Category: florida

Library Without Books; Matt Bomer on American Horror; Justin Theroux’s Bulge; Hugh Howey’s Shitty Basket; Giovanni’s Room; Michael Sam Sacks Johnny Football;

Library Without Books

This past Sunday night Tony and I had dinner with two older gay couples, all of whom worked as professors in colleges. The topic turned to e-books at one point, and as usual, with this topic, I just kept my mouth shut and listened. I’ve learned to do that when I’m with people who don’t really know what they’re talking about. All of these former professors claimed that e-books were a passing trend and nothing could ever replace the print book. And I think this next article to which I’m linking about a Florida college that just opened a library with ONLY e-books validates the point that e-books are not going to disappear.

A fully digital library is among the futuristic features of Florida Polytechnic University’s striking dome-shaped building, designed by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava.

“It’s a boldly relevant decision to go forward without books,” said Kathryn Miller, the university’s director of libraries.

It’s also interesting to note that they consider this a bold move…when many of us have been reading nothing but digital content for years now. But more than that, the article treats e-books as if they aren’t really books by claiming this is a library without books. Last I heard, e-books are just as much books as any print book.

You can read more here.


Matt Bomer on American Horror

I think I’ve already admitted I’m a huge fan of American Horror Story, and now the newest season where they’ll be concentrating on carny people titled, Freak show, will be even more enticing because Matt Bomer will be in it. Producer, Ryan Murphy, practically begged Bomer to do this.

 ‘I try to get him to do everything for me,’ Murphy tells Entertainment Weekly.

 ‘I sent him a text that said, ‘First right of refusal, here’s the role.’ Murphy, also the creator of Glee, has not revealed details of the role except to say:

‘It’s very…warped.’

It goes on to mention that Bomer will be in at least one episode. I want to know why Ryan Murphy isn’t begging Trevor Donovan to be in his TV shows, too. Donovan’s not gay, but he’s been a huge friend to the LGBTI community, he’s excellent at whatever he does, and he certainly would draw a few good ratings. But I digress.

You can read more about that here.

Justin Theroux’s Bulge

I will be the first to admit that I only started watching Leftovers because of the first few scenes with Justin Theroux. The man is gorgeous, every last fuzzy inch of him, including his bulge. But I’m glad I did continue to watch because the complicated plot keeps drawing you in more and more each week. You don’t always know where you are, or even where the story is going, but it all ties in eventually…for the most part. Best of all, you actually care about the characters. And…Amy Brenneman is in the show and I’ve always loved her.

In any event, Justin Theroux’s bulge can’t be ignored either. You don’t see them like that every day on TV.

But there is one thing the show definitely has going for it. Its star, Justin Theroux.

And more specifically, his crotch.

In last night’s episode we got backstory on many of the main players, but with Justin it was more like frontstory.

Justin Theroux’s part in this show is something I actually think m/m romance readers might enjoy. He’s the classic hero, the occasional bad boy, and the vulnerable good guy who cries when he’s faced with something ethical or moral. It really doesn’t get much better on TV these days. He really does own this character.

You can read more here, where they’ve put together a few images of Justin you’ll want to see.

Hugh Howey’s Shitty Basket

Now for something far less interesting than Justin Theroux, this next link is about Hugh Howey, eggs, and shitty baskets. I’m still not sure who died and who named Hugh Howey the spokesperson of publishing, but he certainly writes blog posts as if that’s who he is. I guess he doesn’t think there have been people around a long time before he came along. But you can’t blame a guy for being overly aggressive I guess, especially in this post titled, No More Shitty Baskets.

I’m not going to bother commenting on this link because I think it’s all pretty moot. The conclusions aren’t all that dramatic either. However, I do know that a lot of people who will be reading this might find it interesting. Especially those who are still thinking about self-publishing. Howey is a good example in that department…I think.

I just wish he’d lighten up on the metaphors and similes already.

I have no problem going all-in if a company is making decisions that I believe in and support. I can move my eggs with the press of a button. These calculations are vastly different when you own the rights to your eggs, and those eggs are digital.

After reading this one I had this weird craving for an Egg McMuffin. Here’s where you can read all this in full.

Giovanni’s Room

Remember when I posted about the oldest LGBTI book store in the US, Giovanni’s Room, in Philadelphia shuttering its doors last May because sales for print books have been down for a while? Well there’s been a recent announcement that the old space where the book store was will open as a thrift shop that will sell books, and all proceeds will go to raising money for AIDS.

Now, the nearly 9-year-old establishment will be preserving something much more significant – Giovanni’s Room, the iconic touchstone of the LGBT community and the country’s oldest LGBT bookstore. The organization has signed a two-year lease with the former Giovanni’s Room owner to open Philly AIDS Thrift store at Giovanni’s Room.

The store will have a soft opening in late September and open officially Oct. 10, in time for OutFest and National Coming Out Day. The iconic “Giovanni’s Room” signage will remain, the new leasers said.

“What can be more precious than Giovanni’s Room? What better thing to try and keep alive?” asked Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou, co-founder of the Philly AIDS Thrift and manager of the Queen Village store. She added that it was a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

I couldn’t be happier to hear this. Actually, for the first time ever, possibly, someone is trying to preserve a little fraction of LGBTI history and gay culture. We don’t really see this happen anywhere, not even in pop culture. In the US if George Washington didn’t sleep there it’s not considered significant.

You can read more here. I’ll post photos in the fall after it’s opened.
 

Michael Sam Sacks Johnny Football

I’m not the biggest footfall fan, so I’m not even going to try to comment on this one. All I can say is that I don’t think they’re talking about anything dirty when they say Michael Sam “sacks” Johnny Football…whoever he may be. I’m gathering this is a football term….”sack.” And, Michael Sam did it to him.

‘If you’re going to sack Johnny, you’ve got to do that once,’ Sam said, as reported by ESPN.

The quarterback’s nickname is ‘Johnny Football.’

‘He’s a talented kid,’  Sam said to ESPN. ‘He isn’t called Johnny Football for nothing. It was fun getting to play against Manziel in an NFL game. I sacked him as both a junior and senior at Missouri.’

You can read more here. I just like reading about football players, especially when they’re sacking each other.

 

The Sheriff and the Outlaw
 
by Ryan Field 
 
 

Porn Guy Allowed in School; Peen Worship; He Swung Like a Helicopter

Porn Guy Allowed in School

Yesterday I posted about an eighteen year old guy who was bullied and thrown out of a Florida school because it was disclosed he participated in an all gay porn film to help make money to support his family. In a follow up report, they are now claiming he’s been allowed back in school.

18-year-old Florida high school student Robert Merucci has had his suspension from school lifted after a backlash against the school authorities who suspended him after he was bullied at school for appearing in gay porn.

You can read more here. The article also gets into more detail about why this student was kicked out of school. One of the kids bullying him claimed he made a threat. He denied this and the principal believed him.

There’s always more to the story.

Peen Worship

First, I did not write this. I’m only linking to it and bringing it up, so please don’t associate me with it. I just thought it was interesting from a bystander’s POV. It’s an article about how women can really impress their men. You know, one of THOSE. And it’s an article about how women need to learn more about penis worship to please their men. Once again, I have nothing to do with it.

“Penises are ugly, little shriveled tails hanging off the front of a man (until they’re not),” says Fiore, “but the emotional connection a guy feels for his genitalia is something between love and obsession. Men spend a crazy, ridiculous, and unhealthy amount of time thinking about their genitalia, what their genitalia is feeling, what they WANT it to feel, and how they can make it feel that way. That’s why one powerful male fantasy revolves around the power of the penis.”

It’s a long article, and some might say it devolves from there. But what I found most interesting is that in the gay world penis worship is often taken for granted so much we don’t even discuss it. In fact, I remember once writing a scene in a book about it and I had to actually explain it to the female editor because she’d never even heard of penis worship. Of course some gay men are more into that brand of worship than others. But I’ve yet to meet a gay man in my lifetime who would compare a penis to an ugly, little shriveled tail.

You can read more here.

Here’s a comment thread about whether gay men like penis more than straight women. Again, I didn’t come up with this either. Don’t blame me.

He Swung Like a Helicopter

Sometimes in doing searches I come across older articles that catch my eye. In this case it’s an article that dates back to December about a man who was charged for allegedly pulling his penis out of his pants and swinging it around like a helicopter. A couple of women were not amused, and the bad simile has nothing to do with it.

Police reports also say he told the women he had a gun, and that they were “coming with him.”

One of the women flagged down a passing police car and told officers Harvell had approached her from behind and grabbed her by the arm.

She said he then took his penis out of his trousers and was “swinging it around in a rotary helicopter motion.”

Check out all the latest News, Sport & Celeb gossip at Mirror.co.uk http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/shawn-harvell-arrested-swinging-penis-2900562#ixzz2rBCA9z8W
Follow us: @DailyMirror on Twitter | DailyMirror on Facebook

I do remember one time when a brave young woman I knew in college had her vagina pierced and she lifted her dress to show me and a few other people. I didn’t actually scream, but I felt like flagging down a policeman, too.

Johnny Weir Slammed; Boy Failed 4 Gay Porn: His Only Choice on Amazon

Johnny Weir Slammed

There has been a great deal written about Johnny Weir in the past year or so and I’ve posted a few things here. Now columnist Louis Verrecchio has weighed in on the topic with a few interesting comments I thought were newsworthy enough to share. And, what’s most interesting is that even though I don’t support Weir’s position and I think he should be more concerned about human rights than he is, I can’t by ANY means support what Verrecchio wrote about Weir this time. It’s not only homophobic, it’s a misguided slam, with an agenda, that could happen to any gay person anywhere.

In a fiery column on the Renew America website, Catholic News Agency columnist Louie Verrecchio slams Weir as “a flamboyant, cross-dressing, homosexual man” who was hired by NBC simply to “provide color commentary (presumably rainbow)” during the Winter Olympics.

The article devolves from there, claiming that kids shouldn’t watch the winter Olympics because of Weir and LGBTI influence, and even drops to an all time low by slamming figure skating as a sport.

As I said, I don’t fully understand Weir’s position, and I think we should all boycott the Olympics based on what’s happening to LGBTI people in Russia, but Louis Verrecchio is way out of line and if he thinks the LGBTI community won’t speak up in favor of Weir this time he’s very sadly mistaken.

You can read more here.

Boy Failed 4 Gay Porn

A high school boy in Florida allegedly was in a gay porn movie to make money to help support his family. When people found out, he was bullied by other boys in the school, but instead of suspending the bullies the school failed the boy who did the porn. The boy is eighteen years old, of legal age to do a porn movie, and pornography is not illegal in Florida.

 A large group of students reportedly skipped 7th period on Friday and gathered to stomp and shout his name in the school’s quad in protest.

A classmate posted a photo of the protest action to social media, writing ‘All these people be protesting and stomping and yelling [Noel’s real name] like there be an earthquake.’

If this were a case of protest about the fact that someone so young had to make a porn film of any kind for money, gay or straight, it would be a completely different story altogether. But it’s about a protest that was geared toward bullying a kid for making gay porn. Had he made straight porn I doubt he would have been bullied by the other kids. He might even have become the school star. And instead of the school failing him and keeping him from getting his diploma, maybe they should have been more proactive in finding out why this student had to go to those extremes to make money. I think the difference between eighteen and twenty-one years old is highly significant in cases like this, and I’m not a fan of eighteen year olds making porn films. Young adults having sex with each other isn’t the same thing. We’re talking about gay for pay and I wish someone had been around to talk to this kid instead of bullying him and failing him. I don’t like to see kids bullied, or exploited.

You can read more here.

His Only Choice on Amazon

Here’s an Amazon link for my newest release, His Only Choice, the third book in my Second Chance series. It’s also up on Smashwords, ARe, and other places where e-books are sold.

Here’s the blurb:

 In this third installment of the Second Chance series by Ryan Field, His Only Choice, Lance has to figure out a way to deal with the fact that his partner, Davis, of twenty years will be traveling extensively in Asia and leaving him alone for long stretches at a time. So Lance plunges into making important changes to the small brick and mortar bookshop he owns in New York’s Hudson River Valley to keep it competitive with the rising popularity in e-books. He’s also trying to deal with turning forty years old and it’s not working out well. In order to fill the lonely hours when he’s not working, Lance joins a gym and meets a very young personal trainer named Sergio who makes him feel so young and desirable again he starts lying about his age and telling Sergio he’s only thirty-five years old.

Like other books in the Second Chance series the story bounces from present to past a few times and the choice Lance has to make to get his second chance isn’t clear until the story is in full swing. But there are more than a few sexy gay surprises to keep m/m readers wondering what will happen next, which include whether Lance will ultimately choose his safe, quiet life with Davis. Or will he choose to go another round with dark, sexy Sergio with the weight lifter’s body and scruffy rough beard?

Tim Mooney Gay Marriage Enemy Flip Flops; West Virginia Gays Speak

Tim Mooney Gay Marriage Enemy Flip Flops

This is one I haven’t been following, but I thought it was interesting because Tim Mooney seems to have always been against gay marriage. And now more than a few advocates for gay marriage are questioning his motives.

Mooney is a republican strategist, he’s worked in anti-gay marriage campaigns in Utah, and he’s always been on record as a supporter of those who are against gay marriage.

In an odd move, he’s now behind an effort to not only legalize gay marriage in Florida and Arizona, but he’s supposedly behind the groups called Equal Marriage Florida and Equal marriage Arizona. He allegedly started these movements after hooking up with libertarian, Gary Johnson, who has always been for gay marriage. But many are still questioning Mooney’s motives. Some are even saying he’s pushing gay marriage in states like FL and AZ that aren’t ready for it.

But most gay rights advocates said they see it differently. Marc Solomon, the national campaign director of Freedom to Marry, a leading advocacy group devoted to legalizing same-sex marriage, is among the dozens of veteran gay rights advocates who have expressed skepticism about Mooney’s strategy.

“We want to be involved in every kind of marriage campaign that results in a victory,” Solomon said. “From our vantage point, the first step is to demonstrate a clear pathway to victory.”

You can read more here. Maybe I’m too cynical, but Mooney is a strategist, not a clergyman. There’s also an old saying in politics that only the amateurs remain mad. His morals are in his bank and whoever endorses him is going to sway his opinions in the direction that benefits him the most. People may not like to hear his, but that’s how the world works and life is not all hope and peace. And if the flip flop happens to be support of gay marriage in this particular case with Mooney, which I hope it is (speaking pragmatically), he can wave the rainbow flag as high as he wants. No one gets anywhere in politics without sacrificing something. They all flip flop. Or, maybe he has a gay nephew.

West Virginia Gays Speak

In an attempt to gain equality for West Virginia gay couples, Lambda Legal of WV is putting out a call to all gay WV couples to tell their own personal stories. It’s in the form of a digital question and answer, with room for comments.

We need couples who are willing to come forward publicly and share stories about their love and commitment, along with their real world struggles as a result of having their government treat them as legal strangers.

If this were PA, I would be doing it there, and here on this blog. So for all you in WV, this might be your chance to help in the fight for equality and make history in your own way. We’ve never been more connected than we are now, and your voices are as important as the people fighting on the front lines.

You can get there from here.