Category Archives: Asia

John, They’re only Dancing – Marines Shake It! (Hot & Silly Video)

These two are just too cute. Barely more than kids, as soldiers usually are, they are caught in a complicated history, their own personal stories intertwined with that of their country at war. Vets, and children of vets, understand how one can despise war and still honor warriors. Many of us still carry the physical and emotional effects of conflicts long past. “It’s complicated” – as they say on Facebook. War is hell, but it is also boredom. In these media days, that’s easily taken care of with a camera and a YouTube account. The Internet is awash with interesting videos made by soldiers with time on their hands. These two mess around to Soulja Boy’s Donk. For a great Lady Gaga Telephone re-do, click here. For an interesting musical political commentary, based on a lyrical re-working of the Beach Boys’ classic Kokomo, click here.

Colonialism as an excuse for Homophobia? India’s Health Minister calls being Gay a Western “Disease”

Mumbai Gay Rights Parade - Photograph: Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty Images

We hear this over and over and over again from our gay friends in and from countries and regions that were once under colonial occupation. Homosexuality is cast as a disease brought in by European conquerers, foisted upon an unsuspecting population that had never know of such evils before. Sort of like smallpox-infected blankets.

As a Ugandan pal (not named here – for his protection) pointed out, in the case of sub-Saharan Africa, this nefarious discourse has the effect of making being gay not only a crime, not only a sin, but worse, a sort of Pan-African treason, a wholesale capitulation to the white man and his evil ways. In Uganda, the Anglican Church (which IS a Western import!) is the main vehicle for this evil propaganda.

This thinking is in full effect in India, too. Ghulam Nabi Azad, India’s minister of Health, addressed a conference on HIV/AIDS in New Delhi on Monday, saying: “Unfortunately this disease has come to our country too … where a man has sex with another man, which is completely unnatural and should not happen but does.” For the article published by The Guardian UK, click here.

Fucking Elephants! Really…

Ah, the thrills and occasional spills of exotica tourism. Animals do what they do, and DNA just wants to make more DNA. When these tourists decided to ride the elephants, they weren’t counting on the bull climbing on board!

Happy Serenely Sexy Vesak! #BuddhasBirthday

Sputnik photo 2009

In Bangkok, the gay hangout Q Bar is closed Tuesday for Vesak, a national holiday in Thailand and much of the Eastern world. More than Buddha’s Birthday, as it is sometimes known, Vesak commemorates not only the birth, but also the enlightenment and passing of Gautama Buddha. Other names for the commemorative day include Vesākha, Wesak, Visakah Puja, Vaishaka, Buddha Purnima, Visakha Bucha, Saga Dawa, 佛誕 (fó dàn), Phật Đản วิสาขบูชา and Araw Ni Buddha. Photo by Sputnik via Flickr.

Cinema taught me how to become the person I wanted to be…

Mickey Chen, center, poses with the two leading actors from the director’s 2007 short film Fragile in Love.

Author, gay activist and documentary filmmaker Mickey Chen is a friend of a friend of this site. Thanks to Guo-Juin Hong of Duke University for this one! Chen’s best-selling book Taipei Father New York Mother is coming out as a film. Both are semi-autobiographical and based on Chen’s difficult family background. Chen recently talked to the Taipei Times. He has described cinema as his “mother” and explains: “Children from dysfunctional families have different ways of licking their wounds. My brother is addicted to gambling, my older sister died of an overdose, and my younger sister spends her life in the frantic pursuit of love. I choose to hide in the abstract world of literature and the arts. I became parentless at the age of 10. Cinema taught me how to become the person I wanted to be.” Good stuff. For the rest of the interview, click here.

Ding Dong! There’s always another Wicked Witch in the Wings…

Remember the movie? The death of the Wicked Witch did nothing to protect Dorothy and her friends from the Flying Monkeys. Something to keep in mind. Meet the new witch; same as the old witch. Here is a fan video of the Klaus Nomi version of Ding Dong (The Witch is Dead). And here is an audio version from Ella Fitzgerald.

Great quote on Enemy Death from MLK is a Fake.

According an article in The Atlantic, the quote attributed to Martin Luther King in this space and others, is a fake. It is a fast-moving internet meme. Where did it come from? For the mysterious quote, click here. For the update, here.

Obama vs. Osama

Obama vs. Osama. Via Comicbook.com, this is a Wondercon comic book convention variant cover of Savage Dragon #145. Pop simplicity aside, it is not over yet. Beware the neo-underwear bombers…

Martin Luther King: On the Death of One’s Enemies

I found this quote especially appropriate today:

‎”I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

–Martin Luther King, Jr.

Words of wisdom…worth considering.

-AidanAbroad

Teacher shaves for first time since Sept. 11, 2001

Interesting article in SF Chronicle today: a schoolteacher from Washington State shaved his beard for the first time since the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks. He made a vow not to shave until Osama bin Laden was caught. This is what 3,454 days of beard growth looks like.

-AidanAbroad

Photo: Dan Wheat / AP