TIME'S Person Of The Year is "The Protestor"

Today, TIME magazine named its Person of the Year and it's actually more than one.  "The Protestor" is their "person" who has had the biggest effect on the world's event in 2011.  I thought they might be more specific, like chosing "the 99%", the phrase that has been popularized by the Occupy Wall Street movement, or the young men and women who bravely brought about an Arab Spring.  But I think using the more general term is actually more apt, in that it shows what a remarkable and broad range of protest this tumultuous year has seen around the world.

In fact, just two days ago, protestors took to the streets of Moscow to express their anger over what has been called a fixed Russian election, where longtime leader Vladamir Putin's party remained in power despite popular unrest. In some ways, it seems the world has a bit of a protesting virus that just keeps spreading.  First it was the Middle East, where protests in one country seemed to inspire those in another, eventually leading to the unthinkable toppling of Egypt's longtime leader Mubarak.  In the US, who would have guessed that the handful of original protestors who camped out in a park a couple blocks from Wall Street would have sparked a national movement encompassing thousands of people in less than a couple months?  

One of the main runners-up for TIME's honor this year was Admiral McRaven, who orchestrated the attack that killed Osama Bin Laden.  But the death of the leader of a weakened and increasingly marginalized Al Qaeda is less momentous than the birth of a global movement in which the masses, in the still-prophetic words of the fictional Howard Beale, are mad as hell and are not going to take it anymore.

Droids In Dubai: Photographer Brings STAR WARS Down To Earth

This striking photo was in the TIMES art section this weekend.  It is the work of a French photographer named Cedric Delsaux who has created a book in which characters from the STAR WARS series inhabit the earth. The photo above has droids from Episode 3 hanging out in a rough and tumble section of Dubai. A number of his other photos place STAR WARS characters, including Darth Vader and C3PO, in Paris.

Delsaux, 37, was a true STAR WARS baby as the movie inspired him as a child....and still inspires him today.  He even found a fan in the often litigious George Lucas, who actually wrote the introduction to his book of photos featuring these characters, DARK LENS. It could be the perfect gift for the STAR WARS fanatic in your life.

Paul Rudnick Creates A New Kinsey Scale

Over on the New Yorker website, I came across this very funny essay by Paul Rudnick in which he creates a new version of the famous Kinsey Scale of sexuality.

With 24-points, this is a much more nuanced version than Alfred Kinsey's 6-point scale marking the degrees of sexuality from 100% hetero to 100% homo. Rudnick's new scale has entries that take into account some very modern factors in calculating someone's sexuality, such as Regis and Kelly (#14) and the revival of FOLLIES (#24).  One only wonders where Rick Perry might fall on here...

A Round-Up Of The Week's Rick Perry Memes

There was an explosion of memes this week surrounding Rick Perry's hateful YouTube "commercial" for his failing Presidential campaign.  The spot was desperate ploy to revive a campaign that has crashed and burned since his infamous "oops" moment during a Republican Presidential debate where he could not remember his own talking points. And now, with more than a million views on YouTube and more Dislikes than Rebecca Black's "Friday", the "ad" has inspired a lot of gay outrage....and humor too.

 I love the Teletubby in the background version of his ad below but I'm especially fond of the Brokeback pic, given that Perry has some rumors about his own sexuality.  Of course, there are even some YouTube spoofs. One in which Perry is remixed to "lisp" through the whole ad.  Another where someone stands in for Perry.

The bottom line is Perry's campaign is going nowhere and, even with all this Internet attention, he'll be lucky to get single digit support in Iowa's Presidential caucus next month.

A NYC Novelist Scams An Internet Scammer

I came across this unusual story on The Awl recently.  Teddy Wayne, a NY writer and novelist, received a friend request and then some back in August.  This Facebook "woman" claimed to be in love with him and in desperate need of his help.  Since then he has been carrying on a hilarious back and forth with the scammer who has been trying to get him to wire "her" (fake profile picture, left) money to a Western Union account.

Essentially, Wayne scams the scammer in the wryly absurdist manner of, well, a New York novelist, leading "her" on and giving "her" false Western Union numbers and wondering at length how true "her" vows of Internet love are, especially when he reveals to his beloved a case of chronic gastro-intenstinal problems.  This exchange went on for three months and ended with the scammer begging and pleading Wayne to leave them alone!  Genius.

The entire exchange is a bit long to read but for anyone who has ever received an email from a Nigerian bank, it is sweet revenge that is long overdue. The pen may not be mightier than the sword, but a keyboard in the right hands can do some serious mental damage that's for sure.

Historic Speech By Clinton On International Human Rights Day

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an historic speech yesterday on International Human Rights Day. Speaking before an audience at the UN in Geneva, she stated unequivocally that "gay rights are human rights and human rights are gay rights." The speech coincided with a remarkable statement that President Obama released yesterday as well (which you can read in full here) which also tied future U.S. foreign aid to how countries around the world deal with their gay citizens.

This comes at a time when human rights violations against gays and lesbians are on the increase internationally, especially in Muslim countries like Iran and some African countries where death is the government-sanctioned punishment for being openly gay. Even in nations like Poland and Russia, there have been recent upswings in violence against gays and lesbians and government actions to ban gay groups and even public discussions of the topic, like in St. Petersburg.

Clinton's speech got scant coverage in the NY TIMES but more comprehensive and nuanced coverage in the Chicago SUN TIMES.  You can also watch Clinton's speech on Towleroad, which did a lot to publicize this major story.  For all the complaints about President Obama on the left, it's safe to say that this sort of statement would never have come from any of the Republicans currently challenging him.  It's clear the President is not only on our side, but on the right side of history.  So liberals better man-up and get behind the President who is taking bold actions domestically and internationally so that gays and lesbians are treated equally.

Getting Down With "The Low Line"

Down under Delancey Street, at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge, lies an old trolley terminus that has been sitting vacant for 60-some years.  Now there is a push to revive the space and maybe turn it into an underground park.

The NY Times recently did a piece about what has come to be known as "The Low Line", a nickname for the project inspired by the success of another reuse of abandoned rail infrastructure, The High Line. Though the two guys who are trying to make this happen are optimistic and the MTA is very eager to lease some of its real estate, the project has a long way to go, both financially and even theoretically. 

I think it's gonna be tough to get people to hang out underground near a major subway station, even if they filter in natural sunlight as pictured above.  A similar project was attempted in Washington DC in the '90s where a food court was developed in an old trolley terminus at Dupont Circle that met with disaster and lawsuits.  Below is the MTA's recent video showcasing the space, which is roughly 600ft x 100ft.  It looks pretty bleak but then again, so did the High Line ten years ago. Time and corporate backing will tell....

West Village Bar PIECES Saved By New Lease

For nearly 20 years, the West Village bar PIECES has been a popular gay hangout on Christopher Street. It was due to close next year but its landlord has changed their mind, based on community support for the bar.  You can read the full story on NEXT magazine's website (where I occasionally do nightlife coverage).  I was asked to do an exclusive interview with the establishment's owner Eric Einstein over the weekend as he wanted to get out the word that bar was going to stay in it's current home for a few more years at least.

Latest In Hi-Tech Toys Comes To Times Square

I was in midtown yesterday and stopped by the new pop-up WIRED store on Broadway and 42nd which features tons of hi-tech toys for holiday shoppers, including everything from 3D flatscreen TVs to touchscreen watches.  One of the most buzzed about items was the Lytro light field camera.  It is a curiously-shaped rectangular box that takes whopping 45MB pictures which capture so much information that you can change the point of focus after you've taken the picture.  You can check out one of these nifty cameras from the "ambassadors" in the store (a.k.a. cute actors with jobs for the holidays) and you take some pictures with it.  It won't be on the market til 2012 but you can pre-order them already, starting at $400.  This little cameras could be the wave of the future, especially when their expected video version comes out soon.

Other unusual products on display and for sale are the Maker-Bot 3D printer, which creates tiny objet'd'art in plastic (like a 3-inch Teddy bear or an octopus).  I would have liked to seen the printer in action but it only had the finished products.  Price tag...a cool $1300.  Another pricey item which was not on display due to theft concerns was a bit retro-tech.  A gold-plated Atari gaming system going for $6650.  That would look amazing in front of your huge flatscreen TV...talk about some entertainment bling!  The WIRED pop-up store will be open everyday from 12-7pm until Christmas Eve.

On World AIDS Day, Looking Back 30 Years

Today is World AIDS Day, a day of remembrance of those lost to the disease and a day to educate those who are at risk.  This year's World AIDS Days is taking place in the year that marks the 30th anniversary of the emergence of this terrible plague which devastated gay men in the 1980s, specifically here in New York.

As part of this anniversary, I have been writing a series of profiles in courage about people who have been living with HIV since that decade.  These first person accounts are being posted on Queerty; so far, two have gone up with more to come later this month.  You can read the remarkable story today of Lee Raines, who joined an ACT-UP demo the day after his diagnosis in 1989.