this is fyf

If you have foreskin, don't make the mistake Guy Ritchie did: DO NOT MARRY MADONNA!

A travesty of compassion/empathy/good judgement.

David Wojnarowicz "A Fire in My Belly" - Smithsonian, National Portrait Gallery Edit from ppow_gallery on Vimeo.

 

The level of indifference and callousness and the utter lack of compassion shown by the National Portrait Gallery in the controversy over the removal of David Wojnarowicz' "A Fire in My Belly" from the  "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture" exhibition on display now is as epic as the significance of the mounting of the show in the first place.

Despite inviting the controversy and going to the trouble of mounting a giant exhibition focused on sexuality for the first time, The National Portrait Gallery removed a "controversial" piece showing ants (God's creations, no?) crawling on a (poorly!) manmade object depicting a horrific torture/capital punishment technique of the Roman empire, because this was deemed sacrilegious to individuals who put way too much emphasis on the temporal and material in their spirituality, not to mention who have giant chips on their shoulders and are on constant guard for a "fight"; i.e. - are bullies.

Now, despite the insensitivity of removing something deemed offensive to a group/religion's sensibilities who have almost everything to do with the continued ostracization and - implicitly - abuse/death of homosexuals (the primary focus of the show, remember?), the National Portrait Gallery has chosen to turn down a request by an artist - a homosexual personally touched by the AIDS crisis, which was the subject of the piece that was removed - to have his piece (which remains in the exhibition) removed from the show. What's worse? The piece is a picture of the body of his partner Felix, shortly after his death from AIDS in 1994. So basically...The National Portrait Gallery wants their cake (AIDS included in a show about homosexual art. Which is a no-brainer, obviously.) and eat it, too ("Oh, sure Catholic League! We'll remove a piece important to the people the show's actually for because you got your knickers all in a twist!").

Way to undermine practically any good this exhibition might have done, inept governmental officials improperly influenced and bullied by idiotic blowhard politicians who seem primarily to like to hear themselves speak, as opposed to engaging in any real thought.

I applaud the Gallery for undertaking mounting this exhibition, but utterly denounce their handling of the ensuing (and likely welcome?) controversy. Way to utterly piss us off, asshats.

AA Bronson's Felix, June 5, 1994 after the jump...

My, that's some in-depth research you've done there, sir! (Ugandan homophobia looks a lot like interest?)

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Demonstrations AND photos? Wow. YOU, sir...have gone above and beyond!

I remember (to my chagrin and deep embarrassment) getting caught perusing a male "erotic nude" photography book at my hometown Barnes & Nobles back in the day and claiming I was only looking at books of naked men to better empathize with homosexuals...so I could help them.

Also? This individual has a very interesting method of "eating" if his motions miming it are at all accurate.

Did "The A-List: New York" cause Hell('s Kitchen) to freeze over Monday night?

Mama always said, "if you haven't got anything nice to say..." and I really don't, (though John Polly's recap is always a good read, as is AfterElton's Dennis Ayers' from whence I stole the shot of Mike Ruiz below, about which the only thing I have to say is, "Dramatic lighting!".) but I DID survive Monday night's freak hail storm (only I was in Brooklyn) and there was something "wrath of god/dess" about it.

Opening image via Gothamist.

Dude, you reek of weed, by design.

You can clip the above coupon if you like, but don't expect your order of Stash to be fulfilled any time soon.  The ad is from 1981, before that pesky "War on Drugs".  As someone that has been familiar with those that "grow one's own", the first thought is of the skunkiness of the cannibis plant.  Is this a smell to which you would want yourself associated?  For extra awesomeness, click the picture to make it big enough to read the copy.  (Via CopyRanter)

Rush poppers followup - The company was rumored to be raided and the owner committed suicide.

There's apparently more to the story of Rush disappearing from the shelves.

Apparently the company's owner, Joe Miller, committed suicide on August 25.  Miller was gay and lived in Indiana and his fortune apparently was from the manufacture and distribution of poppers.  Miller wrote a 1983 letter to The Advocate, boasting of the money he spent in the gay media.  He was significant contributor to Democrats and, through his foundation, he also donated money to a variety of HIV/AIDS education and children's groups.  Because of the manner in which his money was made and the old myth of poppers spreading the virus, Miller was controversial.

His company fronted sites that downplay the negative effects of poppers.  (While evidence linking them to HIV has been mostly debunked, their use with Viagra/Cialis/Levitra can kill you.)  Apparently the Indianapolis Star pulled its online obituary for him.  Rumors are in the comments of the blogs quoted above of his company being raided by the federal government, sexual tourism, and using influence to suppress "anti-poppers" regulation and media coverage.

 

(Full disclosure insists that I note that my former website did run Rush ads paid for by PWD.  A few emails of complaint did come from those that believe poppers to be key to the spread of HIV.  In my replies then and in to this day, I assert that human behavior spreads HIV, not poppers.)

BREAKING: Rush to the store, because your bottle of poppers just became a collector's item.

According to a local video-shop professional, the company that makes Rush poppers has gone out of business.  An FYF friend (really, it's not me) just texted me the news and followed with a confirmation:

My friendly porno video guy just told me.  I just got the last bottle!  Not the best poppers, but it's an end of an icon.

Once home, a quick check of sites that were part of the Rush trade dress (neverfakeit.com, sellrush.com and rushliquidinsense.com) showed all to have had their websites shuttered.  Not wanting to cause a "rush" on the product based on false information, more research was done.

• That caped man on the back of every bottle is Captain Rush.  His website is also closed now.
• Pac West Distributing (PWD), the company that manufactures and distributes Rush has also shuttered its website.
• The websites closed within the last week as both the Rush and Captain Rush sites were up and running on August 19, according to the Google cache.

The evidence seems to say that Rush is out of business.

PS - If you're going to run out and buy Rush popper tonight (while supplies last), note that there are bootleg products on the market.  You can verify the authenticity by finding "PWD" in the glass at the bottom, "Captain Rush" on the back of the bottle, and "neverfakeit.com" on the bottle seal at the top.

 

UPDATE 8/31:  Rumors swirl around the closing of the company with rumors of federal raids.  More seriously though, the company's owner committed suicide.

Heat making you listless? Here's a bunch of lists about the heat.

 

Image via DJ Corey Craig

The heat makes you listless, unless you are a writer.  Then you make lists, about the heat.  Here is a list of some of those list from the past few days:

• The coldest stores where you can waste some time, although there may not be anything to buy.
• How to survive without air conditioning, including my favorite:  eating spicy foods.
• Books to replace that Star magazine you brought to the beach, although I would include anything autobiographical by Phyllis Diller to this list.
• Too hot to read?  There are also movies to help you not think about the heat, although they are about the heat.  (Favorite = Dog Day Afternoon, for sure.)
• Finally, via Mr. Musto, a list of beach etiquette tips from Susan Blond:

Matthew Fox' LOST underwear

So...it seems there was this big finale for a TV show a bunch of people were obsessed with.  I don't really know anything about that (I saw maybe 15 minutes of various clips from the first season before the ADD kicked in), but what I DO know is, Sunday, I saw and held a pair of Matthew Fox' underwear; part of an intriguingly rarefied collection of ephemera I was pleased to be shown while visiting the home of an artist friend.  Despite their storage in a ziplock bag, there's not much of a scent left to them (they were obtained quite a while ago, in point of fact), but they were his! They're imbued with his sweat!  

Now...what's this about a heavenly ending?

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!

Are Lucy's back?

Observed last weekend on Troutman Avenue in Bushwick:  The purchase of loose cigarettes at a deli.  The practice has generally disappeared and has always been illegal, with a crackdown happening in the previous decade dissuading most delis from selling them.  With cigarettes now at $10/pack though, for the "smoking while drunk" crowd there is an upswing in demand for "Lucy's".  The going rate?  75 cents each.