Sitcom snipers

Sir Ian McKellen & Derek Jacobi only play catty gay partners on TV.

Help Alec Mapa fund his Baby Daddy documentary.

Female artists are on the rise.

Never-heard '85 Beastie Boys Q&A + Madonna chat.

Madonna was serving fish in 1992. Hook it.

Madonna "Gang Bang" footage.

Boyfriends remix RuPaul's "Cover Girl."

Pet Shop Boys U.S. tickets on sale.

The Presets/Dragonette tickets on sale for NYC gig.

Cher's mom Georgia Holt releases an album at age 86.

My Fair Wedding's David Tutera expecting divorce, twins.

The making of Behind the Candelabra.

OUT & ABOUT: Find gay-friendy tour operators abroad.

SF Pride chooses "corporate sleaze"?

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) supports gay adoption.

Out RBD singer/actor Christian Chavez & BF arrested.

James Franco's SM birthday cake.

Perfectly preserved, abandoned farmhouse.

Wallflowers has a new Bryce: Lucas Near-Verbrugghe.

Joey Lawrence pops weirdly huge bicep.

SHE'D RATHER BE IN PHILADELPHIA: Mariela Castro allowed in.

New Yorkers voice support for Jason Collins.

Collins speaks about his "mind-boggling" coming-out.

The Rubin Report asks Lance Bass & a Young Turk about Collins.

Lance Bass comes out in support of Jason Collins

None of these stockings are stuffed

BIG GULP: Andrew Christian's R-rated Christmas card.

Gay couples in WA begin getting licenses to wed.

Judd Apatow's Vanity Fair covers do suck.

PICTURE THIS: KIIS-FM Jingle Ball portraits.

Israel's first gay divorce.

Mormons warming up to gays?

Starbucks, JCP ignore anti-gay protests.

DILDO BAGGAGE: Gay couple humiliated in court, too.

Wealthy gays OK with tax hikes for the rich.

He should be the Hunk of the Day every day.

Anti-gay Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-North Carolina) can't read.

This is not an Onion headline:

Fate-so!

Two for two and none for all

I was disappointed to read the comments of "Fabulous Beekman Boys" Josh Kilmer-Purcell and Brent Ridge when they were asked about why their romance was undercover on The Amazing Race. They said, in a Facebook posting:

"Of the five legs shown thus far, four have been in Muslim countries and homosexuality is illegal in every country we’d visited or passed through. Since we are guests in these countries, we chose to not embrace or kiss for practical and respectful reasons.

"We were literally relying on the kindness of strangers and cab drivers and challenging their beliefs would not have been strategically smart nor neighborly. To be completely fair, perhaps many of the great people we met along the way wouldn’t have had any issues with our relationship. But unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to get to know them better personally."

I totally understand the fact that they're in a competition to win money. In that regard, it is wise and cunning to conceal their homosexuality in countries or in any situations in which it might not benefit them.

From New Zealand, a Hobbit-inspired air-safety video...

Shortly after take-off, this small plane with four souls aboard crashed into some trees—and the whole thing was recorded by the passengers. Luckily, all four survived and will fully recover. Amazing how silent they are as they begin to clip trees and it becomes apparent they will not stay airborne. Eerie...

Arriving in Paris!

José fulfilled a lifelong dream (that just popped up within the past few months!) to visit Paris on his latest BIG birthday. Luckily, I was a part of the package.

He did all the planning, which was all the harder to do because we only had three days in what some consider the greatest city in the world.

First view of the Seine

On my recent trip to Dallas, I checked in at the self-service kiosk at LaGuardia. I not only got my boarding pass, which was for Thursday around 3PM, I also got a boarding pass for Dallas passenger Jamie Berg, who was flying from there to Santa Ana later that evening. Kinda bizarre. I handed it in and the agent smiled and said thanks with no explanation.

I already used it—don't get excited

The last time I flew United, I threw a fit. I never check my bags unless I'm gone for a week or more (and I'm never gone for a week or more), so I'd been really pissed off to have my carry-on taken from me in a flash as I attempted to board and be told there was no more space in the overheads for it. I didn't even have a moment to remove my camera or the stuff I'd brought to entertain myself on the flight it happened so fast; they apparently felt the flight was in danger of being late.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

GayCities.com commissioned artist Wendy MacNaughton to do this gay map of the world as part of its annual "best of" contest. Users have until December 16 to vote on fave gay-friendly destinations with winners announced in January—one member who votes will win roundtrip airfare to Berlin for two.

As of midnight tonight, it will be exactly five years since my first post. It's hard to imagine it's been that long, and a lot's changed—the tone and subject matter are different, how often I post, my limits (no nudity in a couple of years due to ad constraints). I've devoted a crazy amount of time and money and energy to this blog for a very small financial return (you couldn't guess low enough), but it's always rewarding to have this forum with which to express myself, keep my writing ability fluid, perhaps influence a couple of people here and there, share obsessions with strangers (in both senses of the word) and learn new things.

Take That's Howard...can you believe this happened onstage at a pop concert?

Here are some of the posts that were most important to Boy Culture's history. For the uninitiated, some of the oldest ones refer to Boy Culture, the movie made of my novel; I started the blog at the time Boy Culture was being filmed as a way to keep people informed of the progress...and it all snowballed from there.

Subtle

Some of these posts are milestones when it comes to the hits they provided but most are filled with original writing and/or photography and video and are just the posts of which I'm proudest. I hope you'll take some time to click on them and send their links around to others—and some time is what you'll need...

MY ART

Boy-crazy

FROM BOY TO MAN: BC B.C. (2007): The entire history of my novella, novel and movie Boy Culture; might be my ultimate post.

From '07, one of my faves. Old iPhones were better because they were worse.

"Your pictures suck" (2008): An art critic attacks me, but not without sustaining some hits in return.

GUYDAR (since at least January 17, 2008) & ENDS OF THE WORLD (since at least January 13, 2008): Attractive men of the world—I got your backs. Your fronts, too.

i-i-i (phone)

TriBeCa is for Boy lovers...

BOY ON FILM (2006): An account of the NYC launch party for Boy Culture as it played the TriBeCa Film Fest.

I was left "Reeling" by the experience

FRIENDS AND "FAMILY" (2006): The movie version of Boy Culture hits Chicago.

RAPT PUPIL (2006): The final night of Outfest with Boy Culture; I was fat but on the other hand got to meet Bryan Singer.

Let's call it a draw

DRAWN TOGETHER (2008): How my desire to draw related to my secret desire. One of my absolute favorite posts.

ME

Death of the party—Jeff in high school, already halfway through his life

BURNING MAN (2007): Tribute to my late high school friend and first romance.

I had the Fever for Jon-Erik Hexum

AN OBSESSION IS BORN (2009): One of my best posts about my obsession with...obsession.

Death becomes here

ILLINOIS DEATH TRIP (2007): Ruminations on death while revisiting a past home, and the past.

Life is short and meaningful

PASSING BY (2008): Mourning the loss of a person I only met once.

I was given the red-carpet treatment

HAVEN'T WE MET? (2010): Celebrating my time with someone I've only met once—Madonna.