Punk Smurf pens a bilingual blog

Photographer Jeff Shang is working on a project aptly titled “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” in which he pictures gay and lesbian service men and women in uniform but hiding their faces. He is looking for more participants, so if you know anyone who’d be interested, tell them to get in touch.

Jess, Portland, OR, who may or may not have had this haircut before she entered the military

Firstly, I’m going to post about this truly horrible event. When I first saw the footage I could not believe wat I was seeing. So a warning beforehand; it’s not for the faint hearted, and possibly NSFW. What I’m talking about? A vicious attack that happened earlier where a guide dog was attacked by a pitbull type dog. The owner of the attacking dog fled the scene after he managed to get his dog off the guide dog, leaving the visually impaired owner in great distress. Anyone in the London area: keep an eye out!

Staying in the UK for more news: rock band Skunk Anansie is the latest in a line of many public faces to join the “Some people are gay - get over it” campaign.

Hopefully, Danish filmmakers Iben Haahr Andersen and Minna Grooss are taking their documentary “Hello my name is Lesbian” to film festivals around the world. It’s released on DVD. Judging from the trailer (it has English subs!) it looks like an interesting documentary. Watch it here.

In response to “Humpday”, in which two heterosexual guys (played by Joshua Leonard and Mark Duplass) take their relationship to an entirely different level when they decide to participate in an art film project that involves the two of them having sex, Lynn Shelton made a “sequel” called “Beyond gay“. I watched the short and found it disturbing (in a good way) and very amusing. Warning: even though it isn’t graphic, it’s definitely NSFW.

Earlier this week another episode of Cherry Bomb was posted, and I was delighted to see actor/comedian Jason Stuart amidst the ladies. Showcasing a good sense of humor, Stuart also made several very sensible remarks. This week’s episode was about “The gay and lesbian divide” - a discussion I’ve had with several of my gay friends. I found it interesting to hear what they had to say about it.

Photographer Spencer Tunick has started preparing for another one his famous shoots. In March next year he’ll be one the headliners for the 2010 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival. Read more about it here.

[The Brandtses] had set the timer on their camera while posing at [Lake Minnewanka in Banff National Park in Canada].

Just as they were about to be captured on camera the cheeky squirrel popped up in the foreground and stole the show.

…Mrs. Brandts said: “We had our camera set up on some rocks and were getting ready to take the picture when this curious little ground squirrel appeared, became intrigued with the sound of the focusing camera and popped right into our shot.”

The picture was submitted to the website of America’s National Geographic magazine.

“It was a once in a lifetime moment - we were laughing about this little guy for days!” said Mrs Brandts. (link)

Some around the blogosphere are saying that the 1959 Bruce Davidson photo from his Brooklyn Gang series which appears on the cover of the new Bob Dylan album is a shot of two men kissing. While it’s certainly an intriguing and exciting possibility, others familiar with the entire series of photos say it’s a girl who appears in other photos from the same session. Still, a beautiful, carefree, ambiguous photo.

Photo credit: Teddi Yaeger

When I saw that gorgeous pic this morning I was struck at how real that picture is: the couple (Sarah Warn and Lori Grant) is not posing, and the photographer is sharing a stolen moment with us.

I checked out Teddi Yaeger’s website (another Sarah and Lori picture can be found on Teddi’s blog) and I have to say that she sure has a good eye! Her main focus is photographing people, and the majority of the pics look like the subjects she has in front of her lens are totally at ease and relaxed (which is a very good thing!) and not overtly posing. I like that. I wish I could take pictures of people like that.

Currently listening to Depeche Mode (”People are people”)

Even though I came home last Saturday, I still find myself catching up with things. Besides my job, I am busy writing articles (and blogging), catching up with friends, and I’m back to physiotherapy. Even though I think I’ve made significant progress my physiotherapist is still not satisfied. In the meantime I can tell you that playing my guitar is now an easier task (definitely not as painful as before!).

One of the things I needed to catch up on is the Cherry Bomb vlog on the AfterEllen site. It’s a weekly vlog dealing with all kinds of topics (bisexuality, interracial dating, long distance relationships etc.) and with four different women sitting in to give their two cents the discussions are interesting and give some food for thought.

The latest episode is called “Dykeotomy” and is about Logan Alexander’s project; a new photography book called “Dykeotomy”. For that he took pictures of gender identities. Watch the episode here. I was suddenly reminded of a Flemish photographer, Marc de Clercq, who approached me a while ago. He thought I had a beautiful androgynous look going he’d love to photograph. He invited me to the opening of his exhibition in Maastricht a while ago and I went. But to this day I haven’t decided whether I want to be photographed…