BEST MUSIC VIDEO EVER!

FORGOT ABOUT WHITNEY'S MOVIE!

This gorgeous singer could also really act. I mean, REALLY ACT. A natural communicator with a rare gift. I've gotta see this. Jordin is cute and talented but every time the camera left Whitney I wanted more of her. Gonna be a few tears at these screenings.

EUGENE MIRMIN'S CLEVER PRANK

A very amusing prank call to a christian right organization hell-bent on stripping away gays' rights and very well-versed in their evangelical talking points. Eugene gets some zingers in there before (it sounds like) the operator hangs up, I believe.

LISTEN: EUGENEMIRMAN

DARK FORCES AT WORK IN OUR GOV'T

INCHING TOWARDS A POLICE STATE...AS WE PRETEND TO SPREAD DEMOCRACY ABROAD WITH DECADES-LONG MILITARY OCCUPATIONS, WE ARE KILLING IT AT HOME. I don't even know who this power grab is even appeasing, but you won't see it on the news since their sponsors own our politicians. I suppose it all feeds the military/industrial complex.

FROM DEMANDPROGRESS.ORG:

Did you think it could get any worse? Now they want to legalize the use of propaganda on American citizens -- and the vote could happen NEXT WEEK.

An amendment legalizing the use of mass propaganda campaigns on American audiences has been inserted into the latest defense authorization bill — and that bill just passed the House.

Please click here to demand that the Senate oppose ending the propaganda ban -- it'll be up for a vote as soon as next week.

The NDAA amendment lifts bans on propaganda that have been around since the 1940s, neutralizing laws put in place to protect the American people from its government’s own “misinformation” campaigns.

“It removes the protection for Americans,” a Pentagon official told Buzzfeed, who broke the story. "There are no checks and balances. No one knows if the information is accurate, partially accurate, or entirely false.”

The amendment would remove all distinction between a hostile foreign audience and American one, turning the massive information operation apparatus within the federal government against its own people.

This amendment cannot become law. Will you join us in demanding that the Senate oppose this amendment to the NDAA? Just click here.

PLEASE SIGN: DEMANDPROGRESS.ORG

TRULY DISTURBING!

BATMAN SINGS???

AND ROBIN, TOO?

DOESN'T THIS LOOK APPETIZING?

JOEY ARIAS IN CENTRAL PARK 6/15 FREE!

JOEY ARIAS WILL BE PERFORMING IN CENTRAL PARK. Performing, as opposed to his usual "act" of panhandling, fellating homeless men and sleeping on park benches. But anyhoo, go see huh! It's FREE!

Iconoclastic singer and genre-bending performance artist Joey Arias teams up with award-winning bassist, composer Ben Allison and his band for a concert that’s sure to ruffle some feathers (or make you sprout new ones). Fresh off their sold-out shows at Carnegie Hall and Town Hall Joey, Ben and the band will perform original songs as well as their irreverent takes on classics by Dylan, Cream, Klaus Nomi, Billie Holiday and more. Don’t miss this unique night of music, comedy and improvisation.

A fixture of downtown New York City nightlife since his start as a backup singer for David Bowie through his 2011 hit show Arias With a Twist, Joey Arias has been awing audiences with his distinctive brand of humor and wit, leading the New York Times to declare, “From one moment to the next, [Joey Arias] is as sweet and naive as a storybook shepherdess, as dirty-mouthed and -minded as a sailor on shore leave, as scatterbrained as Lucy Ricardo, as serene as a Tibetan monk or as no-nonsense as an old Broadway trouper.”

MORE INFO: SUMMERSTAGE

AND THEY CLAIM THAT WE CORRUPT KIDS!

READING IS FUNDAMENTAL

The Lambda Literary Awards are this upcoming Monday June 4^th, in New York City and the incomparable drag-superstar Lady Bunny is DJing the afterparty. (The awards are sold out but there are still tickets available for the afterparty, which you can purchase here.)

We are really looking forward to seeing Lady Bunny work her magic to get a room full of bibliophiles out on the dance floor. That being said, we thought this would be a good opportunity to have a little book chat with the drag star.

Just what books line her stacks?

Our brief conversation follows:

What is your favorite book and why?

I’m ashamed to admit that I’m part of the 1/2 of American duds who don’t read one book per year. Internet-induced ADD, our soundbite-oriented culture and my hectic schedule don’t help the situation. I do salivate whenever I see lefty heroes like Naomi Klein or Robert Reich on the news with a new book out, but I’m always afraid they’ll be over my head. Do I still have the DJ gig, though?

As a child I was obsessed with all of the Oz series and anything about witchcraft, probably searching for an escape hatch from the dull suburbia of Chattanooga, Tennessee where I grew up. In my twenties, I discovered Patrick Dennis’s Little Meand First Lady. Of course, his Auntie Mame is much better known, but these two were much loonier. Little Me is the story of an insanely gorgeous wannabe star with zero talent, who always misinterprets her lot in life yet somehow wins in every predicament. First Lady is a completely giddy romp with the photos of the nut Peggy Cass (from 60s game show “To Tell The Truth.”) When I find a book I love, I re-read it many times. Or at least I used to!

A more recent book that blew my mind was Larry Kramer’s The Tragedy Of Today’s Gays. The truth hurts, but Larry isn’t afraid to tell it.

MORE: LAMBDALITERARYORG

I WAS NOT DJING THAT NIGHT

SHAME ON AMERICAN AIRLINES!

American Airlines Rejects Female Passenger Because Political Pro-Choice T-Shirt is "Inappropriate" by Jodi Jacobs

Yesterday I attended a meeting of pro-choice colleagues working to ensure women throughout this country get safe, compassionate abortion care. Today, I received an email from one of those colleagues, detailing the ordeal through which she was put by American Airlines on her flights home. They actually forced her to miss her connecting flight and demanded she change her top. The reason? Her politically salient pro-choice t-shirt was offensive to the flight crew.

MORE: RHREALITYCHECK

SO THERE IS A GOD!

Serpent-handling pastor profiled earlier in Washington Post dies from rattlesnake bite

MORE: WASHPO

TELL 'EM, GAL!

STILL ONE OF THE HOTTEST JAMS!

I know we're in this 1980s revival, but why don't we ever revive anything this great? WITH SOUL?

BUSH AND BLAIR NOW WAR CRIMINALS

This ruling likens the mass murder of Iraqis to Nazi war crimes. But don't blame our troops--they just needed a job. A job murdering innocent people in our names with our tax dollars funding them. Obama not only took prosecuting Dick and Cheney for war crimes off the table when he took office, but he also blocked an investigation--BLOCKED AN INVESTIGATION--of Bush and Cheney from Spain.

WHAT HAPPENED 2081?

OBAMA'S DISTURBING "KILL LIST"

I guess killing Osama Bin Laden isn't enough to make Obama seem strong on defense. He's killing with drones in this way in order to appeal to centrist voters. Lives for votes. What a sick game. Are you still celebrating Memorial Day now that you know that Obama even has Americans and 17 year old girls on his "kill list" of drone targets? Sadly, democracy and civil rights are on this list. How can we support the troops when their commander in chief is so messed up? NY TIMES:

"Nothing else in Mr. Obama’s first term has baffled liberal supporters and confounded conservative critics alike as his aggressive counterterrorism record. His actions have often remained inscrutable, obscured by awkward secrecy rules, polarized political commentary and the president’s own deep reserve.

His focus on strikes has made it impossible to forge, for now, the new relationship with the Muslim world that he had envisioned. Both Pakistan and Yemen are arguably less stable and more hostile to the United States than when Mr. Obama became president.

Justly or not, drones have become a provocative symbol of American power, running roughshod over national sovereignty and killing innocents. With China and Russia watching, the United States has set an international precedent for sending drones over borders to kill enemies."

NY TIMES ARTICLE: < href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/29/world/obamas-leadership-in-war-on-al-qaeda.html?pagewanted=all">NYTIMES

WATCH ANALYSIS ON THE YOUNG TURKS: CURRENT.COM

DON'T TRY THIS RESTAURANT IF YOU ARE DIETING!

I made a recent excursion out to Brooklyn for this place recently. Not only are the bisquits delicious, but the cornbread ain't nothing to sneeze at. The side dishes, pleasant homey atmosphere and pleasant staff were just gravy. Highly recommended.

MORE: NYDAILYNEWS

A MUSICAL WRITTEN BY LYPSINKA!

A blast from the 80s. Lypsinka was a Pyramid regular like me. But while we were drinking heavily, she was writing full-length musicals. This promo is half an hour long, but it's a wacky take on 1960s models, so what's not to love? (Except maybe the casiotone backing tracks?)

SUCH A CRAZY LADY!

ANNUAL LOW LIFE FESTIVAL 6/3 AND FREE!

On June 3, JACKIE FACTORY producers CHI CHI VALENTI and JOHNNY DYNELL will stage a be-in of love and glitter for their sixth annual LOW LIFE @ HOWL! FESTIVAL. LOW LIFE is the free and fabulous Sunday evening climax to HOWL! - a two-hour spectacular inspired by East Village decades past. This year's LOW LIFE 6: EAST VILLAGE OTHERS celebrates the world-changing explosion of East Village culture from 1966-1972. Named for the seminal underground newspaper the EAST VILLAGE OTHER, the show will pay homage to movements and supernovas including the EXPLODING PLASTIC INEVITABLE happenings in what became the ELECTRIC CIRCUS, film and performance pioneer JACK SMITH and his Flaming Creatures, the Tompkins Square Park YIPPIES, the FILLMORE EAST and the Bowery-raised Warhol Superstar JACKIE CURTIS with her cohorts HOLLY WOODLAWN and CANDY DARLING.

EAST VILLAGE OTHERS will open with a tribute to the SLUM GODDESS OF THE LOWER EAST SIDE, set to THE FUGS' mid-Sixties ditty "Nova Slum Goddess" and featuring several generations of Fierce East Village Females including BIG ART GROUP vixen HEATHER LITTEER, Pyramid Club Supernova TABBOO!, creatrix ST. EVE, authoress ZOE HANSEN, rocker ANNE HANAVAN and filmmaker KATRINA DEL MAR. The two-hour show will also star emerging hometown companies like Neue dance ensemble THE RACHEL KLEIN THEATER (in an homage to the EXPLODING PLASTIC INEVITABLE) and butoh greats VANGELINE THEATER (who have performed at all five previous editions).

Gender-bending thesbian BRANDON OLSON is creating a JACK SMITH homage especially for LOW LIFE 6, with choreography by NYC BALLET alumnus ROBBY LAFOSSE. Their large cast of Flaming Creatures includes KAT VENTURA, CURTIS CARMAN, TALIE PIPER, CASIMIR AND RA, GIO CORSINO, INBRED HYBRID COLLECTIVE, CHRIS SHARP and ROBERT APPLETON. Other show highlights will include a Fillmore East segment starring AMBER MARTIN as JANIS JOPLIN, spoken word star EMANUEL XAVIER and actor DONNIE MATHER performing an excerpt from Allen Ginsberg's masterpiece AMERICA, MCs PAUL ALEXANDER (of JACKIE 60) and longtime CLICK + DRAG co-creatrix EDITRIX ABBY. Plus a few surprises - bill is now CLOSED except for late-breaking cameos.

LOW LIFE events were inspired by the seminal LUC SANTE book "LOW LIFE: The Lures and Snares of Old New York" and are produced by local performance collective THE JACKIE FACTORY NYC. The annual LOW LIFE extravaganzas at HOWL! continue a body of work born at the seminal Meat Market nightclub JACKIE 60 in 1997. For the show's producers, East Village residents for over two decades, this annual spectacular is a Valentine to the neighborhood's past, present and future stars.

MORE INFO: MOTHERNYC

CHANGE THE CHANNELS!

The headline in today’s New York Times says it all: “You Can Change the Channel, but Local News Is the Same.”

In a front-page story, the Times exposes a widespread but little-known problem: Your local CBS station just might be producing the news for your local NBC affiliate. Or your local ABC station might be providing the news for your local Fox station.¹Though the specifics vary from community to community, the end result — copycat newscasts — is the same.

The good news? The Federal Communications Commission is now taking a closer look at this practice. We need thousands of people to tell the FCC that we want diverse local news coverage — and not the same content on channel after channel.

Put the Local Back in Local News

Free Press has been tracking covert consolidation for years.²

Here’s the deal: One company takes control of multiple stations in a given market, often laying off entire newsrooms at the absorbed stations. Then the new owner centralizes news production, going to great lengths to preserve the illusion of editorial independence. The practice has killed more than 500 newsroom jobs — and left viewers with far fewer sources of local news.

How widespread is this problem? In at least 83 of the nation’s 210 television markets, broadcasters are airing the same cookie-cutter programming on two, three or even four stations in the same community. They use the same reporters and even the same anchors.

In San Angelo, the Texas city profiled in the Times, identical stories appear on KSAN and KLST, but different branding appears on the screen. Unless you’re in the habit of flipping back and forth during the news hour, you’d have no idea that these supposedly competing stations are delivering an identical product.

Tell the FCC: Change the Channels. Stop Covert Consolidation.

The FCC could propose new media ownership rules as early as this summer. Let's keep up the public pressure to make covert consolidation a thing of the past.

SIGN: FREEPRESS

TEE HEE!

HORRIBLE!

This week, millions saw this dramatic photo of a gay man beaten by neo-Nazi extremists in Kiev, Ukraine. It's shocking, but the anti-gay movement doesn't stop there. As early as this week, Ukraine's legislature is expected to vote in favor of new laws that will make it illegal to be gay or lesbian in public.

President Viktor Yanukovych is the person with the power to stop the law in its tracks. He's been trying to forge a "special alliance" with the European Union for years and this Friday an EU delegation focusing on human rights will visit Ukraine to advance the alliance process.

40,000 Europeans have already signed on to tell Yanukovych to block this atrocious law. But that's just not enough - we need to double that number before the meeting on Friday. If we don't push him to speak out now, an entire generation will be forced into the shadows.

Will you help us reach 100,000 signers around the world in the next two days? If we hit the goal, All Out will partner with our friends in Ukraine in a dramatic delivery that President Yanukovych cannot ignore:

www.allout.org/ukraine

We've seen this before. Just like in St Petersburg Russia, the bill Ukrainian politicians are pushing makes it a crime to write or speak anything considered "homosexual propaganda". Over 30,000 Europeans have already signed a petition letting Yanukovych know that if he wants to partner with their countries, he must block this atrocious law. If we join with those already taking action in Europe, we can make this the biggest global protest in Ukrainian history.

In two weeks, Euro 2012 (Europe's football championship) is being hosted by Ukraine. Several large and influential countries have threatened to boycott if Ukraine doesn't clean up it's act on human rights. Yet, Yanukovych has stayed silent as anti-gay sentiment grows across Ukraine. If he doesn't speak out now, an entire generation will be forced into the shadows.

This hateful law is moving silently under the radar and is set to pass. With only two days before the EU delegation arrives and only another week until Euro 2012 kicks off, we can really turn up the heat on Yanukovych to denounce this law.

Yanukovych's legacy is at stake - let's make sure he knows it:

SIGN: ALLOUT.ORG

JOEY HEATHERTON SINGS SLY & THE FAMILY STONE

NOW THIS IS AN ENTRANCE!

Polish diva is a knockout--and you know I love her wig as much as her nutty shrieks!

ROBERT REICH'S THOUGHT ON MEMORIAL DAY

WE'RE CUTTING EDUCATION--YET WE SPEND MORE ON WAR EVEN AS WE DRAW DOWN FROM AFGHANISTAN. SPENDING ON WAR WHEN THERE IS NONE AT THE EXPENSE OF EDUCATION? CUCKOO!

"At a time when Medicare, Medicaid, and non-defense discretionary spending (including most programs for the poor, as well as infrastructure and basic R&D) are in serious jeopardy, Obama and the Democrats should be calling for even more defense cuts.

A reasonable and rational defense budget would be a fitting memorial to those who have given their lives so we may remain free."

MORE: NATIONOFCHANGE

THE BRILLIANT BILL MAHER ON OBAMA'S FAILINGS

CONGRATS TO ALL BEEF PATTY!

(via Michael Musto)

DEEP SEA MADNESS

SUNDAY FUNNIES!

OINK! OINK!

NEW TUNBE/ALBUM FROM THE GOSSIP!

BETH'S VOICE! BETH'S MAKE-UP! BETH'S DRESS!

OKAY, GURL?

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DIVINE KATE PIERSON

OF THE B-52S!

BY WILL HARRIS:

The artist: The B-52s’ debut single, “Rock Lobster,” not only blew the minds of American radio listeners when it was released in 1978, but also prompted John Lennon to return to the studio for the first time in half a decade. Although The B-52s went quiet for a few years after the 1985 death of guitarist-songwriter Ricky Wilson, the band returned in 1989 with Cosmic Thing, which became the most successful album of its career. Although the B-52s’ last studio album was 2008’s Funplex, the group continues to tour regularly and has just released its first live effort, With The Wild Crowd, which features selections from almost every album in the band’s discography.

Kate Pierson: Fred [Schneider] started with the lyrics. He had gone to this disco… I think it was called the 2001 Disco, and he saw these crustaceans that were projected onto the wall, saw a rock lobster, and… I guess he wrote some lines about it. [Laughs.] And then we were sitting around at Bradley Peterson’s house—we always called it Bradley Peterson’s house, even though Ricky and Cindy [Wilson] had moved into his house after he moved—and that was the first place we jammed on “Rock Lobster.” Keith [Strickland] came over, and Ricky was just sitting there, grinning with his guitar in his lap. Keith said, “What are you smiling about?” And Ricky said, “I’ve just written the stupidest guitar line you’ve ever heard.” And it was… [Imitates the guitar line.] And Keith just flipped out. He said, “That’s the best. That is just the greatest guitar line.” So when we jammed with that, Ricky and Keith developed the rest of that—well, mostly Ricky, really—and Fred laid down the classic lines he had written, then Cindy and I added our harmonies and our fish sounds at the end. And that’s how it came about. I can still vividly remember us sitting in that room, coming up with the sound and just kind of working out the parts as we were jamming on it.

MORE: AVCLUB

RIGHT ON TIME!

WORTH WATCHING THE AD TO SEE!

IN THE NEWS....

MEET THE FOKKENS!

Twin hookers aged 69 are the subject of a new documentary at Film Forum beginning 8/8. From Amsterdam, here's an excerpt from this outrageous article from the Daily News.

A new documentary, "Meet the Fokkens," follows Martine and Louise, two endearingly dowdy sister sex workers, as they go about their daily lives in Amsterdam — eating dessert and seducing men
.

In the clip, Louise is seen giving Martine a pep talk.

"You did the work, you've been a whore," she says. "You'll never get rid of that name. They'll always call you names, so be one."

MORE: NYDAILYNEWS.COM

Naked man killed by Police near MacArthur
Causeway was ‘eating’ face off victim

One man was shot to death by Miami police, and another man is fighting for his life after he was attacked and his face allegedly half eaten, by a naked man on the MacArthur Causeway off ramp, police said.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/05/26/2818832/naked-man-shot-killed-on-macarthur.html#storylink=fb#storylink=cpy

MORE: MIAMIHERALD

ASEXUAL ARTIST COOKS OWN GENITALS FOR $

"An artist in Tokyo cooked and served his own surgically removed genitals to a group of paying customers while an audience looked on."

SADLY, HE COULDN'T CUM! BUT HIS AUDIENCE REALLY GOT THE SHAFT!

This gem is from Feast Of Fun.

MORE ON THIS INSANITY: FEASTOFFUN

FINALLY! THE MYSTERY EXPLAINED!

CELEBRATING MEMORIAL DAY IS CELEBRATING DEATH AND DESTRUCTION

MEMORIAL DAY: HONOR THE DEAD, HEAL THE WOUNDED, STOP THE WARS by Amy Goodman

AN EXCERPT:

On stage, Lance Cpl. Scott Olsen declared: “Today I have with me my Global War on Terror Medal, Operation Iraqi Freedom Medal, National Defense Medal and Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal. These medals, once upon a time, made me feel good about what I was doing. ... I came back to reality, and I don’t want these anymore.” Like the riot police flanking the stage, many on horseback, Olsen also wore a helmet. He is recovering from a fractured skull after being shot in the head at close range by a beanbag projectile. He wasn’t shot in Iraq, but by Oakland, Calif., police at Occupy Oakland last fall, where he was protesting. On stage with the veterans were three Afghan women, holding the flag of Afghanistan. Just before they marched, I asked one of them, Suraia Sahar, why she was there: “I’m representing Afghans for Peace. And we’re here to protest NATO and call on all NATO representatives to end this inhumane, illegal, barbaric war against our home country and our people.

MORE: NATIONOFCHANGE

A CAMP CLASSIC!

SHOCKER: BRITNEY'S STILL CRAZY!

It walks off of X Factor because a contestant butchered it's song? At least the contestant sang it live!

MORE: VIESFROMABROAD

AHAHAHAHAHA!

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: PONPONPON

(courtesy of Sister Dimension!)

HA!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PATTI!

LOCA!

RAQUEL COVERS NANCY SINATRA!

SO ADORABLE!

THIS DUNCE HAS A VOTE

LEARN SOMETHIN' NEW EVER DAY!

SLURP!

INSANE!

PLEASE SIGN IF YOU AGREE!

America is not broke — we're the richest country in the history of the world.

But you wouldn't know that if you just listened to House Speaker John Boehner and other Republicans in Congress, who are already openly talking about forcing another debt ceiling crisis unless Democrats agree to brutal spending cuts.

The very same politicians who are pleading poverty and yelling the loudest about the need to slash the social safety net are also the ones trying the hardest to preserve the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans, which are set to expire at the end of the year.

Very little so clearly demonstrates the callous venality of some members of Congress as their demand to give the Koch brothers a tax cut while simultaneously pushing benefit cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Tell Democrats in the House and the Senate: End the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. Click here to automatically sign the petition.

While there are certainly Democrats who are bad on this issue, the bigger threat is the response of Democrats as a whole to Republican hostage-taking. Based on past performance, we have reason to be worried.

During last year's debt ceiling crisis, extremist Republicans — many of whom voted for the very tax giveaways to the wealthiest Americans and the unfunded wars that caused our budget deficit to explode — were able to use the threat of a government default to hold the entire American economy hostage.

This despite the fact that raising the debt ceiling, while sometimes prompting grandstanding by politicians, had previously been a routine matter.

In addition, the ensuing farce that was the Super Committee negotiations was very telling. Democrats offered up massive concessions, including offering up brutal cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security benefits. But Republicans simply would not raise taxes on the wealthy and the ultra-wealthy.

Fortunately, we do not need any affirmative vote to do away with the Bush tax cuts because they were only extended until the end of the year. We just need the Democrats to stand strong.