The biggest Yahoo search of the day today was Britney Spears for her new CD titled Blackout.  We are excited for Britney and hope it goes to #1.  The album has many hot songs including “Gimme More” which is a sexy dance song you can move to at the clubs.  We even have our own Britney dance we do at the clubs when it comes on!

The fact she is so talked about in the media from sites such as TMZ.com and Perez Hilton you just know Blackout will be hot.  Blackout goes on sale this Super Tuesday, October 30th.  Yes, the day before Halloween.

The gay bars in Houston are having a Britney Halloween where they will feature a contest for the best impersonator.  That will be hawwwt!

So if the new Blackout CD takes off on Itunes ond tops the billboard charts then Chris Crocker will be proud and so will some of the gay bars that Britney supported such as Tigerheat and Piranah in Vegas.  We love you Britney!

Madonna has helped change our culture and openness about sex and now she is about to open up the world of the old-school record labels. With Madonna back in the news again signing a mega-million deal with Live Nation it made me do some downloading of all things Madonna including books and video media. I came across a .pdf file of a book of culture some may not remember.Think back to 1992. October 21st to be exact: was it a coffee table photo book? A publicity stunt? A personal view of sex? Whatever it was, it’s a fact that the world was shocked by its appearance. Actually I like to think of it as a coffee table photo book – which was what it was intended to be and even today I am still a little shocked by it.

I am talking about Madonna’s infamous book simply called “sex”. Looking at it again now in retrospect I don’t find it as shocking as when I first saw it and that’s because the world has moved on – and because I spend a lot of my time reviewing and writing about all things gay. But that doesn’t mean I find Madonna’s book pornographic, though that was one of the arguments against it when it came out. The thing that shocked everyone so much back then was that a mainstream artist, as Madonna no doubt was and still is, had never revealed themselves so much in print before.

The book contains a mix of text and images. The photography is by the same guy who photographed Madonna for the cover of the ‘Like a virgin’ album in 1984, a guy called Steven Meisel. He was also responsible for most of the photos of the superstar during the early 1990’s. Along with Herb Ritts, in the 1980’s, they have created some of the most iconic images of Madonna to date. The text is by the great lady herself though comes from the point of view of a character. Dita, inspired by silent film actress Dita Parlo, a character who appears in some of Madonna’s work of 1992/93, tells us of her lust and longing for sex in a kind of journal form where she fantasises about another fictional character, Johnny.

The publicity for the book, I remember, was enormous and the fact that it came in a sealed, silver mylar-wrapping made it all the more intriguing to the hyped up public. Everyone was clamouring to get a view inside without having to buy it but, in the end, the only way to see what all the fuss was about was to buy a copy. And when you did…

It is not only Madonna who makes an appearance inside. There are images of her engaged in sex acts, and other erotic and non-erotic poses, with guys like Vanilla Ice, Tony Ward and Daddy Kane. Naomi Campbell and Isabella Rossellini make an appearance too. The images, and the text for that matter, often have a dark, urban quality to them so should you ever get your hands on a copy don’t expect to see the kind of images you would see on an adult website for example – you may even find some that you find disturbing. I’m not talking about the three-way sex poses or the erotic lesbian images, in fact most of the pictures are what you’d call ‘classy’ and ‘arty’ – but there is something raw and undefined beneath all of that which leaves you with a sense of having seen something not only unique but somehow forbidden too.

Actually several organisations tried to ban the book, when first published, because of the imagery involved. Not least of all the religious ones. But the 1.5 million, limited edition print run sold out within a couple of days. Each copy was numbered and that was that. As far as I know there are no plans for a re-release and you’ll be very lucky to find a copy in good condition and for sale. You may have some luck at places like E-bay or specialist on-line stores but be prepared to spend mega bucks getting your hands on such a rare and sought after item.

Are you active in the gay community? Are you passionate about gay rights? If so, you might want to choose your credit card according to your belief in advocacy. Both the Rainbow card and the Human Rights Campaign card benefit the gay community through the respective associations. This is a great way to show your support each time you make a purchase, while earning a few rewards along with your good deeds.

The Rainbow Card

The Rainbow card is a Visa credit card issued from Bank of America. It carries no annual fee and a six-month introductory APR of 0%. After that, the interest rates go up to a variable 11.99% – 23.99%, depending on your credit rating and your history with Bank of America. The account also comes with security fraud protection and access to BoA’s MyConcierge service.

One of the great things about the Rainbow Card is that cardholders get one point for every dollar spent. You can later redeem points for cash back, gift certificates and airline tickets, starting at a total of 5,000 points ($25 cash). Points expire in five years, however, and you have to use your card quite often in order to reap any rewards.

The Rainbow Card offers a 20-day grace period on new purchases, but interest rates are calculated based on the average daily balance including new transactions. If you make purchases on the card and carry a balance over into the next month, you no longer have access to that same grace period.

Usage of the Rainbow Card benefit the Rainbow Endowment, which is a funding institution that works with gay advocacy groups. Affiliated organizations include The AIDS Information Network, Gay and Lesbian Advocates, the National Youth Advocacy Coalition and Women’s Educational Media.

The HRC Card

The HRC Card is affiliated with the Human Rights Campaign, which is an advocacy group fighting for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgenders equality (hrc.org). They work to end prejudice, hate crimes, workplace discrimination and a host of other issues that plague the gay community at large.

Washington Mutual issues the HRC Card, which carries the Visa logo, and it carries many of the same benefits as the Rainbow Card. It has a 0% introductory APR, with a variable interest rate thereafter. There is no annual fee, and you also earn points with this card. It carries a high 23.99% cash advance APR, but the grace period is longer at twenty-five days.

Which One Gives More?

Obviously, you’ll want to support the gay community in the best way you know how, which means determining which card, between the Rainbow Card and the HRC card, gives more to the groups they represent.

According to RainbowCard.com, Bank of America gives ten cents of every transaction to the Rainbow Endowment, which is considerable. Of course, you don’t want to confuse this generous gift; it isn’t ten cents for every dollar, but ten cents for every transaction. A purchase of $500 will give the same to the Rainbow Endowment as a purchase of $50.

Unfortunately, the HRC Card Web site (providiancard.com) does not disclose the amount of money donated per transaction. They iterate that  a “portion” of the funds used on each card benefits the Human Rights Campaign, but no specific numbers are given. When I called Washington Mutual, I was told that the amount donated depended on the transaction and was left to WaMu’s (now Chase Bank) sole discretion.

Furthermore, the Rainbow Card gives updates on the amount donated from your card on each credit card statement, which is not the case for the HRC Card. This might have a bearing on your decision if you want to keep track of your good deeds.

When you think about Amsterdam what comes to mind? Canals and boats, tall houses and tulips? Or dope cafes and the red light district? Well, what about gay clubs and days out and all manner of interesting gay things? Like the world’s first homomonument that is a stand against discrimination? The fact is there is more to Amsterdam that you might first realize and I’m going to try and point out some of these features for you.

Let’s start with a general day out. You have culture with various museums including the famous Rembrandt gallery and the Anne Frank House. There is a great zoo and your entry ticket there also gets you into the Planetarium (a great place to rest your feet after a hard days walking). There are the diamond workshops that organise tours, you can take a trip on a boat on the canal and there are the sex shops and even the sex museum to enjoy. Or for a special occasion you can visit in April for the national Queens Day (30th April and it’s to celebrate the Queen of the country not us kind of Queens!) or there’s the annual Amsterdam Pride festival in August. Check gayamsterdam.com for details.

Pop back to your hotel – there are many gay run or gay friendly hotels to choose from (hotels.gayamsterdam.com) – for a wash and brush up and then it’s off for the famous night life. Sure you can wonder the red light district – it’s interesting to see the girls in their windows and the drunk boys staggering in and out but do watch out for pick-pockets when the streets get busy.

There are plenty of exclusively gay bars to choose from for your pre-diner drinks. My favorite has always been April cafeapril.eu which is a big, trendy bar that’s also very friendly and which has some gorgeous young bar staff. Or, if you prefer something more traditional, the Amstel Tavern serves various beers around a horseshoe bar though the clientele are a little older. All of the bars, cafés and clubs are located within easy walking distance from Dam Square which is the centre of town – just watch out for the trams when you cross the road! And Dam Square is a short walk down from the main bus and train terminal so getting around the city and finding your night spots is easy.

After a few drinks there are more restaurants and cafés to eat at than you can shake a stick at. But THE place to dine at the moment is Getto; it has a bar, special offers on drinks and a DJ, as well as having good food. Like many evening easing places in the city it is open every day from around four in the afternoon until one in the morning.

But by then you will be in one of the clubs. There are also many that cater for the younger GLBT crowd, like Exit which is the biggest gay club in the city. It has four floors (including a backroom for naughty goings-ons), theme nights, a great sound system to blow your ears off and it’s open Friday and Saturday night midnight to five a.m. (clubexit.eu). The other club worthy of note is Cockring – it’s leathery and butch but open every night (there is a small entrance fee of around €3.00) and it has live strip shows four nights a week. Naturally there are other clubs in the city but they’re not all exclusively gay. You can check out a good list at seethru.co.uk/amsterdam/clubs.htm.

Now all you need is a good gay friendly airline.  Read more about our favorite airlines.

If you read the latest Out Magazine you will learn that cruises are becoming more and more popular but in this gay people profile we will feature the more personable version. No, not Tom Cruise but Jake Cruise known for his gay erotic work. Jake Cruise is a 40 something year old guy who has steadily built a name for himself in the porn industry after turning from website design to webmaster and producer. He does have his own site jakecruise.com and we’ll come to that in a moment but he has also launched another site which is something new and, I have to say, exciting.

Straight Guys For Gay Eyes’ is the name of the site that was started by Jake’s company, Jake Cruise Media and it can be found at sg4ge.com You won’t find straight guys in gay porn here, nor straight guys being ‘gay for pay’ but what you will find is horny straight men having sex with women but… and it’s a big but… the emphasis is on the guys.

How? Well, instead of the photos and vids being centred around the heterosexual sex content they stay with the guys; their bodies are the most important thing on the site, not the women’s. Now I know that a lot of us have a thing for straight guys and there are loads of ‘straight-gay’ sites out there where the models are supposed to be straight but are doing gay sex, so how do you know you’re getting off on watching a straight man? Well normally you don’t, but at Straight Guys For Gay Eyes you’ll find yourself getting off on real straight guys – and you know they are because they’re having sex with women. If you didn’t follow all of that just take a look at the site and you’ll see what I mean.

And when you do look at the tour you’ll see plenty of hunks in solo pictures and plenty with a babe nearby, underneath or on his cock. But the guys are all stunning and, having looked inside the site once, I can tell you that what you see on the tour is what you get in the members’ area, only you get more of it as a member. I don’t know how Jake does it but he manages to make straight porn gay!

But back to Jake himself. I can tell you right off that he’s a really nice man, I know that from some e-mail contact I had with him a while back about his site. He replied quickly and in such a friendly tone that I thought we’d known each other for years. There are photos of Jake himself on his site but the emphasis is on the porn he produces. He’s made something like 25 movies (at least!) either as an actor, director or producer and you can find these in on-line video and DVD stores, just enter a search for Jake Cruise and you’ll get the list. On his own site, though, there are over 220 movies that he’s produced for the web, sometimes he appears in them and sometimes not. You can take a video preview of the site, simply chose your connection speed and media player to watch the streaming trailer. I found a couple of very fit East European boys in a high definition, short, clip when I was there.

The really good thing about Jake’s work, in my opinion, is that it’s not restricted to just one age-group, he works with models of all ages. If you go to the casting area of his site you’ll see that he is always looking for guys aged 18 – 60 and there is a very comprehensive application form. You know that he’s serious about his work and serious about bringing you good quality gay porn so if you’re thinking of a career in the gay porn industry you would do worse than contact Jake.