Destination Halifax wants you to think of its city as a queer-friendly destination.

Yesterday, the travel and tourism promoter posted a video to YouTube featuring a couple who had moved here from the UK and who speak highly of their new home.

It's adorable. And now I want a tandem bike.

 

 

Halifax Pride recently put out a press release to promote the upcoming OUTBid!, their annual auction to raise funds for Pride festivities.

Well, they pulled a pop culture doozy this time.

This year you can bid for a date with Big Brother Canada cast members Emmett Blois and Andrew Monaghan.

 

The event is hosted by Eureka Love, and the doors open at 6pm this Thursday down at the Harbourfront Room at Casino Nova Scotia. As well as the aforementioned dates, there are lots of other prizes available. Check out the Facebook event page for more details.

 

Even though Jinkx Monsoon was just crowned America's Next Drag Superstar, and Detox isn't going to ever let us forget how amazing she is, RuPaul apparently plans to keep on keepin' on in the pop-culture sphere. 

After the fun that was "Peanut Butter," Ru's booty-shaking record featuring Big Freedia, Ms Charles recently released a single with her Drag U co-hort Lady Bunny. Called "Lick It Lollipop," the video is a rather steamy mix of Bunny, Ru and a bootylicious model named Miles Davis Moody.

Check out the video below.

 

Although the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia is tomorrow, May 17, this evening will see a rally take place at Grand Parade.

This year's theme is Our Bodies, Our Health, Our Rights. Speakers at the rally, which kicks off at 6pm, include The Raging Grannies; Gabe Saulnier, from Healing Our Nations; and many more individuals and groups speaking on everything from trans rights to the gay blood ban.

For more information, check out the Facebook event page.

Keeping in the same vein, prideHealth and the Aids Coalition will present Health Impacts of Homophobia and Transphobia at the IWK Health Centre. It features a panel discussion with Jacqueline Gahagan, from Dalhousie School of Health and Human Performance; Ellen Taylor, with the Atlantic Centre of Excellence for Women's Health; Sheena Jamieson, from the YouthProject; and Chris Aucoin, with the AIDS Coalition of Nova Scotia.

For more info, check out prideHealth's poster.

Rene Ross posted a heartfelt message on her Facebook wall last night. 

She will no longer operate as Stepping Stone's executive director.

She wrote:

"As many of you know, there have been significant challenges with funding that began last September and hopes for other funding did not come through. Moreover, the remaining staff are delivering critical programming that program users depend on for their health and safety. Those programs must be protected at all costs. I am hopeful that the savings the organization will accumulate by eliminating the ED position will allow the staff to carry on with their crucial work."

Former Stepping Stone executive director, Rene Ross

The news of Ross's departure was featured in this morning's radio and print media reports, including the Chronicle Herald and the CBC, the latter having reported that Ross quit, but it is unclear whether she quit or her position was eliminated due to the aforementioned budget cuts. Halifax Media Co-op's Hilary Beaumont posted a well-researched article noting that Stepping Stone has undergone major changes due to shifting and unsecured funding at the organization.  

As ED, Ross was very vocal and publicly minded, often appearing on local radio and television, as well as online, including a post for the HuffPo. In the meantime, Ross states that she "will continue to support the staff and program users and will provide any support required by the Board in this challenging time." She goes on to say, "Stepping Stone is my heart, the staff are the amongst the best I have ever worked with, and the program users have taught me more than I could ever dream of learning in a university or from a book – because those impacted by policy are the true experts for change."

 

 

 

After hinting at and finally releasing what is the hottest single this spring, "Get Lucky," the members of Daft Punk aren't about to let the hype end on their upcoming album.

A little over a month ago, videos entitled "Random Access Memories: The Collaborators" started popping up on YouTube. The first featured multi-instrumentalist/producer/songwriter Nile Rodgers. If Rodgers's name doesn't ring a bell, his songs might. This is the man behind Chic's "Le Freak" and David Bowie's "Let's Dance," to name a few. If you haven't watched the series, it's probably one of the smartest promotional tools put out in a long time, because although these videos are interviews with "The Collaborators," they are essentially a series of 10-minute commercials, enticing and exciting you about an album you have yet to hear.

Today, Daft Punk released a video showing what the new abum will look like, along with a teaser of the new track. The video looks like it came out of collaborator Paul Williams's movie Phantom of the Paradise, (a film that the duo have openly revered in interviews), and once again, whets our appetites for a new Daft Punk album.

After pulling off hilarious hits such as "Boy Is a Bottom" and "Chow Down at Chick-fil-A," recent RuPaul's Drag Race alum Detox Icunt and Willam Belli, along with their good friend Vicky Vox, have come up with another great parody of/homage to pop culture.

Entitled "Silicone," this love song to all things plastic surgery features Detox at the forefront, tongue planted firmly in a self-deprecating cheek. Take a peek.

And while we're on a musical tip, the recently crowned winner of this season's RuPaul's Drag Race, Ms Jinkx Monsoon (#teamjinkx), has recently paired up with Two Dudes in Love to create a track called "Schizophrenic."

 

The track features Jinkx once again channelling Little Edie Beale, in a spoken-word presentation about Beale's alleged issues with mental health. Check it out.

Halifax Pride is gearing up for this summer’s events and wants you to be a part of it.

In collaboration with the NSCAD Queer Collective, Halifax Pride recently put out a call for submissions as organizers are looking for the 2013 Halifax Pride visual artist. The artist's work will be exhibited during this summer’s Queer Acts Theatre Festival, be featured in the 2013 Pride Guide, as well as on tickets to various events during Halifax Pride. The deadline for submissions is May 15.

For eligibility criteria and more, check out Halifax Pride’s guidelines on their website.

As well as looking for artists, Halifax Pride is also looking for submissions for events for this year’s Pride Guide, as well as entries to the parade and booth for vendors and organizations at the Community Fair.

For more information on all this and more, check out Halifax Pride’s website.

With Bill Gates's recent foray into looking for ways to build a better condom, it looks like one company may be taking a novel approach to safer sexual practices.

Origami Condoms is looking to create a condom specifically designed for use in anal sex. In this case, it is the person on the receiving end who wears the condom.

As the NSFW video above demonstrates, the condom is inserted into the rectum, in a similar fashion as female condoms are used. One of the issues with regular condoms is that they can break more easily than during vaginal or oral intercourse, and durability, comfort and sensitivity all come into play. According to the website, the "insertive partner does not need to wear a condom, thus creating an experience closer to ‘sex without a condom.’" The condom is also made from silicone, rather than latex. The condom is scheduled to be available by 2015.

The company is also looking to fund its production through Indiegogo, starting tomorrow. So stay tuned.

I remember the first time I saw the Pet Shop Boys. It was after school, and my sister and I were sitting down to watch Video Hits, CBC's suppertime music video program. 

There was something about those opening notes on the synth and the construction of a record so completely digital. It was pop music for ears that wouldn't normally dig a record constituted from keyboards. I was too young to understand the significance of the lyrics, but there was something there. Something that resonated in me.

Almost 30 years later, the Pet Shop Boys are still putting out records and are still master craftsmen in the creation of pop songs. Their latest single, "Axis," sounds like a trip into the land of Moroder, circa "I Feel Love" while still bringing to mind the sounds of Patrick Cowley, a mastermind of Hi-NRG, one of the queerest forms of dance music. 

Meanwhile, the kids from Shit Robot have just put out a new single on DFA Records, featuring Sylvester-esque vocals provided by JENR (also known as Luke Jenner from The Rapture). Vocally, this track is a killer, and musically, the remixes -- especially the Larse Remix -- harken back to the blissful parties of the 1970s. Listen below.