Does Gaming Turn You On?

Maybe not after you get a gander of this.

Check out this bizarro ad for the Playstation 3 created in Vienna, Austria for the European market.

I can't say it's what anyone wants to see down there but if the ad is real (and there's debate on gaming and gadget sites as to whether it is or not) no doubt it will push a few buttons.

And, it's probably NSFW...

Check it out here...

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Music News: Cyndi Lauper Creates A Residence For Homeless LGBT Youth, Plus NIN, Jay-Z Vs. Oasis, Pete Burns, Ace Of Base

Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.

Many of you -- yes, that means you, buster --are probably reading this while at work. But while some of us are counting the minutes as the day wears on, as Cyndi Lauper points out in a Q&A with Newsweek, things could always be worse.

The singer discusses some of the odd jobs she had before she became a successful recording artist: "I tried to work in an office. Apparently, my clothes weren't right. I was a Gal Friday the 13th. I would answer phones and people would call up very upset. Then they'd call back screaming and yelling because I had to go to the file room and I would get sidetracked. I used to fall asleep reading the mail. I didn't want to. But it was so boring to me and I hated it."

One job Cyndi might be more happy to do is collaborating with Colleen Jackson and New York's West End Intergenerational Residence to create the True Colors Residence, "a permanent supportive housing program for homeless LGBT youth 18-24 years old."

Lauper notes in an open letter: "In New York City, a very disproportionate number (up to 40%), of homeless youth identify as LGBT. Even more disturbing are reports that these young people often face discrimination and at times physical assault in some of the very places they have to for help. This is shocking an inexcusable... We'll be building from the ground up so our residents will have a brand new, modern building with studio apartments for each resident and both indoor and outdoor community space to socialize or attend education and recreation programs. Each resident will be responsible for paying affordable rent based on their income and will receive ongoing assistance in obtaining employment best suited to their individual interests and skills."

As well, Cyndi Lauper's first studio album of original material in 11 years -- Bring Ya To The Brink -- will be released in two weeks, from Epic. The first single, "Same Ol' Story," was added to iTunes last week.

In 2001, Lauper was set to release an LP called Shine stateside, but plans with the label fell through, and the album eventually only saw the light of day in Japan, while she self-released an EP of some of the tracks domestically a year later.

Props to Towleroad reader Crispy, who in last week's music column commented that I forgot to mention Nine Inch Nails' digital release of new album The Slip, completely free of charge, on the band's website: "[lowercase sic] as a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively via nin.com. the music is available in a variety of formats including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE. your link will include all options - all free. all downloads include a PDF with artwork and credits. for those of you interested in physical products, fear not. we plan to make a version of this release available on CD and vinyl in july. details coming soon."

As a fellow Western Pennsylvanian who grew up only a county away from him, I hope Trent Reznor can forgive me for not mentioning it sooner!

Can you name three reasons why Dannii is better than Kylie?

It's Jay-Z vs. Noel Gallagher over a "controversial" Glastonbury headlining gig: "We don't play guitars, Noel, but hip-hop has put in its work like any other form of music. This headline show is just a natural progression."

But if jetting off to England to see Oasis and Jay-Z's pissing contest isn't your thing, why not catch this summer's Regeneration Tour, headlined by the Human League and featuring Belinda Carlisle, ABC and Naked Eyes on the bill? Those heading to dates on the West Coast will be lucky enough to catch Pete Burns of Dead Or Alive, who's joining the tour from August 2 - 11.

Finally -- what we've all been waiting for! Gnarls Barkley's Cee Lo Green and Jack Black to cover disco classic "Kung Fu Fighting" for Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda.

Not content to just give away their music for free, Coldplay now doing two gigs free of charge in New York and London next month.

Has it really been 14 years? Below is the video for the #1 single on Billboard's Hot 100 chart this week in 1994:

Jeez, and they thought life was demanding without understanding in the '90s...! Ace Of Base's "The Sign" initially spent four weeks at #1, beginning in March of '94, before being knocked off by R. Kelly's "Bump N' Grind." After a four-week stretch for the latter, "The Sign" returned to the top for two more weeks that May.

The Swedish quartet's same-titled album would go on to tie with Disney's Lion King soundtrack for the year's best-seller, at 7 million copies moved.

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

Death Cab For Cutie's Narrow Stairs. (And, hey, how about a new Postal Service album while you're at it, Ben?)

We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things., a collection of three EPs Jason Mraz had released in recent months.

New singles from the reunited New Kids On The Block ("Summertime") and Kaskade & Dedmau5 ("Move For Me").

Two new singles from The Cure (The Only One"" and "NY Trip"), who plan to release songs on the 13th of each month until the August release of their as-yet-untitled 13th album.

Brit blue-eyed soul singer Duffy's debut LP, Rockferry, which contains her current hit, "Mercy."

11, the appropriately-titled 11th studio album from Bryan Adams.

Hot Chip's four-song EP for single "One Pure Thought."

A remix EP for American Idol runner-up Blake Lewis' woefully overlooked "How Many Words."

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Cayman Kisser Sends Island's Bigots into a Gay Panic

The Cayman Island same-sex kiss incident that led to the arrest of 23-year-old Massachusetts resident Aaron Chandler earlier this month has apparently shaken the anti-gay hornet's nest. Chandler was arrested and detained by police after kissing his partner on a dance floor. The island's Tourism Director later apologized. But the whole brouhaha has bigot officials worried that the island's tolerance of the incident will lead pastors to be punished for spewing their hate, and cause same-sex couples to seek it out as a vacation spot.

Said JP Julianna O’Connor–Connolly during her budget debate in the Legislative Assembly: "I must say that the news headlines of this past week…certainly have caused the conservative voters…to be a little bit leery. Assurances were given that these things wouldn’t happen…now we have this test case...What happens when we get an Order in Council saying we have to [legalize gay marriage]? If (visitors) want to see that they can go to Los Angeles or Second Street in New York…is this the kind of tourism we want in the Cayman Islands? Are we just inches away from telling our pastors that they can’t preach about this lifestyle? Or that they have to marry (same sex couples)? Once doubt enters in the equation that we have to pander to these people…then we are diminishing our faith in God. Each time, I get more and more concerned as I see a lack of commitment to these values."

In related news, it appears that the Cayman Islands Department of Tourism PR Officer is responding to letters of concern from potential visitors by cautioning that "while we absolutely do not discriminate against any race, gender or sexual preference we do sometimes feel uncomfortable with overt displays of intimacy."

In other words, be warned you may suffer the consequences should you decide to show any outward affection to your partner.

READ THE LETTER sent to one of our readers, AFTER THE JUMP...

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British Police Investigating Homophobic Vehicular Harassment

Police in Surrey, UK, are investigating two incidents in which people in cars were harassed and pursued at night while the occupants were taunted:

"A suspected homophobic incident where a car was followed along the A3 and blocked in by four other vehicles is being investigated by police. The victim, who had been followed from Ockham, managed to lose his pursuers and was able to alert a police officer in Guildford. The incident in the early hours of Saturday, May 3 began in a car park at Ockham Bites, Old Lane, Ockham, when the four cars drove in and flashed full-beam headlights and blew whistles at vehicles parked there. They then followed one of the cars along the A3 southbound. The occupants of the pursuing vehicles were both male and female, all white and aged in their late teens to early 20s...A similar incident took place at about 10.30pm on Saturday, May 6 when a black Peugeot drove around the Ockham Bites car park and homophobic abuse was shouted."

Car pursued along A3 in homophobic incident [surrey advertiser]

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News: Shia LaBeouf, Cow, Dan Renzi, Swish, Cynthia Nixon

American art legend Robert Rauschenberg has died at 82.

Holy cow.

Swish: One New Yorker's quest to become the gayest person ever. Radar: "Despite his book's provocative title, Derfner in fact doesn't necessarily want to be the poster boy for the gays, or at least, he doesn't have the stamina. 'I basically don't have a social life. It's really sad. I don't go to bars, I don't go to parties, I don't like events. I'm too old to stay up that late; I've never gotten home at five. I like going to the movies and eating at cheap chain restaurants.'"

Emergency help button switched on in gay village in Birmingham, UK.

Marc Jacobs goes Brazilian.

Cynthia Nixon is thinking about getting married: "It's something my girlfriend is interested in and it was not something my boyfriend ever was. I think that to get married to her would be a little act of rebellion. It's like if you've never had the vote and then you get it you're going to run out there and vote.”

Bob Barr joins presidential race as Libertarian candidate. TPM: "Normally these third party candidacies don't amount to anything. And I don't expect this one to either. But on this one ... maybe. Barr is enough of a media darling that if he runs he'll get a lot of free media. And there's enough weirdness going on in the Republican party right now that I could imagine a few scenarios where he'd draw non-trivial numbers away from McCain. As always in these cases the place to look isn't in aggregate national numbers but in particular states where a drawing off a few points in one direction could make a state competitive where it otherwise wouldn't be."

Shia LaBeouf spiffs up GQ.

Bravo, Apple, Showtime, HBO,
Absolut, and Levi's named the most gay-friendly brands in 2008 Prime Access/PlanetOut Gay and Lesbian Consumer Study. Least gay friendly were WalMart, Dunkin Donuts, Cracker Barrel, Exxon Mobil, and Samsung.

Gay teen Jonathan Siden nominated for "Citizen of the Year" in Ann Arbor, Michigan: "He began to be open about his sexual orientation in ninth grade. He said being open about his sexuality has 'taken a great toll.' Lori Roddy, program director at the Neutral Zone, nominated Siden for the Young Citizen of the Year Award. She said she's amazed at his focus. Under such pressure, other students might withdraw or drop out of school, but Siden was motivated to try to bring about change."

An email from Burma: "Two days after the storm the men in uniforms came to our village with blankets, food and water. We accepted their gifts and posed for their cameras. When they were done taking pictures they took back the food, the water, and the blankets and drove away. I do not think that I can face such disappointment again."

The DL hip-hop book revealed.

Sarah Jessica Parker's hat attends Sex and the City premiere in London.

Tori Spelling signs on to 90210 spin-off.

El Salvador man denied refugee status in Canada says he'll be killed if he returns as scheduled on May 15: "Ramirez, who came to Toronto as a delegate for the International AIDS Conference in August 2006, says he's afraid that if he's sent back he'll face violence at the hands of three federal police officers who he claims beat, raped and robbed him in a sugarcane field more than two years ago. Since the alleged attack Ramirez says the three men have visited his family in El Salvador threatening to kill him because, they claim, he infected at least one of them. I am sure that I will be put through torture,' says Ramirez through an interpreter, 'and I am sure that I will be assassinated if I go back. There have been four men who have come to my sister's home in a car and have parked outside her house. They have asked my little niece if I had come back yet and they have also called my sister and told her that they were going to kill me.'"

SF Weekly questions cost of Harvey Milk City Hall bust: "about as much as 14,860 gallons…"

Former Real World star Dan Renzi appointed editor of South Florida's Express Gay News.

Homo-hating Bush tool Scott Bloch shut down Karl Rove investigation: "The corrupt anti-gay head of the Office of Special Counsel, Scott Bloch, who allegedly employed Geek Squad to try scrub emails from his computer before the FBI took away his office and home computers, is a busy tool. While he was coming up with that ace cleansing project, he also deep-sixed an investigation into politically motivated allegedly illegal activities by the dark lord Karl Rove."

UCLA looking for 20 more participants in gay twins study.

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Van Hansis and Jake Silbermann Offer Kissing Lessons

As the World Turns' gay couple Luke and Noah recently offered contestants on CBS' unscripted casting series InTurn lessons on how to make out for the camera.

AFTER THE JUMP, watch the clip (via GLAAD's CineQueer)...

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