2.13.26 VIOLENT DELIGHTS

HAPPY FRIDAY THE 13th!

It’s a chilly Friday morning in NYC, and I woke up this morning without any ready-to-go draft of DIRTY LITTLE FRIDAYS. Or really any plan for what I’d write about…

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Sometimes I still can’t believe I created this weekly accountability framework for myself.

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So here’s what I’ve been watching, reading, and writing this week.

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SIRAT

Directed by Oliver Laxe.

FUUUUUUUUCK I loved this.

I saw it in the theater, and I’m so happy I did - this film deserves the biggest, loudest sound system you can find.

Set in the apocalyptic world of outlaw raves in the remote deserts of Morocco, it follows a father as he searches for his missing daughter.

I was not prepared for what a full-body experience this was.

Think MAD MAX meets William Friedkin’s SORCERER with a pounding EDM soundtrack. Burning Man gone horribly, tragically wrong with the gut-punch sensibility of CLIMAX.

I rated it 4.5 stars on Letterboxed, but judging by how much I’ve been thinking about it since I watched, I may have to bump it up to 5.

I’ll be going back to watch this one again. Probably later tonight.

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VOYEUR

Voyeur is a group show of queer photographers centered around the idea of…you guessed it, voyeurism.

It features lots of your favorite homo IG creators like John Brandt aka FADED SONS, Sam Waxman, Tate Tullier, Kostis Fokis and Manel Ortega (who took the shot above).

It’s up until February 22 at Soho Project Space in NYC.

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At the opening last night, “dead boy” Serg Shepard (he’ll be hitting your Friday inbox soon) put on a show in the galleries’ backroom.

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PILLION

Directed by Harry Lighton

This was every bit as good as I hoped it would be. Alexander Skarsgard and Harry Melling are pretty much perfect as a dom gay biker and his sub in training.

It’s tender and truthful and unlike any ‘love story’ I’ve seen on screen before.

This should be hitting theaters outside NYC and LA in the coming weeks, and it’s 100% worth checking out.

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FINDING THE FOOL

by Meg Jones Wall

I’m a total Tarot newbie, but this is my go-to book for starting to learn the archetypal and emotional symbolism of the cards.

I have lots of books that break this down, but something about FINDING THE FOOL always hits home for me.

I’m using the Rider Waite deck to learn the imagery, but the Pagan Otherworlds deck is my favorite when it comes to the actual paintings. Something about the colors and quiet beauty of the images just feels soooo soothing and inspirational.

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THE ASSET

I watched this on Netflix while snowed in at a friend’s place in Connecticut and loved it. The casting. The tight, 6-episode structure. The gritty Danish setting.

There’s a lot of Nordic Noir out there, and it can be tough to know what’s good.

This is good.

So happy to hear there’s a second season coming.

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Violent Delights is the stage name of this weeks “dead boy”, who works as an aerial and burlesque performer in LA.

You can find him on IG if you want to check out one of his shows.

I haven’t seen him perform yet, but hopefully I get the chance next time I’m in LA.

Thanks to dead boy Daniel for connecting us :)

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MORE VIOLENT DELIGHTS

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One more thing I did this week was get the first test printing done for one of my BACKWOODS BOYS zines.

If all goes as planned, I’ll have 4 of them (Eric, Kodiak, Dan, and Raury) ready to go in the next month or so.

Stay tuned…

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As usual, thanks for being here. I really do appreciate it.

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Carter.

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P.S.

Finally, after months of neverending back and forth emails with the support team at Buttondown (who I use to send this newsletter), I think (hope) that if you hit REPLY to this email, it will show up in my inbox where it’s supposed to.

Give it a try.

Send me a 🍌

Or let me know what you’re watching/reading/loving.

Apologies if you’ve done this in the past and gotten nothing in return, but it’s been a headache to end all headaches, but apparently, the issue is now fixed.

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GET DIRTY LITTLE FRIDAYS

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P.S.S.

Three years ago (!!!) SWALLOWED was released on Valentine’s Day. It’s a fucked up love story for sure, and if you haven’t watched it yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

I’m talking to YOU.

Yeah you.

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💛💛💛Happy Valentine’s Day💛💛💛