Film Buff Friday: Cruising

In keeping with Pride Month I present to you a divisive film from the annals of the history of queer cinema, Cruising. No matter what your take on it, it is a culturally relevant film...

A crime thriller set against the backdrop of the 1970s leather scene, Cruising is a polarizing film with a complicated legacy. When it came out in 1980, mainstream audiences and gay rights activists alike were scandalized—the former due to the graphic sexuality and the latter on the grounds that it portrayed the LGBTQ community in a bad light. (By contrast, director William Friedkin alleges that much of New York’s leather/S&M community actively supported the film and participated en masse as extras.) In recent years, though, the film—which features Al Pacino as a New York cop who goes undercover in the city’s S&M scene to investigate a serial killer targeting gay men—has been reevaluated and is now considered by many as a classic. Love it or hate it, Cruising is a touchstone of queer cinema history.

Cruising on Wikipedia -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cruising_(film)  

Michael's Musings

Walk The Dinosaur
Michael Shinafelt

As Pride Month marches along I was thinking about what it means. Being inclusive is one of the great things about Pride. Thus I thought this week I would introduce you to some "totally different head" than you are used to.

Yep, that's correct I'm currently walking my dinosaur, Sequel, and there's my head. Nothing to see here now move along...

If you rush it, you will ruin it. Pause and be patient.

Carry on with your fake crying self, I'm eating

Shark. Coochie. Boards. - discuss

Laugh of the Week: "Ted Cruz looks like an alcoholic werewolf that got stuck mid-transformation" - Stephen Colbert 

Donuts are so gross, all they are is a wad of grease and sugar, blech!

Remember to drink water so you can stay hydrated while you suffer

Only Ryan Gosling could pull off the look they gave him as Ken in the upcoming Barbie movie

Did you hear? The cast of Bound Jennifer Tilly, Gina Gershon and Joe Pantoliano are reuniting on Season 2 of Chucky?! Yes!!!

Woman Crush of the Week - Garcelle Beauvais for saying what we all were thinking on last night's RHOBH

Beware of a guy who wears a fanny pack, the more you know

Rugs are the cowards carpet, think about it, but not too much

Against all authority, except my Mom

Daaaaaaamn!!!

I am legend, hear me roar...

Tell me what you are, here -

https://www.instagram.com/michaelshinafelt/?hl=en

https://twitter.com/MShinafelt   

Hump Day & Chill

Bound
Jennifer Tilly & Gina Gershon 

Continuing with the Pride Month theme (It's gonna last until the end of June Minions) - Today we are going to Hump Day & Chill to an iconic LGBTQ duo Jennifer Tilly & Gina Gershon from the 1996 movie Bound.

Say What??? You haven't seen it, well you should! The films story goes something like this:

"Sparks fly when Violet (Jennifer Tilly) sets eyes on Corky (Gina Gershon) in an elevator. Violet is the girlfriend of a violent gangster, Caesar (Joe Pantoliano), while Corky is fresh out of prison and doing renovations on the apartment next door. As the two women launch into a passionate love affair, they assemble an intricate plan for Violet to escape from Caesar, with two million dollars of the mob's money -- but the important part is to make it out alive"

Needless to say with publicity shots like the one above and some steamy sex scenes (especially in the unrated version) Tilly & Gershon became two of the biggest gay icons ever!!!

Thus we shall honor them and this great piece of cinema with a Pride Hump Day & Chill.

Do it and do it now!

Bound on Wikipedia -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bound_(1996_film)

Save The Date

Whilst many of us, oh OK all of us mere mortals, except for an exclusive chosen few, did not get an invite to Britney Spears June 9th wedding to Sam Asghari (heck even her family didn't.) We will always have the great photos and the memes that followed.

Since I live in Southern California, Los Angeles to be exact, and the to do was held in Thousand Oaks ( LA adjacent) - Well the winner in the meme derby for me is the "Housewives" one.

"Yes" Minions let me present to you The Real Housewives of Thousand Oaks...

Starring Britney Spears, Madonna, Selena Gomez, Paris Hilton, Drew Barrymore and Donatella Versace. Now that's a fully loaded cast I must say!

Maybe they can have a crossover show with their sister wives in Beverly Hills (which for the record is the only Housewives show I watch) talk about epic.

Congratulations to Britney I wish her nothing but happiness!!!

Britney on IG -

https://www.instagram.com/britneyspears/?hl=en    

Moorehead Monday

Agnes Moorehead
as
Endora

Honestly I don't know WTF has taken me, but I am in a state of whimsy. Thus I present to you a new "thing" that sprang from my fertile imagination this ayem - Moorehead Monday in honor of Agnes Moorehead who played Endora on one of my fave classic TV Shows Bewitched.

When there's magic in the air you go with it Minions and there has been plenty of late. 

So I choose to honor all that is possible on June the 13th 2002, because that's the way I roll sometimes.

Happy Moorehead Monday!

"Dwell In Possibility" - Emily Dickinson 

Bewitched on Wikipedia -

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bewitched   

Happy Pride Los Angeles!

Celebrate!
Cardi B

This year Los Angeles got confusing for Pride season. West Hollywood went ahead and had it's usual to do last weekend and now this weekend the Parade returns to it's original location the streets of Hollywood.

"Yes" we just can't be proud enough here in LA, thus we have two Pride celebrations. Last weekend Cardi B was in the house for the West Hollywood parade. Paula Abdul will be guest of honor at this one.

Whoever shows up I'm sure a fun time will be had by all!!!

Happy Pride Los Angeles Minions from me and Cardi B....

BTW in case you are wondering I did not go to the West Hollywood Parade and I will not be in attendance at the Hollywood Parade today.

Mic Drop! 

LA Pride on the WWW -

https://lapride.org/la-pride-2022/   

Summer Reads

 

Microcosm Publishing - Summer 2022 Lineup

Enter Sandwich: Some Kind of Vegan Cooking with No Connection to Metallica by Automne Zingg and Joshua Ploeg Available Now! Hey Ho Let's Dough!: 1! 2! 3! 40 Vegan Pizza Recipes Unrelated to the Ramones by Automne Zingg and Joshua Ploeg Available Now! Speak In Tongues: An Oral History of Cleveland's Infamous DIY Punk Venue by Eric Sandy and Ken Blaze Coming July 5th

Enter Sandwich: Some Kind of Vegan Cooking with No Connection to Metallica  by Automne Zingg and Joshua Ploeg Oh, aging rockers. We've all seen them struggle to get along and cope with life. Maybe they just need to sit around a backyard picnic table, share a vegan feast, and talk about their feelings. After all, to live is to stir fry. Automne Zingg, genius mastermind behind Comfort Eating with Nick Cave and Defensive Eating with Morrissey is back with hilarious illustrations of the band's revolving cast eating their feelings and expressing their enthusiasm for food, but in a tough and intense way. "Yeahms!" sings James, riffing on a giant yam. Zingg's work is coupled with the inventive and flavorful recipes of chef and queercore punk musician, Joshua Ploeg. Written in lyrical form, the recipes parody 40 of the most quintessential tunes. Crank up the volume while concocting plant-based recipes like Master of Nuggets, Pie of the Beholder, an All Nightmare Footlong, or maybe just a little stock. So let it be eaten. (Just don't try to illegally download this book.)

Hey Ho Let's Dough!: 1! 2! 3! 40 Vegan Pizza Recipes Unrelated to the Ramones  by Automne Zingg and Joshua Ploeg When you don’t wanna go down to the pizzeria, whip up these vegan pizzas. Automne Zingg—mastermind behind Comfort Eating with Nick Cave, Defensive Eating with Morrissey, and Enter Sandwich—has illustrated pizza-themed boys-from-Queens homages, as they eat pizza, sneer at pepperoni, and play pizza guitars. Joshua Ploeg’s recipes wittily incorporate vaguely familiar lyrics and humor. Pizzas range from traditional marinara with vegetables and veggie sausage (Texas Chain Sauce Massacre) and white sauce specials (Carbonara Not Glue), to variations like Beet on the Brat, Havana Pizza Affair, Thyme Bomb. “Well, I’m Against It,” comments Johnny, but you’ll find a pineapple pizza recipe in here as well. Pizza is deconstructed, reconstructed, and, like the best bands, turns into something far better than the sum of its parts.

Speak In Tongues: An Oral History of Cleveland's Infamous DIY Punk Venue by Eric Sandy and Ken Blaze  Speak In Tongues was a freewheeling, community-run underground music venue in Cleveland, Ohio that operated on a do-it-yourself basis throughout the late 1990s. The venue fostered a flourishing creative culture, where you could enjoy a puppet show from a spray-painted couch or meet other punks to start a band or a movement, but was also smoothly run with a great sound system and the best curation of music that you could hear in the city during its tenure. On any given night, you could go see hardcore punk, experimental jazz, or thrash shows where fireworks were set off inside the building. Traveling bands regularly booked shows there, including ones that went on to greater fame, like Modest Mouse, Avail, Lifter Puller, Jimmy Eat World, Alkaline Trio, Milemarker, and J Church. Venue operators, and later a management collective, contended with police surveillance, skinheads with knives, an exploding oil drum full of raw meat, a flaming car, and a different number of riots depending on who you ask.  There may not have been a bar, but a healthy BYOB policy ensures that everyone’s memory is different, resulting in an entertaining story of a place that truly was what you made it, the source of lifelong friendships and endless lore.  This comprehensive oral history tells a story that is greater than the sum of each person’s recollections, forming a picture of a unique, weird, special place that deeply informed the next twenty years of Cleveland’s underground culture.