Whom Are They Kidding

This story is insane. Apparently Moscow authorities thought it would be a good idea to put a full clampdown on a bunch of gay protesters while the Eurovision Song Contest was in town. I guess it would be a good idea if their intent was to make Russia look like a REPRESSIVE BACKWATER in front of ALL OF EUROPE. Jesus. I know this isn't the first time Moscow has put the boot in some gay pride protests, but did it not occur to the homophobes-that-be, gee, maybe an international media event is not the best occasion for throwing people into police vans so hard that you literally TEAR THEIR CLOTHES OFF? And I hope I don't need to point out the irony of Moscow's arresting protesters for being visibly, publicly gay in the leadup to the fucking Eurovision Song Contest, a globally televised event so gay that the sparkle of sequins is visible from the surface of the moon. JESUS, people. (Via Pinko.)

She's a Talker

Sometimes, in great art, there's a moment of terrifying self-recognition, as if the artist had allowed you to lift your own skull up off of a dusty shelf and gaze directly into its hollow sockets. The following video, She's a Talker by Neil Goldberg, offers me just such a sublime encounter. UPDATE: Neil Goldberg just sent me a very, very kind and polite email asking me to un-YouTube his work, so I've gone ahead and done so. Thanks and apologies to Mr. Goldberg! From the remarkable UBUWEB, via Cute with Chris.

What's Norwegian for "Quarter Turns!"?

Seeing as this blog makes occasional forays into the realm of pop and rock, and seeing as I am a big shrill gay, my readership has asked me to weigh in on the recent coming-out controversy involving a prominent figure in popular music. I have to admit, I was as surprised as anyone to learn that Gaahl—lead singer of Norwegian black-metal projects Gorgoroth and Trelldom—was gay. His aesthetic as a musician and performer is not quite in line with the notion of a "gay sensibility," whatever that might be. And his recent torture conviction, for the brutal, hours-long beating of a middle-aged party crasher—whom Gaahl ordered to collect his own blood in a yahtzee cup—suggests that, if anything, our Gaahl might be a bit too macho. Here's an interview with the Nordic menace from the 2005 film, Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. Bad. Ass. Well, news broke this past July that when Gaahl (born Kristian Eivind Espedal) decided to launch his forthcoming line of ladies' pret-à-porter, his relationship with a new business associate—Norwegian modeling agent Dan DeVero—had moved rapidly beyond the professional. And what many in the Norwegian scene had known or suspected was at last publicly confirmed. (Here's a photo of the two from the source of that article.) The reaction here? Quite simply, we at Daniel Stephen Johnson's Weblog are eager to welcome this exceptional artist and personality into the international gay community. And we can't wait to see those frocks. (via djmrswhite)