(To view the podcast click on small POD button in upper left corner of this post.  You may also download it from the itunes music store or from the link listed below).

OccasionalFag Brian G. traveled to Central Ohio to be with family this past Thanksgiving.  Here is a video of he and his niece Rachel taking in COSI, the hands-on science museum in downtown Columbus. 

And yes, marriage equality just failed to pass here in New York State and we're giving you home movies, but - really - what do you want for nothing?  There is a time for everything under heaven, right?  The work to be done to remove those from office who voted no to gay marraige is a road this podcast is now very much committed to for its' future.  Astoria will soon enough say "bu'bye" to State Sentator Onorato...

For now, enjoy this vid!

(To view the podcast click on small POD button in upper left corner of this post.  You may also download it from the itunes music store or from the link listed below).

Sometimes LGBT activism is about getting out there in the streets and yelling your head off about how the world just isn't treating you to humane enough standards and, then, sometimes it's about showing the world just how normal (and, maybe, perhaps a little bit boring) you as a Gay individual can truly be.

This is one of those latter times.

Furthermore, though we here at TheOccasionalFag wish the fundamentalist fantasy that Homosexuals can actually recruit the youths of the world to our ways of living and loving were true, we can't...  And we can't because it's always been a lie, but we can borrow our friend's kids when we need an excuse to play uncle and get a little bit of normal family time and energy in our lives.

This again is one of those times.

Nothing special, but sweet none the less, join us at Rye Playland and in the carwash with Karen and Roan, the two occasionalfags best friends...

Enjoy!

(To view the podcast click on small POD button in upper left corner of this post.  You may also download it from the itunes music store or from the link listed below).

On October the 8th, a 49 year old gay man named Jack Price was savagely beaten within an inch of his life in College Point, a quiet neighborhood out near Flushing, Queens.

On October the 17th a march and rally were held to provide a focal point for the community's support for Jack and to let those who perpetrated this act and those who support them know that their violence is neither accepted nor welcome.

OccasionalFag Brian G. went to the march and rally.  Here is a short video recap of what he found.

It should be noted that after having been placed in a medically induced coma to save his life, Jack Price is doing better and should recover.  It will, however, be a long recovery...

(To view the podcast click on small POD button in upper left corner of this post.  You may also download it from the itunes music store or from the link listed below).

We went.  We marched.  It was good...

Very little about the Rally in this video.  You want to watch images of that then head over to CSPAN.  They did an amazing job of covering it and if you look closely, at one point you can see OccasionalFag David b!

Enjoy!

If you couldn't make it to the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS Grand Auction and Flea Market here in New York City this last Sunday, September the 27th, well...  don't worry, we here at TheOccasionalFag did!

Flip Camera in hand, when not lending a hand to help set up the event, Brian G. was recording all that he could so that you can take in the experience vicariously.  Aahh!  And even with the rain, the show went on!

Enjoy!

(To view the podcast click on small POD button in upper left corner of this post.  You may also download it from the itunes music store or from the link listed below).

Each week through the summer, Coney Island USA presents burlesque shows of superlative quality and distinction, keeping the fine art of the striptease alive.

One of these shows is all men (Yeah, I know, just one?  Ah well, striping is a woman's art form). 

On a tip from our good friend Jon, TheOccasionalFags travel out to meet him in southern Brooklyn to take in an evening of boy-lesque.  And, oh!  What an evening it was!

Enjoy!

(To view the podcast click on small POD button in upper left corner of this post.  You may also download it from the itunes music store or from the link listed below).

Many is the weekend this summer on the Northeast Coast that has been a wash out due to ungodly amounts of rain (global warming or weirding?).  Fortunately we had one great one several weeks back in the middle of August that allowed for a truly spectacular Illuminations weekend at The Woods Campgrounds in the southern Poconos.  TheOccasionalfag was there last year and we're here again.

Enjoy the video of the evening...

In editing this year's video of DRA's (Dancers Responding to AIDS) 15th Annual Fire Island Dance Festival, Occasional Fag Brian G., who volunteers each year to help load in and strike the show, wanted to go back to making a series of still photos set to music, like the earlier videos of the festival that he has made. 

Not gonna happen...

Just a few still Photos into the edit and Brian G. was bored.  So he started playing with ideas of timing motion against stillness.  Simple ideas, really.   Then it became just about presenting the festival.  And here is the video you get.

Enjoy!

(To view the podcast click on small POD button in upper left corner of this post.  You may also download it from the itunes music store or from the link listed below).

Underlining a great deal of this year's Fire Island Dance Festival for OccasionalFag Brian G. - who volunteers to help set up and strike it every year - is how much he has become a part of the theatre community here in New York City.  So much so that he forgets the he, like most of the theatre viewing public, used to have no idea how much work actually goes into putting up even the smallest of productions, like, say... umm, the Fire Island Dance Festival.

So, not that this video is going to rectify any such workload ignorance - especially with all the shots of Brian G. in the pool (hey, a girl's gotta cool off somehow), but it is a start.  The video of the dance festival itself is to come, but for now, here are images of the men and woman who get this show on the road, or in this case, the boardwalk.

Enjoy

(To view the podcast click on small POD button in upper left corner of this post.  You may also download it from the itunes music store or from the link listed below).

TheOccasionalFags take in Gay Pride Weekend in New York City.

Their Schedule?

Friday evening - the Drag March in the Village.

Saturday afternoon - the Church Ladies for Choice salute the Dyke March on Fifth Avenue.

Sunday day - The Pride March with the NYC Gay Bloggers and Digital Activists.

Enjoy!

What with Gay Pride weekend just a few days past, we've had no time to put together something of substance for you viewing pleasure.  Don't fret though, we won't let that stop us from posting something; and something it is!

This is probably the worst video we've ever put up here at the OccasionalFag.  These are sounds and images from our recent trip to Six Flags New England - one of the better Six Flags Parks.  The oft repeated and incredibly annoying theme music is from a travel show for "the Gays" that must have been made in hell - gay hell.  It all adds up to a bitter and biting time to be had by all.  If only we really had more fags.  Six Flags is only made palletable on Gay Days.  Again, more fags, more fun...

Enjoy! (or at least try...)

(To view the podcast click on small POD button in upper left corner of this post.  You may also download it from the itunes music store or from the link listed below).

Once again it's back to the theatre district and into the Roseland Ballroom for another "Big Gay Bob the Builder" look into how Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS puts up it's huge annual fund-raising super show "Broadway Bares"!

There is an incredible set of photos from the show to be found here!

Enjoy!

(To view the podcast click on small POD button in upper left corner of this post.  You may also download from the itunes music store or from the link listed below).

Here in New York, LGBTI Pride comes early to the city in the Borough of Queens. 

The first Sunday in the month of Pride (June) is always Queen's Pride in Jackson Heights, Queens. 

Queens love LGBTI Pride in Queens, and flock to it by taking the 7 Train (the Queens express) to be with other Queens in Queens.

Here is a taste of this year's Queen's Pride Day.

Enjoy!

What with Marriage Equality so under attack, we've all been so busy acting up, fighting back!

To recharge our souls and spirits, theoccasionalfags travel just one hour north of the George Washington Bridge to take in the Storm King Art Center: an outdoor art museum mostly dedicated to monumental sculpture and earthworks.

When it comes to talking about the art, please forgive Brian G. his ramblings.  We all know that he is no Sister Wendy, and never will be.

It was a beautiful day and there was no better way to spend it.

Enjoy!

(To view the podcast click on small POD button in upper left corner of this post.  You may also download from the itunes music store or from the link listed below).

We've presented to you audio podcasts of the speeches from the majority of the political representatives who were present at the Marriage Equality Rally on sixth Avenue in Manhattan.

Now TheOccasionalFag presents to you a video of and surrounding the May 17th rallys, both pro and - unfortunately - against Marriage Equality.

Enjoy!

Is there anything quite so fluffy as OccasionalFag Brian G.'s Fire Island Diaries?

We think not, but we also refuse to stop presenting them.

Why?

Because they, like Fire Island itself, are there, and that is Love, Valour and Compassion enough.

Enjoy!

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

Part two of OccasionalFags Brian G and Mr. Who's recent trip to Puerto Rico.

Enjoy!

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

Yes, it's true, OccasionalFag Brian G. wants nothing more in this life than to be Samantha Brown, that penultimately perky blond of a professional exhibitionist from the Travel Channel who goes everywhere and does everything.  She is also, just about, on every channel on the television in your room if you stay at an on property resort hotel at the Disney World complex, but we digress...

So here is Brian G. on vacation (part 1) in beautiful Puerto Rico (you lovely island...) with his beloved life partner Mr. Who - who just so happens to be 1/2 Puerto Rican and paid for the vacation package during Brian G.'s work slowdown.

Both wish every day that they were back there now...

Enjoy!

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner, and then wait - for some, video must completely download before beginning)

We bring you a few of the protests that happened in NYC last week. 

First, a rally to celebrate marriage victory in Vermont, and shame New York State for still not having marriage.  Then a protest at the Iraqi embassy in response to the recent killings of gay men in Sadr City.  Read more here and here.

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

While at Winter Rendezvous, the gay ski week at Stowe Mountain, Vermont, OccasionalFag Mr. Who won two free evenings at The Inn at the Mountain along with two two-day lift tickets. 

So, for Mr. Who and his Partner Brian G. it is "Back to Stowe!"

Actually though, with two two-day lift tickets, when you from as far away from Stowe as New York City is (around 340 miles), you really need three nights in hotel, so for their final evening in Stowe our TOF pair stayed back at The Commodores Inn, one of the host hotels for Winter Rendezvous.

Enjoy this short travelogue video...

Join TheOccasionalFags as we take in The 16th annual "Original" GLBT Expo at the Jacob Javitts Center in New York City.

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

Is there any flower as gay as the stately orchid? 

I mean, other than the riotous pansy, or, maybe, the stoic tulip, hasn't the orchid and its needs been compared throughout the ages to that of same sex love?  Who knows...  Maybe not. 

We at TheOccasionalFag really aren't flower guys in the sense that we make a living out of their preservation and/or presentation.  If you do work in this admirable field, leave us a comment about their history, if you could.

In the meantime, enjoy this short video of our recent trip to The New York Botanical Gardens (in the Bronx) for their yearly Orchid Show.

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

A week in the life of OccasionalFag Brian G.

Knowing that some important life events were on the horizon for himself, Brian G. carried around the Flip camera for a week, editing it together into what you have here.  A silly little fluff piece to be sure, but what do you want for nothing?  Rubber biscuits?

(After discussion with David b it has been decided that the "Life Of David b" should be coming down the TOF pipeline soon.  Leave some comments to encourage him!)

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

More of all the fun we had this year up at Stowe, Vermont.

You know, most times we edit these videos keeping the viewer in mind.  A "you-are-there" pseudo journalist approach that gives you a sense for what happened and (maybe) why.  These images are just plain and simple home movie fun, 'cause sometimes we're having such a blast that it's easy to forget to whip out the Flip camera and get the image.

We'd love for you to join us next year - or the year after that (and so on, and so on);  Winter Rendezvous is now an official OccasionalFag tradition.  It's just that good!

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

Home movies set to song of TheOccasionalFags and VJ of vjnet.wordpress.com at the Winter Rendezvous gay ski week in Stowe, Vermont.

Enjoy!

A relatively new weekend tradition for TheOccasionalFags is Sunday morning Brunch at CUP Diner in Astoria where in which monies can be idled away on the vice of state sanctioned gambling in the form of quick pick numbers.  Hey, you never know...

Actually, you do know, but still and none the less, even in defeat we have fun.

Enjoy...

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

Back in December OccasionalFag Brian G. made it to the Light Up The Night Demonstration for Marriage Equality in New York City.  

Much has been made online about how these demos, that took place across the country (similar to the City Hall Demonstrations a month earlier), were not the best use of our community's limited resources.  Not an easy call to make, but if nothing else, we here at TheOccaisonalFag bet that all who were involved with this demo here in NYC wish it could have taken place when the weather was a little less bitter and uninviting.

Enjoy...

In truth Christmas has already passed, and you are probably as tired of the season as we are, but we have these video images to share, so share them we must.

A combination of video from David b's incredible Christmas evening dinner and video from Christmas window decorations around town.  (If you have been with us all these years then you must have learned one thing - that we occasional fags love Christmas window decorations almost as much as we love to eat Christmas dinner!).

God rest Eartha Kitt and Andy Williams (even if he isn't dead - yet).

Enjoy...

In celebration of the new underwater/waterproof case for his Flip camera, Brian G. takes and records a shower this fine, blessed morning.

Have yourself a Merry Little War-on-Christmas, and a Happy New Wave!

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

Each year the MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) of NYC (New York City), in a holiday celebration of itself, lets some of its antique subway cars out to play every Sunday from 10 AM to 4 PM in December (on the "V" line between 2nd Avenue and Queensboro Plaza).

Geek out with Brian G., David b, Leon and Mr. Who, TheOccasionalFags, as we take an old fashioned ride, racing around under the Big Apple, in subway cars of the past.

Enjoy!

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

In celebration of this, our 100th episode of TheOccasionalFag, David b and Brian G. sit down in front of the iSight camera and discuss last week's counter-demonstrations to the passage of Proposition 8 - the anti-gay marriage proposition in California - that took place here in New York City.

Celebrate with us and get to know two gay men who are good friends by watching the video.

Support Gay Marriage or Marriage Equality in New York State by Calling State Senator Ruben Diaz Sr. (NYC - 718-991-3161/Albany - 518-415-2511) and respectfully demanding that he support the civil right for all to marry by supporting Malcolm Smith for Democratic Majority Leader.

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

What with all the demos going on around the passage of Proposition 8 (the anti-gay marriage Prop in California) you'd think there wouldn't be enough time to throw in a counter demo to an anti-choice prayer vigil in front of a healthcare facility that provides abortions in Brooklyn, but for TheOccasionalFags there's always enough time to stand up for reproductive freedoms.

The video of the No To H8 demos is coming, but the counter demo to the anti-choice HOGPI's was such a pleasure to be at, we've edited and are presenting it first.

Invited by the Brooklyn Pro-choice Network, join the fabulous Church Ladies For Choice of NYC and the incomparable Rude Mechanical Orchestra in front of the Ambulatory Surgery Clinic creating a noise joyful enough (to these ears...) to drown out the anti-choicers and their sad (sad) hymns.

This all just went down yesterday, November the 15th, 2008.  Maybe by watching this video, the spirit will move you and you can join us to demonstrate against the next anti-choice vigil.  We'll keep you posted.

Enjoy

These images have been rattling about Brian G.'s computer now for all this time and he has finally taken the time to edit some of them together for your enjoyment.

TheOccasionalFags, with friends and family, once again have gone to Lake Compounce Amusement Park to partake in their Halloween Festivities.

Enjoy this video of their evening.

Hey OccasionalFag fans - don't expect too much from this video.  It's just a collection of video images and video recorded thoughts from OccasionalFag Brian G. while he was out helping his friends close down their house for the season; you know, riding the ferry, walking on the beach.

That is to say that, maybe, what pod-casting does best is to present these simple mundane moments (leave the drama to major media), but in piecing these images together, Brian G. couldn't find the internal logic to the edit that he usually susses out of what he is editing.  It is time to post though, so this vidcast is what it is.

A memory to share.

Enjoy...

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

Need to get away from it all for a few minutes?

Well here is your solution:  The Big Gay Campfire!

Five relaxing minutes of nothing else but a big pile of burning wood from a clothing-optional gay camping resort in the Northern Pocono Mountains.  Think of it as a video yule log for the gay pod-casting community.

Enjoy!

(to play video click on the small POD button in the upper left corner)

This week we run off to the Circus.

Founded in 1998, Circus Amok is NYC's internationally-acclaimed one-ring FREE traveling circus. They've been bringing wildly fantastical, funny, sharp, glamorous, compelling political circus spectacle to all. Watch now and see part of this years show SUB-PRIME SUBLIME.

As our trip to IKEA finally draws to a close we find our OccasionalFags waiting for David b's shelving units, loading up the rented truck and driving back to Manhattan.

Hej!

Links to the previous Trip To IKEA episodes:

Trip To IKEA part 1
Trip To IKEA part 2
Trip To IKEA part 3
Trip To IKEA part 4

The Recipe:

Put Four Queens in a car and mix liberally over a one week period of time with 14 new (to them) coasters to ride (and get credits on) in four different amusement parks in three different states.

Parks visited:

Knoebels
Holiday World
Indiana Beach
Cedar Point

Stir and enjoy...

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

Occasional Fags Brian G. and his partner Mr. Who were invited to The Woods, a gay campground in the Poconos (or as he likes to refer to them - the "Poke-Oh!-Nos"), by friend Jamie L. for it's weekend "Illuminations" presentation: an evening when each campsite decorates it's grounds using lights and luminaries and a dance is held where all are invited to paint their bodies with day glo paints and dance under black lights.

Here is a video of that weekend.

Side Note:  Brian G. uses plural pronouns like "we" and "us" to describe creating and setting up the decorations for the campsite he and Mr. Who stayed at, but it really was the people who invited them that did all the work conceptualizing and creating.  Three cheers for Jamie L.!

Second Side Note: Occasional Fag David b and his partner Leon were also invited but couldn't make it this year.  Next year for sure...

Third Side Note:  The music that this video is set to is from Jerry Springer: The Opera. 

Enjoy!

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

Here it is, part two of this year's video of the incredible Fire Island Dance Festival. 

It's kind of a jumble of still and moving images from rehearsals, performances and back stage, but then the Festival itself is such an incredibly jam packed weekend of so much going on if you are working it that, this is, to a great extent, what it feels like.

The dance companies featured this year included:

-Alvin Ailey American Dance Company
-Atlanta Ballet
-Bad Boys of Dance & Jerry Mitchell
-Ballet Hispanico
-Jermaine Browne
-Dance Plus Ballroom
-Vernard J. Gilmore
-Jacoby and Pronk
-Jennifer Muller/The Works
-Parsons Dance
-Jason Samuels Smith
-Ellis Wood Dance

(Note: OccasionalFag Brian G. and Ellis Wood danced together in the same piece back when he was in grad school at UCBerkeley!  And yes it was great to see her again.)

The hosts this year for were Whoopi Goldberg and Caroline Rhea.

Performing at the Leadership Party (which was in video part one) were Felicia Finley and Jose Llana.

Artist Olafur Eliasson has placed 4 waterfalls along the East River around lower Manhattan in collaboration with The Public Art Fund and the City of New York.  Leon and David b saw these waterfalls one Sunday afternoon while aboard the Circle Line.

Well, TheOccasionalFags are back from their summer vacation, rested and ready for another round of Pod-casting.

If you are a regular follower of this Podcast then you may remember that each summer OccasionalFag Brian G. goes out to Fire Island to volunteer his time being a part of the Fire Island Dance Festival.  This summer is no different.  He was there, and when he wasn't actively working (and sometimes when he was...) he had camera in hand to record the event.

The Dance Festival is put on annually by DRA - Dancers Responding to AIDS - to raise monies for AIDS service organizations around the country.  It's also a great show and a great time.

If you have seen the past videos that Brian G. has made of this event, then you know they were at first still photos of the festival that he put to music.  This year, with FLIP camera in hand, there is more sound and movement than stillness, but the music is still all from the festival itself.

If you have enjoyed this video and its' second part about to come, then why not go over to the DRA website and donate a buck or two.  Or better yet, save up and get a share next year out on the island so you can come and see the show.  If you do, say "hi".  Brian G. will be the one sitting stage-left during the shows, a camera or two in hand.  Over on stage right, well, that will be Bill Cunningham.  He'll have a camera as well, but  he won't really know what you're talking about if you say "hi" other than you're being friendly.  Nice to be friendly, though...  May just get you in the New York Times Style section...

Enjoy.

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

Each year OccasionalFag Brian G. volunteers his time to load in Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS "Broadway Bares" Fund-raising Burlesque show.

This is the 18th Broadway Bares and the seventh one Brian has been there to work on.

Sorry kids, no images of hot half naked dancers in this vid.  The web site www.broadwayworld.com usually has some great pictures of the dancers and goings on...  You want more than what I caught on the camera while loading in, go there...

Enjoy!

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

Each year for the past two years TheOccasionalFag.com has brought you a podcast about the Drag March.  It takes place the Friday night before Pride Sunday - a little march from the East Village to the Stonewall Inn in the West Village.

This year we have video!  Or we have what video OccasionalFag Brian G. - in the Drag March as the Evil Queen that she really is - could take whilst marching along...

And what a wonderful Drag March it was this year!  Full of silly chants and bad singing and threatened arrests and, well... you'll see...

The March was originally created by the Church Ladies For Choice, but has since been lovingly taken over by the incredible Radical Faeries of NYC.  Yes, the Ladies still show up, but it's the Faeries who make it happen.  Viva Hucklefaery!

Enjoy!

For more pictures or video of the Drag March, goto:

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

Part Deux of the Church Ladies For Choice (a performance activist troop dedicated to the blessed trinity of activist causes: Reproductive Freedoms, Youth AIDS and Condom Education and Queer Rights) performing LIVE at Restaurant Florent.

Enjoy!

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

New York City's own CHURCH LADIES FOR CHOICE LIVE and in performance at Restaurant Florent in the meatpacking district!

Restuarant Florent is closing at the end of this month (June).  To commemorate its' many years of fine service to the community five evenings of performance were scheduled based on the five stages of loss set forth by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross.

The Church Ladies were the first performance on the first evening of performances.  They were in "Denial".

To be presented in two parts (damn the mariboo!), here is their performance for you.

Enjoy!

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

What could be nicer than a day spent amongst the coasters of Hersheypark, PA.

Join TheOccasionalFags for this brief video summary of our recent trip and of what coaster heaven would be like should you find it in central Pennsylvania and not on the northern coast of the state of Ohio (that would be "Cedar Point" in Sandusky, OH for all of you who think an ACE member is something you find in a deck of cards).

And yes, sometimes even we think that videos like this are all so travelogue that we should just change our name to TheOccasionalRSVP or maybe even TheOccasionalOlivia, but good lordie, these are roller coasters mary, real roller coasters!

Oh! and oh yes...  The itinerary for what is now being named TheOccasionalFag "Coaster Hysteria Tour: The Four Queen's Leg" is provided below should it turn out you live somewhere near one of the parks we will be visiting in late July and wish to join us there:

Sat. July 26th - Knobels Park, PA
Tues. July 29th - Holidayworld, ID
Wed. July 30th - Indiana Beach, ID
Thurs. & Fri. July 31 & Aug. 1st - Cedar Point, OH
Sat. Aug. 2nd - Kennywood, PA
Sun. Aug 3rd - Lakemont Park, PA

Call the Hotline (206 600-5504) or email us at theoccasionalfag@gmail.com if you think you can join up with us on our week of coastering.

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

While waiting for David b to receive his larger purchased items Brian G. has a DSW Flashback.

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

Occasional Fag Brian G. made his way out to the Fire Island Resort Community, The Pines, once again this Spring.

This time, Flip camera in hand, he has made a video.

He wanted it to be a visual "tone poem" of the place, but since his friend Mark, whom he was staying with, had just seen Sunday in the Park with George on Broadway he has decided that it is to be a video "chromalume" (or however you spell it...).

Whatever...  Enjoy!

(Occasional Fag David b is in the process of setting up his new computer making May a month heavy with vids with Brian G.)

(To play video click on small POD button in upper left corner)

This video is about Occasional Fag Brian G. being part of the stage crew that loaded in the Pope for his 60,000 person mass in Yankee Stadium in the Bronx during his visit to the USA.  It's also about what Mr. G. then went and spent part of his paycheck on.

One thing, though:

After viewing this video, no comments please about lazy stage-hands just standing around in every shot.  Think about it - the only times I could get the video camera out to record in the Stadium were during huge waiting patterns because something big needed to get done before we could progress or for lunch and coffee breaks.  We worked our asses off getting this show up (and since it is a show, it must go on...).  Brian G. earned each and every penny those two days...

That's all.  Enjoy.

Part three of our never ending adventure in the Scandinavian wilds of North-Eastern New Jersey.

For those of you looking for and expecting our monthly first Monday podcast there is to be a special event first Monday Podcast next week (the second Monday) in honor of our second anniversary of podcasting.

Our trip to IKEA continues as we discover, briefly, what David b is at IKEA to buy, and then ignore him at together.  Not for the entire trip that is, just for this segment.

On with the Show (room...)

What is it gay men of the urban Northeast do when they are not working, eating, sleeping, activisting or having sex?  Why, fuck the stereotype, they're redecorating!

And when you have the budget such as the men of this podcast (and most New Yorkers for that matter 'cause we all don't work on Wall Street) that means just one thing - IKEA!

Besides, I don't know about you, but the first representation of a gay couple we ever saw in an advertisement on the tube (television that is, not You Tube) was in an IKEA commercial. 

Think of all that fiber-pressboard!
Think of the meatballs! 
Think of the lingonberries! 

Think of this as TheOccasionalFag doing an IKEA commercial only with real homos, not just actors playing them on TV...

And it's only the first part of a multi-part epic presentation! (Brian G is really enjoying his new Pure Digital Flip camera, isn't he!  A monster has been created!)

Enjoy!

Every year early Springtime one of the greatest roller coasters in the world, Coney Island's Cyclone, reopens to an adoring public.  The first one hundred people in line ride for free.

TheOccasionalFag was there last year with sound and this year with video.

It was cold and slightly rainy, but - along with all the various ACErs and Coney Island USA folks - we got our ride.  Enjoy it with us.

David b had a birthday.  Many fellow podcasters were invited.  Brian G shot video.

Fellow podcasters decide the following weekend to gather for brunch.  David b suggests dim sum.  Brian G shoots more video.

Edit.  Keep it under eight minutes.  Edit.  Add fun music.  Edit.

This is what you get...

Enjoy!

Featuring

TIm Corrimal & Ron

Chef Mark

Eric the confessing southern boy & Bret

Pinoyboy & Peter

John Ong

Mikeypod

VJ

As promised last week, here is the video from our  weekend skiing at Stowe VT with the homos of Winter Rendezvous.  Now you can see all the maple syrup covered cheddar scrambled eggs, icicles, and bank robbers you could possibly want.  Also check out our flickr photo set.  And VJ's flickr photo sets 1, set 2, and set 3.

What with You Tube and video-casts and iPod videos and such, does anyone out there still watch Community Access Television on cable TV?

Apparently, there is an OccasionalFag by the name of David b who lives in upstate Manhattan (Inwood) who does. Thank the stars this is so!  It was just a few weeks back that he discovered the footage on the tube we are presenting here to you now, that being images of the Second Annual Drag March in New York City held 13 years ago back in 1995.

As they were in the March, David b and Brian G. wax nostalgic and provide the necessary commentary so that viewers won't become lost in all the dark imagery.

Enjoy!

For this episode Sharon Flewitts has a Public service announcement for us.

 

Call our listener comment line 206.600.5504

When Brian G was a child there were two 8-tracks that dominated the stereo during the holiday season: the Andy Williams Christmas Album and the Barbra Streisand Christmas Album.  Fast forward a decade (or two) and at family holiday gatherings all of Brian G's siblings are surprised to find that they have all purchased the Andy Williams Album to remind them of Christmas past; it is only Brian G who has purchased the Barbra Streisand Album.

Keeping that in mind, here is a last minute video holiday treat from TheOccasionalFag.  Just a short little bit of visual love from us to you to keep the season bright and - how shall we say it - "gay"...

If nothing else, as we enter the new new year and this podcast gets closer and closer to finding out what it wants to be, we've noticed that it ultimately has much to do with the wonderful community we are discovering out there through its' creation.  Many blessings to all of you and God(dess) bless us, everyone!

Share with us some holiday spirit on the listener line: 206.600.5504

Well, if you have been to this podcast's Flickr account recently, you know from the many pictures taken that Brian G had a birthday in which he and the Church Ladies For Choice took in an afternoon of theatre at the Helen Hayes theatre here in New York.

They saw Xanadu On Broadway: The Musical!

And you could also surmise that if Brian G has a bunch of pictures of a single event, he is going to use them to put together one of those video montages of pictures set to music that he gets such a kick out of putting together.

And here it is...

Enjoy.

Brian G was playing on the computer with recent pictures from a trip to Lake Compounce Amusement Park; putting together a little video with still images the way he likes to do - very iMovie and all that.

Here is the results of his play. 

Not to get too pretentious or anything, but during his years in film school - in the art department, not the journalism school - Brian G was introduced to a couple of the films of Stan Brahkage.  One of them, "Anticipation of the Night", absorbed him greatly, and while this little video Brian G has made is not that movie he would like to think it shares some of its' concerns - aesthetic and otherwise.  Brahkage made non-narrative films about light through a lens and on to a reflective screen, the formal elements of the film becoming both metaphor and anti-metaphor.

Hey, if nothing else, the sonic armature on which all the images hang is one of the all time greatest rock songs ever.  Enjoy...

David b joins other queercasters with this household chore video!  This one is for you Tim Corrimal and Archerr.

Unlike last year's Dance Festival video where I (Brian G) waited 11 months to get around to editing the darn thing, this year's Fire Island Dance Festival Video is ready now and posted for your viewing pleasure.

As always, the Dance Festival is put on by DRA: Dancers Responding to AIDS. 

It took place back in the middle of July on a perfectly beautiful weekend. Too bad the days surrounding that weekend were a little bit moist.  Not that you'll be seeing any of the rain.  This year's video is mostly about the dancers and the new Community Center out in The Pines.  You will notice, though, that we did get one of the trucks stuck in and eventually out of the wet sand.  All part of the fun...

Now through September 16th Circus Amok will be performing “BEE Dazzled!â€? in parks throughout the borrows of New York City.  Presented here is the opening number form opening day in Riverside Park.  If you are in NYC go and get bedazzled!

As summer draws to a close, we at TheOccasionalFag reflect on our outings in the park.  Call our listener hotline 206-600-5504.

As you may remember from last summer, every year TheOccasionalFag, through Brian,  goes to the incredible Fire Island Dance Festival to help set up the stage and house, run the show and then strike everything.

What you may not know is that he takes a great deal of pictures. 

Then, when he gets home, he sits down to his mac and makes a little iMovie with them (much like Rosie always used to do on her talk show...).  It really is his way of enjoying the weekend again as when you're in the middle of anything it is hard to stand back and view it for all the incredibleness that it is.  This is his way of doing just that.

He started to share his little iMovies with the DRA (Dancers Responding to AIDS) staff and now he is sharing them with you.  They're not much more than slide shows set to music, but they capture a bit of the magic and that is something.

This video is of images from last year's Dance Festival ('06).  Brian just got back (2 hours ago) from this year's Festival ('07) and will be posting all from that (both a podcast and vidcast) as it gets edited.

Note: The emphasis of the '06 video presented here is of images of the DRA staff and volunteers.  Not so much of the Dancers.  That will be the '07 vid.  To see similar videos of the '05 and '04 Dance Festivals click here (BG Videos) for Brian Griffin's personal website.

Wishing you all have a great Pride, we did!

On March 29 2007 ACT UP New York held its' 20th anniversary demonstration; a call for Universal Health Care for each and every one of us. 

Presented here is video from this demonstration book ended with video from a previous action by ACT UP when a different Bush (the elder one) was in office and also - no surprises here - at war with Iraq.

(Please note: this file is over 60MB, so it might take a while to download. Give it some time.)