More sickboy TV talk

Still under the weather, still finding my share of kinky stuff to watch:

•Finally caught Blade: Trinity after hearing that Ryan Reynolds spends a significant amount of the movie shirtless in chains. It's true! It's true! Behold:



Oh, hell: here's a whole page of stills from the film. I actually fast-forwarded through a lot of it, since I'm not a big fan of ultraviolent vampire flicks and wisecracking heroes, even if they are embodied by the recently beefed-up Mr. R.

•Also fast-forwarded through Hostage. I think I only really watched about 15 minutes of the movie at its intended speed before jumping ahead to see Bruce Willis (in uniform) handcuffed, and later stripped naked. You get two Bruces in this thing: first, with full bushy crazy-person beard in the preface, then with shaved head in the body of the movie. Neither one quite does it for me, but they're still nice looks. I admit I have this major Bruce Willis problem, ever since Moonlighting: He's got a whole lot of physical features I find really appealing, but he's also incredibly obnoxious. (A common problem with men, come to think of it.) The whole macho Republican fratboy vibe is a major turn-off. And yet, tie him up and I tune in. (Trying to remember what early-90s movie has him handcuffed and bound to a chair at the climax... Surely more than one. And Moonlighting had no shortage of bondage scenes, as I recall.)



•Looks like I'm not the only horny gay guy looking for still photos of Matt Lauer in a luge suit. (Damn, first he's Batman, now he's squeezed into skintight lycra--I have got to start watching the Today Show!) There seems to be video footage here, but once again I doubt I can see it on my Mac.

All quite enjoyable to watch, but I'd really rather feel good again than lie around filling my head with such sights.

Make it work, slave

Been home sick all week, which has meant lots of sleeping, not much bat-activity, and a HUGE amount of television, including two mini-marathons of season two of Project Runway. Okay, I know what you're saying: "All well and good, Batfan60, but what does this have to do with the stated mission of your blog?" It's true, Runway is simply not about cops or costumed crimefighters--well, unless you count the passing mention of superhero-themed lingerie in one episode, but the proposed relaunch of Underoos for adult women (emblazoned with words like "BAM!" and "POW!" on the crotch) did not make it too far.

No, the thing about the show that I want to mention here is the strong undercurrent of SM in pretty much every episode. In the fantasy dynamic of the series--a multicultural dream world that seems to consist entirely of heterosexual women and gay men--everything revolves around dominance and submission. Sure, the contestants are competing against each other, which involves the usual amount of reality-tv gameplaying, but more interesting is the way they have to answer each week to dominatrix Heidi Klum, prissy taskmaster Tim Gunn, and a revolving panel of hard-to-please celebrity judges. At the same time, each contestant has an accompanying "muse"/model, and these lovely ladies are at the very bottom of the pecking order, who suffer the injustice of being traded in slave-auction-style rituals. (We hear them speak when they're kicked off the show, or--very rarely--when they get up the nerve to complain to their Masters about some especially uncomfortable or humiliating outfit.) Much of the show is devoted to people getting chewed out by their superiors, their faces charged with silent shame or suppressed rage. All that's missing is the "sir, yes sir."

I've come to detest 98% of the "reality" shows that have sprung up in the wake of the first season of Survivor ( a show I did think was amazing for its time), but this one really is pretty addictive. Of course, it helps that I find a lot of the male cast members fairly sexy in one way or another (including the aforementioned Tim), but the appeal is greater than mere cuteness. The kinky dimension doesn't hurt, either.

Bonus TV talk: As I type this, Bravo is airing what I assume is one of many endless rebroadcasts of its 3-part Ultimate Super Heroes, Villains, and Vixens mini-series, narrated by Adam West himself. Not very informative (Stan Lee saying what he always says, plenty of clips for recent movies spun off from DC and Marvel characters, and lots of those ubiquitous talking-head interviews with people who do nothing but provide commentaries like this for cable channels), but it's yet another pleasant distraction from sniffling and sneezing. If you've ever wanted to know what Dee Snider has to say about Batman, now's your chance.

Next up: the Winter Olympics, every lycra-lover's dream. 400+ hours of luge and "skeleton" suits. Hallelujah!

Jack U Off

Not since the Oliver North hearings have I been this turned on by a real-life creepy political bad guy. (Okay, so there's my thing for Ari Fleischer, but he wasn't really the bad guy so much as the mouthpiece for the bad guy.) It's true: I have the hots for Jack Abramoff.

I love that trenchcoat, and I'm nuts about this shot of him in a full beard. Or (in case you don't want to bother clicking the links) this one, which is not as cute as the other one, but will do in a pinch:



Just thought I'd share. After all, that's what blogging is for, ain't it? If you can't anonymously confess embarrassing attractions to objectionable individuals, why bother, right?

Cleaning out my closet

Today's one of those days to sort through stuff I've bookmarked to write about here and have forgotten for months, sometimes years:

This AlterNet story on gays and comics dates back to 2003, but if you haven't seen it, it's still worth checking out.

An insanely detailed guide to the '66 TV show and accompanying movie, listing clues, gizmos, Robin's "holy" expressions, trivia, and so much more for every single episode. (And people call me obsessive...)

The Land of Nod is a site devoted entirely to images of characters who have been chloroformed or gassed by members of the opposite sex. (Of course there are Batman shots! Need you ask?) Hasn't been updated since 1999, but if you go for this sort of thing, you won't leave disappointed.

Beauty in Darkness is a blog on the history of BDSM, in conjunction with a work-in-progress book on that subject. I found it, oddly enough, through a Google search long ago for "Batman + Midnighter" (the Batman-esque leatherman hero of The Authority), and that reference does indeed appear, but I think I will be exploring the rest of the site in more detail, so I'm adding it to the links list on the right.

More to come, but surely at least one of the above will float yer boat in the meantime.

Oh, and you'll be happy, if not shocked, to learn that I've actually updated my "Secret Room" website for the first time in over a year. It's mostly just adding the above, and I certainly have much more to add and subtact, but at least it's a start.