Planet Homo

A Palin

Palin is pro-life. While running for Governor of Alaska, Palin supported the teaching of creationism alongside evolution in schools; however, she noted she would not use "religion as a litmus test, or anybody's personal opinion on evolution or creationism" as criteria for selection to the school board.

She opposes same-sex marriage, but she has stated that she has gay friends and is receptive to gay and lesbian concerns about discrimination. Palin complied with an Alaskan state Supreme Court order and signed an implementation of same-sex benefits into law under protest, stating that legal options to avoid doing so had run out. She supported a non-binding referendum on whether there should be a constitutional amendment on the matter. Alaska was one of the first U.S. states to pass a constitutional ban on gay marriage, in 1998, along with Hawaii. Palin has stated that she supported the 1998 constitutional amendment.

Palin's first veto was used to block legislation that would have barred the state from granting benefits to the partners of gay state employees. In effect, her veto granted State of Alaska benefits to same-sex couples. The veto occurred after Palin consulted with Alaska's attorney general on the constitutionality of the legislation.

Gays Gone Wild?

"What follows is a quest to see who can have the most sex and embody the most clichés. Every sad, flagrant stereotype gets a workout: drinking and drugging, promiscuity and primping, mincing and squealing, drag queens and porn stars. What ever happened to gay style and flair?"
So begins Nathan Lee's New York Times review of “Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild!” I don't think he likes this movie: "Written, directed and co-produced by Todd Stephens, this wretched gaysploitation number is, in fact, the worst gay sequel ever" Haven't yet to see it, and most likely never will, I'll take his word on it.

Dickipedia

 Calm down. It's not about that. It is a take off on Wikipedia and it is funny. Among the dicks to be found there are: Kobe Bryant, Uncle Sam, Santa Claus, Dick Cheney, Barack Obama, Ann Coulter, China and Naomi Campbell. To be sure, this is an expanding list.
Here is the reason Mel Gibson is a dick: Mel Columcille Gerard Gibson, AO (born January 3, 1956) is an Academy Award-winning actor, director, producer, screenwriter, alcoholic, anti-Semite, and a dick. After establishing himself as a household name by appearing in such classics as Tequila Sunrise and Bird on a Wire, Gibson went on to direct and star in Braveheart, a film whose most famous scene involves an entire army bending over, lifting up its skirts, and waggling its collected buttocks at another army, which in response stands there with its swords erect, ready to ram deep inside the enemy’s “line.” Not surprisingly, this film is especially popular in American fraternity houses, along with tea bagging, communal showers, and bathroom stalls with no door.
The delightful Ann Coulter is reduced to this: Coulter is perceived as sexy by that segment of the population that has no idea how unsexy an emaciated, horse-faced harridan with chemically ravaged hair actually is, no matter how mini her skirt.

Unlike Wikipedia, you cannot make contributions or edit the copy. You can however search for dick(s) here.

History Repeating

Who New?

Don't Take Your Vitamins
In light of recent studies linking multivitamin use to an increased risk of cancer, Harvard Men's Health Watch is suggesting that the average healthy man stop taking a daily multivitamin until more research is available. The studies suggest that multivitamin use leads to a general increase in the risk of prostate cancer and also link the intake of folic acid to men's colon cancer. If you do stop popping a multivitamin, start taking a vitamin D supplement, because Americans don't get enough D in their diets.

Get Butch (not in these)

What it all means...

A few thoughts as we head into this Conventional Week. This is a big week for Democrats and it is to be played like any good drama, in parts. Will the Hillary camp bring drama? What will Mr. Bill say? How good of an actor is he?
I'm a big fan of BOB (Barack Oh! Bama). Intelligent, eloquent and thoughtful, BOB is evidence that something has shifted, for the good, in this country. But here's the problem: Democrats are terrible at politics. Republicans, for better or worse, know how to pay the game. Democrats get smug, and worse, presumptive about the future, all the while playing nice. Wesley Clark, was universally condemned for stating the obvious: "Well, I don’t think riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down is a qualification to be president." No one was saying he wasn't a war hero, but his service does not entitle him, or does it?
What few people get is what happened to America after 9/11. It changed everything on the political landscape and has allowed things to happen, that prior to that date in infamy, would have been considered impossible. John McCain is still riding on the wound that injured the heart and soul of this country. McCain is not evil. His beliefs are his born from his experiences, as are BOB's from his. BOB was one of the few people to actually voice opposition, for which he gets enormous credit. 

The big question is, can the Democrats lose this election? While it seemed improbable a few months ago, it is now, like a bad awakening, possible. The first night of the convention is over, and clearly Democrats once again, seem to be playing nice. It is understood that the mission tonight was to "humanize" the Obama family. But there was hardly any voice to the eight horrendous years of George Bush. You can bet that the first night of the Republican Convention, the chant, "he's not ready!" will be heard over and over again. One can admire the concept of clean poitics, but its unrealistic and worse, it seems to ignore all the lessons of the past: the Republicans will, like a finely honed Madison Avenue advertising agency, get their message across. It remains to be seen if the Democrats have balls, or the real will to succeed, at any cost.

Winning

MATTHEW Mitcham made history when he became the first Aussie in 84 years to win gold in the Olympic platform diving competition on Saturday night.

But the Brisbane boy made history of another kind in Beijing.

Mitcham, who came out to a Sydney newspaper earlier this year, is the only openly gay male athlete at the Games.

Gay sporting website Outsports compiled the list of the gay athletes, which consists of nine lesbians and Mitcham, who has said that he just wants to be known as a good diver, not as a gay man, and that his homosexuality should not be an issue.

"It's everybody else who thinks it's special when homosexuality and elite sport go together," Mitcham said in the lead-up to Beijing.

But having a gay Olympic diver is not new - multi-gold medallist Greg Louganis came out after his Olympic career ended in 1988 and fellow American David Pilcher made no secret of his sexuality while competing at the Sydney Olympics in 2000.

Mitcham, who grew up in Brisbane but now lives and trains in Sydney, recently talked to Who Magazine about being the first openly gay Australian to go to an Olympics.

Along with being a trailblazer for the gay community, Mitcham proved to be a model athlete after his 10m platform gold medal, giving interviews in fluent French and Mandarin.

Fun Things Happening at the Convention

"Fox and Slander"?

News Flash!

The fanciful "Arias with a Twist" gets a homo promo. Legendary drag performer and ageless diva, Joey Arias joined strings with puppet master Basil Twist to sell out crowds, and the show has been extended. Receiving nothing less than rave reviews: "The chanteuses who play Madison Square Garden have never experienced the imaginative heights of spectacle with which the puppet master Basil Twist surrounds the drag performer Joey Arias" (New York Times), this promotional video has just been released. It should be noted that all voices are actually Joey's.

Is that........

DeShamed

Meet Howard Roffman: Licenser Of Light sabers, Photographer Of Naked Boys, is the headline given to a recent post on defamer.com. They are living up to their name. Howard Roffman is a photographer and director of soft erotic gay images, one hesitates to call it it porn. He is also the President of Lucas Licensing, which markets and produces all the light sabers and paraphernalia that accompanies the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films. Defamer has a problem with that: "We invite you to peruse Roffman's eleven published collections of nude black-and-white studies; while this might not be material for everyone, we doubt anyone would deny Roffman's natural ability for capturing the contours of a very young man's blossoming body. Obviously, some parents might find this news of grave concern—but we're sure that a consummate professional such as himself can be trusted not to greenlight child-inappropriate Lucasfilm products like a Mutt Williams Vine-Swinging Loincloth or Handsy Solo and the Millennium Chickenhawk playset." The oh-so-clever writing is cute until someone takes up the job of getting Mr. Roffman fired from his. Defamer, which appears to be yet another overstaffed Hollywood marketing machine, goes out of its way to “research” Roffman’s bios: “Sure enough, we did some internet digging, and pulled up two very different online bios for the President of Lucas Licensing. His lucasfilm.com profile dryly lists his qualifications, explaining that "Roffman was able to combine business executive functions with creative marketing skills" to eventually oversee duties for "the licensing and marketing of all Lucasfilm properties in ancillary consumer markets, including the Star Wars and Indiana Jones films." Don't expect to win a Peabody Award. Hopefully the brains at defamer will watch the little video below and realize that they are not unlike its contents.

Perversion for Profit

In 1965, histrionic newsman George Putnam narrated a film entitled Perversion for Profit, in which he warned viewers about magazines containing nudity and homosexual material, saying homosexuals were perverts and misfits. The film was financed by Charles Keating. However, by the 1980s Putnam had changed his views. He stated on his radio show 'TALKBACK with George Putnam' that he felt gays were born that way, and added many of his friends and coworkers were gay and good people. It should be noted that the lovely Charles Keating was later charged with crimes, which included John McCain, in the affair that has come to be known as the "Keating Five". Putnam is alive and well at the fine age of 94.

The Advocate to go Monthly

The Advocate, one of the country's oldest biweekly gay publications, will go monthly beginning in January, its new editor said today (Thursday, August 21).

Jon Barrett, the magazine's new editor-in-chief, made the announcement during the luncheon plenary session of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association's LGBT Media Summit under way in Washington, D.C.

"I don't think there is a need for a biweekly magazine anymore with the Web," Barrett said.

Barrett added that the magazine will be thicker, with a heavier paper stock.

"We will have more room for bigger stories and we're going to get better writers," he added. "You will see more news in the magazine."

Barrett took over editing the magazine earlier this summer; his first issue is the one currently on newsstands that features a cover story about Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

Among other changes Barrett has in store is a move away from covers featuring entertainers; for example, he said that he doesn't think the magazine needs to feature a cover shot of straight man who is playing a gay role.

"And of course, the question of what it's like to kiss a man," Barrett said, referencing a frequent question posed to straight actors in such interviews.

"I don't think our readers want to read those stories anymore," he said, adding that those features were needed in the 1990s, when it was validating to many LGBTs.

Nothing was mentioned about the magazines' cover or subscription prices.

The Advocate was purchased from PlanetOut by Regency Entertainment, which also owns Here Television. The last several months have seen staff reorganization and some layoffs. The magazine also has moved into smaller offices in Los Angeles.

It was just a year ago at the NLGJA's LGBT Media Summit in San Diego that the Advocate announced its redesign by legendary Luke Hayman.

Zamora Bio in the Works

Word has it that a bio-documentary on the life of AIDS activist educator Pedro Zamora is the production. Zamora who was best known from his appearances on the 1993 MTV series, Real World: San Francisco, died in 1994. Zamora found out he was HIV-positive after giving blood during his junior year of high school. He turned to the Miami-based HIV/AIDS resource center Body Positive for help and support before speaking about his own experience living with the virus. Zamora entered the national spotlight as an AIDS advocate after being featured by Eric Morganthaler on a front page article of the Wall Street Journal. Interviews by Geraldo Rivera, Phil Donahue and Oprah Winfrey followed.
On July 12, 1993, he testified before the United States Congress concerning HIV/AIDS awareness and educational programs. Zamora argued, "If you want to reach me as a young gay man -- especially a young gay man of color -- then you need to give me information in a language and vocabulary I can understand and relate to." Much of Zamora's message still rings true today as gay people of color continue to suffer from rising HIV rates.
Zamora educated all of America at the same time he eased the anxieties of his Real World housemates. Zamora began dating partner Sean Sasser while on the show. They exchanged vows in the Real World loft. The show aired a week after the cast moved out of the loft.

Oh Daddy!

Ricky "i'm not telling" Martin, the Latin singer, 36, has twin sons born by a surrogate mother several weeks ago. This has been confirmed by Us magazine.

“The children, delivered via gestational surrogacy, are healthy and already under Ricky’s full-time care,” the statement read.

“Ricky is elated to begin this new chapter in his life as a parent and will be spending the remainder of the year out of the public spotlight in order to spend time with his children.”

There has been speculation for years that the Latin heartthrob is homosexual. But Ricky Martin doesn’t want to share that part of his life with the public.

“I think that sexuality is something that each individual should deal with in their own way,” he told Barbara Walters back in 2005. “And that’s all I have to say about that.”

Paul Starr Found Dead

Celebrity makeup artist Paul Starr, who has worked with Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Garner and Sophia Loren, among other Hollywood stars, was found dead in his home in the Echo Park area of Los Angeles.

Starr, 51, was found Tuesday by police who forced their way into his home in the 2200 block of Lake Shore Avenue after friends and neighbors became concerned that they had not heard from the A-list makeup artist for several days, officials said.

"It is a possible natural causes" case, said Ed Winter, assistant chief of the Los Angeles County coroner's office. An autopsy is pending.

Starr was discovered about 10:30 a.m.

His client roster includes old and new Hollywood, from Sophia Loren, Michelle Pfeiffer and Jane Fonda to Scarlett Johansson, Cameron Diaz and Jessica Alba.

He was a founding beauty editor of Flaunt magazine from 1998 to 2001, and in 2005 he released a book, "Paul Starr on Beauty: Conversations With Thirty Celebrated Women."

Bible Study

  

How to get involved....

PORTLAND, August 20, 2008 – Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender supporters of Barack Obama yesterday launched an online community web portal for information and discussion about the Presidential election campaign, and easy to use tools for getting involved.

The website, LGBTforObama.com, is the idea of long-time gay activist and Democratic Party loyalist Terry Bean of Portland, Oregon.

"After devouring many polls and talking to friends, it was apparent that many GLBT people were unaware of the stark differences on our issues between Barack Obama and John McCain," explained Mr. Bean.

"I was appalled that George Bush got 24% of the GLBT vote in 2000 and again in 2004 and vowed to do all that I could to prevent that from happening again with John McCain."

The Curious Case of the Cover

Here is the iconic first photo of a bare-chested, medal-clad Michael Phelps doing his best Mark Spitz impression - sporting an Olympic-sized grin as his eight golds dangle from his neck. The photo - taken inside an ancient temple in Beijing on Sunday night - will grace the cover of Sports Illustrated, which hits newsstands tomorrow.
Ah, that's a strange looking cover. Can you make a man less sexy? And this is for eternity?

Hats On!

Hats are back! Gay men love their hats: the baseball cap for the follicle-deprived, the cowboy hat for the new frontiersmen and of course, the fedora. Hats can define personality. The British Bowler hat has defined a certain gentility, while the Fedora, made famous by someone not born in Indiana (New Jersey, actually) was Indiana Jones. The Fedora gets its name from an 1882 play by Victorien Sardou. Princess Fédora, the heroine of the play, wore a hat similar to a fedora. The American Olympic team sported white caps during the opening ceremonies. The hit series, Mad Men which takes place in the early 60s has ad executives wearing hats. It was the beginning of the end of hat wearing. A culture of men with longhair made hat wearing simply impractical, except for the occasional beret worn by beatniks and counter-culture types. But hats have made a return. So hats on to the new, stylish era of hat wearing.

Meet Matt Branson

If you grew up a surfer in the 80s or 90s, you'd definitely know the name Matt Branson - a tattooed, hellman charger who, more than most, was responsible for creating the surf punk ethos that is now almost a cliché of the sport.
In the cookie-cutter 80s, Branson's image was that of inked-up, tough-guy rebel, a rep that was well and truly cemented in 1991 when he was stabbed in the neck and stomach in a Kings Cross club in a case of mistaken identity.
Not long after, Branson dropped off surfing's pro tour and disappeared from the public stage, started playing drums in a punk band, worked as a dishpig, then as a council worker, until last year when Stab magazine ran a profile, written by the indefatigable Fred Pawle, about Branson coming out as homosexual. Read complete story here.

Sadly True

An Excerpt

At some point we all lie. In these modern times, in an age of Internet dating, socializing and hooking up, it frequently requires some shading of the truth. The fact is, the New Internet Etiquette is both a blessing and a curse. Never before has the ability to make friends, make love and find sex been accomplished quicker. The most successful gay websites have this potential interaction. The downside is: romance is dead. There is little mystery left in the pursuit of sex, or love. We are now permitted to be as explicit and demanding as we like. It's called shopping. We shop for sex and love. Many people have a list of their needs. It's important to grasp at the subtext: people are sending messages about their shopping list. There is a lexicon for this and it is to be found in words like "chill", "discreet" "NSA", and even the suspicious "bi". Chill, for example means that you are likely young seeking young. Old men don't chill. It's a way of suggesting that we get together without intent, with that distinct but lazy possibility of having sex. Discreet is always a danger sign: This person is likely in the closet or cheating on his lover. They are afraid of something. No one has a explanation why anyone would feel the need to tell the world they are bisexual other than it looks good on paper (or screen), hints at a liberal view of sexuality, and holds a certain allure to many homosexuals. Is it any wonder people are finding ways around the truth when the demands are so stringent? Here's an example pulled from a typical Craigslist ad: You you should be SMOOTH and THIN/ SKINNY or AVG BUILT or MUSCULAR 20-30. What if you are 32, have a slight fat deposit around the middle and a little tuff of hair on your chest? Should you answer this ad? Absolutely! But be prepared to fib, a little. Remember, horny people are usually willing to set aside some of their demands when the moment comes. The fact is, you can't always get what you want, but you can indeed, get what you need.

PHOTOSHOPPING THE TRUTH
Age is certainly the greatest fib ever told on the Internet. Men, especially older gay men lie constantly: they have to. At some point in the sexual life of everyone, they begin to lose their appeal. Age happens. For most men, it’s a slow unraveling: Hairlines recede, laugh lines remain after the laughter, and gravity, that invisible sledgehammer of physics keeps pushing us closer and closer to the Earth and we simply get wider and wider.
Luckily, Adobe invented Photoshop, to combat all the forces of nature. With Photoshop, we can smooth lines, frowns and inches. We can create hair where it should be, and it’s far less expensive. So as images are jettisoned across the vast universe of desire and longing, anyone with some graphic skill can artfully correct the intrusions of age. It’s all-good when innocently bantering with the truth in a situation where a physical appearance is not required. But, what about when it is? What if you actually set up a meeting and you have to show up, as you really are? Your guest may gasp as they ask themselves quietly, “Who is this person, not like the one in the picture they sent me?” It is always best to resort to reasonable explanations: I had such a busy week, I’m so tired. I photograph much younger than I look, or the proverbial favorite, it was the lighting. Remember, horny people are usually forgiving.
The same can be said about the purely sexual encounter, where because of the new sexual etiquette, we can now ask, what we always wanted to ask: how big? People have a tendency to round out the numbers, so a 6½" becomes a 7 incher. These are called Internet inches. No one really believes anyone is going to pull out a measuring tape during sex, so the missing ½ inch is likely to be overlooked as a detail. Again, Photoshop, in the initial Internet introduction can be skillfully used to add dimension and length to any image (it's the clone stamp). The first rule of fibbing on the Internet is be reasonable. Don’t add three inches—that will certainly be noted, measuring tape or not! The same can be said about fibbing about one’s age, be reasonable. If you're 55, don’t suggest that your 35, even if your best friends and Mom tell you how good you look for your age. Keep it in within the range of reality. A good rule is never over ten years younger. All the cosmetic surgery, the jars of Olay, exercise and make-up cannot take you back to an age where they played an entirely different soundtrack to the culture. But, lets get back to the penis. You have suggested and sent an image that is not quite anatomically correct. Now what?  The rule here is don’t lie over an inch. It will be noticed. There is a difference between five inches and six, look at a ruler. No one (some aggressive size-queens are the exception) is going to toss you out of the bedroom because you added a little length and girth. The fact is, quite often both people realize they both have fibbed about it and so begins the beginning of a wonderful relationship.

Made for These Times

Crutchley Out!

 A recent brouhaha surrounded Manhunt founder and chairman, Jonathan Crutchley, who turns out to be a McCain supported and doesn't like to be called a liberal. Crutchley  gave a $2300 donation to the McCain campaign which was reported on the Huffington Post. Out magazine and Towleroad took up the cause and reported the story. Out magazine, prone to hysteria, suggested that Crutchley was out to destroy gay politics. Gay politics can apparently be ruined for a relatively small amount of money.
Crutchley is interesting. In an interview about the success of Manhunt.net he said his site differed from straight sites because:  "boy meets boy, boy dates boy, tomorrow night boy dates another boy, the next night boy dates another boy." Promiscuity keeps Manhunt afloat, and Crutchley is showing his age when he euphemistically calls those transactions, dates.
Reaction was fierce. On one site the reaction was harsh: "I am so outraged by this blatant exploitation of the gay community that I YELLED with my pocketbook, canceled my membership and encouraged my friends to do the same." And it had an effect. A big effect: Co-founder Larry Basile  sent out this notice today: "It should be known that Jonathan Crutchley's donation to McCain left the entire Board in disbelief. I am disappointed that we have lost some customers, and I understand the anger. It is too bad for the web site if we lose customers, but PLEASE never refer to me as a Republican. I consider it an offense. Earlier today, at the request of the Board, Jonathan has stepped down as Chairman."
At Manhunt.net they apparently don't discuss politics. While we applaud the action, it comes very close to appeasement based on business (ABB); Manhunt most likely lost customers and Mr. Basile took action. The fact is, Mr. Crutchley will continue to pull in a bundle of cash because we are so busy "dating".

This is important...

US Gymnast Team

How Do You Stop?

Song written by the late James Brown sung by Joni Mitchell with Seal

Rocky Horror Redux

The Rocky Horror Picture Show is to be re-made, more than 30 years after the original version, which became one of the most popular musical movies of all time.
The time warp will be done again with the film's original executive producer, Lou Adler, Sky Movies confirmed.
The camp classic, which features a "sweet transvestite from transsexual Transylvania", is being revived in a partnership deal for Sky Movies in the UK and MTV in the United States.
The cast and director for the new version are yet to be confirmed but Adler and Gail Berman will executive produce the project, which will use the original screenplay by Jim Sharman and Richard O'Brien - a co-producer on the new version.
The original Rocky Horror, released in 1975, starred Tim Curry, Susan Sarandon, O'Brien, Barry Bostwick and Meatloaf.
Adler said: "The Rocky Horror phenomenon has a life of its own that has reincarnated itself in numerous ways since its birth.
"Our hope has always been that each new endeavor and rebirth will expose the Rocky Horror Experience to new audiences and expand the fan base.

Richard O'Brien, who wrote the original screenplay told the BBC he was not involved "in any way" in the new project and that the first he had heard of the project was through news headlines. "I have no view on whether it should be remade but it doesn't have my blessing," he told BBC.

Hello Bello

Those boys are always busy. The Oh La La Boys, who have created an online magazine called Bello mag, not be confused with the Latin Bello Magazine. Clearly taking a cue from fantasticsmag.com, ex-French patriots, Alex and Steph have decided that it wasn't enough to feature hot boys, they wanted to photograph them too.

One thing is certain about their websites: they know how to brand. They love to put their name on everything. We can't imagine that they don't own custom underwear with their logo splattered on it. Oh la la! It's ubiquitous and frankly slighlty annoying when it appears on pictures of lawn chairs that have little cultural or blog-worthy value. But they love their trademark, and they are French. Now back to Bello: Lifestyle Alphabet for Modern Man. No one is certain what the "lifestyle alphabet for modern man" is, it may be code for younger men? What Bello does prove is what I wrote about recently here, and that is, it is easy to photograph hot men, and Bello is hello with hotties. And the photography is actually pretty good. We are in a period of photography where looking amateurish is the idea. It is clearly the influence of the Internet, the digital photography and the fact that everyone thinks they're a model (we all post pictures). So the often soft focus, out-of-focus images in Bello seems somehow like...fashion. Fashion, next to the origins of the universe is one of the great mysteries of life, and how "fashion" photography sells a product (we are more interested in the model than the bathing suit) especially in the gay market is even more bewildering. But it must work, and Bello has its fair share of boys lounging in underwear and swimsuits on rooftops, pool decks, against sunsets, etc. What must be noted though, is that unlike Fantasticsmag.com, the graphics are horrendous. They have chosen one ugly font and used it badly, repeatedly. (I would remind them, I teach typography). Mr. Nixon of fantasticsmag.com is a graphic artist, he understands typograpy, and fashion, and he juggles the two disciplines with complete control and expertise. Not so here. But, it may be something that the public doesn'e even notice. We will likely be looking at the models, as usual.

Wrestling with Porn

The owner of a Web site featuring gay pornography said Monday that he’s been contacted by Nebraska athletic department officials investigating photographs that allegedly show two wrestlers naked or partially clothed.

John Marsh of Los Angeles said that he had spoken to Nebraska wrestling coach Mark Manning and Josh White, assistant athletic director in charge of compliance.

The pictures appear to show, separately, wrestlers Paul Donahoe and Kenny Jordan, but Marsh wouldn’t confirm their identity, citing his policy to protect models.

“We’re working with the school in terms of maintaining the guys’ eligibility in the NCAA,” Marsh said.

On Saturday, Manning confirmed to the Journal Star that an investigation was under way. “Until we find out further information, we’re not going to make a statement in regards to Paul and Kenny being in our program,” he said.
NCAA athletes aren’t allowed to use pictures of themselves for commercial purposes.

A membership to Marsh’s Web site, fratmen.tv costs $24.95 per month.

George Furth

George Furth, an actor and Tony Award-winning playwright who wrote the book for the landmark 1970 Broadway musical "Company" and also wrote the 1971 play "Twigs," died Monday morning. He was 75.
Furth won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for best book of a musical for "Company," which ran on Broadway from 1970 to 1972 with Dean Jones as the central character.
With Sondheim writing the music and lyrics, Furth also wrote the book for "Merrily We Roll Along," the 1981 musical based on the George S. Kaufman-Moss Hart play. For complete story, visit here.

Phelps' Wingspan

The Los Angeles Times is doing a great job with these charts and graphics designed by Raul Ranoa. This chart shows you and me and Michael Phelps, and why Phelps is unique as a swimmer, unless you also have a 6-foot 7inch "wingspan". Fly.

The Gay, Gay West

"To a kid of the late 1960s, "The Wild Wild West" was as gay as a show could get. Like "I Spy," like "Batman," it was a portrait of two men in domestic partnership. Jim and Artie didn't just work together; they lived together, rode together, celebrated together."
Saloon, we mean Salon.com probes the past with a look back at the tight pants and the tight relationship between Jim and Artie.

Welcome to My Life

Olympic Moments

Ouch!

From the always politically correct TMZ.com comes this Olympic oddity: The Spanish national basketball team, gold medal contenders at the Olympics in Beijing, was featured in a full page ad that shows the team pulling back at their eyes in a slanty-eyed gesture. According to the Guardian, the ad (which is for a freight company) ran in a Spanish newspaper.

Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. 1942-2008

Singer Issac Hayes Hayes was found dead Sunday at age 65. Relatives found Hayes, 65, unconscious in his home next to a still-running treadmill, said Steve Shular, a spokesman for the Shelby County Sheriff's Department. Paramedics attempted to revive him and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 2 p.m., the sheriff's department said. Hayes was a longtime songwriter and arranger for Stax Records in Memphis, playing in the studio's backup band and crafting tunes for artists such as Otis Redding and Sam and Dave in the 1960s. Photo See photos of singer Isaac Hayes » He released his first solo album in 1967, and his 1969 follow-up, "Hot Buttered Soul," became a platinum hit. In 1971, the theme from "Shaft" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks and won an Academy Award for best original theme song. The song and the movie score also won Grammy awards for best original score and movie theme. Hayes won a third Grammy for pop instrumental performance with the title track to his 1972 "Black Moses" album. Don't Miss From the late 1990s through 2006, Hayes provided the voice of "Chef" for Comedy Central's raunchy animated series "South Park," as well as numerous songs. The role introduced him to a new generation of fans, but he left after the show lampooned his own religion, the Church of Scientology. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2002. In a CNN interview at the time, Hayes credited his success to "adjusting and constantly evolving, expanding and trying to stay as young as I can." The new generation of popular musicians, he said, "could use a little more substance like we had in the day." "They're standing on our shoulders. Some of them don't realize [it] because they sample me so much," he said. Hayes credited his role on "South Park" with expanding his fan base, and said that he had almost passed on the job. "I started to walk out. I thought it was a Disney thing. I [had] never heard of this thing," he said. But his agent persuaded him to tape some episodes. "Toward the opening I started having trepidations -- 'Oh my god, what have I done? I've ruined my career.' But when it aired, the ratings went through the roof," he said.

8-8-08

Marco Polo

Ralph Lauren is the official outfitter of the 2008 USA Olympic Team in Beijing. Tonight as the opening ceremonies begin, the world will check out all the athletes and the styles of the opening parade. The Lauren outfit, which looks like something out of Brideshead Revisited, consists of a blue blazer, white slacks, red, white and blue tie, white tennis shoes and a white a cap. It's an upscale look. Unfortunately, most of the unassuming world will think America is a Polo Team. The Ralph Lauren logo is larger than the American flag. The amount of publicity Lauren will get from the opening games should have tamed their over-zealous marketing of the Polo logo—we're likely Americans first, consumers second. The shirt, by the way, comes in many patriotic colors and sells for $125.00

In the News!!!!

Mr. Blackwell Not Well

HOLLYWOOD-- KTLA has been monitoring reports that Hollywood icon, Richard Blackwell, famously known as "Mr. Blackwell" is hospitalized in very serious condition.

Blackwell is the man behind the legendary Ten Worst Dressed Women list that is published each year.

The 86-year-old designer and fashion critic collapsed at his L.A. home Tuesday and was taken to a local hospital where he remains unconscious, according to his publicist Harlan Boll.

Blackwell is suffering from septic shock and is being treated with antibiotics, Boll said.

"The doctors report that he is stable (neither doing any worse or any better since he was admitted) at this time and under constant watch", Boll told KTLA in a statement Wednesday.

Blackwell's annual Worst Dressed List debuted in 1960. That list has become so iconic in Hollywood, that there's a popular saying that, "you haven't made it in Hollywood, until you've made the list."

Blackwell lives in the Hancock Park enclave of Los Angeles with his partner-manager Robert Spencer. In 1964, they rented their home to The Beatles for the English band’s first visit to the city. It was leaked to the media, however, and the group made other arrangements. He is also an artist known for his avant-garde and has published several editions of his work, including his "Mother America" series.

Andy at Eighty

Had he lived, Andy Warhol would be eighty years old today. With time, Warhol's legend has grown steadily as it becomes clear that despite his enormous need for social interaction (the man loved a party) he was a brilliant artist, who defined an era.
The catalogue raisonné of Warhol's works, including his avant-garde homo-cinematic explorations, Blow Job, Bike Boy, My Hustler are considered innovative and nothing less than scandalous at the time.
Warhol's life was cut short (he died at 58) when he died of an apparent heart attack while in a New York City hospital for a gall bladder surgery.
The legacy of Warhol includes a distinct painting/lithographic style that is imitated daily, as well as his famous proclamation that everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes, which has turned out to be painfully true. Warhol, on the other hand is� timeless and legendary character who continues to fascinate. Happy Birthday, Andy!

Flaming

Sculptor Walter Lemcke kept it simple when designing the first Olympic torch for the Berlin games of 1936, wisely omitting the eagle and swastika florishes he whipped up that same year for Hermann Göring's Air Ministry building. Subsequent designers stuck with classic, often chalice-like torches, until the Tokyo games of 1964 ushered in a minimalist, épée-like flame holder (pictured above, third from left) that proved enduringly popular. But things really started to get strange in 1968, when Mexico tried to render its Olympic logo in three dimensions with a torch that looked better suited to beating huevos. The wisk-like holder (above, center) found an heir in the Montreal torch of 1976 (above, at far right), which evokes a spatula and makes us hanker for crepes. Write your own torch song with the help of this helpful New York Times infographic that charts the history of Olympic flame holders from 1936 to the present. As for contemporary torches, Philippe Starck's 1992 design for the Albertville games (pictured below, second from left) kicked off a new trend in torches, which could now all pass for Bang & Olufsen telephones.

In the Morning Male

Our friend John Skalicky sent over this image last night. John is a photographer whose work appears regularly on the covers of IN magazine in Los Angeles. John recently enjoyed a birthday and is convalescing in his country club estate.

Playgirl's Print Run is Dead

Nicole Caldwell, Playgirl's editor-in-chief, just emailed confirmation that the magazine is indeed shuttering its print operation.

"Playgirl is going all-Web. The last print issue will be the Jan/Feb 2009 magazine, which comes out Nov. 18," Caldwell writes.

Another print magazine decides to go all-web, all-the-time. Playgirl, which has been around since the 70s, has always been something of a closet case magazine, with a large unacknowledged gay readership. I know—I worked there. One of the great aspects to Playgirl magazine is that it helped the careers of three of the most famous photographers in the world: Herb Ritts, Greg Gorman and Matthew Rolston. It should be added that they did not use their real names while photographing naked men for the publication. Instead non de plums were used such as Tristan Tzara. It was a time when everyone wanted to be in Playgirl (including celebrities like Lyle Waggoner, George Maharis, Kevin Sorbo, Scott Bakula, Jim Brown) and it was essentially the only mass marketed magazine featuring cock at the time. As the times changed and gay porn began to be published in such legendary publications as In Touch, the readership continually dwindled. On a stranger note, Wikipedia has this to say about the magazine: "Throughout the years the magazine has matured as erections, foreskin and non-Caucasian models have appeared in the magazine. The magazine has generally featured models who have been circumcised but of late, layouts with uncircumcised models are featured."  Who new?

But it is important to remember that Playgirl likely sent many a closeted man on his way to self-realization.

The Fall

To begin with a synopsis seems almost like a betrayal in reviewing Tarsem Singh Dhandwar's film, "The Fall". But at its most basic storyline the plot involves a 5-year-old girl, a paralyzed stuntman and a cast of characters, some imagined, some real that drift in and out of epic dramas. The film stars the pleasantly handsome Lee Pace and the most remarkable young actress, Catinca Untaru. Like the Wizard of Oz, the characters, both real and imagined are given double roles; the ice man (it's 1915; there's no fridge) becomes a slave/warrior (pictured), nurses become princesses, x ray technicians become dark ominous characters.
Directed by Tarsem Singh Dhandwar, a veteran music video and commercial director who uses Tarsem as his professional name, The Fall leaps in a visual direction that has never been seen before, and without special effects. While it may sound operatic, this is film making and cinematography that enters a new dimension of the imagination. From the opening black and white montage, director of photography Colin Watkinson pushes the depth of field and saturates the screen with beauty, the breathtaking beauty that is magically, still our world. The costumes are by legendary designer Eiko Ishioka (Mishima, Bram Stroker's Dracula). Clearly it is the mind of Tarsem (he directed "The Cell" with Jennifer Lopez, and the famous "Losing My Religion" video for REM) that manages to distill all the events and images into a coherent, magical story.
The movie seems to come and gone quickly. Made in 2006, it is one of those films that not everyone loves. Nathan Lee of The New York Times, wrote that the film "is a genuine labor of love — and a real bore." Roger Ebert on the other hand  gave it his highest blessing: "You might want to see for no other reason than because it exists. There will never be another like it." 

While Batman may break records this summer, The Fall will likely be constrained to art houses and film festivals, which is unfortunate. Both films share the priviledge of being directed by visionaries. The Fall is not nearly as dark (literally) but its story manages to touch on suicide and hopelessness.

While is certainly not the same as seeing the film, the stills from the film itself are ample evidence of the astonishing imagery and they can be seen here.