Ever go to a party and have so much fun that you wake up the next day sore? You know that sore feeling I’m referring to, it kind of resembles the same sore feeling of taking a new workout class. Well news flash people, when you dance( especially dancing the night away) you are working out! [Read more…] about Who Said A Workout at Crunch Couldn’t Be Turned into a Party!
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Four Levels of 70s’ Themed Fun at VNYL!
Everyone get your bell bottoms, platform shoes and silk shirts ready cause VNYL, a new 70s’ themed lounge has made its way to the East Village. Adrian Grenier of Entourage plays the role of music director at VNYL, with entrepreneur James Morrissey banded together with him as owner to open up this four level lounge which screams 70’s mod. [Read more…] about Four Levels of 70s’ Themed Fun at VNYL!
What Are The Hot Looks for the Holiday Season?
The holiday season is here and 2016 is right around the corner, and finding the perfect dress for your upcoming celebrations can be tough. While you’re getting ready to have all of your family over, or travel out to them, the last thing on your mind is what to wear. And with holiday office parties and epic new year’s eve plans ahead of you, you definitely want to look your best. So, here are some party ready dresses for all different budgets.
[Read more…] about What Are The Hot Looks for the Holiday Season?
100% Sexy: When Pride Becomes a Fashion Statement
What do I love so much about 100%G?
Ever since I’d first heard about it, I had been trying to find the answer to that question. I met Peruvian photographer César Mansilla Sialer on a photo shoot for a swimwear campaign I was modeling for, and he was, as I like to say, the answer to all questions, so we stayed friends. It was César who first hipped me to 100%G (or OHP), a designer from his hometown of Lima.
Its design concept was straightforward. Skillfully cut, limited edition T-shirts made from soft, Peruvian cotton with simple words printed on the front.
Its online presence [NSFW] and marketing were equally straightforward. Witty and irreverent posts about boys, sex, and fun, pics of guys around the world sporting their gear, and campaigns that had a raw, DIY quality, like stealthy captures of those genuine, private moments, of modeling a new favorite outfit or dancing with total abandon in front of the mirror before a night out on the town (you know you do it too). Still, there was something more that drew me in.
It certainly helped that the face of its campaign was my old friend Tom Middleton, one of the former stars of Fuerza Bruta and current cast member of Hombre Vertiente. Tom’s devastatingly handsome looks, radiant smile, and tangible kindness made the shots effortlessly steamy.
The fact that the shirts framed the male form perfectly didn’t hurt either. And yet, there was more.
I still hadn’t figured it out, but I knew I had to be in on it, so I reached out to 100%G and ordered a couple of shirts from its latest campaign, “Party Animals.”
As I pulled my new shirts out of their packaging, reveling in the feel of the soft, smooth fabric against my fingers, my eye caught the writing on the inner printed tag: “One Hundred Percent Gay. One Hundred Percent Love.” G is for Gay? Apparently I had missed something key.
I took a look at its website: “Made 100% for the gay community. In Lima, we noticed an absence of trendy, fun, cool clothes made with the gay person in mind. That’s when the idea for 100%G began. We make our shirts using 100% Peruvian gay cotton, some of the best fabric in the world.”
First of all, clap clap clap and snap snap snap for the use of the term “gay cotton.”
But seriously, as I got a glimpse into the thinking behind the brand, everything began to come together for me, and I found my answer.
I love 100%G because it is deliciously sexy. If you know me well, you know that I love sex, not only as a physical act in which to partake (often…very often) but also as an idea. Sex or sexiness for me has to do with a lot more than just naked bodies and dim lighting or indeed marriage and heavy promises. It is a basic energy that courses through all of life, and 100%G taps into that fundamental energy in order to encourage a different kind of (gay) pride, more human, more inclusive, more complex, less complicated.
The irreverence. The unabashed, playful sensuality. The unapologetic attitude, free of rigid definitions and precarious binaries. And the beauty. Real beauty. The kind that comes not just from a pretty face and a hot body, but from an easy smile, a mischievous nature, a relaxed poise. Beauty that isn’t afraid to get messy, silly, or frisky. Beauty that doesn’t take itself too seriously because it knows that it’s here to stay.
100%G says that it is “STRAIGHT FRIENDLY.” Of course it is. Because the sexiness that it ascribes to is the kind that Idris Elba can wear just as easily. Or James Franco. Or Legolas Greenleaf (proud geek here). Or Lupita Nyong’o. Or you. It’s the guys and girls that turn you on, not just with their looks or what they say, but with the titillating ease with which they live in their own space. An uncomplicated confidence that is flexible, free, and universal.
At the base of the blog entries, the campaigns, the aesthetic, and the fashion design is this basic principle. I interviewed 100%G to get a bit more insight into their vision.
Tell me how 100%G began.
OHP was born out of a design project created by El Cartel Design Ghetto, out of a need not only to create a product that was commercially viable but also to communicate an idea. We strive to use skillful design to represent a lifestyle. We want to represent the gay lifestyle in a fun and light way.
Your campaigns and your branding seem to have a very specific intention. What inspires your choices in that regard?
We openly celebrate gay lifestyles and the idea of facing everything with a positive attitude. It has been an interesting task since we are based in Peru, which is a really conservative country. Even so, we’ve been noticing an incredible trend in the country, thousands of guys are coming out of the closet, and we obviously wanted to do what we could to make sure they were well represented.
What does it mean to be sexy?
Sexy is being exactly who you are. It’s being true to yourself in words and actions. It’s being part of a multifaceted, global community. Sexy is being proud of who you are.
Tell me about your current campaign.
Our current campaign is in dialogue with the issues that face our community today. We’re using it to support 100% Equality.
Project M 3.0 Review- Manhattan Digest
Source: Max Level
Project M for marvelous.
If you’re a fan of the Super Smash Bros. series like me, you love the fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat action that has been gripping gamers for the last fifteen years now. No series has combined a smooth fighting game experience with skilled platforming as well as Nintendo has with Super Smash Bros. However, if you share my thoughts on the most recent release, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, you know that it doesn’t live up to the standard set by the first two releases. Enter Project M, a game that seeks to capture the greatness of the past. With the ‘M’ standing for Melee, the second game in the series that was released for the Gamecube in 2001, the creators of this homebrew game want their work to highlight what made Super Smash Bros. Melee one of the greatest titles of all-time.
Removing the tripping that plagues Brawl and reinstating small combat mechanics to their Melee counterparts, Project M greatly succeeds at delivering frantic and fun skirmishes that keep me playing for hours. The roster now stands at 41 characters, which includes every playable character from the Super Smash Bros. series. While the creators have stated that the most recent 3.02 release is not a “final” or “gold” version, they’ve certainly outdone themselves by having a fleshed-out roster. Add in the massive number of usable items, 42 stages, online play, tournament mode, and customization options, and you have a lot to do here.
While the game is epic in both scope and execution, there are some minor, almost nitpicky flaws that I’d like to address. First up is the balancing. Now, Nintendo has never been known to care very much about characters being broken in these games (looking at you, Pikachu from the N64 version and Meta Knight in Brawl), and the creators of Project M have done a nice job rebalancing things, certain characters leave a bit to be desired. Some could use buffs, others nerfs (or debuffs), but since the intent is there to continue balancing I can’t fault them too much. Next, some of the faster characters simply feel too slippery. I’m sure this is by design, but picking up items and managing to avoid suicides can prove to be extremely difficult at times. Finally, the AI. This isn’t as easy of a fix as other areas, but in the original release of Melee, setting CPU opponents on the max difficulty was a definite test of skill that forced you to adapt on the fly. In Project M, even at the highest setting the AI seems to have a penchant for offing itself, whether by simple jumping off the side or by deliberately attacking explosives.
If you’re looking for a game to play with others and already have a copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl (that, along with an SD card are required to play), look no further than Project M. It faithfully replicates the frenetic gameplay of Melee while adding a few wrinkles of its own in order to remain fresh. Even after the new entries in the series hit shelves later this year, I still see myself firing up this game for long sessions with my brothers and friends.
Final Grade: A
Platform: Wii + SD Card with game downloaded to it + Gecko OS
Genre: Fighting
Players: 1-4 simultaneous
Price: Free (if you already have Brawl)
For more information regarding Project M, including downloads and instructions, click here.
WRITER’S NOTE: I do not endorse or promote any hardware or longterm software modifications to copyrighted equipment and content. Project M is a game that can be played without hacking or modifying anything having to do with the Nintendo Wii or Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
Cory Monteith’s death- Gay men, pay attention.
On July 13th millions of Glee fans and people alike were stunned and saddened by the loss of actor Cory Monteith, who played Finn Hudson on the popular television series. What makes this more heartbreaking is not only that he died at the young age of 31 but how he actually passed. The autopsy report states that he passed away from a mixed drug toxicity consisting of heroin and alcohol. It was documented that he recently completed a rehab stay between the end of March and mid-April, only the second time in his life that he sought treatment for this matter.
There is a depth to this story that transcends Cory and so many other issues surrounding his death- one in particular being the rapid drug trend that is sweeping the gay community. We see so many ads online promoting PNP (Party N Play) in which gay men hook up with the intention of getting high in the process of. This is a dangerous and toxic element that is only hurting people and not helping them, which is why gay men should really view Cory’s death as a huge wakeup call.
“It is all too common for men in the gay community to experiment with drugs, often at an early age,” says Dr. Edward S Goldberg, MD, who has served the gay community in New York City for the past twenty years. “The most popular drugs these days seem to be crystal meth, GHB, X, and cocaine. Heroin made a comeback a few years back as an inexpensive way to “check-Out” emotionally while getting a euphoric buzz. The way I see it, the biggest problems are crystal meth and heroin due to their nearly-instantaneous addictive potential. I’ve seen success in sobriety with both substances but I’ve seen it not end well far more often than the success I speak of.”
It was never a big story in the media regarding Cory’s drug and alcohol use, mainly because he wasn’t like other celebrities whose chronicles were well-documented by the paparazzi or their recent stint on “Celebrity Rehab”. At times people keep their addiction hidden for whatever reasons need be. In millions of people’s eyes, Cory was a role model. He was under pressure to keep an image in tact that is relatable to the show. People who are under the addiction of drugs may feel the same way, but get so deep into it that it becomes a double life situation that they can’t see their way out of.
“It’s very frustrating when you see someone allow their demons and addictions to take control of their lives”, retired adult film star and gay personality Charlie Harding states. “He allowed his desires and wants for a high to outweigh his self-preservation instinct, his will power and ultimately his common sense”. For the gay men who are dealing with similar problem’s that Cory dealt with, use this as a way to get help and get out of the haze you are presently in. Don’t make a temporary problem a permanent issue.