Saturday 06.20.15
Benjamin Fredrickson Pop-Up Studio at Folsom Street East
So, the “largest fetish block party on the East Coast” is coming to town, Sunday June 21st. I know that might already be enough said, but it gets even better. The fair, Folsom Street East, features the incredibly talented photographer Benjamin Fredrickson, the theme of the event is “THE NEW YORK YOU WERE WARNED ABOUT,” and the proceeds directly benefit New York City Anti-Violence Project and Visual AIDS. Yas, yas, and yaasss.
Fredrickson is best known for his Polaroids recently featured in the Museum of Art and Design and reviewed by the New Yorker, which only had nice things to say (!?). “Over all, the balance of raunch and finesse is finely calibrated.” His self portraits, erection in full curve, microphone resting between his lips, and camera in clear view, are particularly hard to forget. But once again, ‘it gets better.’ Fredrickson himself will be taking Polaroid portraits at his Pop-Up Studio during the festivities. Yes Hunty, you might get the chance to make a leather-harness-latex-suit-jockstrap memory with a famous photographer.
But even if that particular celebration of the “rebellious spirit of the New York kink and fetish scene” isn’t your style, the event is complete with a beer garden, a full line up of live stage entertainment, and lots and lots of sexy goodies.
$10, 11:00AM-4:00PM, West 27th between 10th and 11th Ave. NY, NY. …
Party: Shade – Pride edition
Shade is baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! The last Shade we went to was on NYE. It was pretty fucking fantastic. We had a great crew of friends, we had party supplies, we had comfortable shoes, we had plenty of water — we did it right. This weekend is your chance to do it all over again, and best of all when you stumble out of there at 6:00AM it’ll be warm outside. The line-up is cunt as usual. There’s Michael Magnan & Physical Therapy as Fatherhood, plus “Brooklyn techno bad-boy crew,” Wrecked. There’s also a special “late-late-night Berlin techno set from the international diva Honey Dijon, and headlining, all the way from Berlin, the throbbing-est, the heartiest, Heartthrob.” Oh, and I should mention it’s a Pride edition. I’m not sure what that actually entails as Shade is pretty fucking gay already — just give thanks to the queens who fought in the Stonewall riot while you’re dancing. The venue, as usual, will not be announced until the day of the event, but it’s safe to assume it’ll be somewhere in the bowels of Brooklyn or Queens. Get at it!
Glory Daze: The Life and Times of Michael Alig
My very first full time salaried job in NYC was with a pr firm we basically had two clients, Grace Jones and Peter Gatien who was about to open the Limelight. We even had our offices in the Limelight in a tiny space on the third floor in back of the club we accessed through the vip entrance on W. 20th Street. I say all this to let you know when this riveting documentary Glory Daze:The Life and Times of Michael Alig (the legendary king of the club kids) came by my desk I was beyond intrigued. The film is making it’s debut June 20th as part of the Manhattan Film Festival, don’t miss it.
Michael Alig really set the scene ablaze when he began to host this outrageous Wednesday night party called Disco 2000-drugs,sex,kink and more drugs ruled, and over the course of time the party got darker and descended into the death grip of too many chemicals and k-holes. At the zenith of this mess Alig murdered and dismembered a fellow club kid and drug dealer Andre ‘Angel’ Melendez and went to prison for 17 years once he was finally caught. The film chronicles the time leading up to the murder with interviews with with Alig and some of the major players in the scene as well as follows Alig after his release from jail in May 2014 as he tries to cope with a new world he is about to become integrated into.
I had long been gone from the pr job at the Limelight by the time the club kids reign took over but I had this feeling Peter Gatien and his club’s story was not going to end well, a club in a church? …
Friday 06.19.15
A night at the Viceroy New York
A couple weeks ago, we had the pleasure of staying at the new(ish) Viceroy Hotel on 57th street near Central Park. The hotel was designed from top to bottom, by renowned design firm Roman & Williams (past credits include The Ace NYC, The Standard, Freehand in Miami…pretty much everywhere we like to stay.) The hotel has amazing views of the park from most rooms, and the rooftop and an exceptional resturant/diner called Kingside on the ground floor.
We invited a few friends over and had a little pre (and post) party in our room. If you’re looking for a place to stay during this year’s NY Pride festival we couldn’t recommend this place more. The hotel is doing a special deal between June 21-28, 2015 that is worth checking out. “The NYC Pride package includes: two cocktails on arrival, breakfast in bed and two Bloody Marys, 20% discount on hour-long massages or facials at Yelo Spa, face mask for the morning after and late check out.”
It’s a pretty sweet deal. Below are a couple of pics from our stay at the hotel to give you some idea what you can expect from the place. Enjoy!
Arrival lewks.
Roman & Willams also designed the building as well as the interiors.
The friendly check in staff.
We opened a bottle of Rosé 10 minutes after we arrived.
A moody shot of Parker enjoy the view.
Of course we always travel with a copy of GAYLETTER Magazine. …
Drink: Tijuana Picnic
Mexican food is one cuisine I never get sick of, which is great because this city never runs out of new Mexican restaurants. One we’d like to recommend this week is Tijuana Picnic. We had the pleasure of dining there last weekend and are ready for more. The menu works best for group dining, while there are bigger plates, there’s a lot more small plates. Our favorite of theses were the delicate fluke and snapper ceviches, the duck empanadas and the Korean inspired short rib skewers. You must also try the guacamole... obvs. The drinks are also on point. We recommend you try the tequila flights. You get 3 kinds of tequila grouped by region. Upstairs is the place to eat and downstairs is the place to party. On the weekends a DJ spins tracks while people mingle around the large downstairs bar. Two rather cute, and super curious straight boys stopped by our table to get to know us. They couldn’t get enough of us, and we even joined them downstairs for a drink after dinner. I only mention this to illustrate the fact that Tijuana Picnic is designed to encourage interaction (there’s one seriously long table in the middle of the main dining room) which is wonderful if you’re horny, or just feeling friendly ;)
F.R.A.T and Sisters at Riis Beach
A two day beach blow out at the new Brooklyn night bazaar
White speedos drenched in tequila, vacuum-sealed to dripping bubble butts. Got your attention? Great, listen up because it’s real. Richard Kennedy is producing a “full beach fantasy on the only beach in NYC you can drink on” (Riis Beach) under his latest Gallery / Production house, Olympus. The party, F.R.A.T & Sisters, is this entire weekend Saturday, June 20th – Sunday, 21st, literally all day.
There’s live music in the afternoons, DJ sets in the evenings, and playful water fights all day through. Performers include NO BRA, Cunt Mafia, Richard Kennedy, and Team Buffy. DJ sets range from Calore to Volvox to Peter Fonda. And that’s, like, 1/16th of all the music you’ll hear. Pack your noodle, slip on your jammer, and pick up a 6-pack, the beach parties are upon us.
FREE, 1:00PM-8:00PM, Riis Beach, New York, NY. 11694 …
Thursday 06.18.15
Event: FRIDA KAHLO – ART, GARDEN, LIFE
When I read about this exhibition my first reaction was: Yasss! I know some of you hate the word yasss but get over yourself, it’s just a word and it’s here to stay just like Caitlyn, Tina or Beyonce. Now that I’ve addressed that let me tell you why I am yasssing about this current exhibition. It’s all about one of my favorite female artists, the Mexican legend Frida Kahlo. Frida was very inspired by the garden at Casa Azul in Mexico (it was the house she grew up in, and returned to before her death) — so they recreated in the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx! For those of you that have never been to the Bronx here’s your excuse to go. It’s Summer, smoke a joint and take a trip out there. This is the first exhibition to examine Frida’s “appreciation for the beauty and variety of the natural world, as evidenced by her home and garden as well as the complex use of plant imagery in her artwork.” The exhibition also features “a rare display of more than a dozen original Kahlo paintings and works on paper…” In addition, during the run of this exhibit they will have all kinds of events including “talks, panels, and artists in residence.” Check the NYBG’s site for more info. Try to take your parents to the “Frida al Fresco” evenings, “with live musical performances and margaritas in the outdoor cantina.” Yasss?
Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940. Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin. ©2014 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.Frida Kahlo, Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940. Harry Ransom Center, The University of Texas at Austin. ©2014 Banco de México Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico, D.F. Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.
Wednesday 06.17.15
Tseng Kwong Chi: Performing For The Camera
Trust me, you need to know about the work of Tseng Kwong Chi. I’ll apologize up front for not inviting you to the opening of his exhibition, but hey, I didn’t know about it either. The Grey Art Gallery at NYU is hosting the first major museum retrospective of Tseng’s work: Performing For The Camera until July 11th. Sadly, Tseng died at the age of 39 from AIDS-related complications but not before he left a prolific, diverse and ground-breaking body of work. There are fascinating Polaroid photo montages, celebrity portraits of Basquiat, Warhol and Tseng’s intimate friend Keith Haring as well as 12 works from his classic series of selfies (before they were ever on the map) titled East Meets West, that evolved into the Expeditionary series and more. In many of these series Tseng chose to wear the somewhat drab, yet classic, Communist Mao suit with an ID attached to his jacket. He photographed parties as diverse as the Met Ball, and Republican political events and his work is included in the Met’s current exhibition “China Through The Looking Glass,” on view through August 16th.
I was not prepared to process how diverse and unquestionably visionary Tseng was — a revolutionary, fearlessly entering social, artistic and political environments (with a camera) the Chinese never gained access to prior. “In exaggerating his difference into an exotic mystique, Tseng found a way to infiltrate spaces typically closed to Asians and other minority groups.” Take some sun in Washington Square Park, sip a beer in a brown paper bag, cruise hot and horny NYU boys looking for guidance then check out the show. …
Tseng Kwong Chi, East Meets West Manifesto, 1983, from the East Meets West series C-print, printed 2014 71"x71". Courtesy Muna Tseng Dance Projects, Inc., New York.
Big Dipper at Pianos NYC
Plus watch the 'SHOW ME YOUR D*CK' music video
He might be white, but at least he’s rapping about uncut dick in a thongitard. Woof woof. Furry Bear rapper, Big Dipper, is putting on a free concert on June 17 at Pianos NYC. If you know him from his earlier video “Drip Drop,” don’t hold it against him. His latest feature in Marti Gould Cummings’ brand new music video, SHOW ME YOUR D*CK, is clever and catchy. I’ve already watched it like 5 times. Come down to the Lower East Side and feed your inner Size Queen, this song is about to be her summer anthem. “It’s a simple request. I want to touch it. And taste it. But make sure I don’t break it.”
FREE, 11:00PM, Pianos NYC, 158 Ludlow St. NY, NY.
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Tuesday 06.16.15
Merrie Cherry and more, beyond untuck in new web series Queens of Kings
Merrie Cherry is the bomb. Every single time I see her perform or interact with her socially she never disappoints, she always looks fresh, is super energetic and sharp as a tack. As we are Facebook friends I follow most of Merrie’s activities on the scene and just happened upon one of her posts about a very exciting new web series she is part of that premiered this past weekend on Youtube. It’s called “Queens of Kings” it follows some fierce drag queens through the course of their day; out of drag, then as they transition into full-on hair and make-up, and then out at night to see what they get up or into.
Each episode is only five minutes long, so whatever the queens are going to do they better do it on point and quickly. The trailer I saw immediately pulled me, or rather it dragged me in, and I can’t wait to see the first show AND attend the premiere party if there is one. We managed to ask Merrie a few questions about the show and how it all came about.
Is it just a camerman and a soundman? The crew is small. Director Nicolas Heller and Producer Evan Zampella are the masterminds behind this.
Are there any producers “building” storylines? It is all legit. I told them from the beginning that I didn’t want to be apart of that fake world of “reality” television. No redo, if you got it, great. If you didn’t, lets move on. …
Monday 06.15.15
Tom of Finland x Finlayson: Fellows Apron
One of the Tom of Finland Foundation‘s recent ventures comes to the home with another collaboration with the textile manufacturer Finlayson. Known widely for his refined homoerotic fetish artwork, the Finnish artist’s cast of World War II characters featured everything from beefy aviators, to cozied up sailors who are all fully cocked and loaded. Launched in late 2014, the Tom of Finland x Finlayson collaboration doesn’t leave a room untouched. From the “Face to Face” duvet cover, to the “Fellows” apron, Tom of Finland’s World War II era boys are a timeless and perfect for your Summer wardrobe.
Whether you’re grilling at a summer BBQ or making cocktails, the “Fellows” apron has you covered — literally. With Tom of Finland x Finlayson you’ll have no problem feeling sexy while entertaining or cooking. As you can see our boy Karon (pictured) wears it rather well, he can really work an apron.
Unlike your average apron, this one even comes with a zippered pouch, perfect for storing party supplies. I recommend you wear this apron shirtless, it’s easy to work up a sweat manning a B-B-Q!
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Sunday 06.14.15
Party: BABY TEA
Tyler Ashley threw this party at Cafe Dancer but then the place, like, closed down. Which was a real bummer because it was a fun party. Lucky for us Tyler has found somewhere else to throw it (he’s a resourceful qween.) It’s now at Wise Men on the Bowery. Wisemen is an old as shit Bowery bar. The space is small but they make great cocktails (they’ll be doing well vodka and baby long island tea specials all night.) Music for the night is by DJ Dese & Gio Black Peter (glad that slut is back, we haven’t seen him in ages!). We’re reluctant to go out on Sundays during the winter, but once summer hits, we’re all for it. Being hungover on Mondays is super chic. Showing up to work tired and grumpy is a great way to appear more unattainable, it automatically gives you an air of mystique, which can only help your career in a positive way, we promise!
