Real World 20...AHHH!

Below are our top pics for the bestest gay men who paved the way for our community via reality tv! We also chose Davis Mallory, but of course the video didn't post! lol ... leave comments, and your fave picks for who you just couldn't live without from week to week! Can you believe it's been 20 seasons!?

Danny (and Paul)

And last but not least, Danny! Anyone know how we can get a hold of him? haha ... we also have a few questions for him!

The Norm!

He was one of the first, kiddies...

Tyler finds a guy to hook up with...

Tyler was interesting, but we still love 'em!

Notes From The Concrete Jungle: The Importance of Listening

A lot, and I mean a lot, has been said about the importance of listening. Scores and scores of advice on how one should listen, why one should listen, and what one should listen for. But not nearly enough has been said about the importance of talking. Now, I don’t mean talking just to hear your own voice, but talking to actually express things, thoughts, feelings, emotions, and the like. For all the people out there in the world listening, SOMEONE’S got to be talking (at least I would hope).

Over the last few months I’ve been thinking really hard on some things, and one of these things is the importance of talking. Now, for the record, I’m a talker, or at least our standard definition of a talker. In reality, I’m an idle chatter, someone who can make little, non-sensible conversation. When it comes to the big things, and I mean the really big things, I’m as quiet as the rats that run through the sewers of the Jungle. I’ve never learned how to talk.

I come from a family and world in which talking about yourself was status quo. I spent nights doing the usual ego boasting, and idly expressing world views that no one really knew or understood. But the talking about yourself stopped, dead cold, when expressing emotions or feelings. I grew up trying to achieve my dad’s idea of the typical southern eldest son. I’m sure most of you have heard of the idea, top of the class, football star, macho, and emotionless. It’s the stereotype portrayed in movies and television specials. I wasn’t any of these things, but I bought into them. I created them as part of my own personality. I developed stoicism, the complete lack of emotion, at least by modern definition. See, I was taught to show emotion is weakness and to talk about your emotion is feminine. Due to being raised like this, I developed ways to express myself, which wouldn’t exactly break my dad’s little rules, but it was never about me.

I’m a writer by nature; I’ve always played with pen and paper. So it seemed natural to me to take these unexpressed emotions and convey them through characters and pages. I wasn’t breaking Daddy’s rules; I was, if anything, bending them a bit. I created characters to express my anger, my rage, my sadness, anything my heart felt. It wasn’t me though, and it solved nothing, and I skipped the fast track to the modern generation. We live in age when talking about emotions and feelings are in vogue, but I missed it. I feel odd, strange, saying things like “I feel angry” or “I’m upset when,” or “I’m happy when.” These are not sentences I can form easily. I’ve always handled things myself, or dished them out on the page. And suddenly, life changes.

In any relationship, friendship or otherwise, talking is key. Not just talking about likes, dislikes, or even favorite films, but talking about real issues, real emotions, and reality. There’s the key to it all… reality. Relationships rely on reality. They rely on being true, not only to yourself, but to the other person. When talking, in reality, you begin to craft the gem of trust. Not only do you craft trust, but you begin to deepen where things are going. Things can’t be fixed without being spoken of. If you choose to remain silent, then you choose to let the issue bubble and brew into a major issue that may explode beyond repair. All this having been said, how does one go about talking, or in my case, learning to talk? Like anything you learn, you have to start at the beginning. I haven’t quite mastered starting at the beginning. I’m the type that just dives right in. This time though, for my own personal reasons, I’m starting at the beginning. Step one in learning to talk is finding time, and sitting down in an area that’s comfortable for everyone. Step two, open up, and let the words flow and talk. Speak from the heart, and let the words flow, but by all means avoid words like “always” or “never,” phrases like this immediately put everyone on the defensive. Step three brings us back to the all important listening people have harped on for years. But the importance, remains on talking, on letting things go, on creating understanding. Most importantly, on continuing to craft the gem of trust.

PLAYLIST OF THE WEEK
1. No One's Gonna Love You (The Way That I Do) - Band of Horses
2. Spit on a Stranger - Nickel Creek
3. To Be Alone With You - Sufjan Stevens
4. This Modern Love - Bloc Party
5. Digital Love - Daft Punk
6. Read My Mind - The Killers
7. Like the Angels Rise - Against Me
8. You're My Best Friend - Queen
9. Solider Girl - The Polyphonic Spree
10. All My Loving - The Beatles

Until Next Week
- Texas

Notes From The Concrete Jungle: Something Borrowed, Something "Blue"

Something Borrowed, Something "Blue"

Have you ever played with a lead balloon? I haven't either, and I assume (though I could be wrong) that it's absolutely no fun. The reason I ask is, well, I've been sitting with a lead balloon in my lap for about a week now, and I'm totally unsure of what to do with it. Am I suppose to throw it, or use it as some fanciful decoration in the House of Texas? I simply don't know.

Of course, "lead balloon" is a euphamism for something else. It usually refers to a situation that doesn't work, for example: "Well, that joke went over like a lead balloon." I tend to use it for a situation I don't want to deal with. Example: "Your drinking is one more lead balloon." An even better example: "My brother's wedding is another lead balloon in my life." And it is.

Time for a bit of a story. (Yay!... or not.) Mitch, the middle son of my family, is getting married on April 19th. To say I'm happy is an understatement, he and Stacy have been dating for over eight years. Eight years! Hell, most of us have a hard time imaging eight weeks let alone eight years! So yes, I'm very happy for him. They deserve each other. Seriously, they do. And don't try to read any bitterness or resentment (two "glowing" trademarks of queer society) into this. There isn't any. If anything, this "lead balloon" got me thinking.

I haven't been home in over a year, and while a wedding is a perfect reason to escape the confines of the Jungle, it isn't an oppertunity I plan to persue. You see, my family is a bit of a disjointed mess, and this wedding REEKS of disaster. (To be clear the disaster isn't Mitch and Stacy, it's the mess surrounding the wedding.) Pluse, disaster aside, I don't feel like answering millions of questions that are bound to be asked. And I'm sure any fool knows what those are.

"How's New York?" Great! Couldn't be better. (Sip drink in silence and pray they go away.) "Got a boyfriend/girlfriend yet?" Yeah, I do. HE'S wonderful. (Deeper into the drink.) "So, when do you plan to get married?" (Pause. Beat. Smile.)

And then the Beast that is Texas lurches forward and attacks that fool crazy enough to ask that question, thus rendering my brother's wedding on the evening news. Publicity! Fame! And jail time. And why? Simple. I'm a rabid, feral, staunch supporter of gay marriage, and in the backwoods gay isn't something you mention, let alone marriage. So instead of running off to book my flight, I sit with the lead balloon and wonder just were I'm going to use it to decorate the House of Texas.

I'm not going to let this become a rant on marriage, the need for the legalization of it, or blabber on about the need for equality. Let's face it, we all know, gay or straight, these issues need to be addressed, but there's a time and a place for these things. For the record your brother's wedding is not the proper time or place (and to be honest I don't think Pride is the time to mention these things either). It's called class and edicate. I'm only going to say one thing about the whole marriage thing (for now). The constitution states I have the right to the pursuit of happiness, irregardless of the fact that my happiness might step on your religious beliefs (there's an amendment that solves that problem too). Enough said, I think (again, for now).

Actively Support... PORNO?!?

For all you kiddies a bit bored during the week and need something to get over the mid-week blues, you should check out 9TH AVENUE SALOON (between 46th and 47th on 9th Ave) on Wednesday night. A good friend of mine, Manny (who just celebrated his birthday), runs the bar that night. And guess what? From 9 to 11 you can usually oogle a porn star or go-go boy! Now, wait, wait, it gets better. You can play BINGO! Did I lose you? Hope not, because by playing bingo you'll be helping local gay orginizations raise money. The orginzations range from theatrical to medical, just ask Manny at the bar each week who it helps. Oh, and a word of advice, don't mention being a Red Sox fan (if you are). So go out and enjoy a cocktail or two and help support the community.

PLAYLIST OF THE WEEK

One last thing guys, here's some more music to get you through the week.

1. Shut Your Eyes - Snow Patrol

2. Good Day - The Click Five

3. Just Some Guy - Anthony Rapp

4. Rollerskate Skinny - Old 97s

5. Magick - Klaxons

6. Rogues - Incubus

7. Tounge Tied - Eve6

8. Million Years - Teddy Geiger

9. Lights and Music - Cut Copy

10. Weekend Wars - MGMT

Until next time,

- Texas

Notes from the Concrete Jungle: Get Your Groove On

First and foremost - an apology. I've been M.I.A. (missing in action, not the artist) these last few weeks. Turmoil and upheavel has hit the House of Texas. I know that isn't much of an excuse, or reason, but it's the truth. I won't go into many details, but please be satsified with it's been a rough two weeks. As way of an apology, I've two back to back posts. The first is a subject near and dear to my heart, Music. The second is a rumination over a hot button topic that fell into my lap like a lead balloon (and believe me, it hurt). But for now gang, pull out your headphones, sit back, relax, and get ready of two awesome music recommendations.
I've never been a huge fan of dance music (don't shoot me), but I happend to stumble on a song from an artist right here in the Concrete Jungle. His name is Adam Barta and he hails from the Boogie-Down Bronx. He orginally worked Off-Broadway while persuing his music career. In early 2005 he released a track called "Dirty Girls," and while it did okay, the song never really took off. Well, Mr. Barta is back - with a vengence.
"I Wanna Hold You" is a love/dance anthem, simple enough. The song musically reminds me of some of the dance music that came out of the late 90's. Def worth a spin or two and I'm willing to bet you'll see and hear more from Mr. Barta in the coming months. Internet sources say he's working on a full-length album, and if the songs are as good and catch as this one, I suggest you get prepared to be dancing to the songs all summer (or at least until Our Lady of the Pavement starts her assault on the Billboards).
For starters, this isn't the real video, but it allows me to offer the song a bit to you. Until "Our Lady of the Pavement's" new album drops on Apr. 28th, this is the CD in heavy rotation at the House of Texas, Oracular Spetacular by a group called MGMT (pronounced management). This is an awesome CD. Seriously. It's rare when I don't skip at least three to ten tracks per album, but there's not really one I skip. Playability of this album is high. The two lead singles, "Electric Feel" and "Time to Pretend" show much of the band's versatility. As a band, MGMT summons to mind heavy influences of Bowie, CCR, and The Kinks, while also sounding like LCD Soundsystem. Interested yet? You should be. "Electric Feel," one of the lead singles, sounds like something you'd hear around midnight in a seventies club, while "Pieces of What" calls to mind CCR and John Fogerty, but peppered heavily with bile. Stand out songs include: "Weekend Wars," "Electric Feel," "Time to Pretend," and "Kids". Do yourself a favor, pick up MGMT before they explode.
To bring this little musical interlude to a close, I thought I'd give you a weekly playlist (a new addition to the article). So without futher ado, here are ten tracks (old, new, obscure, a bit of everything) to get you through the week.
PLAYLIST: Week of 3/14 to 3/21
1. Electric Feel - MGMT
2. I Wanna Hold You - Adam Barta
3. Designs on You - Old 97's
4. I Need Your Love - The Rapture
5. Nine In The Afternoon - Panic at the Disco
6. High - The Cure
7. Going Gay - The Passionistas
8. Changes - David Bowie
9. Trim Your Sails - The Wonder Stuff
10. If You Find Yourself Caught in Love - Belle and Sebastian
Till next time - Texas