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Top queerNEWS on the Qt!
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Happy New Year
copyright 2011
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Goodbye 2011! Hello 2012!
One year ends; and a new one begins. Resolutions and goals are promised and we're off to experience another year.
Now it's time for us all to review the past year and recall achievements, notable or infamous events, and personal memories while the optimist in us hopes that our reflections will lead us to a better year ahead.
What are our goals, our dreams and our needs? Where do we want to be this time next year or what do we want to achieve?
Each year we are confronted with the "tradition" of making resolutions, but alas, far too many go unfulfilled or forgotten. Personally, I gave up on resolutions a long time ago, they seem useless and a waste of time.
I've come to understand this yearly review and resolution making as a simplified form of a discipline known as a "daily examination of conscience." Far from being a puritanical act of seeking forgiveness for our sins, this examination of conscience allows us a time to reflect on our actions and thoughts while providing us with an opportunity to embrace the dignity of our humanity while reinforcing our self-respect.
Dignity and self-respect are the cause and fuel for the queer civil rights movement. These truths are the foundation for our indignation and anger in the presence of injustice. They guide and empower us while giving us the ability to recognize a government that governs us while, at the same time, discriminates against us.
Embracing the dignity and self-respect within ourselves helps us to see the same in others and thereby moves us to restore individual moments to civility. In the light of dignity and self-respect, a simple act of opening a door for someone becomes a restorative moment that leads to other restorative moments. By becoming more aware of others, we also become more appreciative of ourselves and of our community.
As a community, it is the recognition of our dignity and the power of our self-respect that causes us to fight back against the injustices that rile against us daily.
Heterosexism, homophobia, transphobia, sexual prejudice and discrimination are enemies of natural human dignity and individual self-respect. As a community, we can gain the inner-resources and strength to fight back against such injustices.
It is our hope that 2012 will lead us all to a deeper understanding of our personal and communal ability to bring about change and restorative moments.
May our dignity and self-respect be the passion that inflames our desire and our actions to secure and protect our full and equal rights in society for ourselves and the generations of queers to come.
Comments:james@QUEERtimes.net
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What It Looks Like From Here
Thom Cardwell
copyright 2011
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 "Words, words, words." What's that a quote from? It's from "Hamlet." The to-be-or-not-to-be gone-mad Danish prince answers the bumbling Polonius when he asks Hamlet what he's reading. It's a yet another brilliant stroke of genius from the greatest wordsmith of the English language, William Shakespeare. It's quite literally true and yet philosophic at the same time since words on a printed page have meaning, conveying both thought and emotion. In the play's context, it's a most comic moment in a very dark and tragic love story.
I've been thinking a lot about words lately. Well, we use them almost every waking minute of every day and, with the advancements in technology, our usage of the English language is either enhanced or compromised, depending upon how you look at the impact of the almighty Internet, and our various ways of communicating through emailing, texting, twittering, face booking and social networking.
 There are approximately 500,000 words in the English language contained in the 19 volumes of the Oxford English Dictionary or the OED as it's more familiarly known that actually traces the elaborate and fascinating and changing history of each and every word. (The average educated person uses a basic vocabulary of about no more than 20,000 words.)
Remember when you studied Latin it was called a "dead language" because no one (besides the Catholic Church in their mass ceremony) speaks it. In contrast to English, a "living language," which is also an International language that more and more non-native speakers are yearning to learn, including the South Koreans, Japanese and Chinese populations, all to become speakers of English as a second language. (Incidentally, if you're looking for employment, there's a newly growing field to consider.)
Already, the impact of the Internet and the new technology upon the English language is stunning. What's even more shocking and striking, in a way, is how we as a population (or civilization) so easily go along with these changes and, moreover, the ways in which we group words into phrases, abbreviate the language, codify it, and accept, without much fuss or hesitation.
Now the teaching of English itself is undergoing dramatic transformation in classrooms across the country and even around the world.
 So here's a new word for you-"chunking." It's the latest and greatest way to teach children as native speakers how to use English. Employing the method of "chucking," students "learn language not so much on a word-by-word basis but in larger 'lexical chunks' or meaningful strings of words that are committed to memory," explains Ben Zimmer in "On Language" (The New York Times, September 19, 2010).
Forget about studying vocabulary lists! Gone! Zimmer continues: "Chunks may consist of fixed idioms or conventional speech routines, but may also simply be combinations of words that appear frequently together, in patterns that are known as 'collocations.'" Examples like "make yourself at home" illustrate for the ordinary person what Zimmer is getting at.
These days many linguists claim that "a native speaker picks up thousands of 'chunks'. . .in childhood, and psycho logistic research suggests that these phrases are stored and processed in the brain as individual units, according to Zimmer.
"Chunking" is being bolstered by computer-driven analysis and, Zimmer contends, like it or not, "sets of ready-made lexical chunks are at our disposal" and that English language usage is quickly being impacted by data-driven reliance."
If this all sounds rather heady, it is. Not surprisingly, many critics of "chunking" worry about the such aspects of the English language that but become buried or lost to the next generation of native speakers such as "dealing with novel ideas and situations" and "the open-endedness" of how we communicate using individual words and formulating our own phrases.
comments@QUEERtimes.net
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Thom's Closet
Skinny Cloths to Buck Skins
Thom Cardwell
copyright 2011
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Size does matter these days when you're talking men's clothing. For men, it's all about the skinny look, in everything from suits and ties to jean and shirts. Some manufacturers of menswear don't want to offend so they've resorted to using the code word "trim fit" literally sewing it onto the back inside collar of a dress or casual shirt. You need to try that shirt on because you'll probably find that it won't fit you. It's not your regular size medium because with the closer, skinnier, cut to the body, you'll need to purchase a large size. I'm not kidding; it doesn't man that you put on some additional weight.  It's such a popular trend right now in off-the-rack shirt making that labels from INC to Perry Ellis have "trim fit" shirts. Other labels like Alfani have "trim fit" in lightweight outwear jackets and INC has started to adhere to the trend with their sports jacket lines from everyday casual to tuxedo evening wear.
You'll also notice that lapels on both suit and sports jackets are narrower than a few years ago. After all, the width of a tie and the cut of a sports jacket are, besides being fashion statements, economic imperatives. English Laundry designed by Christopher Wicks is currently featuring the skinny look in shirts, pants and jackets. If you're shopping for yourself, you'll want to wear one size larger than your normal size but the cut is so close to the body that you'll still look slimmer. This latest collection is available at Macy's and Nordstrom. Among other fine men's specialty stores. (By the way, English Laundry has also recently launched its own men's fragrance, Arrogant, that is a mixture of jasmine, vanilla and citrus.)  The classic straight leg jean with a slightly different contemporary twist is another part of the skinny jeans look, Your choices here are wide-ranging in terms of labels and higher-end designers, including Levi's, Wrangler, Silver, Diesel, Mekdenim, Buffalo David Bitton, Syn, Rugy, Ralph Lauren, G-Star Vincent Gallo and Dsquared2, featured in Paper (January 2012) and Nylon Guys (January 2012).
Some accessories actually have gotten bigger. Watches like the newest 3700 Collection of Jorg Gray are featuring white and black face and bands, definitely oversized for most men's wrists,  as a jewelry accessory statement. Baby-G watches, in black and white, with gold tone digital numbered faces have also made a comeback with a slightly oversized impact. With such a mild winter thus far in the Northeast and fashion always at least one season ahead in the fashion magazines, what's old is new again (frankly, many times, these items are more classic and timely and often times simply not popular at any given time.) So, now I speak of the buck skin shoe.  The editors of GQ (January 2012) have predicted the comeback of the preppy buck skin men's footwear by high-end designers but with a contemporary twist. Still featuring the always popular wingtip design, what has definitely expanded is the color palette, including dark chocolate brown by Louis Vitton, the traditional white by Bally, caramel by Brunello Cucinelli, dark red by Mark McNatry for New Amsterdam, and dark grey by Walk-Over. Though all these styles costs just under $100 to more than $1,000, buck skins have a lot of wardrobe versatility and can be worn with suits, jeans, and other casual trousers and outfits.
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Thom's Holiday Calendar
New years Eve For A Cause
Thom Cardwell
copyright 2011
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During the season of giving, some members of our community just continue to keep on giving back to our queer community in Philadelphia. Hence, The Red Carpet: A New Year's Eve Philanthropic Extravaganza, 444 North 4th St., Suite 216, December 31, 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., organized and hosted by Al Besse and Scott Evers, Melissa Santanello and Joseph Matthews to benefit the Delaware Valley Legacy Fund and The William Way Community Center. "It's an evening of friends gathering together to celebrate the holiday, giving to the two worthy non-profits, open bar, great music, and an interior design showroom that will be transformed into a nightclub with light fare and many accessories as prizes to be won with the raffle," said Matthews, interior designer and former chair of DVLF's TOY, the annual major fundraiser for the nonprofit queer fund. There's even some live entertainment at The Red Carpet, according to Matthews, who announced that Kartinya Nicole will be performing during the NYE bash, Matthews said that tickets in advance are $25 that includes a complimentary raffle ticket and $35 at the door. The party is open to the public and tickets can be purchased online here. He said that Porsche of the Mainline is a sponsor for the event with a few exotic cars parked out front of the condo building of the residence and showroom for Joseph Matthews Interior Designs, the site of the party, in Old City. Readers of Qt will be happy that Matthews also pointed out that "we have the video invite that has been a HUGE hit on Facebook, Youtube, PhillyChitChat, Philebrity.com and now BUCKmonkey at YouTube.com. Though the event was organized in a very sort period of time, Matthews has been encouraged by all the support of so many online media outlets, including QUEERtimes, so he's anticipating a sold-out event. With this outpouring of grassroots support, Matthews looks forward to more community unity in our efforts to support the queer community-based non-profits for all the good works and services that they provide.
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What They Said and Did!
Copyrighted 2011
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Mention "Livin' La Vida Loca" and the image of the tall, handsome, sexy, queer multi-talented entertainer Ricky Martin is immediately conjured up. But the Latino (a native of Puerto Rico) pop cultural  phenomenon, recently turned 40, decided to come out publicly in his own memoir, simply titled, "ME," (Celebra Book, 2010) and confirmed long time rumors about his sexual orientation. Martin, who is actually slated to star in a theatrical revival of "Evita" on Broadway in 2012, has become a gay icon and model of a same-sex family, having two sons, and a domestic partner. In this candid memoir, he begins, right from the start, with personal revelations. Martin explains: "When I am onstage or in front of the cameras, I am 'Ricky'; but in private I am 'Kiki,' a man who each day confronts the challenges of life, just like everybody else. While most people reading this book have a clear sense of who I am as an artist, there is a fundamental part of me that very few really know. Today, after all that I have lived and the many experiences I have been through, I realize that it isn't fair to separate 'Kiki' from 'Ricky.' They are one and the same. It has taken me some time to understand this, and although I used to believe that the best thing would be to hide my personal life and the essence of who I am, now I hold the full conviction that my true happiness lies in living my life freely, without any fears or false pretexts. It has been a gradual process. I can't say exactly when the realization hit me, but I do know that I got to the point where I could no longer live without facing my truth. This is why I have chosen to finally end the secret that I have carefully guarded for so many years: I have decided to tell the world that I accept my homosexuality and celebrate this gift that life has given me. Now I feel strong. Free. More free than ever."
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Queer designer Sam Frenzel, son of Turkish and German parents, a graduate in fashion from Berlin's University of Applied Sciences, an apprentice at Chloe in Paris and working under world-celebrated  queer designer Christian Lacroix, then working at the House of Dior, was already making a splash, all before the multi-talented and intellectual Frenzel completed his college senior project focusing upon the "anthropological and sociological significance of ornament and accessories." He told the editors of WWD (January 12, 2010): "Clothes are not superficial. They provide a nonverbal, psychological profile of us. What you wear is powerful and interesting." Recipient of the Peek & Cloppenburg Designer of Tomorrow Award last July, Franzel, whose eclectic mix of East-meets-West influences with his own strangely wonderful creations from over-size acrylic jewelry and bold body shapes. He respects "existing silhouettes--the hip, the bust, the butt. I try to be classy, but with a futuristic feel. Life is about keeping on the move." His runway show wowed everyone from the world's leading fashion magazine editors to Lady GaGa at last year's Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Berlin. He is clearly a rising star fashion designer on the International scene.
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"Life is a Cabaret!" Of course, the source for the award-winning musical stage play and film interpretation of "the Berlin Stories" would be gay men. Nowadays, Christopher Isherwood, has entered  the public's consciousness, thanks to queer designer/director Tom Ford for his brilliant adaptation of "A Single Man," and what queer writer, Edmund White, called "his most openly gay novel and the founding text of modern gay literature." In his review (The New York Times Book Review, December 12, 2010) of "The Sixties: Diaries, Volume Two, 1960-1969, by Christopher Isherwood, " edited by Katherine Buchnell, (Harper/Harper Collins Publishers, 2010), White is laudatory about Isherwood's entries about everything from his celebrity friends from Jennifer Jones to Igor Stravinsky, to his highly public and long term "conflicted" relationship with artist Don Bacardi (immortalized in the critically-celebrated "Chris and Don"), 30 years his junior. White recommends this volume as a "must-read" observing of Isherwood that "what is most striking about these diaries is the combination of the sacred and the profane." Of the literary queer giant, he later concludes: "I once suggested in these pages that Isherwood was the closest thing we had to a secular saint."
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