danalyzed.

queerty | 11 hot ways to thaw out in europe this spring

dan — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 12:00:13 +0000

Spring is just around the corner, and it can’t come soon enough for a Europe that’s been socked in under one of the gloomiest and snowiest winters on record.

So when the temperatures start rising, expect an especially strong surge of pent-up Eurogay energy to be unleashed at these springtime events happening across the continent.

From the rough and tumbly BLF Easter Leather and Fetish Weekend in Berlin to the refined and fancy Life Ball in Vienna, there’s a little something on tap for every queer taste.

Read the full article here.

gaycities | mykonos guide

dan — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 12:00:47 +0000

For much of the gay world, Mykonos is the destination in Greece. Just over 40 square miles, the sexy sun-baked little island is some 95 miles southeast of Athens, but a world away in terms of atmospherically.

Mykonos got its start as an international getaway in the 1960s and ’70s, when (probably with the help of Jackie Kennedy Onassis, who came here with Greek second-hubby Aristotle) the famous and super-wealthy (like Grace Kelly and Gregory Peck) discovered its charms and began spending their summers here. Where celebs go, the gays are sure to follow, and by 1973 Mykonos had its very first gay bar.

By the ‘80s and ‘90s, Mykonos had become a full-fledged gay hotpot, one that’s seen peaks and valleys in the years since, but is currently on a strong upswing again, with several new nightspots and a throbbing annual gay party festival (late August’s Xlsior). For the past few years, there’s even been a small gay film festival, which in 2012 ran for two separate weeks, one in June and the other in September.

Read the rest of the intro and see the full Mykonos guide here.

queerty | all the best events & fab must-do’s during sydney mardi gras 2013

dan — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:00:35 +0000

March is almost here, and that means one thing: The massive extravaganza known as Sydney Mardi Gras is upon us once again.

Actually a three week celebration that this year started February 8, Mardi Gras’s peak is its final four-day stretch, with the full climax coming at Saturday’s Mardi Gras Parade (which always happens on the first Saturday in March) and its iconic after-party, Mardigrasland.

2013 marks the 35th edition of Sydney Mardi Gras, meaning that the goings-on will be extra spectacular in Australia’s biggest and gayest city. Some half a million queers and their friends from around the world will attend this year’s edition.

Here’s our rundown of the best parties and events for the extended Mardi Gras weekend, as well as some of the can’t-miss current happenings around its fantastic host city.

Read the full article here.

manchester’s new music scene (1990)

dan — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 12:00:15 +0000

Kurt Loder’s 1990 report on MTV’s 120 Minutes about Manchester UK’s new music scene, featuring The Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, 808 State, Inspiral Carpets, New Order, and more.

travel channel | croatia’s most unique travel experiences

dan — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:00:39 +0000

You’ve paraded through Diocletian’s Palace, you’ve sauntered along Dubrovnik’s city walls. Now it’s time to veer off the beaten path for some experiences that are uniquely Croatian — from sipping wine in an ancient cave under a busy city airport to basking in 5-star luxury in a remote century-old lighthouse. Here are our picks for Croatia’s top one-of-a-kind sights.

Photo by Intiaz Rahim

Visit Saintly Mummies
St. Blaise Church, Vodnjan
Just north of the Istrian city of Pula is the sleepy little hamlet of Vodnjan, where the spooky main attraction is inside the town’s Baroque church, St. Blaise. Here, a tour guide will escort you to a room behind the church’s main altar, wherein lie the very dried but (to varying extents) frighteningly intact remains of 6 long-dead Catholic saints, brought here from Italy for wartime safekeeping nearly 2 centuries ago.Among them is St. Nicolosa Bursa, whose 500-year-old mummy is claimed to be the best preserved in Europe, and is furthermore reputed to work miracles against a host of ailments. The church is also home to a reliquary with more than 350 glass-protected holy artifacts, including a thorn from Jesus’ crown and the undecayed tongue of St. Mary of Egypt.

Read the full article here.

queerty | photos: michael stipe, rufus wainwright, john cameron mitchell at the berlin film festival

dan — Mon, 18 Feb 2013 12:00:55 +0000

The 63rd annual Berlin Film Festival wrapped up over the weekend, with a host of queer talents having attended its scores of screenings and parties, including Michael Stipe, director Travis Mathews, Rufus Wainwright and Jörn Weisbrodt, and director John Cameron Mitchell, who imported his West Village dance party Mattachine to the European party capital.

The week’s climax came with Friday’s Teddy Awards, honoring the best of the film fest’s LGBT offerings. After appearing during the awards ceremony, Berlin’s out mayor Klaus Wowereit stayed on for the first of the Teddy’s two raucous after parties at the huge Station club.

See the gallery here.

queerty | “in the name of” takes the berlin film fest’s teddy award

dan — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 12:00:03 +0000

The Polish film W imie… (In the Name of) took home the award for Best Feature Film at the 27th Teddy Awards on Friday at the Berlin International Film Festival, better known locally as the Berlinale. A raw and intense story of a Catholic priest’s struggle with his sexuality, W Imie… was directed by Małgośka Szumowska, and features superb performances by noted Polish actors Andrzej Chyra as the conflicted priest, and hottie Mateusz Kościukiewicz as his small-town love interest (interestingly, the two had previously played father and son).

Teddy Awards have honored the best LGBT films at the acclaimed Berlinale, the 63rd edition of which comes to a close today. This year’s queer slate featured more than 20 films from across the globe, including South Korea (Baek Ya/White Night), the Netherlands (Boven is het stil/It’s All so Quiet), Argentina (Deshora/Belated), the U.S. (Interior. Leather Bar.) and Cameroon (Born This Way).

Read the full article here.

amy sedaris’ 4am tour of greenwich village on the late show (2004)

dan — Thu, 14 Feb 2013 12:00:10 +0000

Amy Sedaris gives a 4am walking tour of her New York City neighborhood, the West Village, during David Letterman’s unique taped-in-the-middle-of-the-night episode of The Late Show on May 14, 2004.

queerty | berlinale’s best bashes: the parties not to miss at the 2013 berlin international film fest

dan — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:00:24 +0000

The first major event of the annual European film calendar kicks off tonight in Berlin with the opening of the 63rd Berlinale, better known as the Berlin International Film Festival.

Always packed with gay content (much of which competes for the esteemed Teddy Awards), the eclectic but high octane fest runs for a busy eleven days this year, with screenings at theaters mostly clustered around Potsdamer Platz in Berlin’s Mitte neighborhood.

But man cannot live on celluloid alone, and wild and wonderful Berlin awaits. So here are our tips for the best Berlinale-related parties happening over the next fortnight or so across the German capital.

Read the full article here.

queerty | axel set to spin at spain’s way gay gran canaria

dan — Tue, 05 Feb 2013 12:00:36 +0000

The “hetero-friendly” Axel Hotel brand will open its fourth international property May 1 in that magnet for Eurogays, the island resort of Gran Canaria. The new inn, AxelBeach Maspalomas Apartments & Lounge Club, will debut at Playa del Inglés, the undisputed homo hub of the island.

The Spanish-based Axel chain opened its first property in Barcelona in 2003, making it the first large boutique hotel to specifically target the growing gay travel market. Branches in Buenos Aires and Berlin followed. Not surprisingly, each of the existing hotels is already the most popular on the travel social network (and Queerty sister site) GayCities.

Read the full article here.