NY State of Mind

We can get married in New York now! Slowly but surely, we'll get there! Get with it already California.

Vogue

"Voguing: The Message, is a nice little pre-”Paris Is Burning” documentary about the emerging New York voguing scene with a lot of footage and some awesome performances and statements by Willi Ninja from the House of Ninja. The film was shot in 1988 by Jack Walworth, David Bronstein & Dorothy Low and released in 1989."

A Fly(er) on the Wall

My roommates and I recently unearthed an old scanner that I'm sure will provide hours of replicating fun. One thing I decided to do was rescue a bunch of very charming old fliers from old dance nights and parties around the town.
San Francisco being the gay mecca that it is, doesn't always provide the best dance night for those of us queers who are looking for an alternative to the cookie cutter gays, muscle mary's and Castro fags that invade, well...the Castro. Luckily most of the better, divey queer bars are in the Tenderloin and Soma.
DJ Bus Station John is a well known this scene and has been hosting some of the funner, grittier dance night in the city for decades. The Tubesteak Connection at Aunt Charlie's Lounge is a sweaty Thursday night staple, and there have been parties at other bars as well with equally lascivious names like The Rod and Manquake! where '70's bathhouse music and disco obligate all present to slowly disrobe as the make their way to a sweaty dance floor.

Artfag Potluck

This past sunday afternoon I joined some fellow fags for some good eating and creative mind melding. It was an awesome experience. The turnout was about 30 or more of us, the majority in the mid twenty to early thirty age range. Several people I knew were there and alot of familiar faces from the more alternaqueer "scene".
Arrival was around 5 where everyone preceded to share their dishes, drinks and mingle. Space in an old Victorian in the upper Haight became tight but made it all the more cozy. After an initial warm up, our gracious hosts welcomed us to the first Artfag Potluck, hoping it will be a monthly event and turned the show over to the presenters.
Included in the Show and Tell portion of the evening was audio (several This American Life style shorts about people in San Francisco with odd jobs. The pieces where "The Masturbation Coach", "The Jizz Mopper", a woman who waxes people for a living and makes SF a smoother place "one strip at a time."
Also presented was some still life, charcoal paintings and mixed media.
The final piece was a 20 min. video called In Their Room. This focused on readers of BUTT Magazine, in their rooms, with the doors closed, capturing an intimate, erotic, often vulnerable portrait of men when they are alone and what the enjoy doing in their bedrooms.
The evening progressed quickly in a current of artistic ideas, projects and potential collaborations.
There was something quite wonderful about being among peers, fellow queers, progressive and artistic thinkers. I didn't eat that much despite an enviable spread nevertheless I left feeling pretty full and already looking forward to the next potluck.

No on Prop H8

According to cnn.com there was an estimated 2,000 protesters marching down Market st. towards the Castro and ending in Dolores Park. I don't think this number is accurate because there seemed to be so mnay more. It was really amazing to see so many people from various backgrounds all joined together. Walking down the street I felt so lucky to be living in San Francisco, probably the most progressive city in the country. This is an exciting and hopeful time as change is in the horizon. Prop 8 has it's days numbered.