Last year I read on Joe.My.God about what happens when you stay past the 10AM mark. Last year I set out to do just that and everything he said was true. The great feel good music turns up, the flags come out and the real dancing begins. If you're up for the adventure I greatly encourage you to defy the sunlight and keep dancing into the afternoon.One of the wonderful things about working freelance is you get sporadic time off throughout the year. What was going to be a long weekend out on the West Coast snowboarding in Mammoth during gay ski week has turned out to be an extended stay in Los Angeles where I have nothing better to do than keep producing the ideas that have been rolling around in my head.
Two years ago I made a somewhat jarring, somewhat controversial (although I had no intention of it being so) advertisement that deals with second guessing the choices of your sex life when you find yourself at the STD/HIV clinic awaiting the results of your next test. The ad received a mixture of both being well received as well as criticized for its level of "fear campaigning." In the writing, producing and directing of the ad I never once sat down and said to myself, "Ok. How can I scare people?!" Never the case. Not once. I took an experience as a modern, sexually active, sexually positive gay male and translated it to film with the hopes of encouraging others to slow down, think before they act and take their sex lives seriously and responsibly. "Don't let this be your second date" is more or less the tag line for the piece and that's simply all I meant. Know what you're doing comfortably and confidently and be in control of your sex life before you wind up in a testing chair uncertain of a test result which will set a new direction upon your life. If "fear" was a part of my being honest than what can I do? It's a situation I've been through and it was scary as hell and I'm not going to tip-toe around that issue. I needed that feeling to encourage myself to learn from the past to be healthier in the future. If you want to call that a scare tactic or fear campaigning- so be it. It's simply just a catalog from my honest gay life. Now, with the power of youtube and online viral videoing I don't have to ask permission of anyone to make a certain ad, I don't have to go through the bureaucracies of distribution to air my piece and I don't have to use straight people or straight tactics to get at the core issues of gay life and the gay lifestyle and I certainly don't intend on doing so.
So here I am. In Los Angeles about to begin production on my next ad and in pitching the idea to friends, activists, filmmakers, and gay folk of all different ages and cultures I have received wonderful, positive and supportive encouragement as well as the dismissive "you don't know what you're talking about," "that's a scare tactic," "you're wrong," "Why bother?" and the always fist-clenching, but totally expected eye rolling. The truth of the matter is- I'm just going to push on. I love gay men and I love gay sex. I love being gay and I love having sex. Never will it be an intention of mine to scare gay men out of having sex. I want gay men to have sex. I want gay men to enjoy sex and I want gay men to know that sex can exist in it's most hottest and passionate forms when you feel as though you know what you're doing and are in control of what you're doing. It will always be an intention to be as honest and forthright as possible and if fear comes into play while I try to translate certain realities of mine and maybe other's gay experience than all I can say is...So be it.
Link to "Second Date."
They send pictures like this to your email address:
Thanks Jason.
Swingers- West Hollywood, CA
SO much to do! Blogs to come - just not now. But FYI.........
The word of the day is:
Butch Realness.
pimp it and try to use it in a sentence. I'll start you off:
Dressed in a red flannel shirt and sporting a thick new beard Alex's Butch Realness was off the charts at Sunday's Pinups Magazine release party. (NSFW!!!)
Photos courtesy of Michael Alexander Photography
Saturday night I said what the hell and attended the closing party of Peter Rauhofer's party at Stereo: It was a great night, actually! Packed crowd, shirtless men everywhere and dancing which continued way past dawn.
5 things you'll learn:
5) You WILL spent $70 dollars within the first 20 minutes you arrive. $30! dollar entry. $8 dollar beers! $9 Dollar shots! (x2)
4) Despite the Roxy's closure over a year ago guys still love their shirtless dance parties. (thank god.)
3) When you set the clocks ahead you're actually leaving the dance floor at 8AM, not 7Am.
2) Yes that IS a remix of Britney Spear's "Gimmie More." (oooooooohhh- really?! ugh.)
1) Another gay dance space in NYC bites the dust... (and will be missed.)
Judd Apatow who brought you The 40 Year old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad brings to you his latest comedy Pineapple Express.
I'm a trailer fanatic. Yup, one of those people who MUST get to the theater early enough to catch every single preview and I'm always upset when they end. They're really one of my favorite aspects of going to the movies.
The song used in the trailer is the amazing Paper Planes by the ever fierce M.I.A. which is also currently doubling as my ringtone!
"All I wanna do (BANG BANG BANG BANG)
And a (CLICK CHING)
And take your money"
I'm a weekly visitor of Apple Trailers, too.
Same-Sex marriage is all over the news lately and it always reminds me of this piece of media made by my wildly talented and creative friend, David Daigle, for the 2004 GLAAD Media Awards. Since it was made in 2004 some of the shows are dated but the issues presented are as valid and relevant today as they were then.
I've seen this piece of media a gazillion times and every time, no joke, it always brings a tear to my eye.
The Viciousness that is The View Bar Vice Squad
fierce bite-sized player, T, who proves big things do come in small packages when she caught a hard-thrown ball against her face and sent the best player on The Splash-holes to the side lines. Despite her small stature T delivers on the court like a steel-boot kick to the mouth. When asked for a comment T said, "It was the first time any kind of ball was that close to my face and I chewed it up and spit it out!! What?!" That's right T, you bring it!
