The BEST of Lifelube - "Whole Milk - Never Blend In" From Friday, November 14, 2008

Whole Milk - Never Blend In

Chris Bartlett reviews Milk

[opens nationwide November 26]

Read more from Chris on LifeLube here

I went to see a pre-screening of Milk, the new feature film about Harvey Milk's life, with Sean Penn in the lead role. The movie was fantastic. I was in a theater full of Philadelphian queer activists and allies who represented all generations of our movement. There was the lesbian who helped found Giovanni's Room (our still running fabulous gay bookstore), many of our key political figures, AIDS activists who have been fighting for decades, fired-up youth, people of color, transmen and transwomen. That set the perfect scene for the movie itself-- a celebration of the power of gay communities at their best.

I started crying within the first two minutes of the film. The opening scenes (I'm not giving anything away here) show 1950s era bar raids-- police pushing hapless gay men into paddy wagons; the look of fear and resignation among the gays; and a wonderful moment when one angry queen throws a drink at the camera (go Sister!). Director Gus Van Sant from the very opening paints a picture of the tremendous gains we have made in queer organizing since that time, while also ironically noting that we are fighting many of the same battles of the 1970s. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it, and the movie is a remarkable reminder of what has often been forgotten by our gay movement.

It seems almost odd that this film could come out at this time. The ongoing battle against Proposition 8 so mirrors one of the major dramas of the film: Milk's spearheading the efforts against the infamous Briggs Initiative (Proposition 6), which sought to ban gay teachers and their allies. Watching all of the protest, marches, and advocacy was a very spooky deja vu for me. Perhaps the most telling example of this deja vu is a marvelous moment when Supervisor Tom Ammiano, playing himself (as a teacher who confronts Briggs), shouts "you're trying to take away my job!" But it is spooky to see that Ammiano's hair is gray, and that he has not been made up to look 20something. He is the adult version of himself transported by time machine back to the Briggs Demonstration. The more things change, the more they stay the same. It's bittersweet, almost, to see that the organizing against the Briggs Initiative succeeds-- it makes a critical viewer wonder what we are doing wrong nowadays.

Delightful moments include the wonderful portrayal of Cleve Jones (of AIDS Quilt fame) by Emile Hirsch. Hirsch brings out the sweet combination of Cleve's youthful bravado, ageism, and love for elders. When Milk first attempts to get Cleve to join in the gay liberation battle, Jones calls him "Old Man" and laughs in his face. But by the end, you can see the beautiful mentorship between Milk and Jones... and you can see the ways that Milk's lessons would live on in Jones' future organizing. It's all there.

Penn as Harvey Milk is really incredible. Milk protégée Anne Kronenberg reported many a double-take during the filming-- they just look so much alike! And Penn also brings out the wonderful paradoxes in Milk's behavior-- the flirtatiousness, the naiveté, the seriousness, the genius, and the bullying. And Penn plays Milk as I always had imagined him-- a mensch on a mission. There is such a sense of self-awareness and destiny. It's also possible from viewing Penn's performance to see what it means to be a leader-- the commitment that is required, the cost to relationships and family, and the charisma and charm that is required to generate a Tribe.

And to me the main story of the movie is the power of Tribe-building. Harvey does it with genius-- including all of the folks who, until the 1970s, had largely been outside political power networks. In the film, we see Milk's deft ability to build a coalition of progressive people-- gays, people of color, elders, union rank-and-file, youth, and others. Though he was a gay leader, he was far greater than that. As he says, he is there to lead "all the people".

The portrayal of the dramatic events leading up to Milk and Moscone's assassination is compelling and direct. I had hoped for a complex portrayal of Dan White (the assassin) by Josh Brolin, and I think he did a not bad job. We get a little picture into his life: the pressures, the conservative background, the police influence. In the end, the senseless assassinations seem unavoidable.

I've seem the documentary "Times of Harvey Milk" numerous times in my life, and there were moments when I felt transported back to that telling of the story. Both films are beautiful and different-- I recommend seeing the documentary before the movie to give you some background that isn't available in the feature. Notably, Van Sant omits the part of the story that occurs after Milk's assassination-- the trial and the dramatic White Night Riot. I was glad that my friend Micah had told me this ahead of time-- so I wasn't disappointed to miss the drama of police cars burning in the night. But I think Van Sant (and screenwriter Dustin Lance Black) were smart to omit the post-Milk trial and tribulation-- because really this story is focused on Harvey-- and when he is murdered, a new story begins.

AIDS at 30: Eric Rofes and Positively Thriving

by Alex Garner, via LGBT POV

“I’ll do it only if I can be funny.”

That was my response when Eric Rofes told me he was creating a play about HIV called, The Infection Monologues. This project was Eric’s first foray into writing for the stage, and true to form, he approached it with trademark determination.

Eric was an incredible force in the queer community and a booming voice in the gay men’s health movement. He was an expert on how gay men found ways to survive the epidemic, make sense of the new post-protease world and find ways to thrive culturally, politically and sexually. Eric saw this piece as a way to break new ground on conventional thinking about things like stigma, risk-taking and unprotected sex.

Read the rest.

Homophobia on World AIDS Day - Smithsonian Pulls AIDS Art Piece

Republicans and Catholic League president William Donahue have gotten the Smithsonian to take down a part of the museum's new queer exhibit Hide/Seek, claiming it is hate speech.

The video work A Fire in My Belly from NYC artist David Wojnarowicz, who died in 1992 from AIDS, featured ants crawling over Jesus Christ's body. It was, fittingly, supposed to represent the suffering of AIDS victims.

Rep. Jack Kingston called for the museums funds to be "looked into": "If they’ve got money to squander like this – of a crucifix being eaten by ants, of Ellen DeGeneres grabbing her breasts, men in chains, naked brothers kissing – then I think we should look at their budget."

Read more

Anal-Sex Inspired Art Riles Some Danes

via Copenhagen Post

It’s hard to believe that something like this can offend people in today’s Denmark.

Employees at Roskilde Town Hall are in uproar over a controversial picture showing two ‘Duplo’ figures having gay sex and want the work removed from the building.

According to news website lokalavisen.dk, administrators at the town hall have received at least three internal complaints over the piece by artist Svend Ahnstrøm, which depicts the characters Kurt and Anders smiling as they enjoy themselves in a public park.

Read the rest.

Who's That Queer [Jasper Johns]

Brought to you by Pistol Pete

Jasper Johns is a contemporary American artist best known for painting and printmaking and associated with the Pop Art and Neo-Dada movements.


Born in Augusta, Georgia, Jasper Johns grew up in Allendale, South Carolina. Johns studied at the University of South Carolina from 1947 to 1948. He then moved to New York City and studied briefly at Parsons School of Design in 1949. While in New York, Johns met Robert Rauschenberg, with whom he had a artistic and sexual relationship, as well as Merce Cunningham and John Cage. Working together they explored the contemporary art scene, and began developing their ideas on art. United by friendship and shared homosexuality they were to have a profound effect on the creative arts in 1950s New York - helping to define post-modernism.

Read the rest at Gay for Today.

Naked Alabaster Boys Can Jump

Ever since I graduated high school in 2008, I've been traveling throughout Asia...when times got tough, I had to move back to my hometown of Oklahoma City, OK. When I was there, I made the most out of situation by working with what I had...there isn't too much happening in Oklahoma, so I decided to add some life to it by getting naked and jumping. Being free and exploring every way possible. 

More.


Morgan Tepsic's Naked Stop-Motion Extravaganza! from Morgan Tepsic on Vimeo.

Who's That Queer [Tom of Finland]

Brought to you by Pistol Pete

Tom of Finland (born Touko Laaksonen in Kaarina, Finland) was a fetish artist notable for his stylised homoerotic art and his influence on late twentieth century gay culture.


Touko Laaksonen made his first erotic drawings in his youth, but none of them are known to exist; Laaksonen said that he had at first kept his drawings hidden, but then destroyed them 'at least by the time I went to serve the army'. His drawings were based on images of masculine Finnish laborers he had seen from an early age. Finland, however, soon became embroiled in the Winter War with the USSR, and then formally involved in World War 2, and Laaksonen was conscripted into the Finnish Army. He served as an anti-aircraft officer, holding the rank of a second lieutenant. He later attributed his fetishistic interest in uniformed men to encounters with men in army uniform at this time. After the war, Laaksonen returned to civilian life and worked in the advertising industry as a commercial graphic artist, continuing to create erotic drawings for his own pleasure on the side.



In 1956, Laaksonen submitted some of his homoerotic drawings to the influential American magazine Physique Pictorial for publication under the pseudonym Tom. The editor of the magazine changed the name to Tom of Finland.

Read the rest at Gay for Today.

The Big Sydney Strip

Source (more photos here)

About 5,200 naked people have embraced each other on the steps of Sydney's iconic Opera House (yesterday) for a photo shoot by Spencer Tunick.

Tunick, who is known for his nude group photos in public spaces, posed participants for more than an hour in a variety of positions Monday.

"It was difficult to get the straight participants to embrace the gay participants and vice versa," Tunick said. "So I was very happy that that last set up finally got done and everyone came together (in a) united, friendly kiss, a loving kiss in front of this great structure."

Nineteen-year-old student Art Rush said he was thrilled to participate.

"I'll never get a chance to do this again, it's not worth being inhibited," Rush said. "It doesn't feel sexual, it just feels tribal, a gathering of humanity."

Check out video on Reuters.

Who's That Queer [Klaus Nomi]

Brought to you by Pistol Pete

Klaus Nomi was a German countertenor noted for remarkable vocal performances and an unusual, elfin stage persona. Nomi is remembered for bizarrely theatrical live performances, heavy make-up, unusual costumes, and a highly stylised signature hairdo which flaunted a receding hairline. His songs were equally unusual, ranging from synthesiser-laden interpretations of classic opera to covers of 1960s pop standards like Chubby Checker's The Twist and Lou Christie's Lightning Strikes.
Read the rest at Gay for Today.

Fabulous Fela!

A couple of LifeLube minions were lucky enough to see Fela on Broadway this past weekend.The show, directed by Bill T. Jones,  explores Fela Anikulapo Kuti's controversial life as an artist, political activist and revolutionary musician in Nigeria as well as his pioneering blend of jazz, funk and traditional African rhythms that launched the Afrobeat community. LOVED IT. Ya gotta go if you have a chance. The show never mentions this - but Fela died from complications due to AIDS.

Below, rehearsal footage, plus a nice little promo for the show.

Remember Respond Resolve

This film was produced by GMHC for a ceremony at New York's Catherdral of St. John the Divine in 1991 to commemorate the 10 year anniversary of the AIDS health crisis. It was shown on a large screen during a service that included a speech by GMHC founder Larry Kramer and a musical performance by Leontyne Price.

That we love each other is all that matters.

Producer / Editor: Victor Mignatti
GMHC Producer: Elizabeth Wetherell Eynon
Music: Peitor Angell
Archival Footage from the GMHC archive: Jean Carlomusto, producer 

http://victormignatti.com

Tearoom on Swallow Street

Via Butt Magazine -



Thursday night if you’re in London, be sure to make your way to the aptly named Swallow Street gallery for the opening of Tearoom, an exhibition of found footage of men having sex with other men in a public restroom in a Mansfield, Ohio restroom in 1962. It was created by policemen eager to catch and prosecute gay men under the harsh Ohio sodomy laws. Police set up a two way mirror and filmed men having public sex. Many of these men went to jail for terms ranging from one to twelve years. This footage was discovered by the artist, filmmaker, and BUTT contributor William E. Jones, and was included in the BUTT video show we presented at the Tate Modern a few years back. Read the rest...

Capturing the Scene at the Belmont Rocks

via WBEZ Chicago Public Radio - and their wonderful Eight Forty-Eight show.

Doug Ischar came to town in the early '80s to study photography at Columbia College Chicago. Soon after arriving, he discovered the thriving gay scene in the area known as the “Belmont Rocks” in the Lakeview neighborhood. Fascinated by what he saw, Ischar decided to document the men and their beach, taking pictures nearly every day in the summers of '84 and '85.

Then the slides were simply packed away. Now nearly 25 years the photos are on display for the first time in an exhibition entitled Marginal Waters at GOLDEN, 816 W. Newport in Chicago.

Alison Cuddy toured the exhibition with Ischar.

Look at more pics. Listen to the story.

White Buffalo's Return to Emerald Island

by Tedd Kerr

All Hail to the Queen
The fags bash the bulbs to make the starts brighter

All peace to the Earth
As orbs of white light moat Emerald Island

2,000 years ago a young woman appeared in the shape of a white buffalo and gave a family a sacred pipe and made them guardians of the Black Hills. Before leaving, she prophesized that one day she would return to purify the world, bringing back spiritual balance and harmony. The birth of a white buffalo calf would be a sign that her return was at hand.

In 1994 a white buffalo was born in Wisconsin. In many communities there is an aboriginal renaissance occurring, a return to the land is manifesting.

In 1998 Dry Bones Breathe: Gay Men Creating Post AIDS Identities and Cultures was published. Writer Eric Rofes put forward the idea that the AIDS-As-Crisis-Model was long outdated and a new era of focusing on gay men’s wellness had arrived.

Its now 2009, 200and mine and I wander the urban Canadian terrain for white buffalo tracks and modern gay male culture.

A pull back-A pull forward,

A pull within-A look outside.

Dry Bones Breathe
Gay men break backs
First Nation women get ignored
The land heaves and sighs.

PAUSE.
I got my panties in a knot a few months ago when I started visiting gay guy social networking sites like MANHUNT and DUDESNUDE. At first I was just jealous of all the lovely bodies that will never be mine, that I will never have.

Here they all are,
stretched,
flexed
out
aching to be clicked,
hooked,
favorited,
chatted and
poked.
I found myself heavy and full with minor outrage.
THE GAUL- WHERE DO THESE GUYS GET OFF?

But then I got over myself and I meant it…

Where do these boys get off?
Where is public sex?

Do these dudes nude know that their flesh is for the viral masses (if so GREAT)

Or do websites create a sense of enclosed space so they think that they are in some version of inside?

I had up into that point never seen a cock just hanging out for all to see
so sexually,
so publicly,
so in the realm for of all.

But there one was, attached to a barista I kind of knew, but now knew better. Tomorrow when I order my coffee I wondered, Would I feel a new intimacy with him? I kept clicking- there was his cock rock hard, there was him smiling with his arm draped around a friend (did she know that she was on this website?), there was his cock again.

With every image I saw I was getting to now him better. I knew what his bedroom looked like, that he had gone to Paris (and taken a dirty photo in the Louvre’s washroom) and that he was uncut. Is this now how gay community is formed? Is this the new 70’s? (if so great [?])

Last summer I was accepted to do a video curatorial residency in which I would use the moving image to explore how sites like MANHUNT and DUDES NUDE were changing the sexual landscape for gay men.

I had it on my mind that in the face of AIDS, in the face of the internet sex had not only gone underground, it had gone post-ground and now cruising existed only in the ether.

I was wrong.

The beauty of me is my ability to be wrong, my ability as a vegetarian to eat bacon and crow.

Sitting after dark in Toronto’s Queen Park I befriended a man who had been cruising this park all his life. The year that Rock Hudson died of AIDS, he decided to come out. It has made him, if he does say so himself, an expert at giving blowjobs.

He tells me how he calls this park Emerald Island- cause it is- basically we are sitting in a large traffic circle in the middle of a city, permitered by trees, our feet thick in luscious grass and roots aching to come up.

Every few years he tells me the city tries to make the park less welcoming by taking down trees or adding more lights. He laughs and says it doesn’t matter- the fags just bash the bulbs to make the starts brighter.

Sitting there frustrated by the lack of play, the willy-nilly fear of men to man up and hook up we start talking. Darting hungry eyes shoot us dirty looks. “WHAT?” I say with my mouth and shoulder, its not like you are doing anything.

We watch for a while as the little guy who wants to be the big guy circles the big guy who wants to get with the little guy.

It is as boring as shit but counts for action tonight.

Finally against a tree, the big guy lets go (did I mention he is on roller blades), the little guy wins and a crowd gathers to watch, stare and play.

The beauty of dry bones breathing is tempered only by the fact that parks such as this still echo all that is hurt inside of gay bones.

Not only is this place a hunt for the great white cock, leaving brown, yellow red cocks dangling in the wind- there is no room for dudes without cocks or cocks without dudes.

Desires are still so repressed that getting laid under the stars, white buffalos winking from the road, is still a revolutionary act. And there is no room for openness, no room for further transgression. We have done our part by coming out they seem to say.

Before I ever went to cruising park I romanced the idea that in such places you fucked what was there. That beauty became relative and a bell curve of hotness was recreated every time someone came or left.

And this is true.
And this is not true.
Our culturally informed idea of beauty still permeates past the trees.
Old guys walk around with nary a wink,
Fat guys sit dejected, staying in the background instead of being rejected.

White buffalo breath revives dry bones.
But animals we are not.
But just spirits we are not.
But online profiles we are not.
But post-AIDS we are not.

Take off your shoes, your socks, your shirt and your pants.
Walk barefoot on the land. Naked.
Find a place to lie down in the grass.
Press your sex to the ground and feel the flex flux of 6 billion souls.
Get off
Get up
Keep going.

White buffalo breath revives dry bones.
Fucking strangers revives faith in humanity.
Being outside reminds you that you are human.

Take off your shoes, your socks, your shirt and your pants.
Walk barefoot on the land. Naked.
Find a place to lie down in the grass.
Press your sex to the ground and feel the flex flux of 6 billion souls.
Get off
Get up
Keep going.

Take off your shoes, your socks, your shirt and your pants.
Walk barefoot on the land. Naked.
Find a place to lie down in the grass.
Press your sex to the ground and feel the flex flux of 6 billion souls.
Get off
Get up
Keep going.

¿Cómo se cuida Guillermo Carrillo? How is Guillermo Carrillo healthy?

Tan grato como tener una buena actividad sexual, para mi el ir a mi estudio y poder crear una pintura es una de las mejores formas de estar plenamente feliz. El estar en frente de mi caballete y poder crear algo que perdurará por mucho tiempo me llena de muchas alegrias. Saber que lo que estoy creando y que alguna persona lo admirará, lo querrá o simplemente dirá algo de mi obra, me llena de inmensa paz y felicidad. Por eso creo que el estar con la persona que uno quiere y haciendo lo que más te guste es lo más sano y agradable que se pueda sentir en la vida.

Like good sex, for me going to my studio and being able to create a painting is one of my greatest pleasures. Sitting in front of my easel and creating a lasting work of art fills me with joy. Knowing that I am creating something that will be admired, coveted or simply talked about brings me great peace and happiness. For that reason I believe being with the one you love and doing what fulfills you is a surest path toward health and happiness.

-- Guillermo Carrillo
Chicago


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Joe Dallesandro in Interview

via Interview, by Glenn O'Brien

...Now Joe is the subject of Little Joe, a wonderful documentary produced by his adopted daughter, Vedra Mehagian Dallesandro, and directed by Nicole Haeusser, which tells Joe’s story, from juvenile delinquent to Warhol superstar to European action hunk to junkie to Hollywoodcharacter actor to charming grandpa living in Hollywood and available for the right part. The film, which was the surprise hit of the Berlin Film Festival, really captures Joe with all his low-key charm. He may have started out as a wild creature, but today Joe is a kind of casual philosopher who really gets it. Joe has often played the wise guy, but here he is a literal wise guy. Here’s a bit from a monologue toward the end of the film: “I think it was because I didn’t have major hang-ups about my body when I was young, and I was so casual about nudity onscreen, that people got caught up looking at the surface. I know what it means to be judged on appearances. I’m a lot smarter than I appear to be. People would tell me I was beautiful, but I never knew what to do with that information. It didn’t register.

I never really thought of myself as a good-looking man. I’m short, I’m stocky—I don’t know where good looks come in. I know beauty when I see it. All I can say is that I had a few good photographs taken where I look better than I do in real life. Beauty is fun. It has a place. But don’t mistake it for self-worth. If you have to be beautiful, do beautiful things for someone other than yourself.”

Read the interview.

A Transgender Childhood, by Tina Antolini - AUDIO

Growing up isn't easy - when you feel as if your mind is one gender, and your body another.

A Transgender Childhood, by Tina Antolini from Third Coast Festival on Vimeo.

More Queer Polaroids

Courtesy of Ted Kerr and his "One on One" project.

www.tedkerr.org

[we will feature more of these wonderful polaroids over the coming weeks - thanks ted! see the first installment.]

Polaroid Moments Reveal Queerness is Alive and Well

[LifeLube met the wonderful Ted Kerr from Edmonton Alberta at the 2009 National LGBTI Health Summit - and he shared some of his amazing work with us ....]

One on One started off as an attempt to queer and comment on the commodification of the gay male body but then evolved into something better—frank conversation between queer men about our bodies and what we do with them.

It almost always happened the same way; the guy would come over, we would both be nervous, I would be unbrave in asking them what I wanted for the photo and they would be unsure about how far they were willing to go. As we began talking both of us would loosen up and soon trust was born, truths were flying, pants were dropping and Polaroids were developing.

For me it is interesting how Polaroids have always been a way that queer dudes could make their own porn - and at the same time as the future of Polaroid was most unstable, so too in-the-face of perceived homo-normalization, was the idea of queerness. While doing One on One I learned that there are many attempts to save the continuation of Polaroid film, and that queerness is alive and well.

www.tedkerr.org

[we will feature more of these wonderful polaroids over the coming weeks - thanks ted!]

Who's that Queer?

Brought to you by Pistol Pete

Keith Haring was born May 4, 1958 in Reading, Pennsylvania, and was raised in the nearby town of Kutztown. At an early age, Haring developed a love for drawing, and was influenced by his father’s cartoonist skills and the popular culture images created by Dr. Seuss and Walt Disney.


In 1978, Haring had his first solo exhibition and later in the same year, moved to New York City where he enrolled in the School of Visual Arts (SVA). Haring was introduced to a community of artists that was developing in the city streets and subway stations. During this time, Haring became increasingly influenced by graffiti art and immersed himself among other musicians, performance artists, and graffiti writers including Jean-Michel Basquiat.

As a student at SVA , Haring experimented with a variety of mediums and tied his hand at performance, video, and installation art while always maintaining a commitment to drawing. Between 1980 and 1985, Haring utilized the unused advertising panels that lined the walls of the New York City subway stations. These panels, covered in black paper offered Haring a forum to reach a wider audience. Haring referred to the subway stations as his “laboratory”, where he would create as many as 40 paintings in a single day.


In April 1986, Haring opened the Pop Shop, a retail store in Soho selling T-shirts, toys, posters, buttons and magnets bearing his images. The shop was intended to allow people greater access to his work, which was now readily available on products at a low cost. The shop received criticism from many in the art world, however Haring remained committed to his desire to make his artwork available to as wide an audience as possible, and received strong support for his project from friends, fans and mentors including Andy Warhol.

Throughout his career, Haring produced more than 50 public artworks between 1982 and 1989, in dozens of cities around the world, many of which were created for charities, hospitals, children’s day care centers and orphanages. By then, his work had begun to reflect more socio-political themes, such as anti-Apartheid, AIDS awareness, and the crack cocaine epidemic.

Haring was diagnosed with AIDS in 1988. Soon after, he established the Keith Haring Foundation, its mandate being to provide funding and imagery to AIDS organizations and children’s programs, and to expand the audience for Haring’s work through exhibitions, publications and the licensing of his images. Haring enlisted his imagery during the last years of his life to speak about his own illness and generate activism and awareness about AIDS.


In June 1989, on the rear wall of the convent of the Church of Sant'Antonio in Pisa, he painted the last public work of his life, the mural "Tuttomondo." Haring died in 1990 of AIDS- related complications. During a brief but intense career that spanned the 1980s, Haring was able to attract a wide audience and assure the accessibility and staying power of his imagery, which has become a universally recognized visual language of the 20th century.

Sources: Wikipedia, www.haring.com