Birdy (The Beat. Monthly @ R Bar) tomorrow night as both crews debut their new Thursday parties. 

Walk for me. Walk for me. Who will take first prize?? Will it be very "The Beat's Headz Will Roll"? Or very "Headz Will Roll gets The Beat-down"?? Hit them both up and see for yourself!

(Free MM and Nita "The Beat - Vol. 2" mix download here.)

This weekend. Oh so many things to do!

  

(Actually NOT gays in the future, but rather the past...or at least how the governments of many African nations are treating the gays in their countries, treatment which should be in the DISTANT past. Not cool, Malawi, Uganda, etc. Not cool. Here's hoping the future for gays is as vibrant as the colors this pair is wearing!)

Given...it's Black Party Weekend. I wonder if - centuries from now when homosexuality is as accepted amongst humans as having opposable thumbs, and power homos have successfully instituted global holidays (Federal what? Not no more!) in keeping with key dates in homo history - Black Party Weekend's original "meaning" will be as unconscious and forgotten as the meaning behind, say...President's Day?

Back here in the Present, tonight sees DJ Will Automagic kickin' out the jam at Galapagos over in DUMBO (GUMBO), DJ Gustavo spinning  New Wave at Rockbar in the West Village (Whip It!) and DJ Nita giving you CLASSICS on the LES (Uncle Charlie's) in a dank, dark (and completely appropriate) basement (Dot!). It's also opening night of Josh Wood's new Thursday party at The Park (restaurant) in Chelsea with DJ Corey Craig (Fox!). 

Weaver's World: Sandra Bernhard takes the stage with the Scissor Sisters. Bowery Ballroom. Wednesday, March 17.

  

If FYF were forced to choose between Gaga and Beyonce, we'd choose Desi Santiago, who was "Gaga-esque" long before Gaga, and is currently responsible - at least in part - for dressing her. While helping her push stylistic envelopes, he's also (always) pushing his own artistic ones, evidence of which can be seen in his solo show, Declare Void, at Envoy Enterprises, opening tomorrow.