!! OMG, new video: Chris Cool ‘So Hard’ !!

Chris Cool 'So Hard'

Pop singer/songwriter Chris Cool is always pushing boundaries and buttons with his work, and the video for his latest single “So Hard” is pushing it all, well… hard. And we’re here for it.

Shot by by cinematographer Lyana Leblanc (@tunedamour), who collaborated with Chris on the surreal video for his single “BFFF” (watch it here), the video explores what happens when you welcome the darkness in.

Chris explains:

“When life gives you voices, you make art with them. But more specifically, you don’t try to pretend they’re not real, you materialize them, give them a seat at the table, hear them out, but also make sure they’re tied up and they know who’s the boss.”

Chris Cool 'So Hard'

References abound—Britney’s TMZ era bob, the buffet scene in LOTR: Return of the King, Julianne Moore’s lips in A Single Man—adding colour and depth to Chris’s twisted vision:

“[“So Hard”] is a wake up call from my fierce self to my depressed self. The emo boy in me sometimes needs tough self-love. I wanted to channel this side of Chris Cool that helps kick me in the butt and overcomes anxiety. Turns out that dom side of me also has toxic traits. Like the aggro boyfriend that you don’t wanna be around when he crashes out. I love a dark, twisted character that’s also protective and makes you snap out of the paralysis self-doubt can cause.”

“So Hard” is the latest single from Chris Cool’s upcoming album Lord Take My Load, out October 9th on Breakglass Records.

Watch the video for “So Hard” after the jump!

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!! OMG, Angelina Jolie’s brother James Haven comes out at 53 !!

James Haven, the man permanently frozen in our memory as kissing his sister on the 2000 Oscars red carpet – has come out as gay at 53!

He announced it on a Substack livestream, sitting next to his ex-wife, who happens to be Romi Imbelli of The Real L Word… so. She was right there beside him while he read it out loud. 

Frankly, this seems like the healthiest thing to happen on the internet this week! James’s letter itself said:

“Like so many gay kids, I learned to question parts of myself long before I learned to celebrate them,” he wrote, before landing on the line every late-in-life coming out deserves: “Coming out isn’t about becoming someone new, it’s about allowing everyone else to meet the person who has been here all along.”

Fifty-three and finally in the driver’s seat. It’s never too late. Welcome, James!

!! OMG, new music: Grumpy Truck’s ‘UFObaby’ !!

Toronto’s Grumpy Truck is back with a new one called “UFObaby”. Lukas Brull, on what inspired the song:

“UFObaby is a bedroom dance pop song about feeling both cheap and expensive around finance people.”

Hmm – Relatable! Get in the truck. Or the saucer. Whichever one is idling out front first! Stream, like and listen to UFObaby below!

!! OMG, WATCH: Short documentary ‘AutoErotica We Buy Gay Stuff’ details one of America’s most important queer adult-related archivists !!

Up a narrow staircase in SF’s Castro district, past a door you’d walk right by, there’s a shop called AutoErotica that looks like a vintage smut store and is actually one of the most important queer archives in North America.

Owner Patrick Batt has spent decades collecting the magazines, films, records, and general beautiful filth that taught generations of gay men how to find each other back when finding each other could cost you everything. This short doc spends time with Patrick and the people who treat his cluttered little kingdom like a library. Remember: Somebody’s estate sale castoffs are somebody else’s origin story!

The film premiered at Frameline and has since racked up screenings at more than 20 festivals across the US, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, plus a pile of jury prizes and audience awards. The team is now building it out into a feature called A Very Oral History, tracing how queer culture got made, passed around, and kept alive through porn mags and mixtapes and photographs stuffed in shoeboxes. Watch the short above, then go hug your local archivist!

We’ve picked up some great magazines and things from here. Check out the site for yourself!

!! OMG, Luigi Mangione’s lawyers say the press pool for his murder trial has been rigged before it even starts !!

The New York Office of Court Administration has capped coverage of Luigi Mangione‘s September trial at 68 pre-selected journalists, with only six allowed in for jury selection, and confirmed there will be no overflow room for the extra media and public clamoring to watch… Hmm, interesting.

Luigi‘s team calls the setup unconstitutional and says the court or the DA’s office effectively gets to hand-pick who’s in the room, even though Manhattan prosecutors insist they had nothing to do with the list.

Their fix: livestream the whole trial, or at least pipe a feed into an overflow courtroom the way judges did for Trump’s Manhattan trial.

Wow – time to grab the Doritos! Wouldn’t be surprised if they charged for PPV! Give us a time and date and we will be seated. You know the gays are rooting for her.

!! OMG, leaked audio: Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche says that DOJ is planning a nationwide abortion ban !!

@corybooker Behind closed doors on a prayer call, Todd Blanche vowed to make Dobbs “permanent in every single state” and crack down on abortion pills. He is using the DOJ's power as a sword against women' s freedom to make their own health care decisions and a shield for those who would take it away. I will do everything in my power to oppose this dangerous nomination and stand up for true justice. op: @katiegrossbard ♬ original sound – Cory

Well, so much for “states’ rights.” In audio from a private call with anti-abortion faith leaders, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said the DOJ is working with HHS, the FDA and the White House on “permanent solutions” targeting abortion access in “every single state.”

He reportedly promised federal action to roll back access across the country, including in states where abortion remains protected.

The part they wouldn’t say out loud is apparently a conference call now.

!! OMG, don't miss these !!