Friday, February 29, 2008

Hands off our kilts!

To Scotland, it is as important as Parmesan is to Italy and champagne is to France. Now the national dress, the kilt, could soon get the same type of brand protection as its European counterparts.

The traditional kilt is at the centre of a campaign which, if won, would mean that only those made in Scotland could call themselves Scottish kilts.

The campaign is the idea of an Edinburgh-based kilt-maker, Howie Nicholsby, who, exasperated by the influx of cheap, foreign imports calling themselves Scottish kilts, got in touch with the Scottish Member of European Parliament Alyn Smith to see if they could persuade the European Commission to give the Scottish kilt protected designation of origin (PDO) status.

If their attempt is successful it would mean that only kilts that were hand sewn, made in Scotland and made from pure wool could be known as a Scottish kilt. Those that did not meet the three criteria would simply have to be known as kilts.

Marilyn Manson shoots Chad White



Chad White is one of the world's hottest male models and Marilyn Manson has shot him - in a recent photo shoot for top photographer Steven Klein.


Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Ben Cohen - Sexy Dad


Getting a baby to behave as the cameras click can be difficult. But Ben Cohen, father of twin girls, had his hands full when he tried to get his daughters to smile together on cue.

The 29-year-old former England rugby star was hoping to recreate an updated version of the classic sepia image of man and child that sold five million Athena posters in the 1980s.

But his wriggling, giggling, five-month-olds Isabelle and Harriett refused to play ball. It took three hours to come up with the final shot of him holding Isabelle, who decided to co-operate for just long enough.


Cohen is the face of the Problem Shared campaign, which supports first-time fathers.

What happened when beefy rugby star Ben Cohen tried to recreate the classic naked Athena poster - Daily Mail

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Hercules and Love Affair - Blind

As is so often the case these days - maybe it's my age - whenever you hear something fantastic is seems to reference something beloved from the past. This is very much the case with the first great dance single of 2008 - Blind by Hercules and Love Affair.

Hercules and Love Affair is comprised musically of New York DJ Andy Butler - red-haired and cubbish - with sidekicks Kim Ann and Nomi. Vocals on Blind and several other tracks on their forthcoming debut album are - unexpectedly - by Antony Hegarty - the ethereally-voiced, gender-confused singer from former Mercury Music Prize-winners Antony and the Johnsons.

The result is a rather retro disco single with a gloriously spooky vocal soaring above it - something like discovering a previously-unheard demo by Patrick Cowley and Sylvester from the early 80s, something soulful, extraordinary and oddly pioneering; something fresh and new and yet strangely comforting.

Blind is released in the UK 3 March 2008, with a self-titled album to follow on 10 March. The somewhat subdued video for Blind - all toned-down, arty 80s excess hinting at alternative queer cinema - can be seen below.



Hercules and Love Affair MySpace
Hercules and Love Affair - Official Website

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Chris Fountain - as cold as ice

We're all waiting for the thaw - thanks to this picture from the latest issue of Cosmopolitan.

Sunday, February 17, 2008

Alan Bates

By way of marking the anniversary of the birth of fine British actor Alan Bates - a small tribute to a beautiful bearded man who for those of us 'of a certain age' will always hold a special place in our hearts for his appearances in classic late-60s and early-70s films, such as The Go-Between, Far From the Madding Crowd and, most of all, Women In Love - probably the first major studio picture to dare male full frontal nudity.

For the nude wrestling scene with Oliver Reed in Women In Love, for your beautiful face, lovely beard, sensitive, questioning performances and your ever-willingness to get your kit off for your art - Alan Bates, we honour, esteem and remember you.


Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Russell Tovey in Being Human

New, one-off drama, Being Human, is a witty, exciting, sexy and extraordinary look at the friendship between three twenty-something outsiders trying to find their way in an enticing, yet complicated world.

The BBC Three drama stars a cast of bright, up-and-coming actors – Guy Flanagan, Andrea Riseborough and Russell Tovey – alongside Adrian Lester.

Being Human explores what it's like trying to find where you fit into the grand scheme of things when you live with an unusual affliction…

Mitchell (Flanagan) and George (Tovey) are two twenty-something lads who, like any of their peers, would love to hit the town, pull girls and spend evenings down the pub.

Mitchell is a hospital cleaner, good looking, laid back and a hit with the ladies. Oh, and he's a blood sucking vampire.

Mitchell's friend George - played by the lovely Russell Tovey - works in the same hospital as a porter. He's an awkward but loveable geek who was befriended by Mitchell two years ago.

George was heartbroken after he had to move away from the love of his life; he had to leave before she discovered that at every full moon, he sprouts a snout, grows a very hairy back and transforms into a werewolf.

Having had enough of sleeping in hostels and temporary accommodation, Mitchell and George decide to get a flat together where they can indulge in their love of beer, pizza and watching TV.

They just want to have a go at being normal; being human.

Annie (Riseborough) is their uninvited lodger. When the guys move into their new creepy abode they are not expecting to share it with a ghost with a confidence crisis.

Annie used to live in the flat with her boyfriend but following a fatal accident, and now suffering from a distinct lack of self-esteem, she can't move on. So, she spends her time wandering around the house, making cups of tea she can't drink and scaring away anyone who dares try to move into her home. But when George and Mitchell move in Annie's surprised to find two new friends who are as unusual and weird as she is.

Being Human airs Monday 18 February 2008 on BBC3 - and if you don't like the sound of it perhaps the fact that Russell Tovey apparently spends much of the drama naked will persuade you to check it out.

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

Photo of Gay Hungarian Couple Wins World Press Photo Award


Couple targeted in anti-gay violence wait for medical help, Budapest, Hungary.


The 51st annual World Press Photo contest winners have been announced in several categories, from a total of 80,536 submissions from all over the world. The powerful photo above, by Zsolt Szigetváry of Hungary, took second place in the 'Contemporary Issues' category.

Chris Fountain - Dancing On Ice

He was sexy from the get go and from week one he showed promise on the ice and Hollyoaks star Chris Fountain is certainly not disappointing initial hopes.

Improving markedly week on week, despite a small fumble with a lift, Chris's dancing this week to Justin Timberlake's Cry Me A River was athletic, thrilling and sexy, combining complex dance choreography with challenging technical elements - surely he has to be the clear favourite now, to face the also impressive Suzanne Shaw in the final?



Bearlesque

Hairy, beary cabaret troupe Bearlesque will be making an appearance at Manchester's Bear Olympics themed Great British Bear Bash 11 in the Bears at the Birdcage show on Sunday 4 May 2008.

GBBB11 is an annual event-packed weekend for bears, cubs and their admirers and runs this year from 1 - 5 May 2008.

For more information about one of - if not the - UK's biggest bear events click here

Ben Cohen speaks out


Gay friendly rugby hunk Ben Cohen has done an interview with OUTSPORTS, talking about being a gay icon, gays in the family and whether the sport could handle an out gay player yet.

And he seems to be sporting a beard in recent pics. Result.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Girls who love boys who do boys

Gay porn comics beloved of Japanese girls are heading West, says Sean Thomas in The First Post

They call it 'Yaoi'. The derivation of the word is obscure. Some think it's just the Japanese way of saying 'gay'. Others claim the word is an acronym, derived from: 'yama nashi, ochi nashi, imi nashi' (which loosely translates as 'no story, just the good bits').

Whatever the etymology, the meaning is clear. Yaoi is the name of a bizarre sex phenomenon sweeping Asia: girls who are devoted to comics and pornography which focus on love, sex and romance - between men.

Of course, it's well known that men like the idea of sex between women. Lesbian erotica - for men - is arguably the most popular genre in the porn industry. But hitherto it was generally presumed that women were not interested in boys getting hot with other boys. The craze for Yaoi suggests this isn't true.

Yaoi began with Manga comics called shonen-ai, which depict, in a rather softcore way, intimacy between young men and originally aimed at gay men. But then the Japanese publishers noticed that many of their readers were heterosexual - and female.

Since then Yaoi, also known as BL (for Boy Love), has developed as a genre: with stories, comics and pornography specifically marketed at girls. Commonly these books and movies are written, shot and devised by women artists.

The stories have a formula. They usually feature a dominant male character - tall and masculine - who deflowers a smaller, more androgynous teen. Sometimes the stories are seriously explicit; these comics also attract a gay male readership, a rich irony.

What do girls see in Yaoi? Theories range from the obvious - "it's nice to look at cute boys together" - to the more complex and psychological: Yaoi is a way for women to explore and enjoy male sexuality, in a non-threatening way. But no one really knows.

What is not in doubt is the genre's success. Yaoi magazines sell right across Asia, in their millions. They have become hugely popular in Korea, Taiwan and now Thailand (causing consternation among local politicians). In the last couple of years, Yaoi has spread to America; a Yaoi convention was recently held in California.

And now Yaoi is coming to the UK. An English language Yaoi magazine has just launched on Amazon; there is even a website: yaoi.co.uk. Will it take off in Europe? If the next boy band in the pop charts is suspiciously gay, you'll know the answer is Yes.