Planet Homo

More Model Business

You remember Ben, he's a model. Genre magazine which has taken very little heat for this, used Ben's image, without his consent in a sex ad. Now, we all get the feeling that because of the Internet, anything goes, but there are lines. Ben was right, Genre was wrong. What disturbed most of us was the indication from Ben's lawyer, Liah Catanese, that read: "He's not gay." Ben has a history of posing and pulling down his underwear, so its a little odd when your lawyer feels the need to declare your sexuality. So today, Benny released this statement:

Last week I filed a lawsuit in New York based on the unauthorized use, distribution, and publication of my image. One of the photographs was cropped and altered to make me look nude and included my contact information.

Numerous media outlets focused on the fact that the images appear in a publication geared toward the gay community. Based upon these reports, some have mischaracterized me as homophobic, which could not be further from the truth.

The real issue is that I never signed a release or gave permission to use or alter my pictures for adult-themed media. No matter what community the publication attracts, the use of my image in a sexually explicit way without my permission violated my rights.

For the record, we had to look up Ben's mood: catalyzed, which means  "to produce fundamental change in; transform: changes in student enrollment that have catalyzed the educational system." We imagine he is feeling a little catalyzed at the moment.

Gay Biops in the Making

We recently learned that Tennessee Williams is about to be given the Truman Capote treatment: a filmed biography and today we learn that Allen Ginsberg will immortalized on film in a filmed bio called "Howl". The title taken from the seminal 50 year-old poem is reported to have James Franco, Alan Alda, Jeff Daniels, Mary-Louise Parker and Paul Rudd in cast. No word on who gets to play Ginsberg, but our best bet would be on Emmy winner and Oscar nominee Paul Giamatti. The film will be directed by Jeffrey Friedman, who directed Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt. Asked how a 50-year poem might appeal to young people today he  replied: "We've been surprised by the number of young people who have told us not only that they are familiar with the poem, but that it means a lot to them. A generation accustomed to being bombarded with random sensational imagery will be able to easily keep up with our animated reinterpretation of the poem--a dreamlike world of madness and monsters, burning oilfields and cosmic orgasms."

Love is in the Air

It's that time of the year: Libra time!
And that means partnerships, marriage and more than usual flirting. To that end, this story about a fashion designer who comes out because of love, and just looking at the loveboy, who could blame him?
Mumbai, Sept 28: Flamboyant fashion designer Rohit (Gudda) Bal has finally confessed that he’s gay and has professed his love for boyfriend Lalit Tehlan, who is a model.

In an exclusive interview given to a news daily, Bal said “I have found someone who loves me more than I love him. I don't walk any more. I float.” When asked who the lucky person was, Bal gushed “His name is Lalit Tehlan. He is a model and is good looking. He was going to be a part of an airline. Then we met and we realised we can fly higher together. It was love at first sight. Jab pyar kiya toh darna kya.”

In the candid chit-chat, the designer said that his favorite clothes were jeans, shirts and cowboy shoes but he also liked to wear his boyfriend. (I love this guy already!)

Love for Rohit is- “Something that is difficult to come by. It's the most incredible gift from God to mankind. Most people compromise and many lose it too. I would say it's a spirited bird you cannot catch. And those who can hold onto it are the luckiest.”

The designer accepted that every inch of him is romantic. Gudda, who has been pretty open about his sexual preferences since long, has never given an interview of this sort, though people close to him always knew of his sexual orientation.

“Why shouldn't I be open? I think closet people are really very sad. In the day and time we are living, I don't think anyone gives a damn about your sexuality. No one cares whom you spend your nights with. And frankly, I have no control over my likes or dislikes. God made me like this. What I do in my bedroom has nothing to do with my abilities as a designer. When people say, 'Oh God, theek ho jayega', it's not diabetes that a person will get cured with medication. If you don't come out of the closet, you will never be happy. You can't be born a cat and act like a dog. It's better to live one's life with dignity and integrity.”

Paul Newman Remembered

Actor Paul Newman has died of cancer at age 83, a spokeswoman says. That is the CNN news alert as it arrives in the email box at 9:57 am. Not a great way to start the day, but those CNN alerts are not to be ignored. Not a great way to start the day thinking about death and Paul Newman. Obituaries will remark on the career of a film legend, sex symbol and maker of salad dressing, or as the Los Angeles Times headline reads: icon of movies and salad dressing dies. A famous liberal, a very sexy actor, a race car driver, a salad dressing maven and a cool husband, Newman is one of those staggering figures in cinema: he wasn't just sexy, he could act. And he did in such films as "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "Exodus," "The Hustler," "Cool Hand Luke," "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Sting" and "The Verdict." His life is one of those lives that you look back on not with sadness but with awe. Still driving racecars at 80, no one can say the man did not have an amazing life.

It's always strange when our cultural heroes die. Reminded of our own mortality, we are hushed in those quiet moments of memoriam during the Oscars and the Emmy's. Yet, they remain, as images, as a curious form of life on-screen. Friends do not usually remind us of our aging, as that is a slow process; hair turns gray, muscle weakens, birthdays mount, but we go on. We can pluck at the gray hairs in the eyebrow but we cannot ignore the passage of time as we see someone like Newman at 30, and Newman at 80. It may be naive, but celebrities in some odd matrix remind us that times passes, perhaps only because they are more visible than ordinary people, and we witness their being on a very large canvas, called the screen—we must contend with our bathroom mirrors.

He's Not Gay, Get It?

 
NEW YORK, Sept. 27 (UPI) -- A gay men's lifestyle magazine, Genre, has damaged a straight model's reputation by featuring a photograph of him in the U.S. publication, a lawsuit contends.

An attorney for Benjamin Massing alleges that by featuring a photo of the 20-year-old model next to advertisements for sex toys and gay chat lines, Genre tarnished his client's reputation, the New York Daily News reported Friday.

"He's not (gay)," lawyer Liah Catanese said of the aspiring actor.

"It's definitely put him in a class where he's going to have difficulty obtaining contracts for family-related shows."

Massing's Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit against Genre and fashion photographer Rick Day accuses the co-defendants of violating his privacy by using a photograph he had taken for his personal portfolio.

The Daily News said Massing alleges in the suit, which is for unspecified damages, that the magazine photo has caused him to become the target of unwanted advances from strangers.

This one is for you, Mr James Nixon.

The Legacy Project

The Legacy Awards were held last night in West Hollywood in a celeb-filled event at the Director's Guild. The red carpet was white but comedy writer/wit Bruce Vilanch, Ewan McGregor, Molly Shannon, Ewan Kristen Bell, Wilson Cruz and DL Chronicles' Deondray Gossett and Quincy LeNear, strolled down the lane answering questions about the nights festivities honoring Bruce Cohen and NBC Universal. The Outfest Legacy Project for LGBT Film Preservation, is a collaboration between Outfest and the UCLA Film & Television Archive, and is the only program in the world devoted to saving and preserving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender moving images. A good cause to be sure. Host Bruce Vilanch was his usual hysterical self as he reminded the audience that he knew more about hunting bears than Sarah Palin. The event was a benefit to raise money for The Legacy Project, which takes film and video that is disintegrating due to time and decay and restores the film to its original state. The first film was Bill Sherwood's 1986 classic, "Parting Glances". Best moment of the night was on the "red" carpet when the delightful Ewan McGregor was rushed away from a CNN reporters confounding questions about newly outed Clay Aitken. Photographed exclusively for Planet Homo by John Skalicky.

What Happens to Old Porn Stars?

Jack Wrangler is 62 and they have made a documentary about his life. Wrangler, whose real name is John Robert Stillman started early: he made his first appearance on television at age nine with Eleanor Powell in "Faith of our Children", a religious family show. In the mid 70s he appeared in a male strip show finding his new career and his new name, the very butch, Jack Wrangler. He went on to make over 85 pornographic films, both gay and straight. In 1976, he married pop singer Margaret Whiting. He was 33; she was 55. When Wrangler confided to Whiting that he was gay, her response was "only around the edges, dear." They are together to this day (as witnessed by the image to the left). Wrangler: Anatomy of an Icon is a 2008 documentary about the porn stars life and times. With piercing blue eyes, unruly blond hair, a chiseled physique and cocky swagger, Jack Wrangler was the king of ‘70s gay porn. From TLA video.

You're Gonna Love This

BBH in NYC knows how to get our attention. His name is Sebastian and he's coming to your door.

Yup, He's Gay!

Emmy Telecast Worst Ever?

The yawnfest  that was last nights Emmy telecast, due in large part to the horrendous presence of a ponderance of reality show hosts, may end up being the lowest rated show ever.

The three-hour 60th Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony received a 3.8 rating/9 share in the preliminary adults 18-49 demo -- the lowest in Nielsen's recorded People Meter history.

That's 12% below last year's previous Emmy record low, a ceremony hosted by Ryan Seacrest on Fox.

Among total viewers, the numbers are currently too close to call. In the morning figures, the Emmys were the least-watched ceremony in history (12.2 million), coming just under Fox's historic-low 1990 ceremony (12.3 million) and firmly less than 2007's event (13 million). With the numbers this tight, we'll wait until the nationals roll in later today before making a ruling on whether the Emmys set a record low in viewers in addition to the adult demo.

The one real surprise was  Bryan Cranston winning for his role as a terminally ill meth-making teacher in Breaking Bad. An intolerable amount of nonsense time was spent with the five reality show hosts who proved that they are as vacuous as we imagined. The five hosts were unscripted and it  proved one thing, writers are needed in Hollywood.

Away With Ye!

From The Arkansas Times
Little Rock — Seems appropriate for "talk like a pirate day" that the Phelps clan walked the plank this morning after a happy bunch dressed like pirates and holding signs saying "God hates shrimp — Leviticus" and "God hates cotton-polyester blends" stood opposite them at the corner of Markham and Scott streets.

The group, made up of Central Arkansas Pastafarians, waved swords and growled "Arrghh!" in a manner that would have made Abbie Hoffman proud.

With cars honking and waving at the pirates and a TV crew giving them all the attention, the Phelps group — with a child in tow, sadly -- picked up their "fag" epithets and went away.

Film+Friendship

The magic of film is a phrase easily lent to movies that transcend the ordinary and usher us into a world that seems self contained, real and magical. While it is generally the directors who get the credit as the magicians, much of the credit must go to the cinematographers who actually frame and shot the movies. In the new documentary, "No Subtitles Necessary" the lives of Laszlo Kovacs and Vilmos Zsigmond, two Hungarian cinematographers who changed American cinema are explored with interviews and examples of their work. Best known for their lens work on classics such as "Easy Rider", "Deliverance", "Paper Moon", "Five Easy Pieces", "McCabe and Mrs. Miller", and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" the two men came from a war-ravaged Hungary, where as students they  shot and smuggled footage of the 1956 Soviet invasion out of the country. Landing in Hollywood, the two men shot everything from baby pictures to "The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies!!?" to get into the renowned American Society of Cinematographers. The documentary features interviews with Barbra Streisand, Bob Rafelson, Ellen Kuras, Peter Bogdanovich, Todd McCarthy, Peter Fonda, Karen Black, Dennis Hopper, Sharon Stone, Haskell Wexler, and Tatum O'Neal. Laszlo Kovacs died during the making of the film, making it even more poignant as friend of over fifty years, Vilmos Zsigmond reflects on their friendship. It is this friendship that is at the heart of this documentary. These two men supported each others, and became more like brothers as they often referred one another for jobs and seemingly all without jealousy or envy.
Together, they changed the landscape of American cinema. Often referred to as the New Wave in American Cinema, the films of this period were the product of a collapse of the studio system, which allowed for experimentation and alternative story-telling techniques, influenced by the European "new wave" of cinema. One great aspect of NSN (No Subtitles Necessary) is that it becomes apparent why the simple fact that both these European men came to America with a unfiltered visions of this country; Easy Rider required the fresh, exuberant cinematography of Laszlo Kovacs, who was literally discovering America as he shot the groundbreaking film. The documentary is testimony to the greatness, power and influence of cinematography, and to two of its finest heroes.

George Michael: Tea Room Queen

What do you do after a grueling 75 date world tour? For singer-songwriter George Michael you apparently take to the toilets. For the fourth time he has been arrested on drug charges, though this time it simply wasn't cannabis, but also crack cocaine.
Reports say the multi-millionaire singer was arrested after a tip-off from a suspicious toilet attendant after he was seen loitering in underground loos in London's Hampstead Heath on Friday.

When officers arrived Michael was still in the toilet and police reportedly found him in possession of cannabis and crack cocaine. Michael's tea room antics are well documented beginning with 1998's infamous lewd conduct charge in a Beverly Hills public men's room (the shock was that Beverly Hills even had a public restroom) which produced the video, "Outside" in which the singer contended he was entrapped by a male LA policeman.
The singer was released from custody several hours after having been cautioned for possession of drugs on Friday. Police have said that no further action will be taken.

Cock Musical

Frankly, it was a little shocking. For some mysterious reason, this musical was never seen while it played a mere mile away in Hollywood, nor when the DVD release became available. So, we came late to the party, which is sometimes a good thing, because you have no idea what your in for.
The title is a give away, duh. But, it is still shocking that the entire 95 minutes is played out, naked.
The musical begins with the exceptionally honest
"Gratuitous Nudity"  and as one becomes familiar with the various genitalia, the musical moves briskly through some 16 musical numbers. If you have ever had a concern about your genitals dimensions, rent this DVD. Perhaps it was the open door in the theater, but these boys are average. Thankfully so.
It's a gimmick, to be sure, an almost too distracting gimmick that wears thin very quickly.  The songs, which are inconceivably lip synced, are nothing less than bits. The Naked Maid, sung by former Madonna dancer, Kevin Stea, is a quick bio of someone who cleans houses nude but his own home is a mess. The songs are all biographical for that matter. They are unfortunately, not memorable. The cast on the other hand is. Joseph Keane is sure to bring the pederast out in you with his perpetually tossed hair and his version of "Perky Little Porn Star" which is nothing less than, perky. The real drama though is to be found in the special features section of this DVD. Creator/director Bob Shrock wages a quiet, restrained war against co-director Troy Christian, who essentially takes Shrock's musical and warps it into his own Las Vegas vision. The featurette, which is oddly also directed by Troy Christian is a revealing look at the tensions, heartaches and dramas that went into filming the stage musical. For example, for all the "gratuitous" nudity in the film, the cast members had difficulty coming to terms with the amount of nude screen time they would be required. A restricted budget, an evolving cast, technical difficulties and personality conflicts contribute to making the featurette more exciting than the actual musical. For all the talk of the joy of being nude, and how nudity is a "window to the soul" (the hole rather), it's stunning how quickly one assimilates the flesh and wants to move on.  While it may have seemed a quirky idea at the time to create a musical about being naked, it tends to stifle some of the better songs or seem wildly out of date (the musical number Muscle Addiction is clearly from the mind of someone who grew up in the 70s). But it is unique and deserves an A for audacity.

Best Gay Cities

UK newspaper The Independent has named San Francisco, California the best gay city in the world and Saudi Arabia the least gay tolerant country.

Topping the list of most desirable places for gays and lesbians to live is San Francisco, California. The newspaper said it was chosen because of the city's long history of gay and lesbian inclusion and the State's recent adoption of gay marriage.

Sydney, Australia landed second best as the gay friendliest, despite only having legalized homosexuality since 1984. Australia does not recognize gay marriage, but the newspaper said the city offered a high degree of visibility for gays and lesbians.

Rounding the top three picks is another American city, New York. The newspaper says, “It's a place where lesbians and gay men of all ages and races are so integrated into work and political culture that their sexuality is often the least significant thing about them.” While gay marriage is illegal in the Empire State, legal marriages performed elsewhere – Massachusetts, California or Canada, to name a few – are recognized.

The remaining top ten cities in the world to be gay in:

Mykonos, Greece. The island attracts hordes of gay tourists.
Paris, France. Lesbians thrive in the City of Lights.
Barcelona, Spain. Gay marriage was legalized in Spain in 2005.
Amsterdam, Netherlands. The first country in the world to recognize gay marriage in 2001.
London, Great Britain. The Brits offer gay civil unions and adoptions.
Copenhagen, Denmark. The host city of the 2009 World Outgames.
Berlin, Germany. A gay mayor, and Europe's first exclusively gay senior living home.

And now for the bad news. The worst countries in the world for gays and lesbians:

Saudi Arabia. Homosexuality is illegal and punishable by death.
Iran. Also illegal, and also punishable by death.
Jamaica. Being gay (not lesbian) is illegal and punishable by ten years hard labor.
Afghanistan. A Taliban death penalty is no longer “officially” enforced – but don't push it.
Nigeria. Any mention of homosexuality is illegal. Even talking to a gay guy is an offense.

Unfortunate Numbers

Young black gay men, black women and white gay men in their 30s and 40s are much more likely to be newly infected with HIV than other groups in the United States, according to a new analysis from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The analysis -- based on figures showing that the HIV infection rate for 2006 is much worse than previously thought -- looks at the number of new HIV infections and who gets them. The study appears in this week's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

It shows 53 percent of the estimated 56,000 cases of new HIV infection in 2006 were among gay and bisexual men, and 46 percent of the infections occurred among blacks. Within the gay and bisexual group, young black men (13 to 29 years old ) were roughly twice as likely to get infected as young white and young Hispanic men. And among women, black women were almost 15 times more likely to get HIV than white women and almost four times more likely than Hispanic women.

These new figures -- highlighting which age, gender and racial groups are at higher risk -- are based on data released by the CDC in August. Those numbers showed that new HIV infections for 2006 were 40 percent higher than the CDC had previously estimated

More Hannity

Persistently foul-mouthed Sean Hannity badgers a guest and on this very special day in the Stock Market, claiming the US economy is great under Bush. This is from last Friday. Tune in this evening to see how this one gets spun.

Button Up

It's about time Levi's woke up to the fact that gay men have supported their jeans for decades. The 70s and 80s were a Levi 501 period, where gay men everywhere took to the jeans because you didn't need underwear and you could show off. Levi has announced they will begin airing commercials on Logo, albeit in that popular 1-3 a.m. time slot. The campaign, entitled "Unbuttoned" features gorilla-faced Perez Hilton in a series of unattractive moves. Hilton is now the face of the gay community, according the brains at Levi Strauss marketing. Wrong. At least they got the concept, because in addition to Mr. Hilton, they will also feature, what else? shirtless men!

Comedic Genius

LMR

The video begins with a brief sequence inside a dark room where water drips from an open window. Buck, Berry, and Mills run across the room while Stipe remains seated. A pitcher of milk drops from the windowsill and shatters, and the song begins. The video is laden with religious imagery, and notably features images of Saint Sebastian and Hindu deities, portrayed in a style influenced by the aesthetics of the French photographers Pierre et Gilles. Soviet poster art imagery is also prominently featured, and the overall dark tone and lighting was heavily inspired by the paintings of Caravaggio. The concept of the video is based on Gabriel Garcia Marquez' short story, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings", which told the story of an angel who fell from Heaven, and people made money by putting him on display.

Number One with a Twist

50 years of pop music makes for a long list. Making sense of the sales and popularity of that music is the business of magazines like Billboard. They have assembled The Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Songs and the results are sure to inspire conversation, arguments and memories. The process by which they came to this landmark 100 songs is slightly confusing: To ensure equitable representation of the biggest hits from all 50 years, earlier time frames were each weighted to compensate for the differences in the faster turnover rates from those earlier decades, compared to the slower churn the Hot 100 has seen since the advent of Nielsen Music data. Who knew it was rocket science?
The Top Ten are 10) Un-Break My Heart by Toni Braxton 9) We Belong Together by Mariah Carey 8) Hey Jude by The Beatles 7) You Light Up My Life by Debbie Boone (I am SHOCKED!!!) 6) Physical by Olivia Newton John (even more shocked) 5) Macarena (The Bayside Boys Mix) 4) How Do I Live by LeAnn Rimes 3) Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin 2) Smooth by Santana featuring Rob Thomas and the number one song? The Twist by Chubby Checker.
The 50th Anniversary Hot 100 Song and Artist charts are based on actual performance on the weekly Billboard Hot 100, since the chart's inception in August 1958 through the issue dated July 26, 2008. Songs are ranked based on an inverse point system, with weeks at No. 1 earning the greatest value and weeks at No. 100 earning the least. How in the world anyone can collect information on song sales in the last 10 years when "file sharing" music has replaced song purchases is a mystery. It is one of the crazier aspects of our culture that these lists, which are so much fun, can no longer be created or predicted with much certainty.
On the other hand, there is Out magazine's 100 Gayest Albums Ever. It should be noted that the "The Twist" is nowhere to be found in the top 100.

NYC 2008

Photo by Michael Davis September 11, 2008

Thursday, so far...

Let's review: it's Thursday by all accounts and we are remembering this date as a day of infamy in the history of America. Watching the Today Show on MSNBC, which is showing the 9/11 event in its entirety, one cannot help but notice how eloquent and perceptive Tom Brokaw was on the occasion. Within minutes Bin Laden was named as the culprit and Afghanistan as the hiding place; ironic given that we took the wrong country, and that Republicans still managed to make Clinton the cause.
The Big News is that Michael Douglas is planning on playing Liberace in a new biopic. Chosen presumably for his likeness to the flameboyant ivory tickler, who passed away from AIDS in 1987, the film will be directed by Steven Soderbergh, who directed Douglas in Traffic, and may possibly cast Matt Damon as Scott Thurson, the limo driver turned lover, who later sued Liberace. Liberace, who was about as nelly as they get, spent a lifetime denying the rumors that he was gay. For a sneak peek into his world go here.
This weekend in Canada, the search for Mr. Gay Canada gets into full swing as the judges look at "10 delegates, including five from B.C., will be judged on appearance (15 per cent) and on character and leadership (85 per cent). The competition includes an eco-challenge, photo shoots, bar-hopping, interviews and community appearances. There'll also be Speedos for a photo shoot in Lost Lake in Whistler." The winner, who will be chosen on Sept. 20 at Maxx Fish in Whistler. Chill!
Bottom? There's always ontopmag.com, which reports on all things culturally gay.
Sexy Bryn Christopher has a new song and video. This may have come to mind as the sexually ambiguous Christopher is dressed slighly Liberacesque in the video. And speaking of ambiguous, sexy Rachel Maddow has finally come to MSNBC with her own nightly report. This has got some right media analysts at Media Research Center in a tizzy. Odd. That sadly molested choirboy Sean Hannity get to spew nightly. Welcome Rachel and good luck!

History Repeating

Republicans are master politicians. Yes, they love this country, they want to do the right things, but they have no fear of lying, distorting, and bending the truth to serve their purposes, and the fact is, no one is going to spend anytime checking. Democrats are no less, only they usually don't want to hurt people's feelings, so they react quietly and lose elections. To wit: One quote from a GOP strategist: “[T]he bigger truths are that [Palin]’s new, she’s popular in Alaska and she is an insurgent. As long as those are out there, these little facts don’t really matter.”

Wild is the Wind

"Wild Is the Wind" is a song written by Dimitri Tiomkin and Ned Washington. The track was originally recorded by Johnny Mathis for the 1957 film Wild Is the Wind. The song was very popular and was one of five songs nominated for an Academy Award; it was sung by Johnny Mathis at the March 1958 Oscar presentations. It was later covered by Nina Simone on the album Wild Is The Wind (1966). David Bowie recorded a version of it in 1976 for his album Station to Station. Bowie was an admirer of Simone’s style, and after meeting her in Los Angeles was inspired to record the song for his album. In 1981, an edited version of Bowie's recording was issued as a single by RCA to promote the compilation ChangesTwoBowie. Despite relations with RCA being at an all-time low (he would only record the Baal EP for the label before signing with EMI in 1983), Bowie consented to appear in a video. This was a simple affair, featuring Bowie and the musicians performing the track in a circle, filmed in monochrome by David Mallet. The single reached #24 in the UK, and Bowie would perform the track on his Serious Moonlight and 2000 tours.

Pedro Zamora Role Cast

This just in from Steve Ramos in Toronto:
Longtime fans of MTV's "The Real World" reality TV series and cast member Pedro Zamora, an openly gay cast member from 1994 who died of complications from AIDS while the show was being aired, may be convinced that no film can do Zamora's tragic story justice. First-time director Nick Oceano proves them wrong with "Pedro," a compelling youth drama equal to the heartache of Zamora's short life, one that transpired in the media spotlight.

Pedro (newcomer Alex Loynaz), is a young Latino in Miami. An activist teaching HIV/AIDS awareness, Pedro finds a powerful platform on the popular MTV reality series. When he becomes ill, he refuses to hide his diminishing health. Instead, he uses the show to spread his message of safe sex and tolerance to a wider audience. His is a message of hope, and "Pedro" more coming-of-age drama than illness movie, more social message melodrama than TV movie of the week, does Pedro's story justice.

Oceano, who has yet to graduate from film school, shows the technical skills necessary to be a filmmaker in the professional ranks. Editor Jonathan Alberts and cameraman Mark Putnam keeps the storytelling fluid and cinematic. But it's "Pedro's script that's most impressive; a strong biography tale from Dustin Lance Black, scriptwriter for the upcoming Harvey Milk drama starring Sean Penn as the famous gay San Francisco politician and activist.

Alex Loynaz, making his debut as a lead actor, is a worthy hero; charismatic, handsome, heartfelt and compelling. Justina Machado, also a new face to movie audiences, complements Loynaz perfectly as Pedro's caring but less tolerant sister.

Produced by "Quinceanera" co-directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland, 'Pedro" was originally planned by financiers Brian/Murray Films as a straight-to-TV release. But "Pedro" would be a smart acquisition, especially in the U.S. market where Zamora's profile remains high. With a film that claims dramatic material as heartfelt and engaging as "Pedro," its chances at crossing over to numerous audiences, gay, Latino, MTV fans, as well as traditional art-house moviegoers, looks bright.

One Stamp We'd Like to Lick

We Don't Get It

 Most political polls today have John McCain ahead of Barack Obama by a mere 2.9%. The Huffington Post had an article about the possibility that McCain could actually win this election. For most of us, presumably Democrats (Gay Republicans are another story) we have to be looking to the sky in disbelief and asking ourselves how did this happen? In a political season where Democrats seemed almost guaranteed an election, it is bewildering, how a candidate who can inspire masses cannot keep ahead of an elderly Republican who isn't particularly charismatic in the way we usually like our candidates. Obama gave a historic acceptance speech, then within 24 hours was vanquished to the back burner of news items as the introduction of one woman into the Republican Party seemed to become the greatest story ever told.
Around these parts, people don't get it. Then again, we live on the liberal west coast, work in the vast liberal media, and most of our friends are Democrats, so we rarely are given an opportunity to hear the other side, other than from Fox News. We certainly have our bias. Watching the Republican Convention, it couldn't help be noticed that it was truly a sea of white faces, fairly older and not until the introduction of Ms Palin, fairly sedate. Somehow, quite magically, Sarah Palin has changed everything.
But is the issue really McCain or Palin? Why haven't the Democrats been able to seize power (the presidential kind) in the past painful eight years?
Republicans at some point figured it out: Americans are stupid, they can be lead, easily. Republicans realized after watching many of those liberal lawyer dramas on television, that if you said something, and even if it was objected to, the message was still delivered. Because in the end, no one checks, no one really cares about that antiquated notion called The Facts. America has always been a reactionary country. We react to things. A bridge falls down, and for a week it is the main story about the decaying infrastructure, then we move on to the next disaster, school shooting, hurricane or election. Our own special kind of national Attention Deficit Disorder demands it. We don't have time to check the facts, we only want to hear what we want to hear, and move on. Gay people are very much like this: if a candidate is not about gay rights, no matter what their record is on all other worldly matters, we don't like 'em, we don't want 'em. Politics are selfish, to be sure. It is about that mysterious connection we desire with our candidates, not just in politics but also in personality—could we hang out with that candidate, as if this is even a remote possibility.

Republicans are master politicians. Yes, they love this country, they want to do the right things, but they have no fear of lying, distorting, and bending the truth to serve their purposes, and the fact is, no one is going to spend anytime checking. Democrats are no less, only they usually don't want to hurt people's feelings, so they react quietly and lose elections.

Novel Graphics

Rufskin denim is one sexy site. Beyond admiring the ample amount of flesh, the graphics caught our eye. The use of a slab serifs with a complicated Photoshop treatment of typography and image makes for a unique and visually compelling page on their website.

The Way We Were

Trailer Time

The Past is a Beautiful Thing

The Republican Convention is on, and on tonight we were presented with a glamorous, oboe-filled salute to the hero of the Republican Party, Ronald Reagan. For those of us of a certain age, we remember. We remember 1981 and the mysterious disease called GRIDS (Gay Related Immune Deficiency) that slowly, sadly began to consume the lives of gay men across America. Our president at that time was Ronald Reagan. By Feb. 1, 1983, 1,025 AIDS cases were reported, and at least 394 had died in the United States, and Reagan said nothing. By the end of his second term, 41,027 persons had died and 71,176 persons were diagnosed with AIDS in the US. At the that time he finally spoke: On April 2, 1987, Reagan said: "How that information is used must be up to schools and parents, not government. But let's be honest with ourselves, AIDS information can not be what some call 'value neutral.' After all, when it comes to preventing AIDS, don't medicine and morality teach the same lessons?"
Among that 41,027 dead many were my friends. Art directors, fashion designers, dancers, writers, poets and screenwriters, mostly on the East coast, they died, they died more horribly than any Viet Cong torture and they were, also Americans.
So while the poetic narrative of Ronald Reagan's legacy is aired, is of note, sadly noted, that while Reagan may have done much to bring down the Iron Curtain, he did very little to tend to the domestic issue of his time: people were dying. His presidency was not without heroes. Dr. C. Everett Koop,  Reagan's surgeon general, was consistently aware of the threat and tried to warn the president though has said that because of "intradepartmental politics" he was cut out of all AIDS discussions for the first five years of the Reagan administration. The reason, he explained, was "because transmission of AIDS was understood to be primarily in the homosexual population and in those who abused intravenous drugs." The president's advisers, Koop said, "took the stand, 'They are only getting what they justly deserve.' " My friends deserved to die. I deserved to die. You deserved to die.
Yes, that was then, this is now. To be fair, a Kennedy salute should include his womanizing and drug addiction, but apparently, that is the not the stuff to rally the troops: the truth. But as Gay men we need to remember the past, for so many reasons, but for the moment to remember that as his party recalls him in the most beautiful of lights, the light shields some of the darkness.