b r a v e c r e a t u r e s

OK, so I am 37 and while I recognise I am not of the skater dude crowd anymore, I think I remain reasonably with it. Certainly I am immersed in pop culture and had still dance like an escapee from Solid Gold with a serious caffeine addiction, but I got a nasty shock the other day when trying to relate to a bunch of 14 year old girls.

Now any number of people would tell you that this should have been very much a case of equals talking, and to them I say - screw you, but I did stumble into the generation gap thats for sure. And as they say in Hong Kong - Tsing siu-sam jyt-toi hung-gwek.

We were auditioning girls for the lead in my next short film and as part of the process we were discussing pop idols. I figured that Justin Timberlake was a good conversational starter, but to my huge surprise it seems that not only is he no longer the gleam in the tween sets eyes, a number of them had not even heard of him.

Poor Justin - first that whole Superbowl thing and now he is being systematically rejected by the under 15 set.

This got me wondering -  have been completely deluding myself, am I in-fact now an old person and should be shuffled off to the twilight home for old disco faggots. I thought I would use Justin as my test case and ask what the blogosphere thinks of him. Are he and I still with it or are we now has beens?

[poll=10]

This is also a shameless excuse for another poll, since its been a while 

A recent article in the news paper got my dander up a bit, "Gay link to youngest brothers " it proclaimed.

Apparently a study, published in the US Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences online journal said "the most consistent bio-demographic correlate of sexual orientation in men is the number of older brothers (one has)". Apparently there is some sort of anti-male antibodies that affect the part of the brain that determines sexuality. These are produced each time a mother produces a son and they build up over time to make it more likely that a son will be gay.

Long ago I gave up any vestigial need I had to know why I am gay. Knowing why isn't going to change things, or in fact make me want to change. I am happy this way; men are great, end of story. I respect the people doing research to understand things like this (as long as they aren't working on some sort of "cure") and research like this that shows there is an evolutionary reason for fagotry is probably a good thing.

That's not what's got my dander up. Apparently the research group only involved 744 men. Firstly, is that even a statistical sample? Secondly, were they EVEN trying? I have more gay men in my personal address book than that. Lord have mercy.

Come on people, try a little harder. Where were you looking? Some ass end of the earth like, say, Thunder Bay? If you had asked some REAL fags, they would have multiplied your research group by at least 10, if not 100. Stand outside the Black Party in New York and you will do better. Or ANY Pride march, Hell even Melbourne Pride has a couple of thousand people through it.

So to help out, and in the interest of research, we here at Brave Creatures are going to conduct a little poll of our own. Even with my piddling traffic numbers, I should be able to do better than that.

Remeber, this is for gay men (my apologies to other readers) and is about which SON you are. Older girls dont have an effect in this context. For example. I have one older sister, and even though she is kind on manish I am still the eldest son.

[poll=9]

One of my favourite  bloggers was complaining the other day that he had come to the conclusion that "social networking" sites like Friendster, My Space and Big Muscle are just an excuse for good looking, photogenic people to show off and elicit compliments. It started me thinking about it all.

The whole "profile" thing is apparently rampant. It seems like everyone has an internet personae or two squirreled away somewhere - even my mother. But what are they and why is it so hard for people to come out from behind them? Does communicating with someone via a profile mean you can (usually) get only a two dimensional experience, a binary connection with them?

I must admit that for me this thinking has been kicked on by someone I know*, who claims he is in a satisfying relationship. The strange thing, to me at least, is that both he and his partner check out Big Muscle every day. Not just most days EVERY DAY. Now I enjoy looking at hot guys as much as the next red blooded fag, and I will admit I have had my own high consumption periods, but I am single. And when I have been involved my interest in outside distractions has been much lower. 

It seems weird and a little sad to me but maybe I am naive.

When I discussed it with one of them, the other one being about as emotionally approachable as pack ice, he explained that for him it was about getting positive affirmation. OK, I get that too. BUT EVERY DAY? Dude, you're with someone. Doesn't that fill SOME of the gap?

Thats my reaction, and I really like positive strokes.

So its time for another little poll, lets see what the internet has to say about this one. Please feel free to leave a comment if you have something more to say.

[poll=8]

As a final note, let me say that I am not a prude. I think its up to any couple to work out their own balance. In the end it really is none of my bloody business what anyone else does. I am not judging, I am questioning. Since my own last relationship went pear shaped I have been trying to work out how things work so that I will be in a better position next time.

Oh and I know this topic will stir up some contention soI thought that might bet interesting.

*Absolutely NOT who you think 

I am trying to decide on a beard look for the Winter. Of course all of my friends have dipped their oars in, but the Greek chorus is pretty evenly divided so I thought I would open voting up to the democratising principals inherent in the Internet.

Big Bear		Amish
The full bearded bear look  - GGRRRAAAHHH		Something a little more interesting. All I need is a buggy and perhaps a bonnet.

Not the perfect comparission, I am wrinklier in the bear shot and I look chubby in the face in the Amish one, but you get the idea. 

[poll=6]

In reality this is more out of interest than any intent to follow the advice of random strangers on the Internet. Truth be told there is a certain French Muscle Bear who has a veto vote. Lets face it, if he thinks I am hot, I am going to get laid more.