do you like art? cipango likes enough art for you and me and everyone else. the first time i visited cipango, i had this fantasy that i was visiting the last junk store in chicago that nobody else had found. the store, in my fantasy, had lots of cheap crap from pretty much every eccentric aunt in town. so worth it.

nick scholl is the one opera blogger i know of who gets opera. like really gets it. it’s not about grand stale histories, it’s not about overinflated egos politely kowtowed to. it’s huge stories, flamboyant gestures, larger than life personalities. opera is, underneath all that traditionalist muck, freakishly hip. nick can show you.

years ago when i did a poster for the lyric’s mefistofele with photographer victor skrebneski, this is the amount of cool i wanted. it’s really hard.

gaylab’s boycrazy. and you know what, i’ve never seen anyone this obsessed with imagery slathered in style. no wait, i have. there’s paul hamilton, but that was years ago. he’s amazing; but good luck finding his work online anymore.

i can’t read a word of this. i don’t really care. just soak in it.

ronnie del carmen’s not a hosuehold name, but everyone’s seen his work—he contributed to pixar’s incredibles. but that’s just a tiny bit of his work. the girls he draws have a fascinating innocent sensuality—most recently shown in his paper biscuit project.

for those who have been folllowing the iranian gay teen execution thing, here’s a closer look at what was really happening. it seems a lot of this story, as reported by the gay press, was a case of exaggeration to further a cause mixed with cultural mistranslations.

i’d also like to point out that, according to this article, iran follows the united states in frequency of executions; that really says something to me about who the states’ cultural neighbors are.

via rico von turkistan (and here’s his original post on the topic) via tyler.

in other international news news, i am utterly into this, melissa. there’s a gym i need bombed as well. anyone got the pentagon’s number? they hafta know something about this, right?

there’s something about watching a new world kid grow up that’s so intoxicating. kids in america and canada do whatever they want, whenever they want. there’s a soundtrack and camera in evidence at all times. they lip-sync to everything even if nobody else can hear the music. it’s a beautiful, narcissistic moment, and deservedly so. they’re brand new; there’s no history holding them down. they’re horrible little rottweiler puppies loose in the yard: adorable, dangerous, can’t help it. scottage_cheese captures his friends’ and his own youth at so beautifully. he’ll love these pictures when he’s my age. i so wish we had digital cameras when we were kids. can you imagine all the pictures of giant blonde-tipped hair and black lace gloves and raspberry-ice colored polos with lime-green crocodiles? omg. so best.

this gem’s brought to you by the withered, empty souls at the daily mirror. click the image above for the full-sized image.

it’s easy to have compassion for the poor woman—i mean, she completely broke her shit—but sometimes, the gossip press gets it right. how much can you shovel on the rest of the world until it starts simply laughing at you? well, ms. madonna louise—here’s your answer. enjoy your recuperation.

sometimes the quietest boy in the room has a wig locked in his box, he’s got a secret stashed in his compact and something he wants to tell you but he can’t do it here, he can’t do it now and maybe not ever here, but sooner or later the quietest, shyest boy

will turn out to be the prettiest, loudest, meanest girl. there’s a drag party at flickr.

picures in this entry are by ears dept. and niki de lory.

…so much. it’s not all about you and your empty little blonde soul.

i’ve met people like you. you’re a crazy emotional vulture, waiting for someone to weaken so that you can be siphon off their need.

waitaminnit. no wonder mtv wanted you on the show.

what is it about the dutch that they’re packing the dancefloors so solidly lately? yoni roberti’s an amazing example of some of the most fluid house mixing i’ve heard. hit his downloads page for four or five full-length mixes, including some fantastic minimal work i’ve not heard before.