City Gym Boys (NYC) 2010 16-Month Wall CalendarThe Day After (LOL!) & The Latest Addition ToMy Black Male Calendar Collection (80+)

Hey Y'all,

I didn't expect to be reporting back to soon with another blog entry on calendars! However, this came in the mail today and so I took some quick pics to show ya. Besides Ebony Soul calender, City Gym Boys is my second most favorite calendar. This is the City Gym Boys 2010 calendar and it is a true 16-month calendar that runs from November 2009, all the way through 2010 and two additional months of January and February of 2011. So that's pretty qool!

The Calendar For Each Month Is Not Too Functional
In Terms Of The Clarity/Size Of The Monthly Dates.
However, If Eye Candy Is All You Care About,
And That's Mostly What This Calendar Is Designed For,
No PROBLEMO! LOL!

This calendar, unlike the Ebony Soul 2010-2011 calendar is not as functional in terms of using it as a date planner; meaning, the dates for each month are small and each of the 16 monthly calendars itself take up only 25% of the calendar space (see picture above) when extended and hanging on the wall. The other 75% of the calendar is taken up by each of the 16 models/body builders. All previous City Gym Boys calendars have pretty much followed this method. Like I can't use the 2" x 1.5" yellow sticky post-it notes which helps me organize the things I need to do in life (appointments, events, etc.) on this calendar like I can with the Ebony Soul calendar. In essence, this calendar is really meant for pure eye candy unless you have the calendar very near to your work space, computer desk or wherever and then you can see the dates more clearly. It's not a problem for me though; eye candy is phine in this instance. I typically have 3 or 4 Black male calendars hanging up in any given year anyway, so one of them usually fits my post-it note needs.

What I definitely LOVE about this calendar is if you look closely at the pic above (click on it to see the bigger version), in the lower right hand corner it shows the flag of the ethnic background of the model. This is true for each month. All the models have an African heritage or Latino heritage background.

Background wise, City Gym Boys is based here in New York City and they are a collecive of twenty-something Black and Latino men. On their website under "About Us..." it says:

City Gym Boys is an elite team of natural bodybuilders from the inner city dedicated to mentoring young men and women on the lifelong benefits of fitness and exercise.

City Gym Boys was founded in 1997 by owner Charles La Salle to reach young men and women in the New York City area. "Our mission is to help eliminate the onset of obesity, particularly among African-Americans and Latino’s in the inner city, by getting teens hooked on working out. If we can get 15 to 23 year olds to make fitness a habit, then we are on our way to reducing diabetes and heart disease", says La Salle.

Joel

City Gym Boys travels around NYC as well as around the United States for different functions and events. As a same gender loving brutha who has been to three of their functions over the years, I can tell you that 90 to 95% of the crowd at these various functions are women, who also get autographs. Despite that, I have gotten my calendars autographed. And yes, there is this subtle dynamic and curiosity of why this tall 6'-3" and relatively masculine Black man (ME) is asking for an autograph. The fellaz are always polite and never disrespecftul. However, they have been to some Black Pride events here and there such as Washington, DC and they will be at Atlanta Black Pride 2009 next month (I believe) for the Labor Day weekend. So they should be used to the SGL experience, I suppose unless some are down low themselves.

Kwame

Rome

Yusef (aka Da Prince)
Is By FAR MY FAVORITE City Gym Boy!
HIS ASS IS PHINE! Fo' Real! LOL!
His Arms Are Leaning on Me! LOL!

Of all the City Gym boys models, Yusef (aka Da Prince) is by far the best looking one. Case in point, when I went to one of the City Gym Boys parties they had last year in NYC (see pic below), all the models came out one by one and all the women were cheering. But man, when Yusef came out, he got a really huge round of applause and loud ass screams from all the women in the joint! It was crazy.

The pic below is from last year's party event. I bid, then bidded again, and then outbid some girl to finally win the framed City Gym Boys print. While shooting the event myself, I met and chatted with the photographer who shoots the calendars for City Gym Boys as well as the framed picture I won. Everybody who won an auction piece took pictures as part of a publicity campaign. I quickly gave the photographer who shoots the City Gym Boys my Nikon D200 DSLR camera and had him shoot a few pics for my own collection which you see below!

It took some real courage for me to bid in the auction (as I was the only guy who did so) and stand there for publicity stills afterward. But I needed to stand in my own light and authenticity and enjoyed da boyz as much as the women did (without al the screaming, of course, LOL!).

Charles LaSalle, the president of City Gym Boys had the mic at oem point and asked the crowd to give all the auction winning folks a round of applause, and so I ("BIG ROD") had his name called out and was shown LOVE by the audience and the other City Gym Boys with claps of applause. That felt good! It shows that Black SGL folks can be visible!!!

I Bid And Won One Of The Auction Pieces
NO! Not The City Gym Boy Standing Next To Me,
The Framed Picture! LOL!
(June 4th, 2008)




At Home With My Auction Piece The Next Day

Overall, I rate this City Gym Boys calendar 4 stars out of 5. A bit tad higher than Ebony Soul calendar which is saying a lot.
You can click the very first pic at the top of this blog entry if you're interested in buying the City Gym Boys 2010 calendar or click here: City Gym Boys 2010 Calendar. If you wanna view the pics I took from the City Gym Boys parties they are in thebe two photo albums below with music (turn ya speakers on!). Just click on whichever photo album you wanna view:

City Gym Boys @ T-New York Lounge (10 Year Anniversary Party) - 2007

City Gym Boys 2009 Calendar Release Party and Boys & Girls Club of Harlem Benefit [6-4-2008]

Ebony Soul 2010-2011 18-Month Wall CalendarThe Latest Addition To MyBlack Male Calendar Collection (80+)

Hey Y'all!

Well, it's August and you know what that mean??? It means it's that time of year when new calendars traditionally begin launching for use for the next year. I have been collecting Black male calendars as a hobby for about 9 years now. I have a total of 81 Black male calendars in my collection! YES! I AM A SERIOUS COLLECTOR! YA HEARD! LOL!

Can't You Tell I'm A Happy Camper! LOL!

There are awards given out for best calendars (I forget what they are called) and Anthony Ragland is a 4-Time World Award Winner for his Ebony Soul calendars over the years. And if I had to give out awards myself there is no question that I'd give one out consistently to the Ebony Soul calendar series. It is by far my favorite and best produced calendar hi-liting Black men: from the selection of Black bruthaz, to the posing/directing of the bruthaz, the composition/framing of the bruthaz to the situations/locations. The only thing I'd say is missing is a lack of Black history almanac vignettes that could be added to the boxes on particular days where folks can get at least a weekly dose of our African heritage. KWANZAA is included though.
The Ebony Soul calendar series is produced by the photographer on the project - Anthony Ragland himself. This brutha has a nice eye and I LOVE his work!! As I mentioned before, Anthony has a knack for selecting good lookin' bruthaz.

AH! Gotta LOVE It!
Excellent Art Direction Layout On The Back Cover!

Not only that, Ebony Soul is the only regularly published Black male calendar that consistently produces a TRUE 16 or 18-month calendar. That means there are 16 or 18 individual bruthaz featured for each month. Not that crap where a calendar features the last 4 months of the existing year on one page (and is too small to be functional anyhow), and then features 12 bruthaz going into the next year. Some calendar producer calls this a 16-month calendar when, Uhhhh... NO!

Michael (February 2011) Lookin' Mad Guud and Sexy!

Overall, I give the Ebony Soul 2010-2011 calendar 3.5 stars out of 5 this time around. It's not 5 stars this time because the situations/locations and model direction shots aren't as good as the two previous calendars before it. However, Anthony has definitely got daring and gone risque for the first time with some nude shots (but you don't see genitals or butt), yet keeps true to his artistic integrity and didn't fall into a crude soft-porn category! (THANK YOU, Anthony!) Nevertheless, I have and LOVE the calendar overall.

Julian Is A Mad Hottie!
He's My Favorite Model In This 2010-2011 Calendar
As Well As The Previous Ebony Soul 2008-2009 Calendar

You can click the very first image of the calendar itself at the top of this blog entry where you can order it directly from Amazon.com via Anthony Ragland's website. The calendar costs a little more than most calendars at $19.99 plus $5 bucks for shipping, but just remember it's a true 18-month calendar and will last a little more than a year and a half on your wall. Anthony ships the calendars out USPS Priority Mail (2 to 3 day service) so you'll get it pretty fast.

Another notable calendar that is real HOT and that I recommend, too, is City Gym Boys!

Be qool y'all! Peace!

ROD (aka BIG ROD)




UPDATE (Tuesday, August 25th, 2009):

Hey Black Family,

I sent Anthony Ragland, the producer/photographer of the Ebony Soul Calendars, an email a week ago and I got a response back and wanted to share it with y'all:


Hello Big Rod,
First of all, thank you for your continued support and compliments on our calendar. Your blog was well written and with a great sense of honesty, both with the compliments and slight criticism.

Our goal is to produce a product that everyone will be proud of, not just the models included. We do receive a lot of feedback each year and I include those thoughts in fine tuning our upcoming productions.

Thank you again,
Anthony Ragland
Producer
EBONY SOUL INC.
www.ebonysoul.net

Other Countries: Black Gay Expression Monthly Writing Workshop Saturday, August 22nd from 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM (NYC)

Other Countries:
Black Gay Expression Monthly Writing Workshop

The second August 2009 Other Countries Monthly Writing Workshop will be:

Date & Time: Saturday, August 22nd from 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
Location:
LGBT Community Services Center
208 West 13th Street
(between 7th and 8th Avenues)
Room 102
New York, NY 10011


If you plan to present work on August 22nd:

* please confirm with Kevin McGruder by Thursday, August 20th at kevmcgr[at]pipeline.com
* bring 8-10 copies of your work for distribution.


For those interested, we will go out to dinner afterward at a nearby restaurant.


Below are guidelines for the workshop.

Other Countries Writing Workshop Discussion/Critique Guidelines

The Other Countries Writing Workshop is a peer-facilitated workshop. In order to ensure a supportive atmosphere and to encourage constructive criticism of work please keep the following in mind:

Before reading their work, writers should introduce it by telling about the FAP (Focus, Audience, and Purpose) for the piece as well as its genre. They should think of specific questions they want answered by the workshop, e.g. “Is this ready for submission to literary journals?” “Does this first chapter pull you into my novel’s story?” “Does this character seem too cardboard or cliché?”

The moderator will facilitate the discussion/critique of the work

Participants should:

- avoid cross talk between other participants while a comment is being made
- address both positives and negatives in the work;
- avoid extraneous “amen-ing” (repeating the comments) of previous speakers;
- avoid personal commentary of the writer and others; provide suggestions for further development of the work, etc.


We welcome contributions to defray room rental costs. Checks or money orders can be made payable to Other Countries and sent to:

Other Countries
345 West 145th Street, Suite 12B2
New York, NY 10031-5323

Origins of the Moon Walk

I still maintain that if I had a time machine and could only choose one place and time period that it would be the Harlem Renaissance era!

The W. Kamau Bell Curve One Part Manifesto, One Part Diatribe, and Several Parts Funny.August 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 29 in NYC!

The W. Kamau Bell Curve

One part manifesto, one part diatribe, and several parts funny.

August 17, 21, 22, 23, 24, 29 @ The New York International Fringe Festival in New York City - www.fringenyc.org

Here’s the Facebook invite!

JUST LIKE SKINNY JEANS, superhero movies, and frozen yogurt, racism continues to make a comeback. In 2007, The W. Kamau Bell Curve: Ending Racism in About An Hour opened big and came out swinging against big targets. Back in 2007, it was celebrity racism that was all the rage. (Imus, Kramer, Rosie O’Donnell, Dog The Bounty Hunter, etc…) But two short years later, America has amazingly elected the first black president… of the Republican National Committee — Michael Steele. Oh, and also we elected, as president of the United States of America, Barack Hussein Obama. All this MUST mean racism is over. We’re officially in Post-Racial America… Right?… Right?

WRONG! Because now that a black man — or a half black/half white man if we want to split not so nappy hairs — is leading the free world, the stakes just have gotten higher. Racial injustice has become more insidious (thanks to Rush Limbaugh, the continued broadcast of BET, black and Latino people being blamed for the passage of Prop 8, Teabaggers marching in lock step with white supremacists, and most of the comments on Kamau’s YouTube page). That’s right. Racism has redoubled — no, re-quadrupled — its efforts. Well, W. Kamau Bell is here to make (non)sense of all of it all. And because racism is always attacking in new ways and from new angles, Kamau attacks back by adding new material at every performance. The Curve is a seamless mix of stand- up comedy, video and audio clips, and solo theatrical performance.

The W. Kamau Bell Curve is inspired by the work of several different comedians: the passionate, agenda driven comedy of Bill Hicks, the free flowing, “talking shows” of Henry Rollins, the soul baring honesty of Margaret Cho’s “I’m The One That I Want,” the take no prisoners and leave no stone unturned style of Dave Chappelle, and the ripped-from-the-headlines relevance of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.

And as always…

BRING A FRIEND OF A DIFFERENT RACE & GET FREE GIFT!

The W. Kamau Bell Curve has played to sold out houses all over San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, and has also played The Jewish Community Center East Bay in Berkeley. It has also been performed twice at The Comedy Central Stage in Los Angeles. And this summer will appear at The La Pena Cultural Center and The New York International Fringe Festival.

TRON: LEGACY VFX (Visual Effects) Concept Test YO! THIS LOOKS DOPE, Y'ALL!Check Out Da Trailer > Click Da Pic

Harlem Week Events, This WeekendAugust 15th and 16th, 2009Harlem, New York City

SATURDAY AUGUST 15th 11:00 AM – 8:00 PM
Uptown Saturday Night
W. 135th St. from Malcolm X Blvd to St. Nicholas Avenue An Outdoor Cultural Arts & Entertainment and Dance Festival that will also include

The National Historic Black College Fair & Expo
12 Noon to 6:00 PM W. 135th St. Btwn. Malcolm X & A.C. Powell Jr. Blvds.

N.Y. City Health Fair & Expo (Part I)
11:00 A.M. – 7:00 P.M. W. 135th St.
(Btwn. Malcolm X & A.C. Powell, Jr. Blvds.)

The N.Y. City Children’s Festival
11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
W. 135th Street (Bet. Malcolm X and A.C.P. Jr. Blvds.)

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

HARLEM DAY!
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16th 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM
W. 135th St. (Between Fifth and St. Nicholas Aves.)
3 Main Stages: 12 Noon – 7:00 PM

1. St. Nicholas Stage – R & B / Hip Hop/Reggae

2. YMCA Stage –performances of dance/fashion/poetry/music

3. 5th Ave. Stage – Gospel & Jazz/Soul



N.Y. City Health Fair & Expo (Part II)
11:00 AM to 6:00 PM W.
135th St. (Btwn. Malcolm X & A.C. Powell, Jr. Blvds.)


The Upper Manhattan Auto Show
9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Howard Bennett Playground
W. 135th St. (Btwn. 5th Ave. & Malcolm X Blvd.)


The N.Y. City Children’s Festival (Part II)
11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
W. 135th St. (Btwn. Malcolm X & A. C. Powell Jr. Blvds.)
A Free event (Tickets required)


The Harlem Honeys & Bears Swimmers
10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

For more info, call 646-302-3487
www.harlemhoneysandbears.org


International Vendors, Exhibits, Foods, Art, Fun & Games
11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
W. 135th St. (Between. Fifth and St. Nicholas Aves.)

Health Walk in Harlem (2008)

The Harlem Family HEALTH WALK-A-THON
& 1st Annual International 5K Run
Saturday, August 22nd 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Walk Starts at: Morning Side Park 110th and Morningside Avenue


The Joints Are Jumpin’
Wednesday, August 26th 5:30 PM & 7:30 PM
At various Uptown Locations