Potential date maneuver!

Everyone listen: fireworks mean first kisses! Tell your crush that if they want to skip the crowds and avoid hetero french-slobbering, they can come with you to your favorite secret viewing spot. Bring a bottle of wine and a couple apples, and forget the cups so you have to share the bottle.
Secret Spot #1: Long Island City
Take the 7 to Vernon Blvd/Jackson Avenue or G to 21st st. Walk west to the water and look at all the people crowding midtown across the river.

Secret Spot #2: Greenpoint
Take the G to Greenpoint avenue. Walk north to Java and then west to the water. If this isn't the street that has access to the water, try the next block north. Repeat until it's right. You're probably already making out.

Secret Spot #3: Red Hook
You'd be best to bike here, but you can also take the B61 to the end of Van Brunt st. Go to the left of the huge new Fairway market, and down the pier for the best view of the Statue of Liberty fireworks.

Secret Spot #4: Sunset Park
Take the D/N/R to 36th st. Go south to 41st st. and east to 5th Avenue. From the top of the hill, you can see the fireworks go off over the most spectacular view of Manhattan.

More popular options include the waterfront park in DUMBO, the Promenade in Brooklyn Heights, South Street Seaport, Battery Park, and of course anywhere from 14th-57th street along the FDR, which will be closed to traffic.

Kinsey Scale (0-6): 4

Sleater-Kinney Disbanding

S-K are going their separate ways. Why? It's not clear. This is the farewell message from the band:

After eleven years as a band, Sleater-Kinney have decided to go on indefinite hiatus. The upcoming summer shows will be our last. As of now, there are no plans for future tours or recordings.

We feel lucky to have had the support of many wonderful people over the years. We want to thank everyone who has worked with us, written kind words about us, performed with us, and inspired us.

But mostly we want to extend our gratitude to our amazing fans. You have been a part of our story from the beginning. We could not have made our music without your enthusiasm, passion, and loyalty. It is you who have made the entire journey worthwhile.

With love and thanks,
Sleater-Kinney

Not suprisingly, but very sadly, their August 2nd show at Webster Hall is already sold out. Leverage those lez connections, or resign yourself to never hearing "Dig Me Out" live again...

Can 450 Gay Animal Species Be Wrong?

At last count, over 450 different vertebrae species exhibited homosexual behavior, from Japanese macaques ("ardent lesbians") to big horn sheep, bottlenose dolphins, and West Indian manatees. This fascinating and well-written article published by Seed magazine makes a case for questioning Darwin's evolutionary theory with regard to the ghettoization of homosexual behavior as biologically deviant and worthy of dismissal. In large part, the argument hinges on the research of transgendered Stanford biologist Joan Roughgarden, who published her controversial theories in the book Evolution's Rainbow. The main thrust of the article (no pun intended) is that homo activities are really only another crucial means of maintaining the social contract, and that "having homosexual sex is the biological equivalent of apple pie: everybody likes it." Who knew?

In out in out in out

If perhaps the pretanned booties, boozy sweat and overpowered DJs of this Sunday's pride parade leave you craving a spot of tea and bit of subtly lesbionic art, the old school has got your back this weekend. From 12-6pm this Sunday June 25, PS1 opens its yearly early-summer, big-deal show with into me out of me.

Centering around "imagined, descriptive, and performative acts of the passing into, through, and out of the human body," the show is divided into three chapters: metabolism, reproduction, and violence. Some works, such as Carolee Schneemann's infamous performances and Mona Hatoum's portraits, fit quite literally into the curatorial view. Others artists such as Matthew Barney, Marina Abramovic, and Rirkrit Tiravanija transform the body into more conceptual platforms for expression.

Anyone who loved the Magic School Bus as a child (or later) should be very excited to see their intracorporeal fantasies finally lived out in high-art form. Yeah, us too.

Kinsey scale (0-6): 2.5

Vag-stad

Kinsey Scale (0-6): Georgia O'Keefe

Pandora's Box & Other Euphemisms, Er, Events

When you come off your Pride high (and fashion lows), you've got to have somewhere to land. Or maybe you're just planning on keeping it on the DL this week, in which case, we've got recs for a few dark theatres you might skulk in. Sharpen your pencil, and get out your dance card...

Thur 6.22: Erase Errata w/ Hot Fire and Die Die Die at Club Exit (8pm) — highly recommended if you can't attend the other EE show mentioned in my blogging compadre's Pride roundup. Check the virtual tour of the venue: garish Greenpoint goodness.

Now through Sat 6.24: The Kung Fu Importance of Being Earnest at Brick Theater (various times, $10) — Oscar Wilde's 19th century play, updated with nunchucks. This one comes highly recommended.

Now through Thru 6.29: Pandora's Box at Film Forum — the tale of a prostitute from 1928 Berlin. Pauline Kael says, "for sheer erotic dynamism, the backstage scenes have never been equaled." Wow. More on this from Flavorpill NYC.

Wed 7.5: Kaki King at the Living Room (8pm, $10) — Miz King does her dreamy instrumental guitar thang at this intimate venue in support of her new album, until we felt red. You can find her wrapped up in licorice here.

Net Kinsey Scale (0-6): 4.5

PRIDE: TIME TO LOVE

Get your grammas blindfolded, it's pride weekend! The year's cranked around again to the special weekend of extra sweat, extra drugs, and extra low standards of public acceptability!!

And here is your exhaustive roundup of events. The two dance parties on the pier got cut, but just so you know, they were like $70 out of your price range and filled with people who are way, way over that.

Tues 6.20
8pm: WYSIWYG Fete ($7) at Bowery Poetry Club, Bowery + Bleecker

Wed 6.21
8pm: In the Flesh Erotic Reading at Happy Ending, 302 Broome
9pm: Super Gay Pride Queeramid at Pieces Bar, 8 Christopher st.
9pm-1am: Make-Out Party at Luke & Leroy's, 7th Ave + Leroy st.

Thur 6.22
7pm: Kate Bornstein reading at Bluestockings ($5-$10), 172 Allen st.
9pm: Super Gay Pride Queeramid at Pieces Bar, 8 Christopher st.

Fri 6.23
2:30pm: Trans Day of Action meetup, 27th btw 10th + 11th
4pm: Trans Day of Action protest HRA, 34th btw 8th+9th
5pm: Trans Day of Action rally agains trans murders at Port Authority, 42nd +8th
6pm: Trans Day of Action Rally at Bryant Park, 42nd + 6th
9pm: Erase Errata w/Dynasty Handbag, hosted by Murray Hill ($12) at Knitting Factory
10pm: Grrrlz Wanna Rock party feat. Paprika and Inner Princess ($7) at Galapagos, 70 N6th btw Kent + Wythe, Brooklyn
11:30pm: Boys of Melody (feat. Joe Gibb) ($15) at Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette st.

Sat 6.24
2pm: Mermaid Parade at Coney Island Boardwalk
5pm: Dyke March from 42nd + 6th to Washington Sq Park
10pm: Murray Hill Party feat. Dynasty Handbag and Pupu Platter ($18) at Mo Pitkin's, 34 Ave A
11pm: Joe's Big Gay Luau ($20) at Joe's Pub, 425 Lafayette
12am: Murray Hill Party feat. Lesbian Overtones and Dazzle Dancers at Mo Pitkin's, 34 Ave A

Sun 6.25
12pm: Gay Pride march along 5th Ave (Route Map)
12pm: Pridefest at Greenwich + Washington btw Christopher + Spring
7pm: FIERCE NYC Pride Afterparty w/Penny Arcade, Bora Yoon, DJ Tikka Masala ($12) at Knitting Factory
Kinsey Scale (0-6): 11

NASA Breaking News!

Space Rover Goes Traveling; Finds Gay Martians!

Swooning for Summer Concert Series

The summer concert season gets underway in earnest in the last two weeks of June, and between Central Park SummerStage, Prospect Park's Celebrate Brookyn series, Manhattan's River to River, P.S.1's Warm Up, and the new McCarren Park Pool gigs (eek!) the amount of talent available at outdoor shows for $10 or less is enough to make your heart go pitter patter, and then explode.

Central Park's SummerStage kicks off tonight and their lineup of performances may be the best ever, featuring Feist (Pride March and Canada Day go head-to-head on June 25th!), Joan Didion, Seu Jorge, Ani DiFranco, Stephen Petronio Dance Company, Amadou & Mariam, Fiona Apple, Edie Brickell, Lady Sovereign, the New Pornographers, and Urban Bush Women to name a few. Almost all for FREE.

Laurie Anderson delivers music and stories on the first weekend of Prospect Park's Celebrate Brooklyn series, which boasts an impressive roster of acts for $3 — and real trees and grass as opposed to SummerStage's turf and bleachers. Also slated are TV on the Radio, Angelique Kidjo, Nortec Collective, Hitch's Blackmail with live accompaniment from the Alloy Orchestra, and Yo La Tengo performing their Sounds of Science soundtrack. This last is an absolute must-see: YLT's score combined with the surreal underwater imagery of Jacques Painleve — the Jacques Cousteau precursor that the NYT calls "a biologist, fetishist, filmmaker and aquanaut" — is trip-tastic.

The River to River festival can't compete for breadth (that is, when it comes to concerts for the kids) but they've booked some truly standout acts for shows still to come at South Street Seaport and Castle Clinton, including Juana Molina, Hot Chip, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists (who were rocking the Seaport when the city blacked out in August '03), Mates of State, and the Hold Steady. Again, all for free, though you have to queue up early for tix into Clinton.

P.S.1's Warm Up series creeps up to $10 a show this year, but you can't really find better value anywhere. Six hours of live music and DJs, a sunny courtyard, beer and burgers on hand, and access to all of the museum's art exhibitions. If you've never been to Warm Up (shame on you!), check this video from last year to get a sense of the vibe. The Saturday afternoon parties get started on July 1st with a Body & SOUL reunion with Danny Krivit, Francois K, and Joe Clausell, followed at later dates by the Idjut Boys, Kudu, the Juan Maclean, the Glimmers, Rub-n-Tug, and loads more incredible acts.

Noemie LaFrance's impressive Agora dance piece last summer reopened the gates to the breathtaking McCarren Park Pool and, starting in late July, it will play host to an onslaught of uberhip concerts. Bloc Party plays with Secret Machines, Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Sonic Youth, Iron & Wine, and Neko Case with Joanna Newsom and Martha Wainwright. I for one, cannot wait to hear Miz Case belt out "Star Witness" in this weathered Billyburg beauty. Check the Broad View testifying about Neko's last show here.

Net Kinsey Scale (0-6): 2.5

Signing to Watch Out For

Alison Bechdel's on tour and she's coming to town! Her autobiographical graphic novel Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic, completed over several years while also writing the original lez drama series Dykes to Watch Out For, has received high praise in the graphic novel field since its release. The book sorts through her adolescence, occupied with her father's complex relationships, both familial and sexual, and possible suicide. Her quirky, unstable drawings- love them!- convey true character throughout.

Side note: How awesome is her life-size cardboard doll of Phranc?

Alison Bechdel signs Fun Home at Cattyshack from 8-10pm on Sunday June 18, as well as Barnes & Noble Chelsea at 7pm on Monday June 19, and Bluestockings at 6pm on Tuesday June 20.

Kinsey Scale (0-6): 6