Valentino Fall Winter 2011

Versace Fal Winter 2011

Tribute to Dame Elizabeth Taylor

Margie Phelps vs. Elizabeth Taylor

The Westboro Baptist Church is once again picketing a funeral, this time late actress Elizabeth Taylor’s.  The Kansas-based organization is behind the “God Hates Fags” signs and have picketed many U.S. soldiers’ funerals including blocking their burials. Most people don’t make their version of Heaven’s guest list, and they were even at Elizabeth Edwards’ funeral last year.

Margie Phelps, the daughter of Westboro leader Fred Phelps, had some not-so-nice things to say about the acting legend after she died Wednesday of congestive heart failure.

“No RIP Elizabeth Taylor who spent her life in adultery and enabling proud fags. They cuss her in hell today. #Westboro will picket funeral!” she tweeted.

Taylor had seven husbands and was married eight times (twice to Richard Burton). She was also one of the first celebrities to help victims of AIDS, and set up the successful Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.
A statement released by Taylor’s family says that a private funeral will be today.

Since this is my blog and my space to speak my mind I am going to.  I have been reading Paul Monette for over a month now, four books total for a report I am going to do in my GLBTQ Literature class and a long the way I forgot how angry I really am about the whole AIDS Crisis.  Paul wrote angrily nearly 20 years ago  how so very little was being done. That the same hateful Nazi spewing vile bigot Fred Phelps is and now psychopath lunatic bitch daughter is also speaking nonstop.  These people need to shut the fuck up once and for all!  Period!  No questions asked! I have had my fill of it over the last twenty years.

Picketing Matthew Shepard's trial and funeral, picketing rallies and speeches for equality, picketing AIDS funerals and soldier's funerals, protesting Elizabeth Edward's funeral and now Elizabeth Taylor's funeral is to much to bear.  These people are vile, evil, hatemongers plain and simple and you know something those of us who are the loudest, bravest, biggest faggots, drag queens, leather men, dykes on bikes, Soldier Widow's and anyone else affected by this vile group should picket and protest as loud as we can for the next 100 years till these people fade away!

Freedom of  speech, my ass--- these people aren't even christian in my opinion.  These people would picket Christ's funeral in all honesty because lets face it his best friend was a whore, he hung out with lepers, he healed people on Sunday's, he hung out with 12 guys all the time, threw out money monger's out of the temple along with I am sure a slew of other things they would disagree with.  ENOUGH ALREADY!

Lets set the example that this behavior once and for all is NOT NOW OR EVER acceptable!  That we have a voice, we will be heard, we will shut their their doors and we will no longer be silent.  Thirty years of AIDS and there is still no cure, people are still dying and the sad thing is that the majority of the public who believe that this is a manageable disease is sick of hearing about it.

Well let me tell you something, it has been my god damn life that they are talking about a life I have been very blessed to have lived the last twenty years. All of my friends in their twenties when we were diagnosed are all FUCKING dead every single one of them before they hit even 35.  I can count six people counting myself that I know who have lived twenty years or more and let me tell it is not manageable by any long shot.

$7,000 a month in medications, $5,000 blood test every ninety days, $200 per doctor visit, the $60,000 I have had in radiation treatments for AIDS Related cancer, the over 600 friends, co-workers, acquantances I have buried because of AIDS, the four hospital satys I have had in the last four years and I could go on and yet it is manageable.  Am I mad, your damn right I mad and I am tired of not saying anything about it, doing anything about it and so should you!  It beyond time to once again to take to the streets and ACT UP, Fight Back and FIGHT AIDS!

Elizabeth Taylor Has DIED!!!

Oscar winning actress Elizabeth Taylor passed away today at Los Angeles, Calif.'s Cedars-Sinai Hospital at the age of 79.

Elizabeth Taylor's Las Vegas Birthday"She was surrounded by her children- Michael Wilding, Christopher Wilding, Liza Todd, and Maria Burton," Taylor's publicist, Sally Morrison, said in a statement.  In addition to her children, Taylor is survived by 10 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren.

Taylor had been hospitalized six weeks ago with congestive heart failure. Though she had recently suffered a number of complications, her condition had stabilized and it was hoped that she would be able to return home.

Taylor, a two-time Academy Award-winning actress who in later life became notorious for her seven marriages and sometimes eccentric behavior, had reported health problems in recent years and appeared frail in public appearances.

Taylor reported in October 2009 that she was having a heart procedure done. Via Twitter, she said it was "very new and involves repairing my leaky valve using a clip device, without open heart surgery so that my heart will function better."

Taylor's past health setbacks included a fall from a horse during one of her early film shoots, bouts with pneumonia and skin cancer, a tracheotomy, treatment for alcohol and painkiller addictions, and lung, hip, brain and heart surgeries. She has had anywhere from 30 to 40 surgeries, according to biographers.

In addition, she has seen her dramatic life frequently covered by gossip magazines, which have documented evident fluctuations in her weight over the years.

But she's iconic for being one of the most popular actresses of Hollywood's golden age. Born in London in 1932 to American parents who returned to the U.S. with WWII looming, Taylor bounded into the spotlight at age 12 after starring in the 1944 box office sensation "National Velvet." She won acclaim as an adult with 1951's "A Place In The Sun" and went on to score best actress Oscar nominations for "Raintree County," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," and "Suddenly, Last Summer."

In 1963, she memorably starred in "Cleopatra." She later won Oscars for "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Butterfield 8."

Beyond acting, Taylor is credited with bringing the world's attention to AIDS with her fund-raising and activism. In 1985, when Taylor's lifelong friend Rock Hudson died of AIDS, she brought national attention to the growing disease. It satisfying to her to use her celebrity for good - she raised and donated millions to the cause, founding the American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) and The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation.

"I don't think President Bush is doing anything at all about AIDS. In fact, I'm not sure he even knows how to spell AIDS," Taylor said once, frustrated with President Bush's slow-moving efforts to address the crisis.
She was also an entrepreneur, spearheading a successful line of perfume and multiple jewelry lines. In 1999, Taylor was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.  Taylor's last major interview appeared in the March issue of Harper's Bazaar. In it, she dished to reality TV star Kim Kardashian about her love life, her iconic roles and her jewels.

"I never planned to acquire a lot of jewels or a lot of husbands," Taylor said. "I have been supremely lucky in my life in that I have known great love, and of course, I am the temporary custodian of some incredible and beautiful things."  Taylor also mused about one of her former husbands, actor Richard Burton.  "It was inevitable that we would be married again, but it's not up for discussion," she said.

Lack of postings

 I am really sorry for the lack of postings over the last few days but I have been in a real funk, depressed if you will.  A lot of it has to do with the MRI last week, no results as of yet but the new medications I am on I hate the results I am having on them--to put it politely erectile dysfunction.  I feel like I have lost my masculinity as well as my over all self.  Who am I?  What makes me happy? Why am I so depressed? What can I do about it?  Besides all of this I feel as if right now I have nothing really to say and if I did only a few people are really listening, and for those few I appreciate it and love you for it.  What I think I need is some time by myself a vacation maybe, like that is ever going to happen anytime soon.

How do I cope? Why is this so troublesome? Why do I feel so alone all the time?  I do I feel so unhuman here lately, as if nobody sees me?  Maybe its the start of a depression because I have been ill for 20 years in July when in my opinion I should be rejoicing, its like I have lost myself somewhere along the way and I hate who the "I" has become.

Anybody with any advice?

Vintage Gay Montage set to music

"Secretly" - A Vintage Montage Of Guys Together from MJS on Vimeo.

Madonna - Celebration REMIX (Edson Pride Mix) & Vj Percy

Gretchen Jones Fall 2011

OK, I get the whole bohemian vibe here but honestly? It looks like a lot of the stuff we saw on Project Runway from Gretchen.  The same lines, the same silhouette's, the same aesthetic and frankly the same jewelry.  My problem and I will admit this upfront it is my problem, is I am not wowed by this, wasn't wowed when she won and I am still not.  Sorry I know my opinion but it is what it is.  Maybe punch in some color, shorten some of the skirts, change the models hair-- something, anything.  There are some really good solid pieces just somehow slightly different.  Your thoughts?

Alexander McQueen Fall 2011

Teens beat up Williamsburg man in gay hate crime

A group of teenage thugs viciously assaulted a Brooklyn man in Williamsburg last month because they thought he was gay.  Barie Shortell, 29, was on N. Fourth Street on Feb. 22 at around 10:10 pm when he brushed past six teenagers wearing hooded sweatshirts.  “Oh s–t, is that a guy or a girl?” one of the teens yelled. Shortell thought to himself that the slur was “juvenile,” but he crossed to Wythe Avenue just to be safe.
But the group followed and shoved Shortell against a wall, fracturing his jaw, nose and eye sockets. He has no recollection of the attack.  “I feel pretty confident they perceived me as a gay man and attacked me, but I can’t understand why they did what they did,” said Shortell. “I looked horrible. Blood was everywhere.
Shortell was taken to Woodhull Hospital, where surgeons operated for nearly 10 hours resetting his jaw and putting three metal plates in his head. A surgeon compared the force of impact to that of a car accident.  Police closed the case initially, but classified it a hate crime after the Anti-Violence Project interceded.  But no arrest has been made.
Shortell, who does not have medical insurance, remains focused on his recovery and his medical debts — which could cost $100,000. His friends have already organized a fundraiser for him next week.  “Gay Bash: A Benefit for Barie Shortell,” at Blackout Bar [916 Manhattan Ave. at Kent Street in Greenpoint, (718) 383-0254], March 23, 7 pm. Admission, $35. For info, www.bariebenefit.com.

"I Stoned That Homo To Death Just Like The Bible Told Me Too"

A 28-year-old Upper Darby man has been charged with murder after telling police that he stoned a 70-year-old man to death when the man made homosexual advances toward him, authorities say.
John Joe Thomas, 28, of Sunshine Road in Upper Darby, spent almost every day with 70-year-old Murray Seidman at Seidman’s Lansdowne home, police say. Days before Seidman’s body was found on Jan. 12, Thomas allegedly beat Seidman to death with a sock full of rocks.
Thomas told authorities that he read in the Old Testament that homosexuals should be stoned to death. When Seidman allegedly made homosexual advances toward him over a period of time, Thomas said he received a message in his prayers that he must end Seidman’s life, according to court documents.
Police say that Thomas struck Seidman in the head about 10 times with the sock of rocks. Thomas left Seidman dead in his apartment, and then threw his bloody clothing and the bloody sock in a dumpster, according to authorities.  Murray Seidman was allegedly stoned to death by... Though the relationship is still unknown, Thomas was the sole executor of Seidman's will and knew how much money was in Seidman's bank accounts, police say.
Thomas told police that he returned to Seidman’s apartment several days later on Jan. 12 to make it appear like he just discovered the body.  When police arrived, they found Thomas crying in the hallway of the apartment building saying, “I’m not going down there again. There is too much blood.”  Police found dried blood spatter on the living room floor, walls, and furniture. Seidman’s body was laying face down on the living room floor, police said.

According to Delaware County Medical Examiner Fredric Hellman, Seidman died of multiple blunt force trauma. He said Seidman had been dead between five and 10 days before police found the body.  Thomas is being held on first-degree murder charges.

BORN THIS WAY PARODY! "MORE THIS WAY" SHERRY VINE!!!!

OK kids I just had to do this!!! But please keep in mind it is a parody by a rather glamorousdragqueen named Sherry Vine. With that said his video is NOT for everyone. There is some "questionably vulgar" language and of course the dancer boys are parading around in jockstraps!! You have been warned but I just loved it and thought it was very funny

Anti-gay bullying leads to another tragic teen suicide

RITTMAN, Ohio — Another young life lost to anti-gay bullying.


     Nicholas Kelo Jr. knew what it was like to be relentlessly bullied, his family said, and it may have been what persuaded him to pry open a safe inside his home on Feb. 23, and remove the gun that killed him, reports the Akron Beacon Journal.  He was 13 years old. It is unknown as to whether or not Nick was gay, but that did not stop his bullies or their attacks.

”It had been going on for years,” Jacqueline Kelo [Nick's mother] said. ”We would talk and he would say [of the bullies] that they were not worth his time.”  Nick played football in middle school but gave up the sport this year to participate in high school band.

The switch, Jacqueline Kelo reasoned, resulted in swelling rumors. Some, she said, wrongly assumed that a kid who would prefer to play the tenor sax rather than tossing a pigskin must be gay.  “After that, it [the bullying] spiraled out of control,” she said.

One such incident allegedly happened on a school bus following a football game, explained the mother of another Rittman teenager who said her son is also a victim of bullying. During the incident, Nick allegedly became the victim of an older student who was “glicking” — forcibly spitting on him. Jacqueline Kelo knew something was bothering her son when he came home, but the eighth-grader refused to share the details — telling her that he would handle it himself. The parents became aware of it only after their son’s death.  Jacqueline Kelo said it didn’t surprise her that her son kept his pain to himself. Nick viewed himself as his mother’s protector.

“He was the man of the house,” the single mother said.   Nick’s death is being investigated as a likely suicide, according to Rittman police.  Nick recently scored 152 on an IQ test, which is classified as superior intelligence. He had a second-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, and was an avid inventor, creating both a waffle fork to remove hot food from a toaster and an incinerator trash can. Nine of Nick’s organs were collected and donated.
News of Nick’s death comes just days after the White House held a high-visibility conference on bullying prevention, with the President and First Lady calling on parents, teachers, students, and communities to address the problem together.

For those who read this blog this story , which i just read about, Rittman is about 20 miles from my home.  I was beside myself, scik to my stomach with the last of the anti'gay teen bullying but with it in my backyard, if you will,makesme madder than hell.  My heart goes out to this singlemother, and it is just breaking for her.  We as the gya and gay supportive community need to do something for this woman immediately as well as for our gay, questioning or just plain bullied for being gay even if they are not.

Lady Gaga for Theirry Mugler

A very good friend of mine Megan Blankenship shared this on Facebook and well kids I thought it was freaking fantastic and had to be here.  I do have to say I find the "skeleton man" fascinating in a very odd sexy way and did you all notice the biohazrd mark on his chest?  I wonder if Theirry got that idea from some HIV+/AIDS diagnosed gay men who tattoo that logo somewhere on their body.  I know it sounds a bit bizarre but it seems for s certain group of gay men the in thing to do.  Whether one could get away with that kind of thing in Canton, Ohio is beyond me as I have yet to see anyone anywhere in Ohio with one, keep in mind I am also not out and about as I probably should be.  Anyway if you have thoughts on this let me know in the comment area.  Also does anybody know if this is the same fellow from the "Born This Way" video who is the "skeleton"?

For the launch of his premier Mugler collection, men's ready to wear fall winter 2011-12, creative director Nicola Formichetti will debut an exclusive web-only film following runway show at Paris Men's Fashion Week.


Having enlisted Lady Gaga as Musical Director for the show, the film is set to a never-before-heard track of the artist "Born this way" single "Scheiße" feat. Rick Genest (Zombie Boy).


LADY GAGA "SCHEIßE" - FOR THIERRY MUGLER MENSWEAR WINTER 11-12 "ANATOMY OF CHANGE" from Mario Velazquez on Vimeo.

Christian Dior Fall 2011

Valerie Mayan: Pop Up Shop Visit

Well today was my second visit with Project Runway Star Valerie Mayan.  She is currently hosting a "pop up shop" in the Tremont neighborhood of Cleveland.  Valerie had invited me to the pop up shop when I met here at her pop up shop at Playhouse Square.  The shop was part of Friday's Art Walk in Tremont.  The art walk is featured monthly in the neighborhood, so check listings if you would like to attend.

The idea for the pop shop's came after Valerie's tenure on Project Runway because everyone was asking her where her store was.  Needless to say as a small business Valerie does not currently have the funds or stock to keep a store front full time.  I learned today "Yellowcake" which is her label name is a ONE woman operation.  She has some help at times setting up or taking down the pop up shops but it is not always a given.  There is NO paid employees currently. The pop up shops are "Our opportunity to introduce ourselves and our products to the community."  This shop was the fourth time doing it with the first being in Beachwood at Christmas time.


Last summer Valerie was fortunate enough to have fifteen college fashion design interns who helped with some things but NEVER cutting or sewing Yellowcake clothing.  She stated "that the standard in her opinion is that the designer you are buying from should do 98% of the work you buy."  I have to agree with her on that one.  It of course takes a lot of time and energy to give all those interns and she says "a lot of how it all works out is how badly they want to be there, how much they are willing to learn, as well as work and dedication like any other job anywhere else. It has been a pleasure having them." 

She calls her company a High Quality one "that is in it's toddler phase, who knows how to run but things like using a knife and fork is still being learned."  I liked the analogy the minute she said it in reference to the amount of work it takes to run a small business. She is  very thankful to the many Clevelander's who do support her business and she is also thankful to all the charity work she has done which has picked up since her exposure on Project Runway which in many ways brought credibility and visibility to her company which was opened a year to a year and a half  before the show. 

This came up when I got to talking to her about the "Made In America" series with Diane Sawyer and that how if the average American spent only four dollars a day on products made in America we could create at the least a thousand new jobs.  Valerie was intrigued by the idea but felt "that we had to have products that were above competitive to everything else on the market because with the economy the way it is we as Americans are currently under money strains to a degree and have to carefully pick and choose how we spend our money."  Again I had to agree.

Valerie is currently looking for investors, donors and sponsors so she could develop the Yellowcake label, because despite what some would consider "popular belief" contestants are not paid to be on Project Runway, that the only money dolled out is what you saw last season.

Upcoming pop up shops are in the works for the Ohio City area and Detroit Shoreway area.  Currently though you can catch Valerie March 18th from 11- 10, March 19th 11-10 and March 20th 11-4 in Tremont at 2406  Professor Avenue.

Thanks again Valerie for such a wonderful, fun, entertaining and edcuational experience you have been absolutely wonderful.  By the way every purchase made with Yellowcake 5%  of the purchase goes to support the Cleveland City Mission.

Whose Line Is It Anyway - Richard Simmons (Hilarious!)

Straight mat at George Washington University gay bashed

A senior at George Washington University was charged in D.C. superior court Monday with beating another student while calling him antigay slurs, according to the school’s student newspaper, The GW Hatchet.

Metropolitan Police Department officers arrested senior Ross Richardson early Sunday morning in Ivory Tower after he kicked and punched a fellow student while saying, “You fucking fag.”

The student’s name was not released because the Hatchet has a policy of not naming assault victims.

The victim, who is straight, told authorities he had never met his attacker before the assault. He was rushed to GW Hospital after the attack with significant head trauma, including bleeding in his brain.


“I'm extremely surprised that at such a progressive school such a hate crime would happen," the victim told the Hatchet. "I'm even more surprised that it would happen to a straight, white male."

The assault is being classified as a hate crime, according to the University Police Department. The victim told police he has only scattered memories of what happened in the hours before the assault, likely the result of his severe injury.

Two students witnessed the assault and sat with the victim until police arrived. The victim spent two nights in the hospital and was expected to return to classes Friday.

Lady Gaga - Born This Way (Die Hoerer Bootleg Video Mix)

Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2011

Dolce & Gabbana - Fall Winter 2011/2012 by Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana -

OK I have to admit up front that I simply adore everything Dolce & Gabbana does with no questions asked from me.  With that said upfront I have to say I really love the whole mens wear look on wome or as they call it in the gay community "genderf*ck".  I just love specifically those looks more than the ohers maybe because I am on a real mens wear kick and maybe part of it tht ther is not one of those "genderf*ck" looks I would not wear!I also have to say I love the use of the mans hat as well, and it is nice seeing men's hats are coming back in a big way and it is more than just a baseball cap if you know what I mean. Think my goal here is goingo to recreate one of those "genderf*ck" looks from either my current wardrobe or from finds from Goodwill. Will keep you posted on how that all develops.

From the White House Blog---Bullying Prevention questions

Answering Your Questions on Bullying Prevention


Posted by Sarah Bernard on March 08, 2011 at 01:43 PM EST

Every day, thousands of kids, teens, and young adults around the country are bullied. Estimates are that nearly one-third of all school-aged children are bullied each school year - upwards of 13 million students. Students involved in bullying are more likely to have challenges in school, to abuse drugs and alcohol, and to have health and mental health issues. If we fail to address bullying we put ourselves at a disadvantage for increasing academic achievement and making sure all of our students are college and career ready.



On Thursday, the White House Conference on Bullying Prevention will bring together communities from across the nation who have been affected by bullying as well as those who are taking action to address it. As part of the agenda, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett will host a policy panel with issue experts including Catherine Bradshaw of Johns Hopkins University, George Sugai from the University of Connecticut, Susan Swearer-Napolitano from the University of Nebraska, as well as the Cyberbullying Research Center's Justin Patchin.



Would you like Valerie to pose a question on your behalf?



Send us your question here, or at Facebook.com/WhiteHouse to ask your question as a comment on our wall. Valerie Jarrett will pose as many of them as she can during the Experts Panel on Thursday morning. Tune in to watch at 11:00am EST at whitehouse.gov/live.

over 100,000 hits

Well somewhere along today we hit over 100,00 viewers, my lord I can't believe this.  I want to thank you all my readers.

Rag and Bone Mens wear Fall 2011