According to Examiner.com

According to Examiner.com
According to the Examiner.com---since 01/09/11

Friday, December 31, 2010

Newest family member----OZMA

If you are "friends" with me on Facebook then this is not really new news but something I felt I should share here. So Wednesday Jim and I went down to Berlin,Ohio the heart of Holmes County Amish Country for lunch and to visit friends along with some window shopping.  Doesn't sound life altering right?  Well this last summer Jim was thinking of getting another dog and well sure enough Wednesday we did.  She is just simply adorable.  A three month female Shi Itzu I decided to name-----Ozma.  Of course after the Fairy Ruler of the Land of Oz, what else would you expect from an all out Oz nut.  Fashion is just a part of my life while Oz is another, a rather big part but what the heck. 

I had at one point of calling her "Maggie" after Margaret Hamilton--the Wicked Witch of the West and Flower pot munchkin Margaret Pelligrini.  So maybe maybe "Maggie" shouldbe her middle name .  Judy Garland also sings a song titled "Maggie May".  But I wanted something a little more Oz identified so Ozma it was.

Anyway we have never had a puppy this little before so its an adjustment, outside every two hours, trying to house break/potty train her, sleeping the whole night through and of course getting use to her sisters Jackie, Glinda and Toto.  Our second full day here and off she goes exploring everything.  Anyway--here are her first "baby pictures"......



Isn't she a cutie bug??  Jackie turned 10 on Christmas and is kind of giving me this eye roll of  " Oh G-d here we go again with another damn dog".  While Glinda--who is 6-- is still the very jealous type and we have some minor growling snapping issues with "Baby Ozma" and Toto--who is we think 5--- seems to care less.  I know it will be a few days before everybody settles in but "Dad"--me of course couldn't be more proud.  That now makes three "priceless" Oz collectibles. 

Jackie came into our lives before I started collecting Oz and well she is my "Doctor".  She knows when I am going to be sick and before I do.  Her and I have been through four times of having pneumonia, two rounds of cancer and of course all those times I was falling it was Jackie, Glinda and I.  Jackie has been my rock, my anchor through everything.

Well until next time----I amso glad we had this time together.

Thursday, December 30, 2010

The start of a new weekly feature--30 fashionable people

A few days ago I finished reading "The Little Black Book of Style" by Nina Garcia--which by the way is a MUST read--- and in that book I ran across a bunch of names I did not recoginize.  Thirty names to be exact.  So I compiled a list of those names.  I then decided I would research and write about all thirty of those names over the next year in this blog.  One name a week over the next thirty weeks.  Because if I don't know then you may not know them as well.  We will learn together.

 So the first name, and in no particular order is-----Nan Kempner born July 24, 1930 and died July 3, 2005. She was a New York City socialite, famous for dominating society events, shopping, charity work and of course fashion.

She was born as Nan Field Schlesinger in San Francisco, an only child from a wealthy family. Her father, Albert "Speed" Schlesinger, owned the largest car dealership in California and reportedly told his daughter "You'll never make it on your face, so you'd better be interesting."

She attended Connecticut College and met Thomas Lenox Kempner, a banker. In the early 1950s they married and had three children. After living in London for a short time the Kempners moved to New York City, where Nan took the initiative to become a leader in society.

Over a thirty year period she helped raise over $75,000,000 (USD) for the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. She also amassed the largest private collection of haute couture clothing featuring classic designers like Mainbocher and her favorite designers Yves Saint Laurent and Bill Blass.

At various times in her life Kempner worked as a contributing editor for French Vogue, a fashion editor for Harper's Bazaar, a design consultant for Tiffany & Co. and an international representative of the auction house Christie's.


In Armistead Maupin's "Tales of the City" series, two society matrons discuss the creation of a society wax museum, emphasizing that future generations might not otherwise know what Nan Kempner looked like. Kempner herself authored a book about how to be a truly great host entitled R.S.V.P. (2000, ISBN 0-609-60430-9). The proceeds of the book benefited several charities.

Diana Vreeland, former editor of Vogue, once said: "There are no chic women in America. The one exception is Nan Kempner."

Notable quotes said by Nan Kempner:

I wouldn't miss the opening of a door.



Some people say the camera loves me, the truth is, I love the camera.


The only plastic I want is plastic surgery!


I want to be buried naked, I know there's a store where I'm going.


I spend way more than I should ... and way less than I want.

Monday, December 27, 2010

The new Cosmopolitan Resort and Casino Ad

Ok the ad reads (if you can not read it or if by chance it got cut off ) ...... " Just The Right Amount Of Wrong"  you have to love whoever it was that came up with that slogan let alone the SEXY ad.  Anytime anybody uses a near naked man in advertising is my kind of people.  Seriously love you guys at the Cosmopolitan!  The website kiddies by the way is http://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/ and is a great place to see first hand what the newest is in Las Vegas.  Wonder if the bellboys are really bottomless??  I amy have to go and find out.  By the way this ad can be found in the January 2011 "W".

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Kellan Lutz for CK and nearly naked





Dickinson, North Dakota, United States
Occupation Actor, model
Height 6 ft 1 in
Kellan Christopher Lutz (born March 15, 1985) is an American film and television actor, who is best known for playing Emmett Cullen in the Twilight series.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Jingle Bells by Tess Tickle

Just had to this is so much fun!!!

What if Santa were gay?



From the New York Times--santa's helpers are gay guys with big hearts!

Thursday, December 23, 2010

The night before the night before Christmas---poetry



The Night before the night before Christmas
The neighbors had all gathered
To celebrate in style a glorious festive season
The Lynch's had decorated the halls
to the Victorian hilt, nothing standing still was festooned.
The kitchen was a glow with decadent gluten free treats
The appetizers were simply and utterly divine.
Presents came out by the bag
Grandpa Holiday in his Red Christmas
Mistletoe Socks and matching suspenders
Looked ever so handsome and dapper.
With Grandma in her knee high socks and sequined blouse
 The socks were striped like big long candy canes.
That children were all a buzz in excitement and joy
To see what their presents beheld.
The wine was a plenty
The merriment was light.

Supper was soon ready
Dished up and served in style
The parlor a glow in white lights
Velvet napkins on every plate.
I sat tonight my heart overflowed
For neighbor's like mine
Who are closer than family.
Who share in my glory's
And suffer in my pain.
Christmas would not be Christmas
Without the night before
the night before Christmas
At the Lynch's!

Jennifer Lopez - Louboutins (Edson Pride Unreleased Club Mix)

After all kids it is about the damn Louboutins!!! Don'tcha eva forget it either!

Madonna - Revolver (Joe Gauthreaux "Striking Poses" Rework)

For all my fashionista fierceness this one rocks, does anybody know how I would go about getting this ON MY IPOD!!!!!! You betta' VOGUE!

Hyperallergic--International Draw Jesus Day < this is a serious thing>

Mmmm, Jesus, have you been working out ? It's a good thing he's got perma-abs, because on Dec. 26, Jesus will be posing for countless contributions to International Draw Jesus Day. The team at Hyperallergic -- an art blogazine -- devised the event in response to the Smithsonian's much-publicized removal of David Wojnarowicz's video from its Hide/Seek exhibit earlier this month.
The video shows insects crawling over a crucifix, which the Republican party found offensive and pressured the institute to remove. But don't just stop at bugs for Jesus' big portrait. Hyperallergic says, "Bring it artists, we will show whatever you send us and NSFW is perfectly fine. Forget the people who want to censor our lives and art and long live freedom of expression!"in response to the GOP’s attack on David Wojnarowicz’s “A Fire In My Belly” video, we want to celebrate freedom of expression in the face of the right-wing American political establishment that gets whipped up into an irrational frenzy any time LGBT people are treated as equals. To celebrate our freedoms and the beauty of America, we are announcing our first-ever (and perhaps only) “International Draw Jesus Day” event.
Hyperallergic readers and fans with artistic abilities can submit their very own drawing of Jesus for publication on this blogazine on December 26th, which is known in Canada and the United Kingdom as Boxing Day.
Bring it artists, we will show whatever you send us and NSFW is perfectly fine. Forget the people who want to censor our lives and art and long live freedom of expression!
Email all your submissions to DrawJesusDay@hyperallergic.com and trust me, we can take it.

Jenn Cuneta - O Holy Night (DJ JST Radio Mix)



Finally my kind of Christmas Music---grab your go go boots kids and rock it out!

Parents of Student Who Committed Suicide Tell Rutgers University They May Sue

The parents of a Rutgers University freshman who committed suicide after his intimate encounter with another man was secretly captured and streamed live on the Internet have filed notices that they may sue the university.

The freshman, Tyler Clementi, jumped off the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22. His roommate and another student have been charged with criminal counts of invading his privacy, and the case has become a national flash point in the debates over gay rights, bullying and personal privacy in the Internet age.
The parents, Joseph and Jane Clementi of Ridgewood, N.J., filed legal notices with the university on Friday, said Paul Mainardi, a lawyer for the family. By law, they must wait six months to file a lawsuit, but they had to give notice within 90 days after the death to preserve their right to sue.
The filings were reported on Wednesday by The Home News Tribune of East Brunswick, N.J.

Mr. Mainardi said that the notices did not necessarily signal an intention to sue. “A decision as to whether to file suit against Rutgers University in the future has not been made,” he said.
Tyler Clementi, 18, an accomplished violin player, had been on the Rutgers campus in Piscataway, N.J., for less than a month, prosecutors say, when his roommate, Dharun Ravi, 18, of Plainsboro, N.J., used a camera in his computer to live-stream the dormitory-room encounter between Mr. Clementi and another man. Prosecutors say Mr. Ravi sent a Twitter message urging followers to watch.
Mr. Ravi and another Rutgers freshman, Molly Wei, 18, of West Windsor, N.J., were both charged with using “the camera to view and transmit a live image” of Mr. Clementi. The two students have since withdrawn from the university; their lawyers have said that they denied the accusations.
Prosecutors have said they may press for additional counts that would make the invasion of privacy a hate crime. But on Wednesday, Jim O’Neil, a spokesman for the Middlesex County prosecutor’s office, said only that the investigation was continuing.
One of the legal notices filed last week, a notice of tort claim, contends that Rutgers “failed to put in place and/or implement, and enforce, policies and practices that would have prevented or deterred such acts.” Another notice claims the university broke its agreement with Mr. Clementi to protect him.
E. J. Miranda, a spokesman for Rutgers, said the university shared the family’s sense of loss and understood that they would question whether an institution or other people were to blame. “While the university understands the reaction,” he said, “the university is not responsible for Tyler Clementi’s suicide.”

A day before his death, Mr. Clementi apparently discovered the surveillance and wrote in a blog post that he had complained to a resident adviser.
The tort claim lists as damages his pain and suffering, as well as his family’s loss of his company and support. No dollar amount is given.

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Do you still believe?


I stood off to the side just watching
The line formed off to the right
A good hundred people deep.
The yearning anticipation filled the air.
His glimmer never faltered
The magic twinkle still in his eye
Even though children's fears
Resulted in screams and crying.
He smiled the entire time.

I stood there wondering
Do I still believe?
In miracles and hope.
In faith and the good will of all mankind?
That we can achieve peace and fulfillment.
I wondered can he really know
What I need for Christmas?
Does this forty-four year old
Still believe in Santa?

I stood there just watching
Him create that wonderful feeling
For each and every person
Young or old who sat in his lap.
The twinkle fully alive and bright
The magic silenced the air around me.

I stood there crying
Needing to believe more than ever
Wanting to sit in his lap
With every fiber of my being
Reveal my deepest darkest wish
With no regret or remorse
I never got the courage
To leave my spot
To sit in his lap once more.

Do I still believe
All these years later
I think I am beginning to, once again believe.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

The NEW santa


For all you naughty boys and girls this is the BRAND new, fashion improved, Charlie Dale endorsed Santa Clause---no more milk and cookies kids, this guy rocks the hat--which by the way is where your present is at!!!

ENORMOUS THANKS

Somehow we have hit over 9,000 readers this month--I am still stunned!!  Thank you all so much I have so much in store for the upcoming year.  Many surprises, a great interview in the works and some fashion history stuff that I think you all will find wonderful!  Again you readers mean the world to me!!!  Until next time I am so glad we had this time together.

Ronaldo Cristiano--nude



is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or a forward for Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid and serves as captain of the Portuguese national team. Ronaldo is the most expensive player in football history after moving Manchester United to Real Madrid in a transfer deal worth £80 million (€94m, US$132m). In addition, his contract with Real Madrid, in which he is to be paid £11 million per year over the following six years, makes him the highest-paid football player in the world. For our purposes he is an Armani underwear model--- WOOF!!! With some searching near frontal nude pictures below so be for warned.

Ronaldo began his career as a youth player for Andorinha, where he played for two years, then moved to Nacional. In 1997, he made a move to Portuguese giants Sporting CP. Ronaldo's precocious talent caught the attention of Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and he signed the 18-year-old for £12.24 million in 2003. The following season, Ronaldo won his first club honour, the FA Cup, and reached the Euro 2004 final with Portugal, in which tournament he scored his first international goal.
In 2008, Ronaldo won the Champions League with United, and was named player of the tournament. He was named the FIFPro World Player of the Year and the FIFA World Player of the Year, in addition to becoming Manchester United's first Ballon d'Or winner in 40 years. Three-time Ballon d'Or winner Johan Cruyff said in an interview on 2 April 2008, "Ronaldo is better than George Best and Denis Law, who were two brilliant and great players in the history of United."

Monday, December 20, 2010

Fernado Verdasco---- near nude



Fernando Verdasco Carmona (born 15 November 1983 in Madrid) is a professional tennis player from Spain. He is currently ranked number 9 in the world. Verdasco started playing tennis at four years of age and had a full-time coach when he was eight.

As of 2009, Verdasco has been working in Las Vegas with Andre Agassi and his team including Darren Cahill and Gil Reyes. Verdasco has aided Spain in winning two Davis Cup titles, winning the deciding match in both 2008 and 2009.
His best performance in a Grand Slam was making the semi-finals of the 2009 Australian Open where he lost to World No.1 Rafael Nadal in five sets, with that, it was the longest match in Australian Open history.

Of course I have the CK (Calvin Klein) men's underwear ad as well.  Hope you kids enjoy these photographs.

A Very Painful Visit

I am not sure I want to exactly share this story, but there is a big part of me that feels like I need to just to get it off my chest and by doing so I might be able to deal with it better---who knows for sure.

As many of you know who read here regularly, you also know that tomorrow is the anniversary of the death of Ron.  Eight years tomorrow and somehow, someway the pain is still so tremendously unbearable beyond words.

I decided to drive this afternoon out to Eastlawn Cemetery in Brunswick, Ohio where he is buried. I decided to go alone, spend some time by myself. It isn't all that far from where we live maybe thirty-five minutes.  It was one of those drives where I didn't turn on the radio, I wanted surrounded by my thoughts and emotions and nothing else.  I was crying before I even got there.  That should have been my warning sign.

I pulled into the cemetery and into the section where he is buried, stopped, and put the car into park.  The emotions just engulfed every pore of my being.  It was this tsunami of unbearable deep horrific pain.  It was like being there eight years ago.  I could still see the bundled and huddled crowd, the tent, the hearse, the coffin, the blowing wind whisking the snow and well I completely lost it.  I sat in the car for an hour and half and just literally wept myself uncontrollably sick.  I couldn't move, I never opened the car door, I never got out, I never got to the grave.  I just sat their and wept bitterly and deeply, grief unthinkable and I feel like I am the only one that feels that way.

I am the only one that visits that grave, I am the only one still so unbearably distraught, that I could not even get out of the car.  I got the car in gear and just drove away, tears still in my eyes, the emptiness pervaded and I felt so ashamed of myself for what happened there.  Feeling so alone, feeling like I couldn't talk about any of it.

All this time later and it seems no better, no less it just seems no one wants to talk about it, or hear about it or even think about it.  People wonder why I hate Christmas now and this is it and no other reason.  He died just four days before a holiday I loved, a holiday we celebrated to the hilt and he was so viciously and violently ill those last days and he died so gruesomely I was haunted by nightmares for months.  The bloody vomiting, the bleeding KS sores, the unconsciousness and his grief over what happened with New Hope.  He felt like he wasted so much time by working for so long and so much, it felt like he wasted us and what we could have had.  I had no idea what to say, I still don't all this time later.

Do I feel better sharing--honestly I am not so sure, ask me in a few days.  Until then I am so glad we had this time together

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Calvin Klein X - Hidetoshi Nakata Spot

CRISTIANO RONALDO ARMANI COLLECTION 2010 UNDERWEAR FOR MEN

Calvin Klein X: Nakata, Verdasco, Brooks, Lutz

A 11 hour work day

Well it was one of those morning I got up to use the bathroom at 4:30 a.m. and couldn't;t go back to sleep, so what did I do?  I went to work on doll jobs that were due for Christmas, they needed done and I couldn't sleep.  Perfect so it seems so I worked till 1.  Took my shower, shaved and went Christmas shopping.  G-d I hate the mall six days before Christmas the sales were good but good lord the people and no where to park,  Oh well at least I am done.  Until then I am so glad we had this time together

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Another thank you to my readers

I am still not sure what I am doing right here but we have reached over 7,000 hits just this month alone!! It is still nearly the middle of the month.  I have been thinking quite seriously covering more in the upcoming year on Men's fashion because I have not really found a men's wear fashion blog----your thoughts?

Alexis Mabille - Spring Summer 2011 Full Fashion Show Part 1 - Menswear

Alexis Mabille Spring/Summer 2011

D&G MEN SUMMER 2011 FASHION SHOW

Dolce Gabbana Spring 2011

JIMMY JAMES - BETTE DAVIS "Feliz Navidad" (Music video)

From the incredible voice illusionist Jimmy James as none other than Bette Davis

Friday, December 17, 2010

News of the day

Well today was my last final, it is now just a wait and see how I did over all grade wise.  Right after my final in College Writing II I wen to the Emergency Room because I felt like I had pneumonia.  Thankfully after six hours at Mercy Medical I found out it is just severe bronchitis.  So three new medications and some rest i should be back on my feet.  Will post more tomorrow, because the morphine I got at the hospital has me tired out.  Until next time I am glad we had this time together

Thursday, December 16, 2010

It Gets Better - Sister Unity

He is fierce isn't he--makes me proud that I am GAY!!

News of the day

Well if you are here in Ohio like I am, you are over all these days of not being over 20 degrees.  Can we say frigid beyond words??  Well I have one more final to take and it is tomorrow.  College Writing II and its from 1-3.  Grades should follow shortly and hopefully I made the Dean's List, G-d knows I worked my butt off.  Anyhow keep me in your thoughts as I have to get a doctor's appointment as my chest is just killing me, it is hard at times or at the least painful to breathe and there is moments I can't stop coughing.  Here is hoping its not pneumonia.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

OVER 20,000 HITS

I can't believe nearly 10,000 hits since October 18th when this blog hit 10,000 hits and now well its OVER 20,000....... What I would like to know is what do you enjoy themost about this blog?  Videos, news, my points of interest, the fashion, the near naked boys?  What is it??

Summer Moved On

Giancarlo Giammetti




Ok kids since I have been kind of known for posting pictures of Famous Fashion Designers.  So long time Lover of Valentino is none other than Giancarlo Giammetti.  Included are vintage pics of Giancarlo and even VAlention himself.

Giancarlo Giammetti was a student of architecture in Rome when he met the young Valentino Garavani in Via Veneto in Rome on July 31, 1960.[2] Valentino had just arrived from Paris, where he had been an apprentice to designers Jean Desses and Guy Laroche, to open his first fashion house. As detailed in the movie Valentino: The Last Emperor, Giammetti dropped out of architecture school and began looking after the business side of Valentino’s young high fashion enterprise. Giammetti, in the movie points out that he knew nothing about business, but that he knew more than Valentino, “say that three plus three equals six.”

When Giammetti arrived, the house of Valentino was in bad financial shape. In fact, it was heading into bankruptcy. Giammetti helped to engineer a financial restructuring and re-launch of the house in a different, more modest location in the center of Rome. Giammetti said in Valentino The Last Emperor that after he and Valentino met they never again had any financial worries with the business. In the early 1960s Rome was a fashion center almost on the level of Paris, with many high fashion houses competing for the business of the jet set socialites who touched down in the city. Valentino’s quick ascent in the world of high fashion was chronicled in the pages of Vogue, Bazaar and Woman’s Wear Daily. Among his great champions were Vogue’s Diana Vreeland and her Rome editor, Countess Consuelo Crespi. They trumpeted Valentino’s talent in their pages, and the grand women began to flock to the designer. It was Giammetti who helped Valentino capitalize on this early wave of success. He arranged for Valentino to show his collections in Florence, where the important shows took place. He was the first to conceive of lavish magazine advertising spreads, which trumpeted to the designer’s art. He called these ads “grouppage”, and the first Valentino “grouppage” ad featured models dressed in pastels posing in a desert setting. Semolina was used to create the desertscape in the studio. Previously, much of the advertising for clothes in fashion magazines was sponsored by fabric houses, which put their logos on the ads, crediting the designers in small print at the bottom of the pages.
In the late 70s, after Valentino had become an international name, Giammetti was one of the first to lead a fashion brand into ready-to-wear. He was also an early pioneer in international licensing. In the 1980s Valentino’s brand was aggressively licensed to products from sunglasses to cars.
In 1989, he created with Valentino the Accademia Valentino, a cultural space located near Valentino's atelier in Rome, for the presentation of art exhibitions. The year later, encouraged by their friend Elizabeth Taylor, Valentino Garavani and Giancarlo Giammetti created L.I.F.E., an association for the support of AIDS patients, which benefits from the activities of the Accademia Valentino.
The Valentino fashion empire was later sold in 1998, for a considerable amount of money to HDP, an Italian conglomerate, and, later, to the Marzotto group. In 2007, Marzotto sold the company to Permira, a London-based private equity fund.
Valentino and Giammetti decided to step down for their respective positions at the top of the fashion house in 2008, but not before celebrating Valentino’s career with the largest and most lavish event in the history of fashion: a three-day-long series of parties and a haute couture show in Rome. The celebration was considered the final reunion of the jet set, which defined high-level international living at the end of the 20th century. Highlights of the event included a party in the Temple of Venus, with an aerial performance with the Coliseum, lit Valentino red, as the backdrop; a party in the Villa Borghese in a structure designed for the evening by Dante Ferretti, and the runway show in the Ospedalle Santo Spirito.
A few months after this party, which was covered around the world on TV, in newspapers and in magazines, Giammetti announced his retirement to coincide with Valentino’s.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

My Last Fashion Visuals Assignment






Ok our last assignment was to make an actual garment inspired from something or someone in the 1960's.  Well kids my inspiration of course was none other than the Judy Garland Show on CBS 193-1964.  We had a $30.00 budget and we had to remake something from Goodwill.  Well mdel Angela Pino wears my COUTURE!!!  Fabulous, huh?  All of that Black Lace was added and the patterns to the wedding dress I found were dramatically altered.  Will post the mood board pics as soon As I get it back and not yet sure of my grade either but I just had to share.

Black Eyed Peas - The Time (dirty bit) (Tomcio Remix)

I guess it's remix day here at Journey With Judy--- bet you kids are loving dat! Black Eye Peas ya rock! True dat!

Enrique Iglesias feat. Ludacris - Tonight (HD - Dirty Version - New Song...

Another fairly naughty video where the F-bomb is dropped quite a bit. Funny thing is I had never heard of this song before!!! But kids---couldn't you just here this in some gay techno club???

Lady Gaga - Teeth (DJ Paulo's Paris Is Burning Dub Remix)

Just love this mix--- Gaga gone totally GayGay its very "White Party-esque". Those in the know will know what I am saying here kids--in the mean time kids grab your fierceness and flaunt it like there is no tomorrow

Man Officially cured of AIDS

For the first time ever, a man has been cured of HIV. The remedy may nearly have killed him, but it opens a door—just a crack—to hope that we may someday kill off the scourge for good.


Strangely enough, the diagnosis that most concerned Timothy Ray Brown in 2007 was acute myeloid leukemia. HIV has been increasingly thought of as a manageable disease, though certainly a terribly burdensome one. What brought the 42-year old Brown under the care of Germany's Charite Universitatsmedizin Berlin hospital was the more immediate threat his cancer pose.
The treatment Brown underwent was aggressive: chemotherapy that destroyed the majority of his immune cells. Total body irradiation. Finally, a risky stem-cell transplant that nearly a third of patients don't survive—but that appears to have completely cured Brown of HIV.
Doctors were savvy when they chose a stem cell donor for Brown. The man whose bone marrow they used has a particular genetic mutation, present in an incredibly small percentage of people, that makes him almost invulnerable to HIV. With Brown's own defenses decimated by treatments, the healthy, HIV-resistant donor cells repopulated his immune system. Three years later, having taken no antiretroviral drugs since the transplant, extensive testing shows no signs whatsoever of HIV.
He's cured.

What does this mean for the future of treatment? It's not as though every HIV patient can or would want to go through the tremendous suffering that was prelude to Brown's recovery, or be able to afford the procedure if they could or did. But for the first time, we know that HIV can be cured, not just managed. It opens new avenues of research—gene therapy, stem cell treatments—that may otherwise have been thought dead ends.

GLAAD & GMHC Call On NYC To Yank Graphic New HIV Prevention Ad

GLAAD and the Gay Men's Health Crisis are calling on New York City to cease airing an HIV prevention ad that the groups says is "sensationalist and stigmatizing."


The PSA, which is intended to encourage condom usage among gay and bisexual men, claims that those with HIV face a higher risk of bone loss, dementia, and anal cancer. While older adults living with HIV may be at greater risk of these conditions, the PSA creates a grim picture of what it is like to live with HIV that could further stigmatize HIV/AIDS, as well as gay and bisexual men. “We know from our longstanding HIV prevention work that portraying gay and bisexual men as dispensing diseases is counterproductive,“ said Marjorie Hill, PhD, GMHC’s Chief Executive Officer. “Studies have shown that using scare tactics is not effective. Including gay men’s input, while recognizing their strength and resiliency, in the creation of HIV prevention education is effective. Gay men are part of the prevention solution, not the problem.” Both GLAAD and GMHC have reached out to the department to demand that the commercial be pulled and to offer assistance with framing the conversation around HIV/AIDS more accurately.

Here's the clip, which does seem over the top ( Some may find it  offensive, so be forwarned). One image in particular may be quite disturbing.

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Thought of the day---More "Losing Julia"

"Happiness to me was lying in bed with at night during a thunderstorm and feeling warm and dry and knowing that my mother was in the next room".

"I used to curl up in bed with my dog and read him stores by candlelight."

"You read your dog stories?"

"He was a smart dog."

She smiled, then kicked away some leaves and sat down.  I sat across from her on a rock.

"Happiness is different for adults, don't you think?" she asked.  "Much too fleeting.  Like something you can't see if you stare right at it"

"I think for a lot of people happiness is just the absence of discomfort", I said

"That's not enough for me", she said".

So for today----What makes you happy?  Are you happy?  If not what would it take to give you happiness?  Is it much too fleeting?  Have you ever really ever been happy?

Matthew Morrison-- near nude



Ok if you haven't figured it out yet I have it bad for Mathew Morrison aka Mr. Schuester of "Glee" fame.  These photographs are from Broadway Baresa fundraising nite for AIDS.  And here is my boy in his undies ---WOOF

Matthew Morrison doing Humpty Dumpty

GOD I love Matt Morrison

Margaret Cho - Gay Men Jokes

Love Margaret Cho

Saturday, December 11, 2010

aussieBum - SANTA STRIPS FOR YOU!, www.aussiebum.com

You guys may just love this more hunky santas

Santa Speedo Run 2010

DON'T YOU JUST LOVE THESE FASHIONABLE SANTAS

Washington DC Gay Men's Chorus Re-Imagines Nutcracker

Six years ago, Craig Cipollini was the Nutcracker prince in a Gay Men's Chorus of Washington production. Now, he's the king. That is to say, he's calling the shots as director of the revived and re-imagined Men In Tights: A Pink Nutcracker
 
''It's a very different production from the last one. It's really fresh, really fun,'' says Cipollini, who also choreographed the revival, to be staged next weekend at Lisner Auditorium. The first half of the show features over 200 singers plus an orchestra performing holiday choral music. The second half focuses on the gay Nutcracker, with 24 cast members and the chorus.

This time around, not only does the lead female role of Clara become Clarence, the tale also becomes ''a gay love story'' between Clarence and the prince. ''The brother Fritz is jealous because he wants the prince for himself," says Cipollini. "That's where the fight ensues from.'

Cipollini has carried over the original production's Sugar Plum Fairy, comically played by a drag queen. ''His looks are along the lines of the Ugly Stepsisters in Cinderella: very garish and over-the-top, larger-than-life,'' Cipollini says. ''Not the prettiest girl you've ever seen.''

''The two leads are really, really phenomenal dancers. They're just going to blow people away,'' says Cipollini, who started dancing when he was a teenager, growing up in the Baltimore area. He recently retired from performing with the DC Cowboys.

After some time as a ''starving actor'' and stage performer -- ''I was usually dancer boy No. 3'' -- he turned to choreography, working with a few theaters in Baltimore until he moved to D.C. seven years ago. And now, in addition to volunteer choreographer by night, he's the chorus's business manager by day.

Cipollini has never actually sung with the chorus. He doesn't plan to, either.
''I'm enjoying the behind-tne-scenes creative process much more than [I did] performing,'' he says.'
A Pink Nutcracker is Friday, Dec. 17, and Saturday, Dec. 18, at 8 p.m. Also Saturday, Dec. 18, and Sunday, Dec. 19, at 3 p.m. Lisner Auditorium, 730 21st St. NW. Tickets are $20 to $50. Call 202-994-6800 or visit gmwc.org.

LGBT Homeless NYC Funds Cut by 50%

Advocates for homeless LGBT youth are outraged over New York City’s decision to slash funding for drop-in shelters and street outreach by 50 percent next year.

Citing high rates of homeless LGBT teenager suicide, drug addiction and prostitution; representatives from the Ali Forney Center and the Bronx Community Pride House attended a City Council Finance Committee hearing on Monday, Dec. 6, to emphasize the need for these programs, which the City Council’s discretionary funds currently provide.

"The main program facing cuts is the shelter bed program, which disproportionately affects LGBT youth, who comprise one-third of homeless kids sleeping on the street tonight" said City Councilmember Member Lew Fidler [D-Brooklyn]. "We have to keep hope as we go into the holiday season that no one would do anything that cruel..., but it is not going to be an easy fight."

City spokesperson Andrew R. Doba said the cuts will not have a significant impact on the number of shelter beds. "Services for runaway and homeless youth have been held harmless from budget cuts over the eight most recent budget reductions," he said. "However, due to a combination of city and state reductions for FY11 and FY12, DYCD [Department of Youth and Community Development] has made the difficult decision to reduce Runaway and Homeless Youth Services funding. This reduction was proportionally less than other reductions in the DYCD portfolio-less than seven percent of the total RHY funding, and will not impact our crisis shelters or transitional independent living programs at all."

Fidler pointed to the recent Commission on LGBTQ Runaway and Homeless Youth report that confirmed the need to expand street outreach, noting teens driven from their homes due to emotional, physical, and sexual abuse were often not trusting of adults in drop-in centers. Because the same people who provide drop-in services and street outreach are the ones who provide shelter beds, Fidler said both programs need to be maintained.

"If you’re gonna talk the talk, you gotta walk the walk," he added. "They are doing the opposite, and that is going to have an enormous impact on these shelter beds.  Carl Siciliano, executive director of the Ali Forney Center, agreed.

"They are talking about how Cyndi Lauper recently lit up the Empire State Building to announce the campaign..., but that doesn’t mean a hill of beans to a kid who can’t have a sandwich at a drop-in center, or see a doctor, or take a shower, a kid who is stranded on the street with nothing," he said.

Ali Forney faced a $500,000 budget gap last year, which Siciliano filled by reducing his staff’s health care coverage and education as opposed to cutting money from youth programs. According to Siciliano, 25 percent of the youth at the drop-in center test positive for HIV-more than all 10 homeless drop-in centers in the city. Sixty percent of these young people have also attempted suicide. "And that’s with support," noted Siciliano. "What will that mean if they are just out there on their own?"

City Council Speaker Christine Quinn has also spoken out against the cuts.  "While I recognize the need to balance the budget, I absolutely oppose doing it on the backs of our most vulnerable youth," she said. "We can-and must-do better than this for our children. I have called on the city to look harder to find alternative savings, and I have presented a number of alternative measures that I urge the city to adopt in lieu of these cuts. My colleagues and I will fight to prevent these cuts from taking place."

Dirk McCall, executive director of the Bronx Community Pride Center, said the current proposal would slash his organization’s budget by 90 percent. "These are the most vulnerable youth on the streets; it’s appalling," said McCall. "We have youth who need referrals to shelter beds, anger management, HIV medication referrals, emotional support. For the LGBT kids of the Bronx and Northern Manhattan, this is where they go. It’s really difficult to see this happen, but I have full faith it will be overturned."

In light of the proposed budget cuts, youth advocates also trained a gimlet eye on the Commission for LGBTQ Runaway and Homeless Youth that Mayor Michael Bloomberg established in Oct. 2009.
"When the mayor announced this commission, two weeks before election last year, I thought, ’Is this the same guy I fight with every June to put half this money back?’ How interesting that he found God at end of October," said Fidler. "So they held all of these wonderful forums on LGBT youth, and right of the middle of that they announce this cut. Does anyone see anything hypocritical in that?  Siciliano agreed.

"They announced the formation of the commission two weeks before the election...and then is going to turn around and endanger them by reducing what’s already available," he said "If they drop those programs, these kids have nothing but... total abject suffering on the streets, prostitution, and drug dealing. The people who are responsible for protecting children have to take that responsibility seriously. I really question the competence of anyone who would make a decision like this."  McCall was more sanguine about the outcome.

"I don’t think the mayor started this commission knowing he would have to make these budget cuts I think he started the commission with the best of intentions, and definitely put a lot of energy into it, spoke up for it, circulated the report, and coordinated work with other city agencies," he said. "But these are the most vulnerable youth on street; it’s appalling. There have to be other funds utilized to protect homeless LGBT youth."

He said he would like to see the mayor baseline funds for these programs to avoid annual budget battles. Siciliano also called upon LGBT New Yorkers to stand up for homeless youth, saying he would pitch tents at City Hall Park and camp out "to show these kids their lives mean something to us" if necessary. On Monday, Dec. 6, a dozen additional members of the LGBTQ Runaway and Homeless Youth Commission had signed on to a letter to Bloomberg and Commissioner Jeanne Mullgrav urging them to not to cut funding.

"I am not one of these guys to say we should spend money we don’t have, nor can we raise the property tax any more," said Fidler. "I get that we need to cut spending, but is this seriously what a civilized society does: cut the funding of kids sleeping on subway grates? That is truly outrageous."

Doba stressed the city acknowledges the importance of these funds, but Siciliano, who spoke with EDGE on the anniversary of the death of the gay teenager after which his organization is named, remained adamant.
"I fought and fought to make New York City safer for gay kids," he said. "I didn’t sit on this commission and do all that work as co-chair to see it go back to how it was."

Serious Thought for the day

As many of you who have been reading this blog a long time know that today is the anniversary day my previous partner, Ron, went into Hospice Care after 16 1/2 yrs of living with AIDS he just could not recover.  Eleven short days later on December 21, 2002 he was dead.  Many ways, I have never been the same since and probably never will be.  Until last night while reading "Losing Julia" by Jonathan Hull I felt like no one understand what that feeling was like then I read.......

"One person dies and the whole world looks sadder, hollowed out  so that you hear echos in places where there aren't supposed to be any.  Each passing day and month and year is an accumulation of absences; of people, places and events that a loved one will never see or know about.  When you have suffered a terrible loss you look at things and think: I wonder what he would have made of that?  Wouldn't he have enjoyed this and oh G-d he would have hated that and shit this reminds me of him.

When people die it's as though the earth itself opens briefly and swallows them up.

The last thing people do when they die is to change all the people who loved them.  I can still feel the dead reverberating through my own life, sometimes with the delicacy of ripples on a pond, other times with the force of shock waves.  And the strangest thing is how much talking the dead still do; talking in our heads.  I've actually grown quite fond of it.

But I can't shake the sadness. Sometimes nostalgia swamps me like a flash flood and leaves me floating face down amid the flotsam of the past.  Not the nostalgia that comes with the change of the seasons--which is as good as sad gets: a rusty, blood red if you gave it a color--but deeper, more funereal longing.  Melancholy if you will."

I haven't cried like that in a long time or felt so lonely in my life, but also like finally words were given to what I really felt.  What I really needed to say.  Someone got me and in a big way.  Eight years ago today, where has the time gone?  His voice fading from my memory, but those memories just as alive and fresh and real as they were all those years ago.

So my thought for the day is do you feel that this section from "Losing Julia" adequately describes what you have gone through in having someone you love die?

Friday, December 10, 2010

fashiontv | FTV.com - SHIRTOLOGY LINGERIE HOM PE 1999-2

More from the same show--you got to LOVE These GUYS!!!!

fashiontv | FTV.com - SHIRTOLOGY LINGERIE HOM PE 1998

Even though this is older I thought all of you would LOVE IT!!

Current number of hits by Country

First of all thank you everyone for reading what I write and for taking the time to come back over and over again.  It means the world to me!  As of today this is the total number of its this site has had based on country's....  Charlie Dale World Wide Fashionista !!!!

United States------- 6,430
United Kingdom------ 983
Germany----- 811
Canada ------595
France------- 409
Italy--------- 402
Poland------- 369
Australia -----272
Spain-------- 223
Brazil-------- 145

Christian Tagliavini-- GORGOUES COSTUMES









Swiss/Italian photographer Christian Tagliavini describes his own work and process:
"I build up stories and dramatize them using photography and creativity as a skillful artifice being at the same time author, stage designer, costume designer, casting manager, director - and photographer."


This series, entitled 1503, is described as:
"Nine still characters from a visionary Renaissance are portrayed in solemn, die-cut costumes to die for. But their glances are seducing each other despite you, the observer."
A stunning; referential to history, but with an otherworldly quality to them that makes them hard to look away. Kids, this stuff is right up my alley, talk about your designers wet dream come to live, my GAWD sign me up to work for Christian, at this point I will even work for FREE!!