Writing. "An author is a fool who, not content with boring those he lives with, insists on boring future generations." Hmm. Well, one has been published (oh okay, it was just a short story) and has thrown a novel together.
Music I Like:
Films I Like:
Literature I Like:
'Skin Deep' by John R. Gordon; most recently: 'Sons' by Alphonso Morgan, 'Funny Boy' by Shyam Selvadurai, 'The Story Of Night' by Colm Toibin.
I'm a temperamental twenty-something and a conflicted misanthrope with a stubborn streak of optimism; a wannabe writer, a sometimes alcholic. My favourite colour is blood red. I love conflict.
You're on the right track if you have a degree of intelligence (not a degree in intelligence), a drop of imagination (that doesn't mean lying about everything), an ounce of irony (limited stocks - buy now), and a full quota of manners (out of stock - check back soon). Sex appeal is optional but won't be held against you.
"It didn't happen often, but sometimes a student - usually a boy - would poke fun at Jason Mattison Jr.
About his skin-tight jeans and funky sweaters. About his boisterous voice that seemed to run nonstop. About his exuberance in recounting the most mundane of events. About his flamboyant mannerisms. He was 15, a sophomore in high school, and he was gay.
Last week, at his aunt's house, one of the few occupied homes on a block boarded and sagging, he was found dead - raped, gagged with a pillowcase, stabbed repeatedly in the head and throat, and shoved into an upstairs closet."
The Brothers of New Essex: Afro-erotic Adventures (now out of print, and increasingly expensive on both Amazon.com / uk) should be a key part of any gay art collection, alongside Sadao Hasegawa (got a spare $US1,244.15?) and Tom of Finland.
Happily, Belasco's brilliant artwork can also be found at the artist's regularly updated blog. A particular joy are pictures of Belasco's sculptures, including a papier-mâché statue of the infamous Boo.
• Spanish site Gaybanana runs a cute strip called, simply, Dick. You don't need to know Spanish to follow the action, but perhaps fellow blogger and Españophile Sanya will translate for us...
Doctor Who: The Waters of Mars, BBC One, 15th November 2009
"For a long time I have thought I was just a survivor but I'm not. I'm a winner, that's who I am: a Time Lord victorious."
THE DOCTOR IS GOD.
There you go, spelled out, just in case you're too thick to comprehend Russell T. Davies sledgehammer-subtle railroading of our Timelord hero's character.
And not just God-like, or Godly, or any other intimation of omniscience; Davies has re-written 46-years of telly lore, bending it to his own agenda, making our hero the villain of the piece. Oh, very clever. I bow to your brilliance, Mr Davies. When the bottom of the ideas barrel has been licked out, just make the good guy crazy and turn him bad.
Who needs things like plot structure or character integrity when you can have BIG! CROWD-PLEASING! SHOW-STOPPING MOMENTS! all played out at breakneck speed without a care for things like clarity or basic logic (Bowie Base One is a fixed point in time, it can't be changed! It mustn't! Er, okay then, it can. Doh! No it can't, actually) under a music score that would give a Metallica fan a headache.
It's not even good music, just the boombastic shite they smother Hollywood blockbusters with to stop people actually thinking. But that's what RTD's writing is all about really: drama without integrity, noise and spectacle; an utterly joyless wank in the dark. It might be fun at the time, but you'll hate yourself afterwards.
if there's one thing I hate... (11/17/09) [View | Hide]
...it's CAPTCHA.
Okay, that's not so uncommon. No one likes CAPTCHA. And as internet mischief goes, it ranks much lower on the torture scale than, say, the Single Mom's Secret For Whitening Teeth At Home (what exactly is it anyway - Domestos?) or blogs that generate those mini-broswer pop-ups when you inadvertently hover over some random word. Or Twitter.
No, my gripe is more specific, and directed at a few of you reading this, so pay attention.
Right, comments on blogs. No one wants spam, or otherwise unwanted comments. There's only one way of avoiding nasty or self-promoting comments, and that's to moderate. If it's just spam you're worried about, there's CAPTCHA.
One or the other. There are no circumstances that justify using both methods. A reader leaving a comment can just about tolerate CAPTCHA if their comment gets published right away. But if after going through the hell of deciphering CAPTCHA, your reader sees the mesage: "Your comment will be visible after approval," the blogger deserves to be slowly eviscerated by a very small, blunt knife.
If you moderate your comments, don't make me suffer CAPTCHA-rage. Go on, think about it for a minute. You know it makes sense.
I sincerely hope this is the last time we have to talk about this.
if there's one thing I hate... is a new, regular column, the sole purpose of which is for me to vent my spleen.
REMEMBER WHEN GAY MEN'S PRESS folded several years back, leaving the United Kingdom without a dedicated gay publisher? I do. It was grim - not just for budding authors (ahem...), but readers too. A case of one and one makes five.
Can you forgive her? Maybe. After all, everyone has a different point of view. It's reassuring to learn that somebody's doing more than just dreaming of the queen, complaining bitterly about the lack of LGBT publishing. (Don't look at me.) Young Offender was a song on the frighteningly good Pet Shop Boys album Very. It's also inspiration for the name of a new LGBT publishing house, the brainchild of author and blogger Eric Arvin.He's one in a million, that one.
I wouldn't normally do this kind of thing, but to speak is a sin - so the company's mission statement has been pasted below, making this article look longer than it is, and saving me the job of writing more than I have done. Liberation, you might say.
"Young Offenders Media is a multimedia company with a focus on GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual) and other types of alternative fiction by both established and brand new authors. Our objective is to give authors all the tools they need for their books to be successful without taking away all of their control. While we ask them to work hard on their own behalf, we will also support them with a wide array of promotional materials, cooperative advertising and publicity events, plus the chance to collaborate with musicians, videographers, artists and other writers to cross-promote and get in touch with a much wider audience.
We print and distribute to order to save money and trees, and the savings goes straight back to our authors in the form of higher royalties and better promotional opportunities. While publishing is our main emphasis, we also promote, produce and market on behalf of visual artists, musicians and (soon we hope) independent video and filmmakers both alone and in cooperation with other media companies.
We plan to release our first titles in the Spring."
• The much anticipated Do Começo Ao Fim (From Beginning To End) has premiered. So what's the verdict?
• Donnie McClurkin is at it again, seeing sexy young fem boys everywhere, and coming out against Tonex, who recently... er, came out. "I see feminine men, feminine boys, everywhere I go," she announces in the YouTube clips. Well point me in that direction love, I'm partial to a smooth'n'sexy fem Queen myself. But wait, there's more: "There are some evil young hard butch girls," Big Momma warns. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my...
• But all is not lost! Enter Bishop Yvette Flunder... "I believe that these public hateful words directed to the Same Gender Loving community come from the need to instill fear of public ridicule in the hearts of those who may be considering coming out and come from folks who felt they were denied the opportunity to be authentic in their sexuality and remain successful in the mainline church."
• The Starlite Lounge, New York City's "first black-owned gay bar, the oldest gay bar in Brooklyn and reportedly the oldest black gay bar in the United States", could close.
• Remember the New York cabbie who kicked a gay couple out of his cab for either hugging or having full sex (it depends who you believe)? Well, he's not an ignorant bigot, he's a poor, hard-working immigrant who's the victim of media-savvy guppies. Apparently.
• Larry Johnson cut by Kansas City Chiefs following his homophobic outburst (amongst other things).
• We've previously heard about the war on Obama. Now, Fox News "For Stupid People" has declared war on "politically-inclined blog[s] that leans to the left". As Oz's O'Reilly would say, "Nazi f**ks."
• File under "WTF!" The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (aka the Mormons) have announced they support a gay protections bill approved by Salt Lake City Council.
• Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center arson attack.
• Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center arson attack: military link.
• University of Florida study suggests military personnel with a gay or lesbian colleague in their unit had no significant impact on the unit's cohesion or readiness.
• That news will come as cold comfort to Nathanael Bodon, serving in Iraq, who's being discharged under Don't Ask, Don't Tell.
• Demonstrators in Maine have held the Catholic church to account following last week's equality defeat.
• Conclusive medical proof: these curbs on our freedom are bad for our health. The American Medical Association have voted to oppose bans on gay marriage and openly gay personnel in the military.
• The British Government has been defeated in its attempt to introduce tough new laws against homophobic hate crime. A Conservative ammendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill - protecting freedom of speech - is to be retained.
• Gay marriage (again) in the Australian Capital Territory.
• Gay marriage in Argentina. (A little late for Marvin and Andreas, right, but there you go...) Towleroad has video of the gay Argentine couple who will be "the first gay couple in Latin America to get the right to marry".
• Philippines: The Commission on Elections has rejected LGBT organisation Ang Ladlad on the grounds of sexual immorality and immoral doctrines.
• Gay groups in New Zealand are calling for Beenie Man's invitation to perform at the annual Big Day Out festival be revoked.
• Indian election authorities will allow voters to three choices of gender voter forms: male, female and "other".
• India's Northern Railways employs boxers and wrestlers in fight against ticketless passengers.
• Sébastien, a member of the Association for the Defense of Homosexuality, gives his own account of his detention by Cameroon police for "promoting homosexuality".
• Flip burgers in McGuantánamo Bay. You'll be lovin' it.
• American soldier. Incredible photo essay showing a soldier's recruitment, induction, training, deployment, and return from combat. You must see this.
• Now THIS is a building. Of course, Zaha Hadid is behind it...
• And lastly, a word from Timaya...
This edition of World Outside My Window (The Week According To Garçon Stupide) was built from articles collated during the week 7th-13th November 2009.
POSTSCRIPT "You know, we might just as well not have bothered to come. The whole thing's been ridiculous."
COMING UP IN WORLD OUTSIDE MY WINDOW (11/14/09) [View | Hide]
IN TOMORROW'S
THE WEEK ACCORDING TO GARÇON STUPIDE
Above, Snow Bunni, a feminine boy, touched by a pastor?
Donnie McClurkin is at it again, seeing sexy young fem boys everywhere, and coming out against Tonex, who recently... er, came out. "I see feminine men, feminine boys, everywhere I go," she announces in the YouTube clips. Well point me in that direction love, I'm partial to a smooth'n'sexy fem Queen myself. But wait, there's more: "There are some evil young hard butch girls," Big Momma warns. Lions and tigers and bears, oh my...
Oh dear. Never mind her - here's the latest edition of Tired Old Queen At The Movies to cheer us up. Heaven sent, you might say.
• This week's World Outside My Window will be up later this weekend.
BACK IN JULY, new occasional feature, "Forum Or Against 'Em" (a light-hearted look at the brain-sapping, deranged and frequently hilarious world of internet forums) made its debut.
That first excursion was a journey through a thread on BGCLive.com entitled, "I Have Sex With My Twin Brother". Today, we'll see what the great and good of BGCLive.com really think about HIV.
dl_legendz: I feel kinda bad because this really nice HIV+ guy asked me to take a picture with him & I had to politely turn him down. I told him that I have a reputation to uphold & people might start thinking that I am HIV+ when I'm not. I don't know what it is but people who are HIV+ just make me feel uncomfortable. Would you take a picture with a person who is HIV+
just_voyage: You're an idiot.
sportsboy255: How the f***k are those people gonna know he's HIV+? Idiot....
_deon_: you so damn stupid.... you cant take a picture with one but yet aint asking for no kind of proof from the millions of niggas you THINK are trade yet dipping and duckwalking behind your back to be in those failed ass flicks you call porn.... i tell ya
depth: I AM SURE DUDE WITH OVER THE 600 PEOPLE THAT YOU CLAIM THAT YOU HAVE HAD SEX WITH YOU HAVE BEEN WITH ATLEAST ONE HIV PERSON ALREADY, SO GET OVER OVER IT. AND THAT REPUTATION THAT YOU THINK YOU HAVE, ITS ALL READY low
alonzothomas: No way. Cause I heard this thing on the news that if you even get within like five feet of someone who is + you might have a slight chance of maybe someday if you have sex without a condom get the disease. So I'm like f***k that man...I really hope that this thread is a joke.
_deon_: you should feel really bad for being that dumb but i guess thats the appeal you going for.... the "i barely passed my ged exam cuz i could barely count to five and had to use both hands" look. i tell ya
_deon_: you know what get me...... he so concerned about taking a picture with somebody positive but has no problem posing in bgc defaults with the cast of high school musical..... oh its okay for the kids to not think you taking pictures with people with hiv but its okay to be known for f***king underage smottoms on random xtube and nubian101 clips....
victor_creed: wow...dude i dont know what to say to that...what immediately comes to mind (and please dont take offense) is that ur actions were cowardly. To stigmatize someone based off what someone may think from you taking a picture with him...man we have got to change peoples perception of this disease... Peeps with HIV arent dirty, nasty, EVIL or anything else that regular people arent. They are our brothers, sisters, aunts, mothers, fathers, and grandparents...Yo thats somebodys son. Dont you think he gets enought shyt from people for being gay AND HES POSITIVE so hes catchin shyt from the gay community too? And to treat him like that...Damn man. Thats fukked up. Yo we gotta do better man...or this disease is gonna take all of us outtta here...
dl_legendz: Well if he told me that he is HIV+ then I'm sure he has told others. When I typically see someone who is HIV+ taken pictures with people I assume they all are HIV+ because if most gay guys have got to the point of taken a picture together then they probaly have done something sexual before. I think?
un3xp3ct3d: Wow. That shows your maturity level. And who cares about REPUTATION these days? I mean really?? What's it gonna get you in the long run. PLUS if people thought you were HIV+ and treated you the way you treat them....how would u feel?
dl_legendz: You're right we do have to do better as a community but image is everything & I don't want people to think that I am HIV+ when I not. That could possible fu*k up future potential sex partners or friends because of false pretenses.
dl_legendz: Because I think if people see and/or think you hang around HIV+ people then they will assume that person is also HIV+ and ulitmately that person will start attracting HIV+ people whom are looking for sex, friendships, etc...
dl_legendz: Why do HIV+ people get so offended when someone speaks about HIV? I mean Cancer patients talk about their struggle with cancer. People with Diabetes talk about how their disease. Life is hard & not fair but I bite my tounge for noone.
2sik2breal: dl im not gonna front like i kno u and s***t but damn u mus b a real wanna b in the hood niggas must laff at u behind ya back i seen ya videos thier not even cool that boyh wit the bandana over his mouth look like he 16 and ya forums are just ridic. even tghe 1 about ya son but us ttilll dippin wit gays sad s***t mah dude like and image srry thiers no image for u that s***t is just horriable i got no look im not try to bash u but im sick of seeing ya comments on s***t that i read thier so ignorAANT ARROGANT AND SAD DAMN SHAME...
dl_legendz: I don't surround myself around fake niggaz so I dnt worry about anything when i turn my back and if you don't like my porn then don't watch it problem solved.
dl_legendz: I told you I feel kinda bad for not taking the picture with ole boy. What do you mean the gay community outcast HIV+ people? Sh*t I'm HIV- and I feel like i'm the outcast(no pun intended) but I dont think I should have to go around apologizing because I'm HIV- everytime I see/meet a gay guy.
jkardashian: i mean your not cute so i don't know why he'd wanna take a picture w/ you anyways.
defyinggravity1: You know I have a family member who passed from HIV/AIDS and he would still probably be living if he didn't feel ashamed to get the help he needed... it's people like YOU who make it hard for them to survive with your shallow ass thought process trying to be cute on BGC... whether it was for attention, or for real! GROW UP! May God have mercy on your soul... and yes I took a pic with my cousin and him holding me as a baby... and I am proud to be in a memory with a HUMAN BEING that was a loving and caring person... despite his circumstances!
_envy: if this is the kind of dumb fuck'ry that is gonna be posted i think ima jus quit comin in the forums. pure fuck'ry.
switch5: NO disrespect, please don't take offense to this, but are you f***kin retarded? I'm POSITIVE an most of my friends aren't, most people wouldn't even think that I was. WOW, your so worried about what others will think of you, f***k what the next b***h thinks of you, what do you think of yourself love? I'll seriously pray for you right now. "You have reputation to keep," well answer me this what does my HIV have to do with you, I'll wait,......NOT A GOT DAMN THING!!!! Please don't let ignorance run your life. Kids lets get education!!!
dl_legendz: No Disrepect but when I get around people whom are HIV+ I feel uncomfortable. I won't drink after them, eat after them, have sex with them, shower after them, etc..
bewitched: Jesus.... why haven't you been crucified for your idiocy? the depravity of your existence sickens me to NO END.
bmoreupnya: I think my IQ went down from reading this
thewhites: YEAH UR RIGHT...DONT TAKE PICS WIT PPL WHO R HIV+ CUZ PPL R GONNA THINK U R 2...AND DONT TAKE PICS WIT WHITE PPL CUZ PPL MAY THINK UR WHITE...OH AND NOT GIRLS EATHER CUZ PPL MAY THINK UR STRAIGHT...OH...AND MAKE SURE THERE'S NO TRASHCANS IN UR PICTURE EATHER...PPL MAY THINK UR POOR...UR A FU***N DUMBASS!...HOW WOULD U FEEL IF UR SRTAIGHT BROTHER OR COUSIN SAID THEY DIDNT WANNA TAKE A PIC WIT U CUZ THEY HAVE A REPUTATION 2 UPHOLD AND PPL MAY THINK HE'S GAY? WE'RE BLACK AND GAY...WE HAVE NO RIGHT 2 OUTCAST OTHERS FOR WAT OTHERS THINK ILL ABOUT...
pay4it: You have the be the saddest most uneducated sounding person I have even read a post from ..I am glad you didnt take the pics he should be ashamed to be around a closed minded fool such as urself thats prob the main person HIDING Hiv..grow up
defyinggravity1: OMG is this boy still getting slayed on here lol! It's been DAYS now lol! I mean not saying he doesn't deserve it, but damn! Check him and see if he still has a pulse because you all have read, slayed, kicked, dragged and HADOUKEN his ass all over this FORUM LOL!!
brand0n: GOODNIGHT BGC...i officially can not take this site for a while. THIS FOOL REPRESENTS US...and theres a whole lot of them out there who are so ignorant that it makes it hard for the rest of us who know how to read-- get a job...ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING....GOOD F***KING NIGHT
dl_legendz: Unfournately I see no benefits from surrounding myself around people whom are HIV+ if I am HIV-. I wanna smoke a blunt and talk to my niggaz about all the sexy girls and guyz we've done piped on over the years. I can't do that with a person who is HIV+ because I think about them killing each(literally). I wanna show my friends my HIV negative results and them actually be happy for me. I wanna be able to walk down the street and get at a bit*h without them thinking that I got some kind of disease because I hang around or took a picture with someone whom is HIV+. I wanna get drunk and get wild in da club without some HIV+ person trying to hit on me because they think it's okay to approach me. Look, you know da saying "Birds of a Feather...." well I don't wanna be gulity by association.
atl_violin04: personally ole DL LEGENDZ lol......i would be rather embarassed to take a picture wit yo frog lookin ass PERIOD! And one more thing..dl niccas don't have their pictures posted all on a f***g site (wink)
dl_legendz: I am not the only person in the gay community and/or heterosexjual community that has a "phobia" per say towards people with HIV. I have been taught ever since I was knee high to a grass hoppper to protect myself sexually so I can stay HIV- and I have listened and followed directions. I have sacraficed many nights that I could have had unprotected sex with some very sexy individuals but I declined because I didn't have a condom. Essentially I would be throwing all that hard work straight down the drain if I decided to pair up with someone who is HIV+ because then potential sex partners/business partners/friends/associates will ASSUME something that is not true and I would be stuck in a unnecessary compromised situation.
bag_of_fun: How f***king ignorant can one person be. Your c***t ass said a picture; you would have thought the guy asked you for sex, please do BGC a favor and delete your account now...SIMPLE B***HES...make me exhausted....
dj_high_life: you know what i cant even knock you on this.... cause i use to feel the same f***king way... when i was in school they would be like you have sex unprotected or before being married or if you are gay then you will get hiv its will take 6 months to show up then with in 3 years you will get aids and die... so for 6 7 8 grade heath this is all i knew... my gay ass have gay sex imma get it and die... so when i was in college and even a few years ago when i first went pro as a dj i always thought how cold people do that to them self and get hiv... so when a hiv person hit me up i ws stay looking down at them becuase i thought i knew how nasty they were based off what i was taught.... but when i something told me to go get tested and i went to a aids center and after i tested (negative) i talked to the people there and learned about the virus... you need to be educated too homie... just getting tested is not enough... when i hear the news talk about h1n1 im like they should say the same about hiv... cause it is so easy to get that s***t outside of sex... so my point is i know how you feel but understand no one woke up and said i hope today is the day i test positive... but we do have to live with it in the world...
dl_legendz: I see what your saying to an extent but I really think that's why alot of people are constantly getting infected with HIV because they get "comfortable" around people whom are HIV+ and they let their guard down per say and start treating them as if they are HIV-. I am blessed to say I have been HIV- for 27yrs & I think I have stayed HIV- by using the typical "ignorant" methods. I don't have contact with people whom are HIV+, I don't drink after them, I don't eat after them or have sex with them no matter how much I educate myself on HIV prevention. I strongly believe in "out of sight, out of mind" theory.
hbiclumu: whoa... *closes door
dl_legendz: Maybe we are looking at HIV from 2 different perspectives but my so-called "ignorance" has allowed me to stay HIV- negative & i have passed my so-called "ignorant" techniques down to other young MSM whom look to me for guidance and direction which I am proud to say they are also HIV-
computa_luv: Well yall dont have to bash the brutha. All he did was ask a question but he didnt sound too stupid. Besides the reputation part. Either way at least you told the guy politely, instead of cursing him. Me, I probably wouldn't have gave a damn to take a picture cause I taken pics with fake ppl, murders, child molesters, sexist, hiv+, family members who's used me....ect. So it wouldnt have bothered me to take a pic. So I guess it can be a different sense in KNOWING cause some ppl can talk on here or wherever (whether male, female, or trans) what they'd do and wont do, but if someone came up to them and said they were hivp and wanted a pic. They'd probably freaked out once they heard HIV and ran with they heard POSITIVE! And last thing...shyyt he might have said something crazy, but at least he was being honest and bold to say something you thought was stupid. Hell a lot of ppl aren't even that about themselves cause if someone else who's str8 knew you were gay. They probably wouldnt want you around meaning (celebs having gay fanz but dont like them, family, str8 frenz), and probably wouldnt want a pic either! Not saying all people are like that but trust me, a lot of yall have been around those who talk about gays but they dont even know they're talking to one in from of them hahaha! OH WAIT!!!, I forgot to add in those who are gay/bi and talk about gays to keep their REPUTATION as str8 hahaha!
(This is a representative sample of the comments displayed on the BGCLive.com forum. Some drawn out debates between individuals have been omitted. Comments and pictures are already in the public domain and have been reproduced here for the purpose of review.)
Kasheik Paisley interviews rapper QBoy (some people refer to him as gay rapper QBoy, which might be factually correct, but as he points out, no one refers to Snoop Dogg as "straight rapper Snoop Dogg") for Homovision...
Born Marcos Jose Brito, the son of an Essex girl and a Spanish papi, 31-year-old QBoy is articulate, talented and very, very sexy. He's one of us, and he deserves our support.
This is what you call a million dollar smile. Smiling is very underrated, and 23-year-old Gerven Pognon does it beautifully. Born in Brooklyn, he describes himself as a Haitian American.
You're looking at Judgement Day, a photographic mashup by digital artist Troy Dunham, and shutterbug Jeff Eason. It's going to be auctioned off this Sunday at GLAAD's annual OUTAuction in New York City.
As those you who've wastedspent any amount of time here at ka-os|theory will know, your correspondent is a dedicated follower of Doctor Who. What you might not know, is that I'm also a devotee of Dallas, although unlike Doctor Who, that's a recent development. In fact, having reached Season 11 of the Texan epic, I've consumed 10 whole years of Dallas in less than 3. Well what was I supposed to watch - Brother & Sisters?
Combining both shows seamlessly is this utterly brilliant mash-up. Fellow blogger Sanya in España featured this back in July - or was the whole summer just a dream...?
Andrew Orton has rendered the original 1963 TARDIS console room, and manages to work his digital creation into footage from the current series. Very accurate, very cool and really quite moving...
Corey @ I'll Keep You Posted (another excellent blog that entertains and informs) has written an excellent article about Dorothy Dandridge, whose 88th birthday it would have been today - had she not died so young. It's worth reading for the lovely opening paragraph alone...
• It rained throughout Rio de Janeiro's 14th Annual Gay Pride Parade, but an estimated 1 million people still turned out. Imagine. One million Brazilians. Sigh.
• Taipei's annual Gay Pride Parade (left and right) attracted some 25,000 supporters last Saturday. Taipei Times report here. Photo set by Flickr user David Reid here; YouTube.
• What happened before Taipei's Pride parade? Catholic priest Father Daniel J. Bauer SVD writes for The China Post, Jesus would not want gay-bashing.
• Maine: What they give with one hand, they take away with another. Voters take marriage away from gays by a margin of 52.82 percent to 47.18 percent.
• Maine: Blag Hag points out that God hates shellfish too, according to that ever-reliable resource, the Bible, and expects a ban on Maine's lobster industry ASAP. Blag Hag writes, "So, get cracking on that next referendum. I mean, you don't want to be hypocrites, do you?"
• David Mixner talks about Gay Apartheid in the U.S.: "call this campaign against us what it is - Gay Apartheid".
• But Transracial thinks Mixner is The Man who Cried Apartheid. "The comparison is understandable in its use of metaphor, but simply incorrect, unconstructive and lazy!"
• Speaking of homo-hysteria... Is this the face of the American gay rights struggle? It's Queer LiberAction vs the National Equality March. Where's Irene Monroe and Peter Tatchell when you need them?
• Thank God for straight people. From the mouths of babes...
• Sticking with the homo-hysteria theme, was GLAAD right to get its knickers in a twist over painted people saying "fag" in South Park? Sense of humour fail?
• Atlanta Pride Parade 2009, left and right (54 pictures).
• The God squad try a different tactic at the Atlanta Pride Festival.
• Unlike Pastor Joel Osteen on The View: "Homosexuality is Not God's Best."
• A petition has been delivered to the HQ of the Church of Latter Day Saints Gay by gay Mormon group Foundation for Reconciliation. "It's way past time to send out the rescue committee," said Reconciliation member Gary Watts. Towleroad has video.
• A gay Harvard law graduate was last week arrested for starting a fire at the NYC 9/11 Memorial Chapel. "An unfortunate and "contemptible" incident from every angle," Andy Towle writes.
• So it would appear that rumour's of The Advocate's death have been greatly exaggerated. But Judy Wieder, former Editor in Chief of the magazine, isn't impressed. And she ain't holding back.
• The Kansas City Chiefs, apparently fearful of losing in arbitration, agreed Monday to cut Larry Johnson's (left) suspension in half for making gay slurs.
• The Kansas City Chiefs have halved Larry Johnson's suspension. That's okay by me. He was completely innocent - how could he possibly have known faggot was offensive?
• Kansas City Chief fans have started a petition - which by Friday had nearly 11,000 signatures - to oust Johnson. Rod McCullom writes at Rod 2.0:Beta, "Since being drafted by the Chiefs in 2003, Johnson has been arrested at least four times for violent episodes against women, including spitting in the face of one woman at a Kansas City nightclub. Classy guy."
• And the fun never ends: Dallas Mavericks' star Drew Gooden (right) is accused of calling a Los Angeles Clippers fan a "faggot". Rod 2.0 covers this too.
• In other sports news, Danish football club Midtjylland have sacked Polish goalkeeper Arek Onyszko (left) for airing his thoughts on gays: "I hate gays, I really do. I think it's f**king disgusting to hear them talk to each other as if they are girls. I can't be in the same room as someone who’s gay. Look at them kissing each other – it's sickening." Onyszko (who looks like a Raging Stallion model - just an idea for alternative employment) was previously sacked for assaulting his wife. Seems like beating women and homophobia go hand-in-hand.
• Gay couple kicked out of cab by (surprise surprise) Muslim cab driver in New York City. Their lust was distracting him, apparently.
• And I'm not the only one who noticed the delightful comments left by New York Post readers. "Walk next time, future aids victims," is my personal favourite. Hallmark's recruitment team needs to look these guys up!
• New York's Gotham Knights releases its first calendar (above left). The gay rugby team was cofounded by September 11th victim Mark Bingham. Video.
• Last week we heard how The Golden Girl's Bea Arthur left the Ali Fornay Center a sizeable gift. Gay blogger Eliot Glazer has honoured her with this masterpiece (right).
• Stephen Gately's widower (left) accepts an award on behalf of his deceased husband's band at the same awards.
• "I'm a gay teenager in turmoil over my failure to make friends or start a relationship." (If the twink they used to illustrate this article was the author of the above statement, he wouldn't have any problems.)
• Police constable Mark Carter (left and right) - a former Mr Gay UK - talks about the attack on fellow openly gay PC, James Parkes, and his own experiences of homophobia.
• Thousands turned out to support Parkes in Liverpool; Towleroad has a guide to YouTube clips of the speeches made.
• The British Museum is hosting a pre-launch event for teachers and youth workers in advance of February's LGBT History Month.
• The government has announced that sex education will be compulsory for all schools - except faith schools, who can adjust the facts according to religious beliefs - and will include education on LGBT relationships.
• Just when we thought we'd seen the back of tiresome bigot Lillian Ladele (right) - the Islington registrar who thinks conducting gay civil partnership ceremonies is an infringement of her Christian rights - she's back. Peter Tatchell says of the never-ending story, "This case is part of a homophobic fight-back by Christian fundamentalists who resent the removal in law of their right to discriminate against lesbian and gay people." Expect to hear a judgement by Christmas.
• The gay community should challenge offensive critics - not silence them, writes Adrian Tippetts.
• Sour grapes: the "academics" out to get our Peter.
• The transexual spared jail for having had a "rotten life".
• 44 percent of Finns believe the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church should perform religious ceremonies for gay couples.
• ...and Makau Mutua writes for the same paper, It is nonsense to assert that being gay is un-African. "Most Kenyans are today indoctrinated by religious institutions, cultural guardians, and the moral police to be anti-gay. Rather than find someone to love, anti-gay crusaders find it convenient to find someone innocent to hate. Why has such a hatefully primitive and backward cosmology gone unchallenged?"
• In Karachi, Pakistan, a mob beat a 60-year-old man to death.
• Gay rights in India are back in the news as Manvendra Singh Gohil (right) - crown prince of Rajpipla in Gujarat - considers marrying his boyfriend Prajwal Miskin.
• "Buju Banton is... being victimised because of a single song recorded more than two decades ago," Carolyn Cooper writes for The Gleaner. Yes love, that's all he did. You're right. (Rolls eyes.)
• In the same paper, Ian Boyne seems to be concerned that Jamaicans will be psycologically damaged by their "cult-like adoration of Obama and an even more vehement aversion to homosexuals", and the Christian right's ability to voice opposition to gays.
• Online public voting has opened for Cybersockets 10th Annual Web Awards. You can help determine the best of the best on the LGBT web.
• This is what happens when you pop children out and don't stick around to look after them yourself: a wealthy Indian family has discovered their nanny was renting out their child to beggars.
• The Big Picture: Pushkar Mela, above and below(30 pictures).
• The USS New York - the battleship built out of steel from World Trade Center 1 and 2, docks in New York.
• Meanwhile The Oasis of the Seas - a cruise ship five times bigger than Titanic - has set sail. Apparently it's got "seven neighbourhoods", whatever the hell that means.
• When I saw what this teacher looked like, my first thought was, "Well, his lucky students." But that's probably not an appropriate response. Bad teacher!
• Some people just love to play the race card. And some people would class this incident as an overreaction. But if you're not black, and you're reading this, imagine the bill you got read "Upstairs Gay couple" instead of "Upstairs Blk couple". You'd be pissed off. Idiotic, and casually racist, as it gets.
• Mattel will produce a range of black and mixed-race Barbie Dolls with "fuller lips, a wider nose, more distinctive cheek bones and curlier hair" for the first time in 30 years.
• Hot on the heels of the closure of thelondonpaper, London Litewill also fold, the last issue going out, appropriately enough, on Friday 13th November.
• London Underground broadcasts the sound of a couple having sex. Beats Mind the Gap anyday, I say.
• "I can't imagine anything more banal. I would rather have a root canal than go on Twitter and can barely work a computer anyway." That's Emma Thompson talking about Twitter. We're firmly anti-Twitter here at ka-ostheory (except when it gives us a good story) so three cheers for Emma Thompson!
• World's sexiest accent? Irish. (Mind you, the rest of this list is highly questionable - Australian in fifth place?! And where's all the Carribbean accents? - so I wouldn't pay much heed to it.)
• Animal pictures of the week, above and below(30 pictures).
• The Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare has recommended that puppies only be sold with a full family medical history. This follows on from the Crufts controversy we heard about last year.
• The Amazing Popjustice Joke Of The Week: How many residents of Leicestershire's second-biggest town will be purchasing the new JLS single? Everybody in Loughborough. (Yeah, it took me a while to get it. Shame.)
• Guess who the man in the cologne advert is. Go on, guess.
• Finally, Rihanna gives her side of the story. And there's no arguing with what she's got to say.
• And finally, some Lego sculpture (above) and a word from Timaya...
This edition of World Outside My Window (The Week According To Garçon Stupide) was built from articles collated during the week 31st October-6th November 2009.
POSTSCRIPT "You know, we might just as well not have bothered to come. The whole thing's been ridiculous."
Tarrice writes of model Brian Peters, "I first spotted him in the Fedex parking lot in my hometown of Memphis, back in 2005... It's amazing what mama's cookin' and throwing boxes will do for the body."
If that's all it takes, then get me a job application for Royal Mail - STAT!
It would be easy to make every LENSED post a Tarrice Love tribute: his work is nothing less than breathtaking. And we love him even more because he's a self-made man - not a spoon-fed college brat:
BEST FRIENDS FOREVER NEVER (11/5/09) [View | Hide]
SLAPPERS, SLUTS, HOES, skanks, slags, dawgs... Whatever you want to call usthem, promiscuous gay men get a bad rap, for many a misdemeanour: breaking hearts, home-wrecking, spreading this, that and the other... But give a hoe a break. They're usually upfront about who they are and what they want. And even if they aren't, is it their fault you don't have the smarts to see it?
More toxic than the hoe is the Pretend Friend. He's the guy who wants to be more than just friends, and when he can't have it, settles for friendship. Or, at least, he pretends to settle for friendship. He works his way under your skin, crawls into your mind, slowly becoming the best friend, or brother, you never had.
You grow to depend on him, wondering how you ever got by without him. Any guilt you feel for not being what he wanted gradually fades away: this is better! You're Best Friends Forever! Sex is easy to come by in The Life, but real, true friends? They're rare.
Holidays are planned, he meets your friends, and borrows your DVDs. You confide your deepest, darkest secrets, and share your hopes and dreams.
And then-
He gets a boyfriend. The boyfriend he always wanted.
All he really wanted.
What about you? You're yesterday's news. Your usefulness is at an end. Later!
BFFs? Ha! Don't make me laugh. He didn't want to be your friend. He just wanted you to be his boyfriend. "We no longer have a position for you. We're sorry, but we're going to have to let you go."
And don't expect to see those DVDs you lent him ever again. He's probably thrown them in the trash.
Pictured: An extreme example of a Pretend Friend, Benjamin "Crazy Guy" Patterson in Noah's Arc.
• The Inaugural GLAAD Media Awards in Advertising were held on 27th October. The awards honour "individuals and projects in the advertising and marketing industries for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community".
• NOTHING CAN STOP ME NOW! Kind of: "We own pretty much the entire media for the gay marketing space." Stephen Jarchow, Supreme Emperorchairman of Here Media Inc, talks about his acquisition of gay.com.
• On the other hand... Queerty take a look at what's really happening at Here Media, and the demise (kind of) of The Advocate.
• US man says Brazilian husband denied asylum by Obama Administration.
• The American Family Association (altogether now - BARF!) claim the the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act (see last week's edition) is "un-American". That's apparently because it "normalises homosexual behaviour".
• "They had everything out there naked, and you can see it plain as day. What I witnessed there and what you saw on that camera is no different than pornography." A concerned American dad talks about a gay Rodeo held on his street. It was never like this at Southfork.
• He's got the kind of scary jaw and chin that only American soap stars have, but let's face it - who wouldn't have a go on Brandon Beemer? The Bold and The Beautifulmodelactor has been lensed for Adam Bouska's NoH8 campaign (left) and will teaseappear in next month's Cosmopolitan. Via Towleroad.
• Oh dear. It was all going so well. In previous weeks we've heard positive, supportive statements from (straight) NFL stars, like Scott Fujita and big, lovely Brendon Ayanbadejo. Then along comes Larry Johnson with a dose of reality.
• King & King - the gay-themed children's book - in glorious live action Technicolor!
• Paul Haggis, director of Crash, has quit the Church of Scientology - due to religioncult's position on LGBT issues. Not because of the aliens and spaceships, then...
• Watch Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis throw his toys out of a pram in this ABC interview. Freaky midget Tom Cruise pops up a lot too:
• Irene Monroe (one of the smartest voices in the LGBT community) writes about the growth of Evangelical Christianity and its persecution of supposed "witch children".
• On the other hand, here's one backward heffer if ever there was one. Andy Towle writes at Towleroad, "One of Bishop Harry Jackson's disciples apparently got the final slot in yesterday's testimony before the D.C. Council on marriage equality, and took the opportunity to sermonize the chamber on God, reproduction, Sodom and Gomorrah, the devil, same-sex unions and slavery, and morality."• "As far as with gay rights, yeah, [Obama is] failing on that... The LGBT community doesn't really want to be at the back of the line, but as long as we're in the line... To me, he's doing a great job. I really believe that eventually he'll get to the other issues with gay rights." Wanda Sykes on Obama.
• The Westboro Baptist Church are at it again. And they've got it in for the Jews too. Six of the jokers turned up to wave their humourous placards about. Oh, and they're still encouraging people to eat their babies. Ya gotta love 'em!
• "Women, from the way I see it, have become too complicated and unattractive in marriage. You don't provide what God intended you to give in marriage. You have frustrated the men so much leading them to trying among themselves whether they will get the joy that comes with marriage". A priest explains the real reasons behind the marriage of Kenyan gay couple Daniel Chege Gichia and Charles Ngengi. It didn't go down too well.
• Remember that teacher whose gay porn shoot photos leaked? (Gee, was any other outcome ever likely?) He's resigned. A career on reality TV beckons, me thinks.
• Openly gay rugby referee Nigel Owens talks about his struggle with his sexuality.
• Off-duty trainee police officer James Parkes (right) was left with multiple skull fractures (and other injuries) after being set upon by a group of young boys in Liverpool.
• Following that incident, Kirsty Wark discusses the rise of homophobic hate crime in Britain with anti-gay columnist Anne Atkins and gay columnist Johann Hari. Must-see clip.
• A Metropolitan Police sergeant has been convicted of sexually assaulting a colleague.
• London: Around 4,000 people filled Trafalgar Square for a candle-lit vigil honouring hate crime victims; organiser Mark Healey said: "If we forget about these victims we could become complacent and fail to learn from the past." (Pictures by Flickr user Zefrog.)
• Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent a letter of support to the organisers of the vigil: "I wanted to send my appreciation to you for having the courage to act even in the midst of your sorrow."
• Where was Mayor Boris Johnson during all of this? Former Mayor Ken Livingstone would have been there supporting us.
• A "Christian woman" is considering whether to sue the police for investigating her over a "gay hate crime letter".
• Ian McKellen talks about being a second-class citizen: "[It's] the scar that I and so many others bear – we believed ourselves to be second-rate citizens for so long, the idea of being able to say 'This is my husband, these are my children' was not an option."
• "You would think from television that life is just about straight white people having affairs." Why are we ignored by British television?Left, gays representing on this year's Big Brother.
• GFest, a festival celebrating LGBT arts in the capital, has been officially launched at the Houses of Parliament in London.
• London LGBT Tourist Office has welcomed its 100th visitor.
• The former chief executive of LGBT Youth Scotland, James Rennie, is convicted of a "catalogue" of charges, including the sexual abuse of a baby, the possession and manufacture of abusive images and conspiracy to commit sexual assault on children. This disturbing story makes for grim reading. LGBT Youth Scotland say there is no evidence he abused any children whilst at the charity.
• Kenya is to launch a census of its gay population. "Kenyans cannot actually afford to say that the gay community are isolated somewhere in the corner - they are part of our lives," says Nicholas Muraguri, head of Nascop (Kenya's AIDS prevention programme).
• Saturday, 31st October will see Taipei's annual Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender parade. But organisers are disappointed with politicians who've promised the earth and delivered little.
• Jewish settler comes to the aid of a gay Palestinian in West Bank.
• The world's smallest working model train. "It is going to be a model train village inside a model, so it is very postmodern."
• McDonalds packs up it's deep fat fryer and goes home.
• Leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints have gone on trial for sexually abusing underage girls.
• Up to 10 teenagers gang raped a 15-year-old girl at a California high school; the incident was witnessed by two dozen passers by who "laughed and took photographs".
• London boy Stephen Wiltshire drew a 18ft picture of New York from memory. He'd spent just twenty minutes in a helicopter flying over the city.
• Land of the giants: French photographer Vincent Bousserez's stunning world in miniature (above and below).
• Oxford Circus - better known (by me at least) as hell on Earth - has taken some advice from the Japanese. Left, the new Tokyo-style crossing, and right, how it looked before.
• JLS: top the, er... sex charts. (Well, this one's from News of the World. Apologies in advance.)
• JLS: Popjustice takes a look at the packaging for the JLS album. You'll laugh. Honest.
• JLS: Blue's Simon Webbe (sigh) says, "I don't think an all-black boyband like JLS would have been signed in the days when we were starting out." Er, has he never heard of MN8, Ultimate Kaos and Damage? Cha...
• This week's Gays of our Lives, with Anthony D Langford. Left, German soap Good Times, Bad Times.
• Noah's Arc/Dante's Cove actor Jensen Atwood turns up in a music video. With his shirt off. I really don't see the appeal, but plenty of you seem to like herhim.
• More appealing is former co-star Wilson Cruz; here he is talking about coming out in Hollywood...
• NOOOOOOOOO!!! Barbara Windsor is quittingEastenders.
• ...but some of the Jackson family are returning to the Square.
• He hasn't even appeared on screen yet, but showrunner Steven Moffat says Matt Smith is the best Doctor yet. Well, he would say that, wouldn't he...
This (delayed) edition of World Outside My Window (The Week According To Garçon Stupide) was built from articles collated during the week 24th-30th October 2009.
POSTSCRIPT "You know, we might just as well not have bothered to come. The whole thing's been ridiculous."
The Week According To Garçon Stupide is late - sorry! (I've been struck by a cold, and tech problems.) It should be up tomorrow.
In the meantime, here's a naked Brazilian boy by the pool, via Made in Brazil...
...and a Tired Old Queen At The Movies. And everyone loves a tired old queen, even the straights, and if you don't, it's probably because you hate yourself.
if there's one thing I hate... (10/31/09) [View | Hide]
...it's people who use my doors on the train.
Yes, MY doors. The ones I specifically use.
Okay - yes, a regular London Underground train has around 26 sets of doors, but everyone has their own door. It's the one that opens onto the exit and gets you out as quickly as possible.
London Underground knows this. They know passengers have these little foibles. They even have a name for it: critical doors (there's also critical seats, but that's another story). Critical doors are those doors everyone wants to use, and the reason LU asks passengers to "move along the platform and use all available doors to board the train".
In my case, it's the set of Northern line doors that pulls up right underneath the train indicator on the ceiling at Charing Cross. Because when I get out of those doors at Embankment, I can walk straight onto the escalator out of the station. This means I don't get stuck behind the slow, stupid, and generally ignorant herds who like to shuffle along platforms and corridors as if the rest of us have nothing better to do. (Sadly, cattle prods are cumbersome and probably illegal.)
The trouble is, some of these people think they have a divine right to use my personal double doors. To add insult to injury, when the train pulls in at Embankment, they don't shoot out of the train and up the escalator like a bullet from a gun (as I do, with not inconsiderable athleticism). They slowly, arduously dismount from the train, like the Queen getting out of a horsedrawn carriage. They then pause in the doorway to arrange themselves. And finally, they shuffle forward. In the meantime, fast-moving bods trying to get from A-Z (like me) have swarmed off the rest of the train and got ahead of me.
Those doors are mine. Yeah, the one's underneath the train describer at Charing Cross, going south. Don't even look at them.
I sincerely hope this is the last time we have to talk about this.
if there's one thing I hate... is a new, regular column, the sole purpose of which is for me to vent my spleen.
24-year-old Metrell (no surname. Kinda like Beyonce) has been in the military for 3 years.
"Photographers should know that I am easy to work with, willing to push the envelope, and be professional," he says. It might be an idea to restructure that sentence, since it makes it sound like he's willing to be professional, as opposed to professional by default.
From his pictures, we can also see that Metrell can open his mouth pretty wide, which is always a useful skill to have.
THE 2009 UNITED NATIONS World Drug Report marks "the end of the first century of drug control (it all started in Shanghai in 1909)."
Your correspondent hasn't so much as smoked a cigarette in his lifetime, never mind snorted a line of coke or popped a tab of E. Of course, I'm an alcoholic, but societythe law says that's okay. But it seems to me that the line of coke many of you will snort this weekend has left a devastating trail of human misery in order to reach your nose. Call me righteous, but I don't know how you can live with yourself.
Yes - you.
(In a similar vein - excuse the pun - wealthy Westerners like Whitney Houston are lauded as victors triumphing over illness. A self-inflicted illness born out of pure selfishness and stupidity. The real victims are the people in these pictures. Their blood is on Whitney's hands.)
These pictures, from The Boston Globe's ever-reliable The Big Picture series, illustrate the reality of illegal drug use around the world.
Top: A man killed by a bullet to the head lies dead in the dirt in Tijuana, Mexico, in August this year.
Above, the body of California state government official Rogelio Sanchez hangs beaten, naked and castrated in Mexico, earlier this month.
Above, in Afghanistan, an opium addict offers his grandson his pipe (July 13, 2009).
You are looking at the severed head of an unidentified man, above, pictured in August this year in Mexico.
Female opium addicts in a house in Afghanistan, pictured in July this year. Is the scene really any different to middle class housewives anaesthetising themselves with a bottle of Pinot Grigio?
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