Author Archives: gayhighwaymen

Nut Fan gnaws raw Balls at Testicle Festival.

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Have a ball! It’s the original sack lunch. They are called Testicle Festivals or Ball Balls, and they are popular annual events across the American West. It’s how young bulls become steers. Following the mass castrations of male cattle, local communities come together to feast on their excised gonads: the famed “Rocky Mountain” or “Prairie” oysters. Yum! Here, an avid nutter goes for his favorite dish. Most people cook them. This dude is hard core! Festivals range from the drunk and rowdy to the strangely evangelical and family-oriented. “Have a Ball for Jesus!” is the slogan of one Texas fest. Thanks to Jake Hale for sending us down this road. For more strange food, click here.

Black Futurist seen on the Street…

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…or on the sidewalk, as the case may be. Stencil seen on Market Street in San Francisco. The original Futurists were early 20th century Italian proto-Fascist artists and theorists in love with speed, war, and machines. Black Futurism is a more recent cultural phenom, an Afrocentric hybrid of arts, theory and literature, especially sci fi genres. Gay African American polymath Samuel R. Delany has been an influence in its development as has the visual work of seminal Neo-Pop artist Basquiat. A recent exhibit unpacked the history of this relative neologism.

Photo: Gay Highwaymen

Greetings from the Sunny South…

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Is it is or is it ain’t…racist? What a difference a century makes. This grinning kid is long since dead. An early RPPC (Real Photo Post Card) it was posted from New Orleans to New York in May, 1905. The message reads: “Dearest Dorothy, we came here this morning and have seen lots of strange sights. This boy looks like a great many who walk the streets. It is lovely here. Flowers and birds like we have in August. Much Love from Aunt Mary.” This one is for Marc Owens. More on him here.

Cool Camera Street Art Seen

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Snap! Stencil art old school camera seen on the base of a pole, near SOMA ‘hood in San Francisco.

The Robot and the Lifeguard

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Watercolor Robot circa 2010 by Richard Bolingbroke. Paired with a nice Saturday Evening Post cover of nearly a century earlier. The humpy lifeguard is supposed to be guarding those drowning flappers, but he’s got eyes for something – or someone – very different!

Wow. How do you even get that Thing up?!! Tall Unicycle boy seen on Market Street…

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Vintage Coolness: Hot Mounties and K9 Crew

20120307-192951.jpgWoof, woof, woof, woof and woof! Oh…and the Canadian Mounted Police aren’t a bad-looking pack, either!

Enemy Upstairs! Get on his Tail…

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It looks like this flyboy is wearing a dog collar and leash! He’s not. At least not in this image. From a WWII era Collier’s Magazine advertisement selling the latest in sound technology: the throat microphone. Can’t make yourself heard over the engine noise and machine gun fire? No more! The Western Electric throat microphone helps win battles!

Sight Seen: Short, Sexy Skater Boy Slide Show

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This athletic little creature was sighted on Market Street in San Francisco. Just horsing around, hanging out. Nearby DLX Skate Shop is like a watering hole, drawing skater boys from around the bay to this strip of mid-Market, east of Castro. More hot skater boy stuff here. Photos Gay Highwaymen, 2012.

California Rock Ant

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The California Rock Ant has its origins in the low desert around Palm Springs, but it has been sighted as far north as Mendocino County. Normally a docile species, it can be a bit jumpy around strangers, and is not a suggested pet for those who currently reside in glass houses.