Month: July 2014

Straight White Guy Festival; Confessions of a Bareback Top; Tim Gunn on Trans Models

Straight White Guy Festival

There are fliers popping all over a park in Columbus, Ohio that read, “Straight White Guy Festival,” and they claim the event will take place September 20th. This is also the same park where they have the gay pride event annually. It seems to be some kind of statement, though, and no one seems sure if this is actually going to happen. So far, no one has applied for a permit to hold this festival for straight white guys.

If the fliers are legitimate, it wouldn’t be the first push for an apparent heterosexual counterpart to LGBT Pride. In 2011, Brazilian resident Carlos Apolinario argued for Sao Paolo to adopt a “Heterosexual Pride Day” as “a protest against the privileges the gay community enjoys.”

Students at some Catholic school in in Illinois have taken to wearing “Straight Pride” T-shirts, you know, to show how gays are such big time sinners.

What I find interesting is that being that this entire world is, and has been for as long as anyone can remember, run by straight white men who have most of the power, privilege, and control, they would actually need their own festival. Compared to what daily life is like for most gay people in the US fighting for basic equal rights, EVERY single day of the week is a festival for straight white guys.

You can read more here.

I feel sorry for the students at that Catholic school. The odds are they’ll regret wearing these T-shirts one day in the future…as soon as they get out into the real world and realize how limited their lives were in Catholic school. I went for 12 years. I’m speaking from experience.  

Side note: I haven’t always been the biggest fan of gay pride events, mainly because so many straight people who own businesses have been making so much money on them. After gay pride is over, the businesses take down the rainbow flag and the year long festival for straight white guys begins again. It’s interesting to observe.

Confessions of a Bareback Top

This next link dates back to 2006, and I remember reviewing this blog (and others like it) back when I worked for bestgayblogs.com. It was a blog about a guy…a gay top…who claimed to be running around New York having bareback sex as much as he could, with as many willing bareback bottoms as he could get. The article is actually an interview with the blogger…the bareback top…but I find the blogging aspect of this more interesting than the content, eight years later.

First, here’s one question and answer:

Has anyone ever tried to take a photo of you? Are you worried about being outed (as a bareback)?

People have asked to see my photo. In the beginning, I sent my photo out to maybe 3-4 people but regretted it! Now, I dont send my photo – ever. There are many guys who email me and want to meet up and have sex with me without even SEEING my photo. The problem is then that they know me – they can identify me – and thats not good.

I am very worried about being outed as a “barebacker” because it has such a horrible stigmatism attached to it. Look at the comments posted on Gawker alone – nothing but bashing, etc. The funny thing is that most of my hook ups have bareback sex. That is the reality. This summer I had bareback sex with 2 guys who were notable “safe sex” advocates. So, again, it takes two.

 
I’m not even going to comment on the sex here. My only focus is the blog and the blogger. This wasn’t the first anon blog of this kind back then, but if you go to the link now you’ll only find this.
 
I’ve seen them come and go this way so many times I’ve lost count. I think there was even one that was turned into a book by a desperate small LGBT publisher who went out of business anyway. Who knows if any of this was ever real? No one can actually make that claim legitimately. But at least, for the most part, blogging has grown a lot since those days and I hope it continues.
 
 

Tim Gunn on Trans Models

Tim Gunn of Project Runway claims he has issues with trans women models on the runway. He says this has everything to do with the difference between the way men and women are shaped, physically, and then makes a few interesting comments about body image.

‘So, to be looking at women’s fashion on a tall, skinny guy with no hips, there’s no way you can project yourself into those clothes,’ he says. ‘It underscores all of those body issues that we know women have,”

Gunn adds. ‘It’s the world telling us that there’s something wrong with us and that we’d look better in our clothes and the world would think us more beautiful if we looked like this. I think it’s horrible.’

Correct me if I’m wrong, please, but aren’t ALL runway models so stick thin you wonder how often they shove their fingers down their throats each day? Seriously. This is about body image? No one promotes the concept of unrealistic body image more than the modeling industry. They do this with men and women. Unfortunately, most of us fall for it every single time.

Frankly, I have mixed feelings about Tim Gunn, and I’ve had them since I first saw him kissing butt on Oprah.

You can read more here.

Chase of a Holy Ghost
 
by Ryan Field
 
 
The Ghost and Mr. Moore
 
by Ryan Field
 
 
 
 


Penny Dreadful Gay Kiss; T J. Klune's Post; John Barrowman Flirts W/Straight Guy; No More Gay Ghettos?

Penny Dreadful Gay Kiss

An actor on the TV show, Penny Dreadful, talked about yet another gay kiss. The actor is Reeve Carney and from what I gather he’s straight in real life.

I don’t watch Penny Dreadful. But this sounds like the queerbaiting post I wrote yesterday. In fact, Carney basically admits it’s queerbaiting and he doesn’t even realize he’s doing this. That’s always the best part about these things. They don’t know they’re doing it. I recently read a blog post by an author who actually said she started writing m/m romance because she thought there was money to be made. She also claims that gay relationships are like all other relationships. She didn’t start writing in this genre because she was passionate about m/m romance. And she didn’t even realize what she was saying, so in that respect you can’t even fault her. 

‘I knew that something like that would likely happen at some point and I figure, you know, you could certainly do a lot worse than Josh Hartnett,” Carney told toofab.com at Comic-Con over the weekend.

Carney says his character will have a new love interest in the upcoming second season but he isn’t sure if it will be a man or a woman.

‘It’s probably all downhill for me in terms of any man-on-man action I might have on the show,’ he says. ‘They’ll have to keep their game high!’

Interesting. Man on man action. No further comment from me on this one, because I don’t watch the show. Although, I do wonder what he means by do a lot worse. Am I reading too much into this? Once again, try doing that with any other minority and see how it sounds.

You can read more here.

T. J. Klune’s Post

It’s hard to elaborate on this next link because it’s so serious and so emotional I’m not even sure what to say. I’ve posted about author, T. J. Klune, and the health struggles with his fiancé, Eric Arvin, on the blog before. Klune’s most recent post left me speechless.

I am not okay.  I am not okay.  I am not okay.  I don’t think I have been for a while. I don’t sleep much anymore. I don’t eat. I look like shit. I’ve had purple lines under my eyes since that first night Eric went into the hospital and I didn’t sleep.  I don’t have energy for much of anything anymore. I’m listless and apathetic.  I snap at people at the drop of a hat. I go to work. I come home from work. I pretend to unpack. I go to bed at eight. I fall asleep around one or two. I get up. I go to work. I come home from work and on and on it goes. That pressure building. The pieces cracking.

You can read the rest of the post here, at Klune’s blog. I left a comment that I hope helps. But I also know deep down there’s nothing anyone can really say or do to make it better. Only time can do that.

John Barrowman Flirts W/Straight Guy

Last week John Barrowman made headlines when he kissed a guy in public at the games in Glasgow. I saw it popping up everywhere on social media but I didn’t post about it because it seemed a bit planned…as if he’d executed this move to gain publicity. I also wasn’t sure about that, so I just passed completely on the story. But this time I had to post something because it’s so unusual. You don’t hear about gay guys flirting with straight guys all the time.

In place to chat with the site TV Fanatic, Barrowman was initially more interested in flirting with a straight cameraman filming the interview than answering questions about the upcoming season.

‘He’s really cute,’ Barrowman says into the camera. ‘If you haven’t seen him, he’s really, really cute. He’s got nice, curly hair. … He’s dressed in nice shorts and he’s got a … T-shirt on – he looks like he’s got good guns.’

Barrowman then asks the cameraman, whose name is Eric, to show him the size of his open hand and then seemed pleased with what he saw.

You can read more here. The comments seem to be varied about this one.

It sounds as if Barrowman was joking around. But even if he wasn’t I still think it’s interesting because so-called straight guys have been flirting with gay guys forever and no one ever seems to find anything wrong with that…mainly because most people don’t even know the straight guys are doing it.

No More Gay Ghettos?

This article talks about gay neighborhoods turning straight…or at least not being completely gay anymore. I don’t know why they think this is something new. It’s happened in New York City neighborhoods more times than I can count. At one time the West Village in NY was completely about gay culture. Then it transitioned into what has now become a billion dollar neighborhood filled with everyone. It’s even been happening here, in New Hope, PA, where I live. At one time New Hope was so filled with gay culture there were dark cruising spots under the bridges in town along the towpath. Now you wouldn’t think to cruise there because the town has become so heteronormative it just wouldn’t work anymore. Plus, you’d probably get arrested now, too.

In any event, they seem to think this is a good thing.

“For gay people, they no longer feel like they need a safe space because they feel safe anywhere,” Ghaziani says. “At the same time, as the stigma against homosexuality eases, more straight people feel comfortable moving into these areas, more so than they have in the past when they have perceived these populations as more stigmatized than they do now.”

You can read more here.

I think it’s inevitable. In fact, I have two very close friends…a gay couple who’ve been together for forty years…who flatly refuse to live in a gay ghetto.

Four Gay Weddings and a Funeral
 
by Ryan Field
 

Penny Dreadful Gay Kiss; T J. Klune’s Post; John Barrowman Flirts W/Straight Guy; No More Gay Ghettos?

Penny Dreadful Gay Kiss

An actor on the TV show, Penny Dreadful, talked about yet another gay kiss. The actor is Reeve Carney and from what I gather he’s straight in real life.

I don’t watch Penny Dreadful. But this sounds like the queerbaiting post I wrote yesterday. In fact, Carney basically admits it’s queerbaiting and he doesn’t even realize he’s doing this. That’s always the best part about these things. They don’t know they’re doing it. I recently read a blog post by an author who actually said she started writing m/m romance because she thought there was money to be made. She also claims that gay relationships are like all other relationships. She didn’t start writing in this genre because she was passionate about m/m romance. And she didn’t even realize what she was saying, so in that respect you can’t even fault her. 

‘I knew that something like that would likely happen at some point and I figure, you know, you could certainly do a lot worse than Josh Hartnett,” Carney told toofab.com at Comic-Con over the weekend.

Carney says his character will have a new love interest in the upcoming second season but he isn’t sure if it will be a man or a woman.

‘It’s probably all downhill for me in terms of any man-on-man action I might have on the show,’ he says. ‘They’ll have to keep their game high!’

Interesting. Man on man action. No further comment from me on this one, because I don’t watch the show. Although, I do wonder what he means by do a lot worse. Am I reading too much into this? Once again, try doing that with any other minority and see how it sounds.

You can read more here.

T. J. Klune’s Post

It’s hard to elaborate on this next link because it’s so serious and so emotional I’m not even sure what to say. I’ve posted about author, T. J. Klune, and the health struggles with his fiancé, Eric Arvin, on the blog before. Klune’s most recent post left me speechless.

I am not okay.  I am not okay.  I am not okay.  I don’t think I have been for a while. I don’t sleep much anymore. I don’t eat. I look like shit. I’ve had purple lines under my eyes since that first night Eric went into the hospital and I didn’t sleep.  I don’t have energy for much of anything anymore. I’m listless and apathetic.  I snap at people at the drop of a hat. I go to work. I come home from work. I pretend to unpack. I go to bed at eight. I fall asleep around one or two. I get up. I go to work. I come home from work and on and on it goes. That pressure building. The pieces cracking.

You can read the rest of the post here, at Klune’s blog. I left a comment that I hope helps. But I also know deep down there’s nothing anyone can really say or do to make it better. Only time can do that.

John Barrowman Flirts W/Straight Guy

Last week John Barrowman made headlines when he kissed a guy in public at the games in Glasgow. I saw it popping up everywhere on social media but I didn’t post about it because it seemed a bit planned…as if he’d executed this move to gain publicity. I also wasn’t sure about that, so I just passed completely on the story. But this time I had to post something because it’s so unusual. You don’t hear about gay guys flirting with straight guys all the time.

In place to chat with the site TV Fanatic, Barrowman was initially more interested in flirting with a straight cameraman filming the interview than answering questions about the upcoming season.

‘He’s really cute,’ Barrowman says into the camera. ‘If you haven’t seen him, he’s really, really cute. He’s got nice, curly hair. … He’s dressed in nice shorts and he’s got a … T-shirt on – he looks like he’s got good guns.’

Barrowman then asks the cameraman, whose name is Eric, to show him the size of his open hand and then seemed pleased with what he saw.

You can read more here. The comments seem to be varied about this one.

It sounds as if Barrowman was joking around. But even if he wasn’t I still think it’s interesting because so-called straight guys have been flirting with gay guys forever and no one ever seems to find anything wrong with that…mainly because most people don’t even know the straight guys are doing it.

No More Gay Ghettos?

This article talks about gay neighborhoods turning straight…or at least not being completely gay anymore. I don’t know why they think this is something new. It’s happened in New York City neighborhoods more times than I can count. At one time the West Village in NY was completely about gay culture. Then it transitioned into what has now become a billion dollar neighborhood filled with everyone. It’s even been happening here, in New Hope, PA, where I live. At one time New Hope was so filled with gay culture there were dark cruising spots under the bridges in town along the towpath. Now you wouldn’t think to cruise there because the town has become so heteronormative it just wouldn’t work anymore. Plus, you’d probably get arrested now, too.

In any event, they seem to think this is a good thing.

“For gay people, they no longer feel like they need a safe space because they feel safe anywhere,” Ghaziani says. “At the same time, as the stigma against homosexuality eases, more straight people feel comfortable moving into these areas, more so than they have in the past when they have perceived these populations as more stigmatized than they do now.”

You can read more here.

I think it’s inevitable. In fact, I have two very close friends…a gay couple who’ve been together for forty years…who flatly refuse to live in a gay ghetto.

Four Gay Weddings and a Funeral
 
by Ryan Field
 

21 Gaycist Ways; Queerbaiting on TV; Gay Patronizing; Gay Wedding, Anti-Gay Marriage Dad

21 Gaycist Ways

If you don’t know the definition of gaycist, here’s a link that will explain it. And this next link explains 21 interesting ways to tell if someone is gaycist. It only gets into 21.

Here’s one I see all the time:

1. You’ve asked a same-sex couple which one is the guy and the girl.

This one is common, too:

8. You think Macklemore and Lady Gaga are the voices of the gay rights movement.

This one gets me all the time.

16. As a straight person, you feel you can adequately define what discrimination is.

But I’d like to add that some of these things are overlooked and not all gay people take them as seriously as others. I think intent is important and I never hold innocent mistakes against anyone. I don’t think that’s fair. The only thing about gaycism that really bothers me is when people try to exploit and profit on gays for either attention or monetary gain.

You can read the rest here. I highly suggest checking out the link and the author. Number 21 is probably the most offensive.

Queerbaiting on TV

This is becoming increasingly more common on television all the time. Queerbaiting is when a TV show hints around that a character or situation might be LGBTI, but it never actually follows through with an LGBTI storyline. Sometimes they will drag it out for weeks, a lot of this they’ve been doing on True Blood this season. The intent is to get gay people to watch, keep them hanging, and hope that something LGBTI might happen. I also think it attracts a curious heteronormative crowd, often for the sake of sheer curiosity. The worst offenders never actually follow through because they don’t want to alienate the homophobic crowd.

In case you’re confused, here’s an article that describes it in more detail.

It is never acknowledged on camera and you are left wondering if you made it all up. I’ve been trying to decide if some recent comments from Jeff Davis, the creator of Teen Wolf, are likely queer baiting or not. And if it is, I don’t even know if I can handle another show pulling a dick move like that.

Gay Patronizing

This next link is from Salon. I’ve always found them to be reputable. If I were to discuss things like this on my own without linking to something reputable some might think I’m making this all up, or that I’m overly sensitive. But the general theme of this post today is how gays often suffer passive aggressive homophobia and many don’t even realize it’s happening. For example, this article about Michael Douglas and Jared Leto insulting gays is something that most people, gay or straight, wouldn’t even realize at surface level. I remember feeling this way when these things happened. I didn’t post about it because so many out there seemed so defensive about the issue…and so willing to protect. I saw gay people shot down on social media too many times for trying to make this point. I decided it wasn’t worth the effort…at the time.

This was all in good fun, but Leto’s playing for laughs the process by which he prepared for the role of a person who felt uncomfortable in her body was not, really: “It was a very transformative role. I had to do a lot of things to prepare. One of the things I did was wax my entire body, including my eyebrows,” Leto said to the audience’s laughter.

Once again, laughing at LGBTI people. The most recent posts and updates by James Franco got me interested in all this, and I think this particular article brings up a few excellent points. As I said, I wouldn’t dare post my own thoughts on this, at least not at this time. I feel more comfortable linking to someone else who seems to nail it much better than I can right now. I highly suggest reading this.

Gay Wedding, Anti-Gay Marriage Dad

I think this next link sums this post up in an interesting way. A mayor in France who has always been anti-gay marriage went to his gay son’s wedding (and performed the ceremony) and made a few interesting comments.

Keep in mind this mayor has always been openly vocal about his stand on gay marriage.

‘When my son asked me if I’d do it, I immediately told him “yes”, because I did the same for his sister and because we get on well. I didn’t want to give the wrong impression of relations with my family,’ Bardet reportedly told his local newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré.

He said he had never discussed same-sex marriage with his son prior to his union and has only known for two and a half months that his son is gay.

I bring up this point a lot here on the blog: highly conservative public figures against gay marriage who have gay family members and close friends.

This mayor claims he will NOT perform another gay marriage in his lifetime. He only did this because it’s his son.

Evidently, we all still have a very long way to go.

You can read the rest here.

Four Gay Weddings and a Funeral
 
by Ryan Field
 
 
 
 
 



James Franco's Stunt; Travolta's Gay Denials; Matt Bomer Plays Straight; Gay Porn Stars' Kittens

James Franco’s Stunt

I’ve posted twice on this topic and I hope this is the last time. The only reason I’m doing it again is because I found another article at Huff Po about James Franco’s recent stunt where he jokes around about his brother and Zac Efron being a gay couple. The article is basically the same as it was everywhere else, but this time the comments left by many seem to answer a lot of the questions I had about this so-called stunt.

Here’s one that’s a bit harsh:

When two supposed straight men who act like they are dating, then all of you knuckle draggers think it’s a hoot. The rest of authentic gay men and women get called names and discriminated against, legislated against, and we become the targets of your superstitious religious nonsense. Heteros never fail to disappoint.

Here’s another that nails it in a simple way:

This is passive aggressive homophobia and he needs to be called out on it instead of patted on the head.

Here’s yet another that might be hitting the target head on:

Fools- this is how they network to help their movie sales and keep people blah blah blah, no different then all the other rubbish when it comes to Hollywood!

Of course there are also a few that didn’t see anything wrong with what Franco did. I was told Franco is a “friend” of the LGBTI community and that he didn’t mean any harm…that he’s into gay social experiments, or something like that. Well, if that’s the case, I guess we’re lab rats now.

Yesterday Franco posted photos of himself with cute kittens. And so it goes…

You can read more here.

Travolta’s Gay Denials

In another story involving more Hollywood shenanigans, the pilot,  Douglas Gotterba, who allegedly had an intimate, personal relationship with John Travolta in the 80’s is now free to tell everything he knows.

In the court documents, Gotterba says the two had a ‘personal and intimate’ relationship.

The judge ruled the former pilot has the right to sue to speak openly, saying Gotterba has no duty of confidentiality to the star.

Gotterba wants to publish a book about it all. Travolta denies the allegations.

You can read more here.

Whether this is true or not isn’t important to me. What bothers me the most about it is that there’s this hidden shame attached to being gay that shouldn’t be an issue.

Matt Bomer Plays Straight

In a far more positive piece about Hollywood, the trailer for Matt Bomer’s new film is out and he’s playing a straight role. The title of the film is Space Station 76, and Patrick Wilson is actually playing a bisexual character.

Bomer, currently filming the sixth and final season of TV’s White Collar, plays the role of Ted, a mechanic married to a woman named Misty (Marisa Coughlan).

The film is set in a 1970s-version of the future and is about a group of people and robots living on a space station. They face inner turmoil when a new assistant captain (Liv Tyler) arrives and sparks tension.

This sounds interesting. You can read more here. And, see the trailer.

Maybe there’s hope for Hollywood after all.

Gay Porn Stars’ Kittens

Here’s a link to Queerty where there’s a photo section about gay porn stars and their kittens. They are actually great photos with some of the most adorable kittens I’ve seen in a long time. I think they are safe for work, too. At least I didn’t see anything offensive there.

You can check them out here.

Of course James Franco isn’t in any of the photos with his kitties, but let’s wait and see what happens. Nothing would surprise me anymore…smile.

Small Town Romance Writer
 
by Ryan Field

James Franco’s Stunt; Travolta’s Gay Denials; Matt Bomer Plays Straight; Gay Porn Stars’ Kittens

James Franco’s Stunt

I’ve posted twice on this topic and I hope this is the last time. The only reason I’m doing it again is because I found another article at Huff Po about James Franco’s recent stunt where he jokes around about his brother and Zac Efron being a gay couple. The article is basically the same as it was everywhere else, but this time the comments left by many seem to answer a lot of the questions I had about this so-called stunt.

Here’s one that’s a bit harsh:

When two supposed straight men who act like they are dating, then all of you knuckle draggers think it’s a hoot. The rest of authentic gay men and women get called names and discriminated against, legislated against, and we become the targets of your superstitious religious nonsense. Heteros never fail to disappoint.

Here’s another that nails it in a simple way:

This is passive aggressive homophobia and he needs to be called out on it instead of patted on the head.

Here’s yet another that might be hitting the target head on:

Fools- this is how they network to help their movie sales and keep people blah blah blah, no different then all the other rubbish when it comes to Hollywood!

Of course there are also a few that didn’t see anything wrong with what Franco did. I was told Franco is a “friend” of the LGBTI community and that he didn’t mean any harm…that he’s into gay social experiments, or something like that. Well, if that’s the case, I guess we’re lab rats now.

Yesterday Franco posted photos of himself with cute kittens. And so it goes…

You can read more here.

Travolta’s Gay Denials

In another story involving more Hollywood shenanigans, the pilot,  Douglas Gotterba, who allegedly had an intimate, personal relationship with John Travolta in the 80’s is now free to tell everything he knows.

In the court documents, Gotterba says the two had a ‘personal and intimate’ relationship.

The judge ruled the former pilot has the right to sue to speak openly, saying Gotterba has no duty of confidentiality to the star.

Gotterba wants to publish a book about it all. Travolta denies the allegations.

You can read more here.

Whether this is true or not isn’t important to me. What bothers me the most about it is that there’s this hidden shame attached to being gay that shouldn’t be an issue.

Matt Bomer Plays Straight

In a far more positive piece about Hollywood, the trailer for Matt Bomer’s new film is out and he’s playing a straight role. The title of the film is Space Station 76, and Patrick Wilson is actually playing a bisexual character.

Bomer, currently filming the sixth and final season of TV’s White Collar, plays the role of Ted, a mechanic married to a woman named Misty (Marisa Coughlan).

The film is set in a 1970s-version of the future and is about a group of people and robots living on a space station. They face inner turmoil when a new assistant captain (Liv Tyler) arrives and sparks tension.

This sounds interesting. You can read more here. And, see the trailer.

Maybe there’s hope for Hollywood after all.

Gay Porn Stars’ Kittens

Here’s a link to Queerty where there’s a photo section about gay porn stars and their kittens. They are actually great photos with some of the most adorable kittens I’ve seen in a long time. I think they are safe for work, too. At least I didn’t see anything offensive there.

You can check them out here.

Of course James Franco isn’t in any of the photos with his kitties, but let’s wait and see what happens. Nothing would surprise me anymore…smile.

Small Town Romance Writer
 
by Ryan Field

Gay Slang Dictionary; Simon & Schuster & Judith Regan; Matthew Camp Sex Scenes

Gay Slang Dictionary

When someone pointed me to this link a while back, I knew I’d wind up posting about it eventually. It’s a web site that’s a gay slang dictionary and I’ve found myself lost there more than a few times reading terms and phrases I never knew existed. From the way it looks, they keep it updated, too.

Here’s one from the “P” section:

paint the bucket
colloq.

Anal intercourse.


And there are plenty more where that came from. You can check it out here, for anything about gay slang you always wanted to know, from A – Z. Once you start browsing it’s hard to stop.

Just one more from the “D” section:

dass
n.

Pomo word for man-woman, homosexual [his body is a man but his spirit is a woman.].


Simon & Schuster & Judith Regan

The only reason this is of interest for many is because of Judith Regan’s past. I’ll get to that below with a link. But first, Simon & Schuster is forming some kind of new distribution in partnership with Judith Regan’s imprint, Regan Arts.

“We are delighted to welcome Regan Arts and its authors to Simon & Schuster,” stated Steve Black, Vice President, Client Services for Simon & Schuster.  ”Our sales and distribution infrastructure are poised to provide them with the best possible service and help them to reach the widest possible audience.  We look forward to a very productive partnership.”

You can read more about that, here. But here’s where I think this gets interesting. HarperCollins fired Judith Regan when she started a huge shitstorms with a book and an interview with O. J. Simpson. I remember all this when it went down. Up until that point, Regan wielded a great deal of power in publishing because she usually got results…she knew what she was doing. In many ways, she’s a woman to be admired. But she did screw up big time with this:

HarperCollins announced the dismissal, “effective immediately,” in a two-sentence news release that was issued at about 7 p.m. Eastern time. The announcement was made by Jane Friedman, president and chief executive of HarperCollins, who has long had a strained relationship with Ms. Regan.
      
The Simpson book was to give an account of how he might have murdered his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald L. Goldman.

You can read more about this O.J. Simpson debacle here. What I find the most interesting about this announcement about the partnership with Regan and Simon & Schuster is that old publishing always reminds me of old boy Republican politics in a way. They’re all still in bed with each other, and they just keep pushing and recycling the same old faces (and ideas) forward, but never really seem to get anywhere. You never have to wonder why Amazon always seems to get what it wants. I know it was just rumor a few weeks ago, but I’m starting to think that Amazon will actually wind up owning them one day.

Maybe it’s time for some new blood?

Matthew Camp Sex Scenes

These days it seems as if there’s always something new popping up in gay culture. This time it’s go-go dancer Matthew Camp talking about how much he loves to do sex scenes. He talks about a film he’s starring in titled, Getting Go. It’s supposedly about obsessing and crushes.

‘The film is a story about infatuation, love and the internet,’ he said.

 ‘Some of the more interesting tones in this film deal with very interesting ideas of assimilation of the gay community into the mainstream.

 ‘I think that the general feeling of this movie is very adult and educated and open, there is no awkward coming out story as a focus.’

Sounds interesting, especially the assimilation part. I hear a lot about that and I’m not sure it’s something that’s ever going to happen completely with gay men. How do you take the most integral part of a gay man away? I’m not sure it can happen. Right now assimilation seems trendy. I guess only time will tell with that.

This makes me wonder, though. It’s not something I would have said while promoting a new movie.

‘I like that there are a growing number of gay characters in media,’ he says.

 ‘I really loved the way that the relationship was portrayed between the two gay characters in Cloud Atlas. The characters were flawed and lovable.’

In 2012 I posted about Cloud Atlas and the “yellowface” scenes that were highly offensive to many people. I found them offensive. I also mentioned how poorly this was treated by some associated with Cloud Atlas.

You can read more here about Matthew Camp and how much he loves doing sex scenes. There’s a clip and I have to admit that it does look interesting. I hope it’s distributed well. The problem a lot of us are having these days is that we’re all caught in between on demand, streaming, and DVD rentals online. Gone are the days where indie video stores used to stock these films all the time and we didn’t have to look too hard.

 
 
Cowboy Christmas Miracle
 
 
by Ryan Field
 
 

Gay Slang Dictionary; Simon & Schuster & Judith Regan; Matthew Camp Sex Scenes

Gay Slang Dictionary

When someone pointed me to this link a while back, I knew I’d wind up posting about it eventually. It’s a web site that’s a gay slang dictionary and I’ve found myself lost there more than a few times reading terms and phrases I never knew existed. From the way it looks, they keep it updated, too.

Here’s one from the “P” section:

paint the bucket
colloq.

Anal intercourse.


And there are plenty more where that came from. You can check it out here, for anything about gay slang you always wanted to know, from A – Z. Once you start browsing it’s hard to stop.

Just one more from the “D” section:

dass
n.

Pomo word for man-woman, homosexual [his body is a man but his spirit is a woman.].


Simon & Schuster & Judith Regan

The only reason this is of interest for many is because of Judith Regan’s past. I’ll get to that below with a link. But first, Simon & Schuster is forming some kind of new distribution in partnership with Judith Regan’s imprint, Regan Arts.

“We are delighted to welcome Regan Arts and its authors to Simon & Schuster,” stated Steve Black, Vice President, Client Services for Simon & Schuster.  ”Our sales and distribution infrastructure are poised to provide them with the best possible service and help them to reach the widest possible audience.  We look forward to a very productive partnership.”

You can read more about that, here. But here’s where I think this gets interesting. HarperCollins fired Judith Regan when she started a huge shitstorms with a book and an interview with O. J. Simpson. I remember all this when it went down. Up until that point, Regan wielded a great deal of power in publishing because she usually got results…she knew what she was doing. In many ways, she’s a woman to be admired. But she did screw up big time with this:

HarperCollins announced the dismissal, “effective immediately,” in a two-sentence news release that was issued at about 7 p.m. Eastern time. The announcement was made by Jane Friedman, president and chief executive of HarperCollins, who has long had a strained relationship with Ms. Regan.
      
The Simpson book was to give an account of how he might have murdered his former wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald L. Goldman.

You can read more about this O.J. Simpson debacle here. What I find the most interesting about this announcement about the partnership with Regan and Simon & Schuster is that old publishing always reminds me of old boy Republican politics in a way. They’re all still in bed with each other, and they just keep pushing and recycling the same old faces (and ideas) forward, but never really seem to get anywhere. You never have to wonder why Amazon always seems to get what it wants. I know it was just rumor a few weeks ago, but I’m starting to think that Amazon will actually wind up owning them one day.

Maybe it’s time for some new blood?

Matthew Camp Sex Scenes

These days it seems as if there’s always something new popping up in gay culture. This time it’s go-go dancer Matthew Camp talking about how much he loves to do sex scenes. He talks about a film he’s starring in titled, Getting Go. It’s supposedly about obsessing and crushes.

‘The film is a story about infatuation, love and the internet,’ he said.

 ‘Some of the more interesting tones in this film deal with very interesting ideas of assimilation of the gay community into the mainstream.

 ‘I think that the general feeling of this movie is very adult and educated and open, there is no awkward coming out story as a focus.’

Sounds interesting, especially the assimilation part. I hear a lot about that and I’m not sure it’s something that’s ever going to happen completely with gay men. How do you take the most integral part of a gay man away? I’m not sure it can happen. Right now assimilation seems trendy. I guess only time will tell with that.

This makes me wonder, though. It’s not something I would have said while promoting a new movie.

‘I like that there are a growing number of gay characters in media,’ he says.

 ‘I really loved the way that the relationship was portrayed between the two gay characters in Cloud Atlas. The characters were flawed and lovable.’

In 2012 I posted about Cloud Atlas and the “yellowface” scenes that were highly offensive to many people. I found them offensive. I also mentioned how poorly this was treated by some associated with Cloud Atlas.

You can read more here about Matthew Camp and how much he loves doing sex scenes. There’s a clip and I have to admit that it does look interesting. I hope it’s distributed well. The problem a lot of us are having these days is that we’re all caught in between on demand, streaming, and DVD rentals online. Gone are the days where indie video stores used to stock these films all the time and we didn’t have to look too hard.

 
 
Cowboy Christmas Miracle
 
 
by Ryan Field
 
 

Lenny Kravitz's Bulge; David Tyree Reversal; James Franco an Idiot? Pretending To Be Gay Backfires

Lenny Kravitz’s Bulge

When a friend sent me this link I smiled because it was about Lenny Kravitz. Tony and I have a guest apartment on our property that we rent and we actually rented to Kravitz’s keyboard player, George Laks, about a year and a half ago. I kept that quiet for his privacy, but since he’s been gone this long I see no need to keep it quiet any longer. Laks was a great tenant; no complaints. I wish they were all like him. And he’s as adorable as Lenny Kravitz. One of the things I loved most about having him here was listening to him play the keyboard when he didn’t know anyone was listening. It was wonderful.

In any event, this article about Lenny Kravitz’s bulge seems to be getting a lot of attention and why shouldn’t it? He’s a great looking guy and if he wants to show off a little I see nothing wrong with it.

Lenny tweeted the cover art with the caption: “Sex–coming soon.”
Whatever your mission was you’ve accomplished it, Lenny. 
Many times over. 
Is it warm in here??

Note, this is a bulge and it’s not VPL…VPL, like I’ve been posting about this week. Is it going to change the world? Of course not. I just don’t think everything should be a long involved discussion about social or political issues all the time. Someone started hawking me on a comment thread the other day about an indie film and about the social implications with regard to gay men and I just went silent. Sometimes it’s just about fun. And sexy shit is fun.

You can read more here and view the photos of the bulge. The comments are typical and what you’d expect from anonymous online trolls.

David Tyree Reversal

David Tyree is the Director of Player Development for the NY Giants. He’s famous for his anti-gay comments and promoting the concept of gay conversion therapy. Evidently, he’s had a huge change of heart:

“Christianity teaches us love, compassion and respect for our fellow man, and it is in that light that I will continue to work with Wade and others to better serve the gay community,” Davis quoted Tyree saying in his SI column. “I would absolutely support any player on the Giants who identified as gay, in any way I could. And I will continue to stay in touch with Wade to ensure I am aware of the right ways to do that.”

The article goes on to talk about how HRC slammed the Giants for hiring Tyree. A lot of this article sounds like hearsay, but it’s interesting all the same. Actually, I hope we’ll see more reversal’s of this nature in the future. I don’t really care what motivates them or if they are sincere. At least they’re doing it.

You can read more here.

James Franco an Idiot?

I added the question mark there because I’m not sure about this. I’m linking to an article that talks about something James Franco did on social media that’s supposed to be, I think, funny. But funny in that questionable…often trite…Internet way.

Franco posted a bogus tabloid story, written by ‘Dave Francock,’ on social media which claims Efron and Dave Franco are dating and uses photos of them on the set of their film and at a basketball game as evidence.

One problem with this kind of humor is that it wouldn’t work with any other minority. At least not unless Franco made it clear this was some kind of social experiment up front.

Another problem with this is that when Franco posted about it on Facebook the comment thread lit up with all kinds of insulting comments that wouldn’t be funny with any other minority either. Here’s the link, and here’s just one comment.

I always knew he was a fagg but I know this shit is fake

I guess there was a sale on g’s that day.

Maybe I’m being too PC? Maybe there’s nothing wrong here? Maybe it’s okay for straight people to play gay and laugh about it with each other?

I shared the post and I was told by a straight person that Franco is a friend of the LGBT community. Maybe she’s right. I really am on the fence about it. On the other hand, there’s a reason why Bill Cosby helped stop the old TV show, Amos and Andy, from being aired in syndication. That might not be the best analogy to this piece, but a lot of people found Amos and Andy highly amusing in the same way they find Franco’s bogus story amusing.

Is this a social comment by Franco? Was he looking for these comments? Or is he just full of shit?

Again, I’m honestly not sure. The only thing I wish is that more people in the LGBTI community would at least question these things more often. We should be taking the power, not giving it away for free.

You can read more here.

Pretending To Be Gay Backfires

This story makes most things these days stand out more than anything I’ve seen in a long time. In a way, it could read like a sordid gay romance. There’s this allegedly asexual guy who was sick of his family trying to set him up with women so he recruited a straight male friend to pretend to be gay. The asexual guy told his family he was gay, the straight friend pretended to be gay, and it all wound up backfiring when the asexual guy disclosed he was gay and that this was all a diabolical plan to get the straight guy’s attention. It’s creepier than anything James Franco has ever done, because the straight friend pretending to be gay fell in love with the asexual guy’s sister, Jenny. (I hope I got that all right; I’m linking just in case)

Things went pretty well over next few months, I got along with everybody and kept telling myself I’d ask Jenny out after we told them the truth.

Well, Jeff ended up getting an apartment and moving out of his parents house, he needed a roommate and I volunteered (I wanted to move out of my parent’s house anyway).

One night I get back from work to find a fucking candle lit dinner waiting for me, turns out he really was gay and had a crush on me, and decided the best way to seduce me would be an elaborate scheme to trick me into moving in with him.

Needless to say I rejected him, and he was actually surprised when I did. So he calls his mom crying and said I cheated on him.

His family hates me now, especially Jenny. They won’t believe a word out of my mouth, because it’s his word against mine.

You can read more here. There are links and even a moral to the story. It all sounds a little far-fetched to me, but what do I know (smile).

Small Town Romance Writer
 
by Ryan Field

 


Lenny Kravitz’s Bulge; David Tyree Reversal; James Franco an Idiot? Pretending To Be Gay Backfires

Lenny Kravitz’s Bulge

When a friend sent me this link I smiled because it was about Lenny Kravitz. Tony and I have a guest apartment on our property that we rent and we actually rented to Kravitz’s keyboard player, George Laks, about a year and a half ago. I kept that quiet for his privacy, but since he’s been gone this long I see no need to keep it quiet any longer. Laks was a great tenant; no complaints. I wish they were all like him. And he’s as adorable as Lenny Kravitz. One of the things I loved most about having him here was listening to him play the keyboard when he didn’t know anyone was listening. It was wonderful.

In any event, this article about Lenny Kravitz’s bulge seems to be getting a lot of attention and why shouldn’t it? He’s a great looking guy and if he wants to show off a little I see nothing wrong with it.

Lenny tweeted the cover art with the caption: “Sex–coming soon.”
Whatever your mission was you’ve accomplished it, Lenny. 
Many times over. 
Is it warm in here??

Note, this is a bulge and it’s not VPL…VPL, like I’ve been posting about this week. Is it going to change the world? Of course not. I just don’t think everything should be a long involved discussion about social or political issues all the time. Someone started hawking me on a comment thread the other day about an indie film and about the social implications with regard to gay men and I just went silent. Sometimes it’s just about fun. And sexy shit is fun.

You can read more here and view the photos of the bulge. The comments are typical and what you’d expect from anonymous online trolls.

David Tyree Reversal

David Tyree is the Director of Player Development for the NY Giants. He’s famous for his anti-gay comments and promoting the concept of gay conversion therapy. Evidently, he’s had a huge change of heart:

“Christianity teaches us love, compassion and respect for our fellow man, and it is in that light that I will continue to work with Wade and others to better serve the gay community,” Davis quoted Tyree saying in his SI column. “I would absolutely support any player on the Giants who identified as gay, in any way I could. And I will continue to stay in touch with Wade to ensure I am aware of the right ways to do that.”

The article goes on to talk about how HRC slammed the Giants for hiring Tyree. A lot of this article sounds like hearsay, but it’s interesting all the same. Actually, I hope we’ll see more reversal’s of this nature in the future. I don’t really care what motivates them or if they are sincere. At least they’re doing it.

You can read more here.

James Franco an Idiot?

I added the question mark there because I’m not sure about this. I’m linking to an article that talks about something James Franco did on social media that’s supposed to be, I think, funny. But funny in that questionable…often trite…Internet way.

Franco posted a bogus tabloid story, written by ‘Dave Francock,’ on social media which claims Efron and Dave Franco are dating and uses photos of them on the set of their film and at a basketball game as evidence.

One problem with this kind of humor is that it wouldn’t work with any other minority. At least not unless Franco made it clear this was some kind of social experiment up front.

Another problem with this is that when Franco posted about it on Facebook the comment thread lit up with all kinds of insulting comments that wouldn’t be funny with any other minority either. Here’s the link, and here’s just one comment.

I always knew he was a fagg but I know this shit is fake

I guess there was a sale on g’s that day.

Maybe I’m being too PC? Maybe there’s nothing wrong here? Maybe it’s okay for straight people to play gay and laugh about it with each other?

I shared the post and I was told by a straight person that Franco is a friend of the LGBT community. Maybe she’s right. I really am on the fence about it. On the other hand, there’s a reason why Bill Cosby helped stop the old TV show, Amos and Andy, from being aired in syndication. That might not be the best analogy to this piece, but a lot of people found Amos and Andy highly amusing in the same way they find Franco’s bogus story amusing.

Is this a social comment by Franco? Was he looking for these comments? Or is he just full of shit?

Again, I’m honestly not sure. The only thing I wish is that more people in the LGBTI community would at least question these things more often. We should be taking the power, not giving it away for free.

You can read more here.

Pretending To Be Gay Backfires

This story makes most things these days stand out more than anything I’ve seen in a long time. In a way, it could read like a sordid gay romance. There’s this allegedly asexual guy who was sick of his family trying to set him up with women so he recruited a straight male friend to pretend to be gay. The asexual guy told his family he was gay, the straight friend pretended to be gay, and it all wound up backfiring when the asexual guy disclosed he was gay and that this was all a diabolical plan to get the straight guy’s attention. It’s creepier than anything James Franco has ever done, because the straight friend pretending to be gay fell in love with the asexual guy’s sister, Jenny. (I hope I got that all right; I’m linking just in case)

Things went pretty well over next few months, I got along with everybody and kept telling myself I’d ask Jenny out after we told them the truth.

Well, Jeff ended up getting an apartment and moving out of his parents house, he needed a roommate and I volunteered (I wanted to move out of my parent’s house anyway).

One night I get back from work to find a fucking candle lit dinner waiting for me, turns out he really was gay and had a crush on me, and decided the best way to seduce me would be an elaborate scheme to trick me into moving in with him.

Needless to say I rejected him, and he was actually surprised when I did. So he calls his mom crying and said I cheated on him.

His family hates me now, especially Jenny. They won’t believe a word out of my mouth, because it’s his word against mine.

You can read more here. There are links and even a moral to the story. It all sounds a little far-fetched to me, but what do I know (smile).

Small Town Romance Writer
 
by Ryan Field