TV: VICELAND’S BONG APPÉTIT
This is probably the most Vice show a Vice show could ever be. Each week they cook a weed infused meal for a different group of guests. We see the crew as they plan the menu, then head to the weed cupboard (yes, that is exactly what it sounds like) to pick from the hundreds of different jars of bud, infused oils, even weed crystals. This weed cupboard was intentionally stocked to look like a pot head’s wet dream, and it doesn’t disappoint. It is truly a sight to behold. Wednesday’s episode of Bong Appétit features RuPaul's Drag Race contestant Jay Jackson (Laganja Estranja). The show describes him first as a “cannabis activist” and second as a drag queen. I’m not sure what Laganja is doing to advocate for weed besides smoking a shit ton of it, but hey, more power to you girl. The dinner party is also a murder mystery game. This is probably the least interesting part of the show. I loved watching the talented chefs cook their hearts out. It was fascinating to see all the ways marijuana can be mixed into food. It’s apparently limitless the ways you can incorporate it. Ummmmmmmmm-K! *tongue pop.
Saturday 01.21.17
Party: AMERICAN WHORER
We are so excited to be hosting American Whorer with our lovely friend, the artist Gio Black Peter. I can assure you that any party Gio is involved with is gonna be fun — that boy doesn’t know how to do boring. Here’s what he told us to share with all of you: “Anything goes, 2,000 sq.ft. Dungeon Party. You can dance and chill or you can do other things. The space is huge, there are plenty of secretive places to do secretive things. Party is BYOB. No dress code but most guests will be wearing jocks, leather gear, fetish gear, speedos…” The BYOB thing is super convenient, you know how expensive it can get to go out, I always hear lots of people complaining that they are spending too much money partying, so this is for you. Gio confirmed to me that they’ll “supply the ice, cups and sluts.” We’ll be helping Gio host the event along with Casey Spooner and Jacolby Satterwhite. Dj sets by Tyler Stone & Gio himself. Video Installation by Paul Gunn. Pre-order tickets for cheap, available while supplies last, by emailing: AmericanWhorerParty@gmail.com. We can’t wait to see all of you horny slutty whores. We promise we’ll be extra friendly.
Friday 01.20.17
AMERICAN WHORER PARTY / SATURDAY JANUARY 21
Organized by Gio Black Peter. Hosted by Casey Spooner, Jacolby Satterwhite and GAYLETTER. DJs sets by Tyler Stone and Gio. Video Installation by Paul Gunn
The Women’s March on NYC
Lets gather January 21st at 11:00AM!
“The Inauguration of president-elect Donald Trump” is a string of words whose reality many of us never anticipated. It is still difficult to fathom the events that will unfold in our nation’s capital today. Truthfully, I find our discourse to be tired and our imaginations exhausted. Simple logic has proven fallible and easily ignored by the Right. There are few things left to say that haven’t already been, few fears and other ugly emotions left unaired. Hopelessness has become an attractive affect, I’ll admit.
But this is not a drill. This weekend presents us with a critical moment to vacate ourselves of apathy and numbness. As hundreds of thousands of people will march in Washington to protest this historic election, it’s important us New Yorkers follow suit. The capital won’t be the only place to find resistance and resilience in the face of Trump swearing in tomorrow, January 21st, thousands will also descend on New York — along with countless other places across the globe — to attend The Women’s March on New York City.
The march “will proudly join the international community to march in support of equality and promote civil rights for every human.” It’s an opportunity to find release, to feel heard, and to foster peace. It’s a moment to center the voices of women — trans women, women of color, migrant women, muslim women, and so on — whose rights and protection will only grow more tenuous beneath such a blatantly misogynistic, pig-fucker president-elect. …
Event: BASED ON A BOOK BY PATRICIA HIGHSMITH
The Metrograph cinema is one of those places that I don’t want anyone to know about, but I also want to support just to keep it open. Which is why I want to tell you about their current film series, ‘Based on a Book by Patricia Highsmith,’ as you may have guessed, pays tribute to the 20th century writer known for her well-drawn portrayals of psychologically damaged characters. You may know some of the films based on her novels. There’s Anthony Minghella’s The Talented Mr. Ripley, Todd Haynes’ Carol, and Hitchcock’s Strangers On The Train. These, plus Purple Noon (René Clément), The American Friend (Win Wenders) and The Cry of The Owl (Claude Chabrol) will all be screened as part of the series. Highsmith’s “stories are gripped with unspoken desire, lucid about the role of class in international society and helped define the modern suspense-thriller. Although Highsmith was often leery of the films made from her books, they’re truly important outgrowths of her lasting influence.” I would go for no other reason than to see the theater, it’s really beautiful. But these great films are of course soooo worth seeing.
Thursday 01.19.17
Sherry Vine’s ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire’ parody
The legendary queen takes on the next four years
I was on the train this morning noticing how wonderful the blue sky looked and I swore I heard a vinyl scratch when I remembered that Trump is moments away from being sworn into office. As I write this post, Tom is asking me: “Am I supporting Trump if I watch the live stream?” And later, “Oh my God, is this a joke? This band has been playing for so long. This is like watching a parody!” He was talking about Three Doors Down and some other idiots playing mediocre farm-Rock on national television. [Editor’s note: Tom continued to complain about whatever drummer was hired to bang haphazardly in front of the Lincoln Memorial. I agreed.].
What really should have happened at the inaugural concert was drag. Drag, drag and some more fucking drag!
Drag queens acquire the rare skill that is essential to pure comedy: total (albeit succinct) deconstruction of a narrative that will teach you a lesson, hunty. The legendary Sherry Vine is not letting the next four years come for her. No, in fact she’s definitely coming for it. She’s just premiered a parody of Billy Joel’s ‘We Didn’t Start The Fire,’ but instead completely ransacks recent queer history, from “Mattachine society,” to “Ronald Regan’s tight lips” to Kim Davis. I mean this song literally covers everything. If you’ve lived under a rock for the last 4o years you could watch this video and get caught up to date with recent queer history. …
Do: WHAT A JOKE
Here's an event we should all get behind. "In response to the President-elect's repeated threats on human rights, comedians in over 20 cities are coordinating shows to raise money for the ACLU on Inauguration Day Weekend." Called What A Joke, this national comedy festival takes place this Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (January 19th-21th). The lineup for Thursday night at The Stand is pretty great, featuring Janeane Garofalo, Subhah Agarwal, Kerry Coddett and many others. Clearly The ACLU is going to need all the support it can get over the next four years as the Trump administration rolls its wagon into D.C. The ACLU, for those of you who don't know, is tasked with holding powerful people accountable. "For almost 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States." They have promised to "stay vigilant — every single day Trump is in office. If President-elect Trump tries to turn his unlawful and unconstitutional campaign promises into policy, we'll see him in court." And they mean it. Which is why we must support them in any way we can. The ACLU has NEVER been more vital. Have a laugh and protect the rights of all Americans.
#J20 Art Strike and the Black, Brown, & Indigenous Mobilize Against White Nationalism
Between queen Meryl Streep’s speech at the Globes and the laughable scramble for a performer with any name recognition to perform at the inauguration, there’s little mystery as to how our nation’s artists feel about Trump. It’s still powerful, though, to learn about the #J20 Art Strike, which is an “invitation to cultural institutions” to partake in “An Act of Noncompliance on Inauguration Day.” They are calling for “No Work, No School, No Business” so that everyone has the chance to “Hit the streets. Bring your friends. Fight back.”
You can check out the huge list of artists and critics in support of this action here, and it all makes perfect sense, as the livelihoods of creatives and creators rarely fare well beneath fascist regimes or a cultural climate saturated with bigotry. These artists consider “Art Strike to be one tactic among others to combat the normalization of Trumpism — a toxic mix of white supremacy, misogyny, xenophobia, militarism, and oligarchic rule.” Word. Nothing to add there.
A favorite of ours, Printed Matter, reached out to express their participation in the #J20 Art Strike. They also let us know about the Black, Brown, & Indigenous Mobilize Against White Nationalism #J20 march, which will begin on Jan. 20th at 11:00AM at the Harriet Tubman Memorial, a fitting and chilling location for such an action. More info is on the event page here, where you can check out their plans and demands, along with more details about the Why Accountability campaign and ways to further advocate for Black, Brown, & Indigenous people. …
Wednesday 01.18.17
Party: Oops
I think Oops is such a great name for a party, If you think about all of those drunk ‘mistake’ nights you’ve had in the past, where you woke up the next morning and thought WTF. I feel like the best way to handle these things in 2017 is to just say “oops,” and keep it moving. Oops is a new party happening every Wednesday at The Rosemont. I spoke with Merrie Cherry who’s bartending at the party, she’s so flexible this girl. Merrie said that she was too filled to the brim to be involved with any other events, so she’s just gonna be behind the bar at this one. She told me that the party “has already stirred up some tea. I of course have nothing but respect for all the people involved...” Apparently this party was originally gonna be called Hard Gag, but for some reason it’s now Oops. It’s a bit confusing, but maybe they want to play with the name, I mean its a new party, so whatever. Expect Drag Performances by Jacquée Kennedée, Zenobia & Whopper. Pole shows by Brian Rich and music by DJ Ickarus. Hosted by Jeffrey Scott. Oopsies.
Sunday 01.15.17
Matthew Leifheit’s Your Giorgio
Matthew Leifheit, former photo editor of vice and publisher of the savvy MATTE Magazine, is presenting a new show opening Friday, Jan. 13th at MAW. “Your Giorgio presents 13 translations from the secret scrapbooks of George Platt Lynes made by Leifheit in the past year. These works — comprised of a collaged book, short short film, and original photographs of varying scale — attempt to reanimate the queer archive through various poetic approaches to documentary.” We met and worked with Matthew nearly two years ago now when he shot some intimate portraits for GAYLETTER Issue 3. I can remember he spoke in a tender tone toward the craft of photography, and I went to find the latest issue of VICE at Printed Matter after I met him.
The work placed in Your Giorgio “draw upon photographs of the actual materials Lynes left behind, they remain assertively personal and elegiac.” Head out to the opening on Friday evening if you can, but if not, be sure to pop over to MAW over the weekend to get a look at his show. Should definitely be a fulfilling experience.
FREE, 12:00PM-6:00PM, MAW, 56 HENRY ST. #SE. NY, NY. …
Saturday 01.14.17
Party: THE CARRY NATION
2017 is already here and so far we have been trying to ignore the political nightmare as much as possible and simply carry. Carrying is the only way to live, if you are not carrying you are maybe, possibly, a boring person and if you are a boring person then too bad for you, simply stay home. Hey, it’s 2017, a year that already looks like a nightmare, but don’t take it too seriously, you could die tomorrow. Not to sound dramatic, but hey, it could happen to any of us. Too deep? This post is not about anything serious, it’s just a party that we like, that has been around for a long time now — we have mentioned it in our newsletter a few times — It’s The Carry Nation (pictured)and it’s the first one for 2017. Who’s ready to carry? It will be lots of fun and there will be lots of weed and molly friendly music provided by The Carry Nation (of course), Christy Love & W. Jeremy, Caleb Maisonet, Bearcat and DJ Haram. Your hosts for the night are a bunch of sluts (not sure if this is true, but let me carry for a bit), including Orlando Estrada, Simon Fortin, Bailey Stiles and Becca McCharen (Chromat). Also, I heard that some of them are into pissplay. I guess that’s the carry for 2017.
