Is This Prospero's Gayest Week, Ever?

Michael Sam and lusty boxers aside, it seems the most interesting stuff (don't start on Shirley Temple - she gets her own post tomorrow) happening these days seems to be gay stuff. 

There's news that a bisexual skier (or something) who won a Winter Olympics medal, was later photographed 'cuddling' with RasPUTIN. Ugh. Still... maybe she was just caught up in the moment. I'll give her the benefit of the doubt. Winning an Olympic Medal is a big deal and emotions can cloud reason. If I won an Oscar, I'd hug and cuddle with every person in reach (except maybe Mel Gibson; Kirk Cameron and Vladimir effing RasPUTIN!). 

Hmmm... Ra's al Ghul.. Rasputin... RasPUTIN... lots of crazy going on in Uncle P's comics-addled brain tonight! Funny? Maybe. But what's not funny is the failure of the IOC and several of it's major corporate sponsors to address the Human Rights issues plaguing Putin's Russia, today. 

#CheersToSochi member Scott Wooledge, created the video below to draw attention to the horrors being inflicted on Russian LGBTs (via):

Chilling. 

But I wanted to end on a more upbeat note, so I was pleased to also find the trailer for the upcoming documentary Fagbug Nation. Director Erin Davies spent six years traveling through the U.S. in her rainbow-painted VW, finding both support and hate along the way (also via):

Now let's hope the predicted Nor'easter headed my way isn't the monster storm the news demons are projecting. This winter has been rather relentless here in the Mid-Atlantic States... Stay warm. Stay safe. And while I wouldn't actually hate having another day off on Thursday, the mess and expense hardly make it worth having...

More, anon.

Prospero

You have read this article "Fagbug" / Civil Rights; Equality / Documentaries / Gay / Homophobia / Human Rights / Olympics / Ramblings / Russia / The Gayest Thing / Uncle P with the title Olympics. You can bookmark this page URL http://tammycross.blogspot.com/2014/02/is-this-prospero-gayest-week-ever.html. Thanks!

Get a Kluwe

A Man Whose Hand I'd Like to Shake - Chris Kluwe

One of my personal sports heroes has struck again. Writing for The Guardian, former NFL Kicker and staunch LGBT ally Chris Kluwe implores Olympians attending the 2014 Winter Games to be outspoken advocates for civil rights. 

Personally, I'd like to say that I agree with Mr. Kluwe. "We're Here! We're Queer! Get Used to Us!" has just as much meaning today as it has throughout the LGBT Rights movement. And while the fact that straight athletes like Kluwe; Brendon Ayanbedejo and Ben Cohen have lent their voices to the cause does a world of good, there are still so many unenlightened and superstitious asshats out there. Yes, the ignorant and therefore, scared seem to be slowly but surely dying out. Straight people my age (my friends already agree and my regular readers have figured that out, long ago) and younger, know how ridiculous it is to be so stupid and backward. Of course, lots of people my parents' ages have long ago agreed, but weren't able to do so publicly, until recent events have proven them to be on the right side of history.

Still... were I a gay athlete participating in the Sochi Olympics or a gay friend and/or family member of a gay and/or straight Olympian, I would completely understand your reluctance to speak out. I may not like it (visibility is our strongest asset), but I would respect your decision to remain silent. 

You can read Kluwe's piece here (via).

And just to keep things weird, here's some Olympic Nonsense:

Zombie-lympics?



It's somehow comforting to know that Rednecks are Universal:



Hmmmm... Does that make Yakov Smirnoff the Russian Jeff Foxworthy? The mind boggles.

More, anon.
Prospero

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A Very Gay Olympics Quickie

While the competitions officially start tomorrow night, the Opening Ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics aren't for two more days. 

First, I have to ask if anyone is really all that surprised by the two major stories trending on the web, right now? First, are the hilarious horror stories being tweeted from journalists about their unfinished; easily broken; water tainted; heatless accommodations. And I thought I had a bad hotel experience in Chicago, last summer! Of course, foreign war correspondents are understandibly less than sympathetic...

Then there's NBC's story about the prolific electronics hacking taking place among the tourists pouring in from all over:

Oh, dear. Not that I would have gone, but I somehow feel better knowing there is nothing on my phone I wouldn't be willing to share with my 85 year old great aunt. I don't use my smartphone for much more than pictures, calls and texts (and the occasional GPS) and have no fear of my personal and/or financial information being stolen from it.

Listen, I get it. The Olympics are the Oscars for athletes. The winners' names will be recorded for the remainder of Human History (forget about eternity... humans will most likely be extinct long before our sun goes supernova). The participants spend lifetimes preparing to compete and no one should be denied the right to do so. But no one should be afraid to be arrested, beaten or worse, just for being who they are. Thankfully, this video from the Canadian diversity group CIDI ICDI isn't about to let the Russians off the hook quite so easily (via):

As George Takei might say..."Oh, myyyyy!"

I will not be watching the Winter Olympics this year. Not that I would normally, though I occasionally stop while clicking through channels to see the medal count or watch some figure skating (I am so effing gay, I almost can't stand it). This time, though, I think it would feel... icky, to watch, knowing how bad things are for LGBT Russians. It makes me sad that what should be a Celebration of World Unity has instead become a lesson in homophobia, incompetence and an egotistical Tsarist's whims. Personally, I'd be happy to never see Putin's nipples again, for as long as I live.

More, anon.
Prospero

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It's On First

Sadako (Samara in the U.S.)

I have never been the athletic type, nor the kind of person who enjoys watching sports. Of course, there are exceptions to the rule - Olympic swimming, diving, gymnastics and wrestling can provide many hours of entertainment... ooh -- what a give-away! 

Of course, sport in the U.S. is all about competition, machismo and pain (well, at least when it comes to American Football). Baseball, the so-called "Great American Pastime," is just plain boring. But leave it to the Japanese to make baseball interesting. Well, at least the opening pitch. At a recent Japanese baseball game. the opening pitch was thrown by Sadako, the vengeful ghost from the Ringu series of J-Horror movies. This video (from a Facebook friend) says it all:

I would so see a game where Sadako (or Freddy, Jason, Pinhead or Pennywise) threw the opening pitch. Though I doubt they could do it quite as well as Sadako did in that clip. Freddy's glove would shred the ball; Jason would pitch it through the batter's head; Pinhead would throw a puzzle box and Pennywise would just drag the all the players down into the sewer. 

And since we're talking about Japanese horror and Japanese sensibilities, another Facebook friend posted the below clip from a Japanese "Candid Camera" style show:

Hilarious and rather mean, I don't know that I would have fallen for this, especially with the puppeteer's legs so clearly visible. Still, it's a prime example of how Japanese humor and horror seem to go hand in hand. Hmmm... kind of like Uncle P's sense of humor, when you think about it. 

Anyone know where I can get my hands on a velociraptor suit?

More, anon.
Prospero

You have read this article Baseball / FaceBook / Horror / Japanese Horror / Japanese Pop Culture / Nonsense / Olympics / Ringu / Sports / Weirdness / Wrestling with the title Olympics. You can bookmark this page URL http://tammycross.blogspot.com/2013/08/it-on-first.html. Thanks!

Why I Watch the Olympics

Danell Leyva

Martin Reader

Iain Percy

James Magnussen

Alexandre Despartie

Clemente Russo

Jake Dalton

Arthur Zanetti

To quote the fabulous George Takei - "Oh, my..."

Sometimes it is good to be shallow... But don't get me started on the absolute messes that were this year's opening and closing ceremonies. The games themselves may have been amazing, but the opening and closing were two hot messes that just didn't work at all. I'm all for stage directors making movies, but dead-set against movie directors doing live theatre. They just don't get it, as very well evidenced at this year's games. Pity. BTW - If you know the names of the hot Olympians I have not identified, please let me know in the comments, so I can rectify this post.

More anon,
Prospero

You have read this article Athletes / Gay / Hot / Muscles / Olympics / Sports / The Gayest Thing with the title Olympics. You can bookmark this page URL http://tammycross.blogspot.com/2012/08/why-i-watch-olympics.html. Thanks!

The Gayest Things You'll See This Week (Probably NSFW Version)

Danell Levya

That's Cuban/American Danell Levya in the picture to your left. The 21 year-old gymnast is not just gorgeous but talented, having won the 2012 Men's All Around Gymnastics Gold medal at the London Olympics. Sigh... were I thirty (hell - twenty-five) years younger... Danell is also the 2011 World Champion on Parallel Bars. He has his own signature move on the Horizontal Bar: "The Jam-Dislocate-Hop-to-Undergrips," whatever the hell that means. Personally, I was lucky I was able to do a forward roll and clear the pommel horse (usually) in gym class. Of course, had I actually enjoyed gymnastics in school, I might have led a very different life. Those of you who are and/or were non-athletic know what I'm talking about. I've mentioned this before, but sex with someone like Danell has to be amazing, though only someone as athletically inclined could keep up with him. Much like I imagine sex with one of my other obsessions (link Very NSFW) would be. I don't care if kills me - I'll die with a smile on my face (yes, another TMI moment from Uncle P). There is no official word on Danell's sexuality, but that doesn't mean a man can't dream...

So, onto reality. Or at least, a fictional version of it. If you haven't figured it out by now, Uncle P is both a Bear and a Bear Fan. There is a hilarious new comedy/mystery/gay Webseries called "Where the Bears Are" on Vimeo. It is both hot and hilarious and I recommend it for all Bears and Bear lovers. Nelson (Ben Zook) wakes up to find a hot bartender (Ian Parks) in his bed, only to later discover the bartender's roommate dead in his bathtub. The first three episodes are available here. Below is a preview (via):

Where The Bears Are Teaser #1 from Where the Bears Are on Vimeo.

Finally, here's some new music from Matt Ryanz featuring gay porn star Derek Atlas (via):

It doesn't get much gayer than that -- even Uncle P's first foray into Philly's "gayborhood" in ten years wasn't as gay (all the guys were at the Jersey Shore, apparently - ugh!) as I'd hoped it would be. My Day Job friend and I still had ourselves a good time - at least we weren't sitting around our respective  houses just waiting for something interesting to happen.

More, anon.
Prospero

You have read this article Danell Leyva / Gay / Gay Bars / Hot / Music / Music Video / NSFW / Olympics / Philadelphia / The Gayest Thing / YouTube with the title Olympics. You can bookmark this page URL http://tammycross.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-gayest-things-you-see-this-week.html. Thanks!

The Gayest Things You'll See This Week

Adorable Aussie Olympian Matthew Mitcham

So many things at the Olympics to talk about in this insane digital age. Yes, Twitter and Facebook were both around during the Beijing games, but London is proving to be the first truly E-Olympics. People have been disqualified and ejected from the games for Tweeting. Granted, they tweeted stupid, hateful things without thinking. They thought they were being funny. A-holes! Of course there's the new record for Best Olympian Ever (wouldn't that always be Zeus?), Michael Phelps - the new patron saint of swimmers and stoners everywhere. 

Butta Face Phelps (like I'm such a 10) may well be the Best Olympian, but openly gay Australian diver Matthew Mitcham has been declared Most Adorable Olympian Ever by BuzzFeed Sports (via) and I must agree. Just look at the boy's impish expression in that picture. How can it not melt your heart? 

Okay - that's maybe a bit too Zooey Deschanel quirky for my taste, but who can stay mad at that punim? Seriously. Of course only another athlete could keep up with a boy that flexible and strong. The first Cirque show I ever saw live was Saltimbanco. I practically had to drag my dear Elizabeth (of whom I do NOT see enough, these days) to go, trying to convince her she wasn't about to see a traditional circus. As if I would travel all the way into the city for some lame circus. Her objections were silenced in the first 60 seconds of the show. Our mutual obsession was born. Part of that show featured a pair of brothers who did an amazing and breathtaking lifting act that had us both drooling. She and I both decided that they would only ever be able to be satisfied by each other, whether it was true or (99.999% more likely) not. Of course, it was merely a fiction we created to feel better about neither of us ever having a shot in hell with the muscled beauties.

Cathy's House of Hate continues to be in the news, but mostly because the LGBT community's response was pretty lame. Friday's kiss-in was not nearly as well attended as the response to the Right's lies about this being a First Amendment issue. I think, sadly, a lot of people were actually afraid to go. And that's a shame. There were no reports of problems at any of the company's stores where people did participate. 

More than a few restaurants have come up with anti-CFA chicken sandwiches. A Houston restaurant called Beavers is offering a "Chick-on-Chick" sandwich, described as: ”two loving chicken breasts married on toasty buns with a honey mustard witness and joined in celebration with tolerant fries.” Closer to my home is Schnipper's Quality Kitchen, with two locations in Manhattan. All through the month of August, Schnipper's is going to donate $1 to Marriage Equality for ever chicken sandwich they sell. I am currently working on a Facebook event to eat chicken sandwiches at Schnipper's. 

I made my own hate-free,  Bass Ale-battered chicken for dinner tonight, along with sliced garden tomatoes and sweet bi-colored corn on the cob... simple, delicious and decidedly gay. You want an incredibly delicious fried chicken sandwich, baby? Come on over. I'll make you one.  (Wow. Just creeped myself out - lol).

Finally, here's also adorable Randy Rainbow's take on the latest battle in the Culture Wars (via):

Have a fabulous Monday!

More, anon.
Prospero

You have read this article Adorable / Gay / Hot / LGBT / Marriage Equality / Olympics / Out Athletes / Sports / The Gayest Thing with the title Olympics. You can bookmark this page URL http://tammycross.blogspot.com/2012/08/the-gayest-things-you-see-this-week_5.html. Thanks!