5.22.26 RY

Happy Friday from Yucca Valley!

.

I’m out in the desert with three filmmaker friends on a last-minute midweek getaway.

.

We joked that only four indie (ie: unemployed) filmmakers have the freedom to take off in the middle of the week and head to the desert like we did.

.

They had tickets to see Rilo Kiley at Papi and Harriet’s in Pioneertown, and even though I only had a vague idea of who that was, I jumped at the chance.

Though I didn’t know most of the music, the show was great, and the company has been exactly what I needed to combat the post shoot comedown of wrapping my HEADLOCK shoot.

.

My favorite part of LA is my filmmaker friends.

.

Some of us do big movies and television shows.

Most of us are scrappy and work on indie microbudget projects.

.

All of us understand how hard it is to stay motivated and creative when the industry around us is literally collapsing in on itself, and all you ever seem to hear is no.

.

But we make films because telling stories is what we love.

.

And even if we have to find ways to tell those stories without budgets and get them in front of audiences without traditional distributors, it’s what we’re gonna do.

.

And it’s oh-so-fucking-soul-nourishing to be surrounded by creative people who are pouring their blood, sweat, and tears into their own passion projects.

I fucking love LA for that.

.

So what do you think of Ry?

.

He’s proof that sometimes the best models find their way to me through the dead boy network.

I met him through DAN, who many of you know and love, and hopefully I’ll be shooting with him again and again when I’m back in NYC. I feel like his ‘character’ has quite a story, and we just tapped the surface.

As I was editing our shoot yesterday, one of my friends looked over my shoulder and exclaimed, “Ooooohh. He looks dangerous. Who is he…?”

Mission accomplished :)

Hope you feel the same way.

.

Also - I have a great 🍌 response ready to go featuring Ry.

You know what to do.

.

.

.

.

So it’s been a while since I shared a pic of what’s on my to-be-read pile, so here’s one of my current California stack.

HAPPY HEAD and DEAD HAPPY by Josh Silver.

I decided to pick these up while I wait for Josh’s new book FRUIT FLY to come out. I found him on IG talking about the book (which sounds incredible) and I’ve been following along on his book tour. How do I get my hands on FRUIT FLY before its US release in August? Anyone in the UK wanna send a copy my way?

.

TURN YOUR LIFE INTO ART: Lessons in Psychomagic from the San Francisco Underground by Caveat Magister

This is all about taking inspiration from the experiential art movements that came out of San Francisco as you create your art and shape experiences. Think Burning Man and immersive theater art happenings. It has me thinking about the ALL THE DEAD BOYS Haunted Shot Crawl I did last Halloween, and so far I’m loving it.

.

DELINQUNET ELEMENTALS: A Pagan News Anthology edited by Phil Hine and Rodney Orpheus

This collects the UK Pagan News zine from the 80s, and it’s fucking great. I’d never heard of the zine before, but it’s an issue-by-issue deep dive into the British occult and Pagan countercultures of the 80s and 90s. It’s got exactly the tactile, tangible vibe I find myself craving right now.

.

CULT FOLLOWING: The Extreme Sects That Capture Our Imaginations and Take Over Our Lives by J.W. Ocker

Each chapter is a peek into a different dark corner of a different cult - both the well-known ones and the super obscure. They're short enough that you can dip in and out, and so far the chapters I’ve read have been both fascinating and disturbing.

.

PHYSIQUE PICTORIAL published by the Bob Mizer Foundation

I love this magazine. Both the vintage issues and the current incarnation. They did a big feature on my ALL THE DEAD BOYS work in Volume 74 and included some of my stuff in their new book TIMELESS. I’ll also be doing an ALL THE DEAD BOYS exhibition at the Bob Mizer Foundation in San Francisco in the fall (more on that later). Physique Pictorial was also a HUGE inspiration for 52 FRIDAYS and the upcoming BACKWOODS BOYS zines.

.

SIX WAYS: Approaches and Entries for Practical Magic by Aidan Wachter

.

Aidan writes about ‘dirt sorcery’, his personal approach to practicing magic. It’s super accessible and entry-level but feels somehow smarter and more intuitive than many of the other books I’ve seen. Plus, it’s not dripping in the girl-y witch power vibes that so many books about magic are - which I very much appreciate.

.

HUNKS TWINKS THUGS by Chuck

This self-published book collects the pornographic works of “Chuck” (aka Charles Hovland) from 1986 to 2009. The images originally appeared in magazines like TORSO, HONCHO, INCHES, and MANDATE, and his guys range from the oiled and glossy to the roughest of rough trade. This one definitely deserves a spot on any smutty gay bookshelf.

.

.

What are you reading? What’s on your TBR pile?

.

As usual, thanks for being here.

I really do appreciate it.

.

Carter

.

.

P.S.

Sooooo many of you wrote asking where to find more Ben (from last week’s DIRTY LITTLE FRIDAY). His IG is here, but sadly, he doesn’t do X or OF. He’s more of a personal trainer type who is happy to get naked than a full-on adult leaning ‘content creator’ (though apparently he does have a podcast for influencers/models, which I discovered in his linktree).

You can also find more of Ben (naked:) on my Patreon.

.

.

.

P.S.S.

Have you read YELLOW HAZE? It’s the episodic visual story collab I did years ago for OUT magazine with one of my favorite authors of all time, John Rechy.

You can find it HERE.

.

.