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March 12, 2006
Què ha passat aquest cap de setmana?
Parlem-ne! I've been longing to start out a blog entry in an obscure and dying language that no one has heard about nor will understand, and it wasn't until tonight that I was able to post one. I went out to see the documentary Gay Sex in the 70's with a group of friends, one of whom is Catalonian. I think the phrase means "This is what I did this weekend," in an elitist tone.
Anyway, the film was an interesting eye-opener, with photographic and film footage of the wild and rampant New York City sex scene running up into the initial AIDS crisis. Having come out in the more tolerant 90's with the priviledge of being able to make up my own constructs of gay relationships, I cannot say for sure if I would have been part of that if I was in NYC in the 70's, if I had just come out then. The film portrayed a mania for sex without consequence that I'm not sure I'd have been able to embrace even at that time. Even when I've been given the chance in similar scenarios today, it's still been a 1 on 1 situation if I can help it, where I know the person and there is room to talk. I've learned I'm a big 'ol intimacy queen, and frankly I think sex is better the more you know someone. But that's just me. Plus, I don't think I even had that many bullets in my pistol in my 20's...multiple search-and-trick encounters within a 24-hour period will be increasingly disappointing with each act - if you're a cum pig that is.
One of my buddies who watched the film with us noted that people were remarkably lean back then, and all Americans are significantly more zaftig today. I countered his theory by pointing out that the documentarians and those taking the footage probably only shot photos and filmed the hottest men, to which he countered even the group orgy shots showed only lean people. He believes it is the replacement of cane sugar with high-fructose corn syrup that makes people fatter today. I don't know enough about nutrition to argue further - maybe it was the hard-core cruising and multiple athletic sex acts that kept people fit back then? My friend's theory would imply that the 'Bear Community' may owe it's origins to the intensive lobbying efforts of American corn producers to get their product on the shelves versus those of the Caribbean cane lobby. Discuss.
Jimbo gets a 'Woof of the Week' on the MoPod Show. I'm flattered, and I woof back at Uncle Ruphus and his woofy self. Ruphus has hot tats, shaved head and a nice thick goatee. Wuuuuf. They mention the 'new' pic of me on the home page, which I must admit is 4 years old and a few pounds lighter - I only chose that thumbnail since the background color matched the redesign better than others.
Note to Uncle Ruphus' co-DJs and readers who don't get the 'dot-info' part: the .info domain is still available as a legitimate top-level domain, admittedly not widely used. I chose jimbo.info because the blog is about me, so .info seemed more appropriate than jimbo.com, since I'm not a commercial enterprise - yet. Plus jimbo.com was already taken by some Irish Golf Vacation bureau.
OMG DJ Timothy Mykael on Friday night was awesome! He even played 'Mesmerized' just for me. While some people tell me it's bad form to make requests from famous fabulous gay DJs, I could not resist sending him an itemized list of 30 tracks in descending order of fabulousness and preferred remix to him several weeks before the show. While I wasn't there long, the only bloggers in attendance during my reign on the dance floor were Chrisafer and Copperred, who nicely critiques my interpretive dance style:
After seeing Jimbo's moves on the dance floor, I can tell you for a white boy from Wisconsin, a lot of DC has rubbed off on him; I mean the boy can back it up like a mack truck.
It helps to have junk like a Mack Truck I guess. On Saturday Bob and TJ got the golden opportunity to rate a before and after hair did trip. They were chillin' at the Circle as I whizzed to and fro on my bike. Despite the fact that my stylist also does this man's hair, Simon and Paula liked the work my stylist did to my fly 'do. And I very much liked TJs post-rehab scruff. WURF!
Later on me and a new friend went to the "Obsolete, Odd and Absolutely Ooky Stuff" exhibit at the DAR Museum, featuring the strangest and most intriguing collection items from the 18th and 19th century in an exhibit of unusual objects from America’s past. The exhibit was very short, but I'll have to note that the DAR Museum attendance is quite low, so you won't have to struggle with throngs of tourists when visiting the place. It's a good pic for long-term DC residents who are wary of huge crowds of DC visitors.
Posted by jimbo at March 12, 2006 9:49 PM
Comments
It is odd to see how much leaner people were in earlier eras. I think the change is particularly pronounced in men because the muscle building/fitness craze hadn't hit yet. Fat was a lot rarer but so were beefy and muscular frames.
Posted by: Fitz at March 13, 2006 7:13 AM
70s porn, perhaps not the best of scopes to look at, does show a different not quite so hypermasculinzed ideals. There are less very built guys, no manscaping, and way less trimming. Given that I'm accustomed and prone to Titan's fare, it seems foreign to me, like straight porn.
Since you know said DJ well and brought your friends and your shake, I'd say it was ok. I'll admit though, I'm not Miss Manners, I'm Ms. Manners, her lesbian sister.
High fructose corn syrup makes me lazy and lethargic, so I try to avoid it as much as possible. If it was economical I'd bring over cases from Europe, where they still use sugar. He may be right about the corn lobby, as they are now pushing ethanol made from corn which costs far more than ethanol made from, surprise, surprise, cane sugar.
Posted by: copperred at March 13, 2006 9:48 AM
In contrast, I gave seven lectures, I clipped my fingernails, and watched Jurasic Park III. I wonder who had the better weekend?
Posted by: homer at March 13, 2006 9:59 AM
"an obscure and dying language that no one has heard about nor will understand"?!?!?!?
I thought you read my blog.
:(
Posted by: Eric at March 13, 2006 11:38 AM
The 70s were definitely a leaner, meaner era as I recall (6’3” 145 at the time). We were embroiled in a controversial war, the President was lying to the American People and Cher was on her Farewell (to Sonny) tour. Who had time to eat?
Plus we had additional opportunities for aerobic exercise. For instance if you wanted to change the television channel to one of the other three channels, you actually had to get up and turn one of the two dials on the TV. Really, I am not making this stuff up! Making a phone call involved the arduous task of selecting a hole on the face plate of the one phone wired into the wall, inserting your index finger and pushing said hole to the "O." Release and repeat. This really, really is true. I am NOT having an acid flashback again. Hey who let out the unicorn?
Posted by: Herb at March 13, 2006 11:57 AM
The high fructose theory continues to be controversial, because overall sweetener consumption has increased as well. In 1977, the avg. American had 350 cans of Coke a year; in 1997, almost 600. 1 can/day=16 lbs a year. Next time you're in a group of school kids, take note: now the kids who get called fatty are REALLY fat.
Posted by: greg at March 13, 2006 3:38 PM
I was wondering if Eric had something to say.
Posted by: sam at March 14, 2006 11:49 AM
Imagery from the '70s is terrific precisely because it challenges today's out-of-control notions of what is supposed to be attractive--the overbuilt, hypermasculinized forms that for many are as unrealistic as looking like a Barbie doll is for women. Few men can simultaneously achieve a 25-inch waist and a 75-inch chest. Maybe an irony is that despite all the anonymous sex, gay men were actually less superficial in the '70s. I don't buy the sugar theory. The problem isn't just that people are fatter today; it is that the expectations for what is attractive are so much more unrealistic today. I doubt many men in the '70s spent hours a day in a gym beating themselves up for not attaining an unrealistic body image. The women's movement started taking on these body-image issues years ago. I don't know why gay men continue to ignore the issue and keep ratcheting up the pressure, leaving themselves both insecure about how they look because they can't satisfy an unrealistic ideal (at least if they have a full-time job and real-life responsibilities) and lonely because they have convinced themselves that all they find attractive is something physically unattainable by many potential mates.
Posted by: Steve at March 14, 2006 4:46 PM
wait - i can only take one Catalan blog at a time and mr. sheep has that one covered - maybe you should try that dying language they speak in Wisconsin - I think it may be called English... nobody seems to speak that in these parts, at least not here in Shaw... :-P
Posted by: TOS at March 15, 2006 12:14 AM