Chris Crocker Gives His Pork and Beans to Weezer

Chris Crocker appears up close and personal with Weezer, in their new video for "Pork and Beans" which honors geeky individualism, web personalities, and viral videos, and also features Miss South Carolina Lauren Caitlin Upton, the guys behind the Mentos and Diet Coke video phenomenon, Kelly of Shoez fame, and Kevin Federline.

The video is already an internet phenomenon in and of itself, with over 3 million views in just four days.

Watch it, AFTER THE JUMP...

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #263

YouTube handed out its 2007 YouTube Awards in several categories last night. Here are two of the winners.

BATTLE AT KRUGER: I posted about this back in May of last year. Absolutely my favorite of the bunch, and one of the best amateur wildlife videos ever. Winner for " Eyewitness".

HUMAN TETRIS: Winner for "Creative".

Check out the other winners here.

*** The following are not award winners:

PENIS STRAWS: Mother offended that Walmart is selling drinking straws to her kids. She "can't think of any other thing." (source: slog)

CHRIS CROCKER: The Chris Crocker video of a blink which has received more than a million views.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

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News: Iran, Rosie O'Donnell, Halloween, Zagreb, Gay Ghetto

Amnesty: Death penalty imminent for gay youth in Iran. "Child offender Makwan Moloudzadeh, an Iranian Kurd, is believed to be at risk of imminent execution. He has reportedly been convicted of lavat-e iqabi (anal sex) for the alleged rape of a 13-year-old boy. Makwan Moloudzadeh was aged 13 at the time of the alleged offence. His death sentence has been passed to the Office for the Implementation of Sentences and he is due to be executed in public, near his home."

Confederate flag that hangs at site of Cheney's weekend hunting trip stirs up anger from Al Sharpton: "It’s appalling for the VP to be at a private club displaying the flag of lynching, hate and murder. It’s the epitome of an insult." The good news is, nobody got shot in the face.

Rosie O'Donnell ambushed at book signing by Bill O'Reilly team. (Rosie's Video, O'Reilly's Video)

NYT: Cancellation of Halloween fest in San Francisco a sign that gay ghettos risk becoming passé. "For many in the Castro District, the cancellation is a blow that strikes at the heart of neighborhood identity, and it has brought soul-searching that goes beyond concerns about crime. These are wrenching times for San Francisco’s historic gay village, with population shifts, booming development, and a waning sense of belonging that is also being felt in gay enclaves across the nation, from Key West, Fla., to West Hollywood, as they struggle to maintain cultural relevance in the face of gentrification."

Did Avril Lavigne dress as Chris Crocker for Halloween?

Miller Brewing apologizes for allowing its brand logo to appear on posters for San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair that parodied The Last Supper.

Opposing accounts offered at trial of Navy doctor accused of secretly taping midshipmen having sex: "A Navy doctor who served as a sponsor for U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen 'violated the trust' of the students by using surveillance equipment installed in an air purifier at his Annapolis home to make 'secret sex tapes' of them, a Navy prosecutor said yesterday at the start of the doctor's court-martial. But Cmdr. Kevin Ronan's attorney, William T. Ferris, said the tapes were made by a former midshipman who used them in an attempt to extort money from his client. Ferris said the tapes became public after his client refused to give money to the former midshipman, who had been dismissed from the Naval Academy for academic reasons and needed money for expenses. 'This was a plan to extort money from Commander Ronan that went awry,' Ferris said during his opening statement at the Washington Navy Yard."

Meet the first Mr. Gay Brazil, Luciano Lupo.

Frank DeCaro looks at Paul Lynde's Halloween Special from 1976, along with a clip of Margaret Hamilton dressed as the wicked witch introducing Paul to members of KISS.

Queer community at NYU holds drag ball.

Croatian man charged with hate crime in Zagreb for attack on gay parade: "The man, identified only as Josip S., is charged with endangering lives and property by an act of hatred toward the participants of the Gay Pride parade in July, the Zagreb district prosecutors' office said. The man is the first person in Croatia to face hate crime charges since it was introduced into the Penal Code last year. If convicted, he faces up to eight years in prison. No date for a trial was immediately set. Police spotted the man as he prepared to throw homemade Molotov cocktails — bottles containing gasoline — at the parade participants gathering at Zagreb's main square. He fled the scene, but was tracked down later at his home."

Best Week Ever's Top 10 most humiliating pet costumes, judged by the expression on the pets' faces.

Leak reveals Cheney's plan for Iran attack? "In the scenario concocted by Cheney's strategists, Washington's first step would be to convince Israel to fire missiles at Iran's uranium enrichment plant in Natanz. Tehran would retaliate with its own strike, providing the US with an excuse to attack military targets and nuclear facilities in Iran."

1884: The oldest known photograph of a tornado.

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News: Britney Spears, Matthew Shepard, Soft Cell, Gay Cruising

Retrial begins over gay Tucson murder: "For the second time, a jury will decide whether a disabled gay Tucson man was stabbed to death over a TV and VCR or as the result of an impulsive rage. Nine years after Mark Truesdell, 29, was slain in his North Campbell Avenue apartment, Ronnie Gene Sartin Jr., 30, is being tried on a first-degree murder charge. Sartin was living in Tucson at the time of the slaying. Sartin was convicted by a jury in 1999 of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. The Arizona Court of Appeals ordered the case returned to Superior Court last year for retrial after changes were made to the law regarding how premeditation is explained to jurors."

Halloween scare-a-thon: Chris Crocker recreates Britney Spears cooch flash.

Britney Spears' new album Blackout being called the best of her career.

Utah lawyer on crusade to testify against gay marriage in Vermont: "Monte Stewart will travel more than 2,300 miles this weekend to appear before the Vermont Commission on Family Recognition and Protection as the only lawyer opposed to same-sex marriage scheduled to speak Monday at its second public meeting. Stewart, the president of the Utah-based Family Marriage Law Foundation, will explain to the 11-member legislative committee why marriage rights should not be extended to gay and lesbian couples in Vermont. 'The law has clearly been decided in favor of marriage being between one man and one woman,' Stewart said Wednesday morning, from his office in Orem, Utah. 'There are clear reasons why this institution needs to be preserved.'"

Matthew Shepard foundation launches new community site for LGBT youth.

British group Soft Cell to release remix album.

REPORT: Beckham miserable in the U.S.

UK: Police add to patrols at Hampstead Heath's gay cruising spots.

Gay lawyer Aaron Charney settles bias lawsuit with NY firm Sullivan & Cromwell, where he worked: "The settlement, the terms of which are confidential, brings to a close a dispute that had fascinated the New York legal community over the past several months, both with its allegations concerning partners at one of the city’s most prestigious firms and its bizarre twists and turns in the courtroom. In January, Mr Charney, who had worked in the firm’s mergers and acquisitions practice, sued the firm, accusing several partners of discriminating against him because he is gay and then papering over his complaints."

U.S. asylum denied to gay Mexican.

Lithuanian gay rights conference attacked with smoke bombs.

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News: Britney Spears, Yale, Plaza Hotel, Lou Pearlman, Lost

High school student paper editorial "characterizing homosexuals as victims of reproductive error or an unwanted upbringing" causes firestorm in Georgia: "Principal Trudie Donovan said Monday that she had reviewed the article before it was published last Friday, but said she had no authority to censor it. 'My job is the safety and security of the school, not censorship,' she said. Cobb County schools spokesman Jay Dillon said principals have no legal standing to say articles of student opinion can't be printed. Under court rulings and school district policy, students can express their opinions and ideas publicly, privately, orally and in writing. 'There may be no interference with that, even if a student's opinion is unpopular,' he said."

New York's Plaza Hotel celebrates 100 years: "After the park-facing façade of the Plaza Hotel had glowed with the number '100,' after white and gold jets of light had been launched from the roof into the dark October sky, and after a pigeon and a heart-shaped balloon had flown past the 12th floor, suddenly flashes of white light, syncopated to the strains of 'One' from the Broadway hit 'A Chorus Line,'burst from the windows of the venerable hostelry-turned-hotel-and-condominium."

Sexual orientation hate crimes bill launched in Scotland.

Britney Spears has what some might call her darkest day yet but goes out partying anyway.

Queer Eye stages "Straight Guy Pageant" to kick off new season.

Elton John asks gallery to shutter exhibition that showcased the Nan Goldin portrait seized in a child pornography probe.

Lost writers/producers Carlton Cuse and Damon Lindelof give up some tidbits about the show's upcoming season.

After appeals court ruling, Yale to allow military recruiters on campus: "At question is a statute called the Solomon Amendment, which allows the federal government to withhold funds from universities that do not extend the same welcome to military recruiters as they do to other recruiters. Since 1978, Yale Law School has required recruiters to sign a pledge of nondiscrimination. Military recruiters would not do that because of the Defense Department’s 'don’t ask, don’t tell' policy, which permits homosexuals to serve in the armed forces as long as they keep their sexual orientation private."

Vanity Fair to tell the completely unsavory and unsurprising tales of boyband manufacturer Lou Pearlman.

The next 25 years of video games.

Chris Crocker speaks out about nude pictures circulating on the net: "I obviously did this behind my parents backs and I am truly embarressed for myself and my family at this time, but I just wanted to clear the air and let anyone and everyone know, that has saved these pictures that it is illegal seeing as though I was 17 at the time, so when you brag that you 'saw Chris Crocker naked!!!'..what you're really bragging that you saw a 17 year old me naked."

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Chris Crocker: "I'm the Key to World Peace"

TMZ ran into Chris Crocker emerging from Mr. Chow on Saturday night. Crocker appears to be thoroughly enjoying the temporary window of fame his wailing rant about Britney Spears has afforded him.

Crocker also gets a profile treatment from the Associated Press:

"It's tough to be openly gay in a conservative Southern town, he says. There have always been death threats, bullying and glares at his clothes and makeup. Oh, and he's always pushing someone's buttons. 'My grandparents can't go to their church any more,' said Crocker, his spunk clouded momentarily with genuine concern. He's fiercely protective of his grandparents, Pentecostal Christians who took over raising him when his teenage parents couldn't. Crocker said his outrageous behavior, a stark contrast to the rest of the family, started when he was in kindergarten. He raised eyebrows that year for bringing Barbie dolls to class for show-and-tell. 'What I do affects them, and I feel bad for that,' he said of his family. Crocker's grandmother, who declined to be interviewed, is seen in a handful of his videos, appearing as an uncomfortable bystander. In one, Crocker is imitating a Christian woman interviewing his grandmother, who says she loves her grandson. In another, his grandmother is patiently arguing with him over his attitude. Crocker said that when she agreed to be taped, 'she didn't really grasp the size of the audience.'"

Has Andy Warhol's "15 minutes" quote ever seemed more prescient?

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Chris Crocker on Maury Povich

Is he real? Chris Crocker escaped from in front of his video camera to set things straight on the Maury Povich show.

Crocker: "You think it's acting? I did internet acting for a year. I'm signed to a production company. However, the one video I'm not acting in - honest to God - the one video that is a blog straight from the heart is this video that's getting publicized...Everyone that knows me knows I love Britney. And you know, everyone that thinks this is fake, do your research. Look at my other videos where I have thousands of dollars worth of memorabilia, you know. I have a Britney pool. That's what I call it, my Britney pool...We're both beautiful women that (bleep) wants to be, so we're underdogs. America, I want you to know that before I'm an American, I'm a Britney fan!"

You may have missed...
Real Bitch Island, the World of Chris Crocker [tr]

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News: David Beckham, Nellie's, Condoleezza Rice, Chris Crocker

Condoleezza Rice denied audience with Pope Benedict over U.S. foreign policy: "The US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice indicated to the Vatican that she urgently needed to meet Benedict XVI. She was on her way back into the viper’s nest of the Middle East and it would have been no bad thing to meet her counterparts with the credentials of a papal audience. Ms Rice had hoped that the audience could be fixed for early August at Castelgandolfo, the papal summer residence, when Benedict XVI returned from Lorenzago in the Dolomites, but she was told the Pope was on holiday. She insisted but to no avail. Vatican diplomats were adamant and 'Benedict XVI is on holiday' continued to be the official reply."

Hot java: One Venti Beckhammato, please...

Lesbian activist Robin Tyler calls on Arnold Schwarzenegger's lesbian chief-of-staff Susan Kennedy to resign: "I am not only extremely disappointed in the Governor's lack of courage, but am especially disappointed in Susan Kennedy, his chief of staff, whose "same gender wedding" I attended in Hawaii several years ago. Since I attended Susan's wedding, why is she so against attending mine? Both Arnold and Susan know that it is unconstitutional for the majority to deny a minority equal protection under the law."

Chris Crocker inks reality "docu-soap" deal: "It's going to pretty much be the 'Chris Crocker experience. We consider him a rebel character that people will find interesting. He's going to be a TV star."

Kathy Griffin engaged to Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak?

Pop star Mika threatened with lawsuit over name, by Belgian reggae artist Mika: "I was called Mika before him and have registered the name. Even though his real name is Mica, I think he should change it."

The Washington Post takes a look at gay D.C. sports bar Nellie's: "What sounds like a gay slur isn't: Nellie's pays homage to Schantz's great- and great-great-grandmothers, both named Nellie, one of whom is captured in sepia-toned photographs on the wall. True to its theme, the sports bar sticks to showing games on its TV monitors and displaying tennis rackets, oars and trophies as decorations; the bathroom sinks once wet the hands of spectators at Washington's old Griffith Stadium."

Sydney police accused of ignoring gay bashing: "The officer told me how stressful the court process would be and said, ‘Do you realise that nine out of 10 gay men don’t report incidents because they are afraid?’ I said I wanted to press charges anyway, and they said, ‘The men are only going to get off free.’"

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #173

TIGER ATTACK: According to the description on this clip, "The forest department was combing the area with five elephants to locate a large female tiger which had killed two cows near their village. The team cautiously moved almost 20 feet where she was growling away. They took a shot at it with a dart gun and missed. This enraged the tiger so much that she charged and took a 'flying' leap 12 feet above the ground on to the elephant's head." A fairly incredible perspective.

GREENSPAN and LANTOS: The Iraq war is largely about oil. Greenspan clarifies: "I was not saying that that's the administration's motive. I'm just saying that if somebody asked me, 'Are we fortunate in taking out Saddam?' I would say it was essential."

CHRIS CROCKER: Responds to FOX News coverage of "Leave Britney Alone" video.

JOHN MCCAIN on IRAQ REPORT: "I've known General Jones for 30 years. It's not what he's saying."

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here!

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Leave General Petraeus Alone!

A message from the White House. And if you're one of the three people who hasn't seen the video it references (currently the most viewed on YouTube), see after the jump...

Via DailyKos.

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #171

ARI GOLD: Brand new video animated by Joe Phillips for "Where the Music Takes You". Lots more on the video from Arjan.

JAKE GYLLENHAAL: AJ Hammer asks Jake his opinions on the use of torture.

JOHN EDWARDS: Edwards paid for this ad on MSNBC that aired after Bush's speech last night.

TYRA BANKS: Has some words for Britney Spears.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here!

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #168

DAVID DURANTE: The 27-year-old from New Jersey recently became the 2007 USA Gymnastics champion.

CHRIS CROCKER: Britney has at least one fan left. As dlisted notes: "You might want to turn the volume down when you play this video, because bitch can wail!"

DR. EVIL: Someone has an interesting role model.

THE REAL RUDY: Brave New Films takes on the former NYC mayor on 9/11 and the command center.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here!

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #160

INVISIBLE: New Hillary Clinton campaign spot to begin airing in Iowa tomorrow.
(source: slog)

AIDS: The latest from Chris Crocker.

VACATION: Clip from Fahrenheit 9/11. Bush on track to become the 'vacation president': "The presidential vacation-time record holder is the late Ronald Reagan, who tallied 436 days in his two terms. At 418 days, and with 17 months to go in his presidency, Bush is going to beat that easily."

GAY PANIC: The latest from As the World Turns' gay storyline between Luke and Noah.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here!

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Real Bitch Island, the World of Chris Crocker

You may have watched some of the videos I've posted of Chris Crocker. Crocker has, to say the least, a unique personality, and has developed a massive YouTube and MySpace following because of his often nonsensical, sometimes hilarious, spontaneous musings made before a video camera in his home.

What was not known before now was much about the person behind the videos. Eli Sanders at The Stranger was so intrigued he made a trip to Crocker's hometown, a place Chris likes to call "Real Bitch Island". It's a small town in the rural south.

What Sanders found was less of an egomaniacal YouTube star with attitude, and more of a desperate but hopeful gay boy whose experiences in his home town illustrate the plight that many young gay people face in small towns across the country — loneliness, harassment, isolation.

Sanders writes of a trip to the local mall with Crocker: "As we walked around, past the Sunglass Hut, past the pushy smells of scented candles and baking cookies, people stared hatefully at us, and mostly at him. They stared hard, with the kind of presumed right to glare that people in more sophisticated places wouldn't dare show. Chris ignored it all, checked out the cover of the latest W magazine at a bookstore, pronounced it boring, and then nonchalantly showed me the mall video arcade whose back room he'd hid in when, one day while shopping, he'd heard a girlfriend of his shout: 'Run, Chris!' He'd turned around, that day at the mall, to see a gang of boys chasing him down, coming at him over the beige tiles. He knew he couldn't stand and fight and win. He knew that was only a fantasy, perhaps suitable for a web video but not for real life. He ran."

The difference between some gay kids who are bullied in small towns is that Crocker has found his connection to the outside world in the form of the internet, which he hopes will be his ticket out. I hope it happens for him.

Before you read Sanders' excellent piece, I'd urge you to familiarize yourself with some of Crocker's videos, like the ones here. More can be found here as well.

Escape from Real Bitch Island [the stranger]
Chris Crocker [youtube]

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #123

CHEMISTRY.COM: New gay-friendly spot which aired during Heroes which slams rival site eHarmony.

RUSH LIMBAUGH: "Parody" songs available on Limbaugh's website.

CHRIS CROCKER: A tribute to the YouTube strangeness.

FIRE NIGHTCLUB LONDON: Gay clubbers are lined up and photographed by police after drug bust. Story at Pink News.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here!

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube: #116

BROTHERS & SISTERS: Dealing with coming out of the closet.

HIT RECORD: A short film by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

MORE CHRIS CROCKER: What's wrong with showin' a little leg? (via slog)

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here!

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