This. That. No Other. » Pimping4Pals

Holyword or Bused

bstewart23 — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 02:30:38 +0000

Man, when DeadRobot name-checks you and your favourite bodily function, you’d better pay attention:

Via Blamblog comes a little gadget that BStewart will pee his pants over… The Atheist Bus Sign Generator

(sign generated by DeadRobot)

(For the record, I totally did pee my pants.)

Challenging Currently-Accepted Notions of “Over”ness

bstewart23 — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 00:10:14 +0000

You know, it’s often said — okay, by me, at least — that a gay gathering simply isn’t complete until someone declares that they’re “over” somethingorother. Or that it’s “tired” or “so last month/year/decade/’80s”.

I beg to differ. In two markedly-different instances, I do not believe that that certain something has yet reached “over”ness stage. Not by a long shot.

One of those would be the startling similarity between Christian Bale and Kermit the Frog and the near-endless, increasingly-hilarious evidence:

And the other would be the unfolding beauty of The Aretha Franklin Hat Phenomenon, oddly over-represented by gay bears, the best example (as of 24 January 2009) being This.That.No Other. blogbuddy MichaelPgh‘s latest:

ALL. ARE. EQUAL.

bstewart23 — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:21:45 +0000

“…all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.”
– President Barack Obama, 20 January 2009

The man gives good speech, that’s for damn sure.

History.

Hope.

And without giving us even an hour to grow cynical and jaded, within moments of President Obama’s swearing-in, WhiteHouse.gov posted this commitment to support for the LGBT community:

Support for the LGBT Community

“While we have come a long way since the Stonewall riots in 1969, we still have a lot of work to do. Too often, the issue of LGBT rights is exploited by those seeking to divide us. But at its core, this issue is about who we are as Americans. It’s about whether this nation is going to live up to its founding promise of equality by treating all its citizens with dignity and respect.”
– Barack Obama, June 1, 2007

Expand Hate Crimes Statutes: In 2004, crimes against LGBT Americans constituted the third-highest category of hate crime reported and made up more than 15 percent of such crimes. President Obama cosponsored legislation that would expand federal jurisdiction to include violent hate crimes perpetrated because of race, color, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, or physical disability. As a state senator, President Obama passed tough legislation that made hate crimes and conspiracy to commit them against the law.

Fight Workplace Discrimination: President Obama supports the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and believes that our anti-discrimination employment laws should be expanded to include sexual orientation and gender identity. While an increasing number of employers have extended benefits to their employees’ domestic partners, discrimination based on sexual orientation in the workplace occurs with no federal legal remedy. The President also sponsored legislation in the Illinois State Senate that would ban employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.

Support Full Civil Unions and Federal Rights for LGBT Couples: President Obama supports full civil unions that give same-sex couples legal rights and privileges equal to those of married couples. Obama also believes we need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and enact legislation that would ensure that the 1,100+ federal legal rights and benefits currently provided on the basis of marital status are extended to same-sex couples in civil unions and other legally-recognized unions. These rights and benefits include the right to assist a loved one in times of emergency, the right to equal health insurance and other employment benefits, and property rights.

Oppose a Constitutional Ban on Same-Sex Marriage: President Obama voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment in 2006 which would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman and prevented judicial extension of marriage-like rights to same-sex or other unmarried couples.

Repeal Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell: President Obama agrees with former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff John Shalikashvili and other military experts that we need to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. The key test for military service should be patriotism, a sense of duty, and a willingness to serve. Discrimination should be prohibited. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars replacing troops kicked out of the military because of their sexual orientation. Additionally, more than 300 language experts have been fired under this policy, including more than 50 who are fluent in Arabic. The President will work with military leaders to repeal the current policy and ensure it helps accomplish our national defense goals.

Expand Adoption Rights: President Obama believes that we must ensure adoption rights for all couples and individuals, regardless of their sexual orientation. He thinks that a child will benefit from a healthy and loving home, whether the parents are gay or not.

Promote AIDS Prevention: In the first year of his presidency, President Obama will develop and begin to implement a comprehensive national HIV/AIDS strategy that includes all federal agencies. The strategy will be designed to reduce HIV infections, increase access to care and reduce HIV-related health disparities. The President will support common sense approaches including age-appropriate sex education that includes information about contraception, combating infection within our prison population through education and contraception, and distributing contraceptives through our public health system. The President also supports lifting the federal ban on needle exchange, which could dramatically reduce rates of infection among drug users. President Obama has also been willing to confront the stigma — too often tied to homophobia — that continues to surround HIV/AIDS.

Empower Women to Prevent HIV/AIDS: In the United States, the percentage of women diagnosed with AIDS has quadrupled over the last 20 years. Today, women account for more than one quarter of all new HIV/AIDS diagnoses. President Obama introduced the Microbicide Development Act, which will accelerate the development of products that empower women in the battle against AIDS. Microbicides are a class of products currently under development that women apply topically to prevent transmission of HIV and other infections.

This should be interesting. This is good.

Hope.

Why?

bstewart23 — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:01:21 +0000

I don’t know why I was choking back a tear as I watched blogbuddy ELeven’s safer-sex, anti-barebacking PSA but I did. This is important, this is vital and this is a message not delivered often or loudly enough. vital. Love this, love Eric…

Why are we… from Eric Leven on Vimeo.
(Mostly SFW, but deals with sexual themes.)

New

bstewart23 — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 15:45:37 +0000

I am not a designer.

This, of course, will be abundantly clear from the new look here. More error than trial brought the new look to fruition and, obviously, there’ll be some rough edges for a while. If something looks crappy or is hard to read or is just, plain fucked-up, I trust you’ll let me know.

Thanks to WordPress forum contributors for assistance and the very user-oriented folks at Bytes for All for their exceedingly flexible theme design.

The Saddest Music in the World is Also the Happiest

bstewart23 — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 22:02:13 +0000

Cocteau Twins have been in heavy rotation on my iPod lately, and I couldn’t quite figure out why that is. Of course, the obvious reason is that their albums are lush, sweeping, gorgeous documents of a certain time and place, not just for me but, well… everyone who’s a fan seems to possess a similar, melancholy inspiration from their material.

Cocteau Twins “Iceblink Luck” (from Heaven or Las Vegas)

I met Bulldog shortly after the first, real love of my life smashed my heart into a million pieces, yet again, on a New Year’s Day, twenty years ago. I gave my loving, faithful boyfriend a hug as he went out the door “to work” and my hand slipped into his pocket, feeling a swatch of condoms and a business card. I pulled my hand out and saw Bulldog’s name — I didn’t know Dave as “Bulldog” then — on the card with his phone number and address scribbled on the back. Ouch.

So weeks later, long after my ex disappeared to Saudi Arabia to escape… everything, I kept seeing Dave out at bars and clubs — never dancing, but grooving to the rare alternative song in a microscopic and unselfconscious way — and, well, I could certainly see his appeal. Handsome, boyish, cool and supersexy in his leather, law-school bomber jacket. And there was something else — something unknowable — about him. Fuck it, I thought, and introduced myself.

Shortly after that, we started dating. And it became apparent that the dots connecting him to me would not be the one and only love of my life. “Bulldog” was his law-school nickname and from that nickname you can glean both his reputation and demeanour. Quick to laugh, brilliant and funny, Bulldog introduced me to Cocteau Twins, buying me a disc for Valentine’s Day. Blue Bell Knoll. We would listen to them for hours, smoking up, cuddling and talking about… everything.

You’ll notice I haven’t yet mentioned sex. We only did that a couple of times, much to my volcanically-horny frustration. We were what’s technically called serodiscordant — he was poz, me not. And while that wasn’t a problem for me, Mr. Safer Sex Only, it was for him. He really wasn’t responding well to his HIV meds and it terrified him to think that I might get infected. As he got sicker, he broke up with me. I didn’t understand why and resisted, desperately. Heart-brokenly. But he wasn’t called Bulldog for nuthin’.

As his health worsened, I asked to be part of his care team and he finally relented, though we cried a lot every time I came over to tidy up his place and make him dinner while Liz Fraser’s gorgeous voice filled his apartment. Just a few weeks later Bulldog was at the hospital and he was… Well, there wasn’t much left of him and he couldn’t even be hugged without it causing him pain. There was a package on the table. For me.

It was the pewter box in which he kept his weed.

That was the last time I saw or even spoke to Bulldog.

Tim Leary said that we’re reincarnated in everyone whose lives we touch and influence. Any political fire you see in me comes from Bulldog. Any intractible, safer-sex-only advocacy you hear from me comes from him. Any urging to take care of each other and to tell those you love that you love them as often as you can comes from him.

Bulldog. Thanks for teaching me about mending a heart that’s been broken, about how the right thing is so often the hard thing. About dreams. Fuck, I miss you, man.

Cocteau Twins’ Liz Fraser & Robin Guthrie perform Tim Buckley’s “Song to the Siren” (This Mortal Coil, It’ll End in Tears)

Alessandro Calza

bstewart23 — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 19:00:16 +0000

Alessandro, a.k.a. “ahunter“

The first thing you need to know about Italian graphic designer, actor, model, photographer and writer Alessandro Calza is that to describe his masculine beauty you must begin with “breathtaking”. Whichever direction you go following “breathtaking” is for you to decide, of course, but here’s a further tease:

“Hash”

Say what you will about his choice of soundtrack music, but I have a feeling each and every one of you fell in love, even if only a little bit, with Alessandro (as he looks directly at you in the fade-out). And all he’s doing is rolling a spliff!

If you visit his remarkable website (slightly NSFW), you’ll fall in love a little bit more. Fans of Aimee Mann and Ducati bikes will want to check out his “Dawn” slideshow. Fans of Sneaker Pimps and sweaty athleticism will drop their jaws over his “Respect List”.

I had the pleasure of a very brief (and casual) online correspondence with Alessandro some time ago, when he was shopping a film around to various gay festivals (including Toronto’s) and he was as friendly and gracious as he is… breathtaking. And of course if you’ve spent any time interacting online you always allow yourself a small degree of “what if?” thinking about someone who catches your fancy, and then you — wisely — put that thought process away for good. Usually.

As it turns out, Alessandro Calza and director Yen Tan explore just such a “what if” in the aforementioned movie, Ciao, opening in select theatres and festivals (and, naturally, with no Canadian cinema distribution). Normally I’m a bit gunshy when it comes to small gay movies about loves lost (and found (and lost!)), but this one looks really quite special, and Alessandro’s costar, Adam Neal Smith, is no slouch, either:

In other words, I’m so there. In a theatre, DVD, whatever. It promises to hit all my weak spots. No matter how lukewarm its reviews; I don’t mind slow-moving and it really doesn’t seem to be territory that’s been mined to exhaustion.

ADDENDUM: Ale was kind enough to send me a very sweet thanks for this post. We wish him all the very best in every future endeavour. What he conveys to the world may not be immediately apparent, but it’s indelible.

History Lesson:”Well, At Least It’s A Fruit Pie”

bstewart23 — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 12:48:44 +0000

Former beauty queen and singer — and religion-poisoned homophobe — Anita Bryant gets a pie in the kisser in thanks for her nationwide campaign to “Save the Children” and declaring “we are going to go across this country and get rid of all the homosexuals”:

“Well, at least it’s a fruit pie,” Iowa, 1977

Apparently Bryant — for whom Kathie Lee Gifford later worked as a personal secretary! — suffered for her activism, and her contract as spokesdouche for the Florida Citrus Commission was not renewed after a nationwide boycott of Florida orange juice. She later divorced her retaliatory (above) and “emotionally-abusive” (says Gifford) husband, which caused no end of pearl-clutching in Jesusland, and she was shunned by the loving flock.

After the fallout with the religious folks, she told Ladies’ Home Journal – in an article I remember reading in my mom’s subscription –that she felt sorry for all the hateful things she’d done. Of course, most recently, she’s back selling Jesusware, and of the very few (2) press clippings at Anita Bryant Ministries, one states “Anita Was Right.”

Thirty years ago, people. So much has changed. But the frontier is still as rocky. And we’re still throwing pies.

Here are this week’s flavours (sorry, available in America only):

friends in Los Angeles, Hollywood and Palm Springs participated in noisy protests outside Mormon training camps last weekend
friends and bloggerbuddies (JoeMyGod and Lo-Res and The Cracker of Knuckles, RAGE!) were among 10-15,000 people clogging Broadway in New York City last night, along with Whoopi Goldberg, denounced the Mormon Church for their massive cash injection for California’s Prop 8
towering gay news icon Rex Wockner suggests the new swelling of activism could be construed as Activism 4.0:

Maybe Stonewall was Activism 1.0, ACT UP was Activism 2.0, the failed corporate activism of HRC and No On Prop 8 was Activism 3.0, and now we are witnessing Activism 4.0 being born.

Frankly, I could not be more thrilled and proud at the staggeringly high participation at these events from young queers and their straight friends, family and supporters. Rage!
Box Turtle Bulletin reports that Mormon “Yes on 8″ contributors are suffering from threatened boycotts; one musical theatre director (!) resigned, one sees business drop off. Predictably, trollish commenters bemoan our intolerance of the intolerant. Who would tolerate the intolerant? Idiots?
Nationwide protests, featuring a 50-state strategy so popular with political winners these days, are being planned for this Saturday. Check it out! Equality is equality is equality is equality. You’re either all-in or a phony, no matter your race, gender, class, religious affiliation or sexual orientation.

Preview-AGO-Go

bstewart23 — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 23:29:35 +0000

“Hello, son. It’s your father speaking. But you probably already know that because your answering machine tells you who calls. We’re just calling to say hello and that Arizona is still here even though John McCain lost. We’re doing well and hope you are, too. Give us a call when you wake up, probably sleeping in after going to a rock concert last night. Love you, bye.”

“Rock concert”? Oh, Dad.

As it turns out, when my father called I was at an early-morning sneak preview for Art Gallery of Ontario members of the new, Frank Gehry-designed expansion, about which I wrote a few months ago.

It’s stunning. I mean, it’s far from a signature Gehry work — like, say, Bilbao’s Guggenheim or the Disney Concert Hall in LA — but to say “mission accomplished” is both accurate and more than a bit too modest.

It’s not quite finished, and you can cut them some slack there — huge project, etc — but, y’know? You can’t quite cut them slack for how the first arrivals were greeted at 8 o’clock this morning (all photos embiggen when clicked):

So… that was the actual entrance available to the first arrivals at the AGO today. The staff and volunteers were enormously apologetic but, frankly, this is standard operating procedure in Toronto and it’s completely unacceptable.

Toronto has devolved to the point where developers regularly create inconveniences to the public which border on contempt. Throughout Toronto’s downtown core, construction sites are staggeringly ugly, shockingly dangerous and breathtakingly inept and we’re told “oh, yeah, sorry” but there’s never a deviation from this bad planning and bad execution. Never.

Anyway, that said, I can report that, aside from a few unfinished areas — again, to be expected — and the unfortunate ban on photgraphy (surreptitious shots to follow), the new AGO is really quite wonderful. It doesn’t seem right to compare this new addition to that of the Royal Ontario Museum, but I wonder if it’s non-rightness is because the comparison is so damned unfair. The AGO soars where the ROM fails.

As I mentioned in the top-linked post earlier this summer, the additionas are playful and a little bit overwhelming. From the street outside, it almost feels as if the glass wall of the Galleria Italia (see photos above) is crashing down on the sidewalk like a wave.

This is an unsettling feeling, to be sure, but I’m not opposed to architecture toying with my sense of comfort if there’s wit and defiance behind it. And, certainly, at the AGO there’s plenty of both, from the pillowy cobalt-blue cladding on the south building to the pillowy stainless steel in the elevators. The blue on the south building looks almost as if it’s the protective plastic covering on an electronics device, just waiting to be peeled off. And the Dundas Street façade is actually being peeled away.

Lisa Rochon writes about the addition with much greater architectural knowledge and history than I could ever fake, so I urge you to read her article in yesterday’s Globe and Mail. From a neophyte’s perspective, the project is filled with light and controlled but nonetheless crazy elements, like the nutty spiral staircase punching through the wall of the central foyer (made internationally-famous in the post-credits scene of Cronenberg’s The Fly):

The ROM’s addition seems to compete unfairly with the exhibits it holds, bullying both the displays and the viewer, whereas the AGO’s light and playful serenity invites exploration. After ten minutes, I am ejected from the ROM by its violent angles and cramped displays — seriously, you have to duck to avoid the angled ceiling in some areas. And by all means, be careful of the shabbily-finished railings; your hands will thank me. Much greater care seems to have gone into the AGO’s finishing.

My favourite space is the Galleria Italia, the grand hallway behind the glassy-wave façade threatening to crash down on Dundas Street. Empty, it’s a stunning space, a mix of traditional and high-tech materials that forms a spine from which individual galleries grow quite naturally.

(mouseover and click)

Filled with art lovers? You could spend all day in the Galleria Italia.

Joe Stirs the Pot and Rings the Dinner Bell

bstewart23 — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 23:23:14 +0000

OMG, you guys, I love Joe.My.God.! He’s, like… totally!

Those of us old enough to remember — and those of us still alive to remember — ACT-UP and Queer Nation (and, before geezers like me, Stonewall) have long wondered when the latest generation of queer kids will have their big moment of anger and solidarity. If our early-’90s demos were sexy acts of defiance, it’s time our demo children, born of those actions, came of age.

The flexing of the Republigious right wing, stinging from their defeat in the election and eager to find victims to bully, have set their sights on same-sex marriage. And it’s time for us to act up and fight back.

Brother Joe explains it all for you:

As I’ve said here before, I consider the 1993 March On Washington to have been the single most thrilling event of my entire life. I will never forget the rush of goosebumps and tears as my posse of Florida queers rode up that enormous subway escalator into Dupont Circle as hundreds of our brothers and sisters applauded our arrival from above. That weekend I took part in my first ACT UP demonstration at the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association and laid sobbing in the middle of F Street as the Grim Reaper marked chalk outlines around our bodies. Still, somehow, the overwhelming mood was hopeful. Clinton had just taken office and all things seemed possible. And in many, many ways, things did get better.

This week we’re beginning to see the rumblings of a call for another March On Washington. Could the lightening of 1993 strike again? Or would we see another scandal-ridden fiasco like the 2000 Millennium March? Would it be remotely possible to organize and conduct another March without the overlords of the Human Rights Campaign? Should we? How would wemarshall our new and eager army of young queers? These kids are champing at the bit for a shot at their own Stonewall, their own Queer Nation. The LGBT world of the 21st century is larger, younger, and I think, smarter. I would love to watch.

I’ll totally buy a new pair of 8-eyelet, black Docs. SIgn me up.

Use Your Freedom of Choice

bstewart23 — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 20:38:08 +0000

Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh for Obama:

Click here for more videos from Vote For Change

Truth in Advertising Agency Television Show

bstewart23 — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 21:24:17 +0000

So everyone knows how insanely talented and farty fun my friend Glark is, and if you’re not a subset of the class=”everyone”, you should head on over to his website and check out his Truthful TV Title Cards.

Now, dammit.

Green on Thursday #74: Li’l MonsterBear Will Go To Bed Hungry Tonight… Won’t You Help?

bstewart23 — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 04:01:17 +0000

Fierce monsterbear blogbuddy Eric Leven (of KnuckleCrack fame) is the postercub for the upcoming New York Leather Weekend West Village Leather Festival (phew!) and we couldn’t be happier for him. Make sure you check out his impassioned, articulate and deeply-affecting blog and give him a big, ol’ bearhug in appreciation if you should see him out on this (or any other) weekend. After asking first, of course! ELeven’s the Real Deal, my friends, the kind of warrior I wanted to be when I was his age.

**Important Reminder: The “Green on Thursday” series always reveals very much more about your host at This.That.No Other. than it does about any of the featured personalities.**

On the Beach

bstewart23 — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 22:44:45 +0000

On Hanlan’s Point, 30 August 2008

Your Host, The Doctor and The Champ (30 August 2008)

Scrambled

bstewart23 — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:28:14 +0000

So today Toronto joins the world-class ranks of Tokyo, Denver and London (Ontario) by installing a “scramble” intersection at the corner of Yonge and Dundas Streets in the heart of the city’s downtown. Up to 100,000 pedestrians a day pass through this intersection and, as with most intersections in the city, drivers at Yonge & Dundas are unencumbered by common sense or law enforcement in their amber-running, illegal-turning and general fuckwaddiness when dealing with pedestrians who, admittedly, could themselves learn a thing or twelve about how to cross a fucking street.

The new intersection will increase motorist delays at the intersection to 57 seconds, still a very small price to pay for being so fucking idiotic as to navigate a course through the very busiest part of the largest city in Canada.

Anyway: history!

The media eagerly await my arrival shortly before the opening of the intersection. We can begin.

My friend, City Councillor Kyle Rae, announces the opening of the intersection. I always like going to Kyle’s events because there’s always a passel of hot– hel-LO, Mister Orange Shirt!

City Councillor Glenn de Baeremaeker speaks to… gee, I forget. I think he was sending me a message of some sort. Something about him being a vegan but he’d make an exception for me? I dunno. Geez.

The intersection in action.