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  • Julian Clary To Rub His Ring For Panto

    Punters are you ready? King of Camp, drinker of Blue Nun and fister of politicians, Julian Clary is ready for Panto.

    Following last year’s record-breaking production of Jack and the Beanstalk, Birmingham Hippodrome has announced another all-star cast for this year’s action-packed pantomime Aladdin, which runs from Saturday 19 December 2015 until Sunday 31 January 2016.

    Julian, 56, who will play Spirit of the Ring, (insert ring jokes here) will be joined by MARTI PELLOW, LEE MEAD, MATT SLACK and ANDREW RYAN.

    Julian Clary has established himself as one of the country’s most recognisable and popular stage and television entertainers. He has turned his hand to comedy, acting, presenting, writing and in 2012 Julian won Celebrity Big Brother. As well as his autobiography, Julian has become an accomplished novelist with a number of best-sellers to his credit. He is a hugely- popular panto performer and has headlined some of the biggest pantomimes around the UK, including Dick Whittington at Birmingham Hippodrome opposite Joan Collins in 2010. Julian plays the Spirit of the Ring.

    Hurrah! Get Booking campers.

  • Frameline Festival Has The Gayest Promo Ever

    We have been to a few film festivals in our time but we can say without a doubt that the brand new trailer promoting San Francisco’s Frameline Festival is by far the best we have ever seen It is also probably the gayest too.

    Now in its 39th year Frameline is the world’s oldest and largest celebration of queer cinema. It so worth the trip, that’s if you even need an excuse to visit San Francisco itself. After all, there is no place like here.

    Watch it below

    www.frameline.org

    @RogerWalkerDack

  • Just What Do The Scientologists Call Poppers?

    Are you still calling your favourite inhalant ‘poppers’?

    Well according to the Church of Scientology’s ‘Foundation For A Drug-Free World’ you are so behind the times. They have been touring New York City public schools teaching children about the evils of some fo the world’s more popular recreation drugs. Parts of the information they are imparting are the street names that are now used for inhalants.

    We are not quite sure where/how they discovered these terms, maybe some leading Scientologists filled them in… but calling poppers names such ‘Satan’s Secret” suddenly makes us think maybe we have underestimated them.

    Poppers that is, not the Scientologists.

  • FILM REVIEW | Freaks (1932) Cinema Re-release

    ★★★★ | Freaks (1932) Cinema Re-release

    Hollywood Classics presents a cinema release of “Freaks” – in cinemas from 12th June 2015

    This classic opens with a sideshow barker shouting about his latest addition, without showing it immediately builds some tension, as you want to see this freak. The audience around the cage gasps and screams and so sets the scene for that back-story, the story of how the freak came into being.

    A beautiful circus trapeze artist, Cleopatra, takes an interest in Hans, a dwarf who works in the circus sideshow away from the main ring. She has ulterior motives though as her interest is more about Hans and his inheritance than in Hans himself. Hans has his head turned by this beauty, and forgoes his loving finance to pursue this highflying love.

    What he isn’t immediately aware of is that she is carrying on an affair with Hercules, the circus strongman. At their wedding party, a drunken Cleopatra tells the sideshow freaks just what she thinks of them – huge mistake and this group of friends close ranks and plot. Together, the freaks decide to make her one of their own.

    Tod Browning, the director and producer, drew on his own experiences in the fairgrounds and circuses of America to create this once shocking film. He was given leeway by the studio system to create this horror after his success in creating Dracula. He intentionally showed the “freaks” to be the ones with a code of honour and a sense of justice and the so-called normal cast as the ones with murderous intentions.

    Tod also managed to interweave sub-plots that built on the “freaks” having normal lives, such as the co-joined twins who each have romances, the armless wonder who performs everyday tasks with her feet – remember folks, in 1932, these were shocking images, things never before seen, hence their place amongst the circus sideshows.

    It seems impossible to believe now, but after test screenings in New York, the film was pulled after one lady threatened a lawsuit – claiming the film had been so shocking, she had suffered a miscarriage! The film was butchered and reduced from its original 90 minutes to just over 60, with some of the more shocking scenes removed. There were extended images of the freaks attacking Cleopatra and the scene where Hercules, her lover, is castrated was also removed.

    The initial barker scene was added to give it some context, but despite this and the other cuts, it lost money on it’s second release and despite Brownings earlier work with Lon Chaney and Bela Lugosi, his career was effectively over – Hollywood doesn’t forgive or forget easily!

    The film was considered overly exploitative over here and was banned in the UK for over 30 years but even with mainly negative reviews, some saw this as a masterpiece, a true gem of film-making with even the Rotten tomatoes site giving it an overall thumbs up, stating that time has been kind to this film and the US National Film Registry adding it to its archives as being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

    It isn’t easy to watch, in this age of PC conformity, you do question its making, it’s potential to exploit – but if you can, put that to one side and consider it in it’s historic context.
    Take a peek if you can, in its intended surroundings – aim for a real cinema with Rococo fittings and real organ music. Failing that, go see it at your local multiplex, but DO GO SEE IT.

    A huge 4 stars – not as scary as it once was, but excellent historical perspective and amazing cast

  • Putting The 2015 Ford Focus Through Its Paces

    The common or garden hatchback has had a bit of a rough time of late. With everyone and their dog all after a high-riding SUV like the Nissan Juke or a ‘premium’ hatch like the BMW 1-Series, mass market offerings such as the Focus can be overlooked. The question is, should you ignore the current trends and give one of the old favourites a chance?

    First impressions are very good, the new corporate Ford grille has been criticised for looking a little bit too Aston Martinish (is that really a problem?) but here it’s handsome with just the right amount of aggression.

    Our test car was also painted a striking metallic blue and shod with some tasty 18” alloys wrapped in low profile rubber. Climbing inside this top spec Titanium X model, you are welcomed by a chunky leather steering wheel, half leather seats and Ford’s Sync 2 combined navigation and infotainment system, something you can read more about in June’s tech special issue of The Gay UK Magazine. There’s plenty of nice squishy plastic although premium car fans won’t be impressed by some of the cheaper plastics on the centre console and lower reaches of the dashboard. You can tell the range starts at less than £14k that’s for sure. Nevertheless, there’s plenty of space, everything is clearly laid out and not unattractive either.

    Keyless go means you don’t have to insert a key, just have the fob on you and thumb the starter button.

    The 2.0 diesel fires quickly and settles into a subdued idle, you still know it’s an oil burner but refinement has come a long way even in the last 5 years. Our test car came with Ford’s Powershift dual clutch automatic gearbox, similar to VWs DSG system and promising similar benefits. In almost all situations it smoothly shuffles between ratios with a noticeable shortening of shift speed in sport mode. There’s a built in ‘creep’ mode like an old school auto which makes manoeuvring easy with the car even holding you on the brakes for a hill start. Economy should be as good if not better than the manual too.

    The only fly in the ointment is if you go from pottering about to suddenly needing a burst of acceleration, something that can make the gearbox hesitate for a moment before delivering the performance you need. It never actually caused me an issue but does knock your confidence in pulling out onto a busy roundabout or carrying out an overtake. Sport mode helps but does tend to leave the car in too low a gear while the manual control buttons on the shifter don’t feel particularly intuitive. I get the feeling the optional wheel mounted paddles would be the ideal solution and make you feel like Lewis Hamilton to boot.

    The Focus has always been renowned for its handling so I had high hopes for this latest model even as a diesel estate. As with most new cars these days, the steering is electrically assisted. It’s nicely weighted and gives some feedback of what the road is doing but does feel a little gloopy just off the straight ahead like the wheels are turning in treacle. It’s a minor gripe however and one that most people wouldn’t even notice. In terms of fun and balance, I found the car hampered by having too much grip. This may seem like an odd thing to say but you have to be going seriously quickly to feel the inherent balance of the chassis.

    Once I had found my testicles and chucked it into a bend at speed you could feel the chassis working hard at both ends, resisting the urge to plough straight on and putting a very big grin on my face. I think smaller wheels would not only mean you can have more fun more of the time but you’ll also save a few quid replacing tyres and get a comfier ride. Although the Focus coped well with larger bumps and undulations, sharper ridges could thump through the cabin thanks to those skinny sidewalls. For the majority of people on the majority of journeys though, the Focus would prove to be a safe companion that you’d have to do something very stupid in to get out of shape round a bend.

    Overall the Focus made a compelling case for itself. It looks good, handles well and was very well equipped. It was also incredibly practical with plenty of room for 4 passengers and luggage with even more space if you folded the seats down.

    It did disappoint slightly with regards to economy though, being sensible I averaged around 43 mpg with a mixture of A-road, dual carriageway and town driving. Although this would no doubt improve as the engine loosened up (it was delivered to me with less than 1000 miles), I was still hoping to see better fuel consumption. My biggest complaint however was price. Admittedly I did ask for a fully loaded test car for the tech issue but even still, £29,615 for a Ford Focus diesel did surprise me.

    Personally, I’d be tempted by a lower spec model with a few choice options to bring the price down. At around £20-£22k and optioned with the adaptive headlights, Sync 2 and with less bling the Focus would be very tempting.

    Pros

    Handles well

    Punchy yet refined diesel

    Styling

    Cons

    Low rent interior plastics

    Worse than expected economy

    Price

  • 4 Summer Essentials For A Gay Boy About Town

    Dive into summer (yes it’s finally here) with these four sun embracing must-haves chosen by me just for you!

    1. Oh the shade of it all!! Protect your peepers from harmful UV rays by wearing sunglasses. Usually, I’m a Raybans boy but I did find these awesome Aviators from American Eagle for only £12. Stylish yet affordable.

    2. Dig out your budgie smugglers! Summer is all about that bass so make sure that your tushi is covered only in the best that swimwear has to offer. This year I’m sunning it in bright, bold printed trunks by Aussie Bum and The Swim Shop. I like a tight fit with enough room to cup my junk and these definitely deliver.

    Cheetah Animal Print, Aussie Bum – £23.19

    Twilight Lagoon Print, Aussie Bum – £22.48

    Speedo Men’s Endurance, The Swim Shop – from £13

    1. Step into the light! Flip flops are so passé, not to mention bloody uncomfortable. I much prefer to slip my feet into a pair of Toms. So much so I just bought two pairs! All in the name of charity off course because for every pair of Toms you purchase the company will give a pair to a needy child somewhere. Winning!

    2. Burn baby burn! No, don’t burn, only douche bags don’t wear sun screen. A good sun screen will protect you against dark spots and skin cancer while allowing you tan like a god. There are so many great brands to chose from including Kiehl’s, Clinique, Nivea and Malibu to name but a few. I’d recommend having a selection with varying SPF levels. I like to wear a stronger SPF on my face because my mug tends to burn quickly.

    It may only last a day it may last all summer but we don’t care, this is Britain! Go out there, get yourself a Mr Whippy and enjoy Summer!!

    @StephenCroweFit

  • FILM REVIEW | Meet The Fokkens

    69-year-old identical Dutch twins Martine and Louise Fokken give a new meaning to the word sexagenarian. Both of them have been working as prostitutes in Amsterdam’s red light district for almost 50 years now, and Marianne is still plying her trade daily. (Louise retired 2 years ago when arthritis meant she ‘couldn’t get one leg over each other’ any more)!

    ★★★★★

    In this truly delightful documentary we discover that they are a wonderfully colorful irascible pair of Rubenesque women who have such joie de vivre. The film starts with following elderly Martine as she catches the bus from the suburbs clutching her tiny chihuahua (which she NEVER ever seems to put down) and en route to work calls in at the convenience store to pick up another box of 144 condoms. Immensely affable she greets everyone she meets with her big smile and constant chatter as if she is just heading for another day at the office.

    Setting up her room she hangs her accouterments to show to passing strangers that she offers dominatrix and other kinky services for her ‘naughty’ men, and then dressed very provocatively sits in her large window enticing then to come in. The fact that all the ‘working girls’ in adjoining ‘windows’ are barely 20-years-old seems to hardly bother this old trooper at all.

    The sisters explain that very few of the punters want full intercourse but just to simply ‘get their rocks off,’ and the film includes some hilarious scenes with Martine and her gentlemen callers and how easily she can get them to be satisfied. What should be regarded, as an intensely sexual experience seems to be harmless and a somewhat funny episode for the men who appear to enjoy the free cup of coffee afterwards just as much.

    The sisters are inseparable and do literally everything together and live in their own apartments that are in buildings opposite each other. They dress in the same bright gaudy clothes, finish each other’s sentences and clearly are each other’s best friend. We see them in conversation with each other and also alone talking unguardedly straight to the camera about their lives to date. The information they reveal is somewhat patchy which makes their story even more intriguing. When Louise was 19-years-old and already a mother of 3 children her physically abusive husband ‘forced’ her into working, as a prostitute and Martine seemed to follow almost to support her sister’s indignity and precarious situation.

    They touch on the fact that they made so much money in the early days, but now stuck in municipal housing there is no sign of it at all. They are fiercely independent and talk about the days when they broke away from the organised crime ‘pimp’ system and even opened up their own brothel at one time. And there is a scene when Louise is reconciled with one of her daughters but no real explanation is offered as to why the child grew up with foster parents. It’s almost like there is a whole another movie to be made here.

    The sisters own pleasure now is in painting bright garish canvases of scenes of their life in the Red Light District. Like the women themselves their artwork can best be described as somewhat naive. They do however make for a wonderful scene towards the end of the film when they are exhibited in a Gallery and all their old cronies turn up to show their support and their genuine love for these two unstoppable women.

    They are two good-natured women with an infectious sense of humour who have obviously led a tough life yet appear to bare no scars or even deep resentments even, and the final scene where they are frolicking together in the snow like a couple of silly schoolgirls shows what a wonderful resilient couple they are.

    A sheer joy to watch, and even enough reason to check up flight schedules to Amsterdam.

    by @RogerWalkerDack

  • RIP: Anne Meara Dies

    Anne Meara actress and comedian and wife of Jerry Stiller and mother of actor Ben Stiller and of actress Amy Stiller died yesterday aged 85.

     

    Extremely well-known to US Audiences, she is instantly recognisable to us as for her role as Cynthia’s meddling mother-in-law in Sex And The City. Married to Stiller for 61 years during which they constantly performed together, although he and Ben became bigger stars, Ms. Meara still appeared in over forty movies in her long career that included Fame, The Boys From Brazil, The Daytrippers and she co-starred with her son in Zoolander and The Night At The Museum.

    Here is a clip of Jerry and Anne on Good Morning Joe TV Show in 2012 when they were honoured by the Actors Fund.

    @RogerWalkerDack

  • BIG BROTHER Aaron Shows How to Twerk Whilst Bottoming

    Openly gay Big Brother housemate Aaron Frew has given Chloe tips on how to Twerk whilst having sex.

    Aaron who admitted last week that he had sex with someone with a “10 incher” has shown Chloe how he likes to Twerk whilst having sex.

    Aaron, 24 romped on the bed infront of the Doncaster lass to demonstrate how he wiggled his butt whilst having sex. With his hips raised off the bed, Aaron proceeds to wiggle his bottom and gyrate his hips in front of a bemused Chloe.

    Top marks for poise and angle we say!

    Chloe, 25, was quick to show off her prowess got on all fours to show her stylings.

    Last week Joel, from Cardiff admitted that if he had to make out with a male housemate he could with Aaron.

    Just in case you needed to see more of Aaron’s moves – here you go…

     

  • The untold story of Bletchley Park And Alan Turing comes to Cast, Doncaster

    Following the recent 70th anniversary celebrations of VE Day, Idle Motion’s That Is All You Need To Know brings the untold story of Bletchley Park to Cast, Doncaster on Wednesday 17 June in a stunning piece of visual theatre.

    Total Theatre Award nominated Idle Motion takes the audience back to 1940s England and the melting pot of Britain’s greatest minds; to the eccentric country house whose grounds, filled with chess champions, Oxbridge graduates and young debutantes. Among these were the visionary Alan Turing (recently portrayed by Benedict Cumberbatch in Oscar nominated The Imitation Game), the exceptional Gordon Welchman, and the thousands of dynamic women whose work was the hidden heroism of the war.

    Idle Motion are one of the countries leading visual theatre companies who tour nationally and internationally to critical acclaim. They integrate playful stagecraft with innovative video projection to create highly visual theatre that places human stories at the heart of the work. Their humorous and sensitive past productions include the Edinburgh Fringe Sell-Out Borges and I, and The Seagull Effect exploring a couple’s crumbling relationship as Britain is hit by the unexpected 1987 storm.

    Alan Turing was prosecuted for his homosexuality in 1952, Idle Motion learned about his life and subsequent premature death (while researching chaos theory for The Seagull Effect) before he was posthumously pardoned in 2013. Fascinated by this British mathematician, cryptologist and co-author of the foundations of computer science, the Idle Motion team intended to base their next work on his life story.

    Following research into Turing’s incredible work during the Second World War at Bletchley Park and visits to the site itself, the Idle Motion team realised that Bletchley Park was full of astounding stories and people. What stood out most remarkably was that the thousands of people who worked there kept it all a secret throughout the war and for most of their lives, and this was the story the company wanted to tell.

    Artistic Director Paul Slater read Gordon Welchman’s ‘The Hut Six Story- Breaking the Enigma Codes’, first published in 1982 and written in the 1970s. This book was one of the earliest memoirs of life at the park to be published after the ‘secret’ history came out in 1974. The style of the writing in and the insights it gave to the life and work provided an ideal foundation to the wider story of the Park itself and the structure of That Is All You Need To Know.

    That Is All You Need to Know incorporates correspondence; including Turing’s 1952 “Yours in distress” letter to his friend and fellow mathematician Norman Routledge shortly before pleading guilty to gross indecency; and voice overs of interviews with veterans who worked there during the war from the Bletchley Park archives .

    Using personal testimony and multimedia on a stage busy with filing cabinets and typewriters; That is All You Need to Know is an insightful, innovative and immersive celebration of the remarkable men and women who cracked the Enigma code. The play is a celebration of humanities ability to solve the impossible, to crack the most complex of problems, and of the extraordinary people whose quiet work changed the course of our history.

    Tickets for That Is All You Need To Know on Wednesday 17 June at 7.30pm are £15 adults / £13 concessions* available from Cast’s Box Office on 01302 303 959 or castindoncaster.com.

  • IT’S TRUE: Men Vainer Than Women

    WHILE women are renowned for investing significant time and money into their appearance, new research has found that it is in fact men who are the vainer sex.

    The study by luxury men’s lifestyle etailer, avaj.co.uk, revealed men look at their reflection 23 times a day, whilst women did so 16 times per day.

    Men confessed to ‘mainly’ looking at their appearance to admire themselves and the body parts they like the most. This is in direct contrast to women, the majority of whom said they mainly looked at their appearance for reassurance that they look OK (for example, that their make-up is in place). Women also mainly focussed time spent in front of the mirror on looking at the body parts they are the most self-conscious about.

    On average men spent 10 minutes per day looking at their reflection which amounts to almost six and a half days per year. 11% of male respondents confessed to mirror gazing over 30 times a day.

    82% of men agreed that maintaining a good personal appearance was a key prerogative.

    Dominating the list of body parts men were most happy with was arms (76%), followed by legs (54%), smile (49%), eyes (43%), and hair (38%).

    Tracey Denison, managing director at avaj.co.uk, said “Surprisingly, unlike women, men are more likely to spend time in front of the mirror admiring the parts of themselves they are happy with – suggesting vanity is the real purpose behind the time spent looking at reflections. The trend for even those men who opt for a more rugged look ensuring they are well groomed – investing in beard care kits and the like – further reinforces this idea.

    “It’s also possible that the selfie trend is partially driving this rise in male vanity, as people become more used to celebrating their appearance. Unfortunately, this doesn’t seem to have seeped through to women as much, and they still seem to be the more self-conscious sex.”

    Two thirds of men (67%) revealed they had 3 or more cosmetic products, suggesting that men no longer wish to grow older gracefully.

    The survey also found a third of men (34%), had used a female friend or family member’s cosmetic products at least once, whilst one in 10 (9%) said they used cosmetic products targeted at women regularly.

    avaj sells a unique range of grooming products, clothing, homeware and men’s accessories for the modern gentleman.

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