ANTEBELLUM BLOG: 13.03.11

3/19/11

SUPERMOON

The name SuperMoon was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979, defined as:
“ ...a new or full moon which occurs with the Moon at or near (within 90% of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit (perigee). In short, Earth, Moon and Sun are all in a line, with Moon in its nearest approach to Earth.”

The combined effect of the Sun and Moon on the Earth's oceans, the tide, is greatest when the Moon is new or full.
At lunar perigee the tidal force is even stronger resulting in more extreme high and low tides, but even at its most powerful this force is still considerably weak.

Speculations of a link between the occurrence of supermoons and natural disasters such as earthquakes and tsunami are extremely tenuous. Arguments have been made that natural disasters coinciding with years in which supermoons occurred were influenced by the Moon's increased gravitational strength, though because of the monthly alternation between lunar apogee and perigee such an argument cannot be supported unless the disaster in question falls on the actual date of the supermoon.

It has been argued that the Indian Ocean tsunami and earthquake on December 26, 2004, was influenced by a supermoon which occurred 2 weeks later on January 10, 2005.

Most recently, astrologers argued that the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan on March 11, 2011, was influenced by the March 19 supermoon, the closest supermoon since 1992.
While some studies have reported a weak correlation between shallow, very low intensity earthquakes and lunar activity, there is no empirical evidence of any correlation with major earthquakes.

The following is a list of past and predicted extreme supermoons-

November 10, 1954
November 20, 1972
January 8, 1974
February 26, 1975
December 2, 1990
January 19, 1992
March 8, 1993
January 10, 2005
December 12, 2008
January 30, 2010
March 19, 2011[15]
November 14, 2016
January 2, 2018
January 21, 2023
November 25, 2034
January 13, 2036

21ST CENTURY COUPLE

ole thomas- norwegian antebellum contributor

RADIATION IS REAL

THIS IS A REPOST-
The moment nuclear plant chief WEPT as Japanese finally admit that radiation leak is serious enough to kill people
By DAVID DERBYSHIRE

Overwhelmed: Tokyo Electric Power Company Managing Director Akio Komiri cries as he leaves after a press conference in Fukushima
The boss of the company behind the devastated Japanese nuclear reactor today broke down in tears - as his country finally acknowledged the radiation spewing from the over-heating reactors and fuel rods was enough to kill some citizens
Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency admitted that the disaster was a level 5, which is classified as a crisis causing 'several radiation deaths' by the UN International Atomic Energy.

Officials said the rating was raised after they realised the full extent of the radiation leaking from the plant. They also said that 3 per cent of the fuel in three of the reactors at the Fukushima plant had been severely damaged, suggesting those reactor cores have partially melted down.
After Tokyo Electric Power Company Managing Director Akio Komiri cried as he left a conference to brief journalists on the situation at Fukushima, a senior Japanese minister also admitted that the country was overwhelmed by the scale of the tsunami and nuclear crisis.

He said officials should have admitted earlier how serious the radiation leaks were.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said: 'The unprecedented scale of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan, frankly speaking, were among many things that happened that had not been anticipated under our disaster management contingency plans.

'In hindsight, we could have moved a little quicker in assessing the situation and coordinating all that information and provided it faster.'
Nuclear experts have been saying for days that Japan was underplaying the crisis' severity.
It is now officially on a par with the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania in 1979. Only the explosion at Chernobyl in 1986 has topped the scale.

Deputy director general of the NISA, Hideohiko Nishiyama, also admitted that they do not know if the reactors are coming under control.
He said: 'With the water-spraying operations, we are fighting a fire we cannot see. That fire is not spreading, but we cannot say yet that it is under control.'
But prime minister Naoto Kan insisted that his country would overcome the catastrophe

'We will rebuild Japan from scratch,' he said in a televised speech: 'In our history, this small island nation has made miraculous economic growth thanks to the efforts of all Japanese citizens. That is how Japan was built.'
It comes after pictures emerged showing overheating fuel rods exposed to the elements through a huge hole in the wall of a reactor building at the destroyed Fukushima nuclear plant.
READ MORE-

LEATHERBOYS

model- Idan Dukan

3/18/11

THE DOOR TO HELL

in 1971, a group of geologists working in a tiny village in turkmenistan (derweze), accidentally stumbled across a subterranean cavern after the ground in which they were drilling for natural gas collapsed. unsure what gases were escaping from within and concerned that it was in fact toxic, the geologists made the decision to set the gas alight, as burning gas is safer and more environmentally friendly than allowing it to be released into the atmosphere.

little did they know that setting the gas alight would lead to the crater of natural gas to continue burning strong some 40 years later. to this day, the darvaza (“the gate” in turkmen language) has shown no sign of burning out. it is unknown how many metric tonnes of natural gas has been burned over the past four decades, nor is it known how many decades more it will continue to burn. the prediction is at least another 100 years.

an impressive 60 metres in diameter and more than 20 metres deep, the locals of derweze call it 'the door to hell'. by nighttime, the darvaza’s glow can be seen from a long distance, giving the image of being a literal door to hell. moths, spiders and insects are drawn in the thousands to the darvaza’s mesmerising glow. the heat produced by the burning gas is so intense that one cannot stand near the edge of the door to hell for more than a few seconds.
repost courtesy- ole thomas-antbellumgallery blogspot norwegian correspondent

THE REAL AMERICAN IDOL

DON'T JUDGE A HUSTLER

Michelangelo's Last Judgment figures 'based on male prostitutes'
The muscular figures in Michelangelo's Last Judgment fresco in the Sistine Chapel were based on male prostitutes he encountered in homosexual bathhouses and brothels, an Italian art historian has claimed.

The Last Judgment, which took Michelangelo four years to complete, covers the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, inside the Vatican
By Nick Squires in Rome

Elena Lazzarini, a researcher from Pisa University, believes the enormous fresco is replete with homosexual imagery, including a man being dragged into Damnation by his testicles and kisses and embraces between male figures.
She has explored the theory in a new book, claiming that Michelangelo drew much of his knowledge of male anatomy from his frequent visits to gay brothels and 'Turkish baths' in 16th century Italy.

"The virile male bodies are inspired by the physiology of labourers engaged in physical exertion, with taut muscles, strenuous exertion and pain etched into the expression on their faces," said Miss Lazzarini.
She said it was well documented that Michelangelo, who is believed by many historians to have been homosexual, frequented bathhouses and steam rooms tucked away in Rome's maze of cobbled alleyways.
"The bathhouses had many rooms where people could take hot and cold baths and massages. "And then there were other, secluded rooms, places of promiscuity and both male and female prostitution."
READ MORE-

ONE WEEK AGO-TODAY IN NODA

NO CRUSING SIGNS MUST GO

does anyone remember when silverlake was made up of latinos, leather gays, artists, great bars and sex clubs?
well apparently not, because from what i am told by charles herman- wurnfeld,
NO CRUSING SIGNS have been in place at all the cruise haunts since 1995!
well it's time to get rid of them-

COMMUNITY MEETING RE NO CRUISING SIGNS
Public Event

Wednesday, March 23 · 6:00pm - 9:00pm
Location
CASITA DEL CAMPO RESTAURANT
1920 Hyperion Ave
LA CA USA
Created By Silver Lake Neighborhood Council

Info
THE SILVER LAKE NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE IN PARTNERSHIP WITH THE LOS ANGELES POLICE DEPARTMENT, NORTHEAST DIVISION, WOULD LIKE TO INVITE YOU TO A VERY IMPORTANT COMMUNITY MEETING. THE FOCUS OF THE MEETING WILL HAVE TO DO WITH ISSUES SURROUNDING THE “NO CRUISING” SIGNS ALONG GRIFFITH PARK BLVD AND HYPERION AVENUE, AS WELL AS THE ON-GOING PUBLIC SEX OCCURRING IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD.

YOUR PARTICIPATION AND INPUT REGARDING THESE ISSUES IS VERY IMPORTANT TO US, AND WILL HELP US TO MAKE DECISIONS THAT WILL ENSURE THE SAFETY, COMFORT AND WELL-BEING FOR ALL WHO LIVE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD.

REPRESENTAIVES FROM THE POLICE DEPARTMENT, YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCIL, AND YOUR LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL WILL BE PRESENT.

PLEASE JOIN US FOR A VERY SPIRITED AND PROBLEM-SOLVING ORIENTED DISCUSSION. WE NEED YOUR VOICES TO BE HEARD SO THAT WE MAY BETTER SERVE YOU.

here's the FACEBOOK EVITE

RICK CASTRO IN THE ADVOCATE

Calvin Klein Ad- Circa 1999- 1987

after many years THE ADVOCATE did an artist spotlight on me.
although they requested the images not contain, " nudity and scarieness."
CHECK IT OUT-

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT: RICK CASTRO
Rick Castro is an established artist and culture-maker in Los Angeles. But don't interpret that as settled-in or conservative.
His imagery is still like a nice juicy punch in the face.
By Advocate.com Editors

Rick Castro has been in the forefront of counterculture art, fetish photography, and independent film for over 25 years, working and creating in his hometown of Los Angeles. He will be at the One Culture Series March 20, offering a trip down memory lane, 1986 through 2010. You can indulge in his images, vision, and ideas about fetish, subculture, and how they are defining 21st-century culture. It’s a perfect way to kick off LOS ANGELES LEATHER WEEK, 2011

Hands of Prey, 2003, 13 Years of Bondage (cover)

Castro will also have an artist booth at the 15th Annual Tom of Finland Art Fair in West Hollywood March 26 and 27, and he will be part of the world premiere exhibition "Ward of the State: Tony Ward Artists’ Muse" April 14 through June 11 at Stephen Cohen Gallery, Los Angeles. For more info about Castro’s artwork, please visit RickCastro.com.

Playboy After Dark, 2005, Lloyd Klein, DNA magazine

Castro is an independent filmmaker, photographer, curator, and blogger. His work has been featured in artist editions, exhibitions, and institutions worldwide. His works are also in the permanent collections of the Alfred Kinsey Institute and the Tom of Finland Foundation. His photography has been featured in Art in America, Flaunt, Attitude UK, DNA, and Têtu magazines. He was the West Coast editor for Studio Magazines (Blue, Black & White), Australia, from 2001 till 2007. Back in the day, he was a freelance photographer for The Advocate, between 1988 and 1993, under groundbreaking editor Richard Rouillard. Castro cowrote and codirected the iconic film Hustler White (staring Tony Ward) with Bruce La Bruce in 1996. Rick also directed the infamous documentary Plushies & Furries for MTV in 2001. He's published two books of his photography: Castro (1991) and 13 Years of Bondage (2004). Castro has lectured about his work at New York University; University of California, Los Angeles; UC Santa Barbara; and Track 16 Gallery at Bergamot Station and 18th Street Arts Center, both in Santa Monica, Calif.

On November 11, 2005, Rick founded Antebellum Gallery in Hollywood. Rick considers Antebellum the only fetish art gallery in America, and perhaps the world. The gallery features art as fetish on exhibition and hosts unique salons on a regular basis. For more information on the Antebellum Gallery: Antebellum.us.ms and AntebellumGallery.blogspot.com.

Nick Name, 2003, Blue magazine

INTERVIEW-
The Advocate:Why are you a photographer?

Rick Castro: I've always been a visual person. Since I was a kid I was drawn to imagery — both stills and film. I view the world with a cinematic outlook. I understand fetish and believe I'm the person to bring it to the forefront of culture. We are living in the fetish era — the 21st century is all about fetish in imagery, ideas, art, and fashion.

Q-What catches your eye?
A- Well, I'm drawn to subversion. I like lust and obsession. I like to delve into the nooks and crannies of things.

Q- Tell us about your process or techniques.
A- I'm pretty much straightforward. From my beginnings in 1987 through 1999, I used a Nikon FG (chosen for me by Joel-Peter Witkin) with black-and-white Ilford film, usually 400 asa. These days I use a Nikon digital camera and capture images with what I consider to be a "docudrama" style. Very no-frills, hard light or ambient light.

Ornamental Bear, 2009, Chanel jewelry, Flaunt magazine

I generally don't believe in retouching or enhancements of any kind, I like flaws. For me imperfect is perfect. The one exception is lighting. My technique is old-school and basic. I learned from the masters. I used to work as a wardrobe stylist for George Hurrell, Herb Ritts, and Joel-Peter Witkin, so I observed the best lighting is always the most basic.

Q- How do you choose your subjects?
A-There has to be an attraction/lust component. Obsession is always good. Maybe they choose me?!

Q-How do you describe your work?
A-I consider myself a fetish photographer. I capture the moment of fantasies and dreams.

Q-What makes a good photograph to you?
A-Something presented that is original and true. The image should tell a story. I'm drawn to art that makes me look in a way I hadn't thought about. I also think artwork should confront people. I'm all for making a statement. I'm not interested in art that blends in and is merely a backdrop.

Western Exterminator, 2011,
still from the short film Antebellum; mask: JT's Stockroom

Q- What artists do you take inspiration from and why?
A- I admire many artists. Most are RIP.
Photographers: Pierre Molinier, Brassaï, F. Holland Day, Julia Margaret Cameron
Painters: Paul Cadmus, Gustave Moreau, Jean-Léon Gérôme, Attila Richard Lukacs
Writers: Tennessee Williams, Oscar Wilde, Charles Bukowski
Directors: Pier Paolo Pasolini, Stanley Kubrick, Roman Polanski. Lars von Trier

For me, each of these artists has an original idea of how they see the world.

Tony on Top, 2009, American Apparel underwear, Crushfanzine

Top & Bottom, 2009, American Apparel underwear, Crushfanzine

Tear sheet: Dior Homme, 2002, Hedi Slimane, Flaunt magazine

Tear sheet: Boy in Cuffs, 2006, Hedi Slimane, Têtu magazine

Tear sheet: Formal Affair, 2002, Hedi Slimane, Flaunt magazine

Tear sheet: White Suit, 2002, Hedi Slimane, Flaunt magazine

Whiplash, 1987

The Invisible Man Smokes, 1997

Bulldog, 2008; mask: Scott Moats, JT's Stockroom

The Shout, 2006, John Galliano underwear, Rick Owens pedestal, Têtu magazine

Spotlight, 2005, Andrew Mackenzie clothing, Attitude magazine

Tony Ward — 21st Century Man, 2007

READ MORE-

3/17/11

THE RIGHT TO BARE CHEST

Man With 4th Amendment on Chest Sues Over Airport Arrest
this is a repost-
A college student who was arrested for stripping down at airport security to reveal the Fourth Amendment written across his chest is now suing the U.S. government for violating his rights as ordained in -- you guessed it -- the Fourth Amendment.

AARON TOBEY'S dramatic strip-protest is one of the latest in a series of stunts by American travelers fed up with airport security procedures some consider too invasive. A YouTube video of a California man's airport security pat-down, in which he warns the agent not to "touch my junk," went viral last year. John Tyner's infamous quote has been made into T-shirts and bumper stickers and even became the colloquial title of proposed legislation, the Transportation Security Administration "Don't Touch My Junk" bill.

Aaron Tobey stripped down while being held at Virgina's Richmond International Airport in December to reveal the Fourth Amendment written across his chest.
READ MORE-

RADIATION IS REAL

UN: Radiation to Hit U.S. By Friday

A United Nations forecast of the possible movement of the radioactive plume coming from crippled Japanese reactors shows it churning across the Pacific and touching the Aleutian Islands on Thursday before hitting Southern California late Friday.

The projection, by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, an arm of the United Nations in Vienna, gives no information about actual radiation levels but only shows how a radioactive plume would probably move and disperse.

The Japan forecast shows that the radioactive plume will probably miss the agency’s monitoring stations at Midway and in the Hawaiian Islands but is likely to be detected in the Aleutians and at a monitoring station in Sacramento.
The forecast assumes that radioactivity in Japan is released continuously and forms a rising plume. It ends with the plume heading into Southern California and the American Southwest, including Nevada, Utah and Arizona. The plume would have continued eastward if the United Nations scientists had run the projection forward.

Similarly, Yoichi Shimatsu - former editor of the Japan Times Weekly, who led the field research for an architectural report on structural design flaws that led to the tsunami death toll in Thailand - wrote a couple of days ago:

The Pacific jetstream is currently flowing due east directly toward the United States. In the event of a major meltdown and continuous large-volume radioactive release, airborne particles will be carried across the ocean in bands that will cross over the southern halves of Oregon, Montana and Idaho, all of California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, the Dakotas, northern Nebraska and Iowa and ending in Wisconsin and Illinois, with possible further eastward drift depending on surface wind direction.
The timeline of the UN's forecast is suprising, given that the earthquake hit on March 11th, and Accuweather formerly estimated the following times for radiation - in a worst-case scenario - to reach the West Coast:
Calculated time for radioactive particles to cross the Pacific from the power plants in Japan to big West Coast cities if the particles take a direct path and move at a speed of 20 mph:
Cities Est. Distance (miles) Est. Time to Cross Pacific (days)

Anchorage 3,457 7
Honolulu 3,847 8
Seattle 4,792 10
Los Angeles 5,477 11

But it is vital to note that many experts are saying that only extremely low levels of radiation will hit Americans. As the New York Times reports:
Health and nuclear experts emphasize that radiation in the plume will be diluted as it travels and, at worst, would have extremely minor health consequences in the United States, even if hints of it are ultimately detectable. In a similar way, radiation from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986 spread around the globe and reached the West Coast of the United States in 10 days, its levels measurable but minuscule.

On Sunday, the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it expected that no “harmful levels of radioactivity” would travel from Japan to the United States “given the thousands of miles between the two countries.”

however It is also important to remember that this is likely not just a one-day freak-out kind of event. As the Times previously noted:

Experts in Japan and the United States say the country is now facing a cascade of accumulating problems that suggest that radioactive releases of steam from the crippled plants could go on for weeks or even months.
And keep in mind that iodide only protects against one particular radioactive element: radioactive iodine, technically known as iodine-131. Iodine-131 has a half life of only 8.02 days. That means that the iodine loses half of its radioactivity within 8 days.
READ MORE-