Michael's Musings

What's On My Mind?
Michael Shinafelt

I am on "Real Housewife" overload this morning. "Yes" minions I have a standing date with my friend Naama every Wednesday eve she comes over to my pad and we watch The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills that I DVR'd from the night before, then we watch The Real Housewives of New York in real time.

Always one of the highlights of my week as we have a total blast commenting, reacting not to mention interacting with the shows. For the record we both prefer NY over BH, yet enjoy them both, in case you cared.

"I used to love Bethenny (of RHONY) before I went to therapy" - Naama Kates

Project Runway with Karlie Kloss and Christian Siriano - No thanks, I'll pass. Anyone know why Heidi Klum & Tim Gunn are out?

Today's Secret Word is:  Clambake 

Hey Girl, Hey!

Get your waffle, we gotta go...

Who the F#ck quotes Tyler Perry?!?!

Tell me about your bizarro 8-track tape obsession

Need help attending college? Contact thew firm of Huffman & Loughlin

Teddi confesses her wrong doing in Erika's home chapel on RHOBH - nothing staged about that, Ha!

You are a saint, yes you are

Just Because...Oink!

Whore, that is all 

My bottom hurts just thinking about it

Don't make stick your new face in the caviar, follow me at:
https://www.instagram.com/michaelshinafelt/?hl=en
https://twitter.com/MShinafelt  

Two Of A Kind

Bravo!
Heidi Klum & Tim Gunn

When in New York do what New Yorker's do - strut. That's exactly what fashionistas Heidi Klum & Tim Gunn from Project Runway were spotted doing recently on the streets of the Big Apple. 

Seeing can be deceiving. What appears to be a friendly stroll, I'm willing to bet is pretty much business as usual, because production of Season 17 of Project Runway is underway. 

Oh, and there's more. It's getting back to it's roots and airing on the network it was made for to begin with Bravo. "Yes" Andy Cohen is wetting himself as we engage via the WWW.

While I am sure Heidi & Tim adore each other, let's face it, outside of their famed juggernaut they have quite separate lives. Thus what could bring them together for so much quality time? Common ground.

The latest season on the catwalk is set to air in 2019, now that it's back where it should be I will have to start watching again. Yeah, I didn't get the whole Lifetime vibe, sorry, not sorry.

Project Runway on Bravo at:
http://www.bravotv.com/project-runway 

Michael's Musings

Love A Man In Uniform?
Michael Shinafelt

Yes, it's that random day of the week I get to bridle you in and make you submit. Who's Your Daddy? If you said Michael Shinafelt, welcome. Other answers will be considered a very naughty mistake and you know what that means...

So with my thoughts and impressions from the last time I posted this, until now, here I go, and there is nothing you can do about it!

Special thanks to Vika Zal for getting me into the invite only screening at the Irish Film Festival in Los Angeles of "Handsome Devil." A wonderful coming of age gay themed film. See it if you get a chance.

To Naama Kates my lovely date for the evening: Tayin' in the Santa Ana Wins...

OK, as you all know Entertain Me endorses Hillary Clinton. Here is one beef I have about her supporters who aren't me. You bag on Trump for his instigating of hate and then turn around and post on social media that anyone who doesn't support Hillary can stop following you, remove themselves from your friends list etc. Food for thought.

Missing someone's spunk, is that a thing?

I was unable to attend Folsom in San Francisco this year. Thanks to the world wide web felt like I didn't miss a thing. 

Ever Notice Donald Trump and Heat Miser are never in the same room?

"Cheers to our hairless vaginas" - shit Gwyneth Paltrow says

Scream Queens is back for a second season. I really don't want to extrapolate.

Oh ye of little hype. Today I just realized by flipping channels that Project Runway is already two weeks into it's 15th season.

There's someone for everyone. Yes, really.

Enjoy your "Hump Day" I know I plan to ; )

Follow me on Twitter at:
https://twitter.com/MShinafelt  

Do It Clean With Jack Mackenroth

Jack Mackenroth Does It Clean

"I've got a handful of this, What do I do with it
I've got a barrel of this, What do I do with it 
I do it clean" - "Do It Clean" Echo & The Bunnymen

Project Runway star and HIV activist, Jack Mackenroth is her to help you clean up your act!

His latest campaign in the fight against HIV stigma is "The HIV Shower Selfie Challenge" with hashtag #weareALLclean bit.ly/CUREAIDS and it’s going viral and has already been translated into 7 different languages and counting.

It's a sexy, selfie crusade of sorts. You contribute an image of yourself in the shower or bath—and hopefully donating to an amazing cause.

So grab your bar of soap and let's be clean and show that we are all equal regardless of our HIV status!!

MS: You've had HIV for a long time; at what age did you contract it?

JM: I was diagnosed when I was twenty-one, but my sero-conversion happened when I was nineteen or twenty. I've had it my whole adult life.

MS: Does the length of time you've had it inform the way you present yourself as an activist to people? It's not flippant in any way, but you have a sense of humor, also your videos are very friendly and accessible.

JM: Yeah, I've been through enough of shaming and discrimination, all of that BS. Negativity doesn't really work and certainly doesn’t make people feel good. Critics have gotten on my case saying: You're trying to glamorize HIV, or that I’m not taking it seriously enough. Well you know what? I know my truth and fear-based education does not work. What do you tell these kids today? I'm like, listen, you don't want it, above all protect yourself, but try not to live in shame and denial if you do become HIV positive. For EVERYONE the priority is to get educated and get tested because now we have PrEP, which is a great tool against HIV. There is also PEP (like the morning after pill for HIV if you think you have been exposed in the last 48 hours. There's tons of promising information out there, but if were not talking about HIV and the stigma, fear and discrimination are going to keep people from not doing what they need to do to keep themselves and the community healthy. 

There are a lot of HIV positive people who reach out to me that are freaking out and I always tell them "You're probably going to be fine, just go to the doctor and get on a treatment that works for you." If you catch HIV early and you take your medication like you are supposed to, statistically you prognosis is excellent. The other good news is we now know that if you do take your meds and your viral load is undetectable, or you are virally suppressed, that you are also not contagious.  

                                                           "You've Got This"

MS: Early detection and taking your medication is important. If you do both everything will be fine.

JM: Well I credit my long-term survival to luck and intuition and taking early action. I come from a medical family. My dad was a doctor and my mom was a nurse and we always had a pill for every malady. When I was first diagnosed there was only AZT, which was fairly toxic for many people, but I liked the feeling and empowerment of taking something that might work. Back then a lot of people were waiting and not taking the meds available because they thought they were poison - the doctors recommended that you wait until your T-cells fell below 250 and then you would go on the meds. They now know in retrospect that was a bad idea. When your immune system is that depleted it’s very difficult to rebound. Where as if you catch it quickly and go on effective medication you can expect to live a normal life span.

MS: What your doing is great; it really is designed to make people feel comfortable.

JM: Thanks I appreciate that. I think the HIV community gets enough negative messaging from others. We here things like "Shame on you. You should know better. How can you get HIV at your age? Use a condom!” and I think, "Fuck you!" We haven't done anything you probably haven’t done. I’d like to shake the hand of someone who has used a condom EVERY SINGLE TIME they had ANY kind of sexual contact. Keep your stones to yourself. 

MS: There seems to be less of a stigma than there used to be.

JM: I disagree. In some communities/areas I think that may be true, But HIV stigma is alive and well. Often it depends on where you live and whom you are around. It’s very easy to live with HIV in secrecy now. Only visibility changes public opinion. I could never keep it in. It felt like I was in the closet all over again. That's just not me I'm horrible at keeping a personal secret anyway. So I went big and told everyone on national TV when I did it on Project Runway. (laughs) Now I don’t ever have to have that awkward conversation ever again. 

#weareALLclean

MS: So talk about your current project The HIV Shower Selfie Challenge.

JM: I literally just launched Monday - that's why I said OMG I need a break and called you. I'm working with this gay social media app called MOOVZ and they're very big in Asia and Latin America. It's sort of like Twitter meets Facebook though I'm not very good at it yet. It’s fairly new in the US but growing quickly. Their corporate offices are six hours ahead of me, and the other promoter involved is a model actor and singer, Chris Salvatore. He lives in Los Angeles so he is three hours ahead of me, so putting this all together is challenging. A bit of a cluster fuck. Please don’t print that!  (laughs). 

MS: Yeah I know about those cluster fuck type things. (laughs)

JM: So I had this idea, I thought: why isn't there an ALS ice bucket challenge for HIV? There should be. I've worked in non-profits and HIV activism for a long time and have done different fundraisers; it's really hard to raise money for HIV/AIDS now because nobody sees the urgency anymore. People are not getting sick like they used to and unfortunately that is what really motivated people in the 80s and 90s. I decided to figure out an HIV challenge that was media savvy and celebrities would be like: Another excuse for KK to show her ass, and would possibly have the legs to catch on. I posted my photo at noon on Monday and it's blown up already, my twitter feed is exploding! Queerty, Instinct Magazine, The Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, FrontiersLA, Towleroad, PinkNewsUK, TheBody.com have all covered it. That's in the first 48 hours so I am hoping that's a good sign. 

MS: Taking a shower selfie and using it to fund a cure for HIV is a fun idea! I saw some negative comments already on Queerty about using sex to raise money. Fuck that, there is nothing wrong with it, it sells and it works.

JM: Queerty is notorious for their negative commenters. I don't listen to the negativity unless it is really a constructive suggestion. I just keep trying to out good work. I always wonder what the haters are doing to help their community. Very little I suspect. Unless you are a sex addict and it becomes a problem in your life, having sex is healthy. We all know sex sells. Why not leverage it for a good cause?

MS: Where is the money going that you raise from the HIV Shower Selfie Challenge?

JM: Right now the beneficiary is Housing Works—a New York based agency that combats HIV/AIDS and homelessness but has global influence. I approached—and am still working on getting some larger, global organizations involved, which I think would help the campaign a lot.

So far the fundraising call to action has not really taken off. There are now over 2000 #weareALLclean  shower selfies online but less than one percent of those people have actually donated money. And I want to reiterate that 100% of the proceeds go to charity. A commenter on Queerty implied that some of the money was going to line my pockets. That’s insulting and ludicrous. The money goes directly to non-profits. I don’t see a penny. That’s not what this is about. If I wanted to get rich I wouldn’t be working in HIV activism. It’s not a lucrative field. 

Regardless if you are male or female, young or old, straight or LGBTQ—please join Jack and thousands of others from around the world and be one of the first to take the HIV Shower Selfie Challenge. And if you don't want to soap up in the shower you can always just donate to show support. I did!


Find out how to participate or donate at the link below:

bit.ly/CUREAIDS

Find out more about Jack at: http://www.jackmackenroth.com/

Heidi Klum Is "In" For Halloween

Model/Personality & Resident Dominatrix of Project Runway, Heidi Klum not only knows what works in the world of fashion but also knows how to "make it work" when it comes to Halloween.

Thus in honor of it being Project Runway Thursday, I thought I would give you three Spook-tacular looks by the style icon and let you decide if she is in, or out...

Enjoy the catwalk tonight and Auf Widersehen!                                                
                                               

Say Goodbye to Colors Being Sad at: 

https://www.facebook.com/HeidiKlum

https://www.facebook.com/projectrunway

Project Runway: Shark Eater Out!

It's Mistress Heidi!!!

It's Thursday, and time for another Project Runway!

Last week we saw the elimination of Charketa Glover aka Shark Eater Glover - Which brings me to the reason I love watching PR...It's hilarious! 

Heidi Klum is awesome, she is a dominatrix with Elmer Fudd's voice, and every time she uttered Charketa's name even though she was pronouncing it correctly her lovely accent always butchers someone's name or other words that come out of her mouth. Thus Charketa will always be Shark Eater to me, because honestly that is what it sounded like Heidi was saying. C'mon you know you all thought it too!

I love it when her accent mangles something she says, it makes for a great laugh. While were at it let's address some Heidi-isms that bowl me over too, for instance when she says "You're Out" - even though I know it won't happen the delivery is so stern I keep waiting for her to break out her riding crop and give the losing contestant a good smack on the ass.

Also you gotta enjoy when she says "The color is sad" - I admit that particular one I have replayed a few times, it's always good for comedic effect.

Then there is Tim Gunn the designers mentor. His droll criticism is hilarious and when he does the "Vagina Hands" your know when he touches his finger tips together while looking thoughtful into the "V" shape, yeah you know the "Vagina Hands?"

Well I am betting a lot of you call them that like me, why you may ask? Talent Manager Marki Costello had a reality show on E! called The Drama Queen while she was coaching an actor she yelled out Don't do the "Vagina Hands" like Tim Gunn at them. Suddenly I felt completely validated that I was not the only one whose mind went there, so if someone else thinks and states it other than myself that means there are more of you out there, it's OK now know you are not alone.

A special shout to Nina Garcia who is a class act bitch on the show, her criticism is honest and cuts like a knife, but she still comes off with an air of elegance while stabbing you on national TV.

Oh that reminds me every time Heidi let's Nina's name roll off her tongue it sounds like there is going to be a bitch slapping that never materializes...Honestly who cares who wins, the show is flat out funny!

Make It Work at: http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/project-runway