Gay Blogger Avatars part 3: Charles Kaiser

Charles Kaiser, writer and popular historian, caught the blogger bug when he started writing for Radar Online. Since the print version of the magazine was shut down, he has moved on as well. I hope his blog Full Court Press continues to live on in a new home for two reasons. One, he skewers the media when they deserve it. And two, I love his illustration / online avatar, which puts up a cheer guise as he skewers the media when they deserve it. (And to be fair, he is equally forthcoming with praise when he see fit. But of course, the skewering is more fun to read.)

Gay Blogger Avatars part 2: Andrew Sullivan

Love or hate Andrew Sullivan, he is smart, and often very well spoken, even if his politics don't fall into traditional party buckets (pro-gay marriage, anti-affirmative action, pro-green, pro-life.) He currently writes at the Daily Dish for the Atlantic, and his illustration / online avatar reflects his bear-ish qualities, as he has grown from political wunderboy to established public intellectual.

Pirates part 3: Somali Pirate

Not just historical fiction or digital metaphors, Somali pirates are obviously, real, dangerous, and effective.

Gay Blogger Avatars part 1: Glenn Greenwald

Glenn Greenwald is an expert on constitutional law, best selling writer, and political/media blogger. When Greenwald break the issues down, I always feel like he is the thinking person's thinker. His illustration / online avatar of himself is notable for its simplicity and it's interesting how literal the translation is expressed in drawn form.

Pirates part 2: thepiratebay founders

Peter Sunde and Fredrik Neij, two of the founders of P2P sharing site thepiratebay.org give a talk at the Hack In the Box Conference 2008, in Malaysia, entitled "How to dismantle a billion dollar industry - as a hobby." Gottfrid Svartholm (far right) I believe wasn't there.

Pirates part 1: Johnny Depp

With a US$2.6 billion box office take from the first 3 movies, Johnny Depp is slated to return for a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie. I love how the franchise started out an amusement park ride in 1967.

Gender Brain Tests

The BBC has an six-part on-line test, which test your brain's maleness and femaleness. The tests measure empathy, physical attraction, memory, spatial skills, and physical dimensions of your body, which are linked to things like testosterone, right-left brain dominance, and cultural differences.



I scored about +25 male, where the average score for men was +50 male, and the average score for women was +50. Not sure what that exactly means.

Sean Penn Makes An Impressive Harvey Milk

Early buzz on Gus Van Sant's Milk is good. Sean Penn looks surprisingly (middle photo) a lot of the real Harvey Milk. I was wondering if he pulled a Nicole Kidman fake nose, but looking closer I'm not sure...

Blake Little - The Company of Men photo show

One last week to catch Black Little's show, The Company of Men, at the Wessel + O'Connor Fine Art gallery in Brooklyn. Interesting look at masculinity that feels very of the moment.

Via Boblog

Lucas Grabeel: From High School Musical To Milk

Last weekend, I saw the trailer for Milk, Gus Van Sant's bio-pic on Harvey Milk, the gay mayor from San Francisco who are shot to death by 1978. The early buzz is quite good, but I was surprised to see glimpses of what looked like Lucas Grabeel, who is better know as Ryan from the High School Musical Trilogy.

I did a little research and IMDB confirms that Grabeel is in the pic. A little more digging led me to his website, which for a Hollywood celebrity of any level, is amazing for it's lack of lame animations and 8x11.5 glossy shallowness. I mean this is the splash page:



But I digress. Back in May, Grabeel wrote to in his forum announcing his role. It's an interesting read, explaining who Milk was, how he died, playing up working with Sean Penn and Gus Van Sant, saying that he isn't gay but playing a role. It's interesting and on balance... I think a good response.

Blowoff NYC

I had a late night and made it to Blowoff at the Highland to hear Bob Mould and Richard Morel spin. Opening the door at midnight was brutal if you didn't have Columbus Day off, which I didn't. But it was worth it, as I heard a couple of nice indie label remixes from Hercules and Love Affair as well as Santogold that I'll have research. Here is the set list, which should be up soon. I must say that I love the artwork.

Chow Yun Fat's Neckwear

In the trailer of Replacment Killers, Chow Yun Fat's tie folds over his arm during a gun fight, in a manner that was so elegant, it made me want to see the movie.

The movie, itself, was a straight up HK style assassin movie. CYF plays an assassin with a soul, and Miro Sorvino is the passport forger who gets mixed up with him.

What the movie does lack is that seemingly prerequisite roll-in-the-sack during the quiet interlude scene right before the final climatic fight when they are hiding out in some seedy motel or other "safezone." I try not read too much into it, but I'm just saying...

Race Bannon

I grew up loving Jonny Quest. I have found memories even if, today, the stereotyped Indian sidekick character Hadji raises an eyebrow. However, the best part of the show was the dynamic between bodyguard Race Bannon and Dr. Quest. In particular, how the burly Bannon always spoke to the slight Dr. Quest as "Sir" and "Doctor."

Hunter S Thompson

Aviators seems to be back this season, and all it makes me think about his HST. Hard to say if there is anyone cooler than HST, RIP. A documentary, Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S Thompson is coming out this summer, too. M+B put out a great collection of his photography.