Resy’s, Jay’s and Xavier’s marching in the Heritage of Pride gay pride march, West 8 Street between MacDougal Street and Avenue of the Americas, Greenwich Village, 26 June 2011. (Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam.)

The entire set of photographs is still taking shape on Google+.

Previously

• “1 Fifth Avenue and Washington Arch,” 23 July 2012.
• “Preparing to March,” 24 July 2012.
• “Preparing to March II,” 25 July 2012.
• “Walking to Pride I,” 2 August 2012.
• “Walking to Pride II,” 2 August 2012.
• “Invading the Gay Pride March,” 7 August 2012.

Fountain. Jackson Heights Beautification Group Self‐Guided Tour of Private Interior Gardens, the Belvedere and Belvedere Gardens, 35^th Avenue between 84^th and 85^th streets, Jackson Heights, 18 June 2011. (Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam.)

Rainy, stormy day

A rainy, stormy day in New York City. ⛆⛆☔⛆⛆⛈

☞ Francisco Daum, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, 7 Sept. 2011, Flickr, under a Creative Commons license.

At the Exotic Jews “Exoticon 7.0” at the Times Square public plaza (a.k.a. the Broadway Pedestrian Mall) in Midtown Manhattan with יעקב, ‎12 August 2012. (Photograph by Delita Álvarez-Barrantes.)

Invading the gay pride march

Guncle’s personal contingent scaled the barricades on Fifth Avenue to invade the Heritage of Pride gay pride march, Chelsea, 26 June 2011. (Photographs by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam.)

The entire set of photographs is still taking shape on Google+.

Previously

• “1 Fifth Avenue and Washington Arch,” 23 July 2012.
• “Preparing to March,” 24 July 2012.
• “Preparing to March II,” 25 July 2012.
• “Walking to Pride I,” 2 August 2012.
• “Walking to Pride II,” 2 August 2012.

The view from the High Line Elevated Park at West 28 Street, Chelsea, 19 June 2011. (Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam.)

Walking to Pride II

Guncle’s homemade contingent walking from Washington Square Park, where we got ready, to the Heritage of Pride gay pride march, Greenwich Village, 26 June 2011. (Photographs by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam.)

The entire set of photographs is still taking shape on Google+.

Previously

• “1 Fifth Avenue and Washington Arch,” 23 July 2012.
• “Preparing to March,” 24 July 2012.
• “Preparing to March II,” 25 July 2012.
• “Walking to Pride I,” 2 August 2012.

Walking to Pride I

Guncle’s homemade contingent walking from Washington Square Park, where we got ready, to the Heritage of Pride gay pride march, Greenwich Village, 26 June 2011. (Photographs by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam.)

The entire set of photographs is still taking shape on Google+.

Previously

• “1 Fifth Avenue and Washington Arch,” 23 July 2012.
• “Preparing to March,” 24 July 2012.
• “Preparing to March II,” 25 July 2012.

• Last modified 3 August 2012.

Preparing to March II

More pictures of Guncle Aaron’s team of people preparing in Washington Square Park to invade Heritage of Pride’s gay pride march in downtown Manhattan last summer.

The entire set of photographs is still taking shape on Google+.

📷 Preparing to join the gay pride march, Washington Square Park, Greenwich Village, 26 June 2011. (Photographs by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam.)

Previously

• “1 Fifth Avenue and Washington Arch,” 23 July 2012.
• “Preparing to March,” 24 July 2012.

• Last modified 7 August 2012.

Preparing to March

Last summer, Guncle Aaron assembled a team of people to crash Heritage of Pride’s gay pride march in downtown Manhattan. We met at Washington Square Park, and these pictures show our getting ready.

The entire set of photographs is taking shape on Google+.

📷 Preparing to join the gay pride march, Washington Square Park, Greenwich Village, 26 June 2011. (Photographs by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam.)

Previously

• “1 Fifth Avenue and Washington Arch,” 23 July 2012.

• Last modified 2 August 2012.

1 Fifth Avenue and Washington Arch

━━━━━━━━

1 Fifth Avenue framed by Washington Arch. Shot while I and some of my friends were preparing to join the gay pride march, Washington Square Park, Greenwich Village, 26 June 2011. (Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam.)

• Last modified 2 August 2012.
• Versions of this article are reproduced on Tumblr and WebCite.
• Additional comments may be available on Google+, Tumblr, FriendFeed (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7) or Pinterest.

Spring in Queens

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam.

Spring in Queens. Northern Boulevard between 72^nd and 73^rd streets, East Elmhurst/​Jackson Heights, 6 April 2010.

Thanks again to my friend and former coworker Mayouko for another great dinner party, a tradition in which I have participated nine years.

Neglected ☹

The friend who had been entrusted four days earlier to invite me had neglected to do so and telephoned me at 21:15 when the dinner party was already in progress. My inability to leave my home in any reasonable time frame, the significant subway delays I faced, the uncharacteristically cold night and the walk from the subway station meant I arrived at her place after midnight after a number of guests had already left. I removed my sneakers while I waited for the door to be answered to discover nearly every other guest was wearing shoes.

Carbohydrate concerns

The hostess was very pleased to see me and made another batch of beef possibly primarily for me. I couldn’t have the traditional sugary sauce, so she put salt and pepper on the meat and it was very good. I had some of her pork and cabbage dish (presumably made without sugar, unlike coleslaw which it resembled) and seafood and cucumber salad (sunomono 酢の物) which a guest assured me was only seasoned with mayonnaise. (Most of the recipes for it I now see online include sugar.) Even though I was drinking a dark beverage (diet root beer) in a big cup, I mistakenly picked up a light‐colored beverage in a small cup and downed the rest of someone’s likely alcoholic beverage. (This and the later Diet Crush discovery may have sabotaged my diet.)

Chat

I met Mila Jam who was wearing her sensational shoes she had bought fewer than twenty‐four hours earlier. J.J.’s dog calmly sat on his lap dressed as a huge strawberry. A friend and I were talking about unusual food, particularly insects, when he abruptly asked me what celebrity I find sexy, apparently changing the subject. Distracted, I came up with Çağatay Ulusoy and Adam Levine (אדם נח) on short notice, so he asked if I would have sexual relations with one of them in a big vat of live cockroaches if it aroused him and were the only circumstance under which he’d have sex with me. In another discussion, Laverne used some well‐paid entertainment professional as an example of someone who makes “down loot.”

Leaving

Little by little, guests started leaving. The last three guests and I cleaned up and left together, and it was just too late and cold to do anything else so I got into Second Avenue station and fled home. I usually ride the second car from the last when traveling home but I kept rejecting car after car because each was full of homeless people. I got near the middle of the train and finally settled on a car with only two homeless people in it who were both on the other side. Another passenger and I smiled to one another as he saw me looking ahead through the cars and seeing endless homeless people.

Because I am literally months—and in some cases, years—behind in publishing my pictures online, I offer this picture from a 2009 dinner party when she served the same thing.

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam. Mayouko’s dinner party, 27 May 2009.

Previously

• Google Buzz, 23 June 2011.

• Last modified 12 April 2012.
• Versions of this article are reproduced at elyaqim.tumblr.com/post/20449678288 and webcitation.org/66fYgJXhb
• Additional comments may be available on Google+, Tumblr, Twitter or FriendFeed (1, 2, 3, 4).

Summer in New York City: Rust

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam. Roosevelt Avenue and 83rd Street, Jackson Heights, 14 June 2010.

• Last modified 31 March 2012.
• A version of this article is reproduced at webcitation.org/60dHIcOXa.
• Additional comments on this article may be available on Google Buzz, Google+, FriendFeed (1, 2, 3) or Facebook.

New York Bear Den Promotional Drive

Photograph by Chaz Antonelli. Hamming it up in a shot that simultaneously promotes Bear Den’s lounge atmosphere and Internet stations. New York Bear Den at the Diversity Center of Queens, Alliance Building, 76-11 37th Avenue, Jackson Heights, 12 June 2011. ────────

Chaz put up a Web page promoting New York Bear Den utilizing many of the suggestions I gave him at our last gathering on 12 June. I had been musing about why Bear Café had been so outstandingly popular while Bear Den, built on a very similar model, is less well‐attended and can’t seem to even take in a month’s rent to the Diversity Center of Queens at a single gathering. However, existing aspects of Bear Den we might take for granted could draw new participants: I thought promoting Bear Den in part as a lounge with eclectic music might draw the type of men who frequent venues like Nowhere. Also, relegating the board games to one specific table would open up other tables to general conversation and make us appear less like a gaming group like Board Stiff was. Chaz came up with the timely ideas to promote the air conditioning, Internet access and the remodeled (or soon‐to‐be remodeled) washrooms. We need to apply these ideas to other modes of promotion, and hopefully our attendance will grow.

A steering committee meeting is tentatively scheduled for the thirteenth to discuss the initiatives the Den will put in place.

Related

• Chaz Antonelli, “What’s new at the Bear Den?,” n.d. [June 2011].
• Chaz Antonelli, “2011-06-12 Bear Den,” photo album, Picasa Web Albums, shot 12 June 2011.

• Last modified 31 March 2012.
• A version of this article is reproduced at webcitation.org/602SwWG9s.
• Additional comments may be available on Google Buzz, FriendFeed or Facebook.

March 2011 micro‐content, part II

💬 Wow. Any fan of Wonder Woman should see The Big Beautiful Wonder Woman Blog. http://fatwonderwoman.blogspot.com/ —13 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF)

👀 Go for a stroll in my neighborhood and you just may encounter the Jackson Heights robot walking down the street. http://goo.gl/m8XJY —14 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, P, FF)

…bids farewell to beloved singer Nilla Pizzi who died Saturday. http://youtu.be/05SXs73_MpY —14 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF)

[Video favorite.] jackson height —15 March (Bz, FF, Fb, MS) ▴ This video is absolute insanity! The camera operator raced down the aisles at Apna Bazar here in Jackson Heights, spinning the camera as he went. Who could even focus on any product?! ▴ Kudos. I cannot even tell if you’re right or wrong beyond the Tilda and the vegetables. Your whole comment reads like the ingredient list of some atrocious recipe.

✾ Both Purim and Novruz will be next weekend as can only occur in a Jewish leap year, though Theodor Gaster wrote Purim was based on Novruz. —16 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, MS) ▴ From Encyclopædia Britannica: “The principal monument of Jewish story in the Persian period is the biblical Book of Esther, which is basically a Judaized version of a Persian novella about the shrewdness of harem queens. The story was adapted to account for Purim, a popular festival, which itself is probably a transformation of the Persian New Year. Leading elements of the tale—such as the parade of Mordecai, dressed in royal robes, through the streets, the fight between the Jews and their adversaries, and the hanging of Haman and his sons—seem to reflect customs associated with Purim, such as the ceremonial ride of a common citizen through the capital, the mock combat between two teams representing the Old Year and the New Year, and the execution of the Old Year in effigy.” ▴ But see also: http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Purim/History/Origins.shtml

🗾 “Japan is one of the best friends the [US] ever could have to provide support…in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.” http://goo.gl/f7b1W —16 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS)

🌻 Od Çərşənbəsi چهارشنبه ‌سوری was yesterday, and now it’s full speed ahead to Purim פורים, Novruz نوروز and Holi ہولی. Happy spring!! —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, MS)

…bids farewell to songwriter Hugh Martin with a great vocal performance of “The Trolley Song” by Alex Heinen. http://youtu.be/Q8cECc1Vf3I ♫ —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS)

…bids farewell to songwriter Hugh Martin with this great rendition of “The Trolley Song” by Carol Burnett. http://youtu.be/hHrFZp0OXv0 ♫ —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS) ‎Of course; that was really my intent. I have a great version on vinyl by Leslie Uggams.

…mourns the loss of Shifra Lerer, legendary Jewish‐Argentine actress and singer in Yiddish theater and cinema. http://youtu.be/2wwdhylniAQ —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS)

…mourns the loss of Nicholas Kelo Jr. who shot and killed himself in Rittman, Ohio, after relentless anti‐gay bullying. http://goo.gl/NFroe —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF) Thanks to Brian for the alert.

…cannot fathom the sorrow of Irish Jews when Taʻanit Ester תענית אסתר‎, a fasting day, falls on St. Patrick’s Day, as is the case today. ☘ —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, MS, FF)

⚔ Homophobes are out for blood. This assault was barely covered by the news until the victim’s friends alerted bloggers. http://goo.gl/AtQIu —17 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF)

[Video favorite.] Feed the Rich, Starve the Worker: That's Bullshit... from Madison —18 March (Bz, FF, Fb, MS, FF) Thanks to שמואל for sharing.

📜 For those unfamiliar with the Purim legend, here’s a little synopsis: http://youtu.be/mYGqOMe-DqQ —18 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF)

📷 See my pictures of my visit to Florida, including the Columns at Bear Creek, New Port Richey, and dinner at Red Lobster, Spring Hill. http://on.fb.me/hAqNdP —18 March

📷 See more of my pictures of my visit to Florida, including Macy’s in Gulf View Square, dinner at Super Royal Buffet, then Bed Bath and Beyond and Books‐a‐Million, Port Richey; then “The Art of Flight” exhibit, Tampa International Airport. http://on.fb.me/hqI0lU —19 March

💮 With whom better to celebrate Novruz (and Purim) than Leila Forouhar? The equinox approaches. http://youtu.be/2XtU5wbH368 —19 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF)

◬ If you didn’t like the previous cartoon synopsis of Purim I posted, try this one out for size. http://youtu.be/3wvrbAa2Onk —19 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF) ‎▴ Rehob Sumsum is the Israeli version of Sesame Street in Hebrew, but Shalom Sesame is a sort of blended version of the two aimed at English speakers and featuring Anglophone celebrities. ▴ ‎This cartoon probably originally appeared on RS and was then adapted for Shalom Sesame with an English script.

💲 I just donated to the production of a movie about how the murder of Julio Rivera forever altered Jackson Heights. Might you consider donating too? (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/659926942/julio-of-jackson-heights-documentary-film) —19 March (Fb, FF, FF)

✾ Drink some bhang thandai while you watch this number from the 1981 movie Silsila. This weekend is Holi. http://youtu.be/rm17BPGvZSc —19 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF)

📷 See my pictures of the Queens Pride House “Valentine’s Gay Fun‐raiser Party” at the Diversity Center of Queens, Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/hqI0lU —20 March

♪ Probably my favorite Purim song of all time, but I prefer Ruth Rubin’s version which I could not find online. http://youtu.be/WMvLi2lF4a8 —20 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF)

…is not sure what this has to do with Novruz as he doesn’t know Uyghur or see holiday imagery, but it’s pretty. http://youtu.be/py8RplC9RQ4 —20 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF) With it?

…hopes you enjoyed the supermoon and equinox and feel a part of our Solar System. Here’s a great Novruz summary: http://youtu.be/bYRTEjhnopI —21 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS, FF) ▴ And if you like, see some of the Novruz videos I posted last year:
• http://elyaqim.jaiku.com/presence/1874d1c69cde45dcafbdbb18a6b05510
• http://www.friendfeed.com/elyaqim/99c2cd6a/
• http://youtu.be/pu6lkz2DqUw‎ ▴ • http://elyaqim.jaiku.com/presence/7fdb47776ac941149facc34e262b3f47

• Last modified 18 March 2010.
• A version of this article is reproduced at webcitation.org/5zfaO3vyA.
• Additional comments may be available on Google Buzz, FriendFeed or Facebook.

Overweight, Bearded Gay Men, Who Call Themselves Bears

Photograph by Valerie (ucumari), under a Creative Commons license.

Three of my favorite local Queens organizations were mentioned in a New York Times article last week. Unfortunately, it was about how Congressman Anthony Weiner had to cancel appearances at events organized by two of them—the Queens Lesbian & Gay Pride Committee and Queens Pride House—and it referred, unnamed and described rather unflatteringly, to New York Bear Den. Reporter Dan Bilefsky wrote

On Monday evening, Mr. Weiner…canceled an appearance at a forum at Queens Pride House in Jackson Heights on the implications of health care reform for the gay community.

On Sunday, the congressman…did not appear at a gay pride march in Queens.

Pauline Park, President of Pride House, said Mr. Weiner, a proponent of gay rights, would have found a sympathetic crowd at the community center, which has hosted events ranging from Nepalese dance troupes to support groups for H.I.V-positive mothers and fathers and mixers for overweight, bearded gay men, who call themselves bears.

Related

• Dan Bilefsky, “Weiner Cancels Another Public Appearance, at Gay Forum,” section of “Weiner Says He Sent Photos and Lied, but Won’t Resign,” City Room, The New York Times, 6 June 2011.
• Christopher Dufault, “Someone Needs a Bear Hug!,” Internals Plural, 6 June 2011.

• Last modified 31 March 2012.
• A version of this article is reproduced at webcitation.org/5zTas6CGB (and based upon Fb).
• Additional comments on this article may be available on Google Buzz, FriendFeed or Facebook.

March 2011 micro‐content, part I

📷 See my pictures of the Queens Pride House January community potluck at the Diversity Center of Queens, Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/gtzHcz —1 March

[Video favorite.] Little Chicken Shake .mov —1 March (FF, Fb) My online discovery of the night is Jackson Heights’ own Katha Cato of the Department of Positive Commentary (DPC). In this video, she makes an absolutely ghastly dish vegetarians might want to avert their eyes from viewing. In a sense, it’s a variation of the chicken split idea my friends and I came up with many years ago. Fun for the whole family!

📷 See my pictures of the Rockbear January “Underbear” party at Rockbar, Greenwich Village. http://on.fb.me/gtzHcz —2 March

📷 See my pictures of Thai dinner at Spicy Shallot, then “Jaime’s Peter Pan birthday party” at Music Box/Caja Musical, Elmhurst; then Friend’s Tavern, Jackson Heights; then la Abundancia Bakery, Elmhurst. http://on.fb.me/feSsg8 —3–7 March I shop and eat in Little India so frequently the merchants know me and give me special prices. One of these days, I’ll figure out if those prices are lower or higher than what normal customers pay.

• Pakistan’s Minister of Minorities is dead in a “campaign to slaughter every liberal, progressive and humanist voice”! http://goo.gl/KJSto —3 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS)

☕ “[T]his be will {sic} remembered as the time…the American people decided to come together [and] confront the plutocracy….” http://goo.gl/M4zcq —4 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS)

…is frustrated that the St. Pat’s for All parade and the “Globally Queer” block at the Queens World Film Festival conflict with one another. —6 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, MS)

[Video favorite.] ‘America Is NOT Broke’: Michael Moore Speaks in Madison, WI — March 5, 2011 —6 March (FF, Fb) A poignant lesson in economics from Michael Moore that is very easy to understand. Liberals and progressives give us facts while conservatives give us lies and then threats with guns if we don’t believe their lies. Thanks to Leyb Mendl for posting.

[Video favorite.] YouTube Transcribe Audio Fail —7 March (FF, Fb) Some of my friends already noticed it and brought it up on my wall, but my being a linguistics geek got me mention in one of gunnarolla’s videos (beginning at 2:17). Basically, when Google’s automatic transcription of the audio track in one of his earlier videos was unable to make heads or tails of his Canadian English, I accused them of being anti‐Canadian.

📷 See my pictures of Thai lunch from Rumphool in Woodside. http://on.fb.me/hAqNdP —8 March

📷 See my pictures of Richard Shpuntoff’s screening of Julio of Jackson Heights as a work in progress at the Jewish Center of Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/hAqNdP —8 March

…found this funny video a few days ago but wonders if it’s appropriate to post on International Women’s Day. http://youtu.be/tJRzBpFjJS8 👩 —8 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb, FF, FF, MS)

📷 See my pictures of New York Bear Den at the Diversity Center of Queens, Jackson Heights. http://on.fb.me/hAqNdP —8 March

◬◬◬ Where can I get ozne Haman אזני המן‎ (i.e., Homen taşn המן־טאַשן) in or near Jackson Heights? ◬◬◬ —9 March (Jk, Bz, FF, Fb) ▴ If they’re still there. You’re just making me more frustrated, as well as more hungry. ▴ I’m afraid my worst fears will be confirmed.

📷 See my pictures of my visit to Florida, including lunch at the Ram’s Horn and a visit to Publix, Hudson; dinner at Central City Pizza, New Port Richey; dessert from Walgreens, Hudson. http://on.fb.me/hAqNdP —9 March

[Video favorite.] Teresa Graves & Carol Channing “Soul Sisters” Laugh‐In —11 March (Bz, FF, Fb) This video was shot before Carol Channing came out of the closet as black.

• Last modified 31 March 2012.
• A version of this article is reproduced at webcitation.org/5z8655Cao.
• Additional comments may be available on Google Buzz, FriendFeed or Facebook.

Spring in New York City, part 5

Shopping carts of all sorts at Met Foodmarket, 76-10 37^th Avenue, Jackson Heights, 16 March 2010. See the full set of pictures in my Facebook photo album March 2010, part VI.

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam. ────────

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam. ────────

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam. ────────

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam. ────────

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam. ────────

Photograph by Elyaqim Mosheh Adam.

Previously

• “Religious Experience at the Ambassador Program,” 17 March 2010. (Spring in New York City, part 1.)
• “Standard and Sea,” 5 May 2010. (Spring in New York City, part 2.)
• “Passover sweets,” 6 May 2010. (Spring in New York City, part 3.)
• “Hard-Boiled Eggs,” 8 May 2010. (Spring in New York City, part 4.)

• Last modified 31 March 2012.
• Versions of this article are reproduced at webcitation.org/5z6HVdNyo and webcitation.org/5z6J5xjFj.
• Additional comments on this article may be available on Google Buzz, FriendFeed or Facebook.