Category Archives: WORLD WIDE: Gay around the Globe!

Road Trip: Weed, CA

I’m traveling through the Pacific Northwest this week. Here’s a picture from the town of Weed, in the far north of California.

20110725-115220.jpg

Ahhh…Sand! Microphotographer sees a Universe of Small, Hard Beauty Underfoot

photo: Gary Greenberg

Sand…those little rocks on the beach. Sand…in the 19th century, it was just one more slang term for testicular fortitude. Because you can never have too many ways to say it! Rocks, gravel, sand, guts, nuts…he’s got some set of balls on him! But back in the day, they used to say: “He’s got sand!”

Gary Greenberg, a biomedical researcher from University College London, has recently published A Grain of Sand, a book of close-up photographs of sand. He sees the big picture in the little picture. He’s not the only one.  Way back in the 18th century, proto-homosexual poet William Blake wrote:

To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour.

More on Dr. Greenberg’s microphotography  here. More on seeing the Universe in unexpected places here.

GEAR UP! (New Gear Men host Old Leather in Cali’s Saratoga Springs)

Photo and Design: Gay Highwaymen 2011

Old Leather; New Gear. Same fucking twisted kinky throbbing bobbing dripping ass-kicking mind-bending challenging pervert stuff as always. Of course. Style changes but stiff pricks and throbbing balls always rise to the particular season’s occasion. It’s about what got us hot and hard when we were young, and what does it now. N’est pas? See-see bone! Leather? Kevlar? Rope? Metal? Crazy new materials fresh out of R/D labs? All the wonders of modern technology? Or go way old school: kidnap a willing victim to the woods for some paleo-punk action in private. Way past medieval. Lots of room to get lost. Or…show off under the spotlight. Or…or…or. Sure. Why not? If it gets you hard and he’s game, have at it! Do the hokey-pokey. Because that really is what it’s all about…

Gear Up! is a Mens weekend party/run happening this weekend at Saratoga Springs. (The Cali Stagecoach Stop not the NY Resort!) This is the run’s first year and it is “geared” towards the younger set, to the post AIDS-crisis generation of men who lost most of the Men who would have been their generational elders and mentors – had more survived. Thankfully, some did! So…it’s a mixer. As the GearUp guys say: “amid open playspaces and numerous educational workshops, GearUp brings together the open-minded beginner with the trustworthy player.” Sounds like a plan! For more information on GearUp click here. More on Saratoga Springs here. Plus…if you are at the run and want a cool opportunity for a little silence and solitude in the midst of so damned much hotness, check out the Nishikigoi (Koi) Pond, here. Oh, oh oh, ommmm….!

Rural Dungeon Still Life…

…often occupied. Momentarily empty. The space used to be a goat barn. Now it is a dungeon. The focus of the photo is a piece of classic dungeon furniture known in the scene as a St. Andrew’s Cross. Site of many a spiritual journey…et cetera.

20110720-061756.jpg

Beautiful SOMA Banksy – Hot Rat!

 

Banksy on 9th St. SF. Photo: Gay Highwaymen, Dec 2010.

Banksy! We snapped this shot on 9th St between Folsom and Harrison Streets in San Francisco’s SOMA (South of Market) district some time back. Popped up “just so” during last year’s run of Exit Through The Gift Shop.

Hey, B,…if you ever want to extend your marvelous marks into the rural fabulosity of NorCal, you are invited. Hospitality, anonymity, great groovy walls and other cool surfaces guaranteed!

WHAT Kind of Tongue?!

They say there’s one at the bottom of every garden. One at least, and a virtual gaggle in this one. Shot in the Botanical Gardens in Ft. Bragg, California.

20110719-031118.jpg

Biker Dude in Redding

Biker dude (with Masonic Bikers colors), filling up at a gas station on Sunday morning in Redding, CA.

20110717-094845.jpg

Indonesian Shutter-bug Monkeys shoot Themselves!

When photographer David Slater turned his back on his photo gear while shooting wildlife in Indonesia’s Sulawesi National Park, he never expected that the local crested black macaques would take over the shoot. But they did. Or did they? Some doubt it. Slater insists that the photos are genuine, but does admit to rotating and cropping them for effect. Expect these photos to show up in a camera marketing campaign soon: “So simple a Monkey can use it” via Guardian UK. More here.

Beatitude and Beat in NorCal: Saratoga Springs Nishikigoi Pond

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

California’s Saratoga Springs  used to be a stagecoach stop. That was way back in the 19th century day. Now it is a “retreat and conference center.” Yoga retreats, raves and weddings are part of the draw, but they also host Leather and S/m Club Runs. The 15 Association does the annual Boot Camp run every June. Leather Levi Weekend does a mixed ‘Twisted Summer Camp’ run in August, and this year, a new mens’ run called Gear Up premieres in late July.

All that hard play can be hard work, and the deeper it gets, the realer it becomes. From degradation to grace and back again, turning forever on itself like a mobius strip. Beat, Beat-Up, Beatitude: words to fly by from the jam-sweet lips of angel-headed hipsters.  Top or bottom, sometimes retreat is a good option. For those times, just outside the dungeon (aka The Heart Lodge) mildly hidden in the landscaping, a small magical nishikigoi (koi) pond waits. A rock ledge provides enough room for a semi-lotus, and a fine venue for adventures in ego dissolution. Flash of Orange. Take me…OM…country roads…splash sky water…gone.

Hot Firefighters fight Hot Fire in SF Castro District!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

No one was injured, but there was lots of excitement, and plenty of exciting firemen, EMTs, and onlookers on Castro Street Saturday night when a balcony BBQ caught fire. All’s well in the village. Kudos to the men of the SFFD!