Today, October 28th, 2099, President Barack Obama signs into law the Hate Crimes bill, aka, the Matthew Shepard Act.  Since the bill was dubbed the The Matthew Shepard Act it has taken on many different revisions nearly losing it’s common name as it has been introduced in many other bills in an effort to pass the Senate and Congress to ultimately reach the President’s desk especially during the Bush years.

Because he was gay, Matthew Shepard (pictured above) died in 1998 after being robbed, beaten and dragged to a remote location where he was left affixed to a fence to peril in his own blood, fear and angst for 18 hours.  When he was found, Matthew was first mistaken for a scarecrow.  He remained alive but had succumbed to a comatose state.   A few days later never to come out of the coma, Shepard died in the hospital from injuries to his head that caused his vitals to function improperly.   The injuries were so impacting that surgery was not an option.  Shepard’s mother who has fought long and hard for the hate crimes legislation was invited to the White House today to be present for the signing (see the second video below).

The bill was included with the 2010 National Defense Authorization Bill signed by Barack Obama.  President Obama promised to support the LGBT community during his election campaign and again at a recent dinner where he spoke at the HRC just one day before an equality march on Washington was to take place. Today the President carried out on that promise in a big way – Thank you, Obama!

Remaining legislation to be passed and ultimately be signed into law include the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and the repeal of Don’t ask Don’t Tell and. that he would sign the bill.  He delivered on that promise today.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Renato Ferreira: Photographed by Greg Vaughan in New York

I saw the photo above of beautiful model, Renato Ferriera, who is represented by Major Model Management and fell in love with his charming good looks.  As evidenced by the sign being held by Renato he loves Made In Brazil, a very trendy blog that covers a wide variety all things Brazil in fashion, entertainment and tourism.  With its forward thinking appeal and just the right amount of hotness going on, it’s not your everyday blog.

I’ve always been an avid reader of MIB and since they have decided to feature Renato along the sidebar of their blog with a big pink heart I felt compelled to share the love – We love Made in Brazil too!

It’s really hard to imagine that any man or woman with a modern sense of lifestyle hasn’t crossed pixels with this digital Brazilian showcase.  But… If by chance you haven’t, please do check it out.  You surely won’t be disappointed and will most definitely mark it as a priority on your daily “to do” list.  Yeah, it’s that good.

release! from Stock Photography

This is just a test post for a new plugin by Crestock where they allow WordPress users to use free images.  Instead of giving them a link I’ll let you click on one of the images below to see the site.  They even put the link to their free images for WordPress users on one of the photos – how handy is that?

The plugin has some problems like when you drag or click on a image to add it to your post.  Sometimes it uploads and sometimes it doesn’t.  At this point it’s just hit and miss.

I’m also finding that I’m having a difficult time in positioning the images.  I think that’s more of a WordPress thing than this plugin though.   But it’s not all WP.  Crestock puts its images in a wrapper so they can add their own text and a link even though they already watermark the image with their logo and the copyright of the photographer.

Thats fine but when you nudge the images it all goes away – not my fault Crestock – You’ve still got one link on the last image and I’ll add another at bottle of the post.

My goal was to put all four images side by side in pairs.  That didn’t work so good.  I should be able to place the images in the post without using the alignment attributes letting them align naturally.  That doesn’t seem to work.  Maybe it’s the wrapper.  The truth is I just don’t know.

The plugin comes with it’s own folder to store the images.  It also installs a new database where it records all the information about each photo.  It doesn’t appear to add the images to the WP gallery.  That’s probably a good thing as they aren’t really meant to be used for gallery purposes.  They’re small, usually 300 to 400 pixels which is an ample size for most bloggers who love to write while sprucing up their site with some profession photos.

Will I use it?  Probably for some blogs but not this one too much.  I think it is a perfect solution for a lot of blog applications though.  If Crestock gets the uploading bug worked out it will be simple and fast to find related photos.

I wish more bloggers would use photos because it adds to the appeal.  A little nice eye-candy never hurts.

The plugin itself will let you manipulate the images to a degree using the built-in WP photo attribute settings.  You can set the photos to align left, right, center or choose none.  You can also resize the images down but not up.  You don’t get the option of choosing a thumbnail so I seriously doubt the images will play nice with any of WP or certain theme’s abilities to use the thumbnails.  This is because the images are directly uploaded to the built-in gallery.

Is it worth it?  It is what is and nothing more but certainly not less.  First and foremost it’s a marketing stream for Crestock.  Us bloggers use their images for free and give them some free advertising in exchange.  Is it a fair exchange?  I’d say yes.  And because of that I’d also say it’s worth it as long as it fits your needs and the application (scheme) in which you’re using it.

There’s another similar service out there called PicApp and I wrote a review on that one as well.  You can read it here.  What I do like about Crestock Freebie Images is they don’t slap a third party ad on their images.  That makes it a winner in my book.

To download and learn more about Crestock’s Freebie Images go here or to see what Crestock is all about you visit their home page.  They also give away a free high quality stock image everyday.  I’ve used several of these over the previous year.

Lady Gaga speaks and performs a specially altered rendition of John Lennon’s Imagine at HRC dinner.  The following day she also speaks at the National Equlity March – October 11, 2009: National Coming Out Day.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The interview can be watched  at OURsceneTV.  Click the image below to open the interview in another window/tab.

Lady Gaga on OURsceneTV

Broadway cast Hair sings Let The Sun Shine In at the Equality March in Washington DC on October 11, 2009 – National Coming Out Day.

Click here to view the embedded video.

“You go, Gay!”  is a recent release from Jonny McGovern’s 3 Dollar Bill series.    It’s fun.  It’s Campy.  It’s way gay.  Best of all it has a great message in the lyrics.

< Jonny and his boys

Click on the image to see the larger version.

Ok, so this pic of Patrick Kerney is sooooo  last year…  But really, do you ever get tired of looking at that ass?  NOPE!

On a more personal (and professional) note, Kerney didn’t practice this past Friday due to a groin injury.  He is listed as questionable for today’s game against the Jaguars at 4:15 EST.  Kerney now plays Defensive End with the Seatle Seahawks.  In the above Photo, Kerney was with the Atlanta Falcons.

The bulk of everything is done.  Just a few more tweeks and a bit of cosmetic touches here and there.  I was going to stick with the old style I had before.  But now I’m really liking this new clean and crisp look.

I’m not really sure how long that will last.  I kind of like to get down and dirty so I’ll probably keep the new color scheme and throw a few gradients in to take off the sharp edget a little – Give it some attitude!

I”m really pushing the limit with the photo attached to this post.  Have a good look because unfortunately you won’t see anything quite that revealing gracing these pages very often.  The truth is I’m starting to run out of “hands on” theme material.

Marcus Patrick with a gas mask.  I Just had to for the visitor from Fukushima, Japan – that name rocks!

We promised we would keep you entertained:

Hopefully this won’t take too long.  In the meantime we’ll make sure you something new and big grab onto each day. 

Here’s the first installment:

I agree with a lot of his viewpoints and am honored to publish this post.  Enjoy – It’s a great read!

< Photo – From the Attitude Collection

WHAT’S YOUR PROBLEM?
By: Dakin Parker


I sometimes fantasize about what it was like to live in a time when it was less fashionable and more problematic to be gay; to be a product of the fifties and sixties instead of the seventies and eighties; to have walked into the AIDS era instead of being born into it. Don’t get me wrong – I’m grateful to those who paved the way through some shitty times, and, having lost a couple of friends to the pandemic, by no means wish to disrespect those that have lost more – but I do long for a life with less imagined problems and more real ones.

As if the universe was helping me prove my point, a personal chef-friend of mine relayed the conversation he’d overheard his boss have with the estate’s plumber recently: “I’m really not interested in that model icemaker for our house on Fire Island. It makes crescent-shaped ice blocks. I want 1.5 inch cubes. And while you are out there, have a look at the dishwasher under the front counter – not the one near the stove, the other one – it leaks on the rinse cycle.”

A couple of things in that paragraph irk me – and I’m not even talking about the absence of the word ‘please’. I’m talking about how in vogue it is to be preoccupied with getting our lives aesthetically perfect and how quickly we forget about the real struggles of our species and especially of our tribe.

I mean, how long ago were the Stonewall riots? How long ago did a handful of New York drag queens say ENOUGH and fight back against police raiding a bar whose only crime was that they were serving homosexuals? How long where the ensuing riots that marked the start of the gay rights movement and when active protest finally trumped passive submission? That was 40 years ago. They lasted for 3 days. It was the last Sunday in June and the catalyst for Pride marches in New York, San Francisco and the world.

Pardon me while I tone down the Obama-like rhetoric, but this is something that really gets me going. Vanishing oil reserves and trillion-dollar bank bailouts – those are problems. A crazy dictator leading a middle-eastern country with murderous dementia and an African youth leader threatening to kill if justice is allowed to hear an opening statement – those are problems. Moon-shaped ice blocks at your beach house… give me a break. Yet, on the convenient streets and avenues of Manhattan, with its 24 hour public transport and night clubbing systems and where I could live quite contently without ever having to leave my block (two dry cleaners, a 24 hour deli that sells beer, three banks, a liquor store and a late night restaurant – all on my side of the street), even therapists have therapists. Mine (of course I do) happens to think I’m quite an anxious person and I can’t help but wonder why. Why do I spend such a great deal of time fretting?

Maybe it’s because in the dull sophistication of the developed world, having something to worry about makes us feel alive again. Human. Or maybe Maslow was right and only once we have homes and physical safety can we move up the triangle and let our minds come into their own. Authentic. Maybe it’s somewhere in between those two extremes.

Maybe it doesn’t matter. But somehow to me, it really does. As gays, we stand on the verge of significant progress as we rally for our rights and demand to be given a fair hearing. We finally seem to have united a front with which to move our cause forward. And, while there has been some phenomenal energy created around the Equality March, I still heard one queen wonder aloud why the march was in October this year and not June. It was the same person who spent most of the previous week in a tailspin because the upholstery didn’t match the table linen at his upcoming public commitment ceremony.

I don’t think I’m trying to make anyone feel badly for actually making a success of their lives and living it up – on the contrary. Buy that second dishwasher so that your dirty plates are always out of eyesight. Just don’t point a manicured finger at those of us who don’t see that as a priority. Think a little before throwing a tantrum about napkins not matching overlays or getting upset because the chef won’t let you reinvent his menu by substituting or serving the dressing on the side. (Imagine if we could divert all that velvet rage to oppressive groups that really deserve it?) Because, although you have a Kabbalah-given right to be the happiest person you can be, the rest of us are trying to do the same in our own way. And your energy kills our buzz.

Speaking of being happy, I’m planning a trip to Mexico for the holidays and, besides the gang violence and swine flu, I’ve just found a villa that is not too far from the beach and fits my recession-adjusted wallet. The only problem is that it doesn’t have air conditioning. Maybe that’s why I’m so cranky: The thought of trying to take an afternoon nap to recharge for the evening tea dances, all the while swimming in my own sweat because the ceiling fan is really only circulating the warm wet heat… Now that is a real problem.

Warning: Adult content, NSFW – View the post here.

This is a fun “attitude” video that made the rounds a couple of months ago across many gay blogs.  It’s still going strong and I’m really surprised I didn’t post it here back in May.  Better late than never, right?  Maybe it’ll get a second surge in popularity.  By the way, the haters hate this video – I’m lovin’ it!  Ironically the video wasn’t even produced to taunt the bigoted hypocritical homophobes.  It was meant as a light-hearted self-approach to deal with the ridiculous amount of hate towards the LGBT community.

The video is a collaboration of several YouTube publishers and is the creative work of steviebeebishop.  The song is by Lilly Allen with the third verse removed to fit the message of the video better. 

For everyone one of the adoring fans there is at least another of opposite devotion. Those opposites present a devout persistence to sentence a man to death whom has already died.

I am left asking does it really matter what someone has done or hasn’t done once they die. Certainly it does but who it matters to now should be the focus of reaction by those who choose to spout off with their venom. Think of the children that were left behind when their father died. Think of what you are going to say before you say it. Think of Michael’s children before you throw the forked tongue.

As individuals we have no personal proof Jackson did any of the things he was accused of because he didn’t do them to us. We were not there when the supposed crimes took place or didn’t take place. Jackson was acquitted of any wrong doing and that is what we as the public are left whether we believe it or not; whether we believe it or not. Jackson was tried before his own fellow citizens and they, the public, relieved him of all charges to which he was accused. It is time to let it go.

What matters now is the well being of Michael Jackson’s children. They should not have to endure the relentless torture by the hateful and hurtful comments left by those who seem to have no morals themselves. Let them hear the praise for their father. Let them hear how their father touched the hearts and souls of many through his undeniable talent as a song writer, singer, musician and artist. Most of all let them have their own piece within their lives.

Not so for some gay couples.  The article tells of one lesbian couple who experience the opposite temp foes.  But they also mention a gay male married couple who are on the same side of the thermostat. 

Brad Ward, who has lived for more than a year in a chilly house in Crestwood with his spouse, Sanj Grewal, said: "My husband and I both feel compelled to leave the thermostat as cold as humanly possible during the summer. We’re in total agreement on keeping cool."

I found this to be very interesting not only because it’s true that a lot of men prefer to stay cool but I’m also declaring it as yet another benefit to same sex marriage that some of us might have overlooked or taken for granted.  So…  Here’s to keeping it cool boys and warming up together when it gets a little too frosty in the wee morning hours.

This hot guy originally posted over at Adam’s Candids is feeling a little sexy on this Sunday and decides to pull up his shorts and show a little leg.  Cute!

I almost missed the Sexy Sunday post (again!) but no fear Tory is here to save the day.  This shoot was done on Sand Key near St. Petersburg, Florida.  The photographer is Dondi Star and her hunk of choice for the day is Tory G.  Both are from Florida.

It doesn’t happen often that I’m totally impressed by a new face but Tory inspired me to throw a little video together and put it up on YouTube.  Check it out below – Hope you all enjoy it.  Below the video you’ll also find a link to an online gallery of the shoot.

video

Click here to view the Gallery.

This is all the buzz today on the intertubez…  President Obama and French leader Nicolas Sarkozy at the G8 Summit appear to be checking out some serious female ass in the above photo.  But alas Obama is still the good guy just watching his step and being a gentleman while helping another lady down steps according to the video below. 

Sarkozy…?  Well, he’s definitely thinking about getting kozy with some hot tush.  Maybe he should be watching his step with a little more caution too because if he’s not careful he might sprout a public boner.

Video

The New Boyz song You’re A Jerk jammed my kids ears on the radio during a road trip back back from Cali this week.  We heard the song at least a dozen times while in LA and then another 10 in Las Vegas.  Being from Dallas we’ve never heard it on any of the local stations.  Not saying the song doesn’t get any airtime but I’m certain it’s not as popular here as in more liberal cities across the nation – unfortunately we beez from the butthole of the Bible Belt so we sometimes kinda gets skrewed on da really kool stuffs.

I wasn’t going to write about this but then I saw the video…  I really liked the sound of the song on the radio so when we arrived back home I looked up the video on YouTube.  All I gotta say is these boyz, Ben J and Legacy, know how to jerk out a good tune.  But that’s not really what I wanted to write about.  So what inspired me to write?  It’s the skinny jeans.  Yeah, I know.  I’m a hopeless gay bi-boy fixated on tight jeans.  No, not really but that is what caught my eye and propelled me to tap the keyboard.  So call me what what you want.  On second thought…  Don’t.

What I will say is Ben J (left) and Legacy (right) of the New Boyz has got it stylin’ from head to toe and they look damn good jerkin in skinny jeans. Colorful, fun, happy and good attitude.  That about sums it up as gay as you can get without being gay.  You go Boyz!

the song is hot and they got swag but them tight ass jeans gotz ta go.. god damn lil niggas let ya dick breathe son

That’s from a comment on the official video on YouTube.  Not the video above as it’s from the New Boyz channel (give ‘em some love because they deserve it).  I almost fell out of my chair laughing when I read that comment and then I realized something very important – Does this mean big baggies are on the way out?  Damn!  I hope the fuck so!  Seriously I absolutely loathe big baggies.  Little baggies, not so bad.  In fact, if you’ve got the bod and your jeans are tight but sagging just enough show off a fine piece of ass meat then strut your swag all you want, baby!  But big baggies with stinky loose boxers poofed out like an inflated mushroom and the crotch hanging to the knees – sorry fellas but your dicks ain’t that big.

Get it, Ben J >>>

Roc for Life Interview: Catching up with The New Boyz

Find more videos like this on Roc4Life
Video

Sorry to disappoint but baggies are out and skinz are in.  My oldest kid goes to a high school with what I consider a good mix of diverse fashion amongst the students.  Last year the guys who wore baggies represented about 10% whereas those wearing skinny jeans at least doubled that.  The rest, I’m guessing their momma still dresses ‘em.  To make a point it was only the the year before that ratio was reversed.

Music iconics (yeah I made that up) has always played a role in what kids wear.  Sometimes it lasts and sometimes it doesn’t.  If it sticks it can last 10, 20 or more years.  That brings me to what you think.  Are big baggies on the way out and skinny jeans are in?  What’s your thoughts?  Do you have a preference?  Oh, and if you think you’re hot…  Send me a pic of you and your jeans and I’ll post it.

Bonus – Ben J and Legacy of the New Boyz got it going on with Dirty Mind.  Check it…

Video

It’s time for a major overhaul of LikaStarr.com so I’ll be pulling out the big hose in the next few days and give this site a total wash down.  Hopefully this wil get me in the mood for some real action again on this blog.  My apologies for slacking off in writing but at least I did post a notice that other stuff might get in the way.  The truth is I’ve just been waaaaay too buzy with some other projects.  That and to be even more upfront I was getting bored with this site – the way it looks, the way if feels, the way it…  well, just about everything. 

Stay tuned…  (hopefully you haven’t already pulled the plug.)

Sorry this is late but with an ass like Kamil Kumorek who cares!  Sexy Sunday

Sunday represents the beginning of a new week.  A flower represents a new beginning of a season.  This photo represents a new beginning of adult male sexuality. 

First there was the Phelps/Prejean misunderstanding-misrelationship-mishappening misscali-mistermostolympicmedalsofalltime thing-a-ma-jig that Michael Phelps denied ever happened.  Ok, well he didn’t actually deny everything.  He just said they weren’t dating.  No mention if there was any bong blowing or sucking or whatever you do with it.  I said bong not dong.  Anyway, props to Phelps – we still love him and this proves he’s not just a pot-head who happens to win gold medals at the Oympics like they’re pennies in an suburban-mall water fountain.  Obviously, he’s got brains too.  That’s dump #1 for Prejean.  She never had chance with his godness. Photo Credit: The Dirty

Dump # 2 comes after Prejean goes head to head with self proclaimed Media Whore Queen, Perez Hilton, when asked her thoughts on Gay Marriage.  I won’t go there as it’s been gone over and worn out like a pothole with a street around it.  You can read about here and millions of other places on the web.  Very long story short, the Miss California Pageant official Keith Lewis tried to yank her crown then but head honcho, The Donald, played his ever-lasting Trump card and saved the Prinicess.

Fast-forward to the present and we have Dump Da Dump Dump DUMP number three.  After 40 something interview prospects, with all but 17 of them going sour Carrie Prejean only honored her contract to sit in on one of them.  Just one, skipping out or down right refusing to honor her contract and do the other 16 interviews.  What happened to all the others?  According to the rumor mill, they didn’t want any part of Prejean and the negative controversary that surrounds her.  To top that off, major advertisers were pulling their dollars from the Pageant.  Armed with the ammo needed the Pageant fired Miss Prejean. And….  It’s about damn time.  This time with Trumps blessing who said he gave her a chance and she just didn’t pull through.

There’s lots more to say like whether or not Shanna Moakler, former Miss California co-executive director, will get her job back with the Pageant after quitting because Trump denied the dethroning the first time around.  Moakler says things are right now but will she get her job back?  Who knows…probably so.  Sure there’s lost more to say but this story has been said to death already. So now it’s just time to forget the fallen princess and move on.  ‘Cept for one thing – How do we yank the fake pink tiara from self-proclaimed Queen of all Media, Perez Hilton?