On the Rag, Vol. 510

A weekly look at what's making news in the gay mags:

HotSpots (Florida): 8 most effective ways to speed recovery and facilitate gains

Get Out!: Bianca Del Rio returns to the silver screen in 'From Russia With Hate'

Kim Wilde: 'Here Come the Aliens'

Between the Lines (Detroit): Adam Rippon on finding his gay power

Metro Weekly (D.C.): Todd Almond on turning '90s alt-rock into a gay love story

Out: Troye Sivan meets Elton John

Dallas Voice: AIDS Outreach Center's annual gala looking to 'unmask the stigma of HIV'

QX (London): It's Bear Pride weekend!

The Advocate: Why the gay and bi men of 'Boys in the Band' still matter

Gay Times (U.K.): Fighting on the front lines against a rising wave of heterophilia is Casey Spooner, the musician whose art doesn’t just imply queerness but rather screams it from the rooftop

Gloss (San Francisco): Are you going to Candy Land?

Q Salt Lake: Pride gets salty!

San Francisco Bay Times: Kate Kendell’s legacy of inspired leadership at the National Center for Lesbian Rights

Rage Monthly: Is Sheila E. still leading the glamorous life?

Grab (Chicago): Are you ready for the 2018 Grabbys?

Remains of the Day (12/05)

Time Out: Armie Hammer will make his Broadway debut in "Straight White Men"(!)

The Washington Post: Why online reviews are not the best way to choose a doctor

Alan Ilagan: Casey Spooner donning a 'stache and not much else

Column of Life: It's always a good time for a Judy Collins break

Village Voice: The 10 best shows on television in 2017

Greg in Hollywood: Always put Tony Dow at the top of my '50s teen-idols list, but the case for Ricky Nelson is very compelling

The Film Experience: Are you watching "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel"? (I am!)

D-Listed: I guess they won't be able to get Ashton Kutcher to fill in for a show's axed star this time

Gr8er Days: Carol Burnett special draws huge ratings

Hunk du Jour: I'd being willing to risk drowning to be rescued by this one

The Wall Street Journal: Aetna's CEO set to reap about $500 million if CVS deal closes, but they wouldn't pay for my endoscopy ordered by my doctor because of a family history of esophageal cancer

The WoW Report: Brace yourself for Randy Travis's naked DWI arrest video

Daily Intelligencer: RIP, John Anderson, whose 1980 presidential campaign I ran at Rhodes Junior High (I was young and foolish and didn't know third-party candidates are a complete waste!)

Towleroad: Director Bryan Singer opts for the martyr routine after dismissal from Queen biopic

The Independent: Russia banned from 2018 Winter Olympics over systematic doping offenses

The Gay Curmudgeon: Why you have no interest in the music that's being made today

Page Six: Happy 40th birthday to the venerable gossip column!

The Hill: Disgraced Rep. John Conyers retires from House of Representatives -- but GOP resumes backing of Roy Moore

The Gay Almanac: Austrian court rules same-sex couples can marry ... but not until 2019

The New Yorker: The magazine's 25 most-read stories of 2017

The New York Times: David Brooks thinks the way for gays to make advances is to shut up about discrimination -- and invite their oppressors over for dinner

OMG Blog: Jake Gyllenhaal is as adorable as ever

HuffPost Queer Voices: Here's what's at stake in the Supreme Court's gay wedding cake case

JoeMyGod: LGBT side worried after oral arguments in Masterpiece

Tennis Life: Ryan Harrison has hired a new coach

Back2Stonewall: The Ghosts of St. Vincent's Hospital, ground zero for NYC's AIDS epidemic

Deep Dish: I'd have asked for something else if the Santa at my mall had had pecs like this

Economic Policy Institute: Now the Trump administration wants to make it legal for owners to steal tips from their waitstaff

Kitty of the Day: This little guy reminds me of someone!

Song of the Day: 'Have Fun Tonight' by Fischerspooner

Via Spin: New York electro-pop duo Fischerspooner are back with their first new music in eight years. They’ve released a new single, “Have Fun Tonight,” which is the first release toward their upcoming album SIR, due out Sept. 22 on Ultra Records. Michael Stipe is producing the album, and has a co-writing credit on “Have Fun Tonight.” 

Casey Spooner's Sex Makeover

FourTwoNine has a fun interview with Casey Spooner, who discusses the intersection of technology and gay sexuality, why it's a horrible time to be a musician, his decision to change his image and all about the making his new album "about homosexuality" with Michael Stipe, who was the Fischerspooner frontman's first boyfriend back in 1988. 

On what technology has done to the erotic in this day and age:

First of all, sexuality is so closely tied to photography now. It’s like, you’re only going to get as much action depending on how good your pictures are and what your pictures communicate and what the location is and what the expression is. Photography and sexuality have shifted intensely.

I think, also, there’s been a big shift because there’s so many people now taking pictures of themselves naked and having to be on camera in order to have sex that everyone is completely obsessed with working out. Now that’s why we have all these different fitness trends, like SoulCycle and Flywheel and boot camps and CrossFit and juice bars—it’s because everyone is so self-conscious, so aware of their bodies now. So we’re living through this intense fantasy.

I remember when I would have sex with people, I would meet some that I wouldn’t know who was going to do what or what was going to happen or what was in their pants. It’s like, you didn’t know; you just had to go with the vibe.

But there are also very positive aspects to it as well. I’m connecting with people that I would have never connected with who are not part of my scene. They’re not part of my socioeconomic world. They’re not a part of my neighborhood. I’m all of a sudden interacting and having sex with people that I would have never run into. And out of that, developing friendships. And out of that, working with them. I’ve had a lot of social growth out of technology and sex.

Read more HERE.