Big, puffy clouds in southern Washington State, as seen through the blue filter on the car windshield.
-AidanAbroad
Tag Archives: Photography
Washington Clouds
Words, words, words…are always written on context-sensitive paper. (Homotextual Slide Show!)
In a paraphrase of the Bard’s famous tale, the Queen asks the Prince: “What are you reading, Hamlet?” and he replies: “Words, words, words…” 500 years later the gay literary great William Burroughs said “Language is a virus from outer space.” Well…that would certainly explain a lot!
More Homotextuality here, here, and here.
Photos: Gay Highwaymen 2011.
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.
Posted in Art and Artists, England, Photography, Scholarship, Spirituality
Tagged Art, Culture, Gary Greenberg, Microscope, Nature, Photography, Sand, Science, Spirituality, William Blake
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….!
Posted in AIDS, Leather, Nishikigoi, Northern California, Photography, Spirituality, Subcultures
Tagged Avant Guard, BDSM, California, Culture, Gay, Gear, Gear Up, Kevlar, Kink, Leathermen, Materials, New Guard, Old Guard, Paleo-punk, Photography, Saratoga Springs, Sexy, Spirituality
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.
Posted in DIY and Maker Culture, iPhone, Leather, Mendocino County, Northern California, Photography, Spirituality, Subcultures
Tagged BDSM, Design, Dungeon, Gay, iPhone, Leather, Photography, Rural, St Andrew's Cross, Still Life
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!
Posted in Activism, ANIMALS: Human and otherwise..., Art and Artists, Collecting, DIY and Maker Culture, Photography, San Francisco, Signage, Street Art, Grafitti, etc., Subcultures
Tagged Art, Banksy, Culture, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Film, Folsom St, Grafitti, Photography, Rat, San Francisco, SCANDAL: Politics, Crime, Revolution and More., Signage, SOMA, Street Art, Grafitti, etc.
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.
Posted in Gardening, Mendocino County, Northern California, Photography, Signage
Tagged Botany, Fairy Tongue, Ft. Bragg, Garden, Gay, iPhone, Mendocino, Photography, Pun, Word Play
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.
Posted in ANIMALS: Human and otherwise..., Indonesia, Photography, Strange News, Travel
Tagged Camera, Culture, David Slater, Indonesia, Macaque, Monkey, Photography, Self-portrait, Sulawesi
Beatitude and Beat in NorCal: Saratoga Springs Nishikigoi Pond
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.
Posted in ANIMALS: Human and otherwise..., Gardening, History, Leather, Nishikigoi, Northern California, Photography, Spirituality, Subcultures
Tagged 15 Association, BDSM, Beat, Beatitude, California, Culture, Gay, Gear Up, Koi, Lake County, Leather, Nishikigoi, Photography, Retreat Center, S/m, Saratoga Springs, Spirituality, Stage Coach, Yoga, Zen
Running The Gauntlet – Jim Ward Book Event at Mr. S Leather
Jim Ward at LDG, May 2011. Photo: Gay Highwaymen
Friend of this site Jim Ward founded The Gauntlet, and is widely regarded as the grand-daddy of the modern body piercing phenomenon. Now he has published a history. In May, he spoke to a packed room at The Leathermen’s Disscussion Group in San Francisco. Running the Gauntlet—An Intimate History of the Modern Body Piercing Movement tells the detailed story of “how Jim discovered his own fascination with body piercing and went on to found the industry.” Full of wonderful and terrible stories and amazing photographs, it includes details of his friendship with the heavily pierced and very gay Louis Rove – the adoptive father of the notorious Carl Rove. Other interesting bits include how the color purple came to signify piercing in the hanky code, and how he was collared to his long-term partner and Master, Drew Ward.
On Saturday, July 16th, 2011, from 1 to 5 pm, Jim will be at Mr. S Leather , signing books and chatting. Mr. S is at 385 8th St at Harrison in San Francisco, four blocks south of the Civic Center BART Station. If you can’t make it to the book event, and you want a copy, you can order one at the Running The Gauntlet website, here. Jim will even sign it for you.
Posted in DIY and Maker Culture, History, Leather, Photography, Scholarship, Spirituality, Subcultures
Tagged BDSM, Carl Rove, Culture, Gay, History, Jim Ward, Kink, Leather, LGBT, Louis Rove, Photography, Piercing, Purple Hanky, Queer, Sexy, The Gauntlet
The Gay Highwaymen 