YOH Head Butt! - What's UP Edition

"I like my beers cold and my homosexuals flaming." ~ Homer Simpson

YOH HEAD BUTT! What's UP Edition!

26th Jan 2010

Hey Everyone, 

Might be surprised to see another issue of HEADBUTT that soon and that fast within the space of a week, but hey, there are things out there happening and we at YOH want to inform you (in the sudden case that it becomes forgotten news and the happenings ain't that hot anymore)!

Quite a bit of emails came in and also curious Facebook status updates on our last HEADBUTT GLEE edition, thus we're gonna showcase more of such LGBT Friendly entertainment news bites in the upcoming YOH Blog entries, Twitter updates and HEADBUTTs!

What's UP!

Understanding Addiction 

The final report of 2009 Men who have sex with Men (MSM) Sex Survey conducted by Fridae.com indicated that 13.4% of the respondents in Singapore consumed recreational drugs (e.g.Viagra, ecstasy, poppers, methamphetamines) for sex. Yet, the communities have very little understanding on drug use, its effect and the danger of developing drug addiction. The survey also reported that MSMs on drugs are more likely to engage in unsafe sex (51% on drugs versus 29.6% no drugs). 

At the same time, oversea studies show that the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) individuals who are struggling to cope with their sexual identities, are at a higher risk of developing addictive behaviours such as drug, alcohol and sex addiction.

Oogachaga presents this first ever community talk about drug, alcohol and sex addiction. OC aims to provide a basic understanding of the various addictions in this public forum. More details can be found here. 

Details - Date - 30 January 2010

Time - 4 to 7pm
Venue - Jade 1 Room, ParkRoyal at Kitchener Road Direction - Parkroyal at Kitchener Road is located near Farrer Park NE8 MRT Station. Please use Exit G or H.
Admission - Free

Please register at events@oogachaga.com for the event as seats are limited 

Coming Home: Discussions from Abroad

Pelangi Pride Centre (PPC) presents a discussion of experiences. who have gone abroad and come back to Singapore. Unscripted and unrehearsed, come listen and share in the experiences of gay Singaporeans who have seen the other side of the fence and have decided to come home. What are their feelings about coming home? More details can be found here. 

• Where is home? Is it tied to a physical location?
• What is home? How do you define it?
• Why do you call Singapore home?
• Can you be an openly gay person in Singapore? 

Date - 6th Feb, Saturday
Time - 4pm to 6pm
Venue - 41A Neil Road
Cost per person: $6 (cost of 2 drinks and finger food)
RSVP - This event is by invitation only.
As there are limited seats, prior registration is required.
For an invite -please email  pelangipridecentre@yahoo.com with your name (in full), contact number, the name/s of your guests.

Singapore Short Film Awards

Co-organised by Objectifs: Centre for Photography and Filmmaking
Supported by apbc Offices and Infinite Frameworks
25th – 31st January 2010
An entire week of short film screenings every night showcasing Singaporean short films produced in 2009!

At The Substation Theatre from January 25-31.
Admission is by donation (Any amount).
No advanced booking of tickets is necessary.

The Awards will be held on 31 January by invitation.

For the full screening schedule and details, click here. 

2010 Asia Internet MSM Sex Survey

No Names, No Faces, 

Only the Sordid Details.

If you are a man who has sex with other men, or a transgendered person, we invite you to participate in our community-driven survey. Participation is open to all those living in Asia.

It is completely anonymous - no names are recorded - and takes less than 10 minutes to finish. 

The results will give us critical information in understanding why HIV and other sexually transmitted infection rates are rising so quickly in our community, and help us design better programs for you.

From January 1 to 28 February 2010.

To participate - please click here. 

YOH Details:

Twitter - http://twitter.com/young_out_here

Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/pages/Young-OUT-Here

YOH Blog - http://young-out-here.blogspot.com

Quite a fair bit of things are happening, so you can't exactly say that there's nothing to do in Sg. (oh yeah who's up for L4D2 killing spree soon?!)

Till the next edition of HEADBUTT, 

we're gonna leave you with a favourite MTV of our's (just simply beautiful) from the Icelandic group - Sigur Ros:

Take care,

YOH

YOH Head Butt! - Glee Edition

"By its very definition, Glee is about opening yourself up to JOY" - Pilot Episode of GLEE

YOH Head Butt! Jan 2010 Edition 

aka - the GLEE Edition.

Hi Everyone, 

As you probably know, one of the YOH's favourite show, GLEE, won last Monday for Best Television Series (Musical or Comedy) at the star studded Golden Globes awards. And counting the numerous awards that it had garnered, here's one that didn't make much of a news unless you've been following alternative news flashes - GLEE won big (Two major awards - Best TV Series and Best TV Performance for Jane Lynch) at the first ever Dorian Awards. The Dorian Awards were voted by the Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, which is composed of film and television journalists and historians writing or commenting for media such as "The Advocate", "TV Guide" and "US Weekly". 

Add those wins to the other nominations from within the community - The 21st Annual GLAAD Media awards, it seems that the TV phenomenon about a bunch of mis-fits high school show choir is well on the way to becoming quite a staple of the awards season happening in Hollywood now. 

Though just 13 episodes in, it's got quite a huge following - over 1million 'fans' on facebook & over 2.5million iTunes downloads of its songs. and not to mention all the illegal streaming and downloads of the show over the net. What does a bunch of high school 'losers' (insert obvious 'L' sign over forehead) have that we adore so much that got us going back more and more?

GLEE-Ks and unafraid to show it!

The reason that we've often heard when asked the reason for loving GLEE so much - is that we can all relate to it. As youths, we were all 'losers' at some point in our life (and probably still feel the same now...), either in school or in life. There are several character archetypes in the show - the Divas, the Jock, the over bearing parents, the disabled kids, the over achievers and more. But what GLEE has done (almost very 'High School Musical' like), is making sure that the characters doesn't stick to their status quo. 

Struggling with issues such as popularity in school, sexual identities, the search for a bigger belonging, demands of parental expectations, unexpected pregnancies, teenage crushes and love - all these relevant and but yet poignant issues were showed every week and we can't help to feel for each of the characters that were going through something. 

Special shout out to Kurt, of course, by 'defying gravity, and coming out to his dad in the fourth episode and later, flunking the all important Diva-Off so that he could save the humiliation of his dad - it's such storylines and characters that keep it relevant to us and at the same time, bring hopes to thousands of us that are straddling between societal concerns and our individual 'shoulds/coulds/woulds'.

All that Song and Dance! and a whole lot of LAUGHS!

You must be tone deaf and probably blind, not to notice all the over the top and sometimes moving song and dance performances! Second reason why we love GLEE so much? it's all the songs and dance! Taking from a huge library of current tracks (Rihanna's Take a Bow, Jordin Sparks' No Air. Beyonce's Halo etc), evergreen favourites (Journey's Don't Stop Believin', REO Speedwagon's Can't Fight This Feelin' etc) & innovative mashups, GLEE made the all very dull and yes, 'right at the bottom rung of the ladder', show choir REALLY HIP and FUN! 

Here's a bit of good news for all of us that are eagerly awaiting the return of the season on April 13th - in the lineup of the performances:

• Madonna (She will not be performing, but she has given rights to 10 songs of hers' to be used in one episode) - What It Feels Like For A Girl, Vogue (performed by Jane Lynch!), Boderline, Open Your Heart, 4 Minutes, Like A Virgin, Like a Prayer, Burning Up, Express Yourself & Crazy for You.  
• Idina Menzel - Our favourite 'Wicked' star will be coming on as the role of coach of Vocal Adrenaline (the rival Glee club in the first episode that performed 'Rehab')
• Olivia Newton John - (go google who she is if you have no idea) - She will be performing 'Physcial' with Jane Lynch! 
• and oh yes, in light of all the various - not a performance but a storyline that IS happening - Kurt's getting a boyfriend! ('Bust Your Windows' Mercedes!)

REGIONALS and then NATIONALS - Here We Come!

Watching GLEE sometimes brings back memories of back in the days of when all of us were in school and struggling to balance school work and our very tiring CCAs - and for every CCA, there always is a competition of sorts (Singapore Youth Festival, NPCC awards...etc). Seeing New Directions, with its long road to (so far) the Sectionals was both enlightening, entertaining but at the same time, reflective. It's not easy!

So why do you like GLEE - Tell us your top favourite moments and songs from the show and we'll post it up on our YOH Blog and also in the next release of HEADBUTT!

Take care everyone!

YOH