Xmas Thyme In LA

I'm here for a week total, today I'm just over the hump and it's Christmas Eve. The first sock in a pair I'm knitting for my Mom is only 3/4 done so she's getting a wrapped up IOU for the second. Oops, I had no idea how long socks would take to knit since this is my first pair, and despite the labor intensity it won't be my last. So rewarding, so wintry!



On Tuesday I got it in my head that taking a bus from deep San Fernando Valley to anywhere would be a good idea so I made plans to go the Hammer museum in Westwood to see the show of my Fall semester's video teacher, Desiree Holman. First, for some potentially perfectly good reason unbeknownst to me-I'm sure, the first bus that came just passed me by, I tried not to take it personally. The second bus drove me 1/4 of a mile down the street to the next stop and made me exit the bus while he went across the street and used the TGI Friday's bathroom then came and sat back on the bus looking pissed and angsty while I stood out in the cold trying to stay excited about my LA bus trip! Yay! Well 2.5 hours, 2.5 podcasts, 2 transfers later I finally arrived in Westwood. Really, yay! The show was great, as was R.Crumb's Book of Genesis, and a giant exhibition of Charles Burchfield's beautiful and sometimes blank note card-looking paintings.



I spent way too little time at the museum in relation to my transit time, but fuck it. I was done. I hopped back on the bus to see KB in Echo Park and along the way I saw a festive Xmas motorcycle man with his big, white, slightly terrified dog half lounging across his lap and half slung over the body of the bike. Oh, LA! It could almost be Berkeley but with different ideals and a slightly more polished aesthetic. I love you, sprawling land of my birth. Here's the picture:



KB and I had a lovely night out, starting with brown rice and vegetables-like a couple a good Showgirls. Then off to La Plaza for Byron's performance event Tranza, a benefit for Angels of Change, a transgender youth harm reduction and health clinic part of Children's Hospital Los Angeles. I could not easily find a link to more info, so dear readers you're on your own. KB bought me one of their lovely fundraising calendar to enjoy a full 12 months worth of glamor and transgenderosity, and got the couple of girls that were present to autograph it for me. KB and I played a pathetic (on my part) match of Ms. Pac Man, drank some dranks then left to eat more. In-N-Out this time, what a Showgirl eats after a rough day. We went back to her place watched some cable (yep, it's still there) and I fell asleep in the solarium among the swaying tree tops.

Original Plumbing interview

(click above to read)
Did I forget to mention that I interviewed Greg for the inaugural issue of Original Plumbing, "the premier magazine dedicated to the sexuality and culture of FTM trans guys" which came out this Fall?!

Well, I was contacted by the admin of a French website dedicated to trans men/FTMs attracted to men and the men who want 'em, and he asked to translate the interview into French! How wonderful is that?! Check it out here and tell all your Francophone friends!

P.S.
Look out for me saying and doing inappropriate things in the second issue of OP, I get a whole feature and photo spread!

A new installment of "Falling In Love...with Chris and Greg"

This is the video Greg and I showed at K'vetsh's 13th Anniversary this past Sunday at Eros gay man bath house. We made it the night before at the Santa Cruz Travelodge. I'd like to have reported that it was a wild success and that everyone laughed their brains out, but no. It was kind of a failure. The sound was terrible and no one got the jokes, we left feeling unfunny and totally deflated. We spent the rest of the night wondering what went wrong only to find that the camera's sound input was so low it picked up more ambient noise than our lines. I'm not good at failing, I want everything I do to be perfect and celebrated! So, the first half of my week was spent coming to terms with failure and forcing myself to suck it up and learn from it. Failure is good, you learn more from 1 failure than 5 successes, it builds character, failure is a feminist practice, practice more failure, etc. Well, now it's Friday and I'm happy to report I did come to terms with it and feel much better. It also helps that Greg spent all yesterday fixing the video's problems using various Final Cut audio filters and it's finally up on youtube!

So, behold the fruits of our failure and labor. Hope you like it.

Norman McLaren's Nu Shooz

What the hell am I doing in art school, because let me tell you: It's already been done! And, Nu Shooz did it! In the 80s! Or rather, who ever made Nu Shooz'a videos in the 80s did it! Whoa.

(please feel free to take note of the type of masculinity that earns the singer's affection in the end, which as some may have been able to tell has been a model for my recent look)


All of these videos employ pixilation, a stop-motion animation technique which uses both animate objects-like people and inanimate objects-like Jelly shoes! Check out the 1950s Norman McLaren films below, which are both pixilated (not to be confused with pixElated) and gay (with a misogynist moment thrown in to keep it real)!

Guess who's playing Folsom Street Fair today?

Please take note of my shout out in the above video. HAAAY!

Ssion

Fat Face goes to a Buffet

Jenna Riot's "Won't You"

BONUS: Adorable video performance and interview with Ice Cream Socialites
Jenna and Rocco, all over SF and at famous Alemany Flea Market, 2007.

"Queer Puberty" program

at Homo-a Go Go, $5
Sunday, August 16, 3:00 PM

Artist Television Access
992 Valencia St
San Francisco, CA 94110-2322

A humorous foray into nostalgic fantasies of body ambivalence. These films and videos explore the mythic, perpetual adolescence of queers. They invite all of us to lock the bathroom door and take a full-length look at our awkward, sexy bodies…forever. Featuring work by Barbara Hammer, Charles Lum, Michael Lucid, K8 Hardy, Zackary Drucker & Rhys Ernst, Chris Vargas & Greg Youmans, Samara Halperin, Shana Moulton, Jen Smith, and maybe more! Programmed by: Jen Smith, Chris Vargas, and Greg Youmans

Websites & Anxiety

This is what I did all summer in my Berkeley City College web design class!

Falling In Love... with Chris and Greg [dot] com

&

Chris E. Vargas [dot] com

Today is my last day and I'm quite emotional about it. I've really been enjoying my 7 mile (roundtrip) bike ride to downtown Berkeley, with an occasional re-route on the way home to the Ashby Garden, 3 days a week for the past 6 weeks. The structure it gave me was much needed and it really made me nostalgic for my community college roots (big ups to LA Valley & City colleges). It also made me feel more or less nervous about UC Berkeley's Fall semester starting and entering the university system once again. I know academia can provide me with the most stability out of any of my career options at this point, but I can't help but be nervous about the (relatively minor) debt it may cause me. But, the last thing I want to talk about is anything related to "in this economy" because I have been in quite a cushy 9 month paid vacation thanks to Uncle Sam and his EDD program. But still, these times of transition aren't any easier or less anxiety-inducing when you can't even sell your old furniture on craigslist to make a quick buck.

P.S. I broke it off with my therapist, thanks for listening.

Sea Horse cruising

How adorkable are these BART ads for the Sea Horse exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium?

Because the Movement has been hyjacked...

by professional activist-types dictating what our "issues" should be, while exhausting our community resources to sustain salaried positions at our ineffectual non-profit organizations.

Is marriage really the end-all in gaining all sorts of necessary life-sustaining services? Are marriage benefits worth sloughing off 40 years of designing our own family and relationships, not modeling them after hetero-life? Do we really want to join an imperialist military intent on dominating and oppressing the whole world population? Does my Mom even think that marriage is an institution that needs to be respected and upheld? The answer is no to all of these.

But about the Center and its tenants, have you ever hung out there? Were you ever allowed to use the bathroom without having to buy something at "3$ bill Cafe" (which isn't even there anymore)? Is smoking such an issue in the community that it warrants 3 different organizations, while representing no HIV/AIDS, or crystal meth health services? Can it even be called a "community center?" Answer again, no!



From the Gay Shame SF website (click on link for better explanation of this action):

"This will be a high-concept anachronistic interpretive dance-off to determine the fate of radical queer politics!

DE-CENTER THE CENTER!!

WHERE: The San Francisco LGBT Center, 1800 Market Street
WHEN: Thursday June 25, 2009 – 6 PM SHARP!
WHAT: De-Center The Center, Reverse Polarity
WHY: REVERSE THE POLARITY, GIRL!

FREE FOOD!
BUILD DIRECT ACTION ACTIVIST NETWORKS OUTSIDE OF NON-PROFITS!
AND MUCH MUCH MORE!"

Coke and Poke

Introducing Graham and Diane. Raunchy ventriloquism by the hilarious Lex Vaughn, Here are a few of my faves...




And the best for last...

For more, check out this short Q&A with Lex about Graham.

An Intimate Morning...with Vaginal Davis

some Decoupage TV

some Fertile Latoya Jackson, in "That Fertile Feeling"


and Cholita! with Alice Bag from early LA punk fame "The Bags." See her website for some good archived LA punk.

another Justin Kelly music video

He has got quite the selection of big novelty props!

"Teardrops On My Telephone" by Hunx and his Punx

MEN

music video by Leidy McIlvaine Churchman

live in Malmö, Sveden

D-A-N-N-Y

directed by Justin Kelly, and so so sexy.

Buffy Sainte-Marie morning

"Little Wheel Spin and Spin" on someone's TV

With Pete Seeger


"Cripple Creek" with Fred the Wonder Horse

Midnight Nina

Nina and Langston

Faggoty Attention

A music video by Francis Legge, the talent behind "I Seen Beyonce at Burger King"

"won't ask, won't tell, promise you won't go to hell"

FYI

photo taken on Pacific Avenue in Santa Cruz, California

Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism

I just uploaded to Youtube the pared-down footage I shot at the QUIT! demo in January of this year. The protest took place in the Castro, and as you can see in the video was met by passionate Zionist counter-protestors. The video is maybe too long, and it took me all of 4 months to get around to doing it, but here you have it. I am now nervously awaiting the inevitable horrendous debate that will take place in the video page's comment section.

SFAI

Let this video, although cheesy at times, shed some light on the firing of tenured professors as well as the salary disparities between them and the administrators at the San Francisco Art Institute. Startling.

Meet Me At The Center of the Earth

I took a trip to free day at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA, if you're nasty) to see Nick Cave's Soundsuits! Wowzers! Never have I seen such a comprehensive collection of textures historically associated with queerness in one place at the same time! Mylar, sequins, beads, doilies, buttons, crocheted rounds, Gods eyes, quilts, thrifted sweaters, psychedelic grandma afghans all fashioned into sculptural costumes for humans reminiscent of Leigh Bowery. Not only that, it was even Bear and Beaver inclusive! See below, my slyly shot picture taken from the second level of the museum as the security guy's back is turned.

Along with the costumes, the show features 8 Las Vegas thrift stores worth of sequin appliqué draq queen blouses and gowns repurposed into giant sphere and circle shapes, suspended among and flanking the walls of the exhibition space. In relation to the 20 or so costumes, the appliqué circles don't receive the adequate attention they deserve, but these pieces alone would give Leslie Hall's Gem Sweater Museum a run for its money.

After the Soundsuits, I wandered into the "Under A Full Moon: 30 Years of Perpetual Indulgence" show in the YBCA's Room For Big Ideas. That show runs concurrently with the more historical-artifact oriented exhibit at the SF Public Library, which is also more-or-less interesting (may as well see it. it's free, but soon cuz it runs 'til May 7th).

Speaking of free, after YBCA I walzed on over to the Museum of Craft and Folk Art (where every Tuesday is free!) to see the "Inside/Outside: Artist Environments" show, which mostly consists of pictures and text about some of California's quirky "outsider" art houses/spaces, their creators, and their varying states of non/existence. I have to admit I am a sucker for this type of art and always imagined that I'd live in a house, of my own creation, mosaic-ed in bottle caps, broken mirrors, and Li'l Homies figurines. I already have a pretty impressive collection of the later.

Cute that Lindsay has a sense of humor

Lindsay Lohan's eHarmony Profile from Lindsay Lohan

Happy May Day!!

Pictures from the march and rally in San Francisco.

Craft Talk

"Work through the pain, work through the pain." The latest gem sweater inspired video by original Youtube sensation Leslie Hall.

Paper Rad

Problem Solvers Episode #1211: "Give Pizza A Chance"
Trolls, psychedelia, pizza, and a message of peace...


Also, the SF Bay Guardian's issue on video art, with links. And an interview with Jacob Ciocci of Paper Rad.

Campari ad

A tip from Jason...

MEN's "Off Our Backs"

music video by K8 Hardy.


Also, go hear MEN's "Credit Card Babie$ on their Myspace page, and listen for a special shout-out to yours truly.

Butterflies by Nicky Click

A video featuring the 2 cutest tranny pop sensations! And all shot in one of my favorite settings in the whole world, a hotel room.

Who has HBO?

I need to hang out with you on April 18th, at 8pm! Also, because of the new obscenely huge Grey Gardens billboards all across LA me and my 16 (going on 17) year old friend/niece, Becky are unable to immediately rent the original 1975 doc from any of the good local gay video stores! Damn it, another reason why Netflix does and doesn't work!! BTW, those billboards will have the unsavvy believe it's a heart-warming, cross-generational, sentimental friend flick. Good thing I was there to undo that kind of poor marketing for Beck. She might have otherwise missed a pretty great example of whiteness breaking down.

See below 1. one of the original Grey Gardens trailers 2. the new HBO trailer (starring Drew "Baby-talk" Barrymore and Jessica Lange) and 3. a relevant tip (from Onya and Courtney)...

Usher's Love In This Club

Performed by Rock-afire Explosion on the Showbiz Pizza stage!
A trailer for The Rock-afire Explosion, a documentary about this project, :

Lesbians on Ecstacy, "Sisters In The Struggle"

Video by K8 Hardy.

Mirror Mirror’s video for “Eugene”

more Peggy!

Another installment of Jen Smith's Peggy adventures!

Guy Ben Ner's Moby Dick

Gay Zombie

Everyone loves the gay/horror spoof genre!

Kittens Inspired by Kittens

"I'm her mom..."
"Nooo, she's not."

"Predator" by Petros

"...never been kissed but your boyfriend's 30"?

"Cruising" Hunx and His Punx

A music video for the song "Cruising" by Hunx and his Punx (dir. Justin Kelly), inspired by the controversial movie of the same name, co-starring local video ho-fessional, Jason Fritz Michael! Yay!

Julio - vous les femmes

Sweet video with a strange punch line.

more Azis "Tochno sega"

The drugged out leopard concerns me, but the sequin visor (an accessory I have historically hated) is working!

Azis "Balkan's Bears"

Ok. I'm just warning you. This video contains alot of cutters and greazzzzed up (and I'm talking GREAZED up) muscle bears. All in all, it's is off the chain, and possibly my new favorite Gay Video-A-Day videos.

JIC your world was so rocked, here's some more info on Azis: Click me!

Goldfrapp's "Fly Me Away"

At Courtney's suggestion...

Kendall "Hip Hop Dykes"

A tip from Michael Hyde!

"quick boyfriend clip"

I'm sifting through lots of FTM vlogs at the moment trying to find something worth posting. This is a cute and painless one I unearthed from the mounds and mounds of earnest (yet charming) transition vlogs. Check out the rich teeth on blondie.

Buck Angel interviews

1996 FTM doc

(Wolfy Lovejuice!)

Prayers for Bobby

A trailer for Lifetime's "Red Carpet Event," Prayers For Bobby. The real true-to-life(time) story of the great LGBT crusader Mary Griffith (never mind the son she killed) who is moved to speak against Bible-inspired homophobia after the suicide of her son. This would fall under one of Greg's favorite genres, parents bravely coming to terms with their child's gayness, or AIDSness. Sometimes both at the same time. Either way, the message is that it is way harder on the parents that their little queer may possibly die due to gay-related events, be it disease or violence.

This little gem stars Sigourney Weaver who, legend has it, was so tall and gawky and therefore perpetually type-cast at her Ivy League acting school that classmate Meryl Streep, who received all the female leads, was so guilt-ridden it drove her to therapy. Weird anecdote included in the Advocate article/interview about Sigourney and this movie. Don't know why I felt the need to include it here, but thanks for reading anyway.

Read a hilarious projected synopsis here, a blog friend-of-a-real life friend's entry, you know how it goes!

U don't bring me flowers

Lucas Michael! an LA friend.

Morty Diamond's "Tranny Ruminations"

"Mormon Erotica"

A Mormosexual tribute.

My brief gay music time travel

"Crazy In Love" (bad video, great sound and song!)

"River of Sorrow" sung by Marc Almond

A Bronski Beat-Marc Almond medley
(a real treat!)

Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy"
(A classic!)

Tribute to Leigh Bowery

Happy Birthday to me!

Gay Baking, The Wrong Way

I'm posting these two videos because 1. yesterday Eric Stanley said my hair looked like William Sledd, and I think he's right and 2. because I've been baking today, too! The right way, as in not from out of a box. "The Best" Pumpkin muffins (vegan), to be more specific. And 3. because in my day I have helped make a wedding cake and this is not how you do it. The second video offends me actually. Watch it, you'll see. Below the videos is a picture of the respectable cake I was involved in making during my trip to Hawai'i last year.

Tomorrow is my 29th birthday (give or take a year) and I am hosting a lovely bruncheon picnic by a lake (that shall remain nameless, lest the paparazzi show up) here in Oakland. My Mom sent me an obnoxious musical card with a check and note that said "Buy yourself something pretty." Why, isn't she funny! And my grandma re-gifted me a Starbucks coffee card. Cheapskate. Kidding! Thanks, Nan!

The Gay Pimp "Lookin Cute, Feelin Cute"

Deven Green's "Welcome To My Evil Twin"

Sex Crazy Cop

Another post for Kenny KY who, in response to my inquiry about what he thought should be done about Johannes Mehserle, the officer 'involved' in the shooting of Oscar Grant on the Fruitvale BART platform, answered "disolve the whole police force and we'll call it even."

2 for 1 Monday

"nononononononononononono there's no limit!"

"Beaver Drive"

SF Queers Protest the Israeli Assault on Gaza

Behold! Some photos I took on Saturday at the demo on Castro and Market, sponsored by QUIT! Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism. It was a really great turn out, and the pro-Israeli counter demonstrators across the street offered a bit of terror and drama to the afternoon. Little did they know their claim that "Hamas wouldn't have voted No on 8!" couldn't have fallen on less convinced ears. The SF contingent of the No Pants Subway Ride also made a shocking appearance.

"Whispering Pines"

Back to Gay Video-A-Day mix tape!

Here are 2 music videos from LA art stars Los Super Elegantes "Nothing Really Matter" and "Dance."



...and a link to a post on my friend Sarah Beane's blog. She reports from Syria about the Gaza situation, the post is titled All Our Love For Gaza.

Also a couple calls:

Stop the U.S./Israeli War on Palestine!
Let Gaza Live!

Saturday, January 10 National Day of Emergency Mass Action

Mass March in San Francisco
Gather at 11am at Civic Center Plaza, Larkin and Grove Sts., Civic Center BART


QUEERS PROTEST THE ISRAELI ASSAULT ON GAZA
"Queers of the Plaza"
Saturday, January 10, 2008
3:00-4:00 p.m.
Harvey Milk Plaza (Castro & Market)
As progressive queers we won't buy into the hype that Israel is the "only democracy" in the Middle East, where queers can live freely. We say that queer liberation requires human liberation, and we join with all oppressed people and people of conscience to demand an immediate end to the siege of Gaza which makes life impossible for queer and straight people.
PLEASE JOIN US!
sponsored by QUIT! Queers Undermining Israeli Terrorism (www.quitpalestine.org)

I interupt my Gay Video-A-Day...

to bring your attention to Oakland and the protests around the "police involved" execution of Oscar Grant on the Fruitvale BART transit platform. The numbers of people who showed up in response were huge (I hear) and the helicopters late into the night were many. I saw them hovering while I was huffing and puffing away on the downtown Oakland YMCA treadmill. Check out the above link to Indybay to read and see more.

trailer for "The Lollipop Generation"

A 90's classic by GB Jones, starring our very own Jenjen Smith.

I Seen Beyonce At Burger King

Cazwell with Johnny Make-up (this post is for Kentaro)

"Gimmie Gimmie Back Your Love"

Dreams

I-BE AREA (Red Jamie and RAmada Omar)

A Ryan Trecartin video with Raul!

Music video for Katastrophe's "Big Deal"

Happy New Year!

First piece in my 2009 Gay Video-A-Day mix tape is "Endess Love" lip sung by Tara Mateik as the Tin Man to a paper-doll Diana Ross