11/21/09

THE SINGLE EXPERIENCE

21 year old marco almeir has posted a video about why he's single. it's really cute.

R.I.P~ JORGE STEVEN LOPEZ MERCADO

marco ahmier was so appalled by the killing of JORGE STEVEN LOPEZ MERCADO that he posted a commentary about the horrible event.

MARCH IN MEMORY OF JORGE STEVEN LOPEZ MERCADO



IN MEMORIAM - Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado & Jason Mattison Jr. (LA)
Los Angeles Vigil for Steven and Jason - two gay teenagers killed this week

Sunday, November 22, 2009

8:00pm - 9:30pm
Location: Corner of Santa Monica and San Vicente in West Hollywood

"Over the weekend the brutalized body of gay teen George Steven Lopez Mercado was found by the side of a road in Puerto Rico. The police investigator suggested that he deserved what he got because of the "type of lifestyle" he was leading.

According to an iReport by Chrisopher Pagan: "On November 14 the body of a gay 19 year old was found a few miles away from the town in which he was residing in called Caguas. He was a very well known person in the gay community of Puerto Rico, and very loved. He was found on the site of an isolated road in the city of Cayey, he was partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered, both arms, both legs, and the torso. This has caused a huge reaction from the gay community here, but its a difficult situation. Never in the history of Puerto Rico has a murder been classified as a hate crime. Even though we have to follow federal mandates and laws, many of the laws in which are passed in the USA such as Obama’s new bill, do not always directly get practiced in Puerto Rico. The police agent that is handling this case said on a public televised statement that 'people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen'. As If the boy murdered Jorge Steven Lopez was asking to get killed..."
----

Given the recent escalation in anti-LGBT related hate crimes, it is critical that our movement build a sense of urgency around ending this disgusting violence.

The ONLY reason why people think they can get away with slaying LGBT people is because they think society won't punish them.

This rally is happening simultaneously with the one in NYC:


-UPDATE-

We received the following message from Jorge Steven's mother:

"When my son told me he was gay, I told him, 'Now, I love you more.' I want to tell the world that hatred is not born with human beings, it is a seed that is planted by adults and is fostered creating a climate of intolerance and violence. We must change our ways and understand that anyone could have been my son. And I want everybody to know that Jorge Steven was a very much loved son."
-- Miriam

I hope you can make the vigil and tell all of your friends and family about it. It is so important that we remember and value the lives of Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado and Jason Mattison Jr.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=178097968401

TRANSGENDER DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

in honor of transgender day of remembrance, RENFIELD has painted a protrait of trans superstar Buck Angel
according to renfield, "the man is a personal inspiration, and graciously consented to the portrait. I painted him as I envisioned him, as a gentleman boxer of the '20s."

transgender day of remembrance is an occasion in the LGBT community set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice (transphobia). The event is held on 20 November. It was founded by Gwendolyn Ann Smith to honor Rita Hester, whose murder in 1998 kicked off the "Remembering Our Dead" web project and a San Francisco, California candlelight vigil in 1999. Since then, the event has grown to encompass memorials in hundreds of cities around the world.


Buck Angel, (oil on canvas, 18x24), 2009

The Art of Renfield: A Real Gentleman
On the Anniversary of the Death of Oscar Wilde
Opening Reception Monday, November 30th 5-8pm

also on exhibit~ the erotic embroidery of will shepherd.
live performance by GARLAND

tea will be served
$5 Cover

Antebellum Gallery
1643 N Las Palmas Ave
Hollywood, CA 90028
323 856-0667
antebellum@earthlink.net
www.antebellum.us.ms

GET IT IN THE CAN

bud lite commercial which has now been pulled from circulation in US & canada. of course, no surprise here.

11/20/09

WHAT'S A GAYWAD?


10 year old will philips of west fork arkansas, refuses to say the pledge of allegiance until gays are allowed to marry!
after 4 days of sitting thru the morning pledge, his teacher told him he must recite the pledge along with his fellow students. will replied to her, " mam with all due respect, you can go jump off a bridge." check out this hilarious interview where CNN's john roberts asks him incredulously, " what's a gaywad?"

OLD RELIABLE~DAVID HURLES


OLD RELIABLE was the name of a company back in the 70s & 80s that created slexy, (sleezy & sexy) images of hot guys with allot of tattoos, wrestling, boxing, sucking on stogies, and just being badass. back in the day, i feverishly collected old reliable magazines @ circus of books in weho. many years ago, (1988) i was hired by the advocate to photograph what i believe was the first reception for the gay porno awards. i shot christopher rage, al parker & JD slater along with this bashful guy wearing a button down shirt with a new wave style-triangle & polka dot print. i assumed he was a producer.... fast-forward to 1997, thru a model, i was informed that i would be allowed to interview the guy behind old reliable. the person's name was DAVID HURLES. i was driven to the secret location and introduced to a shy/slender man wearing a button down shirt with a new wave style-triangle & polka dot print. THAT WAS DAVID HURLES!!

since then david & i have been friends. i recently heard the sad news that david had a massive stroke and was in very serious condition. i was invited by my friends dave naz & oriana to visit david yesterday. initially scared as to how i would find david, i was pleased to see he's regaining his movement back, slowly but surely, and was in great spirits... considering all he has been through. i am not a doctor, but my gut tells me that david hurles will put out of this, rise out of the ashes to be the reigning king of gay erotic photography. david is one of the few remaining artists from the golden years of male physique photography. an incredibly creative era when there were no limits, since the limits had not been tested, and you could get arrested just by photographing a hard on.


dave naz-david hurles-rick castro- (note i'm holding a d.hurles boom box!)




here i am next to the SHROUD OF TURIN! in the lobby of david hurles's convalescent home.


ori & i in the lobby. we kept slipping off the plastic covered sofa, (with matching plastic covered pillows!)

david hurle's first book SPEEDING, (2005) was very successful.



David has a new book out called, OUTCAST, with a foreword by John Waters. this is david's first book in living color! there is also an upcoming book called, ROLE MODELS, due out early next year,






dave, oriana & i had tea @ antebellum before we went to visit david hurles.
all photos courtesy- dave naz

11/19/09

ARIAS WITH A TWIST

BASIL WITH A ARIAS

joey arias & basil twist premiered their performance art @ the red cat theater last night~ november 19th, 2009. the show was cute as a button. it brought back all the innocences of vaudeville theater, mixed with the good ol' gays from the east village of the 1980s. the production relies on the audience's willingness to sit back, relax and share their imagination with joey.


i have know MISS ARIAS since the 1970s(!) when calling a guy 'miss' was considered campy, (now it's formal) he was the person who most represented the idea of fioriucci, new wave and gay culture in NYC, during the best of times. i remember like it was yesterday when joey along with a stunning klaus nomi, were backup singers for davie bowie's once-in-a-lifetime performance of TVC15 on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE,( circa 1979). later joey was the embodiment of wigstock by the channeling of billie holiday. brought back from the grave and high as a kite! in his golden years miss arias had a long run in vegas.


director BASIL TWIST is a one-of-a-kind artist and the sole american graduate of the École Supérieure Nationale des Arts de la Marionnette. he is the master of puppetry, like the great bluebeard. twist has received an obie award and a guggenheim fellowship. he is also a fellow kink.


the show was a sweet rendition of classic theater, mixed with some sleeze, fetish and a great scene of two gigantic deamon puppets, first jacking off in a three way with joey, then the two finish each other off.
what a treat.

the costumes are by theirry mugler, once a fashion king, now king of surgery, with all his talent still intact.


@ the REDCAT THEATER thru december 13th. run, don't walk... take the subway!, (yes LA has one)

11/17/09

11/16/09

ANOTHER DEAD GAY BOY

well it's happened once again. over the weekend the brutalized body of gay teen George Steven Lopez Mercado was found by the side of a road in Puerto Rico. The police investigator suggested that he deserved what he got because of the "type of lifestyle" he was leading.

posting courtesy- Andy Towle
According to an iReport by Chrisopher Pagan: "On November 14 the body of a gay 19 year old was found a few miles away from the town in which he was residing in called Caguas. He was a very well known person in the gay community of Puerto Rico, and very loved. He was found on the site of an isolated road in the city of Cayey, he was partially burned, decapitated, and dismembered, both arms, both legs, and the torso. This has caused a huge reaction from the gay community here, but its a difficult situation. Never in the history of Puerto Rico has a murder been classified as a hate crime. Even though we have to follow federal mandates and laws, many of the laws in which are passed in the USA such as Obama’s new bill, do not always directly get practiced in Puerto Rico. The police agent that is handling this case said on a public televised statement that 'people who lead this type of lifestyle need to be aware that this will happen'. As If the boy murdered Jorge Steven Lopez was asking to get killed..."
READ MORE-

11/15/09

LADY GAGA AT MOCA

lady gaga gave a show stopping performance last night for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles’s 30th Anniversary Gala yesterday one-night-only production.


the production was directed by artist Francesco Vezzoli, (who also created the perfume art piece greed- directed by roman polanski).

“The music is a new song by Gaga called Speechless. which is rather different from most of the music we have heard from her, more dramatic.

gaga was accompanied by the bolshoi ballet,(one of the oldest and most prestigious schools of ballet in the world, located in Moscow, Russia).

this one-night-only event of the season production. One of a kind objects and costumes created by renowned contemporary artists and designers.


The pink piano pained with butterflies is by Damien Hirst, (known as the richest living artist, and creator of the Love of God, a human skull recreated in platinum and adorned with approximately $30,000,000 worth of diamonds. It was modelled on an 18th century skull, but the only surviving human part of the original is the teeth).



Gaga's hat was created by Frank Gehry, ( best-known for designing the titanium-covered Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Basque Country, Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles, Experience Music Project in Seattle, Weisman Art Museum in Minneapolis, Dancing House in Prague, Czech Republic and the MARTa Museum in Herford, Germany.


The masks are director Baz Luhrmann, (director of moulin rouge and romeo +juliet) and his wife, Catherine Martin, (his costume designer) works of art.


the dress with the chandelier like crystal skirt was designed by Miuccia Prada,




the make-up was by friend billy b, who's creating incredible looks with gaga lately as in the bad romance video.

and the hair was by syd curry my longtime friend and former collaborator back in the day when i was a sylist.