Music

Allison Moorer Talks About Her New Album Crows

Nearly 12 years ago, singer-songwriter Allison Moorer made an unforgettable introduction with her contribution of the thoughtful ballad, “A Soft Place to Fall,” to the soundtrack of the Robert Redford-directed drama, The Horse Whisperer, which later earned her an Academy Award nomination.

On her new album, Crows, she hints at a hidden optimism that sometimes is ignored or forgotten: “I gotta turn you away so I can keep this hope alive/You’re tapping on the window but I won’t let you inside/Maybe you’ll give up and find somebody else tonight/I draw the curtains, say a prayer and turn out the light.”

A socialist? A Muslim? The Anti-Christ? What the “Wingnuts” Think About President Obama

A new book, Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe Is Hijacking America by John Avlon describes the large numbers of Americans who hold extreme views of President Obama. But how many “wingnuts” are out there and what do they really think? A new Harris Poll seeks to measure how many people are involved and what they believe.

The poll finds that 40% of adults believe Obama is a socialist. More than 30% think he wants to take away Americans’ right to own guns and that he is a Muslim. More than 25% believe he wants to turn over the sovereignty of the United States to a world government, has done many things that are unconstitutional, that he resents America’s heritage, and that he does what Wall Street tells him to do (not bad for a socialist).

The History of Gay Porn is Bigger Than Life

Reviewed by Lawrence Helman

Attempting to write a history of gay porn seems like a task worthy of an astute cultural historian/sexual anthropologist, or possibly a task undertaken by a crazed porn-watching wordsmith with a burgeoning collection of VHS cassettes and DVD’s, or perhaps a bit of both.

Author & sexual critic Jeffrey Escoffier has taken on this gay sexual Goliath of a topic in his new tome, Bigger than Life - The History of Gay Porn Cinema from Beefcake to Hardcore.

Written with clarity, well researched footnotes and insight, Bigger than Life navigates the history of the beginnings of gay porn with late 1940’s inimitable films such as Kenneth Anger’s Fireworks (1947), and examines the homoerotic nature of early, lesser-known Andy Warhol films including Kiss, Blow Job, and Couch.

Even Without a Front Man, a balladeer Rocks

by Dylan Beck

Pop music is being redefined by the edgy, socially-aware, supremely tuneful themed melodies of a balladeer, whose creative sparks first ignited seven years ago, when a young vocalist named Marinus was auditioning new guitarists in Holland.

He came upon a string man and music arranger ‘with the best ears for sound’ named Erik and they joined forces with drummer Tijs and began writing hook-studded tunes demonstrating solid songwriting and storytelling.

Sacramento Based Novel is Full of Twists and Local Flavor

Reviewed by Michael Colby

It’s not that often that a murder mystery gets set in Sacramento, and even less so for a gay themed murder mystery. So it is especially gratifying that former Sacramentan Geno Azevedo’s exciting first novel is set practically in our backyard.

Naked Dick: the Cosumnes River Murder follows Tony Felice, a private investigator in San Diego, who is packed and ready to head to Palm Springs for the White Party when a call from his boss forces a change in plans.