In the classic Greek myth, the god Zeus assumes the form of an eagle to carry off the beautiful youth Ganymede and have his way with him sexually. A rapacious bunch, those old pagan deities! In the early 20th century, Anheuser-Busch adapted the story to advertise Budweiser. Kinky bunch, those old Victorian admen! This image circa 1904.
Category Archives: History
This vintage Bud Ad’s for You: the Rape of Ganymede!
Mask of Silenus
From the National Museum of Afghanistan, held by the Musee Guimet and photographed by Thierry Oliver.
Goodbye to Louie’s, Rossi’s, Marcello’s? Rising Rents may threaten Historic Castro District Small Biz Building
Castro Street. photo: Gay Highwaymen
Remarkable what you can learn in a barber’s chair. Louie’s Barbershop at 422 Castro Street has been at that address since 1932. Marcello’s Pizza, its neighbor to the north, has been there since 1978, and Rossi’s Deli has been there since…well, almost forever. Now, these familiar neighborhood haunts may be threatened. Word through the Gay-vine is that the old building has changed hands, and that the reasonable rents that have kept it stable for years are scheduled to skyrocket. Details are fuzzy, but multiple heirs and international investors are said to figure into the situation.
Small business is the heart of urban neighborhoods. Each one that gets forced out and replaced by a McBiz diminishes the soul of the place. As do empty storefronts. The international corporations and holding companies that invest in urban real estate are not invested in the well-being of residents. They buy pieces of neighborhoods for their portfolios and don’t care much about occupancy. Raise the rent by a factor of ten, then write off the vacant building. Its just good business…and there goes the neighborhood.
Posted in Architecture, History, Photography, San Francisco, SCANDAL: Politics, Crime, Revolution and More., Signage
Tagged Castro Street, Corporate Crime, Culture, Gay, Louie's Barbershop, Marcello's Pizza, Neighborhood, Occupy Castro, OWS, Real Estate, Rossi's Deli, Shop Main Street, Small Business
Singing to a Snake! Strange sexy old time Vaudeville Guy.
This old publicity still features early 20th century Vaudeville star Charles Kellogg singing to a snake. Kellogg was a California native, born in 1868, and he said he learned to sing to birds from indigenous local friends. Once the most popular act on the the Vaudeville circuit, in later years Kellogg was a keen conservationist and noted eccentric. He traveled around in what may have been the first RV: the “Travel Log” constructed from a redwood log over a Nash Quad chassis. More on Kellogg here.
Meantime, in Egypt…
A wounded protester is rushed to a field hospital near Tahrir Square during clashes with Egyptian riot police in Cairo, on November 20, 2011. (Reuters/Amr Abdallah Dalsh)
The people want a civilian government. The military? Not so much. Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss? From the campuses of the University of California to the streets of Cairo, 2011 has been a year of teargas and blood. And the beat goes on. More photos from Tahrir Square here.
Louis! Louis! Happy 224th Birthday to French Photo Founder Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre…
Louis Daguerre
Google anything today, and you will see a Google Doodle honoring the 224th birthday of French photographic innovator Louis Jacques Mandé Daguerre. Google Daguerre, and you will find the Guardian UK and others describing the Frenchman as a physicist. That’s really stretching it! Daguerre was a showman, a French P.T. Barnum, a famous theatrical illusionist and the operator of the renowned Paris Diorama, the multi-media extravaganza entertainment of its day. Far from being a respected man of science, Daguerre the showman could not even get a serious audience with the French Academy of Sciences. Nor did he invent the process which bears his name. Nicéphore Niépce, who died before the process was made public, did that. And Britain’s William Fox Talbot had been successfully experimenting with an alternative process for years. Talbot was an amateur, a gentleman scientist with little need of personal recognition, and no financial need. But Daguerre was a hustler, a businessman, and hungry for profit and recognition. He joined with the respected man of science, François Arago, who was able to present the improvements Daguerre had made to the Niépce process to the Academy. The French government provided Daguerre with a nice pension, and announced the invention of the Daguerreotype: a technological gift to the world from France, and a cultural coup in their on-going post-Napoleonic cold war with the British. Daguerre became known as the father of photography, and nothing has ever been the same since.
Posted in France, History, Photography
Tagged Birthday, Culture, Daguerre, Daguerreotype, French, Google Doodle, History, Photography
2011 Veterans Day is first with No WWI Vets
The Imperial War Museum acquired the portraits between 1917 and 1920, following an international appeal advertised in war-time ration books as well as the press
When Claude “Chuckles” Choules died in Perth Australia earlier this year, the world lost the last combat veteran of WWI. Chuckles was 110. As the centennial of the war’s outbreak approaches, memorials are being planned. The Imperial War Museum is publishing a series of portraits called Faces of the First World War. An early installment is reproduced above. The BBC has more.
Posted in Australia, History, Military, Photography
Tagged Armistice, Claude Choules, Faces of the First World War, Great War, Imperial War Museum, Photography, Veterans Day, WWI
Gay Saudi Diplomat faces possible Execution after US rejects Asylum Plea
Ali Ahmad Asseri, the gay former first secretary of the Saudi consulate in Los Angeles, has been denied asylum by the US government. According to the Jerusalem Post: “Saudi officials…refused to renew his diplomatic passport and effectively terminated his job after discovering he was gay and was close friends with a Jewish woman.” Asseri then applied for asylum, arguing that he faced possible execution if forced to return to Saudi Arabia. The feds don’t seem to want to ruffle the feathers of their Saudi pals, so they are sending him back. Case closed. Next. For a list of countries where being a gay men is a capital offense punishable by death, click here.
Posted in History, Human Rights, Saudi Arabia, Strange News
Tagged Ali Ahmad Asseri, Asylum, Capital Punishment, Consul, Death Penalty, Diplomat, Gay, Saudi Arabia
WTF? Hot Cops take down Cute Students at Occupy Cal: Slide Show and Mini-Rant
To protect and to serve: noble ideals. Is this what anyone is hoping for when they apply to the police academy? The police are no more elite than the students. Pawns against pawns: the new kings can afford to watch this like a play. The nearby city of Oakland, including its small businesses, takes the bulk of an assault intended for corporations well insulated from the occupations on the streets. For a statement from the Oakland Police Officers Association expressing their frustration with a ridiculous situation, click here. For updates from The Daily Californian, here.
Happy Veterans’ Day and Get Well to injured Occupy Oakland Marine Corps Vet Scott Olsen
In this photo taken Oct. 25, 2011, 24-year-old Iraq War veteran Scott Olsen lays on the ground bleeding from a head wound after being struck by a by a projectile during an Occupy Wall Street protest in Oakland, Calif. (AP Photo/Jay Finneburgh)
A picture is worth…
Posted in Activism, History, Military, Northern California, Photography, Youth
Tagged Culture, Occupy Oakland, Photography, Revolution, Scott Olsen, Sexy, USMC
The Gay Highwaymen 