this is fyf

Perhaps the most (only?) redeeming aspect of the whole conflama over Lana Del Rey's indie-cred amongst music bloggers is that authenticity is still (implicitly) valued.

(What a buncha fickin' posers!)

~~~~~

Lana Del Rey - Video Games

Lana Del Rey joins Yoann/Woodkid for an encore.

The Onion, but not.

There is a cooking show called "Mad Hungry with Lucinda Scala Quinn".

It is produced by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Anyone else uncertain how much of an "honor" it is an openly gay man is to be appointed social secretary of the White House?

I mean, it kinda reads like a joke, doesn't it? ...Or will - at the least - spawn a few thousand. Was Leno running out of material (I mean this time.)? Is this a last-ditch attempt to shift the economy into drive by employing joke writers (No. Can't be. I mean these write themselves!?)?

Also, isn't the historic aspect of the appointment that it's the first time a man will be appointed social secretary, regardless of sexual orientation?

The fact that the first man appointed to be social secretary also happens to be openly gay seems rife with potentially troubling/regressive equivocations, e.g. - only gay men and women can throws parties; gay men are only effeminate and do "womanly" things; straight men handle "important" things while gay men host parties, and etc.

Certainly, this is an honor for Mr. Bernard and is positively affirming of gays in general. In my opinion, how much of a breakthrough it is for all of us is still up for debate, however.

Via

Rolling Stone pic of Glee's Chris Colfer is a gay minstrel joke.

DISCLAIMER:  I'm not a "Gleek".

Above please find a picture of 20 year-old actor  Chris Colfer who plays 16 year-old "Kurt" on the television show "Glee", taken in for the upcoming "television issue" of Rolling Stone.  I came across this while taking a break from some late-night living room cleaning, and something bothered me about it.  Since I couldn't put my finger on what that was, I presented it to the This Is FYF page on Facebook (which you should "like" for the occasional "bonus content") to get reader feedback on the shot:

• "Lucky Kurt."
• "A transition from preppy youth to trade adulthood."
• "She needs the real thing and found it and will never look backwards unless told to do so."
• "Once you go black (leather) you never go back."
• "PeeWee's Huge Adventure."
• "I'm jeaulous.  Also, this image is mildly offensive. Or is it? Let's ask Jann Wenner what he thinks."
• "Dont care cause it looks like "gay" or at least " gay sexuality" is the joke and that makes me angry. ... sorry im so pc over it but consider my job. Im over the idea of aggressive gay sexuality being funny. nobody laughs at the idea of a dominatrix"
• " ... the picture is not just caught up in sexuality, gay, aggressive, or otherwise, either. Let’s not forget the other two elephants in the room: The representations of gender and class. The picture is practically Blanche being ganged up on by 12 Stanleys."
• "Literally, the first thing I thought, 'Swarthy guy in the vest is a bottom and I want to know more'."

All good responses, and there were more along similar veins.  Still something was bothering me so I took a glance at the other shots included in this special "television issue" which put the  main character in a strong heroic pose.  (Chelsea Handler is shooting fire from her mount like a mighty dragon!)  After more consideration, and some intense midnight Mop 'N Gloing of the living room it hit me:  This picture shows the lead character as an unconfidentand, asexual eunuch.  It took me a moment, but I finally knew what was bothering me.  As I wrote last night:

"I just see it as dishonest, because you know what? I was that boy. I was in the Eagle on the West Side Highway wearing plaid pants and a light blue cashmere sweater. And I was also wearing a big shit-eating grin, because I knew exactly where I was, and more importantly why. I'm a gay man and I own my fucking sexuality. The lack of that confidence and power in the picture is what strikes me as off."

So, yeah, this picture is a gay minstrel joke about a, well, gay-ish show about minstrels.  

DISCLAIMER:  I'm still not a "Gleek".  In fact, I'm now "DisaGleeable".

That new version of 'Jersey Shore' set in Koreatown? Its "The Situation" is befuddling me.

So it's old news that everyone (in the jump-a-trend-and-ride-it-to-death vein of business) and their mother is doing a take-off of 'Jersey Shore'. There's a Russian-American one (Brighton Beach) and - though I didn't know this - one set in a nursing home? Then, there's this one with an Asian-American cast.

Now, much of the appeal of the original was its mix of boobs - both male and female (though, you gotta admit, mostly male!) - booze and...well, boobs (idiots)! Koreatown sticks to the same formula with similarly tacky/trashy-and-proud-of-it Asian-Americans (though slightly skewed more towards the FLASHY end of the spectrum, as opposed to just trashy/tacky)...at least from the looks of the press photos.

Produced by Tyrese (?), the show hasn't been picked up by a network or cable channel yet, so they may be looking for all the press/attention they can get. Still, one thing about the story of the Koreatown show - an aspect that was clearly pitched to the Post and likely sold the piece - confuses me, given that the boys of Jersey Shore were (unsurprisingly) overtly heterosexual and fairly defensive when it came to any question regarding their sexuality. Sure, there was the whole thing with The Situation having been a former dancer with the strip troupe 'All American Male', but particular brand of "erotic entertainment" still invests energy in maintaining that it is primarily for bachelorette parties and lonely/horny women everywhere, as opposed to anything gay.  In the Koreatown cast, however, we've got one Peter Le...also known as Peter Fever, a porn star of sorts whose website includes thousands of photos and videos of him in various "erotic" situations. One - in an image NSFW (after the jump) - shows him apparently getting hard while looking at photos of naked men. It's a video and I'm not a member of his website so I can't ascertain the exact situation (ha HA!) or whether it might be pictures of himself he's jacking to, but - regardless - he's gone much further than any self-respecting (is that oxymoronic?) cast member of 'Jersey Shore' would into the gray area of gay-for-pay porn and is seemingly unconcerned about possibly appearing bisexual or even homosexual. 

 

(Any image after the jump is NOT safe for work)

Pride? The Scott McMahan Response

For Pride 2010, we asked an eclectic group for their take on Gay Pride.   From living to loathing, the responses cover a wide spectrum - a rainbow of opinion, perhaps?

Makeup and grooming artist Scott McMahan has been seen around these parts before and will hopefully be seen again soon.  Here's his take: 

A few weeks ago my partner, Jorge, told me that he had never seen the '70's sitcom, Soap. For Christ's sake, Jodie Dallas was the first openly gay character on a weekly TV series! I added Soap to our Netflix instant viewing queue lickety split, and we got to watching. 

As much as I enjoyed revisiting the Campbells and Tates, I was kind of shocked by the kind of gay bashing in the name of comedy they got away with. It made me think.

OMG You guys!!! You can see Sex and the City 2! Tonight! With director Michael Patrick King!!!

 
 The Museum of the Moving Image is hosting a special preview screening of Sex and the City 2:  The Milking of the Cow tonight at the Beekman Theater.  There's a bonus: 

This special preview screening will be followed by an exclusive conversation with Michael Patrick King, who wrote and directed more than 30 episodes of the popular TV series, and wrote and directed the first movie, Sex and the City.

This gives you the unique opportunity to ask King why he presents all of his gay characters as caricatures.  Stanford Blatch and "the other one" are like a one-note piano constantly playing an out-of-tune shrill note.  

Reviews are in, too.  Let's check in with one of my favorite reviewers and a fellow homosexual, The Observer's Rex Reed:

Tired of being called the heterosexual equivalent of Armistead Maupin's gay West Coast lampoon Tales of the City in the San Francisco Chronicle, this installment opens with Carrie in a man's tuxedo, playing the best man at a gay wedding almost as vulgar as the homophobic one-liners about the minister, played by-are you ready?-Liza Minnelli, who parodies herself by telling the congregation, "Marriage is serious ... or so they tell me," before blasting off with Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)."

Tickets are still available!

Headlines and Search Engines: Rod is slowly winning this battle...

This is, apparently, Taylor Momsen, a girl about whom I know nothing, yet with whose name I can write the "perfect" headline in terms of getting page hits.

In journalism's prime, i.e. - when print was king, headlines were an art form unto themselves. Wit, pithiness and a bit of a come-hither (and read) attitude were necessary ingredients to create a good headline. As this New York Times article reports, headlines today - particularly those read online - are another matter entirely.

Upshot? Basically we're whores for Google. Again.

Oh, right. You wanted a Black Party update!

So I rewatched Avatar for the second time last night and - perhaps due to the close proximity in time - actor Stephen Lang's over-the-top and wildly caricatured portrayal of evil Colonel Miles Quadritch instantly made me think of the Black Party.

Having recently spurred a massive discussion thread elsewhere in cyberland on the subject of faux/poseur masculinity and the Black Party, I am hesitant to open another can of worms, but - you have to admit - how funny is it to think of the Colonel on the dance floor at the BP?

Did you SEE the hands-on-hips pose he pulled after strapping in to his robot suit?...The whole bench press fetish scene with Jake?...Pretty much EVERYTHING he did or said??!!

I mean, really. It's pure camp!

(We'll quit teasing you with faux BP items now. Sorry for jerking your chain!)

Sugar('s) Daddy Ken

  

Perfectly coiffed, frosted hair. Check.
White slacks; ornately patterned smoking jacket. Check.
Mandals, swim trunks and sunglasses. Check.
Palm Beach residence. Check.
Toy dog on pink leash. Check.

Nod to sodomy with a pricetag of $69. Pricelessssssssssssss.

Via our mailbox.  Thanks Thom Geraghty.

As a follow-up to the Creation Museum post, there's something anthropological ("We must adopt the natives'  culture to better study them."), as well as sad? absurd? telling? about all this:  "We Pretend We're Christian"

Am I a specimen, to be studied? You're giving me that "lab rat" feeling, New York Mag's Daily Intel Sex Diary commenters!

   

(Image by A.D. Winans)

There's a lively bunch o' commenters over at New York Mag's Daily Intel's  Sex Diary. The Sex Diary is purportedly autobiographical and covers a week in the author's sex life, but it seems there's invariably at least one comment tinged (if not coming right out, baldly) with disbelief and suspicion regarding the true origin of the week's diary. What's funny to me; however, is when the subject is a gay male, the commenters (mostly regulars who don't miss a week) show varying levels of ignorance and confusion regarding gay male's sexual habits/practices.  More then that, it's surprising to me what - specifically - is surprising/shocking/unknown about male homo-sex for the commenters. This past week, there was immense confusion over the 25-year old protagonist's attraction to a 40-year old sexual partner with the conclusion arrived at being it must be a "kept" situation (as if a young man is inherently more valuable and more desirable to ALL than an older one, and thus must be held to the older male by money, or some equivalent trade-off).

It's fast and furious, so I recommend reading a few before diving in and telling them all "what for", but regardless it's entertaining enough to while away a Monday afternoon, scratching one's head at the naivete.

Further ruminations on masculinity

Part 4 in an ongoing series of posts relating to masculinity and sexuality, with the intension of exploring why the hell everyone's got their panties in a wad over Johnny Weir's Pretty Pretty Princess skating outfits.

Old Spice has made its name vis-a-vis its "manly" cred, so this commercial isn't really a departure for them. Yet, personally, the whole concept of smelling "like a man" vs. like a woman is twisted when I really think about it. Gardenias smell "pretty" i.e. - sweet, and somehow that's strongly linked to femininity? Since when does any bodily smell make us think of flowers...or sandalwood?? I mean...?

Your boy in the video DOES have some nice junk in his trunk. Just sayin'.

"Butch It Up, Buttercup"? Really?

As part of an ongoing rumination (Thanks Johnny and Evan!) on the intersection of masculinity and sexuality, here's a cheesy, cliche, yet probably remarkably savvy (i.e. - lucrative) marketing idea/business that makes me cringe intensely: Butch Bakery (Oh I hope it's a "clever" "joke"!)

Rather than help out their bottom line, however...how about this? Go see Jose over at Big Booty. He's serving up unbothered masculinity AND cunty baked goods cuz he's got it like that! As do we! As does Johnny W. even, cuz...I mean...if eating a cupcake threatens your masculinity, you got some ISSUES!! Hello.

New York Mag's Daily Intel (just!) reported on it, and seems to be giving the "concept" more credit than (I think) it's due.

HKXL

This news is old enough to be your daddy, but here you go:

Gay Hotel/Nightlife complex on West 42nd? Off? On? We've heard both.

Not as hateful as it sounded to me at first...half of me (guess which) thinks it could be kind of (kitschy) fun, while the other half sputters passionately, but unconvincingly, about gay ghettoes and boring uniformity.

The project also apparently inspires photo collaging as both Curbed and NY Mag's Daily Intel coverage includes a mash-up of the building and someone they've ostensibly chosen to represent WAY GAY...

More: New York Mag Daily Intel  & John Blair's website

There was what some would call call "homosexual representation" during the Super Bowl, if you consider "minstrel acts" representation.  Will it win a GLAAD award?