Ready to Bare : Queer Culture, News, Art, Community & Discussion
My little trip on San Francisco’s J-Church Muni train this afternoon sent me down memory lane. It summed goes like this, high school, black leather motorcycle jacket covered with punk rock stickers, bleached hair/ bangs hanging in face, and converse high-tops covered in art work via my hand and a sharpie, duck tape holding them together, in denial that it was time for them to go. These orange converse pictured was my ticket to this flash back journey.
The San Francisco AIDS Foundation, with the help of about 100 volunteers, installed a giant red ribbon on the hillside of Twin Peaks Sunday, May 22 to commemorate 30 years of the AIDS epidemic. The foundation worked with organizers of the pink triangle installation in conceiving of the idea and the ribbon will remain on display until June 19. SFAF pointed out that every day in San Francisco, two more people are newly infected with HIV, and more than 56,000 are infected nationwide. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first cases of the virus that causes AIDS on June 5, 1981. Next week’s Bay Area Reporter will mark that somber anniversary.
Growing up I dreamt of living inside a tree and my love of camping made living out my golden age in a tent on the beach. Now that I am aged like a fine piece of cheese, I choose a cozy bed indoors. I do still love the feel of dirt and the calmness that happens when I surround myself with plants. Here some great ideas if you have the space and the will. The 2 below are my favorite out of the bunch. AB
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via www.mnn.com
Pooktre
Peter Cook got the idea for growing his own furniture in 1986. Nowadays he’s a regular master at the refined art of tree shaping — guiding trees into desirable designs as they grow. Perhaps his most notable piece is the Pooktre chair, an ideal resting place for a gardener. Each chair requires painstaking attention for seven to eight years while it forms, but the effort is part of what makes relaxing in one so rewarding. Check out Cook’s Pooktre website to learn more about these beautiful living chairs, and to see what other wonderful living inventions the Pooktre artists have created.
Chaise-lawn chair
Invented by designer Deger Cengiz, the Chaise-lawn chair doubles as a lawn and a chair, not to mention a wheelbarrow for hauling around 
any human who finds it too comfortable. The chair might appeal to people who live in apartments and miss the simple pleasures of having a grassy yard — though you might want to check with your landlord first.
Good Bye! You are historic, you are Oprah.
“I thank you for tuning in every day, along with your mothers and your sisters and your daughters, your partners, gay and otherwise,” Winfrey says. “I thank you for being as much of a sweet inspiration for me as I’ve tried to be for you.”
Next time you naturally (that’s what men do) adjust your boys in public, tell them you’re just checking yourself for testicular cancer! I attached a How To video below, I thought you pervs might like some visuals. Whatever it takes, that gets you to know this vital information and get you interested, I will do, because I love you, you and (points finger at you) you.
via iheartguts.com
Grab Your Gonads Testicle Self-Exam Card
$10.00
Next time you happen to grab your gonads, tell ’em you’re just checking yourself for testicular cancer! This handy laminated 11.5″ x 9″ card is just the thing to keep around to check yourself monthly. The artwork is also available as a free download here.
Jedward are like cute little well groomed androgynous puppies. I can see why they may have to fend off a fire storm of criticism and mean commentary; They are an easy targets. They have tall order haircuts and teen pop sensation energy. I am going to hang up my jaded, judgmental coat and check √ i like on their Facebook fan page. After watching their interview below, you feel their electric passion and their excitement of what’s to come. My second theory is that they just drank 6 shots of espresso, 2 Red Bulls and ate a bowl of sugar. Sweet youth. I am going to do my best to get these young lads to perform in our city by the bay. Check out their large variety of Youtube videos. I would say they are NSFW only because you may be embarrassed how much you enjoy them!
John Paul Henry Daniel Richard Grimes and Edward Peter Anthony Kevin Patrick Grimes (born 16 October 1991 in Dublin, Ireland) are an 
Irish pop rap duo. They are identical twins and perform under the name Jedward. Widely known for their blonde quiffs, the twins first appeared as John & Edward on the sixth series of The X Factor in 2009, in a phenomenon described as “the Jedward paradox”. They finished sixth and are now managed by Louis Walsh, who was their mentor during the show. www.planetjedward.net
On 11 February 2011 Jedward won the Irish national selection for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011 on The Late Late Show with their entry single “Lipstick”. The duo consequently represented Ireland at the Contest in Düsseldorf, progressing through the second semi-final, and performed at the final on 14 May 2011, achieving 8th place. “Lipstick” is the first single released from the twins’s second album, which is scheduled for release in summer 2011.
On Monday, May 23rd Jedward performed in front of an audience of 60,000 people at College Green in Dublin City ahead of a speech by visiting President of the United States of America, Barack Obama.
JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD JEDWARD
http://www.planetjedward.net/
As much as I don’t like having to step over people sitting or lying on the sidewalk while being hit on for my spare change, the sit-lie ordinance isn’t making a damn difference, says SF Police. This is just a band-aid on the bloody wound. Like when it is tourist season and the SF politicians sweep the streets of the homeless. The fundamental problem is, homeless defined means no home, they have no where else to go. In order to make this sit-lie ordinance work, we need to fix the homeless problem. On a side note neighborhoods lack outdoor seating and benches for use when Sir Sun decided to make an appearance. Sit-lie is slammed by homeless advocates who see the ordinance as “a loss of civil liberties and an attack on all homeless people.~AB
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CBS 5 reports:
After months of training, officers began enforcing the law in March, but at a bimonthly CompStat meeting involving some of the Police Department’s top brass Wednesday, police Lt. Belinda Kerr from the Park Station acknowledged that the law has not done much to change behavior in the area.
There has been “a prolific amount of arrests, citations and warnings … but I haven’t seen that it’s done a whole lot,” Kerr said.
She said the transients will often get up when they see officers drive by in their patrol cars, but “unfortunately are getting up and going around the block and then sitting down again.”
