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contours provocations
journal - 2003-0530 - 2000 Undepressed; "The Wiggles" and "Blue's Clues"; Guys, Physical Entanglement, Mapplethorpe; Married Guys Ah! A day in which I've not felt particularly depressed. Strange. It may have something to do with the fact that I got my refill for Celexa last weekend after having spent a week without it. I must not miss doses! It also may have something to do with the fact that I feel fairly good in general. But that scares me, for I'm certain that some aliment will strike at any moment. Crap! I feel a sneeze coming on! Achoooooooooooooooooo! I was off from work several times this month, and by chance each time, I found myself watching tv in mid-morning. And I discovered "The Wiggles." A Brit kids' program. Four guys each wearing a different color. Sorta like a semi-grown-up version of "Teletubbies." But the guys are very attractive in a quirky kind of way. And not just in a physical sense either. There's a certain self-assurance in their persona. As though to say, "We know we look goofy, but why should that matter?" Of course, I'm also the guy who loved Steve of "Blue's Clues." In his case, it was those enormous, puppy-dog brown eyes. And that fluid body language. Steve, alas, has been replaced. I thought I saw him as a federal agent in the SciFi channel's "Taken" mini-series several months ago. But I never could find a complete list of credits. From time to time, I've been working on my Guys of the Week page. I was trying to figure out some commonality among the photos I've chosen. Guys who are slender but with some muscularity is one. (Rupert Penry-Jones; unknown in Spank bikini; Julien Hedquist) Shots that are a little quirky. (Neil Patrick Harris in charcter for "Cabaret"; Ioan Gruffudd in the shower; David Duchovny with tea set; two gymnasts) Or it could be someone I find appealing. (Ed Norton, Michael Manasseri) Or it could be a sheer guilty pleasure (Unknown ass; John Schneider in spray-on jeans) And the other guys I threw in for balance. So much of what's on the web is explicit but not erotic. Nudity and various forms of physical entanglement are not necessarily erotic. If for no other reason that the difficulty of shooting. Although I have several books on Mapplethorpe, I find myself more interested in the photographic technique than the behavior of the subjects. Mapplethorpe's genius was the ability to force the viewer to consider the art-worthiness of what would otherwise be considered only sexual explicitness. (His other genius was his knack for incredible self-promotion.) Possibly my favorite Mapplethorpe photo is Brian Ridley and Lyle Hester in full cycle leather gear. The younger man wears ankle and hand cuffs connected by a chain to a collar and is sitting with legs spreads. The older, bearded man wears a leather cap and holds the chain in one hand and a riding crop in the other. But it's the setting that is the kicker. It's an upscale, middle-class living room. Like something you'd see on a daytime soap. Traditional, non-threatening, vacuous. The younger man is in a chair in which a vicar could sit for tea. To quote Raymond Chandler in "Farwell, My Lovely," they look "about an inconspicious as a tarantula on a slice of angel food." But, assuredly, that was Mapplethorpe's intent. "The Amazing Race" returned to CBS last night. (This is the fourth version.) And there's the standard mix of contestants. Two wives of NFL players. An overweight middle-aged couple. (Who were eliminated last night.) Two girl friends. A father and son. Two alpha males. A pair of 40ish flight controllers. Two clowns - no joke - who work together in a circus. Girl friend - boy friend. AND a gay 30ish couple who were indicated as being married. And that's the term that is used to refer to them! My view is that this acknowlgement can have a noticable effect on opinions. "The Amazing Race" has been extraordinarily supportive of gay participants. The first race had a very open 40ish gay couple. The second had two very funny gay friends. The third had a conservative father and his gay son; a gay guy and his girl-friend; and two brothers, one of whom was gay. (It also had the Riker Twins!) The "Race" is very-fast paced. And you have little of that mind-numbing idiocy of so many "reality programs." The contestants have to be fit, clever, quick, inventive and very determined. It is a grueling experience. In yesterday's program, part of the action took place at 6,000 feet in the Italian Alps. Even the two alpha males were gasping. PAX!
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