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Greg Gerke
At the 100th Anniversary of The Waste Land party, a debut novelist continued to check his phone. A recent graduate of the Iowa Writer's Workshop, his first novel, about a family's last four generations, starting with immigration from Italy, to years in New York, to buying land in the west, to heading the WTO protests and carrying other secret anti-government sentiments, before going to the Middle East to fight terrorists because the U.S. wasn't doing a good enough job, was expected to get reviewed in the Sunday Book Review and he kept checking the web page to see if the piece had been made public. Though his agent had tried to get advanced word, including some low-grade hacking, all attempts were unsuccessful as a successful lawsuit against the practice of giving advanced word to agents and publishers by a disgruntled writer who had been lied to by an emissary of the book reviewer (the actual review was negative, not positive) erased any more early notices by the paper. Though they did know the reviewer was a peer and possibly a woman he'd once been on a panel with who also wrote similar types of fiction—grand sweeping stories of immigrants making their own sort of Americana—and been fairly celebrated. At the mind-numbing panel he talked briefly with her on stage and smiled to hide his nervousness at public speaking. He didn't teach and rarely read out loud. He'd once vasovagaled when experiencing the degree of anxiety he appeared to harbor again. In the hospital to have some cysts removed from his back, he had fainted when the IV went in, prompting the anesthesiologist to shoot too much of a heart accelerator, Rubinal, into his system, causing a near-death like feeling because he couldn't breathe or hear anything and shook uncontrollably for some minutes—an experience (along with the subsequent failed lawsuit) that would be the basis of his sophomore effort, a work on which he had spent a good six hours that morning wrestling with the conception of the main character's mother. It probably won't be her, he texted his agent, who sat at home refreshing his screen as well because a lot of money had gone into Mr. Iowa and Mr. Paris Review Prize, but they still needed the Times, even a lukewarm review would have some quotable quotes. Plus, he needed this book, Everything I Never Fold Away, to be a hit. He'd had many a clinker recently and the old man in the large corner office had begun to look askance at him during meetings, though the agency across the park had made an offer last year. The debut novelist rolled his eyes at the keynote speaker, Rhoda St. Johnstone, continuing on, forty, fifty minutes now, and he texted the agent again, then went to the site, pressing and pressing and pressing. Finally it was there. Not the first, so no cover review. Page eight! It was by the woman. He opened it and the subtitle seemed like a publisher's recap on the book's back but that was standard. The review's first sentence: "Ernest Hemingway once said, 'Don't describe an emotion—make it,'"and his heart sank. Using Papa Asshole to chide him in the first sentence! He went on, passing though the recounting of the prescriptive plot—so many twists and she didn't make it sound good. If he'd pitched it this way he certainly wouldn't have sold it. Then the critical passages. "Lincoln Lawson's freshman effort, complete with today's most hot-button issues, yawningly announces itself as relevant to our time of upheaval, but shouldn't relevance be assumed of any novel?" He couldn't believe she really went for the throat, but she did. Nothing was good. She even made fun of the title, while getting in a story about how she'd come up with a title for her bestseller. Maybe it was a practical joke—a mirror NY Times page? He put his wine cup on the floor. Someone asked if he was okay. The literary critic Roman Clef peered at him and counseled the young man to read some Thomas Mann and probably drop some weight. Um, the debut novelist said. Back to the review, "When self-pity fails him, Lawson piggybacks on . . ." The sensorium of words in the sentences of the review began to not register as words, they were ideograms of his future and would become his New Age signposts for trauma, loss, envy, inertia, vindictiveness, and rage. "Lawson's struggle to differentiate a theme from an idea," equaled loss of higher wages. "Another thorn in Lawson's text is his overuse of adverbs . . ." equaled self-loathing. Did it matter a decorated teacher had told him he had nothing to worry about, his themes were grand, his language superb? Now what would that teacher, retired in Naples, with all his novels from the Reagan eighties forgotten, say? And the debut novelist's wife? They'd waited years for this moment. He'd taken time with the novel, five years, promising kids at the end, though that still hadn't come about and it had been finished eighteen months ago. How could the review be explained? What did you do to that woman years ago on that panel? his wife would say. Nothing! I said I admired her prose. Her prose? What the hell is that? Flirtation? "Your prose" is Swedish for "body." "I liked your book" would have been sufficient. Didn't he know women? Of course, all his main characters were men. Just, please. Listen to me once in a while. What else did you say to her? Nothing—I . . . I . . . maybe I said she had a nice dress. Oh Lord, and his wife would throw his dog-eared copy of The Art of Fiction at him. Why don't you read this for the eightieth time? Extrapolate the art of discretion from the king of malediction. Ah. Fuck Gardner anyway—no one read his novels anymore. The debut novelist heard St. Johnstone say, And then I wrote a wonderful cookbook, and he staggered a bit, beginning to smell oranges, and the people surrounding him seemed to move away in slow- and fast-motion, in the style of a Lynch dream-sequence. As they walked on, admonishing or shunning, they made motions and other unfortunate expressions of disregard and one man, who'd written a biography of Hart Crane, seemed to implore him to take hold of his own upper left arm as he himself did, because that had to be grabbed to signal to everyone around what happened to Lawson's heart, how it had run aground into the medical annals, because thirty-one-year-old heart attacks were rare but becoming less so since people ate worse and ate too much, playing games on the computer instead of walking, not able to love well—the true heart disease—and Lawson nodded: Yes, yes I should hold that, it did hurt, a hurt like a big knife plunging into flesh, and he grabbed at the arm and had to sit down, but he fell to his knees, and because of his extra weight this hurt the knees, new hurt, he couldn't hear, but did feel. Oh geez, why did he eat all those cherry flans as reward for working hours extra on the novel, the fucking novel? He'd had the Italian gene, quick release heart disease, and he fell onto his belly and for the second time in three years thought that his end had come, but at least he wouldn't have to endure the online ridicule for or against himself or a woman he had done nothing to anger. Fuck her then. Maybe he was just saved from being designated a mediocre novelist through poor notices, poorer sales, and pitying public looks. Everyone tended to be kinder to the nonliving.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Marijuana may be illegal in Texas, but one group of entrepreneurs is making its mark in the cannabis space in San Antonio.
"One thousand, at this point, I think it's too low a number because the industry is so explosive right now," he said.
"The opportunity here to expand a footprint is easier than in Los Angeles or Seattle or Massachusetts, where it's now becoming more prolific," he said.
"What we did is we launched a half-day, deep-dive strategic planning session for cannabis business owners, and then we set a goal. We set a simple goal and we held it in downtown San Antonio," Martinez said.
"Some of the feedback from the participants of that day was that they now have the beginnings of a strategic roadmap," he said.
Talk Hustle Connect's name is based on a play of words. Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is the principal psychoactive in marijuana that produces the feeling of being high.
"I believe we're going to change a lot of minds. I believe we're going to start a bunch of new conversations [in] of all places, right here in San Antonio," he said.


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'Places' Artist Lea Michele Heads Back To The Stage, Where She Feels 'Most Home And Alive'
Edward VKanty
Lea Michele has had a wonderful time starring on Glee and in Scream Queens, but acting isn't her only interest and, as she reveals with the launch of a new album and tour, making music really is her greatest love. Promising fans that she hasn't given up on acting, Lea takes to the road to promote the new record, Places, and to spend time in theaters, where she feels most comfortable. Michele took the time to talk about her acting departure, her feelings about making music, and her experience in creating Places.
Places Brings Lea Michele Home
Lea Michele is hitting the road to promote 'Places' and enjoy time back in the theater. [Image by Christopher Polk/Getty Images]
Actress and stage performer Lea Michele tells Philly.com that she has been an entertainer since she was 8-years-old and adds that she was fortunate enough to get her start on Broadway at that young age. From there, Ms. Michele transitioned to television and film, but she never lost her love for the theater.
"That's where I'm most home and alive," Lea says of the theater. "So my main goal with this new record is — though I am still doing a television show regularly — to utilize the free time that I have in my life to get on the road and perform this."
That new album, of course, is Places, but Ms. Michele reveals that her concert tour will also feature songs from her time on Glee and songs from her previous album, 2014's Louder. Lea says the collection of performances will be as close as she can get to sharing a complete version of herself on stage, which is something she's been wanting to do for years.
Places draws its title from a common term used in theater to announce the beginning of a scene and, as Ms. Michele shares her reason for adopting the word for her album title, she reinforces the feeling that the theater will always be her family.
"I wanted the album to show where I come from — the stage — where I got my education. 'Places' in theater is where they put you, where you have to go at the top of the show. It is my version of yelling 'show time!'"
Speaking of Places, Lea Michele offered a few teasers about some of her favorite new songs. She says "Getaway Car" is about the feelings stirred by first love, and the experience of driving with that first love with the open road ahead and the radio turned up. She compares the song to "Fast Car" by Tracy Chapman.
Another one of Lea's new favorites is "Hey You," a song which she says is a very personal exploration of a past relationship.
"I can't tell you who it's about but people will interpret it for themselves and make of it what they like," says Lea. "I'll talk about that during the show. You should come. I walk down memory lane and talk about the future."
Lea Michele Looks Back At Glee
Lea Michele shares her best and least favorite 'Glee' performances. [Image by Jennifer Lourie/Getty Images]
During her recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Lea reminisced about her glory days on Glee and, as Digital Spy reports, the conversation revealed Ms. Michele's least favorite performance. Glee represented a variety of styles and musical tastes, so there was bound to be something that the actress and singer disliked. Asked if "Gangnam Style" was her least favorite, the Places artist said there was one song she found even more cringeworthy.
While Glee showrunner Ryan Murphy felt that song was the most "mortifying" in the show's history, Michele insists that honor was reserved for another.
"I think the worst was the 'What Does The Fox Say' song, it was like an internet sensation song that we did with puppets," says Lea. "That was definitely my least favorite song that we ever did."
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Ms. Michele adds that her favorite numbers on Glee were "Somebody to Love" and "Don't Stop Believing."
Even accepting there were bad times along with the good, Lea Michele looks back on her Glee days with fondness.
She says playing Rachel Berry was "the most incredible time of my life."
[Featured Image by Charley Gallay/Getty Images]


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Tag Archives: B'z XXV
BEING Doubles Sales Thanks To B'z
Today, Oricon has announced the sales for the year 2013 per music label. AVEX Group Holdings is now holding first place for two years in a row. Followed by Sony Music Entertainment on 2nd place and Universal Music on 3rd place. What's interesting is that the BEING Group, to which Vermillion Records belongs, has more than doubled their sales due to releasing B'z live DVDs and Blu-rays as well as the XXV best-of releases, putting them in 10th place compared to last year's 17th place.
B'z began their careers with BMG Japan and operated under several of their labels. Later, B'z would leave BMG to form their own label, Vermillion Records, as part of Being GIZA. Publication rights to the band's original four releases (the self-titled debut album, OFF THE LOCK, BAD COMMUNICATION, and BREAK THROUGH) remained under BMG control with the label switch, leading to recordings from that era ineligible to be included on compilations until an agreement was finally reached in time for the band's 25th anniversary single collections, B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998 and B'z The Best XXV 1999-2012.
Tagged as: B'z The Best XXV, B'z XXV
B'z Music Station Special: Full Live Report!
B'z during "Q&A" on Music Station
Today's broadcast of Music Station was a very special occasion. To commemorate the B'z 25th anniversary, the program decided to conduct a B'z special where the band would perform 4 songs—three of which were drawn from fan requests. After the other two show guests—Kyary Pamyu Pamyu and Kanjani 8—were introduced, B'z kicked off the show with their first ever televised performance of 「Q&A」. Following the performance, a segment called "BIRTH YEAR SONGS" was shown. This time, they introduced hit songs that were released in 1993. And of course, B'z also made an appearance in this segment with "Hadashi no Megami" coming in first place of the ranking.
Read on to check out our full write-up of the one hour special featuring several interview segments with the band, as well as to see which songs they decided to perform from the fan requests!
Tagged as: B'z XXV, TV & Radio
B'z to Conduct Special Program on YouTube June 16th! [UPDATED]
UPDATE! The special program has been scheduled for this Sunday, June 16th, at 9:00 PM JST (8:00 AM EST, 1:00 PM BST, 2:00 PM CEST, and 8:00 PM CST). You can watch on the band's YouTube channel and expect full coverage from us here at OFF THE LOCK once the program is over!
The band has just announced that they will conduct a special program which will be broadcast live on YouTube sometime in June. The program will be moderated by Masanori Ito who is well-known in Japan for his outstanding work as a music critic. On the show, Masanori Ito will talk with B'z about their 25 years as a band and this will present a unique opportunity to hear things that have never been talked about before. Additionally, a part of the program is dedicated to answering questions sent in by fans via Google+, Facebook and Twitter. The deadline for sending in your questions is this Friday, May 24th. [UPDATE: Questions are no longer being accepted.]
How to send in your questions:
Post your question in this community: https://plus.google.com/communities/104189337228227134374
Comment on this post to submit your question: https://www.facebook.com/bz.official/posts/450880008337301
Post a tweet with your question using the hashtag #Bzに質問
Music Station B'z Special Airs June 14
The band has just announced that they will perform on an episode of Music Station, which is set to air on June 14th, 2013. Just one day prior to the band's 25th anniversary tour B'z LIVE-GYM PLEASURE 2013 -ENDLESS SUMMER- kicking off, B'z will be on Music Station for an all night B'z special. Additionally, the top B'z songs viewers want B'z to sing will be announced. The program is conducting a survey for that purpose. The band will perform four songs on the show! Three of them will be fan requests!
You can take part in the survey here: http://www.tv-asahi.co.jp/music/sec/opinion/130614.html
Click on 応募する and then fill out the form. The first input field is 曲名 (song name), the second field is 性別 (gender), so choose 男性(male) or 女性(female). The third and last input field is asking for your age. And then click the 確認する (confirm) button to submit your song! The deadline for submissions is June 14th, 2013 8PM JST.
Pre-Orders For 25th Anniversary Compilation Available, Message From B'z
B'z announced two 25th anniversary compilations this morning, which, for the first time, contain all the music videos to the singles released to date. Said releases are now available for pre-order! Be sure to reserve your copy early!
「B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998」
[2CD Version]
[2CD+DVD Version]
[2CD+DVD Version] 「B'z The Best XXV 1999-2012」
Message from B'z
Celebrating our 25th anniversary, I am grateful for all the wonderful experiences I have had and all the great views I came to see. I also feel that this is a great opportunity to look back on all the songs and videos we have produced over the course of our career. The best-of compilations also feature new songs, so it is possible to feel the change B'z music has undergone over the years since our debut. Additionally, I can still recall all the hardships during the filming for our music videos. Our idea for the 25th anniversary was to produce a product that lets you enjoy the works we have released over the years. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all the fans, who have been listening to our music and supporting us for all these years. I'll be glad if you enjoy the new best-of compilations as well as this year's Pleasure tour. Enjoy "ENDLESS SUMMER" with B'z!
Once again, I feel that being in a band for a quarter of a century is an incredible thing. This best-of compilation will feature all singles and their corresponding music videos. Additionally, you will be able to get a taste of the latest B'z songs we have been producing since last year. During these 25 years, I am sure that there are people who have been listening to our music for 25 years, or have started listening to our music from our 10th or 20th anniversary. Each era has had its own impact that made people aware of B'z and started listening to our music. From here on out, I would like to continue fulfilling fans' expectations of new songs and live tours. Also, the title for this year's tour "ENDLESS SUMMER" means "The summer with B'z will never end". I will be glad to convey that feeling with you in every venue. Celebrations for the 25th anniversary have started one more time. I look forward to seeing you.
B'z To Release Two 25th Anniversary Best-Of Compilations
At the same time, when B'z announced the schedule for their 25th anniversary tour, the band has also announced the release of two best-of compilations slated for a June 12th, 2013 release. It is a collection of all A sides of singles released by B'z to date, split into two releases: 「B'z The Best XXV 1988-1998」 and 「B'z The Best XXV 1999-2012」. What's more, the limited 2CD+DVD edition comes with a DVD that will contain the music videos for every single released to date. Additionally, each release includes two new songs, for a total of four new songs! These tracks are: HEAT, Kakushin, Q&A and Utopia!
Also, don't miss out on the newly designed Official B'z YouTube channel, which now features the music video for every single ever released!
The 2CD+DVD version will be priced at 3,500 Yen and the 2CD version will be priced at 2,800 Yen.
01. Dakara Sono Te wo Hanashite
02. Kimi no Naka de Odoritai
03. LADY-GO-ROUND
04. BE THERE
05. Taiyou no Komachi Angel
06. Easy Come, Easy Go!
07. Itoshii Hito yo Good Night…
08. LADY NAVIGATION
10. BLOWIN'
11. ZERO
12. Ai no Mama ni Wagamama ni Boku wa Kimi Dake wo Kizutsukenai
13. Hadashi no Megami
14. Don't Leave Me
15. MOTEL
16. Negai
17. love me, I love you
18. LOVE PHANTOM
19. Mienai Chikara ~INVISIBLE ONE~
21. Real Thing Shakes
23. Calling
24. Liar! Liar!
25. Samayoeru Aoi Dangan
-Brand New Tracks-
28. Kakushin
Release date: 2013.06.12
01. girigiri chop
02. Konya Tsuki no Mieru Oka ni
04. juice
05. RING
07. GOLD
08. Atsuki Kodou no Hate
09. IT'S SHOWTIME!!
10. Yasei no ENERGY
12. ARIGATO
13. Ai no Bakudan
15. Shoudou
16. Yuruginai Mono Hitotsu
17. SPLASH!
18. Eien no Tsubasa
19. SUPER LOVE SONG
20. BURN -Fumetsu no Face-
23. MY LONELY TOWN
24. Sayonara Kizu Darake no Hibi yo
25. Don't Wanna Lie
26. GO FOR IT, BABY -Kioku no Sanmyaku-
27. Q&A


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Real Hauntings
Manila's Most haunted location hides a dark tragedy!
Curses Set In Stone – The Manila Film Center
by Ruxandra Buresca
A vicious dictator with ego-maniacal issues and the people who had to suffer the consequences – this seems like the beginning of horror story but is, in fact, the historical truth when it comes to the Manila Film Center in the Philippines. An impressive building designed to look like the Greek Parthenon, the Manila Film Center was to be Cannes's main rival in 1982. Unfortunately, it never got there and, instead, turned into a tomb for 169 people.
source: theparanormalguide.com
A Dictator with Knack for Luxury & Cruelty
Back in the 80s, Imelda Marcos was the wife of the Philippines dictator, Ferdinand Marcos. She was known to the world for her extravagant lifestyle while the population struggled with poverty and famine. She would spend $40,000 on a single shopping spree and have gold pocket mirrors with her name encrusted in diamonds. At the time, she was considered to be the richest woman in the world, and she was not afraid to show it.
After traveling the Globe surrounded by celebrities, luxury, and decadence, Imelda got the idea of building the greatest film center. She wanted Manila to exceed the Cannes and, without a flinch, she approved the exorbitant (at the time) budget of $25 million for the Manila Film Center. To remain faithful to her ego-maniacal desires, she wanted the film center to look just like the Greek Parthenon. She had 4000 laborers work around the clock to finish the massive construction on time, by January 1982.
A Horrible Accident & a Heartless Decision
As one can imagine, the deadline was more than tight. It was next to impossible to finish such an ambitious project in a short amount of time. As a result, many corners were cut and on the night of 17th November, at 3 AM, tragedy struck. The upper scaffold collapsed, and all the workers that were on it fell into the wet cement. When Imelda heard about the tragedy and realized it would take a lot of time to retrieve the bodies and the workers from the hardened cement, she ordered Betty Benitez, the wife of Assistant Minister Jose Conrado Benitez, who was at the site, to just pour more cement on top of them.
source: ytimg.com
She banned the press from going near the site of the tragedy, and she also banned ambulances and medical support for 9 hours! When medical workers were, finally, allowed to enter the site, nobody was alive anymore. Some people believe that many of the workers who fell into the wet cement were buried alive.
Photo by Karl von Moller
Betty Benitez and the Ladyboy
When the Manila Film Center opened on time, movie stars from all over the world came. They were not aware, however, that under the glamorous red carpet, there was a giant tomb where 168 people had found their death. The Manila Film Center closed its doors the next year after Imelda lost the funding for her festival and decided to raise the money by featuring pornography.
As for Betty Benitez, she died in a freak accident a couple of months after the tragedy of the workers. Locals believe that was the revenge of the dead workers, but it gets creepier. After many people had complained of hearing moaning sounds and cries inside the Manila Film Center, a medium was sent there to investigate. When he entered the place, he went into a trance and said there were 169 souls there. 168 workers and Betty Benitez, the one who had condemned all of them to be buried in cement.
In our days, the Manila Film Center is used to exhibit the Amazing Show, which is one of the largest transvestite performance in all Asia. But even though its purpose has changed, its fate remains inexplicably linked to the tragedy of 1981. A couple of years ago, several taxi drivers have all reported the same bloodcurdling experience on different nights. They would see a bruised woman, with blood on her clothes, wave at the taxi and ask to be taken to a hospital. But when they'd arrive at the hospital, the back seat was empty. The writer Ken Summers investigated the happenings and found out that in 2001, a transvestite (or ladyboy in the locals' slang), was murdered in the area, and the body was dumped at the Manila Film Center.
source: http://spot.ph/
While we don't know exactly was is happening there, but something is seriously wrong. And it couldn't be otherwise since the whole building is a giant mausoleum for workers who have suffered at a tyrant's whims and have paid with their lives. So if you decide to visit the Manila Film Center, make sure that you don't go in there alone and avoid the basement – that's where the eeriest and most horrible things have happened.
About the Author: Ruxandra Burcescu
Being born in the land that gave birth to Prince Vlad Tepes (you may know him by the name of Dracula) shapes you. I grew up with myths, legends, and stories that many people believe to be true. And so do I as a matter of fact. That's why I combined my two great passions – writing and seeking the extraordinary.
I am an avid hunter of secrets and legends, and I travel to discover mysterious and fascinating places that inspire me to offer you more than articles – to provide you with the means to see through my eyes and experience goose bumps as you read about the unknown lurking in the shadows.
Besides paranormal, mysteries and legends, I also like red wine, snowflakes, and burgers. Yep, we all need our passions, so I am still seeking for the burger-man who lives in Antarctica and has a cellar full of spicy, 100-years red wine bottles. But, in the meantime, I discover exciting places filled with mystery and reveal them to you. Enjoy!
A Building Where Ancient Forces Penetrate Our Realm
Ghost hunters Investigate the Octagon house and make contact!
The Most Haunted Forest In The World
Scotland's Haunted Povanhall will give you Nightmares!
Creepy hauntings Real Haunted Houses Uncategorized
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JULIA Banks finally broke cover on Thursday last week with an "announcement" that had been rumoured for weeks: she will stand as an independent candidate for Flinders at the May federal election.
In doing so, Ms Banks will campaign against her former Liberal colleague, Greg Hunt, who has held the seat since 2001.
Adding fuel to the Flinders electoral ire, it was leaked Friday afternoon that Labor's candidate would be broadcaster and head of journalism at the Australian College of the Arts, Tracee Hutchison.
Labor sources would not confirm her candidature, but said the party's administrative committee would make an announcement Friday (February 8).
Statistically, it seems an uphill battle for Ms Banks as Mr Hunt won more than 50 per cent of the primary votes at the 2016 election.
Ms Banks says she has yet to determine where her preferences would go, but it would be a strange move to allocate them towards her main adversary, Mr Hunt.
Ms Banks – an outsider who won the former Labor stronghold of Chisholm for the Liberals at the 2016 election – believes Mr Hunt has lost support because of his role in last August's coup that saw Malcolm Turnbull lose his prime ministership.
Mr Hunt sought the deputy leadership in the failed bid led by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton to become prime minister.
Ms Banks has dubbed Mr Hunt as Mr Dutton's wingman.
A second round of voting saw Scott Morrison take the helm and keep Mr Hunt as Health Minister and Mr Dutton as Home Affairs Minister.
In November, Ms Banks renounced her Liberal credentials and moved to the crossbench, further destabilising the Morrison-led government.
On Friday last week, several of Ms Banks's former parliamentary colleagues were accusing her of betrayal and "seat shopping". It was also revealed that Malcolm Turnbull's son Alex is "involved" in her bid to oust Mr Hunt, who holds Flinders with a comfortable margin of 7.8 per cent.
It is Mr Hunt's support for Mr Dutton that Julia Banks believes will give her the votes she needs to win Flinders as well as changes in electorate boundaries and the fact that she's "not a member of any political elite".
More uncertainty about Mr Hunt's popularity with voters follows the November state election Labor landslide that saw the Liberals lose the southern peninsula seat of Nepean, which provides a large part of his support base.
However, Ms Banks says she is not underestimating the number of Mr Hunt's supporters and the Liberal Party's willingness to "put a lot of money in" to ensure his political survival.
Mr Morrison on Friday reportedly "laughed off" the threat by independents like Ms Banks while asserting that Mr Hunt had "worked like a Trojan for his community".
"People in their communities back people who've worked for their communities, worked in their communities, " Mr Morrison said.
His statement did not mention Ms Banks or why he felt the need to even make a statement.
Mr Hunt and Ms Banks (who says Mr Hunt has not spoken to her since September) have both been emphasising their "local" credentials when interviewed by the media.
Mr Hunt was born and educated on the peninsula; his children were born at the hospital where his wife had worked and now attend local schools.
Ms Banks and her husband Michael have owned a house at Red Hill for over 20 years. Her parents lived in Mornington for many years: her father until his death in 2007, and her mother until only a couple of years ago.
When announcing her departure from Liberal ranks in November, Ms Banks was scathing of "members of the [Liberals'] reactionary right wing" claiming "the coup was aided by many MPs trading their vote for a leadership change in exchange for their individual promotion".
"Their actions were undeniably for themselves, for their position in the party, their power, their personal ambition, not for the Australian people who we represent, not for what people voted for in the 2016 election, not for stability, and disregarding that teamwork and unity delivers success.
Even though she is standing as an independent, Ms Banks last Friday told The News that she still held to "centre liberal values", something the coup plotters had forsaken in the name of ambition. She frequently, and admiringly, refers to former foreign affairs minister Julie Bishop, whose political ascendency took a backward step as a result of the coup.
A former corporate lawyer and private enterprise board member, Ms Banks opposes Labor's proposed changes to dividend tax policy and negative gearing. She is critical of her former party's about-face on climate change issues.
Ms Banks is certain "traditional Liberal voters are fed up; too many politicians take people for fools".


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Could Texas abortion ban strategy be double-edged sword?
In this May 21, 2021, file photo, Amy Allen, the mother of an 8th grade transgender son, speaks after a Human Rights Campaign round table discussion on anti-transgender laws in Nashville, Tenn. The Texas abortion ban that so far has outmaneuvered Supreme Court precedent is the latest iteration of a legislative strategy used by Republican-led states to target pornography, gay rights and other hot-button cultural issues.
The unusual legal strategy used to ban most abortions in Texas is already increasingly being employed in Republican-led states to target pornography, LGBT rights and other hot-button cultural issues.
While private residents filing lawsuits is a fixture of some arenas like environmental law, some warn that expanding it and applying it to new areas could have a boomerang effect if Democrats were to use it on issues like gun control.
When Attorney General Merrick Garland announced the Department of Justice would sue over the Texas law, he said it could become a model "for action in other areas, by other states, and with respect to other constitutional rights and protections." He worried about the "damage that would be done to our society if states were allowed to implement laws and empower any private individual to infringe on another's constitutional rights."
The concept has already popped up in other states, including on issues like abortion where courts have sided against laws backed by conservatives.
In Missouri, a new law lets people sue local police departments who enforce federal gun laws. In Kansas, residents can go to court to challenge mask mandates and limits on public gatherings, and in Ohio people can sue over any action taken in response to an emergency.
It's also an enforcement mechanism on laws restricting transgender students' bathroom use in Tennessee and their sports team participation in Florida.
"These laws are deliberately engineered to avoid challenge in federal court," Jessica Clarke, a Vanderbilt University law professor who specializes in anti-discrimination law, said about the Tennessee and Florida measures.
In Utah, an anti-porn bill passed last year requiring sites to post a warning about dangers to minors. It was called a free-speech violation by adult-entertainment sites, but the possible onslaught of lawsuits convinced major sites to comply before a single person sued.
Republican Utah Rep. Brady Brammer said he modeled his bill on Proposition 65, which allows people who might have been exposed to potentially carcinogenic materials to sue and collect a kind of "bounty" if they win. Civil enforcement has long been a fixture of environmental law, with private attorneys acting as a kind of extension of stretched regulators. Court settlements with businesses often bring funding to green nonprofits.
"Republicans are weaponizing the tool that Democrats thought they owned, which was civil enforcement," Brammer said. "They're following the tactics that Democrats have used for years, for decades, and they're doing it for conservative causes."
The Texas abortion law, which lawmakers in several other states want to copy, has another unusual feature that vastly expanded the number of people who can sue. Unlike the vast majority of civil law, it doesn't require people to show they've been directly affected.
After the Supreme Court decided not to block the law, just the threat of being sued meant some abortion providers in Texas have stopped offering abortions altogether, even those before the six weeks specified.
But others point out the tactic could come back to haunt Republicans who have long sought to limit the size of court settlements in things like medical malpractice cases.
If a wide-ranging civil-enforcement tactic were applied to gun control, for example, it could allow people to sue gun sellers if the weapon was used to hurt someone, said Texas attorney Michelle Simpson Tuegel, who sued to block the abortion law.
"This law in Texas is a double-edged sword for Republicans," she said. "It's potentially really dangerous for them to be pushing something like this forward with other issues that could be turned on them in a similar way."
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SoulCycle fans will soon have a new way to treat their bodies and spirits after a long, hard ride.
SoulCycle's senior master, Stacey Griffith, plans to venture into beauty and it makes perfect sense. The fitness brand has tons of celebrity fans and several apparel lines for both working out and chilling, and this line will fit in perfectly.
SoulCyclists go HARD, and Stacey's forthcoming bath collection will be an excellent way to relax those sore buns and guns after rocking it out on the bike for an hour. The collection includes a muscle soak, bath gel, bath oil, and candles.
The bath collection will probably smell better than your sweaty post-class clothes.
"I made her the very first spiritual bath kit with Brunello Cucinelli hand towels, a bath gel I created with a company called Mixture, Epsom salts, magnesium, caramels from a CBDG gift box, incense from India, and holy water from the mission in Carmel [San Carlos Borroméo de Carmelo Mission]"
"I handwrote a note to Oprah, saying, 'Here's how you do a spiritual bath.' When she got this spiritual bath box, she was so moved, because what do you get for Oprah?....I knew she liked taking baths. She left me the sweetest message on my voicemail and I'll save it forever."
Stacey knows that water is restorative and spiritual.
Keep an eye on Stacy's Instagram for more info as it becomes available.
A previous version of this article stated that Stacy's line was part of the SoulCycle brand. We apologize for this error.


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Reading: Avantor Donates Infrared Thermometers and Surgical/N95 Masks to Students as Government Schools Open in India
Avantor Donates Infrared Thermometers and Surgical/N95 Masks to Students as Government Schools Open in India
By Editor Desk Published March 24, 2021
Avantor, Inc. (NYSE: AVTR), a leading global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the life sciences, advanced technologies and applied materials industries, is setting science in motion to create a world better world by giving back to communities across the globe. Avantor is donating 300 infrared thermometers, and 90,000 surgical and N95 masks to help protect students of over 250 government schools across Mumbai, Delhi/NCR and Jammu through the American India Foundation.
L to R: Dr. Ashok Kr. Gaur, Principal, Government Co-Ed. Secondary School, I.P. Extension, Patparganj, Delhi and Mr. Devashish Ohri, Executive Vice President – Indian Subcontinent, Middle East & Africa (IMEA), Avantor
"The COVID-19 pandemic impacted over 320 million students as government schools were closed. Now as these schools across the country start welcoming the students back, infrared thermometers and surgical/N95 masks will assist the school administrators to monitor the safe return of students to schools," said Devashish Ohri, Executive Vice President, IMEA, Avantor at the ceremonial handover held at the Government Co-Ed. Secondary School, Patparganj, Delhi.
Temperature checking being done for students by school officials
In efforts to promote safety and protection during COVID-19, Avantor has donated thermometers and more than 1.5 million surgical masks to organizations across the globe. In India, working closely with The American India Foundation (AIF), Avantor is targeting the distribution of 300 infrared thermometers and 90,000 surgical and N95 masks over the course of the next couple of weeks.
Elaborating on the roll out of the program, Mr. Ohri, added, "The schools have been shortlisted based on the need and urgency of providing safe spaces for children to return to school. Around 85 schools in Mumbai, 100 schools in Jammu and 66 schools in Delhi will receive Avantor's support."
AIF's Country Director Mathew Joseph said, "Students are eager to return to school where they find stability in learning outcomes, as well as emotional security by bonding with their friends. In such circumstances, the support system needs to ensure that children return to school in a safe environment, and we are grateful to Avantor for their generous gesture. Through our education programs, AIF is building back a better normal for school children."
Avantor Foundation supports healthcare and STEM education and has donated nearly $4.8 million and awarded more than 500 grants since 2009.
Learn more about Avantor's community engagement.
About Avantor
Avantor, a Fortune 500 company, is a leading global provider of mission-critical products and services to customers in the biopharma, healthcare, education & government, and advanced technologies & applied materials industries. Our portfolio is used in virtually every stage of the most important research, development, and production activities in the industries we serve. One of our greatest strengths comes from having a global infrastructure that is strategically located to support the needs of our customers. Our global footprint enables us to serve more than 225,000 customer locations and gives us extensive access to research laboratories and scientists in more than 180 countries. We set science in motion to create a better world.
For more information, please visit avantorsciences.com and find us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
Editor Desk March 24, 2021
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Main — Main — 27 January 2017, 13:05
Canada gives ten ambulances to Ukraine
Half of vehicles are to go to Kharkiv.
On 27 January at Kyiv's St. Michael's Square, the International Charitable Foundation Caritas Ukraine together with the Embassy of Canada and the Ukrainian-Canadian Congress handed ten ambulances over to the representatives of medical institutions of various regions of Ukraine.
"These vehicles are custom-made by the manufacturer to transport the victims. Their design and structural features include the softness of suspension. These are real ambulances, as opposed to those that are being used in our country, because our ambulances are in fact converted trucks," first aid instructor Oleh Kartavyy told an LB.ua reporter.
Photo: Photo: Max Trebukhov
The vehicles are equipped with stretchers, boards, splints frames, cervical collars. They have automatic external defibrillators. Two ambulances equipped with boxes for transporting children will be sent to the Institute of General and Emergency Surgery in Kharkiv,
Subsequently, three ambulances will be sent to medical facilities in Luhansk Region, one to Ternopil and Chernivtsi each. The rest will work in Kharkiv Region.
The handover of ambulances was dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Canadian-Ukrainian diplomatic relations.
The Ministry of Health have earlier announced plans to launch first-aid training programs for firemen, police officers and emergency workers.
Темы: health, Canada, humanitarian aid
Scoop of the day: Pro-presidential MP faces probe, Riffmaster to stay in custody
Scoop of the weekend: Ship with Ukrainians sinks near Turkey
Health minister complains about growing police pressure
The acting Minister of Health Ulana Suprun says that police authorities put pressure on the ministry after the transfer of medical procurement to international organizations. "On… 16:58
Premier says Lviv spent 100m to drive waste away
The Lviv authorities have spent about 100m hryvnyas to send its waste to other regions, Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has said. He is in the city for a regional commission on… 15:54
Ashes of Oleksandr Oles brought to Kyiv
The urn with the ashes of Ukrainian writer Oleksandr Oles and his wife was brought to Kyiv on Friday, Interfax-Ukraine reported with a reference to foreign ministry. Later in the day… 12:43
Reporter spots freight trains heading to occupied Donbas
An LB.ua reporter has spotted freight trains that headed to the occupied territories of Donetsk Region. In particular, on January 25 in the area of Verhnyotoretske the reporter took… 11:43
Regulator shuts Fortuna bank
The National Bank of Ukraine on January 26 declared Kyiv-based Fortuna-bank as insolvent. The NBU said in a release Friday that the bank proved unable to provide a positive value of… 11:22
Two troops killed in Donbas on Thursday
Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed over the past day, 26 January, in the zone of military operations in Donbas. ATO headquarters reported 63 cases of shelling by the Russian-occupation… 10:35
Ukrainian premier pledges support for real economy
Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman has pledged full support for major domestic manufacturers and promised to protect them from the pressure of tax authorities, the National Bank of… 18:00
Ukraine expects four IMF tranches, two from EU in 2017
Ukraine is looking forward to receiving four tranches under the IMF loan programme and two tranches in the framework of the macro-financial assistance programme from the European… 15:56
Interior Ministry explains coming changes to driving licenses
The Interior Ministry is working on a bill to reduce the period of validity of a driver's license, but the new rules will only apply to new licenses. The ministry's main service centre… 15:30
Ukraine gets foreign military aid worth 3bn hryvnyas since 2014
Over the past three years, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have received foreign logistical and humanitarian assistance worth about 3bn hryvnyas, the Defence Ministry has told Tyzhden.UA… 13:27
Businessman killed, his guards wounded in Dnipro
On the evening of 25 January, unidentified individuals fired over 30 bullets from an assault rifle at a car of a local security firm and fled the scene. The city police said two security… 13:04
Suspect reportedly beaten to death in Kyiv jail
A man detained for theft died in a Kyiv hospital, a police source told LB.ua on 26 January. "On 20 January, a 31-year old resident of Prylutske, Volyn Region was found unconscious… 12:43
Another Crimean Tatar lawyer detained by Russian FSB
In Russia-occupied Bakhchysaray, the officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) detained Emil Kurbedinov, who is a lawyer of several defendants in the case of Hizb ut-Tahrir… 11:36
ATO HQ reports 48 militant attacks on 25 Jan
Over the past day, Russia-backed militants waged 48 attacks at the positions of government troops in the zone of the antiterrorist operation in Donbas region in all sectors of the… 11:18
Infrastructure minister says not to resign despite conflicts
Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan has said that he is not going to resign despite the protracted public conflict around the national railway company Ukrzaliznytsya and the… 10:16
NAFTA 2.0. How will Trump's new deal help his election bid?
The deal had unique bipartisan support and was welcomed by large corporations and trade unions
Mariya Yeshchenko
$500 million on Covid, vaccine race and Crimea issue - results of the Paris Peace Forum
Will developed countries help their "third world" neighbours?


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News: Therapixel Selects VAST for Deep Learning learn more
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VAST Data Cements Status as One of the Most Successful Enterprise Software Companies In Modern History After Third Consecutive Record-Breaking Year
— Exiting its third year with a bookings run rate of nearly $300 million at 90% gross margin, 3.8x YoY
— Cash-flow positive since the last funding round, powered by a $1.2 million average selling price
— Net Revenue Retention (NRR) of over 300%; recommended by 100% of customers surveyed
— VAST is rapidly becoming the data foundation for a $400 billion AI Data Platform opportunity
NEW YORK – March 2, 2022 – VAST Data, the data platform company for the AI-powered world, today unveiled its massive global growth during FY2022 (ending January 31, 2022). During this period, VAST saw unprecedented customer adoption and diversification, financial performance, and international expansion. VAST Data Universal Storage software is now entrusted by customers to manage and process over three exabytes of information globally.
In just its third year of selling, VAST grew 3.8x year over year (YoY), closing out the year at a nearly $300 million software bookings run rate. VAST Data ended its year cash flow positive, only adding to its cash balance since its Series D funding was announced in April of 2021.
Key success metrics and business strategies that supported VAST's hyper-growth in FY22 include:
Unparalleled Customer Growth. VAST more than doubled its customer roster YoY expanding across industries including autonomous driving, life sciences, media and entertainment, financial trading and government institutions with increasing demand in new market segments. On average, VAST's software manages around 12 petabytes (PBs) per customer, with the company's largest customer having already selected VAST software to manage more than 240PBs of data.
Predictable and Scalable Business. Customers continue to love and scale their VAST investments. Net revenue retention (NRR) exceeded 300% during FY22, demonstrating massive data growth and confidence in Universal Storage from existing VAST customers.
Universal Storage is Universally Loved. VAST Data received extremely high marks as noted through the Gartner Peer Insights anonymous customer review program. VAST customers have exhibited the highest recommender rating, with 100% of the organizations submitting reviews saying they would recommend Universal Storage.
Worldwide Expansion. VAST expanded operations across five continents, building out new teams in the U.K., France, Germany, Israel, Turkey, Czech Republic, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand, and Korea. FY23 will see additional expansion in the Benelux region, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Nordics and Japan. Additionally, the company nearly doubled headcount from the previous year, and expects to continue this growth trajectory during its FY23.
A Seamless Software Offering. In April 2021, VAST changed the industry with its Gemini offering, a new business model that combines the commercial advantages of software with the simple appliance experience customers love, aligning VAST's operating objectives with the needs of its customers. The adoption of the Gemini model across VAST customers has been both rapid and comprehensive, resulting in strong annual recurring revenue (ARR) and a business model built on software gross margins.
Disrupting Legacy Strongholds, Accelerating New Discoveries. Over the past year, customers turned to VAST's Universal Storage platform to help solve their strategic data challenges. For AI, VAST is working with companies like NVIDIA to make the shift from experimental to production AI in the enterprise. For data protection, VAST is bucking the traditional model of purpose-built backup appliances, working with partners like Commvault, to bring rapid backups and fast restores for instant data recovery in the event of a ransomware attack, disaster or rogue employee. And for data analytics, customers like Agoda (a Booking Holdings subsidiary), selected VAST as the data science backbone for its big data and machine learning environment.
In looking at the recent history of start-up companies across the enterprise data stack, VAST far outpaces the time horizon to $300 million annual run rate. VAST Data was able to reach this key software-only milestone in just three years of selling, whereas many of today's most successful software and SaaS companies have needed up to a decade to achieve a similar milestone. Read this blog post by VAST Data's Jeff Denworth for a deeper analysis.
"It's not hyperbolic to say that data means everything," said VAST Data founder and CEO Renen Hallak. "From groundbreaking medical research to award-winning cinematic experiences, VAST's customers are working to expand the boundaries of what's possible in various aspects of our daily lives. Our singular goal is to empower AI-driven innovation with accessible, infinitely scalable data intelligence. What we've accomplished in just a few years' time is incredible — and we're just getting started."
AI continues to be driving the need for new high-performance data platforms that can easily scale as organizations' data demands grow. This significant growth comes as ARK Invest and others predict that the market capitalization of AI software and hardware companies could scale at a roughly 50 percent annualized rate, hitting $87 trillion by 2030. Of that, the data platforms that power AI are predicted to represent a $400 billion market over the next decade.
With its Universal Storage platform, VAST has created a next generation all-flash data platform that addresses the challenges and compromises of scale, performance, efficiency and cost, to better meet the demands of today's data-deluged and AI-powered enterprises in a new era of machine intelligence. Maintaining consistent application uptime and integrity is equally important to realizing the key feature benefits of Universal Storage. The company surpassed an impressive milestone over the past year, reaching 99.9999 percent data availability across the entire install base. Read this blog post to learn more about VAST's impressive Rule of Nines achievement with its Universal Storage platform.
Quotes from Around the Industry
Visit the VAST website for commentary about how VAST Data helps customers from around the world solve their data challenges.
"The way organizations interact with data has morphed tremendously over the past two decades, and legacy solutions are no longer compatible with modern needs," said Tom Mendoza, current VAST Data Board Member and former President and Vice Chairman at NetApp. "By simplifying data architecture and eliminating the need to choose between performance and cost, VAST has raised the bar for this industry."
"Only a few enterprise storage vendors have started with a blank sheet of paper to create a software-defined storage architecture optimized for hyperscale data storage and computing technologies, and VAST Data is far and away the most successful of these vendors," said Eric Burgener, research vice president, Infrastructure Systems Group at IDC. "Its continued revenue growth rates make a compelling argument that this is the storage architecture of the digitally transformed future."
"VAST Data has quickly established itself as a standout in the crowded data infrastructure market, charting a unique path to becoming one of the leading data platform companies for the AI future," said Daniel Newman, principal analyst and founding partner at Futurum Research.
For additional insights about the company:
Watch a newly released interview featuring VAST's founder and CEO, Renen Hallak, appearing on Nasdaq's Innovators with Jane King.
Read Moor Insights & Strategy business profile on VAST that explores the company's success over the past year and opportunities in the years to come.
About VAST DataVAST Data delivers the data platform at the heart of the AI-powered world, accelerating time-to-insight for workload-intensive applications. The performance, scalability, ease of use and cost efficiencies of VAST's software helps enterprise organizations overcome the historic barriers to building all-flash data centers. Launched in 2019, VAST is the fastest-selling data infrastructure startup in history. For more information,
please visit https://vastdata.com and follow VAST Data on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Media ContactKirstin Bordner
press@vastdata.com
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As Drag Becomes More Popular Than Ever, Drag Kings Refuse to Be Ignored
Illustration: Chelsea Beck
Hazel Cills
From the front of Bushwick's tiny Bizarre bar, the first piano notes of Céline Dion's "It's All Coming Back to Me Now" begin to play. The Missy Elliott that was just coming from the speakers has died down, as well as the chatter of young people around the bar ordering absinthe cocktails and burgers. The crowd here tonight, eagerly waiting to see the venue's drag king performance show BEEF, is practically spilling out into the cold, rain-slicked street.
Drag king Lee VaLone, in a bulky coat and a long, blonde wig peeking out from a black felt hat, steps onto the spotlit stage, looking like an old-timey chimney sweeper. And to a cheering crowd, he lip-syncs along with Dion, running his fingers through the wig's platinum strands, slowly tearing off pieces from his ensemble as the song's momentum builds.
But the wig grows longer, and more voluminous, as VaLone twirls on stage. Suddenly, it's absolutely massive. And as the song hits its last explosive chorus, VaLone tears off the untamed wig to reveal his short, natural mohawk underneath. He runs his fingers through it while flipping a middle finger to the now crumpled pile of hair on the floor, right as Dion sings of "the flesh and the fantasy" all coming back to her now.
I call it a drag king show, but really it's just a critique of masculinity and how we can mess with it
Flesh and fantasy—the reimagining and interrogation of it—is BEEF's bread and butter. Across the night, performers presented wildly different interpretations of male drag. There was Maxxx Pleasure, wearing tight, striped pants and a furry white coat Keith Richards might envy; he rocked out to Foxy Shazam's "The Only Way To My Heart Is With An Axe," at one point tearing his teeth into a bouquet of red roses and spitting it into the audience. There was Dorian Gaye as a cowboy type, line-dancing across the stage to a Garth Brooks mash-up. And Vic Sin who, in an oversized power blazer and teetering white platforms, performed a pitch-perfect, quivering rendition of the Talking Heads' "Psycho Killer," ripping off the blazer to reveal neon-pink painted nipples.
"I call it a drag king show, but really it's just a critique of masculinity and how we can mess with it," VaLone, 30, says over drinks at Bizarre a few days after the show. A gregarious presence, VaLone, who works as a nanny by day and has a background in teaching, has been doing drag for three years and running BEEF for two. He is also a member of the House of Velour, RuPaul's Drag Race Season 9 winner Sasha Velour's drag house. "Masculinity can be just as broad and exciting and glamorous as femininity, but we don't talk about it that much because it's seen as taboo and othering," VaLone adds.
Performances of masculinity aren't privileged the same way performances of femininity are
When it comes to mainstream conceptions of drag, most undoubtedly think of larger-than-life performances of femininity. There are the legacies of drag queens and artists like Divine, Lady Bunny, and RuPaul, to name just a few. Queens perform at large venues and on world tours, if they have the following to do so. And in recent years, largely due to the commercial success of RuPaul's Logo-turned-Vh1 reality competition show RuPaul's Drag Race, drag has become perhaps more mainstream and visible than ever.
But while articles on the subject tend to float the idea that performers are living in a golden age for drag, kings still perform on the fringes of mainstream pop culture. Even though the medium has existed, in different forms, for decades, performances of masculinity aren't privileged the same way performances of femininity are. While it's common to find all-queen showcases in cities across the country, all-king showcases are still a rarity.
"I meet so many people who don't understand the draw of being a drag king, but then also on the other hand I meet people who are like: you're the first drag king I've ever seen, this is crazy, this is so cool," Maxxx Pleasure, 25, says. "I don't think people have really been exposed to drag kings."
Complicating things further, kings are still fighting for recognition not just from audiences beyond the LGBTQ community, but audiences within it. "We certainly have a lot more legwork to do in terms of telling people that we exist and what we are, just because we don't have a reality TV show that already tells people that," says Goldie Peacock, 32, a Brooklyn drag performer who also teaches drag king workshops. But as drag continues to find a broader audience, representations of what drag can be, and what performances of masculinity can look like, are also expanding. Hustling in every small space they can get, drag kings have refused—and continue to refuse—to be ignored.
The official history of drag kings is a fairly recent one, which ultimately comes down to the lines between lived gender expression, male impersonation, and king performances. Jack Halberstam, professor of American Studies and Ethnicity, Gender Studies, and Comparative Literature at the University of Southern California, writes in his 1998 book Female Masculinity:
Male impersonation has been a theatrical genre for at least two hundred years, but the drag king is a recent phenomenon. Whereas the male impersonator attempts to produce a plausible performance of maleness as the whole of her act, the drag king performs masculinity (often parodically) and makes the exposure of the theatricality of masculinity into the mainstay of her act. Both the male impersonator and the drag king are different from the drag butch, a masculine woman who wears male attire as part of her quotidian gender expression.
"If we go back to the early part of the 20th century there were lots of kings around, but I think that word meant something very different. In those moments or even in that literature, it seems that a king was something akin to what we would call butch," says Bobby Noble, 58, associate professor of gender studies for York University and co-author of the 2002 Drag King Anthology. "Someone who lived masculinity but didn't perform it on a stage. Drag queens and drag king performances are those that are on a stage and meant to be over the top."
There were singers, like Vesta Tilley and Annie Hindle, who performed as male impersonators in the late 19th century, mocking how vain and womanizing men could be through their acts. Stormé DeLarverie, who is widely credited as throwing the first punch at the Stonewall riots, performed as a male impersonator in the 1950s and 1960s as part of the traveling Jewel Box Revue. And drag kings are quick to cite the influence of popular comedians who critiqued masculinity in the 1970s and '80s, like Tracey Ullman, who has performed a variety of male characters including flight attendant Trevor Ayliss, and Lily Tomlin, who performed in drag as characters like "Vegas lounge lizard" Tommy Velour and R&B singer Pervis Hawkins.
But specifically drag king performance rose in the 1990s, coming to prominence in tandem with the birth of contemporary queer theory. Theorists like Halberstam, Judith Butler, and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick began to complicate and expand studies of gay and lesbian culture, not just within academia, outlining how performative and fluid gender can be, in ways that feel established today, when more people are aware of what it means to be genderqueer.
"We talked a lot about the fact that we didn't have a RuPaul,"
"We recognized that we were new, a very young group and young movement," says Mo Fischer, 52, formerly known as the drag king Mo B. Dick. Fischer first started performing in 1995 after seeing some shows and coming across an article about the San Francisco drag scene. She didn't think she could be a drag king herself until she read the article. "In the article there was a bisexual woman—secretary by day, drag king by night—and the transformation before and after was really astounding," she says. "I thought, oh my god, anybody can do this. You don't have to be a lesbian, you don't have to be butch."
Fischer would go on to appear in documentaries about burgeoning drag king culture like the 2000 documentary Venus Boyz and an MTV mini-documentary on drag kings, as well as having a cameo in John Waters' 1998 film Pecker. She eventually created Club Casanova, a weekly drag king party in New York City where kings were doing everything from go-go dancing to taking tickets at the door. She wanted kings to have their own nights, but she was also motivated by hearing too many people say they had never seen a good drag king. "I was like, I'm an Aries and I love a good challenge," Fischer says. "This is gasoline on my fire."
Photo: Mo. B Dick by Pat Rivera
During this era, drag king culture began to grow in visibility—but also, and perhaps more importantly, grew as a community. Drag king contests began to pop up in the early 1990s in cities like San Francisco and Philadelphia. The late performance artist Diane Torr began hosting "Man For A Day" drag king workshops across the country. Jack Halberstam and photographer Del LaGrace Volcano published The Drag King Book, a collection of Volcano's photos of drag kings and accompanying interviews. The creation in 1999 of Columbus, Ohio's International Drag King Community Extravaganza (IDKE), a three-day event, solidified for many kings that what they were doing had a far longer reach than the clubs where they performed.
"We felt like there was a resurgence of drag king culture in the 1990s and we wanted to shape that community in a way that was built on collaboration and community, not on competition," says Julia Applegate, 47, co-founder of the IDKE and a former drag king. While a grad student in Columbus, Applegate says there weren't a lot of nightlife activities in the city's lesbian community at the time. She and a few friends got together to create a drag night at a local bar, advertising through flyers and word-of-mouth.
"We had 250 people in a bar on a Friday night that would normally have 14 people sitting in it," Applegate says. The night evolved into Applegate and her friends forming a troupe, H.I.S. Kings, and it grew from there. By 1999 the city was hosting the IDKE, pulling together performers from across the world for performances and conferences on drag.
"At least half of us were in the women's studies department, and that was at the height of identity politics," says IDKE co-founder Sile Singleton, 56, who performed both as the drag queen Lustivious Dela Virgion and the drag king Luster Dela V. "We did a lot of talking about what we were presenting and how were we presenting and in our minds we were very much trying to show a deeper aspect to masculinity."
Drag kings have always been trying to prove that performing masculinity can be just as captivating, intensely costumed, and fun as larger than life performances of femininity, which, while varied, can be easier to identify. "There have always been the Judy Garlands, the Barbra Streisands, the Whitney Houstons, the-over-the-top performances," Noble says. "Successful performances of masculinity, at least in terms of the narratives of masculinity, you're not supposed to be big you're supposed to be the quiet and understated, strong silent type. It's difficult to think about dragging that type."
"I really liked this idea of helping each other get better and not only get better on stage but helping each other feel better as people," says drag king Ken Vegas, 44, who says the culture of IDKE in part inspired his drag troupe DC Kings, which he began in 2000 in Washington, D.C.. "I think with being genderqueer and having the interest in performing male drag, [for] some people it was a gateway for transitioning. There was something about it that they didn't have the language for, and by performing it as a drag king got them to understand something more about themselves."
There was a groundbreaking drag king boom in 1990s, with performers, artists, and writers coming together to witness and expand this new movement of creativity. There were photography exhibits and festivals, books and documentaries. But while kings were getting press here and there for their work, kings still weren't receiving the attention of mainstream pop culture.
"We talked a lot about the fact that we didn't have a RuPaul," Applegate says. "I think there were moments where mainstream culture took an interest in drag kings but they were isolated and not consistent. It was this thing of there's going to be a drag king on Sex and the City, there was a drag king in The L Word for a short moment. And even in that show, that was supposed to be reflecting lesbian culture, they didn't get it right. They didn't reflect back what drag culture was really like."
By 2010, after the conference moved around to different cities, the International Drag King Community Extravaganza had shuttered. Vegas's drag troupe DC Kings disbanded in 2015. Many kings who came up in the 1990s note that some performers eventually transitioned and basically retired from drag. "Often times they start looking at it as a farce," Singleton says.
But while there may have been a perceived dip in the thriving drag king culture of the 1990s (people have been asking where are all the drag kings for years, after all), drag king performances have far from disappeared. In Brooklyn, at shows like BEEF and Switch n' Play, drag kings fuck with gender norms frequently on stage. San Francisco's drag king scene is thriving, too, and drag king conventions like the Austin International Drag Festival's Kingfest and Columbus, Ohio's King Con now exist. Online, in Facebook groups and on Instagram, drag kings follow the work of their peers in cities across the world, replacing the '90s festival-based community with something more expansive on social media. Mo Fischer and Ken Vegas, along with Toronto drag king Flare, are starting a new forthcoming website called Drag King History, intended to shine a spotlight on the history of male drag.
It's surprising how many people, even in the queer community, aren't willing to understand masculinity as something that is also constructed
Despite the excitement around drag king culture, it still pales in comparison to the wide attention given to queens. And the reasons why have little to do with the talent and craft of drag kings and more to do with the space they're afforded in LGBTQ nightlife and culture. "Femininity is stereotypically very performative. It's about being looked at. With masculinity people don't have those same ideas," says Maxxx Pleasure. "Masculinity isn't about being looked at so [it's] interesting to find a way to portray a masculine man while still being performative and something to look at."
Performing femininity is arguably seen as more exciting than masculinity, in large part because people can't conceptualize masculinity as being a performance. When we think of what it means to present as stereotypically feminine, there can often be a lot of accoutrements; big long hair, bold makeup, high-heels, etc. But masculinity is largely seen as being innate or neutral. Lee VaLone uses the example of doctors, who are still culturally coded as men. "Whenever we see a doctor who is a woman, we call her a lady doctor," VaLone says. Similarly, he says, we think of nurses as women, so nurses who are men become "male nurses."
"It's surprising how many people, even in the queer community, aren't willing to understand masculinity as something that is also constructed," writes K.James, a drag king performer with the Brooklyn group Switch n' Play, in an email to Jezebel. "But because of the power and privilege associated with masculinity, it is especially important to deconstruct and challenge it."
Photo: K.James by James A Ridley
Florida drag king Spikey Van Dykey, 35, has a similar interpretation. "We are shedding light on our perspective and interpretation of the male persona that might not make others comfortable, but art is not meant to make others comfortable," he says via email. "It makes a lot of men uneasy when their wife or girlfriend is at a show, and they want to take the drag king home."
Some kings argue that the idea of a man or a masculine-appearing person performing feminine drag is more fetishized by wider audiences than a woman or feminine-appearing person performing male drag. And a disinterest in drag kings often comes down to pure sexism. "Lesbian identities have always been sidelined...we've always slid under the radar," Julia Applegate says. "I don't think people are as interested in what women do, period. I don't think we're as interesting to people because we're not as valued."
But the spectrum of drag king performance is remarkably vast, and sometimes kings' conceptions of masculinity exist in direct conflict with one another. Older kings often seek to perform and critique the sleazier, more aggressive aspects of masculinity, but younger kings speak of wanting to present something softer and sensitive to the audience, performances that push back on stereotypes of what LGBTQ and feminist audiences think of when they think of (typically toxic) masculinity.
"There are some performances that I think are really great and interesting and then there are other ones where I think, oh, you're taking on this macho kind of performance and getting to assert power in a way and not be respectful of people's boundaries in the audience and touching people," says Dorian Gaye, 27. "That's not a great performance of masculinity."
"Some kids today who say, oh I'm not doing toxic masculinity, and it's like, why?" Fischer counters, comparing Mo B. Dick's outspokenness to Donald Trump. "It seems like the ones who are getting recognition are putting restrictions on it and it's like no, no, no. When I was doing it, it was like anybody who wanted to try it got an A-plus for effort."
Some kings, like Sile Singleton, have clear ideas about drag realness. "Realness" is a term harkening back to drag ball culture in which contestants were judged on their ability to pass as the sexual identity or gender they were performing. "When we did H.I.S. kings, all of our kings were male impersonators. Very rarely did people reveal their breasts," she says. "Our slogan was, we're the best looking boys who just happen to be girls, but you only knew that from our slogan, you didn't know it from anything else."
"I felt like I was doing my job at the end if people were saying, are you a man or a woman?" Singleton adds.
But the spectrum of what male drag is has grown and expanded with time. Whereas judging kings (and queens) on realness was a large part of 1980s ball culture, and is still a large part of the drag pageant circuit which caters to male impersonators and illusionists specifically, many young drag kings have different ideas of what constitutes performing masculinity in 2018. Gender is more fluid today in every day life and so it's naturally becoming more fluid in drag.
Kings now incorporate glitter makeup and long wigs as they please. Some bind, pack, and meticulously craft their own facial hair, but there are plenty of those who don't. And for many kings, performing in drag allows themselves to express a part of the gender identity that they don't necessarily perform in real life; their drag identity isn't something they wipe off completely at the end of the night.
"A king is a performance artist," says Landon Cider, 37, a drag king who has been performing for roughly nine years as a regular at Hamburger Mary's in Long Beach. "And as a performance artist, and in art in general, there aren't any rules."
But Cider does admit that in order for kings to get on track to having the most financially successful and visible career that they can have, they need to do "everything the successful queens do."
"They need to create a brand for themselves, they need to do all of that hard work for years of not getting paid, they need to do head-to-toe illusions including hair and headpieces or wigs, full faces of makeup, they need to have costuming that is either made or made for them," he says.
Even though kings have proven that their performances can be just as intensive and theatrical as queens, they have long faced another obstacle: finding spaces where they could to actually perform. But this dilemma has also shifted depending on the era. For kings coming up in the early 1990s, it could be difficult even for some performers to get booked at women-only spaces and lesbian bars.
"The lesbian community supported Club Casanova but it was the younger, crunchier lesbians that did, not the old-school ones," Fischer says, who explains that a few lesbian bars turned her down when she was first shopping the show around in New York City. "[They rejected] any type of maleness, whether it was toxic masculinity or not. [The idea was] why would you taint a lesbian environment with any bit of maleness?"
A king is a performance artist. And as a performance artist, and in art in general, there aren't any rules.
But while many drag king nights came up through lesbian nightlife, those same bars and clubs have largely disappeared across the country. "What we're losing are places that young, shy, queer kids in new cities can go to, knowing they'll be surrounded, maybe for the first time, by people like them," wrote Krista Burton in a New York Times op-ed titled "I Want My Lesbian Bars Back." In 2015 there were 53 LGBTQ bars alone in New York City, compared to 86 in 1985. And the noted disappearance, in many cities, comes from a combination of gentrification and a lack of finances.
"Financial access for queer-identified women and the trans community is not there," says Alana Integlia, co-founder of the New York group Queer Visibility, which hosts a "Dyke Bar Walking Tour" of the city's long-gone lesbian bars. "Unfortunately it's not that queer identified people don't want to go these spaces, it's that the space is not accessible and the space that does exist is cramped."
LGBTQ nightlife is still arguably centered around gay men. And in the place of bars that cater specifically to gay women are spaces that are generally less binary-oriented, Dorian Gaye says. "If it's like, here's a gay bar, here's a lesbian bar, and if you don't identify as either female or male, lesbian or gay, those places are going to be alienating to anyone, even if you're a part of the LGBTQ."
While drag kings perform at drag festivals across the world and frequently alongside queens, one place they're not performing is on RuPaul's Drag Race. Making a living as a drag performer, whatever drag you perform, can be nearly impossible. Most of the kings interviewed for this piece work day jobs, whether in or outside of the arts, and do not rely on drag as their primary source of income. The more visible performers who tour and travel for events, like Spikey Van Dykey and Landon Cider, say that drag is their primary source of income. But as a queen, competing on Drag Race can result in an unprecedented kind of exposure; even if you don't get the crown, it bolsters your visibility, your social media following, and thus your ability to tour and make even more money than you would at the local venues in your town.
But the question remains: do kings even want their own Drag Race?
In 2016, RuPaul gave a wide-ranging interview to The Advocate. One of the questions the reporter, Daniel Reynolds, asked RuPaul was whether viewers would ever see cisgendered women perform drag on the show.
"The idea of drag and why drag resonates so much in our male-dominated culture is there is irony in a man dressing up in the synthetic version of being a female," RuPaul responded. "It has power because we're not only mocking the synthetic version of a female, we're also mocking this revered idea of what masculinity is, because we're men... If a female were to do drag, it loses the irony."
It was unclear if in his answer RuPaul was referring to drag kings or bio-queens (also known as faux queens), which are cis women who perform female drag. And he recently told The Guardian that queens who had begun or received surgery to transition would probably not be accepted on drag race. But when asked by The Advocate if we would be seeing kings on the show in the future, RuPaul responded: "Maybe on another show, but if you mix it up it's like trying to make a Mac computer compatible with a PC. It's a different animal. It doesn't mean one is better than the other, but they don't really mix."
Photo: Landon Cider
The answer was enough to make Landon Cider write an op-ed response for The Advocate, arguing that kings should get to perform on Drag Race. "I refuse to believe Ru meant to offend my brothers who have worked so hard to be treated equally in the drag community," he wrote. "But I do invite him to consider that a king has yet to be cast, because he simply thinks he has yet to find a king ready for the challenge."
Cider says he has auditioned for Drag Race three times. "I wanted to be on the show to exemplify that a king can be seen, share that platform, and can earn the respect and entertain an audience at the level of that platform," he says. But Cider, who prefaces his comments by stating that he still has the utmost respect for RuPaul and the show, stopped auditioning after hearing his comments. "I just kept thinking I wasn't getting cast on the show not because of what was in between my legs, but because they didn't feel I was ready."
While most of the kings interviewed for this piece say they have been supported by many queens they work with, the idea that drag queens and kings just don't mix is a mindset that can permeate, in subtle ways, throughout the drag community.
VaLone recounts a story of when he and another king were at a drag convention. "As soon as we walked in to the dressing room, queens started asking us for help, asking us for things like, would you mind zipping me up, would you mind asking so and so about this, can you hand me that I can't bend over in my heels," VaLone says. "They see us as there to help them."
Ken Vegas recalls getting "measured up" by a D.C. queen after squeezing himself into a men's suit for a show. "I definitely have a butt and some thighs... I definitely looked like a woman in a suit," he says. At the show a drag queen criticized Vegas, asking why he didn't do more of an illusion. "I looked at that as an important pivotal point for me. Here was another example of a man trying to tell a woman what to do and how they should behave. I said fuck that shit."
"There's this weird thing that happens where queens will often try to dispel the myth or the illusion of a drag king," Singleton says. "Now if you were to say to a drag queen, 'he' or 'him,' you'd probably get knocked off the stage. But they will do that to kings time and time again and then be like oh, honey I'm sorry, or [say] oh, isn't he such a little man."
But there are plenty of queens who do respect drag kings' craft. Sasha Velour, who accepted her Drag Race crown last season with a rallying cry to "change shit up," has been particularly supportive of drag kings, often booking them for her shows in Brooklyn. And fellow Season 9 contestant Peppermint, who came out as trans while competing on Drag Race, told Gay Star News that she supports kings who want to go on the show. "Gay men don't own gender and genderfuck and playing with rules. Humans do. Everyone has a right to it," she said.
Drag kings have to be the best of the best of the best in order to get a fraction of the recognition that a drag queen does.
For Vincent Von Dyke, 33, a Drag Race for kings is more than a dream but a reality. The Tucson, Arizona-based drag king is the creator of the Youtube series King Me: Rise of a Drag King, an online king competition. The show, now in its second season, is extremely DIY: the weekly challenges (which have ranged from "best animal look" to impersonating their favorite rock stars) are filmed at home by contestants remotely and compiled together. But Vincent Von Dyke says the show is just the beginning.
"Everyone talks about how we need a Drag Race, RuPaul's out there and we need this, and I don't know I'm just a do-er," he says. "Nobody was doing it and I was like let's just do it, because I want to compete on a race someday, but I can't if one doesn't exist."
But while some kings say they would love a TV show for the performers who desire it, others are disinterested in being on that kind of show themselves.
"With the drag king community that I've fallen into... it doesn't feel competitive, it feels really friendly," Maxxx Pleasure says. "I think when you get into adding a competitive edge, it would ruin it for me."
"I am a Southern loud mouth, fresh out of the trailer park, kind of guy. I've got a temper," says Lee VaLone. "I have gotten into many fights with drag kings on the internet just because they have different views on gender than me...it always goes back to binding your breasts, it always goes back to what kind of masculinity you can perform. And if that is a sample of what it would be like to have a Drag Race for kings I want no part of it."
"I definitely think drag kings need to have more visibility but I don't know if the model of a king race is the answer," Ken Vegas says. "I don't feel it would be within our own best interests trying to self define ourselves to follow that model. It's a blueprint that a man has developed. And for a woman or a queer spectrum identified person, I think we need to invent what it is we're trying to do and make it ours."
Whether drag kings end up with their own show on a major television network, or keep performing in, as Goldie Peacock said, "all the crevices they can," one thing is clear: drag kings are out here, performing and existing on their own terms.
"Drag kings have to be the best of the best of the best in order to get a fraction of the recognition that a drag queen does," says VaLone. "But if there's anything I know about my king community is we just say bring it on, you can't ignore us forever."


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