Manhattan Digest

The Short Form: The 86th Academy Awards

Best Actor winner Matthew McConaughey and Camilla Alves (Source: ABC)

Welcome to the Short Form. The Short Form gives you all the angles on last night’s awards show so you can watch The Walking Dead with your Sunday night instead. Tonight is the 86th Academy Awards, the Super Bowl of awards shows. Ellen DeGeneres took the hosting reigns this year from the controversial Seth McFarlane, which should guarantee a different tone on Hollywood’s biggest night.

Ellen’s Hosting Job: Ellen seemed a touch jittery during her opening monologue, but in spite of that, she delivered a sharp monologue that managed to throw a touch of farce with the usual celebrity zings (including a particularly pointed one directed at Liza Minelli in which she mistook Minelli for an impersonator (ending on the quip “nice job sir”). The monologue was a welcome reprieve from Seth McFarlane’s rambling set pieces last year, clocking in at a brief eight minutes.

Ellen also played traffic cop considerably more than what we’ve seen in other shows, often personally introducing most of the presenters and hanging out in the audience more than we’ve tended to see with recent awards shows. I definitely like the move towards shorter interstitial pieces, as it always feels off when we only see the host once or twice throughout the show. That being said, many of the audience segments were flat out weird, asking about ordering pizza or taking selfies.

Is this the Grammys, because the music is the best part of this show!: On a night where everything felt a little off tempo, we got some killer musical performances that were a real bright spot for the show. Whether it was the spectacle driven performance of Pharell’s “Happy” or the intimate performances by Karen O and U2, this year’s ceremony has stepped up it’s game in its’ musical segments. Idina Menzel also shined with her performance of Frozen’s “Let It Go”, receiving a standing ovation from the crowd (including best song competitor Bono). This strength extended outside of the best music nominees, with Pink stepping up her game in tribute to Judy Garland. The one exception of the rule came at the worst possible time: Bette Midler’s punchless performance of “Wind Beneath My Wings” after a particularly brutal memoriam segment that showed how death hit all aspects of the movie world whether you preferred Peter O’ Toole, Harold Ramis, Philip Seymour Hoffman or even Paul Walker.

The pacing felt weird, especially in hour one: In a night with numerous teleprompter issues, it often felt like Ellen in particular was rushed, while presenters and speeches were given more room to breathe (the orchestra was extremely passive this time out). Furthering this is the fact that most of the early awards were often presented in twos or threes at a time. There were also an alarmingly high number of video packages, which felt unnecessary due to lack of heavy stage changes throughout the show. The end result was a long show (the show went three and a half hours) that often felt too deliberate in some parts and incredibly rushed in others.

Big Winners and bigger snubs: Gravity, American Hustle, and 12 Years a Slave received most of the best picture hype, and the academy had two clear favorites. Gravity cleaned house with 7 awards (particularly on the technical side), picking up best cinematography, best director (somewhere NBC is incredibly glad they can use this in advertising for Believe) best film editing, both sound awards and the best visual effects. Frozen managed to bat 1.000, picking up a couple of awards for best animated feature and best original song (for “Let It Go”), while The Great Gatsby picked up a pair of stylistic awards courtesy of Baz Luhrmann’s decadent vision. Cate Blanchett was one of the few to defeat Gravity in a category tonight for her work in Blue Jasmine, while Dallas Buyer’s Club picked up not only expected wins for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor (Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto respectively). The big winner of the night was 12 Years A Slave, which not only picked up the big prize, but awards for best adapted screenplay and best supporting actress.

In terms of movies that were ultimately snubbed are the years two most similar films, as American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street both got blanked, as did Captain Philips and Nebraska.

The red carpet front: I’ve been seeing a lot of green out on the red carpet, ranging from jade greens to darker hunter greens (like Idina

Menzel’s Vera Wang dress). The biggest star rocking this look out there is best actress nominee Sandra Bullock. The most divisive dress had to be Liza Minelli’s cobalt blue dress, which love it or hate, is a suitably spotlight stealing look for a suitably spotlight stealing star. In a rare occasion where I’m looking at men’s fashion, Pharrell’s shorts/Capri tux came off like a complete eyesore. On the other hand, both Cate Blanchett’s and Amy Adams’ dresses were incredibly classy affairs, and Matthew McConaughey’s white smoking jacket is pretty swank.

The night in speeches: The night started out with Jared Leto’s incredibly pretentious awards ceremony speech in which he managed to sneak in a plug for his band, as well as mentioning the civil war like situations in Ukraine and Venezuela. This was followed by an equally bizarre set up by Jim Carrey for an animation montage that included a random shot at Bruce Dern, prop glasses, and an LSD reference. We got an equally bizarre presentation moment later in the night with Kim Novak and Matthew McConaughey, where it looked like McConaughey wanted to go full Groucho, making it seem like he was trying ad-lib off a teleprompter (a delivery McConaughey would then follow for his best actor acceptance speech). After a tepid couple of hours, we got a bizarre speech from the co-writers of “Let It Go”, that involved quoting the birthday song and a scream of “Brooklyn!”

In terms of speeches I enjoyed, both documentary award recipients had quick and heartfelt speeches, with Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed discussing the subject of their film The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved my Life, while Darlene Love gave a rousing verse in the middle of the acceptance speech for 20 Feet to Stardom. Where Leto’s speech felt pretentious, Lupita Nyong’o’s best supporting actress speech was amazingly heartfelt and emotional (and the orchestra threw her a bone by playing her out with Willy Wonka).

Art & Commerce: the Street Art of Jilly Ballistic

by Jordan Mattos

Jilly and bunny buddy. — photo by Roberto Vincitore

Socially oriented themes are vital in keeping today’s art community from obsolescence. Desensitized by post-modern theory, many of today’s artists subscribe to the idea that personal narratives are as equally worthy as history’s. Often, the individual opinions, quirks and tastes of the artist trump objective social matters and form the impulse and focus of the work. As art schools and the needs of the marketplace teach the same, the common issues and conditions faced by large sections of the population go untouched as worthy subject matter in the artistic arena. This is a 21^st century concern.

Artists such as Caravaggio, who worked in service of the Church at first, worked to interpret daily life. His practice of picking up street urchins and prostitutes and using them to create portraits of religious figures offered an edgy commentary on hypocrisy in the religious community. His portraits, rendered in murky chiaroscuro, asked us about the validity of the Church’s claims to moral authority. Without question, we need more artists that consciously choose to interpret and comment on their surroundings and the political goings-on of everyday life.

The Brooklyn-based artist known as Jilly Ballistic chooses to use the advertising seen in New York City as canvas. Ballistic augments subway adverts and movie posters with unique, one-off photo cutouts that comment and question the ad’s initial purpose. By displacing the reason behind the production of a given piece of advertising, she creates her own intent – to question the ad and engage in dialogue with the potential consumer.

A poster for a reality TV show about wealthy Southerners inserts black and white cutouts of Confederate soldiers next to the modern-day socialites; a glass-enclosed subway map is taped up with a fictional police advisory: “if it ain’t broke, break it”; a Sports Illustrated ad featuring an attractive model in bikini is amplified with the sticker “Beauty has been modified from its original version.”

One of my favorite subvertisements is Ballistic’s Would you like to forget this movie ever existed? The question is posed in a pop-up icon on the movie poster for Vampire Academy. You don’t have to dislike the movie to connect with the work. There is an ongoing critique of warfare that runs through the majority of Jilly’s interventions. Cutout soldiers and gas masks are key images that keep popping up in her work. If you catch either of these, you know it’s a Jilly Bomb.

I was able to ask Jilly several questions about her work.

Where were you born?

Born and raised in New York City.

How has NYC influenced your art?

Every piece I put up is inspired by the City, from its architecture to the ads in the subway. They are all site-specific and have a relationship with the environment, a purpose.

What recent changes in the city have affected your creative process?

My process hasn’t been affected in any negative way. Despite the huge influx of cameras and the unjustified number of stop-and-frisks, the work still gets up. You develop a strategy for things like this and adapt. For example, you alter what paste you carry and what containers; can the print go up all in one large piece or in sections? Actually, the number of obstacles makes the process more challenging and even fun to work around.

Ballistic's swimsuit odyssey. — Ballistic’s swimsuit odyssey.

Many artists shy away from being political in their work for fear of being “on the nose” or appearing sincere. What are your thoughts on the matter?

You have a right to express or not express your thoughts on any topic. For myself, I’ll approach a political issue or respond to something in our pop culture if the time and location is right. Like I said, all my pieces are inspired by/site-specific, so if the City offers me an opportunity I take it and try to say something meaningful, either in a subtle way or with humor.

By playing with advertising, your pieces subvert the commercial. What is your overall relationship with commerce in NYC?

You can’t escape capitalism in New York. Even if you’re not actively purchasing anything, you’re exposed to the advertisements–they’re next to you in the train car, they’re on your building. We’re all in a relationship with commerce. And I use that as a common denominator; I attempt to say what the public is thinking about a product, be it a new film or Apple product.

What is a less obvious risk of creating street art?

With all the effort you put into a piece, there’s a chance the public puts little effort into understanding it.

The ‘would you like to forget such a film existed?’ piece plays with the public’s expectations of interactivity and being positioned as tastemakers. On one level it critiques media of questionable value (a cheesy, senseless teen movie) while using interactivity to offer the viewer the option to disregard content. What are your feelings on ‘tastemaker culture’ such as the foodie movement and its relationship to city life? Where do you position your art in the consumer/tastemaker culture?

Technology has changed the way we interact with the world around us, specifically allowing us the ability to talk back instantly with submitting comments, “liking,” or “disregarding.” It’s made each of us individual critics, or a “tastemaker” as you put it. This is another one of those common denominators I work with; most of us recognize alerts or error messages because they’re in our lives everyday. It has become a form of communication and a medium artists can use.

Jilly's Southern Comfort, modified. — Jilly’s Southern Comfort, modified.

Your pieces use existing advertising and material as jumping off points. Do you have a “dream ad” or physical space that you’d love to Jilly-bomb?

One of the best parts of doing ad or site interventions is that moment when you’re commuting as you usually do, and the train passes an ad/space you know you have to hit. It’s a gut feeling, an instinct. So I don’t usually sit and dream about spaces, I let the world surprise me.

What is your opinion on a hacking group such as Wikileaks? To you, what is the relationship between art and hacking?

When mainstream media and journalists no longer take risks to uncover what’s truly happening, we have to depend on ourselves. There’s a creative way to do this-like with cinema, graffiti, or visual arts for example-or direct reporting, like revealing official documents.

Social and historical icons figure largely in your pieces. What else do you draw your inspiration from? What does the gas mask mean to you?

2014 marks the hundredth anniversary of chemical warfare and the gas mask has/is currently undergoing an evolution. War is becoming more accurate and the products needed for war are becoming more accessible, to anyone – citizen, soldier, or government. This work is a reminder of such an uncomfortable reality. And this reality isn’t an inspiration, per se, but something I feel needs to be revealed.

Would you like to have forgotten this ad? I would've. — Would you like to have forgotten this ad? I would’ve.

You can see Jilly’s work at http://jillyballistic.tumblr.com/ Her pieces are now featured in Outdoor Gallery, a standout book by Yoav Litvin, collecting pieces from several street artists. Outdoor Gallery is available at the MoMA, Guggenheim, Strand Bookstore and Zakka (BK) next week.

Mixology Is Funny But Uses A Bad Formula

by Michael Tyminski

Mixology: Wednesdays at 9:30 Eastern on ABC

Life is full of mysteries, and TV is no exception. These head-scratchers range from the mundane, like for example how Dads got all 17 of it’s episodes to air to the the more complex, like how MTV ran kicking and screaming from music and why the networks that tend to pride themselves on their scripted programming are predominantly launching reality TV. However, amid all these mysteries, one boggles more than most: How on earth does ABC consistently fail to find a suitable show to pair with one of the best lead-in’s on TV: Modern Family. In the last calendar year we’ve found at least two other shows in that spot, and it’s newest show Mixology also seems like a questionable fit in ABC’s Wednesday family comedy block.

Mixology, from the writers of The Hangover (I gleaned this information because it is literally the only thing ABC tells you about the show), tells the story of ten individuals over one night in a high end bar in Manhattan’s meat-packing district. These young, trendy, individuals are all out on the hunt for love (whether for the long term or just for the night), and Mixology focuses hard on this romantic angle (as opposed to building around a night out with the friends). The structure furthers this by focusing on two or three characters on the bar at a time.

As with most comedies, the first question I tend to gravitate towards is: Is it funny? Mixology is pretty successful on this level even if most of the best jokes are in our narrator’s snarky voice overs. These voice overs exist to set up fairly long expository flashback sequences. The sequences themselves are pretty funny in their own right (even if they don’t really reveal more than the one relevant character trait) often taking advantage of a more slapstick style than the bar scenes themselves.

Unfortunately, Mixology fails on it’s concept. The romance angles feel fairly empty, and while the whole show is structured and marketed on the concept of “who’s leaving the bar with who”, that is by far the least interesting part of the show. No matter how hard this show wants me to care about potential relationships, it makes the fatal mistake of leaning so hard on it’s jumbled serialization that it is going to be difficult to truly root for ships until it’s way too late.

Many of these flaws are a function of the shows jumbled format, which takes a cue from season four of Arrested Development. The show takes a jumbled cast of 10 strangers, and pairs them off, isolating its’ episodes main characters for long stretches of time. While a format of this ilk may work well for a show like Development, it’s much harder to achieve such a goal when the characters are completely new and particularly well fleshed out.

The Final Verdict: In an ideal version of Mixology I see a pretty funny sitcom about three buddies in a bar trying to get laid. Unfortunately, this series is not structurally sound (as the compression format opts to skip it’s downbeats in favor of long, but not particularly expository flashbacks), and the soapy elements are not particularly interesting. The end result is another in a long line of series that seems like a horrendous fit for the post Modern Family slot, as ABC has capped off it’s most family-friendly comedy block with what is probably the most vulgar big four show this side of Seth McFarlane. Normally, this would put a show in wait-and-see territory, but the structural issues are going to sink the entire season (or at least the first half of it), making this an easy skip, even if Wednesdays at 9:30 are not a particularly strong time slot right now.

Stripped Fashion: 5 Ways to KISS

by Greg Serebuoh

It’s probably clear by now that I have a special place in my artist heart for fashion that is edgy, quirky, avant-garde, or unconventional. Still, if there is one thing I value more than innovation, it’s versatility, and though I love to see crazy geometric shapes or odd combinations of materials in fashion, I’m also a sucker for an outfit that dazzles with its simplicity or its flawless execution of a classic aesthetic. Plus, with the coming of warm weather, being able to strip down with style is a huge asset. So I want to take a moment to talk about 5 ways to KISS – Keep It Simple and Stylish.

1. Seek Out Quality Materials

Whether you’re wearing jeans and a t-shirt or a tailored suit, high quality fabrics and materials can make the most straightforward outfit look like a million bucks. Saint Laurent exemplifies the power of premium threads and classic style.

Quality fabrics not only look better to the eye but they also tend to last much longer and rest on the body in a more flattering way. Bottega Veneta’s Spring/Summer 2014 campaign prominently features this magic combination of quality and simplicity.

Of course, higher quality usually means higher prices. Still, an investment in a few top quality pieces may be worth your while, particularly if they have the next key trait.

2. Value Versatility

Sleek, basic wardrobe often works with any number of looks and can be dressed up or down. Lanvin’s Pre-Fall Lookbook makes this explicit as it brings formal and casual sensibilities together.

Look for the pieces that will look good with anything.

3. Focus on Line and Shape

Simplicity in line and shape can also make a classic look captivating. I am loving Tom Ford’s Fall/Winter 2014 line, which is both elegant and sexy because of its classic lines and timeless style.

Classic pieces can complement the body without a lot of ostentation, emphasizing the fundamental beauty of the male form.

4. Exude Ease and Comfort

Simple style that seems (and hopefully is) really comfortable, creates a relaxed and effortless air that is also incredibly sexy. To be fair, this is not wholly dependent on the outfit itself. It has a lot to do with how it is carried as well. David Gandy is a master of simple and sexy.

Anyone else wondering what he’s carrying around in all dem bags?

Also, whoever styles Mr. Gandy is well aware of the fact that henley shirts look hot on just about anyone.

5. Give it Edge

Sometimes what really makes a simple outfit rock is one minor twist. Valentino’s last few campaigns take basic concepts and give them a bit of edge with thoughtful details.

Jeans and a tee with one eccentric accessory. A sleek suit with a pair of fly sneaks. A plain top with a quirky bottom. Or striking colors paired with classic cuts, as in Tom Ford’s Spring/Summer 2014 line.

A word on Tom Ford. It’s no coincidence that he has come up twice. It was actually my recollection of the gorgeous style of his film A Single Man that inspired this article. I was as blown away by the aesthetic of the film as I was by its story.

Ford’s brilliant film is a testament to the fact that simple, classic style when thoughtfully executed can make a huge impression.

Rupaul’s Drag Race Recap- Is There No Budget?

by David Baxter

Well, it’s RuPaul’s Drag Race time again!! Are you ready?! So, this has been broken up into two parts. Seven queens in one episode, seven in another, and two get eliminated. Interesting. So, we’re on part 1. RuPaul explains that the winner gets a lot of money and a whole bunch of cosmetics.

“The Wind Rises”- Leaving Hearts in Freefall

by Dane Benko

A certain amount of stretched heartstrings was inevitable with viewing Miyazaki’s ‘Farewell Masterpiece’, but even major fans of his work will find themselves ill prepared for what they are getting into. The Wind Rises isn’t just Miyazaki’s farewell masterpiece but simply his best movie. Ever.

Although Miyazaki is generally known as a children’s fantasist in anime style, his work has always had an amazing range, from the lighthearted fairy tale of Ponyo to the morally ambiguous and yet profoundly mythic Princess Mononoke. That’s not to say that even his light fare such as My Neighbor Totoro doesn’t have its amount of darkness and his darker fare such as Spirited Away its playful whimsy. Its his ability to balance and give consideration to all aspects of his storytelling that makes him a master storyteller. Miyazaki has always had a strong ability to guide viewers through honest and appreciative stories that sought the good in his own characters.

Which is why it feels weird to say that The Wind Rises is Miyazaki to the extreme. It seems like a contradiction in terms but is entirely accurate. In The Wind Rises, he manages to make a movie more beautiful to watch and more enchanting to experience… and more troubling to think about and more heartfully traumatic… than anything else he’s ever done. He even pushes his visual style to the limit.

The story is drawn from two sources, both equally heavy. The primary focus is Jiro Horikoshi, real life Mitsubishi engineer in the years leading up to World War II. The story starts with Jiro as a young boy, who meets famed aeronautical engineer Giovanni Caproni in a dream. The whimsical Italian shows Jiro his new design and encourages Jiro’s desire to become a designer, with the warning that planes are meant for flight, not money or war. Upon waking, Jiro’s path is realized and he sets himself immediately to work, studying harder than his fellow students and quickly gaining attention amongst the industry for his knowledge and drafting skills, until he becomes head engineer on a new project of which history buffs will know the outcome.

The second source is Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, a novel about two lovers, one ill, on a mountain retreat. This source is cited directly by characters within the movie and quotations from Mann employed in the dialog. On his way to Tokyo University, Jiro meets a young woman named Nahoko Satomi, and their lives are thrown together as an earthquake derails their train. Their paths cross again on a mountain retreat, their blossoming romance overseen by Nahoko’s father and a cheery German, in Mann fashion of which literary buffs will know the outcome.

If you are neither a history buff nor a literary buff, don’t worry. You’ll still be clear about the outcome. Jiro the character designed by Miyazaki has an almost preternatural sense of causality, in a manner graphically represented by his slipping in and out between day-to-day work and dreams. His dreams themselves always seem to be of two parts, an initial thrilling, zero-gravity flight amongst the clouds, followed by bursts of flame and smoke and crumbled, blackened planes. Despite setbacks and accidents both real and imagined, and the foreboding effects of Japanese and world politics around him, Jiro is driven by his love of work and Nohoko, sometimes in equal measure, seeking beauty in design and willing to pull influence from the natural places and things around him.

Jiro’s mindset is reflected in the movie’s astounding visual style. Miyazaki has pulled together the minutia of historical detail; he delights not only in the planes from the perspective of Jiro, but also designs and fashions from the era. He plays with optical trick in his possession (as well as an eye for optical distortions and illusions), causing the whole movie to feel dizzying and cerebral. And he places in full view deeply unsettling images of Japan in despair and disrepair, calling forth images of earthquakes and war and not necessarily showing natural or man-made disaster as two separate phenomena. All of this set against a Japan in economic recession, struggling to gain a foothold even as they recognize that they’re twenty years behind the Germans.

It’s worth at this point acknowledging that there are elements of this movie that are going to affect a Japanese audience much more profoundly than an American, or international, one. The Wind Rises seems like a cheery enough title, until you think about The Land of the Rising Sun. And the various images of devastation are not only sourced out of a major national trauma in history, but an existential dread that island has always suffered over the next earthquake or similar natural disaster.

Still from The Wind Rises — Parents, please consider this movie’s PG-13 rating seriously. This is not Ponyo. End stop.

And yet. The Wind Rises still manages to be a celebration of imagination and art. Jiro’s passion is infectious; his and many side characters’ love for airplanes, design, technology, and engineering is honest and intoxicating. It’s no surprise that Caproni’s early warning to a young Jiro is hardly recalled to Jiro’s mind after. The work he does fulfills him, Miyazaki celebrates it, and the audience can’t help but be infected by that enthusiasm.

Thus, Miyazaki passes the torch, and to no one in particular. Rather, he leaves the power of imagination and design to those who will be taken by it, with the prerequisite warning: it’s not for money or for war.

Miyazaki’s oeuvre as a whole has a tendency to make a person want to go running and dancing in a field. This movie ends in such a field, and the field is empty. The audience is left with a decision to either accept the emptiness of the field, or regret it. And Miyazaki makes a good argument for accepting it. It’s a very strange, somewhat perturbing, and yet powerfully seductive.

He’s not necessarily gone – apparently his retirement from film directing just means he’s going to be putting more work into drawing manga – but he’s making the outcome as clear as he can be. It’s difficult to imagine closing out with a more definitive final note.

Theater Review: “My Mother Has 4 Noses”

by Ryan Leeds

My Mother Has 4 Noses. It’s not exactly a title producers would endorse if they are banking on a box office theatrical smash. Yet it certainly invites (and rightfully receives) raised brows of curiosity. This autobiographical “play with music” delves into the often overlooked, but much needed area of caregiving. And it is a gem worth seeing.

Singer-songwriter Jonatha Brooke elaborates on the offbeat title and bares her soul in this one woman vehicle, now playing at the Duke Theater on 42^nd St. Brooke, who was one half of the duo, the Story, is a successful artist whose life took a much unexpected turn in 2010 when her mother began suffering from dementia. Her mother’s eccentricities were nothing out of the ordinary. As a christian scientist, Mother Brooke shunned modern medicine, ignoring a cancerous growth which consequently led to having a portion of her face removed. Thus, the nose prosthetics. As a larger than life personality, mother Brooke attempted to compensate by dressing in full clown regalia for her then junior high school-aged Jonatha; the nightmare of every adolescent fully realized. Still, her mother’s deeply perceptive and quirky musings (particularly her published poetry). shaped her daughter’s work as a musician and drew them closer together towards the inevitable end of mom’s life.

Brooke’s songs are hauntingly gorgeous, backed minimally by Ben Butler (guitarist), and Anja Wood (Cello). Yet sometimes, they seem so lyrically arcane that it is difficult for them to propel the story forward. Still, Brooke has taken her mother’s advice of “getting this down” by sharing her intimate story. No stone is left unturned either. As Brooke describes, in full detail, the challenges faced by her mother of everyday bodily functions, there is an uncomfortable aura felt by the audience. I applaud her for the bravery in this because it depicts life on an unconditional level. Most love stories, whether familial or romantic, ignore the unpleasantries and ugliness of love. Here, she places it all on the table with unflinching courage and unedited heart.

As I meandered through the lobby after the show, Ms. Brooke came out to meet her fans. From two different ladies, I heard words of thanks. They had experienced the same struggles Brooke did with their own mothers. I was already a fan, but the compliments magnified how strongly this show resonates with audiences. It is a human story of sacrifice and compassion that should not be missed.

My Mother Has 4 Noses now playing through May 4 at the Duke on 42nd Street, 229 West 42nd Street (between 7th and 8th). For tickets, call: 646-223-3010, online at www.dukeon42.org, or at the box office.

Twitch Plays Pokemon – More Than Just A Game

by Tim Morris

Twitch, Manhattan Digest, Pokemon — Copyright Game Freak
Source: Reddit

Thousands of heads aren’t necessarily better than one.

How do you turn a groundbreaking classic into a massive social experiment? Allow tens of thousands of people to play the same instance at once. Using a ROM of Pokemon Red Version, the popular streaming website Twitch, and some clever mechanics, Twitch Plays Pokemon has taken the entire internet by storm. In nearly eleven days’ worth of play time, droves of people have entered the stream to participate, troll, or simply watch the madness unfold.

The idea for this undertaking came from an Australian person who chooses to remain anonymous. By entering the stream, people worldwide can take part in playing the game by entering any of the buttons that exist on the old-school Game Boy: A, B, Select, Start, Up, Down, Left, and Right. This, in turn, will make the Red character perform the corresponding action. However, since anyone can do this, the result is pretty much what you’d expect: chaos of epic proportions. It often takes hours to achieve anything significant in-game

While the creator has mostly been hands-off when it comes to moderating the action, they did institute a small feature to help the process along when the populace became stuck inside the Rocket Game Corner dungeon for over 24 hours. By typing either “anarchy” or “democracy” into the chat, players can move the needle towards whatever they choose. If the bar becomes 75% full (meaning towards the democracy side) the Red character will only perform the most requested action at predetermined intervals. Once the chat activated democracy mode, they were able to pass the floor puzzle and proceed.

Naturally, many memes and other wacky internet claims have already surfaced as a result of Twitch Plays Pokemon. The current team features a level 60 Pidgeot and five other Pokemon who are much weaker by comparison. As a result, Pidgeot has since been dubbed “Bird Jesus” by the inhabitants of the stream. The in-game item called the Helix Fossil, which normally would be resurrected into an Omanyte, has become something of a deity to the players involved. A simple Google image search of “Twitch Plays Pokemon” will yield some hilarious results.

If you’d like to watch this project in action, all you have to do is click here. In order to participate, you’ll need to make a free account on Twitch first, but once you’ve done that you can help or troll to your heart’s consent!

Michael Lucas Interview on the Industry & “Undressing Israel”

by Ryan Shea

Michael Lucas, Manhattan Digest — Credit to: UndressingIsrael-TheMovie.com.

Unless you’ve been hit by an ugly, gross gay rock you know who Michael Lucas is (if you are gay or a hag. tee hee.) He has been a legend in the adult industry for many years now, both behind and in front of the camera. Michael Lucas has one of the most if not the most successful studios out there right now, Lucas Entertainment, which has boasted the likes of some of the biggest stars in the industry itself from Adam Killian & Trenton Ducati to name a few. Now, on top of his insanely busy schedule with Lucas Entertainment, he has made a fascinating documentary called “Undressing Israel”. This film chronicles his journey through Tel Aviv and further examines the thriving gay nightlife that is existing there, and has candid interviews with people from a diverse gay background including a young journalist to an openly gay Army trainer. I recently sat down with Michael Lucas to discuss the industry at hand, the documentary and what he is hoping for in the future. Take a look.

So how did you get into the industry in the first place?

I came to this country and figured out that I needed to do something right away, and legal of course. I chose something that would work with the body and not having to rely on my English because at that point I didn’t speak the language so doing this was an easy choice.

What do you think is the biggest misconception of the industry is?

The annoying question that people ask me is, “Is it fun?” or something like “I would love to have your job.” To me its not even a question it’s more of a statement. Just something along those lines, but it is just like any other job one might have. It is a lot of emails, meetings, conferences, networking etc. It’s not all what people think it appears to be which is just sex, there is a business to it.

I also feel like people think this industry is riddled with drugs, which is something that has never happened on my sets. I’m sure these are things that are happening behind the scenes, however if we ever have an actor who is acting in a strange way or if we have any suspicions we will then rug a drug test and if we find any coming up positive in it we will send the actor home. None of that is permitted at least for me, albeit it drugs or alcohol, and I plan on keeping it that way.

What is your opinion on the industry today?

It’s not really about a positive or negative vibe, now it is more about scenes than actual movies. There really isn’t a bad vibe, everybody nowadays chooses what they want. If you like interracial, you can go one of those scenes. Same thing if you like bears or twinks you can do that. That may not be all on one film, so I believe that people tend to go with what works for them and not something that can overall be a one note. I also think that people have become a lot more open minded about sex, so there is a lot more options out there now for people who have a bigger imagination. It is funny though that we live in a world where gay men judge each other based off of their own kinks and what works for them, and not necessarily straight people doing the judging. It is absolutely ridiculous and very hypocritical how we judge each other on what each person wants and not be more of a unified unit.

Manhattan Digest, Lucas Entertainment, Project Publicity — Credit to: UndressingIsrael-TheMovie.com.

I watched the documentary “Undressing Israel” and found it fascinating. What inspired you to do this?

Because I felt the fact that gay or straight people don’t know too much on Israel, and they are missing out on a great vacation spot. What a lot of people think of when they hear the word “Israel” is the conflict that is going over there to which people who live there say it isn’t even felt compared to what the rest of the world thinks. It is a gorgeous country with beautiful people, beautiful men and women, everyone is friendly, restaurants from all over the world and some incredible nightlife (even better than New York). New York is very good when it comes to nightlife but it is better in Israel in my honest opinion. So much culture, history and seeing as the country is the size of the state of New Jersey you can get anywhere in it by car or by bus. It is not as expensive as people think it is, the weather is always beautiful, it is just a great experience that everyone should have.

You profile a gay man who is in the Parliament there, two gay dads amongst other unique individuals. Is there that much of a sharp contrast between how gay men live there and how they live in New York City for instance?

It is very similar, except when it comes to the children. Israel has more gay families with children than anywhere else in the world. Gay men there either already have children or are in the process of adopting children, in fact 90 percent of the gay men that I know there want to have children at some point in their lives.

You have obviously been to Israel a couple of times, but for my readers who haven’t been what is the overall message that you tried to accomplish with this documentary?

Mainly I just want them to go and experience it for themselves. I never went one person who went to Israel and came back not liking it. I know people who go there every year for Gay Pride and people who just go because they want to go and they all have a great time no matter what.

Lucas Entertainment, Project Publicity, Manhattan Digest — Credit to: Project Publicity

Besides this project what else do you have coming up this year?

A ton more movies for everyone to enjoy :). We shoot here in New York but we also shoot in other great locations such as Costa Rica and Berlin to name a few, so hopefully we can continue to bring great quality movies for the masses to enjoy.

Buy “Undressing Israel”

Lucas Entertainment Official Site

What The F***k Is A Bearlebrity & Why Does This Term Exist?

by Ryan Shea

As someone who has been in the bear and gay community for a little over ten years now (I am wondering when I am getting my sash or pin for all the hard work I have done. Emphasis on hard hehe), I have come to find a bevy of terms that gay men have come up to describe their physical appearance. Albeit a twink, cub, muscle bear, otter, wolf, and a new one that I heard recently, ram (big horns and like to charge. Giggity.) there is always going to be some terminology involved in describing yourself or to your friends about the guy you hung out with last night/cruised/hated for whatever reason possible.

Recently, I have discovered a brand new term that really doesn’t have much to do with physical appearance at all- Bearlebrity. This is a term that unlike words like “Chocolate” or “Buy One Get One Free Burrito at Chipotle” has a very negative connotation attached to it, yet for some reason no one really seems to pinpoint what it actually means. I recently made this a status update for my friends to reply and divulge what their true meaning of the word was, and the responses were plentiful and vastly different. Take a look at what people (who will be kept anonymous) thinks about what a Bearlebrity really is-

“To me, a Bearlebrity is a guy who takes a zillion selfies each day just to get the satisfaction of the 300 likes they will get, many are from men that they have never met before. On top of the likes follows with 30 or 40 comments ranging from the same old shit such as “Grrr!” “Woof” or the tragic “I wish I was that cupcake (said bear is eating cupcake in photo)” and the added likes onto each comment made. They are narcissistic, rude and what is the worst about this community.”
“It’s a myth, that term. It’s a label of status that a person generally uses only when they are talking about themselves. It’s a self-absorbed type of thing and a word that is rarely tossed around in social settings.”
“A big hairy gay celeb. :)”
“A “Bearlebrity” is a self-imposed title for someone who considers themselves popular and influential within the bear community. Another question that needs to be asked, is why the Bear community insists on putting “Bear” as a pre-fix in front of everything. What once was charming and humorous now comes across like Smurf Speak.”
“An individual lacking in self esteem.”
“Yet again, people who are stared at by other people have negative stories made up about them in order to make the starers feel better about themselves after they have made themselves feel bad.”
“I think of bear performers. People like Kendall Kelly that make a living touring and performing at bear runs and such.”
“I use this term all the time. Not derogatorily. In my opinion, it’s someone in the bear community who has high public visibility. They may own bear brands, organize events, DJ bear dances, act in bear films, model bear brands, have bear themed Facebook pages…etc.”
“The most common bear term I have heard being used BY the people calling themselves it, is A-List Bears. Yes, I have heard people call themselves this. I mostly bear see Bearlebrity used by “others” to describe someone who is super popular in bear world. I think i may have heard once or twice someone call themselves that.”

Those weren’t even all the comments, but if you get the gist of the above it seems to be that this still has a negative viewpoint to it but there are some that think differently and use the term in a positive angle. It is also further proof in my writings that in the bear and gay community we consistently judge and label each other for whatever reason that may be. I don’t understand how even in the grown up world that we live in that many men resort back to our middle school and high school days where we become Regina George and label everyone based off of whatever qualities we deem to be not up to par with our likings in the world. Granted I am completely guilty of this as is many men, but this question does remain- how can we take a word like Bearlebrity and change it into something that is described in a positive way and not so negative way?

What is your definition of this? Do you feel we use labels all the time as a way to describe and ultimately judge other people? Hit me back with your viewpoints on this.

Thousands of heads aren’t necessarily better than one.

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